Post-rehabilitation programme to support upper limb recovery in community-dwelling stroke survivors: a mixed methods cluster-feasibility controlled trial.

Background: Less than 50% of stroke survivors regain their pre-stroke level of upper limb function, compounded with a lack of long-term rehabilitation options available. The Graded Repetitive Arm Supplementary Programme (GRASP) is an evidence-based upper limb programme delivered as a standalone programme to stroke survivors. To improve access to such a programme, there is the potential to combine it with a high-utility community-based exercise programme, such as the post-rehabilitation enablement programme (PREP).

Gender-Responsive Design of Bacteriophage Products to Enhance Adoption by Chicken Keepers in Kenya.

Women and men keeping chickens in Kenya aspire to have a source of income, feed their families healthy food, and grow their businesses. Managing animal diseases and minimizing input costs enable their success. This study uses qualitative methods to recommend design opportunities for a veterinary product under development in Kenya that contains bacteriophages (phages) that target pathogenic strains responsible for fowl typhoid, salmonellosis, and pullorum in chickens and foodborne illness in people.

PREP Plus combined postrehabilitation programme to support upper limb recovery in community-dwelling stroke survivors: protocol for a mixed-methods, cluster-assigned feasibility study.

Introduction: Poor recovery of the upper limb following a stroke has been recognised as a significant problem in the UK. Although there is good evidence that early, intense rehabilitation can lead to upper limb recovery, often this is not maintained, with less than 50% of people regaining the ability to use their upper limb for independent function at 6 months. Upper limb recovery potential is reported for many years poststroke, yet current long-term provision is insufficient.

Interventions for improving health literacy in people with chronic kidney disease.

Background: Low health literacy affects 25% of people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and is associated with increased morbidity and death. Improving health literacy is a recognised priority, but effective interventions are not clear.

Objectives: This review looked the benefits and harms of interventions for improving health literacy in people with CKD.

Vaccination of household chickens results in a shift in young children's diet and improves child growth in rural Kenya.

Childhood growth faltering remains unacceptably high in sub-Saharan Africa. Rural communities dependent on household food production with limited off-farm income or liquid assets to bridge seasonal food availability are especially vulnerable. A cross-sectional survey in Siaya County, Kenya identified 23.

Impact of routine Newcastle disease vaccination on chicken flock size in smallholder farms in western Kenya.

Background: Poultry represent a widely held economic, nutritional, and sociocultural asset in rural communities worldwide. In a recent longitudinal study in western Kenya, the reported mean number of chickens per household was 10, with increases in flock size constrained principally by mortality. Newcastle disease virus is a major cause of chicken mortality globally and hypothesized to be responsible for a large part of mortality in smallholder flocks.

Prioritizing smallholder animal health needs in East Africa, West Africa, and South Asia using three approaches: Literature review, expert workshops, and practitioner surveys.

Managing the health needs of livestock contributes to reducing poverty and improving the livelihoods of smallholder and pastoralist livestock keepers globally. Animal health practitioners, producers, policymakers, and researchers all must prioritize how to mobilize limited resources. This study employed three approaches to prioritize animal health needs in East and West Africa and South Asia to identify diseases and syndromes that impact livestock keepers.

Rapid-Cycle Evaluation in an Early Intervention Program for Children With Developmental Disabilities in South India: Optimizing Service Providers' Quality of Work-Life, Family Program Engagement, and School Enrollment.

This paper explores how implementation and refinement of an early intervention (EI) program for children with delayed development was informed by an iterative, intentional and structured process of measurement. Providing access to early intervention therapy for children in rural areas of India is challenging due to a lack of rehabilitation therapists and programs. Following a biopsychosocial framework and principles of community-based rehabilitation, a non-governmental organization, Amar Seva Sangam (ASSA), overcame those barriers by designing a digital technology supported EI program in rural Tamil Nadu, India.

Impact of a family-centred early intervention programme in South India on caregivers of children with developmental delays.

Background: This study evaluated the impact on caregiver strain and family empowerment among caregivers of children with disabilities who received training and education as part of a family-centred community-based early intervention programme in South India.

Methods: This prospective open cohort longitudinal study compared change from baseline to two years post-intervention among caregivers of the first cohort of children who were enrolled in the programme. Paired t-tests determined effect on the Modified Caregiver Strain Index (MCSI) and Family Empowerment Scale (FES), and -values were adjusted for multiple comparisons using the False Discovery Rate approach.

Mortality as the primary constraint to enhancing nutritional and financial gains from poultry: A multi-year longitudinal study of smallholder farmers in western Kenya.

Background: Chickens are a widely held economic and nutritional asset in rural Africa and are frequently managed by women. Despite potential benefits of larger flock sizes, the average number of chickens kept at the household level is reported to be low. Whether this reflects decision-making to maximize benefits per unit labor by voluntary reduction of chicken numbers by consumption or sale versus involuntary losses due to mortality is a significant gap in knowledge relevant to improving smallholder household welfare.

eHealth interventions for people with chronic kidney disease.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with high morbidity and death, which increases as CKD progresses to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). There has been increasing interest in developing innovative, effective and cost-efficient methods to engage with patient populations and improve health behaviours and outcomes. Worldwide there has been a tremendous increase in the use of technologies, with increasing interest in using eHealth interventions to improve patient access to relevant health information, enhance the quality of healthcare and encourage the adoption of healthy behaviours.

Why isn't everyone using the thermotolerant vaccine? Preferences for Newcastle disease vaccines by chicken-owning households in Tanzania.

Understanding preferences for veterinary vaccines in low and middle-income countries is important for increasing vaccination coverage against infectious diseases, especially when the consumer is responsible for choosing between similar vaccines. Over-the-counter sales of vaccines without a prescription gives decision-making power to consumers who may value vaccine traits differently from national or international experts and vaccine producers and distributers. We examine consumer preferences for La Sota and I-2 Newcastle disease vaccines in Tanzania to understand why two vaccines co-exist in the market when I-2 is considered technically superior because of its thermotolerance.

Drivers of vaccination preferences to protect a low-value livestock resource: Willingness to pay for Newcastle disease vaccines by smallholder households.

Vaccination can be an effective risk management approach to minimize the burden of disease and increase livestock productivity for smallholder households in low income countries. In contrast to vaccination of cattle, a high-value smallholder asset, there is a significant knowledge gap for the drivers of vaccine adoption of smallholder poultry. Newcastle disease virus (NDV) causes high mortality in chickens and is one of the greatest constraints to East African poultry production.

Newcastle disease vaccine adoption by smallholder households in Tanzania: Identifying determinants and barriers.

Background: Food security is critical to achieving sustainable growth, poverty reduction, and political and economic stability. Livestock have the potential to improve the food security of smallholder households in developing countries, but livestock productivity is constrained by disease. The extent to which households adopt innovations such as vaccines impacts disease control; however, the behavioral and economic drivers underlying household decisions to adopt or forgo vaccination are not well understood.