Can training over phone calls help improve outcomes for COVID-19 positive patients under home isolation? An analysis of the COVID-19 Care Companion Program in Punjab, India.

Background: Phone-supported recovery of COVID-19 patients in home isolation could be an effective way of addressing COVID-19 in contexts with limited resources. The COVID-19 Care Companion Program (CCP) is one such intervention, designed to support patients and their caregivers in remote, evidence-based management of COVID-19 symptoms. Objective: To estimate the effect of providing phone-based training to COVID-19 patients and their caregivers on the likelihood of hospitalizations and mortality. Methods: A pragmatic randomized trial was conducted to assess the effect of a novel phone-based training program on COVID-19 home-isolated patient outcomes. The analysis compared the outcomes of death and hospitalizations in the teletraining intervention group (CCP) to those receiving standard of care (SoC). Results: Logistic regression models adjusted for age, gender, education, occupation, and poverty, as measured by family possession of Below Poverty Line (BPL) card, were used to look at the effect of intervention on hospitalization and mortality. While the CCP intervention had no effect on 21-day mortality (OR 0.64; 95% CI, 0.19 to 2.12), it was associated with a 48% reduction in 21-day hospitalization (OR 0.52; 95% CI, 0.31 to 0.90). Conclusion: COVID-19 CCP teletraining intervention reduced the rate of hospitalization, potentially reducing the burden on hospitals.

Improving neonatal health with family-centered, early postnatal care: A quasi-experimental study in India.

Despite the global decline, neonatal mortality rates (NMR) remain high in India. Family members are often responsible for the postpartum care of neonates and mothers. Yet, low health literacy and varied beliefs can lead to poor health outcomes. Postpartum education for family caregivers, may improve the adoption of evidence-based neonatal care and health outcomes. The Care Companion Program (CCP) is a hospital-based, pre-discharge health training session where nurses teach key healthy behaviors to mothers and family members, including skills and an opportunity to practice them in the hospital. We conducted a quasi-experimental study to assess the effect of the CCP sessions on mortality outcomes among families seeking care in 28 public tertiary facilities across 4 Indian states. Neonatal mortality outcomes were reported post-discharge, collected via phone surveys at four weeks postpartum, between October 2018 to February 2020. Risk ratios (RR), adjusting for hospital-level clustering, were calculated by comparing mortality rates before and after CCP implementation. A total of 46,428 families participated in the pre-intervention group and 87,305 in the post-intervention group; 76% of families completed the phone survey. Among the 33,599 newborns born before the CCP implementation, there were 1386 deaths (NMR: 41.3 deaths per 1000 live births). After the intervention began, there were 2021 deaths out of 60,078 newborns born (crude NMR: 33.6 deaths per 1000 live births, RR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.76, 0.87; cluster-adjusted RR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.71, 0.94). There may be a substantial benefit to family-centered education in the early postnatal period to reduce neonatal mortality.

Supporting Immunization Uptake during a Pandemic, Using Remote Phone Call Intervention among Babies Discharged from a Special Neonatal Care Unit (SNCU) in South India.

COVID-19 has impacted children's immunization rates, putting the lives of children at risk. The present study assesses the impact of phone-call counseling, on immunization uptake during the pandemic. Families of babies discharged from the SNCUs in six government centers in three South Indian states were recruited. Calls were made 10 days after the immunization due date. Missed vaccinees were counseled and followed up on 7 and 15 days. Of 2313 contacted, 2097 completed the survey. Respondents were mostly mothers (88.2%), poor (67.5%), and had secondary level education (37.4%). Vaccinations were missed due to the baby's poor health (64.1%), COVID-19 related concerns (32.6%), and lack of awareness (16.8%). At the end of the intervention, the immunization uptake increased from 65.2% to 88.2%. Phone-call intervention can safely support immunization and lower the burden on health workers.

Impact of family-centred postnatal training on maternal and neonatal health and care practices in district hospitals in two states in India: a pre-post study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The Care Companion Program (CCP) is an in-hospital multitopic skill-based training programme provided to families to improve postdischarge maternal and neonatal health. The states of Punjab and Karnataka in India piloted the programme in 12 district hospitals in July 2017, and no study to date has evaluated its impact. METHODS: We compared telephonically self-reported maternal and neonatal care practices and health outcomes before and after the launch of the CCP programme in 11 facilities. Families in the preintervention group delivered between May to June 2017 (N=1474) while those in the intervention group delivered between August and October 2017 (N=3510). Programme effects were expressed as adjusted risk ratios obtained from logistic regression models. RESULTS: At 2-week postdelivery, the practice of dry cord care improved by 4% (RR=1.04, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.06) and skin-to-skin care by 78% (RR=1.78, 95% CI 1.37 to 2.27) in the postintervention group as compared with preintervention group. Furthermore, newborn complications reduced by 16% (RR=0.84, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.91), mother complications by 12% (RR=0.88, 95% CI 0.79 to 0.97) and newborn readmissions by 56% (RR=0.44, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.61). Outpatient visits increased by 27% (RR=1.27, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.46). However, the practice of exclusive breastfeeding, unrestricted maternal diet, hand-hygiene and being instructed on warning signs were not statistically different. CONCLUSION: Postnatal care should incorporate predischarge training of families. Our findings demonstrate that it is possible to improve maternal and neonatal care practices and outcomes through a family-centered programme integrated into public health facilities in low and middle-income countries.

Just-in-time postnatal education programees to improve newborn care practices: needs and opportunities in low-resource settings.

Worldwide, many newborns die in the first month of life, with most deaths happening in low/middle-income countries (LMICs). Families' use of evidence-based newborn care practices in the home and timely care-seeking for illness can save newborn lives. Postnatal education is an important investment to improve families' use of evidence-based newborn care practices, yet there are gaps in the literature on postnatal education programees that have been evaluated to date. Recent findings from a 13 000+ person survey in 3 states in India show opportunities for improvement in postnatal education for mothers and families and their use of newborn care practices in the home. Our survey data and the literature suggest the need to incorporate the following strategies into future postnatal education programming: implement structured predischarge education with postdischarge reinforcement, using a multipronged teaching approach to reach whole families with education on multiple newborn care practices. Researchers need to conduct robust evaluation on postnatal education models incorporating these programee elements in the LMIC context, as well as explore whether this type of education model can work for other health areas that are critical for families to survive and thrive.

Initial experience with alcohol septal ablation using a novel magnetic navigation system.

OBJECTIVES: We compared the use of magnetically assisted intervention (MAI) with conventional guidewire techniques to perform alcohol septal ablation (ASA) in patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM). BACKGROUND: Treatment of symptomatic patients with HOCM using ASA has been established as an effective therapy. However, in many cases cannulaton of the septal artery can be technically challenging. Recently, a magnetically directed guidewire system has been developed to assist in navigation in difficult percutaneous interventions. By directing the guidewire to the septal branch, this system has potential to shorten the procedure time and increase success and safety of ASA in patients with HOCM. METHODS: From October 2004 through October 2006, 44 consecutive patients underwent ASA using MAI with the Niobe system (Stereotaxis, Inc., St. Louis, MO). We compared these patients to 29 age- and gradient-matched cases using conventional techniques performed by an operator with >100 prior cases. RESULTS: All procedures were successful. Both the MAI and conventional groups had improved symptoms, exercise times, and reduced gradients compared with baseline. One dissection occurred in the conventional group. Although there were no aggregate differences in acute or 3-month clinical outcomes, the time required for guidewire cannulation of the septal branch decreased progressively with increasing experience (third tertile vs first tertile (3 [1.25-4.75 vs 10.5 [6-17] minutes, P = 0.004) compared with the conventional group (6 [2-10.25] minutes, P = 0.075 vs third tertile), suggesting a learning curve for MAI. CONCLUSIONS: MAI has the potential to improve wiring time and outcomes of HOCM patients undergoing ASA.