Unmet health care and health care utilization

The objective of this study is to examine the causal effect of health care utilization on unmet health care needs. An IV approach deals with the endogeneity between the use of health care services and unmet health care, using the presence of drug insurance and the number of physicians by health region as instruments. We employ three cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey confidential master files (2003, 2005, and 2014). We find a robustly negative relationship between health care use and unmet health care needs. One more visit to a medical doctor on average decreases the probability of reporting unmet health care needs by 0.014 points. The effect is negative for the women‐only group whereas it is statistically insignificant for men; similarly, the effect is negative for urban dwellers but insignificant for rural ones. Health care use reduces the likelihood of reporting unmet health care. Policies that encourage the use of health care services, like increasing the coverage of public drug insurance and increasing after hours accessibility of physicians, can help reduce the likelihood of unmet health care.     

Improving health equity through health care systems research

Objective

To describe health equity research priorities for health care delivery systems and delineate a research and action agenda that generates evidence-based solutions to persistent racial and ethnic inequities in health outcomes.

Data Sources and Study Setting

This project was conducted as a component of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) stakeholder engaged process to develop an Equity Agenda and Action Plan to guide priority setting to advance health equity. Recommendations were developed and refined based on expert input, evidence review, and stakeholder engagement. Participating stakeholders included experts from academia, health care organizations, industry, and government.

Study Design

Expert group consensus, informed by stakeholder engagement and targeted evidence review.

Data Collection/Extraction Methods

Priority themes were derived iteratively through (1) brainstorming and idea reduction, (2) targeted evidence review of candidate themes, (3) determination of preliminary themes; (4) input on preliminary themes from stakeholders attending AHRQ's 2022 Health Equity Summit; and (5) and refinement of themes based on that input. The final set of research and action recommendations was determined by authors' consensus.

Principal Findings

Health care delivery systems have contributed to racial and ethnic disparities in health care. High quality research is needed to inform health care delivery systems approaches to undo systemic barriers and inequities. We identified six priority themes for research; (1) institutional leadership, culture, and workforce; (2) data-driven, culturally tailored care; (3) health equity targeted performance incentives; (4) health equity-informed approaches to health system consolidation and access; (5) whole person care; (6) and whole community investment. We also suggest cross-cutting themes regarding research workforce and research timelines.

Conclusions

As the nation's primary health services research agency, AHRQ can advance equitable delivery of health care by funding research and disseminating evidence to help transform the organization and delivery of health care.     

Occupational health in health care workers

Since the second half of the 20th century occupational health in health care workers is a well-established part of occupational medicine. Identification of environmental, biological, chemical, physical, and psychosocial hazards has lead to a number of preventive measures: Technical (e.g. use of safe instruments and double gloving as protection) and immunological (vaccinations) measures against biological hazards), and technical (lifting aides) and personal (back-schools) intervention to prevent musculoskeletal disorders are well-designed examples.     

妊娠期妇女的口腔卫生预防保健

目的 调查妊娠期妇女的口腔健康状况及口腔健康教育状况.方法 对500例孕妇患龋率、牙周病及自我保健意识进行调查分析.结果 妊娠期龋齿及牙龈炎患病率分别为49.67%和75.68%, 软垢及牙石发生率分别为86.87%和52.41%,而龋齿和牙龈炎就诊率仅为3.38%,92.32%的孕妇未接受过口腔健康教育.结论 缺乏口腔保健意识和不良口腔卫生习惯是影响孕妇口腔健康状况的主要原因.     

Contribution of primary care to health systems and health

Evidence of the health-promoting influence of primary care has been accumulating ever since researchers have been able to distinguish primary care from other aspects of the health services delivery system. This evidence shows that primary care helps prevent illness and death, regardless of whether the care is characterized by supply of primary care physicians, a relationship with a source of primary care, or the receipt of important features of primary care. The evidence also shows that primary care (in contrast to specialty care) is associated with a more equitable distribution of health in populations, a finding that holds in both cross-national and within-national studies. The means by which primary care improves health have been identified, thus suggesting ways to improve overall health and reduce differences in health across major population subgroups.     

The productivity of health care and health production functions

This paper derives a necessary and sufficient condition under which increased health care productivity must lead to decreased (increased) demand for health care as long as the demand for health care is inelastic (elastic). It is shown that this condition identifies a class of health production functions, which may provide useful guidance to empirical studies that depend wholly or partly on the correct specification of a health production function. As an illustration, it is demonstrated that this class of production functions may be useful for empirical studies that test the hypothesis that schooling, increasing the efficiency of health production, leads to a larger health output from a given set of health inputs. The paper also offers broader classes of production functions that would enable one to test this relationship between the demand elasticity and the effect of health care productivity on health care demand.     

围产保健与儿童保健监测的方法与应用

目的：研究最佳围产保健与儿童保健的监测方法与应用,为母婴与儿童提供及时,系统的保健服务。方法：新婚妇女在婚前检查时建立围产保健册、随后开始月经监测,确定早孕后,定期作产前复查等监测。直到产后42d为止;新生儿应在出生42d内建立儿童保健册,然后根据监测对象的年龄 常规体检的原则,完成相应年龄段的询问,体检、实验室检查与评价。监测全程均有质量控制措施,所有的监测结果均录入计算机。实现计算机化管理。结果：该监测系统已经在我国的32个县（市）中实施,覆盖地区的总人口超过2千万,从1993年至,围产保健监测系统已成地连续运转了8年,儿童保健监测系统已成功地连续运转了4年。结论：该围产保健与儿童保健监监适合我国,国情,运转顺利,对促进和提高当地的围产保健与儿童保健工作水平,提高我国人口素质将发挥重要作用。     

Mental health care roles of non-medical primary health and social care services

Changes in patterns of delivery of mental health care over several decades are putting pressure on primary health and social care services to increase their involvement. Mental health policy in countries like the UK, Australia and New Zealand recognises the need for these services to make a greater contribution and calls for increased intersectoral collaboration. In Australia, most investment to date has focused on the development and integration of specialist mental health services and primary medical care, and evaluation research suggests some progress. Substantial inadequacies remain, however, in the comprehensiveness and continuity of care received by people affected by mental health problems, particularly in relation to social and psychosocial interventions. Very little research has examined the nature of the roles that non-medical primary health and social care services actually or potentially play in mental health care. Lack of information about these roles could have inhibited development of service improvement initiatives targeting these services. The present paper reports the results of an exploratory study that examined the mental health care roles of 41 diverse non-medical primary health and social care services in the state of Victoria, Australia. Data were collected in 2004 using a purposive sampling strategy. A novel method of surveying providers was employed whereby respondents within each agency worked as a group to complete a structured survey that collected quantitative and qualitative data simultaneously. This paper reports results of quantitative analyses including a tentative principal components analysis that examined the structure of roles. Non-medical primary health and social care services are currently performing a wide variety of mental health care roles and they aspire to increase their involvement in this work. However, these providers do not favour approaches involving selective targeting of clients with mental disorders.     

公共卫生保障体系的建立与农村卫生改革

SARS的肆虐,使我们看到了建立公共卫生保障体系的迫切性;“三农”问题的日益突出,使农村卫生改革变得更加刻不容缓。把公共卫生保障体系的建立与农村卫生的改革有机地融合在一起,是一个新的思路,也是一个新的课题。本文试图对此作初步的探讨。     

Advancing health equity through social care interventions

Objective

To use evidence on addressing racism in social care intervention research to create a framework for advancing health equity for all populations with marginalized social identities (e.g., race, gender, and sexual orientation). Such groups have disproportionate social needs (e.g., food insecurity) and negative social determinants of health (SDOH; e.g., poverty). We recommend how the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) could advance health equity for marginalized populations through social care research and care delivery.

Data Sources and Study Setting

This commentary is informed by a literature review of social care interventions that were affiliated with healthcare systems; input from health equity researchers, policymakers, and community leaders attending the AHRQ Health Equity Summit; and consensus of the authors.

Principal Findings

We recommend that AHRQ: (1) create an ecosystem that values research on SDOH and the effectiveness and implementation of social care interventions in the healthcare sector; (2) work with other federal agencies to (a) develop position statements with actionable recommendations about racism and other systems that perpetuate marginalization based on social identity and (b) develop aligned, complementary approaches to research and care delivery that address social marginalization; (3) advance both inclusive care delivery and inclusive research teams; (4) advance understanding of racism as a social determinant of health and effective strategies to mitigate its adverse impact on health; (5) advance the creation and scaling of effective strategies for addressing SDOH in healthcare systems, particularly in co-creation with community partners; and (6) require social care intervention researchers to use methods that advance our understanding of social health equity.

Conclusions

AHRQ, as a federal agency, could help advance health equity using a range of strategies, including using the agency's levers to ensure AHRQ stakeholders examine and address the unique experiences of socially marginalized populations in SDOH and social care intervention research.     

我国医疗卫生事业公平性分析

对我国医疗卫生事业公平性现状的考察，分析其产生的原因，进而为实现全体国民的医疗卫生公平提出相关建议。     

农村育龄妇女孕产期保健需求调查

目的 了解安徽省农村地区育龄妇女对孕产期保健的需求状况,为制定有效干预方案提供基础数据.方法 自行设计问卷,对安徽省2县1 836名经产妇进行健康需求调查.结果 大多数农村妇女对孕产期保健知识知之甚少,对孕产期有关保健知识需求占前3位的依次为科学育儿知识与技能(95.8%)、产褥期母婴保健与母乳喂养(91.5%)、孕期营养(90.6%).认为获取保健知识的最佳途径依次为专人进行孕期保健指导(91.2%)、发放宣传小册子(85.6%)、通过电视等媒介(81.3%).22.0%的农村经产妇表示不需要进行产后访视,13.8%的经产妇认为目前产前检查项目已经足够.文化程度高、家庭经济条件较好的经产妇对保健知识、产前检查的需求较高(P均<0.05).结论 文化水平低、经济状况差的经产妇是实施卫生宣传教育的重点,应研究制定合适的健康促进宣传材料和采取灵活的健康促进方式,有的放失地进行健康教育.     

A conceptual overview of recent health care reforms

Health systems in many developed countries are undergoing majorstructural reform. While some changes remain regulatory in character,a new feature is the large number of reforms that rely uponmarket-derived instruments to improve the performance of healthcare institutions. The shift toward incentive-oriented reformsis particularly pronounced in publicly operated health systems.Current reforms can be analysed in terms of 2 conceptual frameworks:the policy objectives governments seek to attain, and the changesintroduced within each of 3 basic building block componentsof a health system. Viewed through these lenses, the currentreform process has emphasized market-derived approaches in thepursuit of micro-economic efficiency on the production sideof health systems and in the allocative mechanism that linksfinance to production. Conversely, market-style instrumentsappear to have little to offer on the finance side of systems.Adequate evaluation has yet to be conducted to determine theimpact of specific market-derived reforms on equity or on health-relatedeffectiveness.     

Eliminating health care inequities through strengthening access to care

Objective

To provide a research agenda and recommendations to address inequities in access to health care.

Data Sources and Study Setting

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) organized a Health Equity Summit in July 2022 to evaluate what equity in access to health care means in the context of AHRQ's mission and health care delivery implementation portfolio. The findings are a result of this Summit, and subsequent convenings of experts on access and equity from academia, industry, and the government.

Study Design

Multi-stakeholder input from AHRQ's Health Equity Summit, author consensus on a framework and key knowledge gaps, and summary of evidence from the supporting literature in the context of the framework ensure comprehensive recommendations.

Data Collection/Extraction Methods

Through a stakeholder-engaged process, themes were developed to conceptualize access with a lens toward health equity. A working group researched the most appropriate framework for access to care to classify limitations identified during the Summit and develop recommendations supported by research in the context of the framework. This strategy was intentional, as the literature on inequities in access to care may itself be biased.

Principal Findings

The Levesque et al. framework, which incorporates multiple dimensions of access (approachability, acceptability, availability, accommodation, affordability, and appropriateness), is the backdrop for framing research priorities for AHRQ. However, addressing inequities in access cannot be done without considering the roles of racism and intersectionality. Recommendations include funding research that not only measures racism within health care but also tests burgeoning anti-racist practices (e.g., co-production, provider training, holistic review, discrimination reporting, etc.), acting as a convener and thought leader in synthesizing best practices to mitigate racism, and forging the path forward for research on equity and access.

Conclusions

AHRQ is well-positioned to develop an action plan, strategically fund it, and convene stakeholders across the health care spectrum to employ these recommendations.     

发展城乡基层卫生事业是实施基本卫生保健制度的基础

当前城乡基层卫生事业存在卫生资源不足且城乡差距明显、基本医疗得不到保障舍近求远使看病难导致看病贵、公共卫生服务缺失使危害居民健康因素的隐患增大等主要问题，提出发展城乡基层卫生事业是实施基本卫生保健制度基础的观点，提出把巩固完善城乡基层卫生体系和提高卫生服务能力作为基础工程、把增加卫生投入和实行公共卫生服务政府埋单作为保障工程、把改造不良生活卫生环境和倡导健康生活方式作为配套工程等三个发展城乡基层卫生事业和实施国家基本卫生保健制度的政策建议。     

The role of the schools of public health in the development of primary health care

Starting with the assumption that the schools of public health can and should be major promoters of primary health care but that they have not fully utilized their potential, the paper reviews the different interpretations of primary health care and their implications for the recruitment policies, educational objectives, teaching methods and research orientation of the schools. Four interpretations (primary health care as a set of activities; as a level of care; as a strategy of organizing health services; and as a philosophy permeating the entire health care system) are identified. It is suggested that most industrialized countries already have a primary medical care system which has to be transformed into primary health care. A blueprint for this transformation is outlined. Many of the changes included in the blueprint are related to the concept of primary health care as a strategy. Schools of public health can play a major role in implementing the necessary strategic changes and in training their implementers. The training of actual primary care providers for leadership; increased emphasis on management in the curricula; and reorientation of research towards primary health care are underlined as particularly important elements in the new role of the schools of public health.