Children with brain cancer and their families have complex care needs throughout diagnosis, active treatment, long-term survivorship, and the palliative phase of illness. This study aimed to explore the perspectives of Australian specialist clinicians on barriers and facilitators to health care for children with brain cancer and their families.

A qualitative approach was taken using semi-structured interviews. Eligible participants were clinicians of any discipline providing care to children with brain cancer and their families in Australia. Interviews were conducted by telephone and asked about perceived strengths and weaknesses in health care and available resources for this population. Qualitative content analysis used a directed approach with inductive refinement.

Eleven clinicians participated, 5 of whom were medical, 3 nursing, and 3 allied health. The overarching theme was that the rarity and diversity of brain tumors in children confers challenges to care that lead to variation in practice. Participants reported having to adapt care from guidelines and patient/family resources designed for adults with brain cancer and children with other cancers, and rely on clinical and research networks. Specialist comprehensive cancer care was generally perceived to offer the best model for accommodating the unique needs of each child/family, but barriers to access were highlighted for children in remote Australia, and long-term follow-up was perceived to be inadequate regardless of where children lived.

Until further brain cancer-specific paediatric guidelines become available, our findings highlight the need for communities of practice to share resources and reduce unwarranted variation.

Future research should focus on developing and evaluating guidelines and other resources specific to children with brain cancer, as well as informing suitable models for long-term follow-up care for survivors.

Computerized clinical decision support software (CDSS) are digital health technologies that have been traditionally categorized as medical devices. However, the evaluation frameworks for traditional medical devices are not well adapted to assess the value and safety of CDSS. In this study, we identified a range of challenges associated with CDSS evaluation as a medical device and investigated whether and how CDSS are evaluated in Australia.

Using a qualitative approach, we interviewed 11 professionals involved in the implementation and evaluation of digital health technologies at national and regional levels. Data were thematically analyzed using both data-driven (inductive) and theory-based (deductive) approaches.

Our results suggest that current CDSS evaluations have an overly narrow perspective on the risks and benefits of CDSS due to an inability to capture the impact of the technology on the sociotechnical environment. By adopting a static view of the CDSS, these evaluation frameworks are unable to discern how rapidly evolving technologies and a dynamic clinical environment can impact CDSS performance. After software upgrades, CDSS can transition from providing information to specifying diagnoses and treatments. Therefore, it is not clear how CDSS can be monitored continuously when changes in the software can directly affect patient safety.

Our findings emphasize the importance of taking a living health technology assessment approach to the evaluation of digital health technologies that evolve rapidly. There is a role for observational (real-world) evidence to understand the impact of changes to the technology and the sociotechnical environment on CDSS performance.

To evaluate the quality of prescription writing in the context of public primary health care.

Prescription errors are one of the leading patient safety problems in primary care and can be caused by errors in therapeutic decisions or in the quality of prescription writing.

Cross-sectional observational study conducted in a municipality in Northeastern Brazil. The assessment instrument (including 13 indicators and one composite indicator) was applied to a representative sample of drug prescriptions from the 24 Family Health Teams providing Primary Health Care in the municipality, dispensed in January 2021. Estimates of compliance and their 95% confidence intervals and graphical analysis of frequencies are assessed globally and stratified by dispensing units and prescribers.

The average composite prescription writing quality on a 0-100 scale was 60.2 (95% CI 57.8–62.6). No quality criteria had 100% compliance. The highest compliance rates were found for ‘frequency of administration’ (98.9%) and ‘identification of the prescriber’ (98.9%). On the other hand, ‘recorded information on allergy’ (0.0%), ‘patient’s date of birth’ (1.7%), ‘nonpharmacological recommendations’ (1.7%), and ‘guidance on the use of the drug’ (25%) were the indicators with lower compliance, contributing to 69% of the noncompliances found. The type and frequency of the errors in the quality of prescription writing uncovered in this study confirm the continuing need to tackle this problem to improve patient safety. The results identify priority aspects for interventions and further studies on the quality of prescription writing in the context of Primary Health Care in Brazil.

Recent years have witnessed the rise of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in palliative care (PC), particularly those focused on the standardized measurement of symptom burden. These measures seek to evaluate the quality of PC through the quantification of various aspects of potential suffering (e.g., sleeplessness, loss of appetite, and pain). Further, drawing on patient experience, they provide a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of, and at times expanding, PC services. The aim of this paper is to provide a theoretically informed normative critique of PROMS-PC through a critical engagement with heterogeneous literatures.

A hermeneutic narrative review underpinned by a view of “knowing” as an ongoing social accomplishment and inspired by complexity theory.

This narrative review highlights some limitations to the development of PROMs, including the use of proxies to complete them, and how the outcomes may not always reflect either the character of PC or the key aspects of practice and experience therein.

In their current form, PROMs have the potential to skew understandings of service quality, for example, by privileging one aspect of quality, that is, physical symptoms over other aspects of quality such as communication with care providers.

Although health technology assessment (HTA) and healthcare quality improvement are distinct processes, a greater level of alignment in outcome measures used may increase the quality and efficiency of data collection. This study evaluates the agreement in outcome measures used in oncology for healthcare quality improvement and HTAs, and how these align to the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM) standard sets.

We conducted a cross-sectional comparative analysis of ICHOM sets focusing on oncological indications and publicly available measures for healthcare quality and HTA reports published by the National Health Care Institute from the Netherlands and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence from the United Kingdom.

All ICHOM sets and HTAs used overall survival, whereas quality improvement used different survival estimates. Different progression estimates for cancer were used in HTAs, ICHOM sets, and quality improvement. Data on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was recommended in all ICHOM sets and all HTAs, but selectively for quality improvement. In HTAs, generic HRQoL questionnaires were preferred, whereas, in quality improvement and ICHOM sets, disease-specific questionnaires were recommended. Unfavorable outcomes were included in all HTAs and all ICHOM sets, but not always for quality improvement.

Although HTA and quality improvement use outcome measures from the same domains, a greater level of alignment seems possible. ICHOM may provide input on standardized outcome measures to support this alignment. However, residual discrepancies will remain due to the different objectives of HTA and quality improvement.

A Universal Health Coverage goal is to provide access to affordable palliative care to reduce disparities in end-of-life (EOL) outcomes. To assess progress toward this goal in Sri Lanka, our primary aim was to systematically assess differences in patients’ physical, psychological, social and spiritual outcomes, and their perceived quality of care by their socioeconomic status (SES).

As part of the multi-country APPROACH (Asian Patient Perspectives Regarding Oncology Awareness, Care and Health) study, we surveyed 199 patients with a stage IV solid malignant tumor and aged >21 years from the largest government cancer hospital in Sri Lanka. We assessed their physical (physical and functional well-being, symptom burden), psychological (anxiety, depression, emotional well-being), social (social well-being), and spiritual outcomes and perceived quality of care (physician communication, nursing care, and coordination/responsiveness).

Low SES patients reported significantly lower physical and functional well-being, emotional well-being, spiritual well-being including meaning/peace and faith; and significantly higher symptom burden, anxiety and depressive symptoms compared with patients from high SES (p < 0.05 for all outcomes).

Results have implications regarding reducing barriers in access to appropriate palliative care and EOL care services to stage IV cancer patients from low SES in Sri Lanka.

The reception of a patient in the psychiatric ward is an important step that determines the proper course of care. The welcome is the first stage of the relationship, it is essential to take the measure of the importance of this moment.

Assess psychiatric inpatients’ knowledge of their rights and obligations.

This was a descriptive and cross-sectional study based on a self-administered questionnaire containing about twenty questions (20), which assessed the knowledge of patients hospitalized in the HMPIT psychiatry department about their rights and obligations.

Twenty-five (25) patients agreed to answer the questionnaire and two (2) patients refused. Sixty percent (60%) of the patients were unaware of their rights. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of the patients did not know their duties. Forty-eight percent (48%) of the patients did not know the rules and conditions of hospitalization in psychiatry.

Patients hospitalized in the psychiatric ward have limited knowledge about their rights and duties and about the conditions and rules governing hospitalization. In addition to the poster on patients’ rights and duties, a welcome leaflet will provide all the information on the rules of hospitalization.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians have a relatively high prevalence of multimorbidity requiring treatment with medications. This study examines medication use and anticholinergic burden (ACB) among a cohort of older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people.

This cross-sectional study involving five Aboriginal communities (two in metropolitan Sydney and three on the mid-north coast of New South Wales) used a structured interview process to assess cognition, depression, and activities of daily living for a cohort of older adults (aged 60 years and over). Participants also reported on their health status, medical history, and prescription medications during the interview. ACB was calculated, and its association with adverse health outcomes including cognitive impairment, falls, hospitalization, and depressive symptoms were examined.

Most participants (95%) were taking at least one regular medication with polypharmacy (≥5 medications) observed in 43% of participants; 12.2% had a significant ACB (≥3) with antidepressants being a major contributor. Anticholinergic medication use was associated with cognitive impairment, recent hospitalization (past 12 months), and depressive symptoms. After controlling for age, sex, and comorbidity, only the presence of depressive symptoms remained significantly associated with the use of anticholinergic medication (odds ratio 2.86; 95% confidence interval 1.48–5.51).

Clinically significant ACB was common in older Aboriginal Australians and was largely attributable to inappropriate use of tricyclic antidepressants. Greater awareness of medication-related risk factors among both health care professionals and Aboriginal communities can play an important role in improving health and quality of life outcomes.

Qualitative fit testing is a popular method of ensuring the fit of sealing face masks such as N95 and FFP3 masks. Increased demand due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to shortages in testing equipment and has forced many institutions to abandon fit testing. Three key materials are required for qualitative fit testing: the test solution, nebulizer, and testing hood. Accessible alternatives to the testing solution have been studied. This exploratory qualitative study evaluates alternatives to the nebulizer and hoods for performing qualitative fit testing.

Four devices were trialed to replace the test kit nebulizer. Two enclosures were tested for their ability to replace the test hood. Three researchers evaluated promising replacements under multiple mask fit conditions to assess functionality and accuracy.

The aroma diffuser and smaller enclosures allowed participants to perform qualitative fit tests quickly and with high accuracy.

Aroma diffusers show significant promise in their ability to allow individuals to quickly, easily, and inexpensively perform qualitative fit testing. Our findings indicate that aroma diffusers and homemade testing hoods may allow for qualitative fit testing when conventional apparatus is unavailable. Additional research is needed to evaluate the safety and reliability of these devices.

Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (QIPS) plays an important role in addressing shortcomings in optimal healthcare delivery. However, there is little published guidance available for emergency department (ED) teams with respect to developing their own QIPS programs. We sought to create recommendations for established and aspiring ED leaders to use as a pathway to better patient care through programmatic QIPS activities, starting internally and working towards interdepartmental collaboration.

An expert panel comprised of ten ED clinicians with QIPS and leadership expertise was established. A scoping review was conducted to identify published literature on establishing QIPS programs and frameworks in healthcare. Stakeholder consultations were conducted among Canadian healthcare leaders, and recommendations were drafted by the expert panel based on all the accumulated information. These were reviewed and refined at the 2018 CAEP Academic Symposium in Calgary using in-person and technologically-supported feedback.

Recommendations include: creating a sense of urgency for improvement; engaging relevant stakeholders and leaders; creating a formal local QIPS Committee; securing funding and resources; obtaining local data to guide the work; supporting QIPS training for team members; encouraging interprofessional, cross-departmental, and patient collaborations; using an established QIPS framework to guide the work; developing reward mechanisms and incentive structures; and considering to start small by focusing on a project rather than a program.

A list of 10 recommendations is presented as guiding principles for the establishment and sustainable deployment of QIPS activities in EDs throughout Canada and abroad. ED leaders are encouraged to implement our recommendations in an effort to improve patient care.

We aimed to compare access to gynecologic oncology care at a private and a city hospital, both of which closed for a period of time because of Hurricane Sandy.

This was a cross-sectional study of gynecologic oncology chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgical patients from October 29, 2012 (the eve of the storm), to February 7, 2013 (the reopening of the city hospital). New referrals during this time were excluded. Delays in chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery were compared.

Analysis included 113 patients: 59 private patients (52.2%) and 54 city patients (47.8%). Of the private patients, 33/59 received chemotherapy (55.9%), 1/59 received radiotherapy (1.7%), and 28/59 had planned surgery (47.5%). Of the city patients, 40/54 received chemotherapy (74.1%), 7/54 received radiotherapy (12.3%), and 18/54 had planned surgery (33.3%). The mean delay in chemotherapy was 7.6 days at the private hospital and 21.7 days at the city hospital (P=0.0004). The mean delay in scheduled surgery was 14.2 days at the private hospital and 22.7 days at the city hospital (P=0.3979). The mean delay in radiotherapy was 0.0 days at the private hospital and 25.0 days at the city hospital (P=0.0046). Loss to follow-up rates were 3/59 of the private patients (5.1%) and 3/54 of the city patients (5.6%).

Gynecologic oncology care was maintained during a natural disaster despite temporary closure and relocation of services. Disparity in care was in access to chemotherapy. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2015;9:605–608)

The adoption of evidence-based practice is fundamental to good medical care; it ensures that intervention is clinically effective and safe. In a world of limited healthcare resources, consideration of cost-effectiveness must, unfortunately, restrict clinicians' choice. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has, for over 10 years, developed guidance to achieve a national consensus on best practice.

This review describes the Institute's methodology, examines guidance relevant to otolaryngology and presents more recent research to update the evidence.