Transitional care for patients with acute stroke-A priority-setting project.

BACKGROUND: The scope of this priority-setting process is communication and collaboration in transitional care for patients with acute stroke. Actively involving persons with stroke and their family caregivers is important both in transitional care and when setting priorities for research. Established priority-setting methods are time-consuming and require extensive resources. They are therefore not feasible in small-scale research. This article describes a pragmatic priority-setting process to identify a prioritized top 10 list of research needs regarding transitional care for patients with acute stroke. METHODS: A pragmatic priority-setting approach inspired by the James Lind Alliance was developed. It involves establishing a user group, identifying the research needs through an online survey, analysing and checking the research needs against systematic reviews, culminating in an online prioritization of the top 10 list. RESULTS: The process was completed in 7 months. A total of 122 patients, family caregivers, health personnel and caseworkers submitted 484 research needs, and 19 users prioritized the top 10 list. The list includes the categories 'patients and caregivers' needs and health literacy', 'health personnel's common understanding', 'information flow between health personnel and patients and caregivers', 'available interventions and follow-up of patients and caregivers', 'interaction and collaboration between health personnel and caseworkers across hospital and primary healthcare' and 'disabilities after stroke'. CONCLUSION: This paper outlines a pragmatic approach to identifying and prioritizing users' research needs that was completed in 7 months. The top 10 list resulting from this priority setting process can guide future research relating to communication and collaboration during the transition from hospital to the community for patients with stroke. PATIENT AND PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Members of three stroke organizations participated in the advisory group. They gave feedback on the scope and the process, distributed the surveys and prioritized the top 10 list. Persons with stroke and their caregivers submitted research needs in the survey.

Why lockdown and distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to increase the social class achievement gap.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced teachers and parents to quickly adapt to a new educational context: distance learning. Teachers developed online academic material while parents taught the exercises and lessons provided by teachers to their children at home. Considering that the use of digital tools in education has dramatically increased during this crisis, and it is set to continue, there is a pressing need to understand the impact of distance learning. Taking a multidisciplinary view, we argue that by making the learning process rely more than ever on families, rather than on teachers, and by getting students to work predominantly via digital resources, school closures exacerbate social class academic disparities. To address this burning issue, we propose an agenda for future research and outline recommendations to help parents, teachers and policymakers to limit the impact of the lockdown on social-class-based academic inequality.

What do malaria program officers want to learn? A survey of perspectives on a proposed malaria short course in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: In disease control, the program officers are vital to the successful implementation of control strategies. However, poor knowledge of the disease and its control, staff attrition, and lack of intentional training for new staff can lead to under-performance and ineffectiveness of interventions. Thus, the Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program, in collaboration with National Malaria Elimination Program, planned a malaria short course (MSC) to strengthen the capacity of current program managers and incoming staff. To guide the development of the curriculum for the MSC, we conducted a needs assessment survey to ascertain the perceived usefulness of the MSC, the priority rating of MSC thematic domains and associated factors. METHODS: Overall, 384 purposively selected respondents across ten states and the Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria were interviewed. These comprised malaria and non-malaria control program staff at state, local government area (LGA) and ward levels. We administered a structured questionnaire to elicit information on socio-demographics, training needs, priority malaria thematic domains, perceived course usefulness and willingness of ministries/organizations to release staff to attend the MSC. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics at p<0.05. RESULTS: Mean age was 43.9 (standard deviation: 7.6 years), 172 (44.8%) were females. Of the 384 respondents, 181 (47.1%), 144 (37.5%) and 59 (15.4%) were at the ward, LGA and state levels, respectively. Seventy-two (18.8%) had never worked in malaria control program. Majority (98.7%, n = 379) reported the need for further training, 382 (99.5%) opined that the course would be useful, and all affirmed their employers' willingness towards their participation at the training. Respondents rated high the domains of basic malariology, malaria treatment, malaria prevention, surveillance/data management, use of computers, leadership skills, program management and basic statistics. Predictors of malaria topical domains' high rating were gender (odds ratio (OR) = 6.77; 95% CI:3.55-12.93) and educational qualifications (OR = 0.48; 95% CI:0.26-0.89). CONCLUSIONS: A malaria short course is a necessity and appropriate for program officers at different levels of health administration in Nigeria to achieve malaria elimination, taking into consideration the challenges of human resource retention. The outcome of this study should inform the curriculum and the delivery of the MSC.

Needs Based Assessment of Trauma Systems 2, is it ready for primetime? A natural experiment testing its reliability.

INTRODUCTION: Needs Based Assessment of Trauma Systems 2 (NBATS-2) attempts to predict the impact on patient volume and travel time for patients when a new trauma center (TC) is added to the system. The purpose of this study was to examine NBATS-2 predictive accuracy regarding expected volume and travel times of trauma patients at a newly designated TC and nearby legacy TCs when compared with actual data. METHODS: Needs Based Assessment of Trauma Systems predictive model for volume of trauma patients at the new TC was run based on 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of both state and National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) patients per 100 TC beds. This was compared with the actual number of trauma patients from the State Discharge Data set before (2011-2012) and after (2016-2017) designation of the TC. Analysis was then augmented using the geographic information system (ArcGIS) spatial modeling to characterize median travel times for actual trauma patients, before and after designation of the TC. RESULTS: Both state and NTDB 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles resulted in significant overestimation of volume at the new TC in 2016. After another year of TC maturation (2017), overestimation decreased but was still present. The 25th percentile from state and NTDB data sets provided the most accurate predictions. For the legacy TCs, the model switched from under to overestimation as the state and NTDB percentiles increased. The geographic information system accurately showed patients traveling <40 minutes to a TC nearly doubled. CONCLUSION: Needs Based Assessment of Trauma Systems 2 provides an excellent template for state strategic planning; however, it overestimates new TC volume and under/overestimates volumes for legacy TCs depending on the state and NTDB percentiles used. This study shows that population density of the county in which the new or legacy TC is located should be considered when choosing the appropriate state or NTDB percentile. The geographic information system appropriately showed a decrease in trauma patient travel times after TC designation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Care Management, level V.

Education in developing countries and reducing maternal mortality: a forgotten piece of the puzzle?

Despite substantial improvement in reducing maternal mortality during the recent decades, we constantly face tragic fact that maternal mortality (especially preventable deaths) is still unacceptably too high, particularly in the developing countries, where 99% of all maternal deaths worldwide occur. Poverty, lack of proper statistics, gender inequality, beliefs and corruption-associated poor governmental policies are just few of the reasons why decline in maternal mortality has not been as sharp as it was wished and expected. Education has not yet been fully recognized as the way out of poverty, improvement of women's role in the society and consequent better perinatal care and consequent lower maternal mortality. Education should be improved on all levels including girls, women and their partners, medical providers, religious and governmental authorities. Teaching the teachers should be also an essential part of global strategy to lower maternal mortality. This paper is mostly a commentary, not a systematic review nor a meta-analysis with the aim to rise attention (again) to the role of different aspects of education in lowering maternal mortality. The International Academy of Perinatal Medicine should play a crucial role in pushing the efforts on this issue as the influential instance that promotes reflection and dialog in perinatal medicine, especially in aspects such as bioethics, the appropriate use of technological advances, and the sociological and humanistic dimensions of this specific problem of huge magnitude. The five concrete steps to achieve these goals are listed and discussed.

Strengthening Culturally Competent Health Communication.

Vulnerable refugee communities are disproportionately affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; existing longstanding health inequity in these communities is exacerbated by ineffective risk communication practices about COVID-19. Culturally and linguistically appropriate health communication following health literacy guidelines is needed to dispel cultural myths, social stigma, misinformation, and disinformation. For refugee communities, the physical, mental, and social-related consequences of displacement further complicate understanding of risk communication practices grounded in a Western cultural ethos. We present a case study of Clarkston, Georgia, the "most diverse square mile in America," where half the population is foreign born and majority refugee. Supporting marginalized communities in times of risk will require a multipronged, systemic approach to health communication including: (1) creating a task force of local leaders and community members to deal with emergent issues; (2) expanding English-language education and support for refugees; (3) including refugee perspectives on risk, health, and wellness into risk communication messaging; (4) improving cultural competence and health literacy training for community leaders and healthcare providers; and (5) supporting community health workers. Finally, better prepared public health programs, including partnerships with trusted community organizations and leadership, can ensure that appropriate and supportive risk communication and health education and promotion are in place long before the next emergency.

A health-related social needs referral program for Medicaid beneficiaries treated in an emergency department.

BACKGROUND: Social determinants of health (SDH) play an important role in health outcomes. This study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of a SDH screening and health-related social needs (HRSNs) referral program in an emergency department (ED) setting with adult Medicaid beneficiaries. METHODS: Between November 2016 and March 2017 we enrolled adult Medicaid patients in a prospective cohort study. Research assistants (RAs) completed an SDH screening survey with participants and asked them if they needed assistance with HRSNs related to medical, behavioral health, wellness, housing, food, legal and job training issues. RAs referred participants to community-based organizations (CBO) for their top three HRSNs. Patients referred to at least one CBO were phoned a month later to determine whether their HRSN was addressed and CBOs also reported their assistance rates within four months of the ED visit. RESULTS: Of the 505 patients enrolled, 69% were female, 82% completed high school, and 57% reported working. Most participants (85%) requested assistance for at least one HRSN. Almost half (44%) received referrals to three different agencies. Help with housing (70%), medical issues (51%), and finding food (42%) were the most common. Among the 430 subjects referred to ≥1 agency, 76% completed the follow-up interview. Few patients reported receiving help from the referral agencies (5% for a wellness program to 15% for medical services). Referral agencies generally reported even lower assistance rates (0% for job training to 17% for medical services). CONCLUSION: The majority of adult Medicaid patients treated in our ED wanted assistance with one or more HRSN. The passive referral system we implemented resulted in few patients receiving assistance from the referral agency, regardless of whether measured by self-report or by agency.

ENT from afar: Opportunities for remote patient assessment, clinical management, teaching and learning.

Remote communication in ENT has been expanding, spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. Conferences and teaching have moved online, enabling easier participation and reducing financial and environmental costs. Online multi-disciplinary meetings have recently been instigated in Africa to discuss management of cases in head and neck cancer, or cochlear implantation, expanding access and enhancing patient care. Remote patient consultation has also seen an explosion, but existing literature suggests some caution, particularly because many patients in ENT need an examination to enable definitive diagnosis. Ongoing experience will help us to better understand how remote communication will fit into our future working lives, and also where face-to-face interaction may still be preferable.

Necesidades en familiares de pacientes críticos de una institución de IV nivel en Montería, Colombia / Needs in relatives of critical patients of a IV level institution in Monteria, Colombia

OBJETIVO: Determinar las necesidades en familiares de pacientes críticos de una institución de IV nivel en Montería, Colombia. METODOLOGÍA: Investigación descriptiva, transversal con enfoque cuantitativo. Para la recolección de la información se aplicó el Cuestionario de Necesidades de los Familiares de Pacientes de Cuidados Intensivos y una cédula de datos sociodemográficos. RESULTADOS: Las necesidades que se determinaron fueron la información sincera respecto al estado y progreso del paciente y recibir explicación del equipamiento que está utilizándose. La dimensión que presentó mayores necesidades fue la de comunicación. CONCLUSIONES: El familiar de una persona ingresada en un servicio de cuidado intensivo debe ser tomado en cuenta en el proceso de atención

OBJECTIVE: To determine the needs in relatives of critically ill patients of an IV level institution in Montería, Colombia. METHODOLOGY: Descriptive, cross-sectional research with a quantitative approach. For the collection of information, the Questionnaire of Needs of the Relatives of Intensive Care Patients and a sociodemographic data card were applied. RESULTS: The needs that were determined were honest information regarding the state and progress of the patient and receive an explanation of the equipment being used. The dimension that presented the greatest needs was that of communication. CONCLUSIONS: The family of a person admitted to an intensive care service should be taken into account in the care process

Life in 90 words: opportunities for person-centred care amidst COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease 2019 and the consequent public health and social distancing measures significantly impacted on service continuity for mental health patients. This article reports on contingency planning initiative in the Australian public sector. METHODS: Ninety-word care synopses were developed for each patient. These formed the basis for guided conversations between case managers and consultant psychiatrists to ensure safe service provision and retain a person-centred focus amidst the threat of major staffing shortfalls. RESULTS: This process identified vulnerable patient groups with specific communication needs and those most at risk through service contraction. The challenges and opportunities for promoting safety and self-management through proactive telehealth came up repeatedly. The guided conversations also raised awareness of the shared experience between patients and professionals of coronavirus disease 2019. CONCLUSION: There is a parallel pandemic of anxiety which creates a unique opportunity to connect at a human level.

National Surgical, Obstetric, and Anesthesia Plans: Bridging the Cardiac Surgery Gap.

Six billion people worldwide lack access to safe, timely, and affordable cardiac surgical care when needed, despite cardiovascular diseases remaining the world's leading cause of mortality. The large surgical backlog of rheumatic heart disease, stable and high incidence of congenital heart disease, and growing burden of ischemic heart disease around the world calls for urgent scaling of cardiovascular services beyond mere prevention. National Surgical, Obstetric, and Anesthesia Plans are being developed by countries as holistic health systems interventions to increase access to surgical care, but to date, limited to no attention has been given to the inclusion of cardiovascular care.

Rapid Telehealth-Centered Response to COVID-19 Outbreaks in Postacute and Long-Term Care Facilities.

Purpose: The vulnerability of postacute and long-term care (PA/LTC) facility residents to COVID-19 has manifested across the world with increasing facility outbreaks associated with high hospitalization and mortality rates. Systematic protocols to guide telehealth-centered interventions in response to COVID-19 outbreaks have yet to be delineated. This article is intended to inform PA/LTC facilities and neighboring health care partners how to collaboratively utilize telehealth-centered strategies to improve outcomes in facility outbreaks. Methods: The University of Virginia rapidly developed a multidisciplinary telehealth-centered COVID-19 facility outbreak strategy in response to a LTC facility outbreak in which 41 (out of 48) facility residents and 7 staff members tested positive. This strategy focused on supporting the facility team remotely using rapidly deployed technologic solutions. Goals included (1) early identification of patients who need their care escalated, (2) monitoring and treating patients deemed safe to remain in the facility, (3) care coordination to facilitate bidirectional transfers between the skilled nursing facility (SNF) and hospital, and (4) daily facility needs assessment related to technology, infection control, and staff well-being. To achieve these goals, a standardized approach centered on daily multidisciplinary virtual rounds and telemedicine consultation was provided. Results: Over a month since the outbreak began, 18 out of 48 (38%) facility residents required hospitalization and 6 (12.5%) died. Eleven facility residents have since returned back to the SNF after recovering from their hospitalization. No staff required hospitalization. Conclusions: Interventions that reduce hospitalizations and mortality are a critical need during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mortality and hospitalization rates seen in this PA/LTC facility outbreak are significantly lower than has been documented in other facility outbreaks. Our multidisciplinary approach centered on telemedicine should be considered as other PA/LTC facilities partner with neighboring health care systems in responding to COVID-19 outbreaks. We have begun replicating these services to additional PA/LTC facilities facing COVID-19 outbreaks.

SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and repercussions for male infertility patients: A proposal for the individualized provision of andrological services.

The prolonged lockdown of health facilities providing non-urgent gamete cryopreservation-as currently recommended by many reproductive medicine entities and regulatory authorities due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic will be detrimental for subgroups of male infertility patients. We believe the existing recommendations should be promptly modified and propose that the same permissive approach for sperm banking granted for men with cancer is expanded to other groups of vulnerable patients. These groups include infertility patients (eg, azoospermic and cryptozoospermic) undergoing medical or surgical treatment to improve sperm quantity and quality, as well as males of reproductive age affected by inflammatory and systemic auto-immune diseases who are about to start treatment with gonadotoxic drugs or who are under remission. In both scenarios, the "fertility window" may be transitory; postponing diagnostic semen analysis and sperm banking in these men could compromise the prospects of biological parenthood. Moreover, we provide recommendations on how to continue the provision of andrological services in a considered manner and a safe environment. Our opinion is timely and relevant given the fact that fertility services are currently rated as of low priority in most countries.

Understanding and Informing Community Emergency Cardiovascular Disease Preparedness during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Stroke Ready.

INTRODUCTION: Acute stroke and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) treatments are time sensitive. Early data revealed a decrease in presentation and an increase in pre-hospital delay for acute stroke and AMI during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Thus, we set out to understand community members' perception of seeking acute stroke and AMI care during the COVID-19 pandemic to inform strategies to increase cardiovascular disease preparedness during the pandemic. METHODS: Given the urgency of the clinical and public health situation, through a community-based participatory research partnership, we utilized a rapid assessment approach. We developed an interview guide and data collection form guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Semi-structured interviews were recorded and conducted via phone and data was collected on structured collection forms and real time transcription. Direct content analysis was conducted guided by the TPB model and responses for AMI and stroke were compared. RESULTS: We performed 15 semi-structured interviews. Eighty percent of participants were Black Americans; median age was 50; 73% were women. Participants reported concerns about coronavirus transmission in the ambulance and at the hospital, hospital capacity and ability to triage, and quality of care. Change in employment and childcare also impacted participants reported control over seeking emergent cardiovascular care. Based on these findings, our community and academic team co-created online materials to address the community-identified barriers, which has reached over 8,600 users and engaged almost 600 users. CONCLUSIONS: We found that community members' attitudes and perceived behavioral control to seek emergent cardiovascular care were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Community-informed, health behavior theory-based public health messaging that address these constructs may decrease prehospital delay.

A painful lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic: the need for broad-spectrum, host-directed antivirals.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred intense research and collaborative discovery worldwide, the development of a safe, effective, and targeted antiviral from the ground up is time intensive. Therefore, most antiviral discovery efforts are focused on the re-purposing of clinical stage or approved drugs. While emerging data on drugs undergoing COVID-19 repurpose are intriguing, there is an undeniable need to develop broad-spectrum antivirals to prevent future viral pandemics of unknown origin. The ideal drug to curtail rapid viral spread would be a broad-acting agent with activity against a wide range of viruses. Such a drug would work by modulating host-proteins that are often shared by multiple virus families thereby enabling preemptive drug development and therefore rapid deployment at the onset of an outbreak. Targeting host-pathways and cellular proteins that are hijacked by viruses can potentially offer broad-spectrum targets for the development of future antiviral drugs. Such host-directed antivirals are also likely to offer a higher barrier to the development and selection of drug resistant mutations. Given that most approved antivirals do not target host-proteins, we reinforce the need for the development of such antivirals that can be used in pre- and post-exposure populations.

Developing Leadership Competencies in Midlevel Nurse Leaders: An Innovative Approach.

A pediatric teaching hospital developed a comprehensive leadership training program for midlevel nurse leaders with varying levels of management knowledge and experience. Content was based on American Organization for Nursing Leadership nurse manager competencies and data from a comprehensive needs assessment. Learners identified differentiating between leadership and management, influencing behavior, managing change, and communication as areas of increased confidence. This program is applicable to any hospital with multiple midlevel nurse leaders new to the role.

Trends of Dementia among Community-Dwelling Adults in Ontario, Canada, 2010-2015.

BACKGROUND: There are increasing numbers of people living with dementia (PLWD) and most reside in community settings. Characterizing the number of individuals affected with dementia and their transitions are important to understand in order to plan for their healthcare needs. Using administrative health data in Ontario, Canada, we examined recent trends in the prevalence and incidence of dementia among the community-dwelling population, described their characteristics, and investigated admissions to long-term care (LTC) and overall survival. METHODS: Using a validated case ascertainment algorithm, we performed a population-based retrospective cohort study of community-dwelling PLWD aged 40-105 years old between 2010 and 2015. We assessed crude and age- and sex-adjusted prevalence and incidence, cohort characteristics, and time to LTC admission and survival. RESULTS: Between 2010 and 2015, the adjusted community prevalence increased by 9.5% (p < 0.001), while the incidence decreased by 15.8% (p < 0.001). Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics remained similar over time, while the prevalence of comorbidities increased significantly from 2010 to 2015. There was no difference in the time to LTC admission for individuals diagnosed in 2014 when compared to 2010 (p = 0.06). A lower risk of 2-year mortality was observed for individuals diagnosed in 2015 compared to 2010 (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.90-0.97, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: There was an increase in the prevalence of dementia despite decreasing incidence among community-dwelling PLWD. Lower rates of mortality indicate that PLWD are surviving longer following diagnosis. Adequate resources and planning are required to support this growing population, considering the changing population size and characteristics.