Journal Articles

Dilemmas and Opportunities for an Appropriate Health-Service Response to Violence against Women

This article is an overview of the role of health services in secondary and tertiary prevention of intimate partner violence. It reviews the effectiveness and limitations of in-service training programmes to identify and care for women who have experienced intimate partner violence and initiatives in developing countries to integrate concerns on gender-based violence into health-care services at different levels. [adapted from abstract]

Perception of Evidence-Based Practice and the Professional Environment of Primary Health Care Nurses in the Spanish Context: A Cross-Sectional Study

The main aim of this work was to assess the factors that influence an evidence-based clinical practice among nursing professionals in primary health care. [from abstract]

Meeting the Health Information Needs of Health Workers: What Have We Learned?

This issue presents three studies of health information needs in India, Senegal, and Malawi that demonstrate the information challenges of health workers, provide additional insight, and describe innovative strategies to improve knowledge and information sharing. [from abstract]

Towards a Collective Understanding of the Information Needs of Health Care Providers in Low-Income Countries, and How to Meet Them

Poor knowledge among health care providers (including health workers and citizens) leads to poor health outcomes. This article discusses current linear research-to-practice paradigms and argues that these approaches are not meeting the needs of health care providers in low- and middle-income countries and suggests a broader, needs-led approach. [adapted from abstract]

Systematic Review of Knowledge Translation Strategies in the Allied Health Professions

The present study is the first systematic review of the effectiveness of a variety of knowledge translation interventions in five allied health disciplines: dietetics, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, and speech-language pathology. [from abstract]

Engaging the Private Sector to Increase Tuberculosis Case Detection: An Impact Evaluation Study

In many countries with a high burden of tuberculosis, most patients receive treatment in the private sector. This study evaluates a multifaceted case-detection strategy in Karachi, Pakistan, targeting the private sector. [from abstract]

Perceived Barriers and Motivating Factors Influencing Student Midwives' Acceptance of Rural Postings in Ghana

The objectives of this study are to determine the perceived barriers and motivators influencing final year midwifery students’ acceptance of rural postings in Ghana. [from abstract]

Integrated Health Sector Response to Violence against Women in Malaysia: Lessons for Supporting Scale Up

Malaysia has been at the forefront of the development and scale up of an integrated health sector model that provides comprehensive care to women and children experiencing physical, emotional and sexual abuse. This study explored the strengths and challenges faced during the scaling up of the model to two states in Malaysia in order to identify lessons for supporting successful scale-up. [from abstract]

Qualitative Study of Factors Influencing Different Generations of Newfoundland and Saskatchewan Trained Physicians to Leave a Work Location

This study examined the factors associated with a physician’s decision to leave a work location. We compared different generations of physicians to assess whether these factors have changed over generations. [from abstract]

What Impedes Working in Rural Areas? A Study of Aspiring Doctors In the National Capital Region, India

This study examined the attitudes of and inclination to rural healthcare careers among medical students in India. [from abstract]

What Influences National and Foreign Physicians' Geographic Distribution? An Analysis of Medical Doctors' Residence Location in Portugal

The present research sets out to investigate the current distribution of national and international physicians in Portugal, with the objective to understand its determinants and provide an evidence base for policymakers to identify policies to influence it. [from abstract]

New Approach for Psychological Consultation: The Psychologist at the Chemist's

This article aims to present the service-specific features and pilot study results of a new mental health service, named “Psychologist in the Neighbourhood,” which was created to intercept unexpressed needs for psychological assistance. The service allows everyone to ask for free psychological consultation, consisting of no more than four meetings with a psychologist, in certain chemists’ shops around the city of Milan. [adapted from abstract]

Factors Affecting Collaboration between General Practitioners and Community Pharmacists: A Qualitative Study

Although general practitioners and community pharmacists are encouraged to collaborate, a true collaborative relationship does not exist between them. The objective of this article was to identify and analyze factors affecting this collaboration in two regions of Spain. [adapted from abstract]

Internet Treatment for Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Clinician vs. Technician Assistance

Internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy for depression has been proven effective when guided by a clinician, less so if unguided. This study sought to determine if guidance from a technician would be as effective as guidance from a clinician to increase the capacity of existing mental health services. [adapted from abstract]

Identifying Characteristics Associated with Performing Recommended Practices in Maternal and Newborn Care among Health Facilities in Rwanda: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study examined the quality of facility-based maternal and newborn health care by describing the implementation of recommended practices for maternal and newborn care among health care facilities to determine whether increased training, supervision, and incentives for health workers were associated with implementing these recommended practices. [adapted from author]

Impact of Community-Based Support Services on Antiretroviral Treatment Programme Delivery and Outcomes in Resource-Limited Countries: A Systematic Review

Task-shifting to lay community health providers is increasingly suggested as a potential strategy to overcome the barriers to sustainable antiretroviral treatment scale-up in high-HIV-prevalence, resource-limited settings. This article report on a systematic review of scientific evidence on the contributory role and function of these forms of community mobilisation. [adapted from abstract]

Transporability of Tertiary Qualifications and CPD: A Continuing Challenge for the Global Health Workforce

Difficulties with transportability of qualifications and cross-accreditation are now recognised as key barriers to meeting the rapidly shifting international demands for health care providers. This paper outlines the shortfall of the current indicators in assisting the process of global certification and competency recognition in the health care workforce. [from abstract]

Health Workers' Attitudes toward Immigrant Patients: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Primary Health Care Services

This study aimed to examine attitudes of different health workers’ groups toward immigrant patients and to identify the associated factors. [from abstract]

Willingness of Lebanese Physicians in the United States to Relocate to Lebanon

The objectives of this study were to assess the willingness of Lebanese medical graduates practicing in the United States of America to relocate to Lebanon and the Arab Gulf region and to explore the factors associated with this willingness. [from abstract]

Factors Predicting Doctors' Reporting of Performance Change in Response to Multisource Feedback

Building on medical education and social psychology literature, the authors identified several factors that may influence change in response to multi-source feedback, which offers doctors feedback on their performance from peers (medical colleagues), coworkers and patients. [adapted from abstract]

Educational Interventions to Improve the Effectiveness in Clinical Competence of General Practitioners: Problem-Based Versus Critical Reading-Based Learning

This study evaluated the relative impact of two educational strategies, critical reading and problem based learning, on the clinical competence of general practitioners in a healthcare system characterized by excessive workload and fragmentation into small primary healthcare centers. [from abstract]

Learner Feedback and Educational Outcomes with an Internet-Based Ambulatory Curriculum: A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis

In this study, qualitative analysis of learner feedback gathered from an online medical education curriculum was used to identify themes of learner feedback, and changes to the online curriculum in response to this feedback were tracked. Learner satisfaction and knowledge gains were then compared from before and after implementation of learner feedback. [from abstract]

Using Scenarios to Assess the Future Supply of NHS Nursing Staff in England

This paper examines issues related to the future supply of registered nursing staff, midwives and health visitors in the National Health Service (NHS) in England at a time when there are major public sector funding constraints and as more of these staff are reaching retirement age. [from abstract]

Stigma and Discrimination Against People Living with HIV by Healthcare Providers, Southwest Ethiopia

This study was conducted to explore stigma and discrimination against PLHIV amongst healthcare providers in Jimma zone, Southwest Ethiopia. [from abstract]

Even if You Know Everything You Can Forget: Health Worker Perceptions of Mobile Phone Text-Messaging to Improve Malaria Case Management in Kenya

This paper presents the results of a qualitative study to investigate the perceptions and experiences of health workers involved in a a cluster-randomized controlled trial of a novel intervention to improve health worker malaria case management in 107 government health facilities in Kenya. The intervention involved sending text-messages about paediatric outpatient malaria case-management accompanied by motivating quotes to health workers’ mobile phones. [from abstract]

Building a National Model for Knowledge Exchange in Malawi: Findings From a Health Information Needs Assessment

This health information needs assessment, conducted in the capital city and 3 districts of Malawi from July 2009 to September 2009, aimed to determine access to, and need for, health information by health workers in HIV/AIDS and family planning/reproductive health at all levels of the health system. [adapted from abstract]

Qualitative Study of Health Information Needs, Flow, and Use in Senegal

Many health professionals and policymakers in Africa lack access to the information needed to make evidence-based decisions for effective health care. This study collected qualitative data from 75 key informants and members of two focus groups in Senegal on various aspects of health information needs, particularly in family planning and reproductive health, including information sources, strategies, and systems to transfer and share information; and barriers to accessing, sharing, and using health information. [from abstract]

Understanding Health Information Needs and Gaps in the Health Care System in Uttar Pradesh, India

To better understand health information needs and barriers across all of levels of the health care system, the authors conducted a needs assessment in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India to examine how health care workers define, obtain, and apply information in the course of their daily work. [adapted from abstract]

Implementing Nurse-Initiated and Managed Antiretroviral Treatment (NIMART) in South Africa: A Qualitative Process Evaluation of the STRETCH Trial

The STRETCH (Streamlining Tasks and Roles to Expand Treatment and Care for HIV) progra was an intervention implemented in South Africa to enable nurses providing primary HIV/AIDS care to expand their roles and include aspects of care and treatment usually provided by physicians. The effects of STRETCH on pre-ART mortality, ART provision, and the quality of HIV/ART care were evaluated through a randomised controlled trial. This study was conducted alongside the trial to develop a contextualised understanding of factors affecting the implementation of the program. [adapted from abstract]

Physical and Psychosocial Work Environment Factors and Their Association with Health Outcomes in Danish Ambulance Personnel: A Cross-Sectional Study

The aim of this study was to compare health status and exposure to different work environmental factors among ambulance personnel and the core work force in Denmark; and to examine the association between physical and psychosocial work environment factors and different measures of health among ambulance personnel. [from abstract]