Issue 182 - 17 January 2019

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.

Improving the quality of administration of the Surgical Safety Checklist: a mixed methods study in New Zealand hospitals
While the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist (the Checklist) can improve patient outcomes, variable administration can erode benefits. The authors of this study, published in BMJ Open, sought to understand and improve how operating room (OR) staff use the Checklist.

Health outcomes measurement and organizational readiness support quality improvement: a systematic review
Using outcome measures to advance healthcare continues to be of widespread interest. The goal of this study, published in BMC Health Services Research, was to summarize the results of studies which use outcome measures from clinical registries to implement and monitor QI initiatives. The second objective is to identify a) facilitators and/or barriers that contribute to the realization of QI efforts, and b) how outcomes are being used as a catalyst to change outcomes over time.

An investigation of nutrition and swallowing risk factors in a New Zealand population of persons with intellectual disability
Swallowing difficulties are common in persons with intellectual disability (pwID). Yet little is known about the presentation of such difficulties in this heterogeneous population. The aim of this study, published in Speech, Language and Hearing, was to investigate the extent and nature of nutrition and swallowing difficulties in pwID in New Zealand.

Improving quality of life outcomes in supported accommodation for people with intellectual disability: What makes a difference?
The quality of life (QOL) of people with intellectual disability living in supported accommodation services is variable, influenced by many possible factors. Various frameworks have attempted to identify these factors without assigning value, direction of influence or relative impact on outcomes.The authors of this study, published in the Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, performed a realist review of the literature aimed to expose different propositions about variables influencing QOL outcomes and review the strength of supporting evidence for these, to identify their relative influence.

Effectiveness of interventions to increase physical activity in individuals with intellectual disabilities: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials
People with intellectual disabilities (ID) often do not meet recommended guidelines for physical activity. The aim of this study, published in the Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, was to systematically review available evidence that evaluated the effectiveness of interventions to increase physical activity in individuals with ID.

Improving accessibility for outpatients in specialist clinics: reducing long waiting times and waiting lists with a simple analytic approach
This study, published in BMC Health Services Research, aimed to demonstrate that long waiting times and wait lists are not necessarily associated with increasing demand or changes in resources. The authors report how substantial reductions in waiting times/wait lists across a range of specialties was obtained by improvements of basic problems identified through value-stream mapping and unsophisticated analyses.

He Pikinga Waiora: supporting Māori health organisations to respond to pre-diabetes
The purpose of this study, published in the International Journal for Equity in Health, was to explore the questions of how the strengths of Māori heath organisations may be leveraged, and how the barriers and constraints experienced by Māori health organisations may be negotiated, for the benefit of Māori; and from a systems perspective, to identify strategic opportunities that may be considered and applied by Māori health organisations, funders and policy makers to respond more effectively to pre-diabetes and reduce health inequities between Māori and non-Māori.

Interventions to improve medication adherence: a review
Among adults with chronic illness, 30% to 50% of medications are not taken as prescribed. In the United States, it is estimated that medication nonadherence is associated with 125 000 deaths, 10% of hospitalizations, and $100 billion in health care services annually. This study, published in JAMA, reviewed randomized clinical trials of interventions to improve medication adherence.

Mental health and addiction tools and resources
This document, provided by the Health Quality & Safety Commission, provides tools and resources from the mental health and addiction quality improvement programme's Māori advisory group.

Evaluation of the All Right? Campaign's Facebook intervention post-disaster in Canterbury, New Zealand
The All Right? campaign was developed as a mental health promotion campaign following the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes. One aspect of the overall campaign was the utilisation of social media as a means of promoting wellbeing messages. This research, published in Health Promotion International, evaluates the use of the All Right? Facebook page as a means of promoting wellbeing after a major natural disaster.

Evidence-based prevention programs targeting youth mental and behavioral health in primary care: a systematic review
The objectives of this systematic review, published in Preventive Medicine, were: 1) to identify evidence-based youth (i.e., infancy, pre-school age, school age, and adolescence) mental and behavioural health disorder preventive interventions conducted in or offered by primary care settings; and 2) to describe these interventions' characteristics, efficacy, and clinical involvement.

Effectiveness and treatment moderators of internet interventions for adult problem drinking: an individual patient data meta-analysis of 19 randomised controlled trials
Face-to-face brief interventions for problem drinking are effective, but they have found limited implementation in routine care and the community. Internet-based interventions could overcome this treatment gap. This study, published in PLoS Medicine, investigated effectiveness and moderators of treatment outcomes in internet-based interventions for adult problem drinking (iAIs).

Barriers and enablers to adolescent self-consent for vaccination: a mixed-methods evidence synthesis
The recent global expansion of routine adolescent vaccination programmes has the potential to protect young people against infectious diseases and improve their health. Although the legal framework in many countries permits young people to consent for vaccinations if competent, lack of written parental consent can still prevent uptake. This study, published in Vaccine, aimed to review systematically the associated barriers and enablers to implementation of adolescent self-consent procedures.

Weight loss for children and adults with obesity and asthma: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials
Asthma and obesity are major public health problems, affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Obesity is associated with increased asthma risk and severity, and lower asthma-related quality of life. In this systematic review, published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society, the authors aimed to evaluate whether weight loss in subjects with obesity and asthma leads to improvement in asthma-related outcomes.

Lifestyle weight management programmes for children: a systematic review using Qualitative Comparative Analysis to identify critical pathways to effectiveness
This study, published in Preventive Medicine, aimed to identify critical features of successful lifestyle weight management interventions for overweight children (0-11years). Eleven qualitative UK-based studies examining children's, parents' and providers' perspectives and experiences of programmes were synthesised to identify components felt to be critical.

Highly-integrated programs for the prevention of obesity and overweight in children and adolescents: results from a systematic review and meta-analysis
Since overweight and obesity has become epidemic in children and adolescents, the aim of this study, published in Annali Dell'Istituto Superiore di Sanita, was to determine the role of highly-integrated programs in preventing and reducing prevalence of children and adolescent obesity and overweight, even evaluating if this approach has properly been effective in communities with different determinants as in the Pacific 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.