scholarly journals Systematic Review of School Telehealth Evaluations

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denisse Sanchez ◽  
Jennifer F. Reiner ◽  
Rachel Sadlon ◽  
Olga Acosta Price ◽  
Michael W. Long

School telehealth is an alternative delivery model to increase student health-care access with minimal evaluation to aid decision makers in the adoption or expansion of programs. This systematic review assesses school-based telehealth programs using a dissemination and implementation (D&I) framework to inform practitioners and decision makers of the value of school telehealth. We assessed findings from 20 studies on telehealth published between January 2006 and June 2018 and summarized program evaluation on a range of D&I constructs. The sample population included children in school- or center-based early childhood education under age 22 and included parents, providers, and school personnel across urban and suburban locations. There is some evidence that school telehealth can reduce emergency department visits and improve health status for children with chronic and acute illnesses. Future research should report on barriers and facilitators of implementation of programs, including costs related to application of telehealth services and utilization rates.

Author(s):  
Cara C. Lewis ◽  
Enola K. Proctor ◽  
Ross C. Brownson

The National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the CDC, and a number of private foundations have expressed the need for advancing the science of dissemination and implementation. Interest in dissemination and implementation research is present in many countries. Improving health care requires not only effective programs and interventions, but also effective strategies to move them into community based settings of care. But before discrete strategies can be tested for effectiveness, comparative effectiveness, or cost effectiveness, context and outcome constructs must be identified and defined in such a way that enables their manipulation and measurement. Measurement is underdeveloped, with few psychometrically strong measures and very little attention paid to their pragmatic nature. A variety of tools are needed to capture health care access and quality, and no measurement issues are more pressing than those for dissemination and implementation science.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 860-860
Author(s):  
Britney Wardecker ◽  
Cara Exten

Abstract The number of sexual minority (SM) older adults is increasing rapidly, yet this population continues to be underrepresented in research (Fredriksen-Goldsen & Kim, 2017) and experiences significant disparities in health and health care access (Fredriksen-Goldsen, 2016; Wallace et al., 2011). In the current symposium, we analyze data from U.S. national probability samples of middle-aged and older adults (MIDUS, HRS, NESARC-III) to consider how age-related concerns and challenges may be experienced differently by SM individuals compared to their heterosexual counterparts. This symposium includes novel methods and statistical tools, such as daily diary assessments, multilevel modeling, and time-varying effects models. Individual presentations evaluate how: (1) SM women, compared to heterosexual women, may respond differently to menopause through norms and values surrounding womanhood; (2) midlife and older SM individuals use alcohol and cigarettes more frequently across a typical week than their heterosexual counterparts, though their substance use may not be tied to common triggers (e.g., negative mood, stress); (3) despite bisexual older adults reporting more health problems compared to lesbian and gay counterparts, they are less prepared for health concerns and crises (e.g., reporting a lower number of valid wills); and (4) the prevalence of depression and anxiety varies across age, such that older SM adults—especially women—are particularly vulnerable to psychological health problems. These presentations collectively examine complex issues facing older SM adults while emphasizing individual differences (i.e., women’s concerns, bisexual people’s issues). We discuss challenges in researching this growing at-risk population, and we highlight areas of future research and intervention.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 21-25
Author(s):  
Christine L. Arazan ◽  
Brianna A. Barrios ◽  
Meredith S. Brown ◽  
Natalia O. Dmitrieva

Limited research exists concerning measurement issues of health-related constructs among those incarcerated in American jails. This gap in the literature impedes research on health outcomes and health care access among jailed populations and may render the public health concerns of jailed populations hidden from societal view. The current article examines a research team's experience in conducting a related study (see Trotter et al. 2018) by highlighting the methodological limitations and opportunities faced during the study and provides suggestions for future research. The manuscript provides future researchers with a foundation for implementing health-focused studies within a jail, with special attention paid to the obstacles the research team overcame.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Alidoust ◽  
Wei Huang

Abstract This paper provides a systematic review of the evidence linking housing and health. This involved a review of 59 peer-reviewed journal papers, that included case studies on the health impacts of housing and were published in English, in the past decade (2010–2020). Our systematic review of the literature suggested most of the research on the health impacts of housing employed quantitative methodology, were conducted in the Global North and were published in Medical and Health Sciences journals. Research findings demonstrated four key areas through which housing impacts health: neighbourhood or context, physical building, housing market and housing policy. This paper provides valuable information to researchers for future research directions on the associations between housing and health and to decision-makers and planners for planning healthy cities.


2021 ◽  
pp. e20200116
Author(s):  
Allison N. Hinchcliff ◽  
Kelly A. Harrison

The Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) population suffers disproportionately from barriers to health care access. Progress has been made toward improving access to medical care in the human health field; however, the veterinary field has not yet implemented similar standards. More research is needed to improve access to veterinary care for disabled individuals. This systematic review aimed to evaluate all primary research articles pertaining to medical and veterinary health care access for DHH adults in the United States. Its purpose was to assess gaps in knowledge regarding DHH persons’ access to veterinary care. The review includes 39 articles related to DHH access to medical care and 6 articles related to general access to veterinary care. The authors found no articles related specifically to DHH access to veterinary care nor any articles on disability accessibility to veterinary care that met the inclusion criteria. Results outline significant barriers to DHH persons’ access to health care, unique needs specific for this population of patients, and recommendations to improve access to medical care for individuals who identify as DHH. The results also suggest that further research is needed to investigate barriers to veterinary care experienced by DHH pet owners, the unique needs of this population of pet owners, and how the field of veterinary medicine can better accommodate those needs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elnaz Bodaghkhani ◽  
Masoud Mahdavian ◽  
Cameron MacLellan ◽  
Alison Farrell ◽  
Shabnam Asghari

Background. Environmental factors such as weather variables contribute to asthma exacerbation. The impact of meteorological factors on asthma-related hospital admissions (HAs) or emergency department visits (EDVs) has been assessed in the literature. We conducted a systematic review to establish a conclusion of whether these findings from the literature are consistent and generalizable or if they vary significantly by certain subgroups. Objective. This study aims to review the effect of meteorological variables on asthma HAs and EDVs in adults, to identify knowledge gaps and to highlight future research priorities. Method. A systematic search was conducted in electronic databases such as PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL. All studies published in English were screened and included if they met the eligibility criteria. Two independent reviewers assessed the quality of the studies and extracted the data. The available evidence was summarized and presented using a harvest plot. Results. Our initial search returned a total of 3887 articles. After screening titles, abstracts, and full texts, 16 studies were included. Thirty-one percent of the included studies (5/16) found that temperature was the only factor associated with asthma hospitalization or EDVs. Six studies (37%) found that both temperature and relative humidity were associated with HAs. Four studies (25%) identified thunderstorms as a possible factor associated with asthma hospitalization in adults. Conclusion. Our review suggests that HAs and EDVs due to asthma are associated with many meteorological factors. Among the articles included in this review, changing temperature is the most commonly studied variable. We did not find studies that measured barometric pressure, weather phenomena, or the effect of tornados. To develop effective strategies to protect subjects at risk, further studies are required.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Dadey

Research suggests that Canada's newly arrived immigrant and refugee communities tend to be healthier than the domestic population, and that their health declines over time. Studies examining immigrant and refugee health primarily focus on how barriers associated with language, the settlement experience, culture, and systemic processes impede the utilization of health services among refugee men and women respectively. However, without the benefit of a gender comparison, such studies fail to identify the variation in health needs and differences in health-seeking between refugee men and women, and are thus limited in their capacity to improve service utilization. Drawing from exiting literature on refugee health status pre-migration and during resettlement, this paper implicates the role of health care reform processes in exploring the gender differences in access and health-seeking. A postcolonial feminist epistemology is advanced as a means to include the voices of refugees and other marginalized groups in future research and practice in order to encourage substantive change.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Zepeda ◽  
Stephanie Deighton ◽  
Veronika Markova ◽  
Joshua Madsen ◽  
Nicole Racine

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted unprecedented disruptions to the daily lives of children and adolescents worldwide, which has been associated with an increase of anxiety and depressive symptoms in youth. However, due to public health measures, in-person psychosocial care has been affected causing barriers to mental health care access. This study investigated the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of iCOPE with COVID-19, a brief telemental health intervention for children and adolescents to address anxiety symptoms. Sessions were provided exclusively using videoconferencing technology. Feasibility and acceptability were measured with client satisfaction data. The main outcome measure for effectiveness was anxiety symptom severity measured using the Screen for Child Anxiety and Related Disorders (SCARED). Results indicated that the treatment was well accepted by participants. Significant reductions in anxiety were noted for social anxiety, and were observed to be trending towards a mean decrease for total anxiety. The findings suggest that this brief telemental health intervention focused on reducing anxiety related to COVID-19 is acceptable and feasible to children and adolescents. Future research using a large sample and with a longer follow-up period could inform whether symptom decreases are sustained over time.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keren M. Escobar ◽  
Dorian Murariu ◽  
Sharon Munro ◽  
Kevin M. Gorey

This study tested the hypothesis that socioeconomically vulnerable Canadians with diverse acute conditions or chronic diseases have health care access and survival advantages over their counterparts in the USA. A rapid systematic review retrieved 25 studies (34 independent cohorts) published between 2003 and 2018. They were synthesized with a streamlined meta-analysis. Very low-income Canadian patients were consistently and highly advantaged in terms of health care access and survival compared with their counterparts in the USA who lived in poverty and/or were uninsured or underinsured. In aggregate and controlling for specific conditions or diseases and typically 4 to 9 comorbid factors or biomarkers, Canadians’ chances of receiving better health care were estimated to be 36% greater than their American counterparts (RR=1.36, 95% CI 1.35-1.37). This estimate was significantly larger than that based on general patient or non-vulnerable population comparisons (RR=1.09, 95% CI 1.08-1.10). Contrary to prevalent political rhetoric, three studies observed that Americans experience more than twice the risk of long waits for breast or colon cancer care or of dying while they wait for an organ transplant (RR=2.36, 95% CI 2.09-2.66). These findings were replicated across externally valid national studies and more internally valid, metropolitan or provincial/state comparisons. Socioeconomically vulnerable Canadians are consistently and highly advantaged on health care access and outcomes compared to their American counterparts. Less vulnerable comparisons found more modest Canadian advantages. The Affordable Care Act ought to be fully supported including the expansion of Medicaid across all states. Canada’s single payer system ought to be maintained and strengthened, but not through privatization.


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