Issue 335 - 11 December 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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Thank you for reading the Health Improvement and Innovation Digest this year. Our next issue will be sent on the 19th of February 2026. Wishing you all the best over the holidays!

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)

Implementing healthcare decolonisation for Indigenous people: a systematic review
The Western biomedical system, rooted in colonialism, holds Western science as the only universally valid knowledge system. While it has been justified as an objective approach to improve health, it has failed to address health inequities for Indigenous communities. There is increasing recognition of the need to decolonise healthcare, but its practical application remains unclear. This study, published in the International Journal for Equity in Health, systematically reviewed global literature to explore what decolonising healthcare means in practice.

Racism in public health authorities-A scoping review and situational analysis
Racism is a structural determinant of health. While racism in health care services is increasingly well-researched, public health services and public health authorities (PHA) have been neglected as institutional contexts. Yet, PHA play an essential role in protecting and promoting population health at a local and national level. This review, published in PLOS Global Public Health, mapped the academic discourse on racism in PHA with a narrative scoping review.

Health Equity (International)

Addressing Power in Local-Level Policies and Programs to Reduce Health Inequities - A Systematic Review
Health inequities are driven by the unequal distribution of resources and power. Local-level actors are closely connected to communities and have the potential to address unfair imbalances in power through health equity interventions. Yet practical strategies on how to do this remain unclear. This systematic review, published in the International Journal of Social Determinants of Health and Health Services, examined how power is addressed in the design and implementation of local-level health equity interventions and their reported impacts.

Nutrition & Physical Activity (New Zealand)

Food spaces that foster student capabilities: insights from a rural Aotearoa New Zealand high school
This study, published in Health Promotion International, explores how a school wharekai (communal dining hall) implementing the Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunch Programme operates as a multidimensional health promotion setting that fosters student capabilities beyond nutrition.

Three Years Later: Healthiness of Food in New Zealand Primary School Canteens Following Implementation of the Healthy Food and Drink Guidance
One-third of children in New Zealand (NZ) are overweight or obese, with suboptimal dietary patterns. The NZ government implemented the Healthy Active Learning (HAL) initiative and the 'Healthy Food and Drink Guidance for Schools' (2020) to improve school food environments. This study, published in the Health Promotion Journal of Australia, aimed to evaluate the impact of these guidelines over 3 years.

Food Reformulation in New Zealand: A Success Story of Reducing the Sodium Content in Bread from 2003 to 2023
The National Heart Foundation of New Zealand (HF) has successfully supported bread companies to reduce the sodium content in leading selling breads over the past 20 years. Bread is the main source of sodium in the New Zealand (NZ) diet and is considered a low-cost staple food for many New Zealanders. This article, published in Nutrients, highlights some of the critical success factors in developing a food reformulation programme in NZ, using the changes in the packaged loaf bread category as an example.

Cancer Services (New Zealand)

Rural Urban Differences in Receipt of Radiation Oncology Services for Breast, Prostate and Lung Cancer by Ethnicity in Aotearoa New Zealand
Accessing radiation therapy is a challenge for rural cancer patients. This study, published in the Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology, explored the rates of receiving radiation therapy for rural Māori and non-Māori New Zealanders with breast, prostate or lung cancer compared with their most urban counterparts.

Cancer Services (International)

Key recommendations to improve equity and access in colorectal cancer screening for rural and remote communities. A grounded theory study
The objective of this study, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, was to explore barriers contributing to low participation in bowel cancer screening among rural populations, while investigating community-identified recommendations to improve access.

Emergency Department Services (International)

Using artificial intelligence to predict patient wait times in the emergency department: A scoping review
The purpose of this review, published in Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, was to comprehensively explore the landscape of recently published literature on the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in predicting individualised patient waiting times in an emergency department (ED) and identify pertinent considerations for practitioners and hospital decision-makers.

The impact of primary care networks on emergency hospitalisations in the English NHS: an interrupted time series analysis
Recent years have seen an emergence of collaborative primary care models in the English National Health Service and other international health systems. Primary Care Networks (PCNs) were introduced in England in July 2019, marking the first time collaboration between general practices was incentivised through a nationwide policy. While participation was not mandatory, nearly all general practices joined a PCN, largely due to strong financial incentives. The aim of this study, published in Health Policy, was to estimate the impact of PCNs on emergency hospitalisations using an interrupted time series design.

Interventions to reduce overcrowding in emergency departments: An umbrella review
The objective of this review, published in International Emergency Nursing, was to identify and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions and/or strategies to reduce overcrowding in Emergency Departments (EDs).

Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes (New Zealand)

"It Can Hurt Your Heart": A Co-Designed Cross-Sectional Survey Exploring Pacific People's Understanding of Rheumatic Fever in Auckland, New Zealand
Rheumatic fever is preventable and can be treated successfully; however, a lack of understanding of the disease and barriers to timely healthcare can impact outcomes. Pacific people in Aotearoa New Zealand experience inequitable burdens, and a Pacific community group and health professional network are working together to co-design education initiatives. This descriptive, mixed-methods study, published in Healthcare, aimed to explore Pacific people's awareness and understanding of rheumatic fever, and describe where Pacific people access health information.

Te ara o Manawataki Fatu Fatu—Kaupapa Māori and Pacific qualitative co-design hui to explore cardiovascular disease care for Māori and Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) inequities in Aotearoa New Zealand disproportionately affect Māori and Pacific peoples, who experience higher risk factors, hospitalisations and mortality than NZ Europeans. These disparities stem from the historical and contemporary effects of colonisation, including institutional racism, impacting access to healthcare and socio-economic resources. This study, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, is a comprehensive qualitative investigation into heart healthcare for Māori and Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Primary Health Care (New Zealand)

Are dementia services meeting the needs of Chinese New Zealanders? A qualitative study of Chinese general practitioners
There is limited literature on dementia care, support or services within the New Zealand Chinese community, despite the Chinese community is one of the largest Asian ethnic groups in New Zealand. The aim of this study, published in the Journal of Primary Health Care, was to explore Chinese general practitioners (GPs)' perspectives on dementia services for the Chinese population in New Zealand; their perceived barriers and shortfalls, as well as improvement opportunities.

Suggestions for managing long Covid in primary care in Aotearoa New Zealand: a qualitative study
The aim of this study, published in the Journal of Primary Health Care, was to explore what a long Covid service should offer from the perspectives of those living with the condition.

Primary Health Care (International)

Effects of pharmacist prescribing on health-related outcomes in secondary care compared with medical prescribing or no treatment: A systematic review
Pharmacist prescribing has gained momentum over the years and is currently utilised in Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, United Kingdom (UK), and the United States of America (USA). While pharmacist prescribing has been associated with symptom improvement, reduced prescribing error rates, medication omissions, and improved medication access, the effects of pharmacist prescribing in secondary care have not been previously evaluated. This systematic review, published in Research in Social & Administrative Pharmacy, aimed to assess the effects of pharmacist prescribing on health-related outcomes in secondary care.

Increased Immunisation (New Zealand)

Views on vaccination in a New Zealand rural Pasifika community: a qualitative study
Vaccination rates for Pasifika in Aotearoa New Zealand have fallen dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic. While the decline in the South Island is not as great as in areas of greater Pasifika concentration such as Auckland, rural Pasifika are under-represented in research and it is important to investigate their perspectives. This study, published in the Journal of Primary Health Care, aimed to explore knowledge of and perspectives on childhood vaccinations of a diverse rural Pasifika community in the South Island of New Zealand, and to identify underlying reasons for the recent decline in immunisation rates.

Key Ministry of Health Publications

HIV Monitoring Report – Measuring progress against the National HIV Action Plan for Aotearoa New Zealand 2023–2030
The HIV Monitoring Report tracks key goals and targets for reducing transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and improving outcomes by 2030, as measured by 52 indicators aligned with the five strategic goals of the National HIV Action Plan for Aotearoa New Zealand 2023–2030 (HIV Action Plan).

Health Sector Initiative

New wraparound counselling service to mark World AIDS Day
The Burnett Foundation has received funding to launch a new wraparound counselling service, giving more people and their families access to trained mental health professionals. This new and improved access to support is possible thanks to matched funding via the Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund.

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.