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Background: Health systems are fundamental to the promotion and protection of breastfeeding. Health professionals have a pivotal influence on families' infant feeding decisions and may act as facilitators or barriers to adequate breastfeeding practices., Research Aim: To explore factors influencing health professionals' decisions regarding the indication of infant formula in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, an emerging Latin American country., Method: This was a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with 30 health professionals (neonatologists, pediatricians, family doctors, and nurses) working in primary and secondary care in both private and public health institutions. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using content analysis based on deductive-inductive coding., Results: The narratives of the participants identified maternity wards as the healthcare sites where the indication of infant formula occurs most frequently. Motives underlying the indication of infant formula by health professionals were diverse. The type of birth and the conditions of the child and the mother were the most relevant in secondary care, whereas maternal work was the main determining factor in primary care. A wide range of factors encouraging and discouraging the indication of infant formula were identified by health professionals in primary and secondary healthcare locations, which were related to all the levels of influence of the socioecological model., Conclusions: Strategies to reduce the use of infant formula in Uruguay should include improving the support and guidance provided to families in the maternity ward, strengthening the implementation and monitoring of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, and improving the current maternity leave regulations., Competing Interests: Disclosures and Conflicts of InterestThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background: Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) is an important component of healthcare research. Conducting PPI within paediatric palliative care research requires specific ethical and practical considerations. Regular reviews of PPI activity are important., Aim: To evaluate a paediatric palliative care research centre's PPI activity to determine what went well, or less well; and how future activities can be improved., Design: Two stage evaluation: first a review of PPI study logs; second a qualitative exploration using a survey, structured interviews and a focus group. Data were analysed thematically., Settings/participants: Parents of children with life-limiting conditions, bereaved parents and researchers, all engaged in PPI activity within a paediatric palliative care research centre., Findings: The review of PPI logs for 15 studies highlighted the crucial role of funding in enabling PPI throughout the research. Eight parents completed the survey, 4 parents were interviewed and 12 researchers participated in a focus group. Three themes were developed: Clarity of processes and purpose; balanced relationships created a safe space; and mutual respect and value for PPI. These themes highlight what is working well within the Centre's approach to PPI and the opportunities to improve., Conclusions: To undertake meaningful PPI in paediatric palliative care research, adequate time and resources are required. Roles, processes and expectations must be explicitly agreed. Establishing relationships ensures trust and enables authenticity and vulnerability. In addition to improving research, PPI has personal benefits for researchers and parents. The evaluation led to the development of a 'route map' for establishing an impactful PPI group for paediatric palliative care research., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

The professional experiences of school nurses who work outside of urban areas are not often described. We used data from a 2019 statewide survey of school nurses to describe differences between the urban and non-urban (urban cluster and rural) school nurse workforce in New Mexico. Non-urban school nurses were twice as likely as urban nurses to provide clinical services to multiple school campuses ( P   <  .001) and more likely to serve both elementary and secondary school settings ( P   =  .002). They were less likely than urban school nurses to be bachelor's prepared, or to have received recent continuing education on diabetes ( P   <  .001), reproductive health ( P  = 0.02), LGBQ+ and transgender student health ( P   <  .001, for each), and suicide risk assessment and screening ( P   =  .012). Our findings underscore concerns about geographic differences in the school nursing workforce in terms of educational preparation and student access that could potentially limit the school nurse role in advancing child health equity., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Introduction: The number of surgical extractions performed in hospitals in England remains unclear. This study reports the volume of surgical extractions conducted in hospitals and change in activity during the COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: We conducted a nationwide observational cohort study using Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) in England for patients undergoing surgical removal of a tooth (defined using OPSC-4 code F09) between April 1, 2015, and December 31, 2020. Procedures were stratified by age, gender, and urgency (elective or nonelective), reported using descriptive statistics, number, and percentage. We conducted post hoc modeling to predict surgical activity to December 2023. In addition, we contrasted this with aggregate national data on simple dental extraction procedures and drainage of dental abscesses in hospital as well as dental activity in general practice., Results: We identified a total of 569,938 episodes for the surgical removal of a tooth (females 57%). Of these, 493,056/569,938 (87%) were for adults and 76,882/569,938 (13%) children ≤18 years. Surgical extractions were most frequent in adult females. Elective cases accounted for 96% ( n = 548,805/569,938) of procedures. The median number of procedures carried out per quarter was 27,256, dropping to 12,003 during the COVID-19 pandemic, representing a 56% reduction in activity. This amounted to around 61,058 cancelled procedures. Modeling predicts that this activity has not returned to prepandemic levels., Conclusions: The number of surgical extractions taking place in hospitals during the pandemic fell by 56%. The true impact of this reduction is unknown, but delayed treatment increases the risk of complications, including life-threatening infections., Knowledge Transfer Statement: The result of this study provides an evidence-based overview of the trends relating to surgical extractions of teeth in England taking place in hospitals. This information can be used to inform service and workforce planning to meet the needs of patients requiring surgical extractions. The data also provide an insight into the oral health needs of the population in England., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: J. Booth is supported by the National Institute of Health Research as an Academic Clinical Fellow. A.J. Fowler is supported by an NIHR DRF 2018-11-ST2-062.

Knowledge Transfer Statement: Community-based participatory research is an equitable and wholesome approach that aims to respectfully collaborate with the communities that it seeks to impact. It offers everyone a seat at the table when trying to create transformative clinical, behavioral, and health services change. Oral health scientists and program implementers can apply this framework for research and programming in communities where past approaches have not necessarily benefited the peoples or their communities in an equitable manner., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Introduction: Patient involvement is a critical component of dementia research priority-setting exercises to ensure that research benefits are relevant and acceptable to those who need the most. This systematic review synthesises research priorities and preferences identified by people living with dementia and their caregivers., Methods: Guided by Joanna Briggs Institute methodology, and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses framework, we conducted a systematic search in five electronic databases: CINAHL, Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Scopus. The reference lists of the included studies were also manually searched. We combined quantitative and qualitative data for synthesis and descriptive thematic analysis., Results: Eleven studies were included in this review. Findings are grouped into four main categories: Increase in knowledge, education, and awareness; Determining the cause; Sustainability of care; and Cure of dementia and related conditions., Conclusion: There is a need to respond to the stigma associated with dementia, which limits access to care and the quality of life for both people living with dementia and their caregivers. We need to work on changing public, private and workplace attitudes about dementia and encourage supporting and participating in dementia research. Future research should involve people living with dementia and their primary caregivers from culturally and linguistically diverse communities in priority-setting exercises., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Increased patient advocacy has resulted in a shift toward more active patient engagement in the research. A scoping review was conducted to explore the literature on healthcare research priority settings wherein children, youths, or their families were involved in the priority-setting process. Six databases including MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Embase, Web of Science, and Global Health and the James Lind Alliance website were searched up until September 2019. All primary studies involving children (<18 years of age) or families in developing research priorities in health care were included. All retrieved references were uploaded into Covidence, and two independent reviewers screened the search results. Descriptive thematic analysis was used to identify common themes. A total of 30 studies with 4247 participants were included. Less than half of the participants ( n = 1237, (33%) were pediatric patients and their families. A total of 455 research priorities were identified. Three common themes emerged: (i) quality of care delivery, (ii) self-efficacy in health behaviors, and (iii) community engagement in care. This scoping review revealed priority research health topics from the perspectives of children, youths, or their families. The findings may be used as a foundation for future research to improve the health outcomes of children, youths, or their families according to their identified priorities., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Logic modelling is used widely in health promotion planning for complex health and social problems. It is often undertaken collaboratively with stakeholders across sectors that hold and enact different institutional approaches. We use hermeneutic philosophy to explore how knowledge is 'lived' by - and unfolds differently for - cross-sectoral stakeholders during comprehensive primary healthcare service planning. An Organisational Action Research partnership was established with a non-government organisation designing comprehensive primary health care for individuals experiencing homelessness in Adelaide, Australia. Grey literature, stakeholder input, academic feedback, a targeted literature review and evidence synthesis were integrated in iterative cycles to inform and refine the logic model. Diverse knowledge systems are active when cross-sectoral stakeholders collaborate on logic models for comprehensive primary health care planning. Considering logic modelling as a hermeneutic praxis helps to foreground and explore these differences. In our case, divergent ideas emerged in how health/wellbeing and trust were conceptualised; language had different meanings across sectors; and the outcomes and data sought were nuanced for various collaborators. We explicate these methodological insights and also contribute our evidence-informed, collaboratively-derived model for design of a comprehensive primary health care service with populations experiencing homelessness. We outline the value of considering cross-sectoral logic modelling as hermeneutic praxis. Engaging with points of difference in cross-sectoral knowledge systems can strengthen logic modelling processes, partnerships and potential outcomes for complex and comprehensive primary health care services., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Unsettled infant behaviours are highly prevalent in the postnatal period and constitute a significant proportion of visits to healthcare services. Unsettled infant behaviours can be highly distressing for parents and are identified as a significant risk factor for postnatal depression. Understanding parents' experiences is paramount to reducing the gap between consumer expectations and service delivery. This study employed a qualitative descriptive approach to explore parents' experiences seeking healthcare advice for their infant with unsettled behaviours. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 mothers. Inductive thematic analysis yielded two overarching themes: (1) 'the journey for answers', consisting of five sub-themes, and (2) 'parents' knowledge and behaviours', consisting of six sub-themes. Despite some positive interactions with healthcare services, mothers generally spoke negatively of their overall experience seeking answers and receiving care for their infant, and they felt the healthcare services they attended were not equipped to meet their needs. To address the gap between service delivery and consumer expectations, mothers relied on online communities for advice and emotional support. The findings of this study highlight several discrepancies between mothers' expectations and service delivery in the context of unsettled infant behaviours, and this paper makes recommendations to address identified shortcomings in approaches to care., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background: Public involvement enhances the relevance, quality, and impact of research. There is some evidence that public involvement in Australian research lags other countries, such as the United Kingdom. The purpose of the systematic review was to establish the rates and describe the characteristics of public involvement in Australian clinical trials., Methods: We reviewed evidence of public involvement in all Australian randomised controlled trials published in the first 6 months of 2021. To determine the quality of public involvement, we used the five-item short-form version of the Guidance of Reporting Involvement Patients and the Public, version 2., Results: In total, 325 randomised controlled trials were included, of which 17 (5%) reported any public involvement. Six trials reported public involvement in setting the research aim and seven in developing study methods. The authors of one study reflected on the overall role and influence of public involvement in the research., Conclusion: Rate of public involvement in Australian clinical trials is seemingly substantially lower than those reported in countries with similar advanced public health care systems, notably the United Kingdom. Our observations may be explained by a lack of researcher skills in how to involve the public and the failure by major funding agencies in Australia to mandate public involvement when deciding on how to award grant funding., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Objective: In systemic lupus erythematosus, poor disease outcomes occur in young adults, patients identifying as Black or Hispanic, and socioeconomically disadvantaged patients. These identities and social factors differentially shape care access and quality that contribute to lupus health disparities in the US. Thus, our objective was to measure markers of care access and quality, including rheumatology visits (longitudinal care retention) and lupus-specific serology testing, by race and ethnicity, neighborhood disadvantage, and geographic context., Methods: This cohort study used a geo-linked 20% national sample of young adult Medicare beneficiaries (ages 18-35) with lupus-coded encounters and a 1-year assessment period. Retention in lupus care required a rheumatology visit in each 6-month period, and serology testing required ≥1 complement or dsDNA antibody test within the year. Multivariable logistic regression models were fit for visit-based retention and serology testing to determine associations with race and ethnicity, neighborhood disadvantage, and geography., Results: Among 1,036 young adults with lupus, 39% saw a rheumatologist every 6 months and 28% had serology testing. White beneficiaries from the least disadvantaged quintile of neighborhoods had higher visit-based retention than other beneficiaries (64% vs 30%-60%). Serology testing decreased with increasing neighborhood disadvantage quintile (aOR 0.80; 95% CI 0.71, 0.90) and in the Midwest (aOR 0.46; 0.30, 0.71)., Conclusion: Disparities in care, measured by rheumatology visits and serology testing, exist by neighborhood disadvantage, race and ethnicity, and region among young adults with lupus, despite uniform Medicare coverage. Findings support evaluating lupus care quality measures and their impact on US lupus outcomes., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: CMB receives peer-reviewed institutional grant funding from Independent Grants for Learning and Change (Pfizer) for research unrelated to this study. All other authors declare no conflicts.

In this practice note, we document the development of a youth participatory action research (YPAR) program designed by and for Latine youth residing in a small but rapidly growing Latine community. Our community-academic team partnered to cocreate a YPAR curriculum focused on supporting Latine youth in learning about research and developing their own research projects. Participants in the pilot year worked on Photovoice projects centered on topics they identified, including preventing colorism and machismo and increasing access to mental health services. We reviewed lessons learned from this work, including challenges engaging young people and creating linguistically inclusive spaces.

Purpose: We aim to understand the impact of the COVID-19 on health care utilization and oral health conditions of patients at federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), where patients are disproportionately low income, publicly insured, or uninsured., Methods: Using deidentified electronic health records of patients at FQHCs in the United States from January 2019 through December 2020 ( n = 431,509), variations in health care utilization since the COVID-19 outbreak were observed by procedure types and patient characteristics. Changes in dental utilization and oral health conditions were characterized using mixed-effect negative binomial and logistic regression models., Results: Dental utilization decreased more drastically than medical utilization during shelter-in-place periods in 2020 and rebounded more slowly after the reopening. Greater demands for oral surgery and teledentistry and less demands for preventive services were observed in 2020. As compared to 2019, patients experienced more psychological stress-related dental conditions with odds ratios of 1.52 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.31-1.76) for uninsured, 1.48 (95% CI, 1.07-2.02) for Medicaid enrollees, and 2.38 (95% CI, 1.68-3.40) for private insurance beneficiaries., Conclusion: As a result of COVID-19, patients received more invasive dental procedures due to delayed treatment and experienced a higher risk of psychological stress-related dental conditions. Continued support for statewide policies to expand access to oral health care and oral health promotion strategies for the vulnerable populations would be encouraged., Knowledge Transfer Statement: Our study describes the impact of COVID-19 on dental care use and oral health conditions at Federally Qualified Health Centers, targeted to provide care for some of the most vulnerable populations in the United States. The results of this retrospective cohort study can be used by clinicians and policymakers on understanding the clinical needs of the vulnerable populations after the pandemic. It highlights the need for continued support to expand access to oral health care and oral health promotion to these populations., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Children with special health care needs (CSHCN)-ie, children who are at increased risk for, or currently manage, persistent physical and mental health conditions-require more health care resources than children without special health care needs. Furthermore, CSHCN who identify as racial/ethnic minorities disproportionately encounter unmet needs, according to reports from their caregivers. However, the reasons for their unmet needs are relatively unknown. This study estimated and compared the US national prevalence of caregiver-reported reasons for unmet health care needs for Hispanic, non-Hispanic black, and non-Hispanic white CSHCN. The most common reasons were problems getting an appointment for black CSHCN and cost for Hispanic and white CSHCN. Issues related to transportation were significantly less likely for black than for white and Hispanic CSHCN. Cost-related issues were significantly less likely for black than Hispanic CSHCN. To address reasons for unmet needs for CSHCN, effective structural changes are needed., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Objectives: To evaluate how different data sources affect the performance of machine learning algorithms that predict dental general anesthesia use among children with behavioral health conditions., Study Design: Observational study using claims data., Methods: Using Medicaid claims from Partners For Kids (2013-2019), electronic medical record data, and the Ohio Child Opportunity Index, we conducted a retrospective cohort study of 12,410 children with behavioral health diagnoses. Four lasso-regularized logistic regression models were developed to predict dental general anesthesia use, each incorporating different data sources. Lift scores, or the ratio of positive predictive value to base case prevalence, were used to compare models, and a lift score of 2.5 was considered minimally acceptable for risk prediction., Results: Dental general anesthesia use ranged from 3.2% to 3.9% across models, which made it difficult for the machine learning models to achieve high positive predictive value. Model performance was best when either the electronic medical record (lift = 2.59) or Ohio Child Opportunity Index (lift = 2.56), but not both (lift = 2.34) or neither (lift = 1.87), was used., Conclusions: Incorporating additional data sources improved machine learning model performance, and 2 models achieved satisfactory performance. The model using electronic medical record data could be applied in hospital-based settings, and the model using the Ohio Child Opportunity Index could be more valuable in community-based settings., Knowledge Transfer Statement: Machine learning was applied to satisfactorily predict which children with behavioral health diagnoses would require dental treatment under general anesthesia. Incorporating electronic medical record data or area-level social determinants of health data, but not both, improved the performance of the machine learning predictions. The 2 highest performing models could be applied by hospitals using medical record data or by organizations using area-level social determinants of health data to risk stratify the pediatric behavioral health population., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Introduction: The increasing incidence of cancer and capacity for cancer care in Ethiopia has led to an upsurge in chemotherapy use in the country; however, studies indicate that there is a gap in the safe handling of chemotherapy by healthcare workers. There exists a need to understand if such unsafe practices occur in Ethiopia and, if so, which areas along the chemotherapy life cycle need the most improvement., Methods: This study utilized a multi-method design through an online survey administered to health care professionals and evaluative site visits of eight cancer units in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to understand the current conditions of chemotherapy handling. In addition, a survey was conducted among Ethiopian health care professionals from across the country., Results: Fifty-five percent of survey participants disagreed or strongly disagreed that there are systems in place to identify, prevent, and address chemotherapy hazards in their workplace, and 71% of respondents denied having an active and effective health and safety committee and/or worker health and safety representative where they work. At evaluative site visits, only 30% of health care workers met the minimum guidelines for proper hand hygiene, and 20% of health care workers used adequate Personal Protective Equipment according to guidelines across the chemotherapy lifecycle., Conclusions: Results of this study indicate an urgent need for implementation of evidence-based interventions to improve chemotherapy handling in Ethiopia so that all patients and health care workers are protected from the hazardous toxicities of these drugs., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: James Collins is an employee of GlaxoSmithKline. Samantha Matys is an employee of United Therapeutics Corporation. Benyam Muluneh is a consultant with Servielle Pharmaceuticals and his spouse is an employee and stockholder at Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Megan Roberts’ spouse holds stock in Merck and Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Resilience, the individual trait of being able to persist and cope with, often recurrent, negative experiences, has experienced an explosion in recent years as a topic of study. In this commentary, we critique this surge and problematize the co-occurring development of the "resilience as treatment" paradigm. We show that resilience is an expectation foisted primarily on historically and contemporarily oppressed and excluded populations often in response to systemic and structural forms of discrimination. We argue that this represents a fundamental mismatch of intervention and problem; offering an individual-level solution to a structural toxin. In doing so, we re-contextualize resilience as an adverse event, more analogous to scar tissue than a reliable treatment paradigm. Our essay concludes with offering alternatives to resilience that originate with the holistic trauma and liberation health frameworks. These paradigms are united in that, in contrast to resilience, they emphasize healing from structural violence, rather than adapting to it., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Structural inequities influence young parents' access to health care, housing, transportation, social support, education, and income. The current study adds to the extant literature by providing data directly obtained in collaboration with young parents to understand how structural violence affects the health and well-being of their families, ultimately resulting in community-driven policy recommendations developed in collaboration with the state health department. We engaged a diverse sample of young people-considered as community researchers in the project-including Black, Latinx, and/or LGBTQ+ pregnant and parenting young parents in a participatory action research (PAR) project in the spring of 2022 to explore their health and material needs while living in Springfield, Massachusetts. Together with young parents, we used participatory arts-based methods to conduct community and identity building, define research questions and photo prompts, conduct data collection (photos), engage in group thematic analysis, and take action at the state policy level. We also conducted individual semi-structured life-history interviews with the young parents. Participatory community-led findings indicate an urgent need for systemic change to increase access to safe and affordable housing; living-wage jobs; safe, high-quality, and affordable child care; and to bolster social support and disabilities services for young parents and their families. This participatory study funded by a state health department demonstrates that participatory community-driven data can have the power to mobilize community members and policy makers for social change if prioritized at the state and local levels. Additional practice-based implications include prioritizing participatory mentorship programs intended to aid young parents in navigating the complex systems that are vital to their survival., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Motivational interviewing is an evidence-based counseling approach. However, its learning processes and their influencing factors are understudied, failing to address the suboptimal use of motivational interviewing in clinical practice. A participatory action research was conducted in collaboration with 16 primary care clinicians, who encountered similar challenges through their previous counseling approaches. The study aimed to facilitate and describe the clinicians' professional transformation through interprofessional communities of practice on motivational interviewing (ICP-MI). Data were collected using the principal investigator's research journal and participant observation of four independent ICP-MIs (76 h) followed by focus groups (8 h). The co-participants performed inductive qualitative data analysis. Results report that learning motivational interviewing requires a paradigm shift from health experts to health guides. The learning processes were initiated by the creation of an openness to the MI spirit and rapidly evolved into iterative processes of MI spirit embodiment and MI skill building. The intrinsic influencing factors involved the clinician's personal traits and professional background; the extrinsic influencing factor was the shared culture disseminating the expert care model. Previously described in a fragmented manner, motivational interviewing learning processes, and its influencing factors were presented as integrated findings. Considerations in elaborating effective MI training/implementation programs are discussed for clinicians, trainers, and decision-makers. Future areas of investigation are also highlighted calling forth the research community to contribute to knowledge advancement on health education in primary care., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background: In some jurisdictions, individuals become eligible or recommended for referral for different types of kidney care using criteria based on their estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Historically, GFR was estimated with an equation developed in 2009, which included a Black race term. An updated, race-free equation was developed in 2021. It is unclear how adoption of the 2021 equation will influence the number of individuals meeting referral criteria to receive different types of kidney care., Objective: To develop population-based estimates on how the number of individuals meeting the eGFR-based referral criteria to receive three different types of kidney care (nephrologist consultation, care in a multi-care specialty clinic, kidney transplant evaluation) changes when the 2021 versus 2009 equation is used to calculate eGFR., Design: Population-based, cross-sectional study., Setting: Ontario, Canada's most populous province with 14.2 million residents as of 2021. Less than 5% of Ontario's residents self-identify as being of Black race., Patients: Adults with at least one outpatient serum creatinine measurement in the 2 years prior to December 31, 2021., Measurements: Referral criteria to 3 different types of kidney care: nephrologist consultation, multi-care specialty clinic, and evaluation for a kidney transplant. The eGFR thresholds used to define referral eligibility or recommendation for these kidney health services were based on guidelines from Ontario's provincial renal agency., Methods: The number of individuals meeting referral criteria for the 3 different healthcare services was compared between the 2009 and 2021 equations, restricted to individuals not yet receiving that level of care. As individual-level race data were not available, estimates were repeated, randomly assigning a Black race status to 1%, 5%, and 10% of the population., Results: We had an outpatient serum creatinine measurement available for 1 048 110 adults. Using the 2009 equation, 37 345 individuals met the criteria to be referred to a nephrologist, 10 019 met the criteria to receive care in a multi-care specialty clinic, and 10 178 met the criteria to be referred for kidney transplant evaluation. Corresponding numbers with the 2021 equation (and the percent relative to the 2009 equation) were 26 645 (71.3%), 9009 (89.9%), and 8615 (84.6%) individuals, respectively. These numbers were largely unchanged when Black race was assumed in up to 10% of the population., Limitations: Referral criteria based solely on urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio were not assessed. Self-reported race data were unavailable., Conclusions: For healthcare planning, in regions where a minority of the population is Black, a substantial number of individuals may no longer meet referral criteria for different types of kidney healthcare following adoption of the new 2021 eGFR equation., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Dr. Amit Garg was supported by the Dr. Adam Linton Chair in Kidney Health Analytics., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Aims: Based on selected themes from a national survey, the study aims to describe and analyse similarities and differences in community-based palliative care provided to people living at home in two different care settings - the nursing home setting and the home care setting., Methods: Responses from four palliative care themes covered by a national survey sent to 717 managers in municipality-based care units were used. The themes were: (a) target groups in palliative care; (b) wishes for end-of-life care; (c) tools/guidelines in palliative care; and (d) palliative care provided to relatives., Results: The response rates were 53% in the nursing home setting and 69% in the home care setting (69%). Both settings had target groups for palliative care, in which significantly more units in the home care settings cared for people with other cultural backgrounds or children. Wishes for end-of-life care were addressed by more than 90% of the units in both settings. There were significantly more nursing home units that addressed questions regarding resuscitation, decision making when you are incapable of making decisions for yourself, and the level of medication. In both settings, around half of the units did not use or did not know if they used tools/guidelines to identify palliative care needs. Half of home care and 65% of nursing home settings did not/were unaware of providing palliative care to relatives., Conclusions: Both settings serve target populations for palliative care with few differences. Identifying palliative care needs seemed to be a low priority in both settings. A difference was found between the settings regarding end-of-life care questions and palliative care promotion to relatives., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

This article reports findings from an action research project in which a university chaplaincy team explored the desirability and viability of assessing their impact. It uncovers a complexity in chaplains' understandings about their role and - chief amongst their fears - belief that quantitative measures can be harmful to pastoral and spiritual work. It also reveals a sense of institutional accountability and a desire to engage with processes for determining and articulating chaplaincy's value., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

This article, the result of an Action Research project, describes the process of creating and testing a resource for assessing the contribution of chaplaincy in a British university setting, and the resultant insights and outcomes: organisational and individual learning, changes in chaplains' attitudes to monitoring and evaluation, and a resource which is perceived as having benefits and limitations. This article considers the evaluation process as applied to chaplaincy and offers a model for further testing., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Aim: To outline the organisation and responsibility for health and social care provided to older people in Denmark, Finland and Sweden., Methods: Non-quantifiable data on the care systems were collated from the literature and expert consultations. The responsibilities for primary healthcare, specialised healthcare, prevention and health promotion, rehabilitation, and social care were presented in relation to policy guidance, funding and organisation., Results: In all three countries, the state issues policy and to some extent co-funds the largely decentralised systems; in Denmark and Sweden the regions and municipalities organise the provision of care services - a system that is also about to be implemented in Finland to improve care coordination and make access more equal. Care for older citizens focuses to a large extent on enabling them to live independently in their own homes., Conclusions: Decentralised care systems are challenged by considerable local variations, possibly jeopardising care equity. State-level decision and policy makers need to be aware of these challenges and monitor developments to prevent further health and social care disparities in the ageing population., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Aim: To outline and discuss care transitions and care continuity following hospital discharge of older people with complex care needs in three Nordic cities: Copenhagen, Tampere and Stockholm., Methods: Data on potential pathways following hospital discharge of older people were obtained from existing literature and expert consultations. The pathways for each system were outlined and presented in three figures. The hospital discharge process of the systems was then compared., Results: In all three care systems, the main care path from hospital is to home. Short-term intermediate healthcare can be provided in all three systems, possibly creating additional care transitions; however, once home, extensive home healthcare may prevent further care transitions. Opportunities for continuity of care include needs assessments (all cities) and meetings with the patient about care upon return home (Copenhagen, Stockholm). Yet this is challenged by lack of transfer of information (Tampere) and patients' having to apply for some services themselves (Tampere, Stockholm)., Conclusions: Comparisons of the discharge processes studied suggest that despite individual care planning and short- and long-term care options, transitional care and care continuity are challenged by limited access as some services need to be applied for by the older person themselves., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Background. Local health services make limited use of economic evaluation to inform decisions to fund new health service interventions. One barrier is the relevance of published intervention effects to the local setting, given these effects can strongly reflect the original evaluation context. Expert elicitation methods provide a structured approach to explicitly and transparently adjust published effect estimates, which can then be used in local-level economic evaluations to increase their local relevance. Expert elicitation was used to adjust published effect estimates for 2 interventions targeting the prevention of inpatient hypoglycemia. Methods. Elicitation was undertaken with 6 clinical experts. They were systematically presented with information regarding potential differences in patient characteristics and quality of care between the published study and local contexts, and regarding the design and application of the published study. The experts then assessed the intervention effects and provided estimates of the most realistic, most pessimistic, and most optimistic intervention effect sizes in the local context. Results. The experts estimated both interventions would be less effective in the local setting compared with the published effect estimates. For one intervention, the experts expected the lower complexity of admitted patients in the local setting would reduce the intervention's effectiveness. For the other intervention, the reduced effect was largely driven by differences in the scope of implementation (hospital-wide in the local setting compared with targeted implementation in the evaluation). Conclusions. The pragmatic elicitation methods reported in this article provide a feasible and acceptable approach to assess and adjust published intervention effects to better reflect expected effects in the local context. Further development and application of these methods is proposed to facilitate the use of local-level economic evaluation., Highlights: Local health services make limited use of economic evaluation to inform their decisions on the funding of new health service interventions. One barrier to use is the relevance of published intervention evaluations to the local setting.Expert elicitation methods provide a structured way to consider differences between the evaluation and local settings and to explicitly and transparently adjust published effect estimates for use in local economic evaluations.The pragmatic elicitation methods reported in this article offer a feasible and acceptable approach to adjusting published intervention effects to better reflect the effects expected in the local context. This increases the relevance of economic evaluations for local decision makers., Competing Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was conducted at Flinders University for the NHMRC Partnership Centre for Health System Sustainability (grant 9100002) administered by the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University. Along with the NHMRC, the funding partners in this research collaboration are the Bupa Health Foundation; NSW Ministry of Health; Department of Health, WA; and the University of Notre Dame Australia. The funding agreement ensured the authors’ independence in designing the study, interpreting the data, writing, and publishing the report. The authors hold all data for the project., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Participatory action research (PAR) is a research approach that creates spaces for marginalized individuals and communities to be co-researchers to guide relevant social change. While working toward social transformation, all members of the PAR team often experience personal transformation. Engaging people with serious mental illness (PSMI) in PAR helps them to develop skills and build relationships with stakeholders in their communities. It supports positive changes that persist after the completion of the formal research project. With the increasing recognition of PAR's value in PSMI, it is helpful to consider the challenges and advantages of this approach to research with this population. This review aimed at determining how PAR has been conducted with PSMI and at summarizing strategies used to empower PSMI as co-researchers by engaging them in research. This scoping review followed five steps Arkesy and O'Malley (2005) outlined. We charted, collated, and summarized relevant information from 87 studies that met the inclusion criteria. We identified five strategies to empower PSMI through PAR. These are to build capacity, balance power distribution, create collaborative environments, promote peer support, and enhance their engagement as co-researchers. In conclusion, PAR is an efficient research approach to engage PSMI. Further, PSMI who engage in PAR may benefit from strategies for empowerment that meet their unique needs as co-researchers., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background: Patients often present to emergency departments (EDs) with concerns that do not require emergency care. Self-triage and other interventions may help some patients decide whether they should be seen in the ED. Symptoms associated with low risk of hospitalization can be identified in national ED data and can inform the design of interventions to reduce avoidable ED visits., Methods: We used the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) data from the United States National Health Care Statistics (NHCS) division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The ED datasets from 2011 through 2020 were combined. Primary reasons for ED visit and the binary field for hospital admission from the ED were used to estimate the proportion of ED patients admitted to the hospital for each reason for visit and age category., Results: There were 221,027 surveyed ED visits during the 10-year data collection with 736 different primary reasons for visit and 23,228 hospitalizations. There were 145 million estimated hospitalizations from 1.37 billion estimated ED visits (10.6%). Inclusion criteria for this study were reasons for visit which had at least 30 ED visits in the sample; there were 396 separate reasons for visit which met this criteria. Of these 396 reasons for visit, 97 had admission percentages less than 2% and another 52 had hospital admissions estimated between 2% and 4%. However, there was a significant increase in hospitalizations within many of the ED reasons for visit in older adults., Conclusion: Reasons for visit from national ED data can be ranked by hospitalization risk. Low-risk symptoms may help healthcare institutions identify potentially avoidable ED visits. Healthcare systems can use this information to help manage potentially avoidable ED visits with interventions designed to apply to their patient population and healthcare access., Competing Interests: The authors declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: One of the authors serves as the Editor in Chief of this journal., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

In the field of qualitative health research on children, scholars have called for the inclusion of children's perspectives. Still, health care research on children appears to be characterized by an exclusionary approach that stems from a conception of disability and sickness as equivalent to a lack of agency. This article responds to the call to include children's perspectives. It presents the Do uble- vi ew (Dovi)-river interview, which is a drawing- and metaphor-based interview method that enables ambiguous and multi-layered life course narratives. Based on two steps - (1) a life course interview conducted while drawing a river of the child's life and (2) revisiting and unfolding the child's stories - the method allows for an arts-based, joint exploration of life experiences. Inspired by childhood studies as well as a poststructuralist epistemology, the article discusses and proposes ways to challenge power relations between the adult interviewer and the child interviewee. It is argued that the method can also challenge the predominant deficit view and the dichotomous understanding of children's experiences of their life and capabilities that characterize much health care practice and health research, by focusing both on challenges and opportunities. Doing so enables a more nuanced and appreciative approach to children. We draw on empirical examples from a study with children with disabilities. However, we suggest that the method's potential for enabling articulation of the complex and ambiguous can inspire qualitative research and health care practice more broadly., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

In qualitative research, photographs and other visual data have been used with oral narratives in ethnography, interviews, and focus groups to convey and understand the perceptions, attitudes, and lived experiences of participants. Visual methodologies that incorporate photographic data include photo elicitation, which has varied approaches with the inclusion of photographs generated by researchers or participants, and Photovoice, which is a form of photo elicitation focused on participatory action research. Current literature provides insufficient guidance on a systematic coding process of visual data elements that could maximize capturing of visual data for qualitative analysis. We describe our rationale and process for developing a two-step systematic process for coding visual data, specifically photographs. The two-step systematic process for coding photographs involves coding the foreground (focal point) and then the background of the photograph, using separate codebooks. Application of this two-step coding approach resulted in surfacing additional rich data on the health-related contexts and environments in which participants lived. Incorporation of this methodology could enhance understanding of the context of health and generate ideas and new directions of inquiry., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting of InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

This case study examined community readiness in a cohort of U.S. universities. Drawing on the Community Readiness Model (CRM), the extent to which a campus was ready to implement a comprehensive hazing prevention plan was assessed. The study was designed to help build the knowledge base using the CRM to systematically assess the cohort's work to prevent hazing. Methods . Utilizing the CRM, key informants were interviewed. Interview data were scored using CRM rating scales and then coded following basic interpretive methods of qualitative analysis. Scores determined levels of readiness while data were analyzed for emergent themes related to a comprehensive approach to hazing prevention. Results . The CRM assessment revealed preplanning stages of readiness, meaning campus staff considered hazing prevention to be important and asking what should be done. Emergent themes that may strengthen and sustain hazing prevention in higher education are identified and discussed. Conclusions . Indications that the CRM may be useful for hazing prevention research and practice can contribute to the development of a knowledge base to support efficacy and assist campus communities in focusing their work while directing efforts toward higher levels of readiness.

Background. It is a patient's right to be included in decisions about their health care. Implementing shared decision making (SDM) is important to enable active communication between clinicians and patients. Although health policy makers are increasingly mandating SDM implementation, SDM adoption has been slow. This study explored stakeholders' organizational- and system-level barriers and facilitators to implementing policy mandated SDM in maternity care in Victoria, Australia. Method. Twenty-four semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants including clinicians, health service administrators and decision makers, and government policy makers. Data were mapped to the Theoretical Domains Framework to identify barriers and facilitators to SDM implementation. Results. Factors identified as facilitating SDM implementation included using a whole-of-system approach, providing additional implementation resources, correct documentation facilitated by electronic medical records, and including patient outcomes in measurement. Barriers included health service lack of capacity, unclear policy definitions of SDM, and policy makers' lack of resources to track implementation. Conclusion. This is the first study to our knowledge to explore barriers and facilitators to SDM implementation from the perspective of multiple actors following policy mandating SDM in tertiary health services in Australia. The primary finding was that there are concerns that SDM implementation policy is outpacing practice. Nonclinical staff play a crucial role translating policy to practice. Addressing organizational- and system-level barriers and facilitators to SDM implementation should be a key concern of health policy makers, health services, and staff., Highlights: New government policies require shared decision making (SDM) implementation in hospitals.There is limited evidence for how to implement SDM in hospital settings.There are concerns SDM implementation policy is outpacing practice.Understanding and capacity for SDM varies considerably among stakeholders.Whole of system approaches and electronic medical records are seen to facilitate SDM., Competing Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: A.W. was supported by a research higher degree scholarship jointly funded by the Australian Government Research Training Program and Safer Care Victoria. Beyond funding support, the funders had no direct role in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation or writing of the manuscript., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

Background: The lack of clarity about the factors that motivate service providers to take a career in palliative care presents a significant knowledge gap that must be filled. This is because gaining knowledge about the motivations for taking a career in palliative care would provide valuable insights that can potentially increase buy-in and interest among prospective healthcare professionals. By elucidating the motivations of service providers, the study aims to contribute to the broader field of palliative care research and inform the development of tailored interventions and training programmes to increase the pool of specialized palliative care providers., Objective: To explore palliative care service providers' motivations to practice palliative care., Design: Exploratory descriptive design., Methods: In all, seven in-depth interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide. Data were managed using NVivo-12. Inductive thematic analysis was performed by following Hasse's adaptation of Colaizzi's approach to qualitative thematic analysis., Results: Two main factors motivated service providers to take a career in palliative care. The first was the influence of professional training while the second motivation was from their personal experiences regarding providing care to a family member with palliative care needs., Conclusion: The study concludes that personal experiences with caring for a loved one with palliative care needs play a pivotal role in shaping the decision of service providers to pursue a career in palliative care. Also, investment in palliative care education and training is crucial to ensure a skilled workforce capable of meeting the growing needs of patients and families facing serious illnesses., Competing Interests: The author declares that there is no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s), 2023.)

Early speaking valve application in children with tracheostomies is encouraged for language development. Whether an institutional multidisciplinary protocol impacts the patient population and timelines for which a speaking valve is trialed has not been studied. This retrospective study compared speaking valve trials performed at a pediatric quaternary hospital over a 12-year period. Timelines (time between tracheostomy insertion, speech-language pathologist (SLP) consultation, speaking valve order, and trial) and patient characteristics (demographics, tracheostomy classification, and feeding status) were collected. Medians (IQRs) compared timelines before and after a protocol was instituted and compared the timelines between tracheostomy classifications. Median time between tracheostomy insertion and SLP consultation did not change: before protocol-1.8 (7.7) months and after protocol-1.8 (2.4) months. Time between tracheostomy insertion and speaking valve trial decreased: before protocol-34.1 (40.5) months and after protocol-12.9 (8.4) months. Time between tracheostomy insertion and trial was not different between tracheostomy classifications: upper airway obstruction-16.0 (27.1) months, complex medical condition-36.3 (45.8) months, and invasive ventilation-17.5 (22.3) months. An institutional multidisciplinary protocol decreases the time between tracheostomy insertion and speaking valve trial, regardless of the reason the tracheostomy is needed in the pediatric population.

Action research (AR) is an umbrella term encompassing a range of related research approaches and frameworks such as participatory AR, participatory research, community-based participatory research, and community-engaged research. In contrast to conventional, investigator-led research that is conducted on or about participants, AR is conducted with those who have a "stake" in the research topic. Despite growing acceptance as an established research approach, AR is noticeably limited within pediatric health care literature. Following a structured process, we conducted a scoping review to explore AR in pediatrics within the last 10 years. Twenty-eight articles met eligibility criteria. Study themes included eliciting stakeholder perspectives, improving stakeholder experiences, and developing/evaluating tools. Future AR in pediatrics should include the measurement of specific health outcomes and greater detail of the actionable steps that resulted from the research process. Action research has potential application to improve the quality and stakeholder relevance of pediatric clinical, educational, and community research.