scholarly journals Defining, conceptualizing, and measuring perceived maternal care quality in low- to high-income countries: a scoping review protocol

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyrah K. Brown ◽  
Godfred O. Boateng ◽  
Peace Ossom-Williamson ◽  
Laura Haygood

Abstract Background Health practitioners and researchers must be able to measure and assess maternal care quality in facilities to monitor, intervene, and reduce global maternal mortality rates. On the global scale, there is a general lack of consensus on how maternal care quality is defined, conceptualized, and measured. Much of the literature addressing this problem has focused primarily on defining, conceptualizing, and measuring clinical indicators of maternal care quality. Less attention has been given in this regard to perceived maternal care quality among women which is known to influence care utilization and adherence. Therefore, there is a need to map the literature focused on defining, conceptualizing, and measuring perceived maternal care quality across low-, middle-, and high-income country contexts. Methods This scoping review protocol will follow the Arksey and O’Malley methodological framework. A comprehensive search strategy will be used to search for articles published from inception to 2020 in Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, AMED, and WHO Global Index Medicus. Gray literature will be included. Two independent reviewers will screen articles by title and abstract, then by full-text based on pre-determined inclusion/exclusion criteria. A third reviewer will arbitrate any discrepancies. This protocol outlines a four-step analytic approach that includes numerical, graphical, tabular, and narrative summaries to provide a comprehensive description of the body of literature. Discussion The findings from this scoping review will provide a comprehensive overview of the existing evidence on perceived maternal care quality. The findings are expected to inform future work on building consensus around the definition and conceptualization of perceived maternal care quality, and lay the groundwork for future research aimed at developing measures of perceived maternal care quality that can be applied across country contexts. Consequently, this review may aid in facilitating coordinated efforts to measure and improve maternal care quality across diverse country contexts (i.e., low-, middle-, and high-income country contexts). Review registration This scoping review has been registered in the Open Science Framework (osf.io/k8nqh).

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyrah K Brown ◽  
Godfred O Boateng ◽  
Peace Ossom-Williamson ◽  
Laura Haygood

Abstract Background: Health practitioners and researchers must be able to measure and assess maternal care quality in facilities to monitor, intervene, and reduce global maternal mortality rates. On the global scale, there is a general lack of consensus on how maternal care quality is defined, conceptualized, and measured. Much of the literature addressing this problem has focused primarily on defining, conceptualizing, and measuring clinical indicators of maternal care quality. Less attention has been given in this regard to perceived maternal care quality among women which is known to influence care utilization and adherence. Therefore, there is a need to map the literature focused on defining, conceptualizing, and measuring perceived maternal care quality across low-, middle-, and high-income country contexts. Methods: This scoping review protocol will follow the Arksey and O’Malley methodological framework. A comprehensive search strategy will be used to search for articles published from inception to 2020 in Ovid MEDLINE, EMbase, Amed, and WHO Global Index Medicus. Grey literature will be included. Two independent reviewers will screen articles by title and abstract, then by full-text based on pre-determined inclusion/exclusion criteria. A third reviewer will arbitrate any discrepancies. This protocol outlines a four-step analytic approach that includes numerical, graphical, tabular, and narrative summaries to provide a comprehensive description of the body of literature.Discussion: The findings from this scoping review will provide a comprehensive overview of the existing evidence on perceived maternal care quality. The findings are expected to inform future work on building consensus around the definition and conceptualization of perceived maternal care quality; and lay the groundwork for future research aimed at developing measures of perceived maternal care quality that can be applied across country contexts. Consequently, this review may aid in facilitating coordinated efforts to measure and improve maternal care quality across diverse country contexts (i.e., low-, middle-, and high-income country contexts).Review registrationThis scoping review has been registered in the Open Science Framework (osf.io/k8nqh).


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
Carolyn Donohoe ◽  
Kate Frazer ◽  
Diarmuid Stokes ◽  
Thilo Kroll

Background: Strategy in hospitals is based on distinct principles and rules which lead organisations to act on chosen priorities. Hospitals are struggling to cope with increasing service demands and activity and need to become more responsive to changing environments while demonstrating effective use of resources. Strategizing involves the active process of sensing, planning, implementing and evaluating strategy. Strategy-as-practice is concerned with what people do about strategy in an organisation, as opposed to the traditional focus on what the organisation has as a strategy. It is recognised that there is a disconnection between strategic planning and implementation, however little is known about how organisational context influences the strategic process or how hospital personnel engage in strategic activities. The aim of this scoping review is to explore the literature on strategizing by hospital personnel in hospitals, and will include literature for hospital both professional and managerial backgrounds, to establish the extent and breadth of strategizing or as it is often termed ‘strategy-as-practice’ in hospitals. Methods: The systematic scoping review will search the literature within the databases of PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ABI/INFORM (Proquest) and OpenGrey.net to explore the scientific evidence on strategizing in hospitals. The review will be based on the Arksey & O’Malley (2005) framework of five mandatory steps which was updated (Levac et al 2010, Colquhoun et al 2014 & Peters 2015) and is published online by the Joanna Briggs Institute. It will follow the PRISMA-ScP reporting guidelines. Conclusion: A scoping review methodology will provide a framework to explore strategizing in hospitals comprehensively and map the body of literature for this subject, which has not been conducted previously. This review will summarise the evidence on the use of strategy as practice in hospitals.  Based on the findings we will identify knowledge gaps and areas for future research.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. e049883
Author(s):  
Sarah Firman ◽  
Radha Ramachandran ◽  
Kevin Whelan ◽  
Oliver C Witard ◽  
Majella O’Keeffe

IntroductionPhenylketonuria (PKU) is a disorder of protein metabolism resulting in an accumulation of phenylalanine in the body. Dietary management consists of altering the sources of ingested protein to limit phenylalanine intake. Current dietary protein guidelines for PKU are based on limited scientific evidence, thus it remains unclear whether current practice leads to optimal protein status in people with PKU. To date, no attempt has been made to systematically evaluate the protein status of people with PKU, using a combination of validated anthropometric, biochemical and functional measurement tools. Furthermore, factors known to influence protein status in the general population warrant consideration when determining protein status in individuals with PKU, alongside factors unique to PKU such as the type of protein substitute consumed. Understanding the impact of these variables on protein status is crucial to developing a personalised approach to protein recommendations for optimising health and functional outcomes in people with PKU. Therefore, the aim of this scoping review is to examine existing evidence regarding the protein status of people with PKU, and to investigate the nutritional and lifestyle variables that influence protein status.Methods and analysisThis review will be guided by Arksey and O’Malley’s framework, along with guidance from Levac et al, Pawliuk et al and the Joanna Briggs Institute. The following databases will be searched: MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase, CENTRAL, Web of Science and Scopus, alongside grey literature. Identified literature will be assessed by two independent reviewers for inclusion. Descriptive numerical analysis will be performed and a narrative summary will accompany the tabulated results describing how study findings relate to the review questions.Ethics and disseminationThis review protocol does not require ethical approval. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publication, presented at relevant conferences, and shared with a patient research advisory group to inform discussions on future research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Moonika Raja ◽  
Jorunn Bjerkan ◽  
Ingjerd G. Kymre ◽  
Kathleen T. Galvin ◽  
Lisbeth Uhrenfeldt

Over the past decades countries of the world have experienced increase in the share of older people in demographics and the number is expected to rise even more. People are becoming more than ever dependent on digital technologies. The aim of this study is to map the body of literature concerning historical digital development over the last 20 years that people of 75 years and older in European countries have been part of. Moreover the goal is to identify research gaps in the existing literature in order to inform future research. The five-staged Arksey and O’Malley methodology framework is used to guide the scoping review process. Research strategy and eligibility criteria are defined. The study selection is made based on the eligibility criteria. A framework developed for the scoping review informs the charting of data from the included studies. Results will be summarized with criteria relevant for policy-makers, healthcare providers and the public.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Lo Vecchio ◽  
Maria Donata Cambriglia ◽  
Dario Bruzzese ◽  
Alfredo Guarino

Pain Medicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daly Geagea ◽  
Zephanie Tyack ◽  
Roy Kimble ◽  
Lars Eriksson ◽  
Vince Polito ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective Inadequately treated pain and distress elicited by medical procedures can put children at higher risks of acute and chronic biopsychosocial sequelae. Children can benefit from hypnotherapy, a psychological tailored intervention, as an adjunct to pharmacological agents to address the multiple components of pain and distress. Despite providing evidence on the effectiveness and potential superiority of hypnotherapy to other psychological interventions, research on hypnotherapy for paediatric procedural pain and distress has been predominantly limited to oncology and needle procedures. Plus, there is a lack of reporting of intervention manuals, factors influencing hypnotic responding, pain unpleasantness outcomes, theoretical frameworks, adverse events, as well as barriers and facilitators to the feasibility of delivering the intervention and study procedures. The proposed review aims to map the range and nature of the evidence on hypnotherapy for procedural pain and distress in children to identify gaps in literature and areas requiring further investigation. Methods This review will follow the Arksey and O'Malley (2005) methodology and incorporate additional scoping review recommendations by The Joanna Briggs Institute and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses. Relevant studies will be identified through searching published literature databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus and Web of Science) and grey literature in addition to hand-searching of reference lists and key journals. Two authors will independently screen titles and abstracts of search results followed by full-texts review against eligibility criteria. Conclusion Findings are anticipated to guide future research and inform the development of tailored hypnotic interventions in children.


Author(s):  
Charlotte M Roy ◽  
E Brennan Bollman ◽  
Laura M Carson ◽  
Alexander J Northrop ◽  
Elizabeth F Jackson ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic and global efforts to contain its spread, such as stay-at-home orders and transportation shutdowns, have created new barriers to accessing healthcare, resulting in changes in service delivery and utilization globally. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the literature published thus far on the indirect health effects of COVID-19 and to explore the data sources and methodologies being used to assess indirect health effects. Methods A scoping review of peer-reviewed literature using three search engines was performed. Results One hundred and seventy studies were included in the final analysis. Nearly half (46.5%) of included studies focused on cardiovascular health outcomes. The main methodologies used were observational analytic and surveys. Data were drawn from individual health facilities, multicentre networks, regional registries, and national health information systems. Most studies were conducted in high-income countries with only 35.4% of studies representing low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Conclusion Healthcare utilization for non-COVID-19 conditions has decreased almost universally, across both high- and lower-income countries. The pandemic’s impact on non-COVID-19 health outcomes, particularly for chronic diseases, may take years to fully manifest and should be a topic of ongoing study. Future research should be tied to system improvement and the promotion of health equity, with researchers identifying potentially actionable findings for national, regional and local health leadership. Public health professionals must also seek to address the disparity in published data from LMICs as compared with high-income countries.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. e001853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bethany L Hedt-Gauthier ◽  
Herve Momo Jeufack ◽  
Nicholas H Neufeld ◽  
Atalay Alem ◽  
Sara Sauer ◽  
...  

BackgroundCollaborations are often a cornerstone of global health research. Power dynamics can shape if and how local researchers are included in manuscripts. This article investigates how international collaborations affect the representation of local authors, overall and in first and last author positions, in African health research.MethodsWe extracted papers on ‘health’ in sub-Saharan Africa indexed in PubMed and published between 2014 and 2016. The author’s affiliation was used to classify the individual as from the country of the paper’s focus, from another African country, from Europe, from the USA/Canada or from another locale. Authors classified as from the USA/Canada were further subclassified if the author was from a top US university. In primary analyses, individuals with multiple affiliations were presumed to be from a high-income country if they contained any affiliation from a high-income country. In sensitivity analyses, these individuals were presumed to be from an African country if they contained any affiliation an African country. Differences in paper characteristics and representation of local coauthors are compared by collaborative type using χ² tests.ResultsOf the 7100 articles identified, 68.3% included collaborators from the USA, Canada, Europe and/or another African country. 54.0% of all 43 429 authors and 52.9% of 7100 first authors were from the country of the paper’s focus. Representation dropped if any collaborators were from USA, Canada or Europe with the lowest representation for collaborators from top US universities—for these papers, 41.3% of all authors and 23.0% of first authors were from country of paper’s focus. Local representation was highest with collaborators from another African country. 13.5% of all papers had no local coauthors.DiscussionIndividuals, institutions and funders from high-income countries should challenge persistent power differentials in global health research. South-South collaborations can help African researchers expand technical expertise while maintaining presence on the resulting research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 473-475
Author(s):  
Thirunavukarasu Kumanan ◽  
Chrishanthi Rajasooriyar ◽  
Mahesan Guruparan ◽  
Nadarajah Sreeharan

Author(s):  
Björn Gustafsson ◽  
Terry Sicular ◽  
Xiuna Yang

This chapter examines China’s middle class by using CHIP data for 2002, 2007, and 2013. “Middle class” is defined as having income high enough not to be regarded as poor but not so high as to be regarded as rich if living in a high-income country. Based on this definition, China’s middle class was extremely small in 2002; grew but was still less than 10 percent of the population in 2007; and by 2013 had expanded to one-fifth of China’s population, roughly 250 million people. Further analysis shows that China’s middle class is largely urban, lives in the East, and has other distinctive characteristics. Simulations reveal that past growth of China’s middle class was due to across-the-board, shared income growth rather than a redistribution of income. As of 2020 China’s middle class should double in size, constituting a majority of urban residents but still a small minority of rural residents.


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