Ministry of Health Library

Health Improvement and Innovation Digest

Issue 157 - 7 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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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)

Adverse events report 2017
The annual adverse events report, published by the Health Quality & Safety Commission, covers adverse events reported by New Zealand's 20 district health boards (DHBs) and other providers.

Hospital Productivity (New Zealand)

Systematic review of disparities in surgical care for Māori in New Zealand
Health equity for Indigenous peoples in the context of surgery has recently become topical amongst surgeons in Australasia. Health inequities are amongst the most consistent and compelling disparities between Māori and New Zealand Europeans (NZE) in New Zealand (NZ). This study, published in ANZ Journal of Surgery, aimed to investigate where ethnic disparities in surgical care may occur and highlight some of the potential contributing factors, over all surgical specialties, between Māori and NZE adults in NZ.

Shorter Waits for Cancer Treatment (New Zealand)

Knowledge of Evidence-Based Cancer Risk Factors Remains Low Among New Zealand Adults: Findings from Two Cross-Sectional Studies, 2001 and 2015
Cancer risk reduction messages are a part of cancer control efforts around the world. The complex reality is that risk factors differ for different types of cancer, making clear communication of desired behavioural changes more difficult. This study, published in the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, aims to describe awareness of risk factors for breast, bowel, cervical, prostate and lung cancer and cutaneous melanoma among New Zealanders in 2014/15 and identify changes in awareness since 2001.

Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes (New Zealand)

Evaluation of the NZ guidelines for screening for persistent postpartum hyperglycaemia following gestational diabetes
Recent New Zealand guidelines recommend annual glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) measurements from three months postpartum, replacing the glucose tolerance test (GTT) at six weeks, to screen for persistent hyperglycaemia following gestational diabetes. Data suggest that this screening approach may miss cases of type 2 diabetes. The aim of this study, published in Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, was to evaluate the effectiveness of HbA1c monitoring in improving screening rates following gestational diabetes and in detecting postpartum hyperglycaemia.

Face-to-face versus telephone delivery of the Green Prescription for Māori and New Zealand Europeans with type-2 diabetes mellitus: influence on participation and health outcomes
In Aotearoa/New Zealand, the proportion of Māori who participate in the national Green Prescription lifestyle programme is lower than for New Zealand Europeans. This study, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, compared the uptake and effectiveness of two modes of Green Prescription delivery: face-to-face and telephone among both Māori and New Zealand Europeans.

Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes (International)

Preventing type 2 diabetes: systematic review of studies of cost-effectiveness of lifestyle programmes and metformin, with and without screening, for pre-diabetes
The objective of this study, published in BMJ Open, was to explore the cost-effectiveness of lifestyle interventions and metformin in reducing subsequent incidence of type 2 diabetes, both alone and in combination with a screening programme to identify high-risk individuals.

Diet Behavior Change Techniques in Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Dietary behaviour is closely connected to type 2 diabetes. The purpose of this meta-analysis, published in Diabetes Care, was to identify behaviour change techniques and specific components of dietary interventions for patients with type 2 diabetes associated with changes in HbA1c and body weight.

Family behaviours that have an impact on the self-management activities of adults living with Type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-synthesis
The aim of this study, published in Diabetic Medicine, was to identify family behaviours that adults with Type 2 diabetes’ perceive as having an impact on their diabetes self-management.

Primary Health Care (New Zealand)

Telephone discharge support for frail, vulnerable older people discharged from hospital: Impact on readmission rates - Participant and general practitioner feedback
The objective of this study, published in the Australasian Journal on Ageing,  was to assess the use and acceptability to older participants and general practitioners (GPs) of telephone support post discharge to reduce readmissions.

Whānau perceptions and experiences of acute rheumatic fever diagnosis for Māori in Northland, New Zealand
This study, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, explored Māori whānau experiences of acute rheumatic fever, including their pathways to primary health care and barriers and facilitators for the diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever.

Primary Health Care (International)

Effective strategies for scaling up evidence-based practices in primary care: a systematic review
While an extensive array of existing evidence-based practices (EBPs) have the potential to improve patient outcomes, little is known about how to implement EBPs on a larger scale. Therefore, this study, published in Implementation Science, sought to identify effective strategies for scaling up EBPs in primary care.

Primary Mental Health (New Zealand)

Distinguishing transient versus stable aspects of depression in New Zealand Pacific Island children using Generalizability Theory
The distinction between temporary versus enduring or state/trait aspects of depression is important. This study, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, applied Generalizability Theory to determine the relative contributions of temporary and enduring aspects of depression in a widely used screening measure of depression the - 10-item Children's Depression Inventory.

Primary Mental Health (International)

Integrated Care with Indigenous Populations: A Systematic Review of the Literature
The integration of behavioural health into medical care is related to positive results including improved patient health outcomes, provider satisfaction, and cost-offset. Indigenous people suffer from the highest health disparities in the nation and disproportionately experience barriers to health care; yet it is unknown if integrated care is effective for this population. This systematic literature review, published in American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research, was completed on the state of integrated care at Indigenous-serving health care sites.

The failure of suicide prevention in primary care: family and GP perspectives - a qualitative study
Although Primary care is crucial for suicide prevention, clinicians tend to report completed suicides in their care as non-preventable. This study, published in BMC Psychiatry, aimed to examine systemic inadequacies in suicide prevention from the perspectives of bereaved family members and GPs.

Better Help for smokers to Quit (International)

Mass media interventions for smoking cessation in adults
Mass media tobacco control campaigns can reach large numbers of people. Much of the literature is focused on the effects of tobacco control advertising on young people, but there are also a number of evaluations of campaigns targeting adult smokers, which show mixed results. Campaigns may be local, regional or national, and may be combined with other components of a comprehensive tobacco control policy. The objective of this Cochrane Review was to assess the effectiveness of mass media interventions in reducing smoking among adults.

Tobacco cessation interventions for young people
Most tobacco control programmes for adolescents are based around prevention of uptake, but teenage smoking is still common. It is unclear if interventions that are effective for adults can also help adolescents to quit. The objective of this Cochrane Review was to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies that help young people to stop smoking tobacco.

Weight Management (New Zealand)

A food environments feedback system (FoodBack) for empowering citizens and change agents to create healthier community food places
This study, published in Health Promotion International, developed a systems-based approach (called FoodBack) to empower citizens and change agents to create healthier community food places.

Weight Management (International)

Effects of weight loss interventions for adults who are obese on mortality, cardiovascular disease, and cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis
The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis, published in BMJ, was to assess whether weight loss interventions for adults with obesity affect all cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and body weight.

Childhood Obesity (New Zealand)

Sleep timing is associated with diet and physical activity levels in 9-11-year-old children from Dunedin, New Zealand: the PEDALS study
It is well documented that short sleep duration is associated with excess body weight and poor food intake in children. It has been suggested that sleep timing behaviour may also be an important predictor of weight and other related behaviours, independent of sleep duration; however, there is a lack of research investigating these relationships. The present study, published in the Journal of Sleep Research, investigated sleep timing in association with diet and physical activity levels in 439 children aged 9-11 years old from New Zealand.

Childhood Obesity (International)

The dose of behavioral interventions to prevent and treat childhood obesity: a systematic review and meta-regression
A better understanding of the optimal "dose" of behavioural interventions to affect change in weight-related outcomes is a critical topic for childhood obesity intervention research. The objective of this review, published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, was to quantify the relationship between dose and outcome in behavioural trials targeting childhood obesity to guide future intervention development.

Oral Health (New Zealand)

The costs and benefits of water fluoridation in NZ
Implementing community water fluoridation involves costs, but these need to be considered against the likely benefits. This study, published in BMC Oral Health, aimed to assess the cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness of water fluoridation in New Zealand (NZ) in terms of expenditure and quality-adjusted life years.

Oral Health (International)

Implications of WHO Guideline on Sugars for dental health professionals
The burden of oral disease is high in populations across the world. This is because of high consumption of free sugars. The WHO Guideline on Sugars Intake for Adults and Children recommended limiting free sugars to no more than 5% energy intake to protect oral health throughout the life-course. The objectives of this paper, published in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, are to consider the implications of the Guideline for dental health practice and to advocate use of the common risk factor approach when providing dietary advice.

Utilization of community health workers in Canada's Children's Oral Health Initiative for indigenous communities
The Children's Oral Health Initiative (COHI) is a federally funded community-based preventive dental programme implemented in geographically remote Canadian Indigenous communities. This study, published in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, investigated the effect of the availability of local community health workers (COHI Aides) on access to the programme's preventive dental services for children.

Māori Innovation

Rangatahi Tū Rangatira: innovative health promotion in Aotearoa New Zealand
Rangatahi Tū Rangatira (R2R) is a national health promotion programme in Aotearoa New Zealand which aims to promote cultural and physical wellbeing for rangatahi (young people) and their whānau (family). Grounded in tikanga Māori, the programme focuses on total wellbeing, leadership and cultural awareness providing rangatahi opportunities to increase their participation in physical activity and cultural knowledge through ngā taonga tākaro (Māori ancestral games). This paper, published in Health Promotion International, focuses on an evaluation of this innovative health promotion programme focussing on the delivery of R2R by a local iwi provider in a rural area.

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.