Written information about individual medicines for consumers.

Medicines are the most common intervention in most health services. As with all treatments, those taking medicines need sufficient information: to enable them to take and use the medicines effectively, to understand the potential harms and benefits, and to allow them to make an informed decision about taking them. Written medicines information, such as a leaflet or provided via the Internet, is an intervention that may meet these purposes

Racial/Ethnic Disparities Related to Health Insurance Coverage, Access to Care and Ease in Health Care Services among Children in 2012 CCHAPS Data

nObjective:The aim of this study was to examine racial/ethnic disparities in unmet medical care, dental care and prescription medications and ease of using heath care services. Methods:This is a cross sectional study of households in a six-county service region in Texas (Tarrant, Johnson, Hood, Parker, Wise and Denton Counties). The participants included the parents/guardians of children aged 1-15 years. In 2012, a total of 8,439 parents completed the survey. In 2012, 4194 completed the version containing the health insurance type and unmet medical, prescription and dental health care and ease/difficulty in access to health care questions.The dependent variables in this study included perceived general health status; use of needed health care and ease/difficulty in access to health care services. Results/Discussion: . Disparities exist and a key area to address is the lack of insurance or inconsistency of insurance coverage especially in minorities. Almost 10% of the children in the study population had a lapse of health insurance coverage during the previous 12 months. There was no significant difference between the unmet health care of those with public or private insurance. In addition, racial/ethnic disparities were found in the ease of access to preventive and dental services as well as care for an illness

A Voice-based Mobile Prescription Application for Healthcare Services (VBMOPA)

Adverse drug effects are a major cause of death in the world with tens of thousand deaths occurring across the world each year because of medication or prescription errors. Many of such errors involve the administration of the wrong drug or dosage by care givers to patients due to indecipherable handwritings, drug interactions, confusing drug names etc. The adoption of voice-based mobile applications could eliminate some of these errors because they allow prescription information to be captured and heard through voice response rather than in the physician’s handwriting. This paper presents a design and implementation of a Voice-based Mobile Prescription Application (vbmopa) to improve health care services. The application can be accessed through a mobile phone by dialing an appropriate number. This system could lead to costs and life savings in healthcare centres across the world especially in developing countries where treatment processes are usually cumbersome and paper based

Understanding and optimising an identification/brief advice (IBA) service about alcohol in the community pharmacy setting

This is the final report of an evaluation into the identification/brief advice (IBA) service about alcohol in community pharmacy settings in the North West of England. Since 2007, almost 100 pharmacies in the North West have - at some point - been commissioned to provide an identification and brief advice (IBA) service for alcohol. This evaluation sought to understand how the service had been adapted for and implemented in the community pharmacy setting, and how its potential might be maximised. Its aims were: 1. To characterise, consolidate and optimise both the constant and variable elements of the pharmacy alcohol identification/brief advice (IBA) service in NHS Northwest, and 2. To inform planning for current and future pharmacy based services promoting safe consumption of alcohol. The evaluation was split into three main workstreams, supported by a preliminary scoping phase, and combined quantitative and qualitative methods: • Descriptive and comparative statistical analysis of pharmacy alcohol IBA data; • In-pharmacy work, including observation of staff engagement with customers, recording consultations between staff and customers, follow-up telephone interviews with customers, and group feedback interviews with pharmacy staff; • Stakeholder engagement through self-completion surveys, semi-structured interviews and a workshop. This report gives the background to the project, and details the methods, results and implications

Creating Equity Reports: A Guide for Hospitals

Offers a framework for equity reporting -- identifying ethnic and racial disparities in hospitals and ways to reduce them -- including implementation, data collection, quality measures, and utilization. Reviews case studies and lessons learned

Paying for Language Services in Medicare: Preliminary Options and Recommendations

Discusses how the federal government could design payment systems for language services in Medicare, and offers preliminary recommendations for implementing such programs

Usability and feasibility of consumer-facing technology to reduce unsafe medication use by older adults

Background Mobile health technology can improve medication safety for older adults, for instance, by educating patients about the risks associated with anticholinergic medication use. Objective This study's objective was to test the usability and feasibility of Brain Buddy, a consumer-facing mobile health technology designed to inform and empower older adults to consider the risks and benefits of anticholinergics. Methods Twenty-three primary care patients aged ≥60 years and using anticholinergic medications participated in summative, task-based usability testing of Brain Buddy. Self-report usability was assessed by the System Usability Scale and performance-based usability data were collected for each task through observation. A subset of 17 participants contributed data on feasibility, assessed by self-reported attitudes (feeling informed) and behaviors (speaking to a physician), with confirmation following a physician visit. Results Overall usability was acceptable or better, with 100% of participants completing each Brain Buddy task and a mean System Usability Scale score of 78.8, corresponding to “Good” to “Excellent” usability. Observed usability issues included higher rates of errors, hesitations, and need for assistance on three tasks, particularly those requiring data entry. Among participants contributing to feasibility data, 100% felt better informed after using Brain Buddy and 94% planned to speak to their physician about their anticholinergic related risk. On follow-up, 82% reported having spoken to their physician, a rate independently confirmed by physicians. Conclusion Consumer-facing technology can be a low-cost, scalable intervention to improve older adults’ medication safety, by informing and empowering patients. User-centered design and evaluation with demographically heterogeneous clinical samples uncovers correctable usability issues and confirms the value of interventions targeting consumers as agents in shared decision making and behavior change

"They think we're OK and we know we're not". A qualitative study of asylum seekers' access, knowledge and views to health care in the UK

<i>Background</i>: The provision of healthcare for asylum seekers is a global issue. Providing appropriate and culturally sensitive services requires us to understand the barriers facing asylum seekers and the facilitators that help them access health care. Here, we report on two linked studies exploring these issues, along with the health care needs and beliefs of asylum seekers living in the UK. <i>Methods</i>: Two qualitative methods were employed: focus groups facilitated by members of the asylum seeking community and interviews, either one-to-one or in a group, conducted through an interpreter. Analysis was facilitated using the Framework method. <i>Results</i>: Most asylum seekers were registered with a GP, facilitated for some by an Asylum Support nurse. Many experienced difficulty getting timely appointments with their doctor, especially for self-limiting symptoms that they felt could become more serious, especially in children. Most were positive about the health care they received, although some commented on the lack of continuity. However, there was surprise and disappointment at the length of waiting times both for hospital appointments and when attending accident and emergency departments. Most had attended a dentist, but usually only when there was a clinical need. The provision of interpreters in primary care was generally good, although there was a tension between interpreters translating verbatim and acting as patient advocates. Access to interpreters in other settings, e.g. in-patient hospital stays, was problematic. Barriers included the cost of over-the-counter medication, e.g. children's paracetamol; knowledge of out-of-hours medical care; and access to specialists in secondary care. Most respondents came from countries with no system of primary medical care, which impacted on their expectations of the UK system. <i>Conclusion</i>: Most asylum seekers were positive about their experiences of health care. However, we have identified issues regarding their understanding of how the UK system works, in particular the role of general practitioners and referral to hospital specialists. The provision of an Asylum Support nurse was clearly a facilitator to accessing primary medical care. Initiatives to increase their awareness and understanding of the UK system would be beneficial. Interpreting services also need to be developed, in particular their role in secondary care and the development of the role of interpreter as patient advocate