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Journal articleDanielli S, Patria R, Donnelly P, et al., 2021,
Economic interventions to ameliorate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and health: an international comparison
, Journal of Public Health, Vol: 43, Pages: 42-46, ISSN: 1741-3842BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge governments and policymakers worldwide. They have rightfully prioritised reducing the spread of the virus through social distancing interventions. However, shuttered business and widespread restrictions on travel and mobility have led to an economic collapse with increasing uncertainty of how quickly recovery will be achieved.MethodsThe authors carried out a review of publicly available information on the economic intervention’s countries have put in place to ameliorate the impact of COVID-19.ResultsThe strategies and scale of economic interventions have been broad, ranging from 2.5% to a reported 50% of Gross Domestic Product.ConclusionsNumerous countries are beginning to ease lockdown restrictions and restart economies in different ways. There is therefore evolving, real-world data that should be used dynamically by governments and policymakers. The strategies on restarting the economy must be balanced against the uncertainty of a possible second wave of COVID-19. A nuanced approach to easing restrictions needs to take into account not only immediate risk to life but longer-term risks of widening inequalities and falling life expectancy.
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Journal articleIqbal FM, Lam K, Sounderajah V, et al., 2021,
Understanding the survivorship burden of long COVID
, ECLINICALMEDICINE, Vol: 33- Author Web Link
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- Citations: 6
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Journal articleFreise L, Neves AL, Flott K, et al., 2021,
Assessment of patients' ability to review electronic health record information to identify potential errors: cross-sectional web-based survey
, JMIR Formative Research, Vol: 5, ISSN: 2561-326XBackground: Sharing personal health information positively impacts quality of care across several domains, and particularly, safety and patient-centeredness. Patients may identify and flag up inconsistencies in their electronic health records (EHRs), leading to improved information quality and patient safety. However, in order to identify potential errors, patients need to be able to understand the information contained in their EHRs.Objective: The aim of this study was to assess patients’ perceptions of their ability to understand the information contained in their EHRs and to analyze the main barriers to their understanding. Additionally, the main types of patient-reported errors were characterized.Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey was undertaken between March 2017 and September 2017. A total of 682 registered users of the Care Information Exchange, a patient portal, with at least one access during the time of the study were invited to complete the survey containing both structured (multiple choice) and unstructured (free text) questions. The survey contained questions on patients’ perceived ability to understand their EHR information and therefore, to identify errors. Free-text questions allowed respondents to expand on the reasoning for their structured responses and provide more detail about their perceptions of EHRs and identifying errors within them. Qualitative data were systematically reviewed by 2 independent researchers using the framework analysis method in order to identify emerging themes.Results: A total of 210 responses were obtained. The majority of the responses (123/210, 58.6%) reported understanding of the information. The main barriers identified were information-related (medical terminology and knowledge and interpretation of test results) and technology-related (user-friendliness of the portal, information display). Inconsistencies relating to incomplete and incorrect information were reported in 12.4% (26/210) of the res
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Journal articleOlivia L, Roberts L, Jonathan R G, et al., 2021,
“Opening a Can of Worms” - exploring public hopes and fears on healthcare data sharing: qualitative study
, Journal of Medical Internet Research, Vol: 23, ISSN: 1438-8871Background: Evidence suggests that health care data sharing may strengthen care coordination, improve quality and safety, and reduce costs. However, to achieve efficient and meaningful adoption of health care data-sharing initiatives, it is necessary to engage all stakeholders, from health care professionals to patients. Although previous work has assessed health care professionals’ perceptions of data sharing, perspectives of the general public and particularly of seldom heard groups have yet to be fully assessed.Objective: This study aims to explore the views of the public, particularly their hopes and concerns, around health care data sharing.Methods: An original, immersive public engagement interactive experience was developed—The Can of Worms installation—in which participants were prompted to reflect about data sharing through listening to individual stories around health care data sharing. A multidisciplinary team with expertise in research, public involvement, and human-centered design developed this concept. The installation took place in three separate events between November 2018 and November 2019. A combination of convenience and snowball sampling was used in this study. Participants were asked to fill self-administered feedback cards and to describe their hopes and fears about the meaningful use of data in health care. The transcripts were compiled verbatim and systematically reviewed by four independent reviewers using the thematic analysis method to identify emerging themes.Results: Our approach exemplifies the potential of using interdisciplinary expertise in research, public involvement, and human-centered design to tell stories, collect perspectives, and spark conversations around complex topics in participatory digital medicine. A total of 352 qualitative feedback cards were collected, each reflecting participants’ hopes and fears for health care data sharing. Thematic analyses identified six themes under hopes: enablement
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Journal articleObrien N, Flott K, Durkin M, 2021,
COVID-19: leadership on the frontline is what matters when we support healthcare workers
, International Journal for Quality in Health Care, Vol: 33, Pages: 1-2, ISSN: 1353-4505The implications of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, henceforth described as COVID-19) on healthcare systems globally are proving to be immense, with unforeseen impacts that are still to fully emerge. Local and national healthcare systems, hospitals and healthcare workers have been overwhelmed by the needs of patients and limited by weaknesses in resources, staff capacity and distribution networks. These circumstances impact the ergonomic conditions within which healthcare staff work and subsequently their behavioural responses.In this commentary, we argue that urgent research is needed globally to bridge the evidence gap that exists on how best to support healthcare workers with the repercussions of working on the frontline of a pandemic. Leadership on the frontline is what matters. It is not only what policies, guidelines and checklists are in place to support nurses, doctors and healthcare workers, it is the actions and behaviours of their frontline and local leaders in implementing initiatives that really make the difference.Recognizing that the leadership style, organizational culture and model of successful implementation are inextricable is the first step to ensure sustainable interventions to support healthcare workers' well-being will follow.
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Journal articleWard H, Atchison C, Whitaker M, et al., 2021,
SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence in England following the first peak of the pandemic.
, Nature Communications, Vol: 12, Pages: 1-8, ISSN: 2041-1723England has experienced a large outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, disproportionately affecting people from disadvantaged and ethnic minority communities. It is unclear how much of this excess is due to differences in exposure associated with structural inequalities. Here we report from the REal-time Assessment of Community Transmission-2 (REACT-2) national study of over 100,000 people. After adjusting for test characteristics and re-weighting to the population, overall antibody prevalence is 6.0% (95% CI: 5.8-6.1). An estimated 3.4 million people had developed antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 by mid-July 2020. Prevalence is two- to three-fold higher among health and care workers compared with non-essential workers, and in people of Black or South Asian than white ethnicity, while age- and sex-specific infection fatality ratios are similar across ethnicities. Our results indicate that higher hospitalisation and mortality from COVID-19 in minority ethnic groups may reflect higher rates of infection rather than differential experience of disease or care.
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Journal articleOBrien N, Ghafur S, Durkin M, 2021,
Cybersecurity in health is an urgent patient safety concern: We can learn from existing patient safety improvement strategies to address it
, Journal of Patient Safety and Risk Management, Vol: 26, Pages: 5-10, ISSN: 2516-0435Introduction: Cybersecurity is a patient safety concern. Recent cyberattacks on healthcare institutions around the world have shown the risks to patients: from delayed treatment as hospitals and clinics are shutdown, to the threat of harm from the theft of personal data, to patient death. The recent Covid-19 pandemic has further increased cyber-attacks on health organisations. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) digital health, including the use of health informatics systems and electronic health records, is an increasing part of the health agenda as national governments move to scale up healthcare on the path to achieving Universal Health Coverage. Frontline healthcare workers are often warned of the dangers of data mismanagement and are advised to take precautions to ensure data is safe. However, as many workers are already overstretched with conflicting administrative priorities, cybersecurity risks are going unnoticed. Discussion: In this commentary we argue that future education and training interventions for frontline healthcare workers on cybersecurity in LMICs can benefit from lessons learned from other areas of patient safety. Validated interventions, including education and awareness programmes and other simple tools, exist which can offer guidance on how cybersecurity awareness and education may be scaled up in frontline healthcare facilities, without adding an unacceptable burden to staff. Conclusions: Efforts to develop frontline interventions on cybersecurity that can be easily implemented and sustained are essential to ensure patient safety is a top priority in a digitally reliant health system.
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Journal articleDanielli S, Coffey T, Ashrafian H, et al., 2021,
Systematic review into city interventions to address obesity
, EClinicalMedicine, Vol: 32, ISSN: 2589-5370BackgroundObesity threatens to undo the improvements that have been made in life expectancy over the last two centuries. It disproportionately affects lower socioeconomic and ethnic minority groups and has become one of the most important global health challenges of the 21stcentury. Whilst obesity is not confined to city populations, cities are home to more than half of the world's population with concentrated groups at high risk of obesity. Cities have also long been the forefront of social and technological change that has led to our current obesogenic environment. The aim of this study was to systematically identify city-wide interventions to address obesity, from which recommendations for policy makers, health system leaders and political leaders in cities could be made.MethodsSystematic review, conducted according to PRISMA guidelines, examining Embase, Ovid Medline, Central, Scopus, Campbell Library, CINALH, Health Business Elite; Health Management Information Consortium (HMIC), PyschINFO and Prospero. No restrictions on article type, date range or geographic location were applied. Along with classic academic sources, books and policy white papers were sought and reviewed. Studies that described a city-wide intervention to reduce obesity were included, irrespective of study design or perceived methodological quality. Only studies in English language were included. The primary outcome indicators that were sought and extracted were: reduction in obesity, reduction in weight and/or reduction in BMI. Where a primary outcome indicator was not stated, any other secondary impact measure was identified and recorded. This manuscript represents thematic analysis of a sub-set of data from the Prospero study, registration number: CRD42020166210FindingsOur search yielded 42,137 original citations of which 1614 met the inclusion criteria and 96 were coded as relating to obesity. The 96 citations, ranging in year of publication 1997 to 2019, were conducted in 36 cities, with
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Journal articleEspinosa-González AB, Delaney BC, Marti J, et al., 2021,
The role of the state in financing and regulating primary care in Europe: a taxonomy
, Health Policy, Vol: 125, Pages: 168-176, ISSN: 0168-8510Traditional health systems typologies were based on health system financing type, such as the well-known OECD typology. However, the number of dimensions captured in classifications increased to reflect health systems complexity. This study aims to develop a taxonomy of primary care (PC) systems based on the actors involved (state, societal and private) and mechanisms used in governance, financing and regulation, which conceptually represents the degree of decentralisation of functions. We use nonlinear canonical correlations analysis and agglomerative hierarchical clustering on data obtained from the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policy and informants from 24 WHO European Region countries. We obtain four clusters: 1) Bosnia Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia and Switzerland: corporatist and/or fragmented PC system, with state involvement in PC supply regulation, without gatekeeping; 2) Greece, Ireland, Israel, Malta, Sweden, and Ukraine: public and (re)centralised PC financing and regulation with private involvement, without gatekeeping; 3) Finland, Norway, Spain and United Kingdom: public financing and devolved regulation and organisation of PC, with gatekeeping; and 4) Bulgaria, Croatia, France, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey: public and deconcentrated with professional involvement in supply regulation, and gatekeeping. This taxonomy can serve as a framework for performance comparisons and a means to analyse the effect that different actors and levels of devolution or fragmentation of PC delivery may have in health outcomes.
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Journal articleLi W, Shen M, Gao A, et al., 2021,
Towards a Snake-Like Flexible Robot for Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection
, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MEDICAL ROBOTICS AND BIONICS, Vol: 3, Pages: 257-260- Author Web Link
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- Citations: 8
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