Issue 275 - 27 April 2023

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 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.

Health Equity (New Zealand)

Influenza-associated hospitalisation and mortality rates among global Indigenous populations; a systematic review and meta-analysis
More than 50 million influenza infections and over 100,000 deaths from influenza occur annually. While Indigenous populations experience an inequitable influenza burden, the magnitude of this inequity has not previously been estimated on a global scale. This study, published in PLOS Global Public Health, compared rates of influenza-associated hospitalisation and mortality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations globally.

African Hut model of health: a framework for improving African migrant health in Aotearoa/New Zealand
There is renewed international effort to improve the health and well-being of migrants. For African migrants, theoretical frameworks designed to account for and guide interventions to address the underlying mechanisms that interact to influence health and well-being remain largely underdeveloped. The aim of this study, published in Health Promotion International, was to address this gap by providing a unique socio-ecological framework with specific entry points for targeted health promotion action aimed at improving the health and well-being of African migrants living in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Health-related quality of life 12 years after injury: prevalence and predictors of outcomes in a cohort of injured Māori
Studies have found that many people who sustain an injury can experience adverse outcomes for a considerable time thereafter. Māori, the Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu (New Zealand; NZ), are no exception. The Prospective Outcomes of Injury Study (POIS) found that almost three-quarters of Māori participants were experiencing at least one of a range of poor outcomes at two years post-injury. The aim of this paper, published in Quality of Life Research, was to estimate the prevalence, and identify predictors, of adverse health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes in the POIS-10 Māori cohort, 12 years after participants sustained an injury.

A person-centred approach to ethnic and national identity and its relation to subjective well-being among Korean New Zealanders
This paper, published in Kōtuitui, examined 1,270 Korean New Zealanders in terms of the patterns of their Korean ethnic and New Zealand national identities and how these orientations relate to their subjective well-being.

How Older Indigenous Women Living in High-Income Countries Use Digital Health Technology: Systematic Review
The objective of this systematic review, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, was to consolidate and document what we know about how older Indigenous women living in high-income countries use digital health technology to enhance their health.

Health outcomes of children in state care in Aotearoa New Zealand
This study, published in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, aims to provide an overview of the association between being in the custody of the chief executive of Oranga Tamariki and all-cause hospitalisation and mortality.

Quality Improvement (New Zealand)

COVID-19 care in the community system learning opportunities
A project was initiated with Manatū Hauora - Ministry of Health (MoH), COVID Care in the Community (CCitC) health providers and Te Tāhū Hauora Health Quality & Safety Commission (Te Tāhū Hauora) to understand the processes that the CCitC hubs had adopted.

Hospital Productivity (New Zealand)

The place of rural hospitals in New Zealand's health system: an exploratory qualitative study
In Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) there is a knowledge gap regarding the place and contribution of rural hospitals in the health system. New Zealanders residing in rural areas have poorer health outcomes than those living in urban areas, and this is accentuated for Māori, the Indigenous people of the country. There is no current description of rural hospital services, no national policies and little published research regarding their role or value. Around 15% of New Zealanders rely on rural hospitals for health care. The purpose of this exploratory study, published in Rural and Remote Health, was to understand national rural hospital leadership perspectives on the place of rural hospitals in the NZ health system. 

Cancer Services (International)

Screening for Skin Cancer: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement
Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the US. There are different types of skin cancer varying in disease incidence and severity. Basal and squamous cell carcinomas are the most common types of skin cancer but infrequently lead to death or substantial morbidity. Melanomas represent about 1% of skin cancer and cause the most skin cancer deaths. Melanoma is about 30 times more common in White persons than in Black persons. However, persons with darker skin color are often diagnosed at later stages, when skin cancer is more difficult to treat. This recommendation, published in JAMA, updates a 2016 recommendation on the benefits and harms of screening for skin cancer in asymptomatic adolescents and adults.

Emergency Department Services (New Zealand)

Emergency Department Utilization, Admissions, and Revisits in the United States (New York), Canada (Ontario), and New Zealand: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Analysis
Emergency department (ED) utilization is a significant concern in many countries, but few population-based studies have compared ED use. The objective of this study, published in the Academic Emergency Medicine, was to compare ED utilization in New York, Ontario, and New Zealand.

Primary Health Care (International)

Primary healthcare competencies needed in the management of person-centred integrated care for chronic illness and multimorbidity: Results of a scoping review
Chronic disease management is important in primary care. Disease management programmes focus primarily on the respective diseases. The occurrence of multimorbidity and social problems is addressed to a limited extent. Person-centred integrated care (PC-IC) is an alternative approach, putting the patient at the centre of care. This asks for additional competencies for healthcare professionals involved in the execution of PC-IC. This scoping review, published in BMC Primary Care, researched which competencies are necessary for healthcare professionals working in collaborative teams where the focus lies within the concept of PC-IC.

Primary Mental Health (International)

One-year follow-up of the effectiveness of a lifestyle modification programme as an adjuvant treatment of depression in primary care: A randomised clinical trial
An estimated 280 million individuals suffer from depression. Brief group interventions in Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) are recommended. One goal of these interventions is to educate people about healthy lifestyle habits, as they prevent the development of depression. This study, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, aims to analyse the one-year follow-up results about the effectiveness of a Lifestyle Modification Programme and an LMP plus Information and Communication Technologies when compared to Treatment as Usual.

Smoking Cessation (International)

Effectiveness of Peer-Support Interventions for Smoking Cessation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Peer support has been recommended to promote smoking cessation, but results from prior meta-analyses have not established its efficacy. This systematic review and meta-analysis, published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research, assessed current evidence and identify potential modifiers of efficacy. 

Disability Services (International)

“Can you hear me now?”: a qualitative exploration of communication quality in virtual primary care encounters for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities
High quality communication is central to effective primary care. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a dramatic increase in virtual care but little is known about how this may affect communication quality. Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) can experience challenges communicating or communicate in non-traditional ways. This study, published in the BMC Primary Care, explored how the use of virtual modalities, including telephone and video, affects communication in primary care interactions for patients with IDD.

Key Ministry of Health Publications

Guidelines for reducing and eliminating seclusion and restraint under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992
These guidelines support the safe reduction and elimination of seclusion and restraint for people subject to the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992.

Pharmacy Whakamahere: Understanding the pharmacy needs of our population
This publication sets out the consumers’ voice, their perception of pharmacy services and their needs from pharmacy services. Māori, Pasifika, disabled Pasifika, people with disabilities (Blind, Deaf, physical disability and people with mental health illnesses) shared their lived experiences.

Health Sector Initiative

The double whammy of delerium and dementia
A team at Counties Manukau is taking new initiatives to boost staff awareness about a growing problem in the care of elderly patients. The issue is the twin problems of delirium and dementia in the elderly – a situation which leads to negative clinical outcomes, especially on discharge. 

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.