Helen Elsey

Barriers to, and facilitators of, parenting programmes for childhood behaviour problems: a qualitative synthesis of studies of parents’ and professionals’ perceptions

Disruptive behaviour problems (DBPs) during childhood exert a high burden on individuals, families and the community as a whole. Reducing this impact is a major public health priority. Early parenting interventions are recommended as valuable ways to target DBPs; however, low take-up of, and high drop-out rates from, these programmes seriously reduce their effectiveness. We present a review of published qualitative evidence relating to factors that block or facilitate access and engagement of parents with such programmes using a thematic synthesis approach. 12 papers presenting views of both parents and professionals met our inclusion and quality criteria. A large number of barriers were identified highlighting the array of challenges parents can face when considering accessing and engaging with treatment for their child with behavioural problems. Facilitating factors in this area were also identified. A series of recommendations were made with regard to raising awareness of programmes and recruiting parents, providing flexible and individually tailored support, delivering programmes through highly skilled, trained and knowledgeable therapists, and highlighting factors to consider when delivering group-based programmes. Clinical guidelines should address barriers and facilitators of engagement as well as basic efficacy of treatment approaches.

Can action research strengthen district health management and improve health workforce performance? A research protocol

Introduction The single biggest barrier for countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to scale up the necessary health services for addressing the three health-related Millennium Development Goals and achieving Universal Health Coverage is the lack of an adequate and well-performing health workforce. This deficit needs to be addressed both by training more new health personnel and by improving the performance of the existing and future health workforce. However, efforts have mostly been focused on training new staff and less on improving the performance of the existing health workforce. The purpose of this paper is to disseminate the protocol for the PERFORM project and reflect on the key challenges encountered during the development of this methodology and how they are being overcome. Methods The overall aim of the PERFORM project is to identify ways of strengthening district management in order to address health workforce inadequacies by improving health workforce performance in SSA. The study will take place in three districts each in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda using an action research approach. With the support of the country research teams, the district health management teams (DHMTs) will lead on planning, implementation, observation, reflection and redefinition of the activities in the study. Taking into account the national and local human resource (HR) and health systems (HS) policies and practices already in place, ‘bundles’ of HR/HS strategies that are feasible within the context and affordable within the districts’ budget will be developed by the DHMTs to strengthen priority areas of health workforce performance. A comparative analysis of the findings from the three districts in each country will add new knowledge on the effects of these HR/HS bundles on DHMT management and workforce performance and the impact of an action research approach on improving the effectiveness of the DHMTs in implementing these interventions. Discussion Different challenges were faced during the development of the methodology. These include the changing context in the study districts, competing with other projects and duties for the time of district managers, complexity of the study design, maintaining the anonymity and confidentiality of study participants as well as how to record the processes during the study. We also discuss how these challenges are being addressed. The dissemination of this research protocol is intended to generate interest in the PERFORM project and also stimulate discussion on the use of action research in complex studies such as this on strengthening district health management to improve health workforce performance.

Addressing Inequities in Urban Health: Do Decision-Makers Have the Data They Need? Report from the Urban Health Data Special Session at International Conference on Urban Health Dhaka 2015

Rapid and uncontrolled urbanisation across low and middle-income countries is leading to ever expanding numbers of urban poor, defined here as slum dwellers and the homeless. It is estimated that 828 million people are currently living in slum conditions. If governments, donors and NGOs are to respond to these growing inequities they need data that adequately represents the needs of the urban poorest as well as others across the socio-economic spectrum.We report on the findings of a special session held at the International Conference on Urban Health, Dhaka 2015. We present an overview of the need for data on urban health for planning and allocating resources to address urban inequities. Such data needs to provide information on differences between urban and rural areas nationally, between and within urban communities. We discuss the limitations of data most commonly available to national and municipality level government, donor and NGO staff. In particular we assess, with reference to the WHO’s Urban HEART tool, the challenges in the design of household surveys in understanding urban health inequities.We then present two novel approaches aimed at improving the information on the health of the urban poorest. The first uses gridded population sampling techniques within the design and implementation of household surveys and the second adapts Urban HEART into a participatory approach which enables slum residents to assess indicators whilst simultaneously planning the response. We argue that if progress is to be made towards inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities, as articulated in Sustainable Development Goal 11, then understanding urban health inequities is a vital pre-requisite to an effective response by governments, donors, NGOs and communities.

Yield of intensified tuberculosis case-finding activities using Xpert® MTB/RIF among risk groups in Nepal

SETTING Twenty-two districts of Nepal, where intensified case-finding (ICF) activities for tuberculosis (TB) were implemented among risk groups under the TB REACH initiative in collaboration with the National TB Programme from July 2013 to November 2015. OBJECTIVES To assess the yield of TB screening using an algorithm with smear microscopy followed by Xpert(®) MTB/RIF. DESIGN A descriptive study using routinely collected data. RESULTS Of 145 679 individuals screened, 28 574 (19.6%) had presumptive TB; 1239 (4.3%) of these were diagnosed with TB and 1195 (96%) were initiated on anti-tuberculosis treatment. The yield of screening was highest among people living with the human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV) (6.1%), followed by household contacts (3.5%) and urban slum dwellers (0.5%). Among other risk groups, such as prisoners, factory workers, refugees and individuals with diabetes, the yield was less than 0.5%. The number needed to screen to diagnose an active TB case was 17 for PLHIV, 29 for household contacts and 197 for urban slum dwellers. Of 11 525 patients from ICF and the routine programme, 112 (1%) were diagnosed with multidrug-resistant TB. CONCLUSION There was a substantial yield of TB cases among risk groups such as PLHIV and household contacts. Although the yield in urban slum dwellers was found to be moderate, some intervention should nonetheless be targeted because of the large population and poor access to care in this group.

Development of a Patient-Centred, Psychosocial Support Intervention for Multi-Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) Care in Nepal.

Multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) poses a major threat to public health worldwide, particularly in low-income countries. The current long (20 month) and arduous treatment regime uses powerful drugs with side-effects that include mental ill-health. It has a high loss-to-follow-up (25%) and higher case fatality and lower cure-rates than those with drug sensitive tuberculosis (TB). While some national TB programmes provide small financial allowances to patients, other aspects of psychosocial ill-health, including iatrogenic ones, are not routinely assessed or addressed. We aimed to develop an intervention to improve psycho-social well-being for MDR-TB patients in Nepal. To do this we conducted qualitative work with MDR-TB patients, health professionals and the National TB programme (NTP) in Nepal. We conducted semi-structured interviews (SSIs) with 15 patients (10 men and 5 women, aged 21 to 68), four family members and three frontline health workers. In addition, three focus groups were held with MDR-TB patients and three with their family members. We conducted a series of meetings and workshops with key stakeholders to design the intervention, working closely with the NTP to enable government ownership. Our findings highlight the negative impacts of MDR-TB treatment on mental health, with greater impacts felt among those with limited social and financial support, predominantly married women. Michie et al’s (2011) framework for behaviour change proved helpful in identifying corresponding practice- and policy-level changes. The findings from this study emphasise the need for tailored psycho-social support. Recent work on simple psychological support packages for the general population can usefully be adapted for use with people with MDR-TB.

Influence of legal status on the uptake of cannabis in young people

Purpose of review Policies that limit young peoples access to cannabis may reduce early onset of use and minimize health-related harm. This review article provides an update of recent research examining the influence of the cannabis policy frameworks on the use of cannabis by young people. Recent findings There are significant concerns that ongoing policy changes in favour of legalization will increase the uptake of cannabis by young people. Evidence to support a causal effect of cannabis policy changes on increased uptake by young people is lacking; more time may be needed to assess the impact because the policies are still evolving. Policy changes in favour of legalization were associated with reduced risk perception although this may be a cause or consequence. The need to situate the impact of these policies in the context of specific policy features, social norms and perceptions about cannabis has been highlighted. Summary A more nuanced understanding of the impact of the legal status of cannabis on young people is needed to build evidence for future policy options. The impact of these policies may not be immediately apparent but limiting young peoples access to cannabis must be prioritized during policy deliberations.

Protocol for a mixed-methods realist evaluation of a health service user feedback system in Bangladesh

Introduction Responsiveness to service users’ views is a widely recognised objective of health systems. A key component of responsive health systems is effective interaction between users and service providers. Despite a growing literature on patient feedback from high-income settings, less is known about effectiveness of such systems in low-income and middle-income countries. Methodology and analysis This paper disseminates the protocol for an 18-month ‘RESPOND’ project that aims to evaluate the system of collecting and responding to user feedback in Bangladesh. This mixed-method study uses a realist evaluation approach to examine user feedback systems at two Upazila health complexes in Comilla District of Bangladesh, and comprises three steps: (1) initial theory development; (2) theory validation; and (3) theory refinement and development of lessons learnt. The project also uses (1) process evaluation to understand causal mechanisms and contexts of implementation; (2) statistical analysis of patient feedback to clarify the nature of issues reported; (3) social science methods to illuminate feedback processes and user and provider experiences; and (4) health policy and systems research to clarify issues related to integration of feedback systems with quality assurance and human resource management. During data analysis, qualitative and quantitative findings will be integrated throughout to help achieve study objectives. Analysis of qualitative and quantitative data will be done using a convergent mixed-methods model, involving continuous triangulation of multiple data sets to facilitate greater understanding of the context of user feedback systems including the links with relevant policies, practices and programmes. Ethics and dissemination Ethics approvals were obtained from the University of Leeds and the Bangladesh Medical Research Council. All data collected for this study will be anonymised, and identifying characteristics of respondents will not appear in a final manuscript or reports. The study findings will be presented at scientific conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals.

Weight loss surgery for non-morbidly obese populations with type 2 diabetes: is this an acceptable option for patients?

Aim To explore the views of non-morbidly obese people (BMI 30–40 kg/m2) with type 2 diabetes regarding: (a) the acceptability of bariatric surgery (BS) as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, and (b) willingness to participate in randomised controlled trials comparing BS versus non-surgical intervention. Background Despite weight management being a key therapeutic goal in type 2 diabetes, achieving and sustaining weight loss is problematic. BS is an effective treatment for people with morbid obesity and type 2 diabetes; it is less certain whether non-morbidly obese patients (BMI 30–39.9 kg/m2) with type 2 diabetes benefit from this treatment and whether this approach would be cost-effective. Before evaluating this issue by randomised trials, it is important to understand whether BS and such research are acceptable to this population. Methods Non-morbidly obese people with type 2 diabetes were purposively sampled from primary care and invited to participate in semi-structured interviews. Interviews explored participants’ thoughts surrounding their diabetes and weight, the acceptability of BS and the willingness to participate in BS research. Data were analysed using Framework Analysis.

Understanding the impacts of care farms on health and well-being of disadvantaged populations: a protocol of the Evaluating Community Orders (ECO) pilot study

Introduction Care farms, where all or part of the farm is used for therapeutic purposes, show much potential for improving the health and well-being of a range of disadvantaged groups. Studies to date have been qualitative or observational, with limited empirical evidence of the effectiveness of care farms in improving health and well-being. Understanding the underlying mechanisms that lead to improvements for different disadvantaged groups is a further gap in the evidence. Participants in this study are offenders serving community orders. Their low socioeconomic status and poor health outcomes relative to the general population exemplifies disadvantage. Methods and analysis This paper describes the protocol of a study to understand the impacts of care farms and to pilot the design and tools for a study to assess cost-effectiveness of care farms in improving the quality of life of offenders. As a pilot study, no power calculation has been conducted. However, 150 offenders serving community sentences on care farms and 150 on other probation locations (eg, litter picking, painting) will be recruited over a 1-year period. Changes in quality of life, measured by Clinical Outcome in Routine Evaluation–Outcome Measure, health and reconvictions of offenders at care farms compared to other probation locations will be analysed to inform the sample size calculation for the follow on study. The feasibility of recruitment, retention, collecting cost data and modelling cost-effectiveness will also be assessed. The study will use qualitative methods to explore the experiences of offenders attending care farms and perceptions of probation and care farm staff on the processes and impacts of the intervention. Ethics and dissemination Findings will be published and inform development of a natural experiment and will be disseminated to probation services, care farms and academics. University of Leeds Ethical Review Board approved: SoMREC/13/014. National Offender Management Service (NOMS) approved: 2013-257.

Gender, health and development I: gender equity and sector wide approaches.

This is the first paper of a series of three that focus on key topical areas in gender health and development. Using the health sector as a case study this progress report will synthesize discourse action and progress to date on gender mainstreaming within sector wide approaches. Subsequent reports will consider gender equity and access to HIV and AIDS health services and research approaches in gender health and development. Building a health system that is responsive to both womens and mens gendered needs is a critical part of addressing gender inequities in health. Gender mainstreaming is the recent strategy deployed by many gender advocates and activists in different institutional contexts to try to develop more equitable health systems that meet the needs and priorities of women men boys and girls in different contexts. The Beijing Platform for Action adopted in 1995 brought the term gender mainstreaming into common usage. It symbolized a move away from looking at women as a separate target group or vulnerable group to a more far-reaching goal of gender equity. (excerpt)