Ministry of Health Library

Health Improvement and Innovation Digest

Issue 190 - 9 May 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.

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.  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)

Quality improvement toolkit using falls prevention as a topic of interest
The Health Quality & Safety Commission developed a quality improvement toolkit in 2016 as part of its focus on reducing harm from falls. The aim was to provide a resource that could be used in aged residential care to help facility teams build their skills to undertake quality improvement work. The toolkit provides a foundation-level introductory guide to key aspects of quality improvement science. Updated with a new title and introduction in April 2019.

Quality Improvement (International)

Hospital nurse‐staffing models and patient‐ and staff‐related outcomes
The purpose of this review, published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, was to explore the effect of hospital nurse-staffing models on patient and staff-related outcomes in the hospital setting, specifically to identify which staffing models are associated with better outcomes for patients and better staff-related outcomes, and the impact of staffing models on cost outcomes.

Clinical performance comparators in audit and feedback: a review of theory and evidence
Audit and feedback (A&F) is a common quality improvement strategy with highly variable effects on patient care. It is unclear how A&F effectiveness can be maximised. Since the core mechanism of action of A&F depends on drawing attention to a discrepancy between actual and desired performance, this study, published in Implementation Science, aimed to understand current and best practices in the choice of performance comparator.

Post-incident review after restraint in mental health care - a potential for knowledge development, recovery promotion and restraint prevention. A scoping review
Use of physical restraint is a common practice in mental healthcare, but is controversial due to risk of physical and psychological harm to patients and creating ethical dilemmas for care providers. Post-incident review (PIR), that involve patient and care providers after restraints, have been deployed to prevent harm and to reduce restraint use. The aim of this scoping review, published in BMC Health Services Research, was to explore the current knowledge of PIR and to assess to what extent PIR can minimize restraint-related use and harm, support care providers in handling professional and ethical dilemmas, and improve the quality of care in mental healthcare.

Patient experience feedback in UK hospitals: what types are available and what are their potential roles in quality improvement (QI)?
The comparative uses of different types of patient experience (PE) feedback as data within quality improvement (QI) are poorly understood. This paper, published in Health Expectations, reviews what types are currently available and categorizes them by their characteristics in order to better understand their roles in QI.

Disability Sector Quality Improvement (International)

Active exercise interventions improve gross motor function of ambulant/semi-ambulant children with cerebral palsy: a systematic review
The purpose of this systematic review, published in Disability and Rehabilitation, was to evaluate the effectiveness of active exercise interventions for improving gross motor activity/participation of school-aged, ambulant/semi-ambulant children with cerebral palsy (CP).

Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes (New Zealand)

The effects of introducing electric adjustable height desks in an office setting on workplace physical activity levels: a randomised control field trial
Research has reported that sedentary behaviour may be linked to an increased risk of detrimental health effects such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and possibly cancer. The main objective of this study, published in Work, was to determine if there would be a change in light physical activity with the introduction of electric adjustable height desks (EAHD). The secondary objective was to assess if there was an associated change in leisure time activity.

Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes (International)

Nutrition therapy for adults with diabetes or prediabetes: a Consensus Report
This Consensus Report, published in Diabetes Care, is intended to provide clinical professionals with evidence-based guidance about individualizing nutrition therapy for adults with diabetes or prediabetes.

Promises and perils of group clinics for young people living with diabetes: a realist review
Group clinics are becoming popular as a new care model in diabetes care. This evidence synthesis using realist review methodology, published in Diabetes Care, examined the role of group clinics in meeting the complex needs of young people living with diabetes.

Primary Health Care (New Zealand)

Self-reported sleep complaints are associated with adverse health outcomes: cross-sectional analysis of the 2002/03 New Zealand Health Survey
The aim of this study, published in Ethnicity & Health, was to investigate the prevalence of self-reported sleep complaints in New Zealand adults and determine the independent association of sleep complaints with adverse health outcomes.

Exploring the value of social network ‘care maps’ in the provision of long-term conditions care
There is renewed attention to the role of social networks as part of person-centred long-term conditions care. This study, published in Chronic Illness, sought to explore the benefits of ‘care maps’ - a patient-identified social network map of their care community - for health professionals in providing person-centred care.

Primary Health Care (International)

Health service brokerage to improve primary care access for populations experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage: a systematic review and realist synthesis
This review, published in BMC Health Services Research, aimed to identify whether a health service broker working with health and social service providers in the community can (a) identify individuals experiencing vulnerability who may benefit from improved access to quality primary care, and (b) link these individuals with an appropriate primary care provider for enduring, appropriate primary care.

Primary Mental Health (New Zealand)

Comparison of age of first drink and age of first intoxication as predictors of substance use and mental health problems in adulthood
International public policy on age of first alcoholic drink (AFD) has emphasised the long-term benefits of delaying AFD. This study, published in Drug & Alcohol Dependence, aimed to compare AFD to age of first intoxication (AFI) as predictors of substance use disorder and mental disorder outcomes in adulthood.

Effective care for Māori with bipolar disorder: a qualitative study
Māori have high rates of bipolar disorder (BD) and mental health service use. Despite the high prevalence and the impact on functioning and whānau (family), there is limited research on treatment interventions for Māori with bipolar disorder and indeed on Māori and indigenous mental health generally. This qualitative study, published in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, was conducted with the aim to explore mental health clinicians' and Māori mental health workers' perspectives of effective treatment for Māori with BD.

Primary Mental Health (International)

Mental health nurses’ attitudes, experience, and knowledge regarding routine physical healthcare: systematic, integrative review of studies involving 7,549 nurses working in mental health settings
This study, published in BMC Nursing, aimed to systematically review the empirical evidence about i) mental health nurses’ knowledge, attitudes, and experiences of physical healthcare for mental health patients, and ii) the effectiveness of any interventions to improve these aspects of their work.

What makes mental health and substance use services youth friendly? A scoping review of literature
There are increasing calls to make mental health and substance use services youth friendly, with hopes of improving service uptake, engagement and satisfaction. The purpose of this scoping review, published in BMC Health Services Research, was to examine the literature available on youth-friendly mental health and substance use services in order to identify the characteristics, outline the expected impacts, and establish a definition.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for primary care depression and anxiety: a secondary meta-analytic review using robust variance estimation in meta-regression
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is well supported for treating depressive and anxiety disorders. Published in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine, this study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of primary care based CBT for depression and anxiety.

Childhood Obesity (International)

Home-based interventions to treat and prevent childhood obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Managing childhood obesity could prevent premature mortality and several types of complications among high-risk groups. This study, published in Behavioral Sciences, aimed to review and examine the effects of home-based interventions to treat and prevent childhood obesity.

Key Ministry of Health Publications

Report on Maternity 2017
This report describes:
• the demographic profile of women giving birth (eg, age, ethnicity, deprivation) and selected antenatal factors (eg, BMI, smoking)
• events relating to labour and birth (eg, type of birth, interventions, place of birth)
• the demographic profile of live-born babies, their birthweight and gestation and care provided after birth.

Independent assurance review for the NBSP six-month report to February 2019
The Bowel Screening Pilot ran in the Waitemata District Health Board (DHB) region from 2012 to 2017. In March 2018, the Ministry of Health (the Ministry) commissioned an Independent Assurance Review for the National Bowel Screening Programme (NBSP). In August 2018, the review made 19 recommendations for improving and refining the programme (Independent Review Panel 2018). This is the first of two reports summarising what the Ministry has done in response to those recommendations. The second and final report will be published in August 2019.

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.