A Framework for Integrating Telehealth Equitably across the cancer care continuum.

The COVID-19 pandemic placed a spotlight on the potential to dramatically increase the use of telehealth across the cancer care continuum, but whether and how telehealth can be implemented in practice in ways that reduce, rather than exacerbate, inequities are largely unknown. To help fill this critical gap in research and practice, we developed the Framework for Integrating Telehealth Equitably (FITE), a process and evaluation model designed to help guide equitable integration of telehealth into practice. In this manuscript, we present FITE and showcase how investigators across the National Cancer Institute's Telehealth Research Centers of Excellence are applying the framework in different ways to advance digital and health equity. By highlighting multilevel determinants of digital equity that span further than access alone, FITE highlights the complex and differential ways structural determinants restrict or enable digital equity at the individual and community level. As such, achieving digital equity will require strategies designed to not only support individual behavior but also change the broader context to ensure all patients and communities have the choice, opportunity, and resources to use telehealth across the cancer care continuum.

Training primary healthcare workers on a task-strengthening strategy for integrating hypertension management into HIV care in Nigeria: implementation strategies, knowledge uptake, and lessons learned.

BACKGROUND: With improved access to anti-retroviral drugs, persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are living longer but with attendant increased risks of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The increasing burden of NCDs, especially hypertension, could reverse gains attributed to HIV care. Nurses and Community Health Officers (CHO) in Nigeria are cardinal in delivering primary health care. A task-strengthening strategy could enable them to manage hypertension in HIV care settings. This study aimed to assess their knowledge and practice of hypertension management among Healthcare workers (HCWs) and to explore the challenges involved in conducting onsite training during pandemics. METHODS: Nurses and CHOs in the employment of the Lagos State Primary Health Care Board (LSPHCB), Lagos State, Nigeria, were recruited. They were trained through hybrid (virtual and onsite) modules before study implementation and a series of refresher trainings. A pre-and post-training test survey was administered, followed by qualitative interviews to assess skills and knowledge uptake, the potential barriers and facilitators of task-sharing in hypertension management in HIV clinics, and the lessons learned. RESULTS: Sixty HCWs participated in the two-day training at baseline. There was a significant improvement in the trainees' knowledge of hypertension management and control. The average score during the pre-test and post-test was 59% and 67.6%, respectively. While about 75% of the participants had a good knowledge of hypertension, its cause, symptoms, and management, 20% had moderate knowledge, and 5% had poor knowledge at baseline. There was also an increase in the mean score between the pre-test and post-test of the refresher training using paired t-tests (P < 0.05). Role-playing and multimedia video use improved the participants' uptake of the training. The primary barrier and facilitator of task sharing strategy in hypertension management reported were poor delineation of duties among HCWs and the existing task shifting at the Primary Healthcare Centres (PHC) level, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The task strengthening strategy is relevant in managing hypertension in HIV clinics in Nigeria. The capacity development training for the nurses and CHOs involved in the Integration of Hypertension Management into HIV Care in Nigeria: A Task Strengthening Strategy (TASSH-Nigeria) study yielded the requisite improvement in knowledge uptake, which is a reassurance of the delivery of the project outcomes at the PHCs.

Cardiovascular Disease Guideline Adherence: An RCT Using Practice Facilitation.

INTRODUCTION: Practice facilitation is a promising practice transformation strategy, but further examination of its effectiveness in improving adoption of guidelines for multiple cardiovascular disease risk factors is needed. The objective of the study is to determine whether practice facilitation is effective in increasing the proportion of patients meeting the Million Hearts ABCS outcomes: (A) aspirin when indicated, (B) blood pressure control, (C) cholesterol management, and (S) smoking screening and cessation intervention. STUDY DESIGN: The study used a stepped-wedge cluster RCT design with 4 intervention waves. Data were extracted for 13 quarters between January 1, 2015 and March 31, 2018, which encompassed the control, intervention, and follow-up periods for all waves, and analyzed in 2019. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: A total of 257 small independent primary care practices in New York City were randomized into 1 of 4 waves. INTERVENTION: The intervention consisted of practice facilitators conducting at least 13 practice visits over 1 year, focused on capacity building and implementing system and workflow changes to meet cardiovascular disease care guidelines. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcomes were the Million Hearts' ABCS measures. Two additional measures were created: (1) proportion of tobacco users who received a cessation intervention (smokers counseled) and (2) a composite measure that assessed the proportion of patients meeting treatment targets for A, B, and C (ABC composite). RESULTS: The S measure improved when comparing follow-up with the control period (incidence rate ratio=1.152, 95% CI=1.072, 1.238, p<0.001) and when comparing follow-up with intervention (incidence rate ratio=1.060, 95% CI=1.013, 1.109, p=0.007). Smokers counseled improved when comparing the intervention period with control (incidence rate ratio=1.121, 95% CI=1.037, 1.211, p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Increasing the impact of practice facilitation programs that target multiple risk factors may require a longer, more intense intervention and greater attention to external policy and practice context. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT02646488.

Partnerships to Improve Shared Decision Making for Patients with Hypertension - Health Equity Implications.

Shared decision making (SDM) has increasingly become appreciated as a method to enhance patient involvement in health care decisions, patient-provider communication, and patient-centered care. Compared with cancer, the literature on SDM for hypertension is more limited. This is notable because hypertension is the leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease and both conditions disproportionately affect certain subgroups of patients. However, SDM holds promise for improving health equity by better engaging patients in their health care. For example, many reasonable options exist for treating uncomplicated stage-1 hypertension. These options include medication and/or lifestyle changes such as healthy eating, physical activity, and weight management. Deciding on "the best" plan of action for hypertension management can be challenging because patients have different goals and preferences for treatment. As hypertension management may be considered a preference-sensitive decision, adherence to treatment plans may be greater if those plans are concordant with patient preferences. SDM can be implemented in a broad array of care contexts, from patient-provider dyads to interprofessional collaborations. In this article, we argue that SDM has the potential to advance health equity and improve clinical care. We also propose a process to evaluate whether SDM has occurred and suggest future directions for research.

Innovative Approaches to Hypertension Control in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Elevated blood pressure, a major risk factor for ischemic heart disease, heart failure, and stroke, is the leading global risk for mortality. Treatment and control rates are very low in low- and middle-income countries. There is an urgent need to address this problem. The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases sponsored research projects focus on controlling hypertension, including community engagement, salt reduction, salt substitution, task redistribution, mHealth, and fixed-dose combination therapies. This paper reviews the rationale for each approach and summarizes the experience of some of the research teams. The studies demonstrate innovative and practical methods for improving hypertension control.

mHealth to Train Community Health Nurses in Visual Inspection With Acetic Acid for Cervical Cancer Screening in Ghana.

OBJECTIVE: There is a shortage of trained health care personnel for cervical cancer screening in low-/middle-income countries. We evaluated the feasibility and limited efficacy of a smartphone-based training of community health nurses in visual inspection of the cervix under acetic acid (VIA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: During April to July 2015 in urban Ghana, we designed and developed a study to determine the feasibility and efficacy of an mHealth-supported training of community health nurses (CHNs, n = 15) to perform VIA and to use smartphone images to obtain expert feedback on their diagnoses within 24 hours and to improve VIA skills retention. The CHNs completed a 2-week on-site introductory training in VIA performance and interpretation, followed by an ongoing 3-month text messaging-supported VIA training by an expert VIA reviewer. RESULTS: Community health nurses screened 169 women at their respective community health centers while receiving real-time feedback from the reviewer. The total agreement rate between all VIA diagnoses made by all CHNs and the expert reviewer was 95%. The mean (SD) rate of agreement between each CHN and the expert reviewer was 89.6% (12.8%). The agreement rates for positive and negative cases were 61.5% and 98.0%, respectively. Cohen κ statistic was 0.67 (95% CI = 0.45-0.88). Around 7.7% of women tested VIA positive and received cryotherapy or further services. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate the feasibility and efficacy of mHealth-supported VIA training of CHNs and have the potential to improve cervical cancer screening coverage in Ghana.

A Global Perspective on Cardiovascular Disease in Vulnerable Populations.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major contributor to the growing public health epidemic in chronic diseases. Much of the disease and disability burden from CVDs are in people younger than the age of 70 years in low- and middle-income countries, formerly "the developing world." The risk of CVD is heavily influenced by environmental conditions and lifestyle variables. In this article we review the scope of the CVD problem in low- and middle-income countries, including economic factors, risk factors, at-risk groups, and explanatory frameworks that hypothesize the multifactorial drivers. Finally, we discuss current and potential interventions to reduce the burden of CVD in vulnerable populations including research needed to evaluate and implement promising solutions for those most at risk.

Individual patient data meta-analysis of self-monitoring of blood pressure (BP-SMART): a protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Self-monitoring of blood pressure is effective in reducing blood pressure in hypertension. However previous meta-analyses have shown a considerable amount of heterogeneity between studies, only part of which can be accounted for by meta-regression. This may be due to differences in design, recruited populations, intervention components or results among patient subgroups. To further investigate these differences, an individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis of self-monitoring of blood pressure will be performed. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will identify randomised trials that have compared patients with hypertension who are self-monitoring blood pressure with those who are not and invite trialists to provide IPD including clinic and/or ambulatory systolic and diastolic blood pressure at baseline and all follow-up points where both intervention and control groups were measured. Other data requested will include measurement methodology, length of follow-up, cointerventions, baseline demographic (age, gender) and psychosocial factors (deprivation, quality of life), setting, intensity of self-monitoring, self-monitored blood pressure, comorbidities, lifestyle factors (weight, smoking) and presence or not of antihypertensive treatment. Data on all available patients will be included in order to take an intention-to-treat approach. A two-stage procedure for IPD meta-analysis, stratified by trial and taking into account age, sex, diabetes and baseline systolic BP will be used. Exploratory subgroup analyses will further investigate non-linear relationships between the prespecified variables. Sensitivity analyses will assess the impact of trials which have and have not provided IPD. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study does not include identifiable data. Results will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed publication and by international conference presentations. CONCLUSIONS: IPD analysis should help the understanding of which self-monitoring interventions for which patient groups are most effective in the control of blood pressure.

HIV and general cardiovascular risk.

The incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is increasing in HIV-infected people. Risk factors such as hyperlipidemia, impaired glucose tolerance, and insulin resistance have become common. CVD in HIV may also be related to nontraditional risk factors including accumulation of visceral fat, inflammation secondary to HIV, and effects of some antiretroviral drugs. This cross-sectional study described the CVD risk factors of 123 adults living with HIV and calculated the 10-year estimate for general cardiovascular risk score. Results showed that approximately 25% of the participants were considered to be at high risk for developing CVD in the next 10 years. Increased waist circumference and longer duration of smoking habit were associated with elevated general cardiovascular risk scores. Similar to the general population, most of the identified risks could be modified through lifestyle management.

Colorectal carcinoma in young females.

BACKGROUND: We sought to study the clinicopathologic characteristics of colorectal cancer in young female patients. We also wanted to determine the association of colorectal cancer with anemia in these female patients and, finally, to determine the effect of gender on prognosis in young patients with colorectal cancer. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of all young patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer between 1982 and 1999 in two teaching hospitals in New York City. RESULTS: A total of 3,546 cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed. Sixty-one (1.63%) of these patients were young patients and 32 (0.85%) were female. Young refers to all patients in the study who were younger than 40 years of age. The clinical presentation and mean age at presentation were very similar in both male and female patients. At presentation, 87.5% of female patients had anemia compared with only 69% of male patients. Males had a statistically significant higher mean hemoglobin level compared with females (12.87 versus 10.29 g) at P = 0.0001. Seventy-nine percent of female patients compared with 86% of male patients presented with left-sided tumors. Fifty-five percent of males presented with late stage disease compared with 68% of females (P = 0.27). Female sex seemed to adversely affect the prognosis, although this did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.08). Stage of disease was associated with worse prognosis and this was independent of sex. Age and hemoglobin were not independent predictors of mortality. CONCLUSION: Colorectal cancer does occur in females of childbearing age who might have a tendency to present with late stage disease as evidence from this study. Young female patients with anemia should be questioned about gastrointestinal symptoms, and colorectal cancer should definitely be in the differential diagnoses. This might conceivably allow for earlier diagnosis and potential for cure in this patient group.