Youth involvement in policy processes in public health, education, and social work-A scoping review.

Introduction: Youth involvement in policy formulation may enhance its relevance, strengthen democratic practices, and contribute to youth development. This scoping review explored the nature, extent, and impact of adolescent involvement in policy processes aimed at improving adolescent health and well-being in the public health, education, and social work sectors.

Methods: Studies of adolescent involvement in policy processes focusing on health, and well-being, including obesity prevention were eligible.

The state of integrated disease surveillance globally: synthesis report of a mixed methods study.

Objectives: Disease surveillance is an essential public health function needed to prevent, detect, monitor and respond to health threats. Integrated disease surveillance (IDS) enhances its utility and has been advocated for decades by the World Health Organization. This study sought to examine the state of IDS implementation worldwide.

Youth involvement in policy processes in public health, education, and social work: Protocol for a scoping review.

The objective of this scoping review is to understand the extent and impact of youth involvement in policy processes within public health, education, and social work. Youth involvement in policy processes may enhance the relevance of policies and strengthen democratic practices. This scoping review aims to explore the nature, extent, and impact of youth involvement in policy processes in public health, education, and social work, with a focus on health, well-being, and obesity prevention.

Weight Status and Mental Well-Being Among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Self-Perceived Body Weight. A Cross-National Survey.

Purpose: Overweight and obesity are associated with poor mental health in adolescents. However, little is known about whether the influence of overweight and obesity on mental well-being is mediated by self-perceived body weight. Exploring the mechanisms underlying the relationships between obesity and mental well-being is of interest to policy makers and others working in the field of adolescent health.

Champions for improved adherence to guidelines in long-term care homes: a systematic review.

Background: The champion model is increasingly being adopted to improve uptake of guideline-based care in long-term care (LTC). Studies suggest that an on-site champion may improve the quality of care residents' health outcomes. This review assessed the effectiveness of the champion on staff adherence to guidelines and subsequent resident outcomes in LTC homes.

Primary prevention of overweight and obesity in adolescents: An overview of systematic reviews.

The aim of this overview of systematic reviews was to summarize evidence from up-to-date reviews of the effectiveness of interventions aimed at preventing overweight and obesity in adolescents aged 10 to 19 years. We searched nine databases for systematic reviews published between January 2008 and November 2019. We used A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) 2 to assess the quality of reviews, excluding those of critically low quality, and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) tool to grade the certainty of included evidence.

Local opinion leaders: effects on professional practice and healthcare outcomes.

Background: Clinical practice is not always evidence-based and, therefore, may not optimise patient outcomes. Local opinion leaders (OLs) are individuals perceived as credible and trustworthy, who disseminate and implement best evidence, for instance through informal one-to-one teaching or community outreach education visits. The use of OLs is a promising strategy to bridge evidence-practice gaps.

Telemedicine: Is it really worth it? A perspective from evidence and experience.

Background:  Although the formal evidence base is equivocal, practical experience suggests that implementations of technology that support telemedicine initiatives can result in improved patient outcomes, better patient and carer experience and reduced expenditure.

Objective: To answer the questions "Is an investment in telemedicine worth it?" and "How do I make a telemedicine implementation work?"

Methods:  Summary of systematic review evidence and an illustrative case study. Discussion of implications for industry and policy.

Primary care professionals providing non-urgent care in hospital emergency departments.

Background: In many countries emergency departments (EDs) are facing an increase in demand for services, long waits, and severe crowding. One response to mitigate overcrowding has been to provide primary care services alongside or within hospital EDs for patients with non-urgent problems. However, it is unknown how this impacts the quality of patient care and the utilisation of hospital resources, or if it is cost-effective.

Interventions to change the behaviour of health professionals and the organisation of care to promote weight reduction in children and adults with overweight or obesity.

Background: The prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing globally, an increase which has major implications for both population health and costs to health services. This is an update of a Cochrane Review.

Objectives: To assess the effects of strategies to change the behaviour of health professionals or the organisation of care compared to standard care, to promote weight reduction in children and adults with overweight or obesity.

External inspection of compliance with standards for improved healthcare outcomes.

Background: Inspection systems are used in healthcare to promote quality improvements (i.e. to achieve changes in organisational structures or processes, healthcare provider behaviour and patient outcomes).

Tools developed and disseminated by guideline producers to promote the uptake of their guidelines.

Background: The uptake of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) is inconsistent, despite their potential to improve the quality of health care and patient outcomes. Some guideline producers have addressed this problem by developing tools to encourage faster adoption of new guidelines. This review focuses on the effectiveness of tools developed and disseminated by guideline producers to improve the uptake of their CPGs.

Interactive telemedicine: effects on professional practice and health care outcomes.

Background: Telemedicine (TM) is the use of telecommunication systems to deliver health care at a distance. It has the potential to improve patient health outcomes, access to health care and reduce healthcare costs. As TM applications continue to evolve it is important to understand the impact TM might have on patients, healthcare professionals and the organisation of care.

Interventions to reduce waiting times for elective procedures.

Background: Long waiting times for elective healthcare procedures may cause distress among patients, may have adverse health consequences and may be perceived as inappropriate delivery and planning of health care.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing waiting times for elective care, both diagnostic and therapeutic.

Search Methods: We searched the following electronic databases: Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Group Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE (1946-), EMBASE (1947-), the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), ABI Inform, the Canadian Research Index, the Science, Social Sciences and Humanities Citation Indexes, a series of databases via Proquest: Dissertations & Theses (including UK & Ireland), EconLit, PAIS (Public Affairs International), Political Science Collection, Nursing Collection, Sociological Abstracts, Social Services Abstracts and Worldwide Political Science Abstracts.

Interventions to improve professional adherence to guidelines for prevention of device-related infections.

Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a major threat to patient safety, and are associated with mortality rates varying from 5% to 35%. Important risk factors associated with HAIs are the use of invasive medical devices (e.g.

Primary care professionals providing non-urgent care in hospital emergency departments.

Background: In many countries emergency departments (EDs) are facing an increase in demand for services, long-waits and severe crowding. One response to mitigate overcrowding has been to provide primary care services alongside or within hospital EDs for patients with non-urgent problems. It is not known, however, how this impacts the quality of patient care, the utilisation of hospital resources, or if it is cost-effective.

Interventions to increase clinical incident reporting in health care.

Background: Reporting of adverse clinical events is thought to be an effective method of improving the safety of healthcare. Underreporting of these adverse events is often said to occur with consequence of missing of opportunities to learn from these incidents. A clinical incident can be defined as any occurrence which is not consistent with the routine care of the patient or the routine operation of the institution.

Effectiveness of organisational infrastructures to promote evidence-based nursing practice.

Background: Nurses and midwives form the bulk of the clinical health workforce and play a central role in all health service delivery. There is potential to improve health care quality if nurses routinely use the best available evidence in their clinical practice. Since many of the factors perceived by nurses as barriers to the implementation of evidence-based practice (EBP) lie at the organisational level, it is of interest to devise and assess the effectiveness of organisational infrastructures designed to promote EBP among nurses.

Effectiveness of external inspection of compliance with standards in improving healthcare organisation behaviour, healthcare professional behaviour or patient outcomes.

Background: Inspection systems are used in health care to promote quality improvements, i.e. to achieve changes in organisational structures or processes, healthcare provider behaviour and patient outcomes.

Local opinion leaders: effects on professional practice and health care outcomes.

Background: Clinical practice is not always evidence-based and, therefore, may not optimise patient outcomes. Opinion leaders disseminating and implementing 'best evidence' is one method that holds promise as a strategy to bridge evidence-practice gaps.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of the use of local opinion leaders in improving professional practice and patient outcomes.

An overview of reviews evaluating the effectiveness of financial incentives in changing healthcare professional behaviours and patient outcomes.

Background: There is considerable interest in the effectiveness of financial incentives in the delivery of health care. Incentives may be used in an attempt to increase the use of evidence-based treatments among healthcare professionals or to stimulate health professionals to change their clinical behaviour with respect to preventive, diagnostic and treatment decisions, or both. Financial incentives are an extrinsic source of motivation and exist when an individual can expect a monetary transfer which is made conditional on acting in a particular way.