Journal of Public Health Research (PAGEPress Publications)
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WHO efforts to promote reporting of adverse events and global learning
Get PDFDespite the importance of reporting systems to learn about the casual chain and consequences of patient safety incidents, this is an area that requires of further conceptual and technical developments to conduce reporting to effective learning. The World Health Organization, through its Patient Safety Programme, adopted as a priority the objective to facilitate and stimulate global learning through enhanced reporting of patient safety incidents. Landmark developments were the WHO Draft Guidelines for Adverse Event Reporting and Learning Systems, and the Conceptual Framework for the International Classification for Patient Safety, as well as the Global Community of Practice for Reporting and Learning Systems. WHO is currently working with a range of scientists, medical informatics specialists and healthcare officials from various countries around the world, to arrive at a Minimal Information Model that could serve as a basis to structure the core of reporting systems in a comparable manner across the world. Undoubtedly, there is much need for additional scientific developments in this challenging and innovative area. For effective reporting systems and enhanced global learning, other key contextual factors are essential for reporting to serve to the needs of clinicians, patients and the healthcare system at large. Moreover, the new data challenges and needs of organizations must be assessed as the era of big data comes to heath care. These considerations delineate a broad agenda for action, which offer an ambitious challenge for WHO and their partners interested in strengthening learning for improving through reporting and communicating about patient safety incidents
Intermittent attendance at breast cancer screening
Get PDFBackground. To determine why women skip rounds and factors influencing return of previous non attenders (PNAs) to breast screening. Design and methods. Retrospective, quantitative, structured questionnaire posted to 2500 women. First PNAs did not attend their first screening appointment in 2007/2008 but then attended in 2010; First Controls first attended in 2010 without missed previous appointments. Women who attended screening in 2006 or earlier then skipped a round but returned in 2010 were Subsequent PNAs; Subsequent Controls attended all appointments.Results. More First Controls than First PNAs had family history of cancer (72.7% vs 63.2%; P=0.003); breast cancer (31.3% vs 24.8%; P=0.04). More PNAs lived rurally; more First PNAs had 3rd level education (33.2% vs 23.6%; P=0.002) and fewer had private insurance than First Controls (57.7% vs 64.8%; P=0.04). Excellent/good health was reported in First PNAs and First Controls (82.9% vs 83.2%), but fewer Subsequent PNAs than Subsequent Controls (72.7% vs 84.9%; P=0.000). Common considerations at time of missed appointment were had mammogram elsewhere (33% First PNA) and postponed to next round (16% First PNA, 18.8% Subsequent PNA). Considerations when returning to screening were similar for First PNAs and Subsequent PNAs: I am older (35.4%, 29.6%), I made sure I remembered (29%, 23.6%), could reschedule (17.6%, 20.6%), illness of more concern (16.5%, 19%). More First PNAs stated my family/friends advised (22.3% vs 15.2%) or my GP (12.6% vs 4.6%) advised me to attend, heard good things about BreastCheck (28.8% vs 13.6%).Conclusions. Intermittent attenders do not fit socio-demographic patterns of non-attenders; GP recommendation and word of mouth were important in women’s return to screening. Fear and anxiety seem to act as a screening facilitator rather than an inhibitor
Public health interventions: evaluating the economic evaluations
Get PDFRecent years have witnessed much progress in the incorporation of economic considerations into the evaluation of public health interventions. In England, the Centre for Public Health Excellence within the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence works to develop guidance for preventing illness and assessing which public health interventions are most effective and provide best value for money..
Health knowledge among the millennial generation
Get PDFThe Millennial Generation, also known as Generation Y, is the demographic cohort following Generation X, and is generally regarded to be composed of those individuals born between 1980 and 2000. They are the first to grow up in an environment where health-related information is widely available by internet, TV and other electronic media, yet we know very little about the scope of their health knowledge. This study was undertaken to quantify two domains of clinically relevant health knowledge: factual content and ability to solve health related questions (application) in nine clinically related medical areas. Study subjects correctly answered, on average, 75% of health application questions but only 54% of health content questions. Since students were better able to correctly answer questions dealing with applications compared to those on factual content contemporary US high school students may not use traditional hierarchical learning models in acquisition of their health knowledge
Pitfalls of counterfactual thinking in medical practice: preventing errors by using more functional reference points
Get PDFBackground. Counterfactual thinking involves mentally simulating alternatives to reality. The current article reviews literature pertaining to the relevance counterfactual thinking has for the quality of medical decision making. Although earlier counterfactual thought research concluded that counterfactuals have important benefits for the individual, there are reasons to believe that counterfactual thinking is also associated with dysfunctional consequences. Of particular focus is whether or not medical experience, and its influence on counterfactual thinking, actually informs or improves medical practice. It is hypothesized that relatively more probable decision alternatives, followed by undesirable outcomes and counterfactual thought responses, can be abandoned for relatively less probable decision alternatives.Design and Methods. Building on earlier research demonstrating that counterfactual thinking can impede memory and learning in a decision paradigm with undergraduate students, the current study examines the extent to which earlier findings can be generalized to practicing physicians (N=10). Participants were asked to complete 60 trials of a computerized Monty Hall Problem simulation. Learning by experience was operationalized as the frequency of switch-decisions.Results. Although some learning was evidenced by a general increase in switch-decision frequency across block trials, the extent of learning demonstrated was not ideal, nor practical.Conclusions. A simple, multiple-trial, decision paradigm demonstrated that doctors fail to learn basic decision-outcome associations through experience. An agenda for future research, which tests the functionality of reference points (other than counterfactual alternatives) for the purposes of medical decision making, is proposed
The utility of cancer-related cultural constructs to understand colorectal cancer screening among African Americans
Get PDFBackground. Data suggest that colorectal cancer could be cut by approximately 60% if all people aged 50 years or older received regular screening. Studies have identified socio-cultural attitudes that might inform cancer education and screening promotion campaigns. This article applies item response theory (IRT) to a set of survey items selected to assess sociocultural attitudes in order to determine how current measures may affect what we know about how these attitudes affect colorectal cancer screening (CRCS).Design and Methods. A survey of colorectal cancer screening, screening attitudes and cultural beliefs was administered to 1021 African Americans – 683 women and 338 men, ages 50 to 75. Eligibility crite ria for participation included being born in the United States, self-identified African American male or female, age 50 to 75 years. The IRT analysis was performed on 655 individuals with complete data for the 43 observed variables. Results. Twenty-nine items comprise the Multi-construct African American Cultural Survey (MAACS) that addresses seven cultural con- structs: mistrust/distrust, privacy, ethnic identity, collectivism, empowerment, and male gender roles. The items provide adequate information about the attitudes of the population across most levels of the constructs assessed. Among the sociocultural variables considered, empowerment (OR=1.078; 95% CI: 1.008, 1.151) had the strongest association with CRCS adherence and privacy showed promise. Conclusions. The MAACS provides a fixed length questionnaire to assess African American CRCS attitudes, two new constructs that might assist in CRCS promotion, and a suggested focus for identification of additional constructs of interest
A case of error disclosure: a communication privacy management analysis
Get PDFTo better understand the process of disclosing medical errors to patients, this research offers a case analysis using Petronios’s theoretical frame of Communication Privacy Management (CPM). Given the resistance clinicians often feel about error disclosure, insights into the way choices are made by the clinicians in telling patients about the mistake has the potential to address reasons for resistance. Applying the evidenced-based CPM theory, developed over the last 35 years and dedicated to studying disclosure phenomenon, to disclosing medical mistakes potentially has the ability to reshape thinking about the error disclosure process. Using a composite case representing a surgical mistake, analysis based on CPM theory is offered to gain insights into conversational routines and disclosure management choices of revealing a medical error. The results of this analysis show that an underlying assumption of health information ownership by the patient and family can be at odds with the way the clinician tends to control disclosure about the error. In addition, the case analysis illustrates that there are embedded patterns of disclosure that emerge out of conversations the clinician has with the patient and the patient’s family members. These patterns unfold privacy management decisions on the part of the clinician that impact how the patient is told about the error and the way that patients interpret the meaning of the disclosure. These findings suggest the need for a better understanding of how patients manage their private health information in relationship to their expectations for the way they see the clinician caring for or controlling their health information about errors
A community-based oral health promotion model for HIV patients in Nairobi, East District in Kenya: a study protocol
Get PDFBackground: General HIV-related orofacial lesions, most commonly oropharyngeal candidiasis, have a typical clinical appearance and can be recognised by members of the community. Although affected patients often experience pain leading to compromised eating and swallowing, barriers such as social stigma and lack of knowledge regarding available services may prevent them from seeking early care. Educating the community about these lesions through community health workers (CHWs) who are democratically elected community members may encourage individuals affected to seek early oral health-care in the health facilities. A health facility (HF) is a health centre mainly run by clinical officers (CO), i.e. personnel with a 3-year medical training, and nurses. This study aims to evaluate the effect of a CHW training programme on: i) their knowledge and recognition of HIV-related oral-facial lesions at a community level; and ii) referral of affected patients from the community to the HFs. Design and Methods: All 800 CHWs in 2 administrative divisions of Nairobi East District (test group n=400; control group n=400) will be selected. The test group will receive training. CHWs in both groups will be assessed at 4 time points: −3, 0, +3 and +6 months with reference to the training on: i) their knowledge of HIV-related orofacial lesions (using a written questionnaire); and ii) their performance in referring affected patients to the HFs (using clinical data). Expected Impact: Early recognition of HIV-related orofacial lesions at a community level will prompt community members to seek early oral care, leading to early HIV testing and counselling regarding failure of antiretroviral therapy, while treatment outcomes are still favourable
Patients’ experience of a regional allergy service
Get PDFBackground. The principle reason for referral to specialist allergy clinics is to establish diagnoses and provide treatment plans to help patients manage their allergy. If patients do not accept, understand, or remember diagnoses or treatment, clinic visits may have been a waste of time. Few specialist allergy clinics follow up patients after diagnosis.Design and Methods. This was a postal survey to assess patients’ i) perception of usefulness of specialist allergy clinic visits, ii) under- standing of their allergy, iii) confidence in managing it, and iv) response to joining a regional online forum. Data for patients with confirmed allergy who attended the Peninsula Allergy Service (PAS) from 1998-2009 were extracted from consultant letters to general practitioners. Postal questionnaires were sent to 933 patients; 39% (336) responded.Results. Two-thirds (63%) thought their clinic visit useful and resulted in them being more in control of their allergy; 9% thought it useful but they still had problems, 26% thought it had not been much use. One in six (16%, 55) respondents had major differences in their view of their allergy compared to that recorded by PAS. Over half (56%) had had further symptoms since their clinic visit and 120 patients, who were not confident in coping with their allergy, listed aspects of their lives that gave concern.Conclusions. Specialist clinics need routine feedback from patients if they are to monitor their effectiveness and some better form of follow up for patients is needed to reinforce education and support patients. Public education is important
What to do with healthcare Incident Reporting Systems
Get PDFIncident Reporting Systems (IRS) are and will continue to be an important influence on improving patient safety. They can provide valuable insights into how and why patients can be harmed at the organizational level. However, they are not the panacea that many believe them to be. They have several limitations that should be considered. Most of these limitations stem from inherent biases of voluntary reporting systems. These limitations include: i) IRS can’t be used to measure safety (error rates); ii) IRS can’t be used to compare organizations; iii) IRS can’t be used to measure changes over time; iv) IRS generate too many reports; v) IRS often don’t generate in-depth analyses or result in strong interventions to reduce risk; vi) IRS are associated with costs. IRS do offer significant value; their value is found in the following: i) IRS can be used to identify local system hazards; ii) IRS can be used to aggregate experiences for uncommon conditions; iii) IRS can be used to share lessons within and across organizations; iv) IRS can be used to increase patient safety culture. Moving forward, several strategies are suggested to maximize their value: i) make reporting easier; ii) make reporting meaningful to the reporter; iii) make the measure of success system changes, rather than events reported; iv) prioritize which events to report and investigate, report and investigate them well; v) convene with diverse stakeholders to enhance the value of IRS