Strategies and incentives for enhancing the application of health impact assessment (HIA) in Nigeria: a view from those who should know

In consonance with the paradigm shift from curative to more preventive healthcare, there has been an increasing application of health impact assessment (HIA) in many developed countries. However, progress towards the integration of HIA into public policy in many developing countries has been comparatively very slow. This article is a primary research to evaluate the barriers and motivational factors; and to proffer effective strategies and incentives for enhancing the application of HIA in health and development policies in Nigeria. Semi-structured questionnaires were designed and primarily disseminated online to a random sample of health and non-health professionals, public service workers, policy-makers and business entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Additional questionnaires were also hand-delivered. Inferential statistics was used in the analysis of the 510 responses that were received. The findings show that 71% of the respondents had never heard about HIA, and 80.7% of those who were aware of HIA had not received ...

The clinical effectiveness of the COPDnet integrated care model

COPD is a disease with a high prevalence in the world. Despite the great personal and family involvement, it has been seen that integrated care between hospitals and primary care translates into better clinical results for patients. Integrated care models have the potential to improve outcomes for patients with COPD. The research team design the COPDnet integrated care model and implemented it in two hospitals and affiliated primary care regions in the Netherlands. The COPDnet model consists of a comprehensive diagnostic trajectory ran in secondary care followed by a non-pharmacological intervention program of both monodisciplinary and multidisciplinary components.

e-Mental Health International Conference 2020

Delivering person-centred care through new technology

The Priority Research Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research (University of Newcastle, Australia), following their success in organising the e-Mental Health International Conference in 2016 and 2018,  once again brings the conference to you. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, conference will be held online this year.

The conference will provide a forum focusing on applying information and communication technologies in person-centred strategies of mental health care. It will contribute to generating, verifying and refining theories and practices of employing technologies in person-centred care. Specific objectives are:

• To review initiatives in using information and communication technologies in person-centred care delivery.
• To reinforce the significance of evidence based e-health practice in promoting, maintaining and restoring health.
• To define critically the roles of e-health in attaining excellence in care and explore the issues related to these roles.
• To examine global and regional strategies of enhancing e-health ...

World Health Organization Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) and the Integrated Care of Older Patients with Frailty in Primary Care (ICOOP_Frail) Study in Korea

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently endorsed the proposal for a Decade of Healthy Ageing (2020-2030). The WHO defines "healthy aging" as "the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age." Among the strategies for the Decade of Healthy Ageing, the WHO has suggested enhancing intrinsic capacity, promoting functional ability, and implementing the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) package. The WHO has defined steps for ICOPE evaluation and scale-up and is performing a prospective study in 2-3 countries (low and middle income, high income) to test its feasibility in 2021-2022 and a multinational randomized study to validate its clinical efficacy and effectiveness in 2022-2024. Intrinsic capacity and frailty represent two faces of the same coin, with one indicating the reserves of the individual and the other indicating the deficits that accumulate with age. The Integrated Care of Older Patients with Frailty in Primary ...