Issue 329 - 18 September 2025

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

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Article Access

For articles that aren't open access, contact your Health NZ district 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.

Health Equity (New Zealand)

Health Professionals' Perceptions of Pacific Co-Designed Resources for Pacific Gout Patients
Pacific peoples in Aotearoa, New Zealand experience the highest burden of gout globally, yet there is still a lack of awareness and understanding of the disease. A Pacific community group and Pacific health professional network co-designed Pacific gout resources to improve understanding. The aim of this study, published in Healthcare, is to identify and discuss the current state and perceptions of Pacific gout education, and explore health professionals' views on Pacific co-designed resources and their usefulness in clinical settings.

Health Equity (International)

Addressing housing insecurity as a social determinant of health: A systematic review of interventions in healthcare settings
Stable housing is a key social determinant of health. Those experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity are known to have increased healthcare utilisation and yet worse healthcare outcomes compared to securely housed individuals. Housing interventions offered via healthcare settings provide an opportunity to reach this population. The aim of this systematic review, published in Social Science & Medicine, was to identify interventions which address housing insecurity and engage healthcare settings; determine effectiveness of these interventions; and ascertain common characteristics of effective interventions to inform new ways to address housing insecurity within healthcare.

Impacts of social determinants on the transient and persistent inefficiency of health systems in OECD countries
This study, published in Health Policy, examines the impact of social determinants on the transient and persistent technical inefficiency of health systems in OECD countries between 2010 and 2020. This study represents the first cross-country evaluation to consider unemployment, education, income inequality, and population as social determinants of health system efficiency, employing two competing stochastic frontier models at the country level.

Nutrition & Physical Activity (International)

Parent-focused behavioural interventions for the prevention of early childhood obesity (TOPCHILD): a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis
Childhood obesity is a global public health issue, which has prompted governments to invest in prevention programmes. This review, published in The Lancet, aimed to investigate the effectiveness of parent-focused early childhood obesity prevention interventions globally.

Quality Improvement (International)

Do patient safety incident investigations align with systems thinking? An analysis of contributing factors and recommendations
Globally, up to 17% of hospitalised people suffer a patient safety incident. Learning from adverse events through patient safety investigation is critical to prevention; however, their utility is still questioned. Two key investigation outputs include identifying contributing factors (CFs) and proposing recommendations to prevent future occurrences. Criticisms of current methods include incomplete analysis of CFs and weak incident prevention strategies. A proposed solution is systems thinking analysis, which recognises healthcare complexity. However, it is not clear whether such methods are being applied in practice. This study, published in BMJ Quality & Safety, aimed to assess current use of systems thinking-based strategies by examining a set of Australian patient safety incident investigations.

Cancer Services (International)

Education of First Nations Australians about cancer-what evidence is there around its effectiveness? A narrative review
Poorer cancer prevention and control outcomes for First Nations Australians have resulted in a need for improved health literacy, that is their capacity as individuals to access, understand, and use information in ways that promote and maintain good health. This narrative review, published in The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific, explores the evidence on how education programs work to improve First Nations Australians' understanding of cancer, and how this leads to more effective use of prevention, screening and treatment services.

Primary Mental Health (International)

A collaborative primary and mental health care model with psychologist and psychiatrist working in GP practices: process evaluation of the implementation, challenges, and sustainability
Previous studies have shown that collaboration between primary care and mental health services can enhance accessibility and improve outcomes for patients seen in general practitioners’ (GPs’) office. There is, however, a lack of empirical evidence regarding the benefits of collaborative care in Norway. This study, published in BMC Health Services Research, examined the adaptation and implementation of a successful Canadian collaborative care model developed in Hamilton, Ontario, in three Norwegian GP practices located in different boroughs of Oslo, Norway’s largest city.

Gentrification and mental health inequities: a scoping review
The association between gentrification and general health has been established in the scientific literature. Less is known about the relationship between gentrification and mental health at a population level, and for specific subgroups. This scoping review, published in Social Science & Medicine, aimed to document the relationships between gentrification and mental health in the general population, and among specific social groups, and the mechanisms which might explain why gentrification impacts the health of specific social groups more than others.

Increased Immunisation (International)

Systematic review of pro-equity strategies to improve vaccination among priority populations
The importance of pro-equity strategies in addressing disadvantages that people and communities face due to their gender, migration status, ethnicity, disability, and place of residence is increasingly being recognised, but analysis of empirical evidence on how they improve vaccination in these priority groups is limited. This systematic review, published in Vaccine, aims to fill this gap.

A scoping review of multicomponent interventions to improve uptake of routine childhood vaccines in low- and middle-income countries
This review, published in Vaccine, aimed to identify, compare, and summarise the properties, reported effects, evaluation methods and implementation outcomes of multicomponent interventions to improve uptake of routine childhood vaccines in low- and middle-income countries.

Smoking Cessation (International)

Effectiveness of nurse-led smoking cessation interventions in smoking patients: A systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Tobacco use reduces quality of life and life expectancy in all patients. Nurses are is the largest group of healthcare professionals, and nurse-led smoking cessation interventions are effective for smoking patients. The objective of this review, published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies, was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of various nurse-led interventions on smoking cessation among patients.

Effectiveness and Adherence of Standalone Digital Tobacco Cessation Modalities: A Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews
The World Health Organization defined specific recommendations about digital tobacco cessation modalities as a self-management tool or as an adjunct to other support for adults. The present umbrella review, published in Healthcare, primarily aimed to assess the long-term (≥6 months) effectiveness and adherence of the different standalone digital tobacco cessation modalities (mobile text messaging, smartphone apps, Internet-based websites and programs, AI-based), administered individually or in combination.

Oral Health (New Zealand)

A Systematic Review of the Facilitators and Challenges as Perceived by Dental Service Providers in the Provision of Oral Healthcare for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations
Vulnerable groups, particularly those from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds, face heightened risks of poor oral health. There is a notable gap in systematically analysing the facilitators and challenges dental service providers face in meeting the needs of patients from CALD backgrounds. This study, published in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, sought to systematically review existing literature to address this gap and provide insights into the factors that influence dental service provision for CALD communities.

Key Ministry of Health Publications

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Action Plan 2025-2028
The Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Action Plan 2025-2028 was developed by the Ministry of Health as part of renewed focus on FASD, announced in February 2024. It is a health-led plan, with cross-agency support and shared accountability, including across justice, and social service sectors, with a focus on: growing awareness and preventing harm supporting individuals and families across the life course building an informed and capable workforce.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Community Engagement Insights Report
The Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Community Engagement Insights Report provides an overview of targeted engagement undertaken by five community organisations: Kookiri ki Taamakimakaurau Trust, Māori Coalition for Te Iho Tātai-ā-Rongo (FASD), Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder – Care Action Network Aotearoa (FASD-CAN), Alcohol Healthwatch and the Village Collective.

New Zealand Eating Issues and Eating Disorders Strategy
The Eating Issues and Eating Disorders Strategy moves New Zealand towards a full continuum of treatment and support, including a greater focus on prevention, access to early intervention and specialist community supports, and a more inclusive approach to family, whānau and carer involvement and support. The Strategy provides the overall strategic approach and covers: our understanding of eating disorders in New Zealand research evidence, feedback from targeted engagement, and prevalence and service use data current investment and activities underway an action-oriented roadmap outlining an initial set of actions across the first 6 to 18 months, alongside future opportunities over the next 5+ years.

Putting Patients First: Modernising health workforce regulation: Summary of submissions
Regulating the health workforce is essential to ensuring that health practitioners are qualified, competent and provide safe care. The Government is reviewing how we can modernise health workforce regulation to better support patients and providers. The focus is on how changes to regulation can improve efficiency while maintaining safety and public confidence. A discussion document titled Putting Patients First: Modernising health workforce regulation was developed by the Government and feedback was sought between 28 March and 30 April 2025. Analysis of these views is provided in four main sections: views on patient-centred regulation views on streamlined regulation views on right-sized regulation views on future-proofed regulation.

Health Sector Initiative

Health NZ library opens access to primary care
Health NZ Library has opened up for the first time to community primary care health professionals across the country. The expanded access supports clinical decision-making and research with trusted, up-to-date information, helping all primary care health practitioners deliver better outcomes for patients. We are committed to supporting our primary care health partners with access to a wide range of research and learning materials and support. The resources are available to all primary care professionals including doctors in GP practices, pharmacists, nurses working in aged residential care, or allied health practitioners such as physiotherapists, dieticians, occupation health specialists or podiatrists.

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.