Health & social care in the community
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Health Soc Care Community · May 2021
Project ECHO: Enhancing palliative care for primary care occupational therapists and physiotherapists in Ireland.
Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) uses videoconferencing technology to support and train healthcare professionals (HCPs) remotely. A 4-month fortnightly ECHO programme was developed and implemented to enhance palliative care provision by primary care therapists. Teaching and case-based discussions were facilitated by palliative care specialists. ⋯ Ninety-five percent of participants (n = 19) reported ECHO met their learning needs and was an effective format to enhance clinical knowledge. Eighty-five percent of participants (n = 17) would recommend ECHO to their colleagues. Project ECHO improved palliative care knowledge and skills of primary care HCPs in Ireland, with potential to address the growing need for integrated palliative care services.
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Health Soc Care Community · May 2021
The success of Australia's 'No Jab, No Pay' policy at a local level; retrospective clinical audit of a single medical practice assessing incidence of catch-up vaccinations.
Vaccination is a vital health care initiative to prevent individual and population infection. To increase vaccination rates the federal government implemented the 'No Jab, No Pay' policy, where eligibility for several government benefits required children to be fully vaccinated by removing 'conscientious objections' and expanding the age range of children whose families receive benefits. This study assesses the impact of this policy at a local area within a single medical practice community in NSW, Australia. ⋯ Secondary outcome measurement of catch-up vaccination incidence rates before (2012-2015) and after (2016-2017) 'No Jab, No Pay' implementation showed statistically significant increases for children aged 8-11 years (3.2%-5.6%, p = .038), 12-15 years (7.5%-14.7%, p < .001) and 16-19 years (3.3%-10.2%, p < .001) along with a statistically significant reduction in children aged 1-3 years (11.4%-6.2%, p = .015). Also, catch-up rates for DTPa significantly increased after program implementation. This study demonstrates that the Australian federal government vaccination policy 'No Jab, No Pay' was coincident with an increase in catch-up vaccinations within a rural NSW community served by one medical practice, especially for older children.
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Health Soc Care Community · May 2021
Unhealthy behaviours in urban Illinois communities affected by eviction: A descriptive analysis.
Eviction of renter-occupied homes is an emerging public health crisis adversely impacting populations already at risk. Although housing quality and home-owner foreclosures have been linked to health outcomes, the relationship between eviction of renter-occupied homes and health has not been well established. The demographics and socioeconomic status of renters differs from homeowners, as such any relationship with health outcomes should be distinguished between the two. ⋯ Unadjusted and adjusted linear regression models were used to assess and describe the relationship between each of the dependent variables and each of the independent variables. All five of the unhealthy behaviour indicators were found to be significantly associated with eviction rates and eviction filing rates after adjustment for confounding variables. This study contributes to the understudied area of research focused on how eviction rates contribute to the social determinants of health for already at-risk populations.