Publications by authors named "Maxine Whittaker"

Background: The targeted application of cutting-edge high-throughput molecular data technologies provides an enormous opportunity to address key health, economic and environmental issues in the tropics within the One Health framework. The Earth's tropical regions are projected to contain > 50% of the world's population by 2050 coupled with 80% of its biodiversity however these regions are relatively less developed economically, with agricultural productivity substantially lower than temperate zones, a large percentage of its population having limited health care options and much of its biodiversity understudied and undescribed. The generation of high-throughput molecular data and bespoke bioinformatics capability to address these unique challenges offers an enormous opportunity for people living in the tropics.

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Introduction: Healthcare is experiencing a global period of profound transformation, and digital health shows the promise of dispensing innovative and contemporary service models. However, changes are required to improve the capabilities of health managers in driving successful digital transformation.

Objective: This paper aims to explore the organizational barriers that health service managers have encountered when realizing the benefits of a digitally transforming environment.

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This study aimed to synthesise evidence comparing the levels of cytokines in severe falciparum malaria with those in uncomplicated malaria from available systematic reviews and meta- analyses. Relevant individual meta-analyses were searched in PubMed, Ovid, and Google Scholar, following the selection criteria specified for this umbrella review. The AMSTAR-2 tool was applied to grade the quality of the meta-analyses identified.

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Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is frequently associated with non-cardia type gastric cancer, and it is designated as a group I carcinogen. This study aimed to systematically review and meta-analyze the evidence on the prevalence of CagA status in people with gastric disorders in the Indo-Pacific region, and to examine the association of CagA positive in the risk of gastric disorders.

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Health service managers play a crucial role in managing and leading in the digital health environment. Development of the health management workforce that is ready to lead and manage digital health transformation requires partnerships across sectors, in not only developing workforce competence but also in developing supportive mechanisms that can translate competencies into practice. A framework presenting a systematic approach in enabling the development of a competent health management workforce in the digital health era has recently been published.

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Background: Globally, the health care system is experiencing a period of rapid and radical change. In response, innovative service models have been adopted for the delivery of high-quality care that require a health workforce with skills to support transformation and new ways of working.

Objective: The aim of this research protocol is to describe research that will contribute to developing the capability of health service managers in the digital health era and enabling digital transformation within the Australian health care environment.

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Lymphatic filariasis is a public health problem and targeted for global elimination. WHO recommends mass drug administration to interrupt transmission of the parasites involved. There are concerns that transmission interruption may be difficult in areas of zoonotic filarial infections.

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Background: Dengue is a public health problem in the Indo-Pacific countries. There are concerns over the facilitators and barriers to community engagement in health service research aimed at dengue control. The objective of his study was to identify and synthesize facilitators and barriers to community engagement in health service research aimed at dengue control.

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Article Synopsis
  • The 'flipped classroom' model involves reversing traditional teaching methods by assigning lectures and videos for home study and engaging in interactive classwork, enabling teachers to guide students during in-class activities.
  • This review aimed to evaluate how effective the flipped classroom method is in improving academic performance and satisfaction among undergraduate health professional students.
  • Relevant studies for this review were sourced from various databases and included criteria focusing on undergraduate healthcare education that utilized the flipped classroom approach, while excluding unrelated fields and standard lecture formats.
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Understanding the health status of a population or community is crucial to equitable service planning. Among other uses, data on health status can help local and national planners and policy makers understand patterns and trends in current or emerging health and well-being, especially how disparities relating to geography, ethnicity, language and living with disability influence access to services. In this practice paper we draw attention to the nature of Australia's health data challenges and call for greater 'democratisation' of health data to address health system inequities.

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The research question was what studies are available that have assessed community engagement in the health services research on soil-transmitted helminths? We aimed to synthesise evidence on how communities were engaged in health services research on soil-transmitted helminths in low-and-middle-income countries of the Asia-Pacific Region. We focused on this region because soil-transmitted helminths are endemic, and their burden is significant in this region. This review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) checklist.

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This study aimed to contextualize the extent, nature, and quality of community engagement in health services research on eliminating lymphatic filariasis in low-and middle-income countries of Southeast Asia and Pacific Region. We performed a systematic review, and the results were reported according to the PRISMA-S checklist. Relevant studies were searched in health-related electronic databases, and selected according to the inclusion criteria.

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Introduction: Health informatics and digital health, two rapidly growing disciplines, are becoming increasingly important to the sustainability of health service provision, highlighted especially through the COVID-19 pandemic. To maximise the benefits of the adoption and growth of health informatics and digital health, health service managers play a critical role in leading and managing the implementation and transformation of the system, both strategically and operationally, whilst still needing to manage 'business as usual'.

Objectives: The objectives of the paper are to present and discuss the findings from a scoping review identifying: 1) competencies required for health service managers leading the implementation and transformation of informatics and digital technology in the health sector; and 2) factors that are critical to building the management workforce capacity in the era of health informatics and digital health.

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Background: Globally, experiences of menarche and subsequent menstruation are embedded in social and cultural beliefs, norms and practices. Menarche is an important developmental milestone in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) for females. Menarche is intertwined with socio-cultural norms, beliefs and practices, which can impact on women's ability to manage menstruation with dignity.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and microscopy for detecting asymptomatic malaria, which is crucial for malaria elimination efforts in Asia.
  • - A meta-analysis was conducted on ten studies comparing the accuracy of these diagnostic methods, revealing that both had low sensitivity but high specificity in detecting asymptomatic malaria infections.
  • - The conclusion indicates that RDTs and microscopy are not reliable for identifying asymptomatic Plasmodium infections, suggesting the need for alternative methods like PCR and LAMP, while recognizing that more research is needed for these methods to gain wider acceptance.
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During the 2016-2017 Solomon Islands dengue outbreak, the National Referral Hospital (NRH) in Honiara was the epicenter for the national response. High-quality nursing care is critical for successful management and this study investigated the factors affecting the quality of nursing care for patients admitted to NRH with dengue. Data were collected using two methods: () Focus group discussions with nurses who cared for dengue patients and () a self-administered questionnaire completed by a senior manager.

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Background: The significant contribution of community-based distribution (CBD) of family planning services and contraceptives to the uptake of contraceptives in hard-to-reach communities has resulted in the scaling-up of this approach in many Sub-Saharan countries. However, contextual factors need to be taken into consideration. For example, social network influence (e.

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Background: Menarche, the first menstruation, is a significant developmental milestone for females. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), menarche is an important socio-cultural event marking transition from girlhood to womanhood. PNG is a culturally and linguistically diverse nation, with wide-ranging socio-cultural beliefs and practices around menarche.

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Located in the South West Pacific region, with a population of 7.5 million, Papua New Guinea (PNG) is among a group of Pacific countries with sub-optimal health status. The maternal mortality ratio is 171 per 100,000 live births.

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Introduction: Delivering health services and improving health outcomes of the 1.3 million people residing in northern Australia, a region spanning 3 million km2 across the three jurisdictions of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland, presents specific challenges. This review addresses a need for systems level analysis of the issues influencing the coverage, quality and responsiveness of health services across this region by examining the available published literature and identifying key policy-relevant gaps.

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Background: Myanmar is a premalaria elimination country with artemisinin-resistant malaria. A strategy for transmission control is focused on vulnerable groups such as mobile and migrant populations (MMPs), and includes improving access to insecticide-treated bed nets in the Myanmar artemisinin resistance containment (MARC) zones using multisectoral approaches (MSA).

Methods: This narrative systematic review addressed MSAs targeted to MMPs in Myanmar for malaria prevention.

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