Publications by authors named "Beverly Draper"
Developing a clinical practice guideline (CPG) is expensive and time-consuming and therefore often unrealistic in settings with limited funding or resources. Although CPGs form the cornerstone of providing synthesised, systematic, evidence-based guidance to patients, healthcare practitioners and managers, there is no added benefit in developing new CPGs when there are accessible, good-quality, up-to-date CPGs available that can be adapted to fit local needs. Different approaches to CPG development have been proposed, including adopting, adapting or contextualising existing high-quality CPGs to make recommendations relevant to local contexts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study evaluated the effectiveness of a program (STRETCH) aimed at training nurses to manage antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV patients, focusing on outcomes like mortality and viral suppression.
- A pragmatic, cluster-randomised trial was conducted in South Africa with two patient cohorts: one starting ART and the other continuing ART, comparing results between those receiving the STRETCH intervention and standard care.
- Findings showed that the STRETCH program had a significant impact on health outcomes, with data collected over a median follow-up period of about 16 to 18 months across the two cohorts.
Background: Task-shifting is promoted widely as a mechanism for expanding antiretroviral treatment (ART) access. However, the evidence for nurse-initiated and managed ART (NIMART) in Africa is limited, and little is known about the key barriers and enablers to implementing NIMART programmes on a large scale. The STRETCH (Streamlining Tasks and Roles to Expand Treatment and Care for HIV) programme was a complex educational and organisational intervention implemented in the Free State Province of South Africa to enable nurses providing primary HIV/AIDS care to expand their roles and include aspects of care and treatment usually provided by physicians.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: South Africa has among the highest levels of HIV prevalence in the world. Our objectives are to describe the distribution of South African infant and child mortality by age at fine resolution, to identify any trends over recent time and to examine these trends for HIV-associated and non HIV-associated causes of mortality.
Methods: A retrospective review of vital registration data was conducted.