Preferences for e-Mental Health Interventions in Germany

_Objectives:_ Recent evidence suggests that e-mental health interventions can be effective at improving mental health but that there is still a notable hesitation among patients to use them. Previous research has revealed that they are perceived by patients as being less helpful than face-to-face psychotherapy. The reasons for this unfavorable perception are, however, not yet well understood. The aim of our study was to address this question by eliciting preferences for individual components of e-mental health interventions in a discrete choice experiment. _Methods:_ Using a stepwise qualitative approach, we developed the following 5 attributes of eMHIs: introductory training,human contact, peer support, proven effectiveness, content delivery, and price. Additionally, we asked questions about re-spondents’ demographics, attitudes, and previous experience of traditional psychotherapy, as well as their distress level. _Results:_ A total of 1984 respondents completed the survey. Using mixed logit models, we found that personal contact with a psychotherapist in blended care, proven effectiveness, and low price were highly valued by participants. Participants were indifferent toward the mode of content delivery but showed a slight preference for introductory training via phone, as well as for peer support via online forum alongside coach-led group meetings on site. _Discussion:_ Our results suggest a clear preference for blended care that includes face-to-face contact with a psychotherapist. This preference remained stable irrespective of sociodemographics, previous experience of psychotherapy, distress level, and the 2 context scenarios used in our discrete choice experiment. Further investigations looking at the potential benefits and risks of blended care are needed

Become the best coach you can be: the role of coach training and coaching experience in workplace coaching quality and quality control

This paper explores whether coach training or coaching experience leads to better coaching quality and quality control. In two large studies, both coaches (N1 = 2267) and personnel managers who book coaches for their company (N2 = 754) answered questions about coaching quality and quality control. The results show that more coach training leads to not only a better self-perceived coaching quality (Study 1) but also a better other-perceived coaching-quality (Study 2); moreover, more coach training positively affects quality control. It is remarkable that coaching experience showed no significant relation regarding other-perceived coaching quality and quality control. Study 2 further revealed that references lead to more recommendations but not to a better coaching quality or quality control. Thus, coach training is an essential factor when selecting organizational coaches. Further research is needed to understand the impact of different approaches to coach trainings on coaching outcomes

Prädiktoren für die medizinische Inanspruchnahme am Beispiel von Patienten mit der Diagnose Morbus Crohn: Ergebnisse einer multizentrischen, prospektiv randomisierten Studie

Crohn's disease - Health-care utilization - Predictors - Psychosocial factors

Cost-effectiveness of Hybrid PET/CT Imaging for Staging Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer,

cost-effectiveness analysis, quality-adjusted life year, hybrid PET/CT, non–small cell lung cancer

Blood donation in times of crisis: Early insight into the impact of COVID-19 on blood donors and their motivation to donate across European countries

Background: In this survey, we aimed to provide early insight into the impact of COVID-19 on blood donors and their motivation to donate during the crisis. Study design and methods: We asked representative samples in 7 European countries about their blood donation activity and motivation to donate using an online survey. We analysed donor turnout during the COVID-19 period descriptively and using logistic regression. Results: Of the 7122 people that responded to the survey, 1205 blood donors were identified, with 33·8% donating during the first 4–5 months of the COVID-19 period. We observed that around half of donors donated less than normal. The vast majority of donors that did donate made a special effort to do so in response to COVID-19. The majority of donors were also not aware of their blood being tested for COVID-19 antibodies. Although the perceived risk of infection among all respondents whilst donating blood was relatively low, those who anticipated a high risk of infection were much less likely to donate. Furthermore, those that were adherent to COVID guidelines were also less likely to donate. Discussion: We suggest that blood collection services consider specialist campaigns that focus on the altruistic motivation of donors during the crisis and that they continue to communicate the additional safety measures in place with the aim of reducing the fear of infection whilst donating blood

Cost-Effectiveness of Hybrid PET/CT for Staging of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Although the diagnostic effectiveness of integrated PET/CT for staging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has already been proven, it remains to be determined if tumor staging with combined metabolic and anatomic imaging is also cost-effective. The objective of this study was to evaluate from a payers' perspective the cost-effectiveness of staging NSCLC with CT alone (representing the mainstay diagnostic test) and with integrated PET/CT. The study is based on 172 NSCLC patients from a prospective clinical study who underwent diagnostic, contrast-enhanced helical CT and integrated PET/CT. Imaging was performed at the University Hospital Ulm between May 2002 and December 2004. To calculate treatment costs, we differentiated among cost for diagnosis, cost for nonsurgical treatment according to the clinical diagnosis, and cost for surgical procedures according to the clinical tumor stage. The diagnostic effectiveness in terms of correct TNM staging was 40% (31/77) for CT alone and 60% (46/77) for PET/CT. For the assessment of resectability (tumor stages Ia-IIIa vs. IIIb-IV), 65 of 77 patients (84%) were staged correctly by PET/CT (CT alone, 70% [54/77]). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios per correctly staged patient were $3,508 for PET/CT versus CT alone. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios per quality-adjusted life year gained were$79,878 for PET/CT vs. CT alone, decreasing to $69,563 assuming a reduced loss of utility (0.10 quality-adjusted life years) due to surgical morbidity.Cost-effectiveness analyses showed that costs for PET/CT are within the commonly accepted range for diagnostic tests or therapies. Therefore, reimbursement of PET/CT for NSCLC staging can be also recommended from an economic point of view

Risk Communication during COVID-19: Familiarity with, Adherence to and Trust in the WHO Preventive Measures

__Background__ Risk communication is a key component of public health interventions during an outbreak. As the coronavirus pandemic unfold