Publications by authors named "Mary Kirk"

Introduction: The Data-informed Stepped Care (DiSC) study is a cluster-randomized trial implemented in 24 HIV care clinics in Kenya, aimed at improving retention in care for adolescents and youth living with HIV (AYLHIV). DiSC is a multi-component intervention that assigns AYLHIV to different intensity (steps) of services according to risk. We used the Framework for Reporting Adaptations and Modifications-Expanded (FRAME) to characterize provider-identified adaptations to the implementation of DiSC to optimize uptake and delivery, and determine the influence on implementation outcomes.

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Purpose: Côte d'Ivoire has a tiered public health laboratory system of 9 reference laboratories, 77 laboratories at regional and general hospitals, and 100 laboratories among 1,486 district health centers. Prior to 2009, nearly all of these laboratories used paper registers and reports to collect and report laboratory data to clinicians and national disease monitoring programs.

Project: Since 2009 the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Côte d'Ivoire has sought to implement a comprehensive set of activities aimed at strengthening the laboratory system.

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Background: Family engagement positively impacts patient and family members' experiences of care and health outcomes. While partnering with families denotes best practice in intensive care units (ICUs), its full adoption requires improvement. A better understanding of the factors that influence the implementation of family engagement practices is necessary.

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Background: In 2019 the Australian government released a guiding document for maternity care: Woman-centred care strategic directions for Australian maternity services (WCC Strategy), with mixed responses from providers and consumers. The aims of this paper were to: examine reasons behind reported dissatisfaction, and compare the WCC Strategy against similar international strategies/plans. The four guiding values in the WCC strategy: safety, respect, choice, and access were used to facilitate comparisons and provide recommendations to governments/health services enacting the plan.

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Background: The Ministère de le Santé et de l'Hygiène Publique in Côte d'Ivoire and the international community have invested in health information systems in Côte d'Ivoire since 2009, including electronic laboratory information systems. These systems have been implemented in more than 80 laboratories to date and capture all test results produced from these laboratories, including HIV viral load (VL) testing. In 2018 the national HIV programme in Côte d'Ivoire requested international support to develop real-time tools such as dashboards to aggregate and display test-specific data such as HIV VL testing to support the country's programmatic response to HIV.

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The biggest asset of the NHS is its staff. Health professionals working in the community are faced with a number of challenges to maintain and develop their knowledge and skills in their clinical practice. NHS England's Five Year Forward View describes the need for change, identifying the necessity to reshape care delivery, harnessing technology, and driving down variations in quality and safety of care.

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The prevalence of dementia is increasing, however it is only recently that dementia has been recognised as a terminal disease where end-of-life care needs to be discussed and planned with the patient and their family. Early diagnosis of dementia enables the person with dementia and their family to discuss the future, including plans for end-of-life care such as Advance Care Planning (ACP). However, discussions regarding end-of-life care are not routine practice for people with dementia and their families.

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Renal impairment may be evident at any stage of heart failure (CHF). Up to 30% of patients with heart failure have abnormal renal function. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) can be a complication of heart failure and chronic heart disease can be a consequence of CKD.

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Background: Making a histologic diagnosis of leiomyosarcoma in the specimen from a hysterectomy performed for suspected benign fibroids is rare. Currently, there are no reliable diagnostic tools to diagnose uterine sarcomas preoperatively.

Case: A 38-year-old woman presented with menorrhagia and a uterine fibroid measuring 6.

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This paper examines the ways in which two Hollywood films featuring drag queens, Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar and The Birdcage, offer a kind of "both/and" look at the complexities of gender, sexuality, race, and culture, simultaneously challenging some institutionalized attitudes (especially heterosexism) while reinforcing others (especially sexism and racism)--making the use of drag as a locus of discovery in both films, at best, ambivalent.

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