Pediatric rheumatology in Africa: thriving amidst challenges.

BACKGROUND: Pediatric Rheumatology is an orphan specialty in Africa which is gradually gaining importance across the continent. MAIN BODY: This commentary discusses the current state of affairs in the sphere of Pediatric Rheumatology across Africa and offers practical strategies to navigate the challenges encountered in research, models of care, education and training. We outline the establishment, opportunities of growth and achievements of the Pediatric Society of the African League Against Rheumatism (PAFLAR). CONCLUSION: This commentary lays the foundation for establishment of a formidable framework and development of partnerships for the prosperity of Pediatric Rheumatology in Africa and beyond.

Evaluating Neonatal Telehealth Programs Using the STEM Framework.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an explosive adoption of telehealth in pediatrics . However, there remains substantial variation in evaluation methods and measures of these programs despite introduction of measurement frameworks in the last five years. In addition, for neonatal health care, assessing a telehealth program must measure its benefits and costs for four stakeholder groups - patients, providers, healthcare system, and payers. Because of differences in their role within the health system, each group's calculation of telehealth's value may align or not with one another, depending on how it is being used. Therefore, a common mental model for determining value is critical in order to use telehealth in ways that produce win-win situations for most if not all four stakeholder groups. In this chapter, we present important principles and concepts from previously published frameworks to propose an approach to telehealth evaluation that can be used for perinatal health. Such a framework will then drive future development and implementation of telehealth programs to provide value for all relevant stakeholders in a perinatal health care system.

COVID-19 pandemic and families' utilization of well-child clinics and pediatric practices attendance in Germany.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures implemented to stop the pandemic had a broad impact on our daily lives. Besides work and social life, health care is affected on many levels. In particular, there is concern that attendance in health care programs will drop or hospital admissions will be delayed due to COVID-19-related anxieties, especially in children. Therefore, we compared the number of weekly visits to 78 German pediatric institutions between 2019 and 2020. RESULTS: We found no significant differences during the first 10 weeks of the year. However, and importantly, from April, the weekly number of visits was more than 35% lower in 2020 than in 2019 (p = 0.005). In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic seems to relate to families´ utilization of outpatient well-child clinics and pediatric practice attendance in Germany.

Association between a complex community intervention and quality of health extension workers' performance to correctly classify common childhood illnesses in four regions of Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Due to low care utilization, a complex intervention was done for two years to optimize the Ethiopian Health Extension Program. Improved quality of the integrated community case management services was an intermediate outcome of this intervention through community education and mobilization, capacity building of health workers, and strengthening of district ownership and accountability of sick child services. We evaluated the association between the intervention and the health extension workers' ability to correctly classify common childhood illnesses in four regions of Ethiopia. METHODS: Baseline and endline assessments were done in 2016 and 2018 in intervention and comparison areas in four regions of Ethiopia. Ill children aged 2 to 59 months were mobilized to visit health posts for an assessment that was followed by re-examination. We analyzed sensitivity, specificity, and difference-in-difference of correct classification with multilevel mixed logistic regression in intervention and comparison areas at baseline and endline. RESULTS: Health extensions workers' consultations with ill children were observed in intervention (n = 710) and comparison areas (n = 615). At baseline, re-examination of the children showed that in intervention areas, health extension workers' sensitivity for fever or malaria was 54%, 68% for respiratory infections, 90% for diarrheal diseases, and 34% for malnutrition. At endline, it was 40% for fever or malaria, 49% for respiratory infections, 85% for diarrheal diseases, and 48% for malnutrition. Specificity was higher (89-100%) for all childhood illnesses. Difference-in-differences was 6% for correct classification of fever or malaria [aOR = 1.45 95% CI: 0.81-2.60], 4% for respiratory tract infection [aOR = 1.49 95% CI: 0.81-2.74], and 5% for diarrheal diseases [aOR = 1.74 95% CI: 0.77-3.92]. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that the Optimization of Health Extension Program intervention, which included training, supportive supervision, and performance reviews of health extension workers, was not associated with an improved classification of childhood illnesses by these Ethiopian primary health care workers. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN12040912, http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN12040912.

Things must not fall apart: the ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Zero to 19 year-old children in sub-Saharan Africa bear a disproportionate proportion of the global burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Significant public health gains have been made in the fight against these diseases, however, factors such as underequipped health systems, disease outbreaks, conflict, and political instability continue to challenge prevention and control. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) introduces new challenges to public health programs in sub-Saharan Africa. Of particular concern are programs targeting major conditions among children, such as undernutrition, vaccine-preventable pneumonia and diarrhea, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, and sickle cell disease. This article focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child health in sub-Saharan Africa. We review the epidemiology of major pediatric diseases and, referencing modeling projections, discuss the short- and long-term impact of the pandemic on major disease control. We deliberate on potential complications of SARS-CoV-2 co-infections/co-morbidities and identify critical social and ethical issues. Furthermore, we highlight the paucity of COVID-19 data and clinical trials in this region and the lack of child participants in ongoing studies. Lastly, approaches and interventions to mitigate the pandemic's impact on child health outcomes are discussed. IMPACT: Children in sub-Saharan Africa bear a disproportionate burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases globally; this remains true even as the COVID-19 pandemic persists. Amidst the fast-expanding COVID-19 literature, there is little comprehensive coverage of the pandemic's indirect impact on child health in sub-Saharan Africa. This article comprehensively outlines the threat that the pandemic poses to major disease prevention and control for children in sub-Saharan Africa. It discusses the potential impact of SARS-CoV-2 co-infections/co-morbidities, highlights research gaps, and advocates for data and action to mitigate the ripple effects of the pandemic on this population.

Trends and correlates of maternal, newborn and child health services utilization in primary healthcare facilities: an explorative ecological study using DHIMSII data from one district in the Volta region of Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Sustainable Development Goal 3 aims at reducing global neonatal mortality to at least 12 per 1000 livebirths, under-five mortality to at least 25 per 1000 livebirths and maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 livebirths by 2030. Considering the achievement so far, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana are not likely to achieve these targets. Low utilization of maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) services partly account for this predicament. This study explored the trend and correlates of MNCH services utilization in one administrative district in the Volta Region of Ghana. METHODS: This is an explorative ecological study employing trend analysis of 2015-2017 data from Ghana Health Service District Health Information Management System II. Univariate Poisson regression models were used to determine the factors associated with MNCH services utilization at 95% confidence level. RESULTS: Cumulative record of 17,052 antenatal care (ANC) attendance and 2162 facility-based spontaneous vaginal deliveries (SVDs) was discovered. Compelling evidence of potential unskilled deliveries was observed in 23% of the 26 facilities reported in the DHIMSII data. High cumulative number of midwives in health facilities associated positively with high records of ANC visits (IRR = 1.30, [95% CI:1.29, 1.32]; p = 0.0001), facility-based SVDs (IRR = 1.30 [95% CI:1.25, 1.35]; p = 0.0001) and BCG immunizations (IRR = 1.32 [95% CI:1.29, 1.34]; p = 0.0001). Likewise, high records of ANC visits correlated positively with high facility-based SVDs and child immunizations records (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Targeted health system and community level interventions alongside progressive frontline health staff motivation and retention strategies could further enhance enrollment and retention of mothers in pre-natal and postnatal care services throughout the continuum of care to guarantee better MNCH health outcomes. Investments in universal coverage for quality ANC services has the potential to enhance utilization of supervised deliveries and post-natal care services such as immunizations.

Barriers and facilitators to neonatal health and care-seeking behaviours in rural Cambodia: a qualitative study.

OBJECTIVES: Neonatal mortality remains persistently high in low-income and middle-income countries. In Cambodia, there is a paucity of data on the perception of neonatal health and care-seeking behaviours at the community level. This study aimed to identify influencers of neonatal health and healthcare-seeking behaviour in a rural Cambodian province. DESIGN: A qualitative study using focus group discussions and thematic content analysis. SETTING: Four health centres in a rural province of Northern Cambodia. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-four focus group discussions were conducted with 85 community health workers in 2019. RESULTS: Community health workers recognised an improvement in neonatal health over time. Key influencers to neonatal health were identified as knowledge, sociocultural behaviours, finances and transport, provision of care and healthcare engagement. Most influencers acted as both barriers and facilitators, with the exception of finances and transport that only acted as a barrier, and healthcare engagement that acted as a facilitator. CONCLUSION: Understanding health influencers and care-seeking behaviours is recognised to facilitate appropriate community health programmes. Key influencers and care-seeking behaviours have been identified from rural Cambodia adding to the current literature. Where facilitators have already been established, they should be used as building blocks for continued change.

Effects of In-Person Navigation to Address Family Social Needs on Child Health Care Utilization: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: While many organizations endorse screening for social risk factors in clinical settings, few studies have examined the health and utilization effects of interventions to address social needs. Objective: To compare the acute care utilization effects of a written resources handout vs an in-person navigation service intervention to address social needs. Design, Settings, and Participants: In this secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial, 1809 adult caregivers of pediatric patients seen in primary and urgent care clinics of 2 safety-net hospitals in northern California were recruited between October 13, 2013, and August 27, 2015. Each participating family was randomly assigned to an in-person navigator intervention vs active control to address the family's social needs. Analyses were conducted between February 28, 2018, and September 25, 2019. Interventions: Caregivers either received written information about relevant local resources related to social needs (active control) or met with a patient navigator focused on helping them resolve social needs (navigator intervention). After an initial in-person visit, navigation services included telephone, email, and/or in-person follow-up for up to 3 months. Main Outcome and Measures: Child emergency department visit or hospitalization within 12 months of study enrollment. Results: Among the 1300 caregivers enrolled in the study without missing follow-up data, most spoke English (878 [67.5%]) and were women (1127 [86.7%]), with a mean (SD) age of 33.0 (9.33) years. Most children were aged 0 to 5 years (779 of 1300 [59.9%]), 723 children (55.6%) had Hispanic ethnicity, and 462 children (35.5%) were in excellent health; 840 families (64.6%) were recruited from urgent care. In total, 637 families (49.0%) were randomized to the in-person navigator group and 663 (51.0%) to the active control group. There was no difference in risk of an emergency department visit between the 2 groups. Children enrolled in the in-person navigator group had a decreased risk of hospitalization within 12 months (hazard ratio, 0.59; 05% CI, 0.38-0.94; P = .03), making them 69% less likely to be hospitalized. Conclusions and Relevance: In this randomized clinical trial evaluating heath care utilization effects of programs designed to address social needs among families, children enrolled in the navigation group were significantly less likely to be hospitalized after the intervention but equally likely to have an emergency department visit. These findings strengthen our understanding of the effects of addressing social needs in clinical settings as part of a comprehensive strategy to improve health and reduce health care utilization. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01939704.

Contextualised strategies to increase childhood and adolescent vaccination coverage in South Africa: a mixed-methods study.

INTRODUCTION: Despite the unparalleled success of immunisation in the control of vaccine preventable diseases, immunisation coverage in South Africa remains suboptimal. While many evidence-based interventions have successfully improved vaccination coverage in other countries, they are not necessarily appropriate to the immunisation needs, barriers and facilitators of South Africa. The aim of this research is to investigate barriers and facilitators to optimal vaccination uptake, and develop contextualised strategies and implementation plans to increase childhood and adolescent vaccination coverage in South Africa. METHODS: The study will employ a mixed-methods research design. It will be conducted over three iterative phases and use the Adopt, Contextualise or Adapt (ACA) model as an overarching conceptual framework. Phase 1 will identify, and develop a sampling frame of, immunisation stakeholders involved in the design, planning and implementation of childhood and human papillomavirus immunisation programmes in South Africa. Phase 2 will identify the main barriers and facilitators to, and solutions for, increasing vaccination coverage. This phase will comprise exploratory qualitative research with stakeholders and a review of existing systematic reviews on interventions for improving vaccination coverage. Using the findings from Phase 2 and the ACA model, Phase 3 will develop a set of proposed interventions and implementation action plans for improving immunisation coverage in South Africa. These plans will be discussed, revised and finalised through a series of participatory stakeholder workshops and an online questionnaire, conducted as part of Phase 3. ETHICS: Ethical approval was obtained from the South African Medical Research Council (EC018-11/2018). No risks to participants are expected. Various steps will be taken to ensure the anonymity and confidentiality of participants. DISSEMINATION: The study findings will be shared at stakeholder workshops, the website of Cochrane South Africa and academic publications and conferences.

Operationalization of the Ecological Systems Theory to Guide the Study of Cultural Practices and Beliefs of Newborn Care in Rural Zambia.

Introduction: A wide gap in knowledge exists about the factors associated with newborn care in rural Zambia. In this year of the nurse and midwife, the purpose of this article is to provide transcultural researchers with an example of how Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory (EST) can be used to guide an exploration of the cultural practices, knowledge, and beliefs of newborn care and health-seeking behaviors in rural Zambia. Methodology: Based on the EST, maternal knowledge represents the microsystem while family and community members embody the mesosystem. Health care organization denotes the exosystem with culture representing the macrosystem and health policy the chronosystem. Results: Numerous implications for transcultural nursing practice emerged from this adaptation of the ecological systems approach. Findings reveal a maternal dualism faced by Zambian mothers as they navigate the complex interplay between cultural newborn care practices and evidence-based newborn care promoted by the health care system. Discussion: Based on our proposed operationalization of the EST for a transcultural nursing study, the EST can be applied globally, further validating the theory.

Complete vaccination service utilization inequalities among children aged 12-23 months in Ethiopia: a multivariate decomposition analyses.

BACKGROUND: Although World Health Organization works to make vaccination service available to everyone everywhere by 2030, majority of the world's children have been unvaccinated and unprotected from vaccine-preventable diseases. In fact, evidences on factors contributing to changes in vaccination coverage across residential areas, wealth categories and over time have not been adequate. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating inequalities in vaccination status of children aged 12-23 months owing to variations in wealth status, residential areas and over time. METHODS: Maternal and child health service data were extracted from the 2011 and 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey datasets. Then, multivariate decomposition analysis was done to identify the major factors contributing to differences in the rate of vaccination utilization across residences and time variations. Similarly, a concentration index and curve were also done to identify the concentration of child vaccination status across wealth categories. RESULTS: Among children aged 12-23 months, the prevalence of complete childhood vaccination status increased from 20.7% in rural to 49.2% in urban in 2011 and from 31.7% in rural to 66.8% in urban residences in 2016. The decomposition analyses indicated that 72% in 2011 and 70.5% in 2016 of the overall difference in vaccination status was due to differences in respondent characteristics. Of the changes due to the composition of respondent characteristics, such as antenatal care and place of delivery were the major contributors to the increase in complete childhood vaccination in 2011, while respondent characteristics such as wealth index, place of delivery and media exposure were the major contributors to the increase in 2016. Of the changes due to differences in coefficients, those of low wealth status in 2016 across residences significantly contributed to the differences in complete childhood vaccination. On top of that, from 2011 to 2016, there was a significant increment in complete childhood vaccination status and a 59.8% of the overall increment between the surveys was explained by the difference in composition of respondents. With regard to the change in composition, the differences in composition of ANC visit, wealth status, place of delivery, residence, maternal education and media exposure across the surveys were significant predictors for the increase in complete child vaccination over time. On the other hand, the wealth-related inequalities in the utilization of childhood vaccination status were the pro-rich distribution of health services with a concentration index of CI = 0.2479 (P-value < 0.0001) in 2011 and [CI = 0.1987; P-value < 0.0001] in 2016. CONCLUSION: A significant rural-urban differentials was observed in the probability of a child receiving the required childhood vaccines. Children in urban households were specifically more likely to have completed the required number of vaccines compared to the rural areas in both surveys. The effect of household wealth status on the probability of a child receiving the required number of vaccines are similar in the 2011 and 2016 surveys, and the vaccination status was high in households with high wealth status. The health policies aimed at reducing wealth related inequalities in childhood vaccination in Ethiopia need to adjust focus and increasingly target vulnerable children in rural areas. It is of great value to policy-makers to understand and design a compensation mechanism for the costs incurred by poor households. Special attention should also be given to rural communities through improving their access to the media. The findings highlight the importance of women empowerment, for example, through education to enhance childhood vaccination services in Ethiopia.

Stomized children care practices: narratives of relatives.

OBJECTIVES: to understand the practices adopted by relatives regarding ostomized children care. METHODS: qualitative approach, conducted with 11 relatives of ostomized children. Methodological framework was used as narrative technique; NVivo® software for data categorization and information analysis; content analysis technique. RESULTS: participants revealed unpreparedness in dealing with children, lack of knowledge about handling materials and equipment inherent to ostomy and challenges faced in the daily life of children in school. They are unanimous in telling they feel encouraged and strengthened by receiving support from nurses in child care. They suggested the development of strategies to guide ostomized children care, such as educational material use. CONCLUSIONS: to understand family members' experience made it possible to support training and qualification of nursing professionals, and to establish priorities in care. Evidence found may contribute to reflections that aid health promotion and prevention of complications in ostomized children care.