Conectar
Commentary on: Chauhan A, Newman B, Manias E, et al. Creating safer cancer care with ethnic minority patients: A qualitative analysis of the experiences of cancer service staff. Health Expect. 2024 Jan 30;27(1):e13979.
Implementing culturally competent communication strategies, including interpreters and culturally adapted materials, can enhance patient safety and engagement. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of communication tools and strategies in improving safety outcomes for ethnic minority patients with cancer.
This qualitative study explores the experiences of healthcare staff in creating safer cancer care environments for ethnic minority patients. People from ethnic minority groups, who face an increased risk of safety events, often encounter barriers such as language and cultural differences.
Multiple well-considered but siloed initiatives and programmes exist in Australia to support ear and hearing screening and assessment for Indigenous children. However, the lack of coordination of these programmes leads to inefficiencies in resource allocation and disrupts opportunities to implement a cost-effective, efficient, and easily navigable system of care. Indigenous children experience high prevalence rates of middle ear disease, as well as earlier onset, increased severity and longer infections compared with non-Indigenous children. The aims of this study are to: (1) Understand current ear and hearing screening programmes in three New South Wales communities and evaluate their strengths and limitations, (2) Strengthen, implement and evaluate ear and hearing screening programmes and (3) Identify the barriers and facilitators for scaling strengthened ear and hearing screening programmes nationally and the importance and feasibility of each factor.
A series of desktop searches and co-design workshops will be completed to achieve aim (1) and (2) and the results will be mapped into work-as-done and work-as-imagined using the Functional Resonance Analysis Method. Strengthened screening programmes will be implemented in communities using the criteria from national and international guidance documents and the Practical, Robust, Implementation and Sustainability Model and evaluated. Finally, workshops will be conducted with key stakeholders to identify the barriers and facilitators for scaling strengthened ear and hearing screening programmes nationally and the importance and feasibility of each factor.
This project has received ethics approval from the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council Human Research Ethics Committee (Ref: 2350/24). Results will be disseminated to the community through the CEOs of the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations as well as published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences. The findings from data collected will be used to inform the co-production of an enhanced system for ear and hearing care.
by Rufaro Hamish Mushonga, Tarisai Concilia Bere, Rebecca Jopling, Franklin Glozah, Maria Anyorikeya, Tiny Tinashe Kamvura, Suzanne Dodd, Arnold Maramba, Denford Gudyanga, Benedict Weobong, Dixon Chibanda, Melanie Abas, Moses Kumwenda
MethodsWe utilised a qualitative research design and conducted 32 semi-structured interviews with young people (15–24 years) across high schools and the Friendship Bench (FB) in Harare between 20 December 2022 and 30 September 2023. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim and then coded using an inductive approach to capture patterns grounded in participants’ experiences. Thematic analysis was utilised to develop relevant codes and identify relevant themes.
ResultsNine themes were generated including six themes related to barriers (factors that hinder help-seeking for CMDs) and three themes related to enablers (factors that facilitate help-seeking for CMDs). Barriers identified include perceived stigma, privacy and confidentiality issues, unavailability of services, lack of awareness, financial challenges and lack of incentives. Enablers identified include raising awareness, implementing school based initiatives and enhancing accessibility and affordability of mental health services.
ConclusionThis study revealed significant barriers and enablers to help-seeking for CMDs among young people in Zimbabwe. Addressing these multifaceted barriers and leveraging the identified enablers is key to creating supportive systems that encourage young people in low-resource settings to seek and engage with mental health services, ultimately improving their mental wellbeing and overall quality of life.
To assess the extent to which cancer centres in Arab countries adhere to the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology/Oncology Nursing Society (ASCO/ONS) chemotherapy administration safety standards.
Multicentre cross-sectional survey.
Sample of the largest cancer treatment facilities across 10 Arab countries, including governmental, private, university-affiliated and daycare centres where chemotherapy is administered.
A multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals (including head nurses, oncologists, oncology pharmacists and quality staff) at each centre completed a structured survey on adherence to the ASCO/ONS chemotherapy administration safety standards.
The primary outcome was the proportion of cancer centres fully implementing each of the 46 ASCO/ONS safety standards, grouped into four domains: (1) creating a safe environment—staffing and general policy; (2) treatment planning, patient consent and education; (3) ordering, preparing, dispensing and administering chemotherapy; and (4) monitoring after chemotherapy administration.
Of the 25 centres invited, 19 (76%) participated. The domain most frequently fully implemented was treatment planning, patient consent and education (12/19 centres, 63.2%). The remaining domains were fully implemented by four centres or fewer. The lowest implementation was observed for standards requiring policies for documentation and follow-up of patients who miss or cancel scheduled visits or chemotherapy treatments. Centres accredited by the Joint Commission International and those that specifically reported adherence to internationally recognised oncology guidelines were more likely to fully implement specific domains of the ASCO/ONS chemotherapy administration safety standards.
Significant gaps exist in the implementation of ASCO/ONS chemotherapy administration safety standards at cancer centres across Arab countries. These findings highlight opportunities for targeted interventions and policy development to improve chemotherapy safety in the region.
We sought to gain an understanding of the patient experience during their hospital stay for COVID-19, and the impact of COVID-19 on quality of life post discharge.
Symptoms of COVID-19 include a persistent cough, dyspnoea and fatigue. Individuals with comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease have a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 and approximately 20% of those diagnosed with COVID-19 are admitted to hospital. Following discharge from hospital, 40% of patients report a worsened quality of life and up to 87% of those discharged from hospital have experienced ‘long COVID’.
A qualitative design was used to understand patient experience of hospitalisation following a diagnosis of COVID-19, and their experiences following discharge from hospital.
Ten patients with a previous diagnosis of COVID-19 took part in semi-structured interviews regarding their experiences of hospitalisation and the impact on quality of life post-discharge.
The results identified three key themes from the interviews: communication and the inpatient experience, symptoms following discharge and regaining independence. Patients discussed their experience of hospitalisation and how this continued to impact their emotional well-being post-discharge. However, patients appeared to push themselves physically to improve their health, despite continued COVID-19 symptoms.
Patients hospitalised following a diagnosis of COVID-19 experienced psychological distress during their hospital stay, as well as 3-months post-discharge. We suggest the use of psychosocial interventions to support patients post-discharge.
The results of this study provide a greater understanding of the patient experience during their hospital stay, which can support nursing staff practice. Additionally, the study provides in depth knowledge of personal experiences of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and the impact following hospital discharge.
Patient's took part in semi-structured interviews via telephone to support the aims and objectives of this study.
No abstract available Mental distress, non-specific symptoms of depression and anxiety, is common in chronic pelvic pain (CPP). It contributes to poor recovery. Women's health nurses operate in multidisciplinary teams to facilitate the assessment and treatment of CPP. However, valid cut-off points for identifying highly distressed patients are lacking, entailing a gap in CPP management.
This instrumental cross-sectional study identified a statistically derived cut-off score for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-8 (DASS-8) among 214 Australian women with CPP (mean age = 33.3, SD = 12.4, range = 13–71 years).
Receiver operator characteristic curve, decision trees and K-means clustering techniques were used to examine the predictive capacity of the DASS-8 for psychiatric comorbidity, pain severity, any medication intake, analgesic intake and sexual abuse. The study is prepared according to the STROBE checklist.
Cut-off points resulting from the analysis were ordered ascendingly. The median (13.0) was chosen as an optimal cut-off score for predicting key outcomes. Women with DASS-8 scores below 15.5 had higher analgesic intake.
CPP women with a DASS-8 score above 13.0 express greater pain severity, psychiatric comorbidity and polypharmacy. Thus, they may be a specific target for nursing interventions dedicated to alleviating pain through the management of associated co-morbidities.
At a cut-off point of 13.0, the DASS-8 may be a practical instrument for recommending a thorough clinician-based examination for psychiatric comorbidity to facilitate adequate CPP management. It may be useful for evaluating patients' response to nursing pain management efforts. Replications of the study in different populations/countries are warranted.
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