Ministry of Health Library

Health Improvement and Innovation Digest

Issue 158 - 21 December 2017

Welcome to the fortnightly Health Improvement and Innovation Digest (formerly the HIIRC digest). The Digest has links to key evidence of interest, with access to new content arranged by topic.

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If you have any queries, please email us at library@moh.govt.nz.

The next issue of HIID will be sent on the 18th January 2018. Wishing you all the best over the holidays!

Have you heard about Grey Matter?

We'd like to introduce you to another newsletter that the Ministry of Health Library prepares.  The Grey Matter newsletter provides monthly access to a selection of recent NGO, Think Tank, and International Government reports related to health. Information is arranged by topic, allowing readers to quickly find their areas of interest.  If you'd like to subscribe to Grey Matter, email library@moh.govt.nz

Article access

For articles that aren't open access, contact your DHB library, or organisational or local library for assistance in accessing the full text. If your organisation has a subscription, you may be able to use the icon under full text links in PubMed to access the full article.

Quality Improvement (New Zealand)

Deaf New Zealand Sign Language users' access to healthcare
The aim of this study, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, was to investigate deaf New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) users' quality of access to health services.

Shorter Stays In Emergency Departments (International)

The effectiveness of physiologically based early warning or track and trigger systems after triage in adult patients presenting to emergency departments: a systematic review
Changes to physiological parameters precede deterioration of ill patients. Early warning and track and trigger systems (TTS) use routine physiological measurements with pre-specified thresholds to identify deteriorating patients and trigger appropriate and timely escalation of care. Patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) are undiagnosed, undifferentiated and of varying acuity, yet the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of using early warning systems and TTS in this setting is unclear. This study, published in BMC Emergency Medicine, aimed to systematically review the evidence on the use, development/validation, clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of physiologically based early warning systems and TTS for the detection of deterioration in adult patients presenting to EDs.

The impact of walk-in centres and GP co-operatives on emergency department presentations: A systematic review of the literature
Internationally, non-urgent presentations are increasing the pressure on Emergency Department (ED) staff and resources. This systematic review, published in International Emergency Nursing, aims to identify the impact of alternative emergency care pathways on ED presentations - specifically GP cooperatives and walk-in clinics.

Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes Checks (New Zealand)

Views and Experiences of New Zealand Women with Gestational Diabetes in Achieving Glycaemic Control Targets: The Views Study
Optimal glycaemic control in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) reduces maternal and infant morbidity. This study, published in Journal of Diabetes Research, explores the views of women diagnosed with GDM in achieving optimal glycaemic control.

Can traditional risk factors explain the higher risk of cardiovascular disease in South Asians compared to Europeans in Norway and New Zealand? Two cohort studies 
The objective of this study, published in BMJ Open, was to prospectively examine potential differences in the risk of first cardiovascular disease (CVD) events between South Asians and Europeans living in Norway and New Zealand, and to investigate whether traditional risk factors could explain any differences.

Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes (International)

Diet, physical activity or both for prevention or delay of type 2 diabetes mellitus and its associated complications in people at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus
The projected rise in the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) could develop into a substantial health problem worldwide. Whether diet, physical activity or both can prevent or delay T2DM and its associated complications in at-risk people is unknown. The objective of this Cochrane Review was to assess the effects of diet, physical activity or both on the prevention or delay of T2DM and its associated complications in people at increased risk of developing T2DM.

Primary Health Care (New Zealand)

Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ child and adolescent asthma guidelines: a quick reference guide
The purpose of the New Zealand Child and adolescent asthma guidelines: a quick reference guide, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, is to provide simple, practical, evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis, assessment and management of asthma in children and adolescents in New Zealand, with the aim of improving outcomes and reducing inequities.

Navigating professional and prescribing boundaries: Implementing nurse prescribing in New Zealand
Non-medical prescribing is now well established in a number of countries. Because prescribing has traditionally been viewed as a medical role, there are inevitable interprofessional boundary tensions when non-medical prescribing is introduced. In New Zealand, enabling legislation has allowed nurse practitioners to apply for prescriptive authority after undertaking appropriate educational preparation. This study, published in Nurse Education in Practice, explored the experiences and perspectives of one of the first cohorts of nurse prescribers and their strategies in establishing the role and negotiating the associated professional boundaries.

Becoming a ‘pharmaceutical person’: Medication use trajectories from age 26 to 38 in a representative birth cohort from Dunedin, New Zealand
Despite the abundance of medications available for human consumption, and frequent concerns about increasing medicalisation or pharmaceuticalisation of everyday life, there is little research investigating medicines-use in young and middle-aged populations and discussing the implications of young people using increasing numbers of medicines and becoming pharmaceutical users over time. This study, published in, SSM - Population Health, uses data from a New Zealand longitudinal study to examine changes in self-reported medication use by a complete birth cohort of young adults.

Primary Health Care (International)

What systemic factors contribute to collaboration between primary care and public health sectors? An interpretive descriptive study
Purposefully building stronger collaborations between primary care (PC) and public health (PH) is one approach to strengthening primary health care. The purpose of this paper, published in BMC Health Services Research, is to report what systemic factors influence collaborations between PC and PH; and how systemic factors interact and could influence collaboration.

The effects of care bundles on patient outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Care bundles are a set of three to five evidence-informed practices performed collectively and reliably to improve the quality of care. Care bundles are used widely across healthcare settings with the aim of preventing and managing different health conditions. This systematic review, published in Implementation Science, was designed to determine the effects of care bundles on patient outcomes and the behaviour of healthcare workers in relation to fidelity with care bundles.

Primary Mental Health (International)

Web-Based Interventions Supporting Adolescents and Young People With Depressive Symptoms: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Although previous studies on information and communication technology (ICT)–based intervention on mental health among adolescents with depressive symptoms have already been combined in a number of systematic reviews, coherent information is still missing about interventions used, participants’ engagement of these interventions, and how these interventions work. This systematic review and meta-analysis, published in JMIR Mhealth Uhealth, aims to describe the effectiveness of Web-based interventions to support adolescents with depression or depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress.

What are the barriers and facilitators to implementing Collaborative Care for depression? A systematic review
Collaborative Care is an evidence-based approach to the management of depression within primary care services recommended within NICE Guidance. However, uptake within the UK has been limited. This review, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, aims to investigate the barriers and facilitators to implementing Collaborative Care.

The effectiveness of suicide prevention delivered by GPs: A systematic review and meta-analysis
The aim of this review, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, was to assess whether suicide prevention provided in the primary health care setting and delivered by GPs results in fewer suicide deaths, episodes of self-harm, attempts and lower frequency of thoughts about suicide.

Better Help for smokers to Quit (New Zealand)

New Zealand policy experts’ appraisal of interventions to reduce smoking in young adults: a qualitative investigation 
Reducing smoking in young adults, particularly young Māori and Pacific, is vital for reducing tobacco harm and health inequalities in New Zealand (NZ). This study, published in BMJ Open, investigated how NZ policy experts appraised the feasibility and likely effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce smoking prevalence among 18–24 year olds.

Weight Management (New Zealand)

‘Do nutrition labels influence healthier food choices? Analysis of label viewing behaviour and subsequent food purchases in a labelling intervention trial'
There are few objective data on how nutrition labels are used in real-world shopping situations, or how they affect dietary choices and patterns. The Starlight study, published in Appetite, was a four-week randomised, controlled trial of the effects of three different types of nutrition labels on consumer food purchases: Traffic Light Labels, Health Star Rating labels, or Nutrition Information Panels (control).

Weight Management (International)

Interventions to change the behaviour of health professionals and the organisation of care to promote weight reduction in children and adults with overweight or obesity
The prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing globally, an increase which has major implications for both population health and costs to health services. This Cochrane Review assessed the effects of strategies to change the behaviour of health professionals or the organisation of care compared to standard care, to promote weight reduction in children and adults with overweight or obesity.

Childhood Obesity (International)

Capacity-oriented approaches to developing childhood obesity interventions: a systematic review
Capacity-oriented approaches to health interventions seek to empower the target population or community to manage the health issue themselves using resources they can control. Positive deviance, resilience and asset-based approaches are three such methods of developing and implementing health interventions. This study, published in Clinical Obesity, aimed to review the efficacy of interventions explicitly applying these methods in addressing childhood obesity using adiposity as the primary outcome, measured by standardized body mass index.

Key Ministry of Health Publications

Office of the Director of Mental Health Annual Report 2016
This annual report presents information and statistics that serve as indicators of quality for our mental health services.

Briefing to the Incoming Minister of Health, 2017: The New Zealand Health and Disability System
This publication outlines the challenges and opportunities that face our health and disability system by looking at where we are now, where we are going and how we will get there.

Briefing to the Incoming Minister of Health, 2017: The New Zealand Health and Disability System: Organisation
This briefing provides a high level and brief summary of our health and disability system, the role of the Ministry and the roles of others across the system.

Clinical Guidelines for Weight Management in New Zealand Adults
This publication provides updated clinical guidance for primary health care practitioners and others who provide advice on weight management for New Zealand adults.

The information available on or through this newsletter does not represent Ministry of Health policy. It is intended to provide general information to the health sector and the public, and is not intended to address specific circumstances of any particular individual or entity.