Ministry of Health Library
Health Improvement and Innovation Digest
Issue 131 - 17 November 2016
Welcome to the fortnightly Health Improvement and Innovation Digest (HIID). The Digest has links to key evidence of interest, with access to new content arranged by topic.
You can forward this newsletter to others who may be interested in receiving it. They can register and subscribe here. You can also access other recent issues of the digest here.
If you have any queries, please email us at library@moh.govt.nz.
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. You can use this link to subscribe to Grey Matter.
|
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)
Antimicrobial resistance in New Zealand: the evidence and a call for action
This viewpoint, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, discusses the concerns around antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Comparison of documentation of patient reported adverse drug reactions on both paper-based medication charts and electronic medication charts at a New Zealand hospital
Known adverse drug reactions (ADRs) can have profound effects on disease states, as well as prescribing practice. Therefore, the correct and complete documentation of each individual patient's ADR history, upon hospital admission, is important in optimising that individual patient's pharmacotherapy. This study, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, investigated the documentation of ADRs at a tertiary New Zealand hospital, on both paper-based medication charts and electronic medication charts to quantify both the number of ADRs patients self-report, as well as the differences between recording of that information in electronic and paper-based charting systems.
Surgical ward round checklist: does it improve medical documentation? A clinical review of Christchurch general surgical notes
Poor documentation of medical notes and plans not only adversely affects patient management but also has medico-legal implications. A standardized ward round checklist was introduced at our institution (adhesive proforma sticker, PFS) in 2013 to improve documentation by junior doctors. The authors of this study, published in ANZ Journal of Surgery, aimed to examine the current pattern of PFS documentation (2 years after its introduction) and to identify which fields, if any, have been the most problematic to complete.
|
Hospital Productivity (New Zealand)
Pathways to ambulatory sensitive hospitalisations for Māori in the Auckland and Waitemata regions
Ambulatory Sensitive Hospitalisations (ASH) are a group of conditions potentially preventable through interventions delivered in the primary health care setting. ASH rates are consistently higher for Māori compared with non-Māori. This study, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, aimed to establish Māori experience of factors driving the use of hospital services for ASH conditions, including barriers to accessing primary care.
|
Shorter Waits for Cancer Treatment (New Zealand)
Gynaecological cancer pathway for faster cancer treatment: a clinical audit
Gynaecological cancers make up 10% of cancer cases and 10% of female cancer deaths in New Zealand. The services for investigation and treatment of these women are regionally specific rather than centrally organised; hence we need appropriate standards of service and clear pathways for communication and management of these patients to ensure consistent care that is in line with the Ministry of Health goals for faster cancer treatment. The aim of this audit, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, is to ensure faster gynaecological cancer management pathways for Northland patients.
|
Shorter Stays In Emergency Departments (International)
Exit block in emergency departments: a rapid evidence review
Exit block (or access block) occurs when 'patients in the ED requiring inpatient care are unable to gain access to appropriate hospital beds within a reasonable time frame'. Exit block is an increasing challenge for Emergency Departments (EDs) worldwide and has been recognised as a major factor in leading to departmental crowding. This paper, published in the Emergency Medicine Journal, aims to identify empirical evidence, highlighting causes, effects and strategies to limit exit block.
Lean intervention improves patient discharge times, improves emergency department throughput and reduces congestion
The objective of this study, published in Hospital Practice, was to determine if a lean intervention improved emergency department (ED) throughput and reduced ED boarding by improving patient discharge efficiency from a tertiary care children's hospital.
|
Primary Health Care (International)
Economic Evaluation of Text-Messaging and Smartphone-Based Interventions to Improve Medication Adherence in Adolescents with Chronic Health Conditions: A Systematic Review
The rate of chronic health conditions (CHCs) in children and adolescents has doubled in the past 20 years, with increased health care costs. Technology-based interventions have demonstrated efficacy to improving medication adherence. However, data to support the cost effectiveness of these interventions are lacking. The objective of this study, published in JMIR Mhealth Uhealth, is to conduct an economic evaluation of text-messaging and smartphone-based interventions that focus on improving medication adherence in adolescents with CHCs.
SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2016 Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment
Approximately 3500 infants die annually in the United States from sleep-related infant deaths, After an initial decrease in the 1990s, the overall death rate attributable to sleep-related infant deaths has not declined in more recent years. Many of the modifiable and nonmodifiable risk factors for SIDS and other sleep-related infant deaths are strikingly similar. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations, published in
Pediatrics, recommend a safe sleep environment that can reduce the risk of all sleep-related infant deaths. Recommendations for a safe sleep environment include supine positioning, the use of a firm sleep surface, room-sharing without bed-sharing, and the avoidance of soft bedding and overheating. Additional recommendations for SIDS reduction include the avoidance of exposure to smoke, alcohol, and illicit drugs; breastfeeding; routine immunization; and use of a pacifier.
Primary Care Interventions to Support Breastfeeding: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement
There is convincing evidence that breastfeeding provides substantial health benefits for children. However, nearly half of all US mothers who initially breastfeed stop doing so by 6 months, and there are significant disparities in breastfeeding rates among younger mothers and in disadvantaged communities. This article, published in JAMA, updates the 2008 US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation on primary care interventions to promote breastfeeding.
Interventions for promoting the initiation of breastfeeding
Despite the widely documented risks of not breastfeeding, initiation rates remain relatively low in many high-income countries, particularly among women in lower-income groups. In low- and middle-income countries, many women do not follow World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations to initiate breastfeeding within the first hour after birth. The objectives of this Cochrane Review were to identify and describe health promotion activities intended to increase the initiation rate of breastfeeding; and evaluate the effectiveness of different types of breastfeeding promotion activities.
|
Increased Immunisation (International)
Achieving High Adolescent HPV Vaccination Coverage
Despite national recommendations for adolescent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, rates have lagged behind those of other adolescent vaccines. The authors of this study, published in Pediatrics, implemented interventions and examined rates of vaccination coverage in a large, urban, safety net health care system to understand whether our tactics for achieving high rates of adolescent vaccination were successful.
|
Weight Management (International)
Screening and brief intervention for obesity in primary care: a parallel, two-arm, randomised trial
Obesity is a common cause of non-communicable disease. Guidelines recommend that physicians screen and offer brief advice to motivate weight loss through referral to behavioural weight loss programmes. However, physicians rarely intervene and no trials have been done on the subject. The authors of this study, published in the Lancet, did this trial to establish whether physician brief intervention is acceptable and effective for reducing bodyweight in patients with obesity.
|
Childhood Obesity (New Zealand)
Cohort profile: Pacific Islands Families (PIF) growth study, Auckland, New Zealand
This article, published in BMJ Open, profiles a birth cohort of Pacific children participating in an observational prospective study and describes the study protocol used at ages 14–15 years to investigate how food and activity patterns, metabolic risk and family and built environment are related to rates of physical growth of Pacific children.
|
|
