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Objectives The Necesidades Paliativas CCOMS-ICO© (NECPAL) screening tool was developed to identify patients in need of palliative care and has been used in Israel without formal translation, reliability testing, or validation. Because cultural norms significantly affect subscales such as social vulnerability and health-care delivery, research is needed to comprehensively assess the NECPAL’s components, adapt it, and validate it for an Israeli health-care setting. This study linguistically and culturally translated the NECPAL into Hebrew to examine cultural and contextual acceptability for use in the Israeli geriatric health sector. The newly adapted tool was measured for itemized and scale-level content validity, inter-rater reliability (IRR), and construct validity. Methods The NECPAL was back-translated and its content validated by a 5-member expert panel for clarity and relevance, forming the Israeli-NECPAL (I-NECPAL). Six health-care professionals used the I-NECPAL with 25 post-acute geriatric patients to measure IRR. For construct validity, the known-groups method was used, as there is no “gold standard” method for identifying palliative needs for comparison with the NECPAL. The known groups were 2 fictitious cases, predetermined of palliative need. Thirty health-care professionals, blinded to the predetermined palliative status, used the I-NECPAL to determine whether a patient needs a palliative-centered plan of care. Results The findings point to acceptable content and construct validity as well as IRR of the I-NECPAL for potential inclusion as a tool for identifying geriatric patients in need of palliative care. Content-validity assessment brought linguistic changes and the exclusion of the frailty parameter from the annex of chronic diseases. The kappa-adjusted scale-level content-validity index indicated a high level of content validity (0.96). IRR indicated a high level of agreement (all parameters with an “excellent–good” agreement level). The sensitivity (0.93), specificity (0.17), positive predictive value (0.53), and negative predictive value (0.71) revealed how heavily the scale weighed upon the surprise question. These metrics are improved when removing the surprise question from the instrument. Significance of results Similar to other countries, the Israeli health-care system is regulated by policies that portray the local beliefs and culture as well as evidence-based practice. The decision about when to switch a patient to a palliative-centered plan of care is one such example. It is thus of utmost importance that only locally adapted and vigorously tested screening tools be offered to health-care providers to assist in this decision. The I-NECPAL is the first psychometrically tested palliative needs identification tool for use in the geriatric population in Israel, on both a scale and an itemized level. The results indicate that it can immediately replace the current unvalidated version in use. Further research is needed to determine whether all parts of the scale are relevant for this patient population.

Aim This study explores the potential benefit of combining clinicians' risk assessments and the automated 30-day readmission prediction model. Background Automated readmission prediction models based on electronic health records are increasingly applied as part of prevention efforts, but their accuracy is moderate. Methods This prospective multi-source study was based on self-reported surveys of clinicians and data from electronic health records. The survey was performed at 15 internal medicine wards of three general Clalit hospitals between May 2016 - June 2017. We examined the degree of concordance between the Preadmission Readmission Detection Model, clinicians' readmission risk classification and the likelihood of actual readmission. Decision-trees were developed to classify patients by readmission risk. Results A total of 694 surveys were collected for 371 patients. The disagreement between clinicians' risk assessment and the model was 34.5% for nurses and 33.5% for physicians. The decision-tree algorithms identified 22% and 9% (based on nurses and physicians, respectively) of the model's low-medium risk patients as high-risk (accuracy 0.8 and 0.76 respectively). Conclusions Combining the Readmission Model with clinical insight improves the ability to identify high-risk elderly patients. Implications for nursing management This study provides algorithms for the decision-making process for selecting high-risk readmission patients based on nurses' evaluations.

Many older adults need help with Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and emotional support during hospitalization. Hospital staff is officially responsible for care, but most older adults are accompanied by family members who provide at least some of the support. In this study, we asked physicians, nurses, nursing assistants, and relatives about hospital staff versus family responsibility for providing ADL care and emotional support, and about actual levels of help provision by the hospital staff in Israel. Staff members (except physicians) tended to see staff as more responsible for ADL care than family, while emotional support was a shared responsibility. Nursing assistants were the most likely to report that staff provided high levels of support, and all participants reported that staff provided more ADL care than emotional support. It is important for family members and hospital staff to have open discussions of their expectations and responsibilities when older adults are hospitalized.

Objective: This study examined whether personal characteristics of consumers with serious mental illness (SMI), including being an immigrant, explained the lack of concordance in quality-of-life (QOL) ratings reported by consumers versus those reported by staff caring for consumers. Method: In a sample of consumers with SMI (n = 4,956), including nonimmigrants and immigrants from Ethiopia and countries comprising the former Soviet Union (FSU), we examined consumer-reported and staff-reported QOL ratings. Regression models measured the contributions of covariates to QOL ratings made by both groups. Results: Staff-reported QOL ratings were consistently lower than consumer-reported QOL ratings. Consumer-reported QOL ratings made by FSU immigrants were lower than consumer-reported QOL ratings made by Ethiopian immigrants or by nonimmigrants (p < .01). Conversely, staff-reported QOL ratings on Ethiopian immigrants were lower than staff-reported QOL ratings on FSU immigrants or nonimmigrants (p < .05). While consumer-reported QOL ratings were associated with the covariates of gender (p < .01), disability level (p < .001), and health status (p < .001), staff-reported QOL ratings were associated with the covariates of single marital status (p < .05), education (p < .001), and disability level (p < .001). Conclusions and Implications for Practice: Among consumers with SMI, FSU immigrants reported the lowest QOL ratings, yet staff rated the QOL of Ethiopian immigrants as the lowest. Bias is a potential explanation for this discrepancy. An educational program focusing on cultural awareness, sensitivity, and competency might help staff better understand consumers' needs, thereby contributing to better service and potentially improving staff's ability to make assessments of consumers' functioning and QOL. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

BACKGROUND: Oral anticancer therapy (OACT) poses adherence-related challenges to patients while generating a setting in which both primary care physicians (PCPs) and oncologists are involved in the active treatment of cancer. Continuity of care (COC) was shown to be associated with medication adherence. While maintaining COC is a central role of the PCP, how this affects continuity with oncologists, and jointly affects OACT adherence, is yet unknown. OBJECTIVES: To explore how aspects of COC act together to promote OACT adherence. Specifically, to examine whether better personal continuity with the PCP leads to better personal continuity with the oncologist, which together lead to better cross-boundary continuity between the oncologist and the PCP, jointly leading to good adherence to OACT. DESIGN AND SETTING: A prospective cohort study conducted in five oncology centers in Israel. A bootstrapping method was used to test the serial mediation model. PARTICIPANTS: Adult patients (age > 18 years) receiving a first OACT prescription (n = 119) were followed for 120 days. MAIN MEASURES: The Nijmegen Continuity Questionnaire was used to assess patients’ perceived personal and cross-boundary continuity. The medication possession ratio was used to measure adherence. KEY RESULTS: Better personal continuity with the PCP was associated with better personal continuity with the oncologist (B = 0.35, p < 0.001), which was associated with better cross-boundary continuity (B = 0.33, p < 0.001), which, in turn, was associated with good adherence to OACT (B = 0.46, p = 0.03). Additionally, the indirect effect of personal continuity with the PCP on adherence to OACT through the mediation of personal continuity with the oncologist and cross-boundary continuity was found to be statistically significant (B = 0.053, 95% CI 0.0006–0.17). CONCLUSIONS: In a system where the PCP is the case manager, cancer patients’ perceived personal continuity with the PCP has an essential role for initiating a sequence of care delivery events that positively affect OACT adherence. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11606-021-06704-w.

Objective Vocational rehabilitation for people with severe mental illness (SMI) has many benefits. Among the existing models, supported employment has consistently shown to have better impact on vocational outcomes while the findings on non-vocational outcomes are inconsistent. One source of variation with regard to non-vocational outcomes could be related to differences between consumers’ self-reports and the providers’ point of view. Design A cross-sectional study of people with SMI consuming three different vocational services and their service providers. Setting Data were collected as part of the Israeli Psychiatric Rehabilitation Patient Reported Outcome Measurement project. Participants The current data is based on 3666 pairs of people with SMI consuming vocational services and their service providers. Interventions Vocational services included supported employment, sheltered workshops and vocational support centers. Main Outcome Measures The consumers-filled self-report questionnaires, which consisted of the following patient-reported outcome measurements (PROMs): quality of life, functioning and illness management. Primary professional providers were given instruments that mirrored the ones designed for self-report. Results According to providers’ ratings, supported employment was associated with higher functioning (F = 78.6, P Conclusions This study provides a deeper insight into non-vocational outcomes of people with SMI participating in vocational services and suggests differences in perspectives between consumers and providers with regard to outcome measures.

Aims To (a) assess patients' interest and perceived capability of participating in haemodialysis; (b) assess nurses' perceptions of patients' interest and perceived capability of participating in haemodialysis; and (c) examine associations between patient characteristics and interest and perceived capability of performing haemodialysis self-care. Design Cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study. Methods Data were collected from dialysis patients and their nurses between October 2018-May 2019. Patients' interest and perceived capability of participation were assessed by a 10-item Likert-type scale developed and tested for this study, with responses ranging from 1 (not interested/no perceived capability) to 5 (already doing task independently). Multivariate linear regression was used to assess the relationship between patient characteristics, including age, sex, education level and severity of illness to ratings of activation level and haemodialysis self-care scale scores. The STROBE checklist was used as a guideline for this study. Results Ninety-one patients and 31 nurses participated. Overall, patients expressed interest (2.43 ± 0.93) and perceived themselves capable (2.34 ± 0.9) of participating in various haemodialysis-related tasks. Nurses assessed lower interest (2.19 ± 0.77) than patients, but similar average capability (2.31 ± 0.8). Both greater interest and perceived capability were correlated with more years of education and higher patient activation; additionally, interest was associated with disease severity and perceived capability was associated with age. Conclusion Haemodialysis patients are interested and perceive themselves capable of participating in the tasks involved in dialysis care. Nurses underestimate patient interest in participation. Relevance to clinical practice Self-care behaviours among haemodialysis patients are important, as they may affect quality of life and survival. Determining interest and perceived capability of participation is a first step towards evaluating the feasibility of self-care in a supervised haemodialysis setting.

BackgroundDisease-specific guidelines are not aligned with multimorbidity care complexity. Meeting all guideline-recommended care for multimorbid patients has been estimated but not demonstrated across multiple guidelines.ObjectiveMeasure guideline-concordant care for patients with multimorbidity; assess in what types of care and by whom (clinician or patient) deviation from guidelines occurs and evaluate whether patient characteristics are associated with concordance.MethodsA retrospective cohort study of care received over 1 year, conducted across 11 primary care clinics within the context of multimorbidity-focused care management program. Patients were aged 45+ years with more than two common chronic conditions and were sampled based on either being new (≤6 months) or veteran to the program (≥1 year).MeasuresThree guideline concordance measures were calculated for each patient out of 44 potential guideline-recommended care processes for nine chronic conditions: overall score; referral score (proportion of guideline-recommended care referred) and patient-only score (proportion of referred care completed by patients). Guideline concordance was stratified by care type.Results4386 care processes evaluated among 204 patients, mean age = 72.3 years (standard deviation = 9.7). Overall, 79.2% of care was guideline concordant, 87.6% was referred according to guidelines and patients followed 91.4% of referred care. Guideline-concordant care varied across care types. Age, morbidity burden and whether patients were new or veteran to the program were associated with guideline concordance.ConclusionsPatients with multimorbidity do not receive ~20% of guideline recommendations, mostly due to clinicians not referring care. Determining the types of care for which the greatest deviation from guidelines exists can inform the tailoring of care for multimorbidity patients.

BACKGROUND: Predictive models based on electronic health records (EHRs) are used to identify patients at high risk for 30-day hospital readmission. However, these models’ ability to accurately detect who could benefit from inclusion in prevention interventions, also termed “perceived impactibility”, has yet to be realized. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to explore healthcare providers’ perspectives of patient characteristics associated with decisions about which patients should be referred to readmission prevention programs (RPPs) beyond the EHR preadmission readmission detection model (PREADM). DESIGN: This cross-sectional study employed a multi-source mixed-method design, combining EHR data with nurses’ and physicians’ self-reported surveys from 15 internal medicine units in three general hospitals in Israel between May 2016 and June 2017, using a mini-Delphi approach. PARTICIPANTS: Nurses and physicians were asked to provide information about patients 65 years or older who were hospitalized at least one night. MAIN MEASURES: We performed a decision-tree analysis to identify characteristics for consideration when deciding whether a patient should be included in an RPP. KEY RESULTS: We collected 817 questionnaires on 435 patients. PREADM score and RPP inclusion were congruent in 65% of patients, whereas 19% had a high PREADM score but were not referred to an RPP, and 16% had a low-medium PREADM score but were referred to an RPP. The decision-tree analysis identified five patient characteristics that were statistically associated with RPP referral: high PREADM score, eligibility for a nursing home, having a condition not under control, need for social-services support, and need for special equipment at home. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides empirical evidence for the partial congruence between classifications of a high PREADM score and perceived impactibility. Findings emphasize the need for additional research to understand the extent to which combining EHR data with provider insights leads to better selection of patients for RPP inclusion. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s11606-020-05739-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Subjective age contributes to a range of health and functional outcomes in older adults. Most of the evidence comes from studies in community dwelling older adults. The current study explores whether younger subjective age serves as a protective factor against hospital associated physical, cognitive, and emotional decline. This paper is a secondary analysis of a subsample (N=250) from the HoPE-MOR (Hospitalization Process Effects on Mobility Outcomes and Recovery) study for which subjective age was assessed at the time of hospital admission and outcomes were measured one-month post-discharge. Psychological and physiological subjective age was measured as a person’s report on the degree to which they feel older or younger compared to their chronological age on a 5-point Likert-type scale. Measures of independency in Activities of Daily Living, Life-space mobility, cognitive function and depressive symptoms, were based on participants’ assessment at admission and one-month post-discharge. In a sample of acutely ill participants, age 77.5±6.6, those with younger psychological subjective age had a significantly lower odds for poorer mental (OR=0.66, 95%CI 0.45-0.97), functional (OR=0.62, 95%CI 0.43-0.90) and cognitive state (OR=0.60, 95%CI 0.36-0.98), and better life-space mobility (OR=0.67, 95%CI 0.47-0.95). Findings were significant after controlling for numerous demographic, functional, cognitive, emotional and chronic and acute health predictors. Physiological subjective age was not significantly related to post hospitalization outcomes. Psychological subjective age could serve as a relatively simple parameter to identify older adults who are at risk for poor hospitalization outcomes for consideration of inclusion in preventive in-hospital and post discharge interventions.

Objective We examined whether patients' ratings of their in-hospital discharge briefing and their post-discharge Primary Care Physicians' (PCP) review of the discharge summary are associated with 30-day readmissions. Methods A prospective study of 594 internal-medicine patients at a tertiary medical-center in Israel. The in-hospital baseline questionnaire included sociodemographic characteristics, physical, mental, and functional health status. Patients were surveyed by phone about the discharge and post-discharge processes. Clinical data and health-service use was retrieved from a central data-warehouse. Multivariate regressions modeled the relationship between in-hospital baseline characteristics, discharge briefing, PCP visit indicator, the PCP discharge summary review, and 30-day readmissions. Results The extent of the PCPs' review of the hospital discharge summary at the post-discharge visit was rated higher than the in-hospital discharge briefing (3.46 vs. 3.17, p = 0.001) and was associated with lower odds of readmission (OR=0.35, 95% CI 0.26–0.45). The model that included this assessment performed better than the in-hospital baseline, the in-hospital discharge-briefing, and the PCP visit models (C-statistic = 0.87, compared with: 0.70, 0.81, 0.81, respectively). Conclusions Providing extensive post-discharge explanations by PCPs serves as a significant protective factor against readmissions. Practice implications PCPs should be encouraged to thoroughly review the discharge summary letter with the patient.

Aim Poor food intake is a major concern among hospitalized older adults. This study investigated the frequency and optimal timing of in-hospital food intake assessment in terms of its ability to predict hospitalization functional outcomes. Methods Secondary analysis of a cohort study of 699 older adults (age ≥70 years) admitted to internal medicine wards for non-disabling conditions was carried out. Daily food intake was assessed using self-reported estimation of portions consumed at each meal and calculated according to the caloric composition of the meals. Nutritional status on admission, baseline and discharge activities of daily living, and cognitive status were assessed using validated questionnaires. Repeated measures analysis of variance (n = 263) and multiple logistic regression models (n = 475) for predicting activities of daily living and cognitive decline were used to establish required frequency and optimal timing of food-intake monitoring. Results Mean daily intake significantly increased from the first 48 h from admission (0.51 ± 0.30) to the second and third assessments (0.62 ± 0.30 and 0.63 ± 0.30, respectively). Eating half or less of the served meals both within the first 48 h of admission and after 48 h was associated with higher odds of cognitive decline (OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.27-2.94; OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.04-2.51, respectively). Low intake after 48 h of admission was associated with higher odds of activities of daily living decline (OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.03-2.67). Conclusions Food intake increases from the first 48 h of admission onwards and becomes more consistent 3 days after admission. The associations between low food intake at various time points and worse functional outcomes show the importance of routine food intake monitoring for at least 3 days. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 890-895.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the incremental predictive power of electronic medical record (EMR) data, relative to the information available in more easily accessible and standardized insurance claims data.Using both EMR and Claims data, we predicted outcomes for 118,510 patients with 144,966 hospitalizations in 8 hospitals, using widely used prediction models. We use cross-validation to prevent overfitting and tested predictive performance on separate data that were not used for model training.We predict 4 binary outcomes: length of stay (≥7 d), death during the index admission, 30-day readmission, and 1-year mortality.We achieve nearly the same prediction accuracy using both EMR and claims data relative to using claims data alone in predicting 30-day readmissions [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC): 0.698 vs. 0.711; positive predictive value (PPV) at top 10% of predicted risk: 37.2% vs. 35.7%], and 1-year mortality (AUC: 0.902 vs. 0.912; PPV: 64.6% vs. 57.6%). EMR data, especially from the first 2 days of the index admission, substantially improved prediction of length of stay (AUC: 0.786 vs. 0.837; PPV: 58.9% vs. 55.5%) and inpatient mortality (AUC: 0.897 vs. 0.950; PPV: 24.3% vs. 14.0%). Results were similar for sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value across alternative cutoffs and for using alternative types of predictive models.EMR data are useful in predicting short-term outcomes. However, their incremental value for predicting longer-term outcomes is smaller. Therefore, for interventions that are based on long-term predictions, using more broadly available claims data is equally effective.

ObjectivesThe study examines whether hospital discharge practices and care-transition preparedness mediate the association between patients’ cultural factors and readmissions.MethodsA prospective study of internal medicine patients (n=599) examining a culturally diverse cohort, at a tertiary medical centre in Israel. The in-hospital baseline questionnaire included sociodemographic, cultural factors (Multidimensional Health Locus of Control, family collectivism, health literacy and minority status) and physical, mental and functional health status. A follow-up telephone survey assessed hospital discharge practices: use of the teach-back method, providers’ cultural competence, at-discharge language concordance and caregiver presence and care-transition preparedness using the care transition measure (CTM). Clinical and administrative data, including 30-day readmissions to any hospital, were retrieved from the healthcare organisation’s data warehouse. Multiple mediation was tested using Hayes’s PROCESS procedure, model 80.ResultsA total of 101 patients (17%) were readmitted within 30 days. Multiple logistic regressions indicated that all cultural factors, except for minority status, were associated with 30-day readmission when no mediators were included (pConclusionsThe results show that the association between patients’ cultural factors and 30-day readmission is mediated by the hospital discharge practices and care transition. Providing high-quality discharge planning tailored to patients’ cultural characteristics is associated with better care-transition preparedness, which, in turn, is associated with reduced 30-day readmissions.

Objective Persons with serious mental illnesses are at increased risk for co-occurring physical comorbidities. Patient-reported outcome measures are increasingly used in routine assessments of persons with serious mental illnesses, yet the relation of patient-reported outcome measures to physical health outcomes has not been comprehensively investigated. We examined the association between patient-reported outcome measures and self-reported physical health at 1-year follow-up. Design A retrospective cohort study. Setting Data were collected as part of the Israeli Psychiatric Rehabilitation Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement program in Israel. Participants A total of 2581 psychiatric rehabilitation service users assessed between April 2013 and January 2016. Main Outcome Measures Self-reports on two consecutive years of physical health dichotomized as poor versus good. Results More than one-third of participants reported having poor physical health. Multivariate regression analysis showed that quality of life (odds ratio [OR] = 0.71; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.60–0.84) and lack of effect of symptoms on functioning (OR = 0.81; 95%CI: 0.74–0.89) predict subsequent physical health, controlling for all other factors. Compared to a multivariate model with personal characteristics and self-reports on physical health at baseline (Model A), the model which also included patient-reported outcome measures (Model B) showed slightly better discrimination (c-statistic: 0.74 vs. 0.76, respectively). Conclusions These results suggest that patient-reported outcome measures contribute to the prediction of poor physical health and thus can be useful as an early screening tool for people with serious mental illnesses living in the community, who are at risk of physical health problems.

ObjectivesTo assess whether the extent of deviation from chronic disease guideline recommendations is more prominent for specific diseases compared with combined-care across multiple conditions among multimorbid patients, and to examine reasons for this deviation.DesignA cross-sectional cohort.SettingMultimorbidity care management programme across 11 primary care clinics.PatientsPatients aged 45–95 years with at least two common chronic conditions, sampled according to being new (≤6 months) or veteran (≥1 year) to the programme.Main outcome measuresDeviation from guideline-recommended care was measured for each patient’s relevant conditions, aggregated and stratified across disease groups, calculated as measures of ‘disease-specific’ guideline deviation and ‘combined-care’ (all conditions) guideline deviation for: atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, depression, diabetes, dyslipidaemia, hypertension and ischaemic heart disease. Combined-care deviation was evaluated for its association with specific diseases. Frequencies of previously derived reason types for deviation (biomedical, patient personal and contextual) were reported by nurse care managers, assessed across diseases and evaluated for their association with specific diseases.ResultsAmong 204 patients, disease-specific deviation varied more (from 14.7% to 48.2%) across diseases than combined-care deviation (from 14.7% to 25.6%). Depression and diabetes were significantly associated with more deviation (mean: 6% (95% CI: 2% to 10%) and 5% (95% CI: 2% to 9%), respectively). For some conditions, assessments were among small patient samples. Guideline deviation was often attributed to non-disease-specific reasons, such as physical limitations or care burden, as much as disease-specific reasons, which was reflected in the likelihood for guideline deviation to be due to different types of reasons for some diseases.ConclusionsWhen multimorbid patients are considered in disease groups rather than as ‘whole persons’, as in many quality of care studies, the cross-cutting factors in their care delivery can be missed. The types of reasons more likely to occur for specific diseases may inform improvement strategies.Trial registration numberNCT01811173; Pre-results.

ObjectivesPatients with haematological malignancies receiving immunosuppressive therapy are at highest risk of invasive pneumococcal disease. Our goal was to investigate whether vaccination of haematological patients with pneumococcal 13-valent conjugated vaccine (PCV13) prior to therapy initiation is associated with decreased hospital admissions due to pneumonia or sepsis within 12 months.Design and settingA longitudinal retrospective cohort study was conducted at the haematology unit of Carmel Medical Center, Israel.ParticipantsInformation on adult patients (>18 years) who were diagnosed between 1 January 2009 and 30 December 2019 with haematological malignancies and received immunosuppressive therapy was retrieved from the electronic health records. Patients with haematological malignancies who received the PCV13 vaccination during or after initiation of the immunosuppressive therapy were excluded from the study.Outcome measuresA multivariate logistic regression model was performed to determine whether PCV13 vaccination is associated with fewer hospital admissions due to pneumonia or sepsis.ResultsThe cohort included 616 patients, of which 418 (67%) patients were not vaccinated and 198 (33%) were vaccinated. Within 12 months, 15.1% (n=63) of non-vaccinated patients compared with only 7.1% (n=14) of the vaccinated patients were hospitalised due to pneumonia or sepsis. The logistic regression analysis demonstrated that receiving PCV13 vaccination is associated with 45% (OR=0.45, 95% CI: 0.246 to 0.839, p=0.012) reduced odds of being hospitalised due to pneumonia or sepsis in patients with haematological malignancies receiving immunosuppressive therapy.ConclusionThis is the first observational study to demonstrate the association between PCV13 vaccination and hospital admissions in patients with haematological malignancies receiving immunosuppressive therapy. Patients receiving PCV13 vaccination before immunosuppressive therapy initiation had significantly reduced odds of hospitalisation due to pneumonia or sepsis compared with non-PCV13-vaccinated patients.

Background: Parents of children following a traumatic medical event (TME) are known to be at high risk for developing severe post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Findings on the negative impact of TMEs on parents’ PTSS have been described in different cultures and societies worldwide. However, in some cases, a specific ethnic group may also be a minority within a given region or a country, contributing to increased risk for parental PTSS following a child’s TME.Objectives: The current study aimed to examine differences in PTSS between Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Jewish mothers, following a child’s TME. More specifically, we aimed to examine the risk and protective factors affecting mother’s PTSS from a biopsychosocial approach.Methods: Data were collected from medical files of children following TMEs, hospitalized in a pediatric rehabilitation department, during the period 2008–2018. The sample included 47 Israeli-Arab mothers and 47 Israeli-Jewish mothers. Mothers completed the psychosocial assessment tool (PAT), the post-traumatic diagnostic scale (PDS).Results: Arab mothers self-reported significantly higher levels of PTSS than their Jewish counterparts. Further, Arab mothers perceived having more social support than Jewish mothers did. Finally, our prediction model indicated that both Arab ethnicity and pre-trauma family problems predicted higher levels of PTSS among mothers of children following TMEs.Conclusions: Focusing on ethnic and cultural effects following a child’s TME may help improve our understanding of the mental health needs of mothers from different minority ethnic groups and aid in developing appropriate health services and targeted interventions for this population.

Reasons why care does not conform to single-disease guideline recommendations for multimorbid patients have not been systematically measured in practice. Using a mixed methods approach, we identified and quantified types of reasons why care deviates from nine sets of disease guideline recommendations for multimorbid patients. Utilizing a focus group concept mapping technique, we built on a categorization of reasons explaining guideline deviation, and surveyed treating nurses about these reasons for patients’ specific care processes. Directed content analysis was conducted to classify the responses into reasons categories. Of 4,386 guideline-recommended care processes evaluated, 920 were not guideline-concordant (944 reasons). Three broad categories of reasons and 18 specific reasons were identified: Biomedical-related occurred 35.2% of the time, patient personal-related (30.4%), context-related (18.4%), and unknown (16.0%). Patient- and context-related factors are prevalent drivers for guideline deviation in multimorbidity, demonstrating that patient-centered aspects are as much a part of care decisions as biomedical aspects.

Introduction Informal caregiving during hospitalization of older adults is significantly related to hospital processes and patient outcomes. Studies in home settings demonstrate that ethno-cultural background is related to various aspects of informal caregiving; however, this association in the hospital setting is insufficiently researched. Objectives Our study explore potential differences between ethno-cultural groups in the amount and kind of informal support they provide for older adults during hospitalization. Methods This research is a secondary data analysis of two cohort studies conducted in Israeli hospitals. Hospitalized older adults are divided into three groups: Israeli-born and veteran immigrant Jews, Arabs, and Jewish immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU). Duration of caregiver visit, presence in hospital during night hours, type of support (using the Informal Caregiving for Hospitalized Older Adults scale) are assessed during hospitalization. Results are controlled by background parameters including functional Modified Barthel Index (MBI) and cognitive Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ) status, chronic morbidity (Charlson), and demographic characteristics. Results Informal caregivers of “FSU immigrants” stay fewer hours during the day in both cohorts, and provide less supervision of medical care in Study 2, than caregivers in the two other groups. Findings from Study 1 also suggest that informal caregivers of “Arab” older adults are more likely to stay during the night than caregivers in the two other groups. Conclusions Ethno-cultural groups differ in their patterns of caregiving of older adults during hospitalization. Health care professionals should be aware of these patterns and the cultural norms that are related to caregiving practices for better cooperation between informal and formal caregivers of older adults.

Self-management, or self-care, by individuals and/or families is a critical element in chronic illness management as more care shifts to the home setting. Mobile device-enhanced health care, or mHealth, is being touted as a means to support self-care. Previous mHealth reviews examined the effect of mHealth on patient outcomes, however, none used a theoretical lens to examine the interventions themselves. The aims of this integrative review were to examine recent (e.g., last 10 years) chronic illness mHealth empiric studies and (1) categorize self-care behaviors engaged in the intervention according to the Middle-Range Theory of Self-care of Chronic Illness, and (2) conduct an analysis of gaps in self-care theory domains and behaviors utilized. Methods included: (1) Best practice study identification, collection, and data extraction procedures and (2) realist synthesis techniques for within and across case analysis. From a pool of 652 records, 33 primarily North American clinical trials, published between 2010 and 2019 were examined. Most mHealth interventions used apps, clinician contact, and behavioral prompts with some wireless devices. Examination found self-care maintenance behaviors were supported in most (n = 30) trials whereas self-care monitoring (n = 12) and self-care management behaviors (n = 8) were less so. Few trials (n = 2) targeted all three domains. Investigation of specific behaviors uncovered an overexamination of physical activity and diet behaviors and an underexamination of equally important behaviors. By examining chronic illness mHealth interventions using a theoretical lens we have categorized current interventions, conducted a gap analysis uncovering areas for future study, and made recommendations to move the science forward.

To develop and test the relationship between nurse champions' personal social networks and innovation success in terms of spread.A cross sectional.Data were collected on 94 nurse champions at three medium-large tertiary medical centres from 2015-2016. Data from champions on their personal network were assessed via a standardized and acceptable three-step network survey. Success in terms of innovation spread was assessed via perceived extent of spread. Network structural and relational characteristics were depicted by level of spread. Multivariate linear regression was used to assess the relationship between network characteristics and innovation spread.Above and beyond various project and network control variables, network density was significantly and positively related to project spread, tie-strength diversity was significantly and negatively related to project spread and difference in ethnic origin between champions and alters was significantly and positively related to project spread. Maximum age of network members was marginally significantly related to project spread.Our findings show that high-density personal social networks; networks where tie strength among network members is similar, thus, creating liking and trust among members; having at least one older network member who might have close access to professional and organizational resources acquired throughout their career; and having ties with network members from different ethnic groups to prevent knowledge stickiness, all promote innovation spread. Champions should be carefully nominated based on their ability to engage network members and to build ties with various network members inside and outside the nursing unit; once selected, champions should be aware of their social networks.The current study explored champions' personal-network structure, composition and variance measures and their implications for innovation project spread. The findings demonstrated that nursing champions' personal social networks matter for innovation spread. This finding has implications for the nominating and the coaching of champions.目的: 发展和测试护士拥护者的个人社交网络与成功创新传播之间的关系。 设计: 横向研究。 方法: 2015年至2016年间,我们共收集三家大中型三级医疗中心的94名护士拥护者的数据。将通过标准化、可接受的三步网络调查对拥护者的个人网络数据进行评估。创新传播的成功将可通过感知的传播程度来评估。网络的结构特征和关系特征均可通过传播水平来描述。此外,可运用多元线性回归分析网络特征与创新传播之间的关系。 发现: 除各类项目和网络控制变量外,网络密度与项目传播呈明显正相关,联系强度多样性与项目传播呈明显负相关,而拥护者和替补人员之间的种族差异与项目传播呈明显正相关。网络成员的最高龄与项目传播显著相关。 结论: 研究结果表明,高密度的个人社交网络,或网络成员之间联系强度相似且可用于创建联系和信任的网络,内部都至少有一名年纪教长的网络成员,且该成员有可能有近距离接触相关专业和组织资源;可与不同民族的网络成员建立联系,降低知识粘性,最终促进创新传播。拥护者的提名应以其吸引网络成员的能力以及与护理单位内外各种网络成员建立联系的能力为基础;如选中,拥护者应了解其社交网络。 影响: 本研究探讨了拥护者的个人网络结构、构成和差异测度及其对创新项目传播的影响。研究结果表明,护理拥护者的个人社交网络对创新传播至关重要。此研究结果对拥护者的提名和执教都有影响。.

The COVID-19 is disproportionally affecting the poor, minorities and a broad range of vulnerable populations, due to its inequitable spread in areas of dense population and limited mitigation capacity due to high prevalence of chronic conditions or poor access to high quality public health and medical care. Moreover, the collateral effects of the pandemic due to the global economic downturn, and social isolation and movement restriction measures, are unequally affecting those in the lowest power strata of societies. To address the challenges to health equity and describe some of the approaches taken by governments and local organizations, we have compiled 13 country case studies from various regions around the world: China, Brazil, Thailand, Sub Saharan Africa, Nicaragua, Armenia, India, Guatemala, United States of America (USA), Israel, Australia, Colombia, and Belgium. This compilation is by no-means representative or all inclusive, and we encourage researchers to continue advancing global knowledge on COVID-19 health equity related issues, through rigorous research and generation of a strong evidence base of new empirical studies in this field.

Documentation of primary care teams' involvement in disparity reduction efforts exists, yet little is known about how teams interact or perceive their effectiveness. We investigated how the social network and structural ties among primary-care-clinic team members relate to their perceived team effectiveness (TE), in a large-scale disparity reduction intervention in Israel's largest insurer and provider of services. A mixed-method design of Social Network Analysis and qualitative data collection was employed. 108 interviews with medical, nursing, and administrative teams of 26 clinics and their respective managerial units were performed and information on the organizational ties, analyzing density and centrality, collected. Pearson correlations examined association between network measures and perceived TE. Clinics with strong intra-clinic density and high clinic-subregional-management density were positively correlated with perceived TE. Clinic in-degree centrality was also positively associated with perceived TE. Qualitative analyses support these findings with teamwork emerging as a factor which can impede or facilitate teams' ability to design and implement disparity reduction interventions. The study demonstrates that in an organization-wide disparity reduction initiative, cohesive intra-network structure and close relations with mid-level management increase the likelihood that teams perceive themselves as possessing the skills and resources needed to lead and implement disparity reduction efforts.

Aims To identify the sociodemographic attributes, project characteristics and champion strategies that differentiate formal from informal nursing champions, and to test their success in terms of project spread and novelty. Background Champions spread innovation in healthcare organizations. Empirical research has not explored the differences between formal and informal champions in terms of their antecedents and success. Design A quantitative cross-sectional design. Method Data were collected on 93 nursing champions in three hospitals from 2015 - 2016. Champions were identified according to a validated approach; data on their sociodemographic attributes, project characteristics and strategies were assembled through interviews and validated questionnaires. Their success in terms of novelty and spread was assessed via expert ratings and validated questionnaire. Findings Informal champions had longer tenure and were involved mainly in bottom-up projects aimed mostly at improving human resources and services; formal champions were mostly involved in top-down projects aimed at quality control. Informal champions expressed more enthusiasm and confidence about the innovation; formal champions tended to use more online resources and peer-monitoring strategies. Projects of informal champions were more novel than those of formal champions. Project spread did not differ between the two groups. Conclusion Formal and informal champions differ in their characteristics and implementation strategies. To encourage project's innovation, the organizational climate should encourage the emergence of informal champions; formal and informal champions should be chosen wisely, assuring that they possess enough organizational resources; and coaching programmes for junior champions should be planned to equip them with championing behaviours.

Background Performance of function-preserving hospitalization processes related to patient mobility, use of continence aids and food intake is significantly associated with outcomes in older adults. Nurses are the front-line personnel responsible for promoting performance of such processes. The degree to which nurse staffing is related to this performance is unclear. Objective To identify nurse-staffing characteristics and nursing-related care needs associated with older patients’ mobility, continence care and food intake during acute hospitalization. Design Cross-sectional study using survey data from the Hospitalization Process Effects on Functional Outcomes and Recovery (HoPE-FOR) cohort study combined with day-level administrative nurse staffing data and clinical day-level aggregated data for all patients hospitalized during the HoPE-FOR study period. Setting Internal medicine units in two medical centers in Israel. Participants Eight hundred seventy-three older adults. Methods Mobility, continence care and food intake were assessed within 2 days of admission using validated questionnaires. Nurse-to-patient ratios and nursing-skill mix (i.e. registered nurses (RNs), nurse aides, nurses with advanced clinical training and RNs with an academic degree) were assessed using administrative data. Decision trees were developed for mobility, continence care and food intake, applying classification and regression-tree analysis. Results The mobility decision tree identified three characteristics subdividing patients into six nodes: pre-admission functioning, pre-admission activity level and percentage of nurses with advanced training. The percentage of nurses with advanced training classified low-functioning patients into those walking in corridors versus walking or sitting only inside the room. The continence-care classification decision tree identified two characteristics that subdivided the patients into four nodes: pre-admission functioning and bladder control. Nurse-to-patient-ratio variables and patients’ nursing-related care needs did not contribute to this classification. The food-intake decision tree identified four characteristics—pre-admission functioning, gender, percentage of nurses with advanced training and percentage of nurse aides—subdividing patients into eight nodes. Low-functioning patients exposed to a higher percentage of nurses with advanced training had food-intake scores 14% higher than patients exposed to a lower percentage of nurses with advanced training. Independent men exposed to a higher percentage of nurse aides had a 14% higher habitual daily in-hospital food-intake score than independent men exposed to a lower percentage of nurse aides. Conclusions A higher percentage of nurses with post-graduate education is associated with better performance of mobility and food intake of hospitalized older adults. To maintain the potential benefits of highly trained staff, education levels should be considered in scheduling and assignment decision-making processes in internal medicine units. Tweetable abstract: A higher percentage of nurses with post-graduate education is associated with better mobility and food intake of hospitalized older adults.

Mobile health (mHealth)—hand-held technologies to address health priorities—has significant potential to answer the growing need for patient chronic illness self-care interventions. Previous reviews examined mHealth effect on patient outcomes. None have a detailed examination and mapping of specific technology features to targeted health outcomes. Examine recent chronic illness mHealth self-care interventions; map the study descriptors, mHealth technology features, and study outcomes. (1) Information extracted from PubMed, CINAHL, and Web of Science databases for clinical outcomes studies published 2010–January 2020; and (2) realist synthesis techniques for within and across case analysis. From 652 records, 32 studies were examined. Median study duration was 19.5 weeks. Median sample size was 62 participants. About 47% of interventions used solely patient input versus digital input; 50% sent tailored messages versus generic messages; 22% augmented the intervention with human interaction. Studies with positive clinical outcomes had higher use of digital input. Software descriptions were lacking. Most studies built interventions: only two incorporated target audience participation in development. We recommend researchers provide sufficient system description detail. Future research includes: data input characteristics; impact of augmentation with human interaction on outcomes; and development decisions.