Publications by authors named "Ali Ben Charif"

Background: There is widespread enthusiasm for scaling interventions to strengthen health systems. However, little is known about the scalability of such interventions in Africa. In this study, we seek to assess the scalability of interventions for improving the functionality of health systems in Africa, as a key to large-scale implementation strategy of interventions with potential for impact.

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Objective: In this scoping review, we aim to consolidate the evidence on inequalities in service coverage in Africa using a comprehensive set of stratifiers. These stratifiers include place of residence, race/ethnicity/culture/language, occupation, gender/sex, religion, education, socioeconomic status and social capital. Our approach provides a more holistic understanding of the different dimensions of inequality in the context of universal health coverage (UHC).

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Background: The aim was to estimate direct medical costs of men and women patients by age group related to cardiovascular diseases (coronary heart disease, strokes) in the province of Quebec, Canada from the economic perspective of the healthcare public system, encompassing five cost components: physician fees, hospitalization (hospital stay, intensive care stay), emergency visits and medication costs.

Methods: This matched case-control study involved secondary data from a longitudinal cohort study (1997-2018) of 4584 white-collar workers. Participants were followed for a four-year period.

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Background: A train-the-trainer approach can effectively support the integration of new practice standards for health and social services professionals. This study describes the effects of an enhanced train-the-trainer program to support registered nurses and social workers working in primary care clinics in their understanding of the fundamental principles of primary care.

Methods: We implemented an enhanced train-the-trainer program for registered nurses and social workers in six primary care clinics.

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Background: Scaling in health and social services (HSS) aims to increase the intended impact of proven effective interventions. Patient and public involvement (PPI) is critical for ensuring that scaling beneficiaries' interests are served. We aimed to identify PPI strategies and their characteristics in the science and practice of scaling in HSS.

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Background: Quality reporting contributes to effective translation of health research in practice and policy. As an initial step in the development of a reporting guideline for scaling, the Standards for reporting stUdies of sCaling evidenCEd-informED interventions (SUCCEED), we performed a systematic review to identify relevant guidelines and compile a list of potential items.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review according to Cochrane method guidelines.

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Background: Scaling effective primary care innovations to benefit more people is of interest to decision makers. However, we know little about how promising innovations are being scaled "spontaneously," that is, without deliberate guidance.

Objective: We aim to observe, document, and analyze how, in real-life conditions, 1 primary care innovation spontaneously scales up across Quebec, Canada.

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Background: Older adults (people aged 65 years and older) face many difficult decisions. Patient decision aids (PtDAs) can help them and their families make informed value-congruent decisions. Some PtDAs have been developed for the home care context, but little is known about scaling them for use with older adults in a different culture.

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Article Synopsis
  • The text discusses the need to evaluate the sustainability and scalability of MyDiabetesPlan, an eHealth tool aimed at enhancing diabetes care through shared decision-making. This assessment is vital for ensuring its long-term success and integration into healthcare systems.
  • Data was collected from 20 stakeholders using a mixed-methods approach, revealing that staff training and involvement are key for sustainability, while factors like adaptability and strong leadership are major challenges. For scalability, acceptability and theoretical development were strengths, whereas financial resources and reach posed difficulties.
  • The findings highlight the importance of addressing both facilitating and limiting factors in order to maximize the impact of MyDiabetesPlan for patient-centered diabetes care.
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Introduction: Addressing inequities in health service coverage is a global priority, especially with the resurgence of interest in universal health coverage. However, in Africa, which has the lowest health service coverage index, there is limited information on the progress of countries in addressing inequalities related to health services. Thus, we seek to map the evidence on inequalities in health service coverage in Africa.

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Unlabelled: Policy Points More rigorous methodologies and systematic approaches should be encouraged in the science of scaling. This will help researchers better determine the effectiveness of scaling, guide stakeholders in the scaling process, and ultimately increase the impacts of health innovations. The practice and the science of scaling need to expand worldwide to address complex health conditions such as noncommunicable and chronic diseases.

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The health challenges in Africa underscore the importance of effectively investing in health systems. Unfortunately, there is no information on systems investments adequate for an effective functional health system. We aimed to address this by conducting a scoping review of existing evidence following the Joanna Briggs Institute Manual for Evidence Synthesis and preregistered with the Open Science Framework (https://osf.

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Unlabelled: Older adults receiving home care services often face decisions related to aging, illness, and loss of autonomy. To inform tailored shared decision making interventions, we assessed their decisional needs by asking about the most common difficult decisions, measured associated decisional conflict, and identified factors associated with it. In March 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional survey with a pan-Canadian Web-based panel of older adults (≥65 y) receiving home care services.

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Background: The underuse or overuse of knowledge products leads to waste in health care, and primary care is no exception.

Objective: This study aimed to characterize which knowledge products are frequently implemented, the implementation strategies used in primary care, and the implementation outcomes that are measured.

Methods: We performed a systematic review (SR) of SRs using the Cochrane systematic approach to include eligible SRs.

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Background: The implementation of evidence-based innovations is incentivized as part of primary care reform in Canada. In the Province of Québec, it generated the creation of interprofessional care models involving registered nurses and social workers as members of primary care clinics. However, the scope of practice for these professionals remains variable and suboptimal.

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Background: The last decade has seen growing interest in scaling up of innovations to strengthen healthcare systems. However, the lack of appropriate methods for determining their potential for scale-up is an unfortunate global handicap. Thus, we aimed to review tools proposed for assessing the scalability of innovations in health.

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Background: There is a growing interest in scaling effective health innovations to promote equitable access to high-quality health services worldwide. However, multiple challenges persist in scaling innovations. In this study, we aim to summarize the scaling evidence in the health and social care literature and identify current knowledge gaps.

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Background: The scale-up of evidence-based innovations is required to reduce waste and inequities in health and social services (HSS). However, it often tends to be a top-down process initiated by policy makers, and the values of the intended beneficiaries are forgotten. Involving multiple stakeholders including patients and the public in the scaling-up process is thus essential but highly complex.

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Little is known about cancer survivors' sexual health (SH)-particularly, from well after diagnosis and in cancers unrelated to sexuality. This study aimed to assess SH deterioration five years after diagnosis. We analyzed data from the French national VIe après le CANcer (VICAN) survey.

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Background: Informal caregivers often serve as decision makers for dependent or vulnerable individuals facing health care decisions. Decision regret is one of the most prevalent outcomes reported by informal caregivers who have made such decisions.

Objective: To examine levels of decision regret and its predictors among informal caregivers who have made health-related decisions for a loved one.

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Background: Canadian health funding currently prioritizes scaling up for evidence-based primary care innovations, but not all teams prepare for scaling up. We explored scalability assessment among primary care innovators in the province of Quebec to evaluate their preparedness for scaling up.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional survey from Feb.

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. Informal caregivers are regularly faced with difficult housing decisions for older adults with cognitive impairment. They often regret the decision they made.

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Background: The literature on the implementation of knowledge products is extensive. However, this literature is still difficult to interpret for policymakers and other stakeholders when faced with choosing implementation strategies likely to bring about successful change in their health systems. This work has the particularity to examine the scope of this literature, and to clarify the effectiveness of implementation strategies for different knowledge products.

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Aim: To describe activities and outcomes of a cross-team capacity building strategy that took place over a five-year funding period within the broader context of 12 community-based primary health care (CBPHC) teams.

Background: In 2013, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research funded 12 CBPHC Teams (12-Teams) to conduct innovative cross-jurisdictional research to improve the delivery of high-quality CBPHC to Canadians. This signature initiative also aimed to enhance CBPHC research capacity among an interdisciplinary group of trainees, facilitated by a collaboration between a capacity building committee led by senior researchers and a trainee-led working group.

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Background: The lack of a reporting guideline for scaling of evidence-based practices (EBPs) studies has prompted the registration of the Standards for reporting studies assessing the impact of scaling strategies of EBPs (SUCCEED) with EQUATOR Network. The development of SUCCEED will be guided by the following main steps recommended for developing health research reporting guidelines.

Methods: Executive Committee.

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