The future of cardiovascular imaging and non-invasive diagnosis

Advances in medical imaging now make it possible to investigate any patient with cardiovascular disease using multiple methods which vary widely in their technical requirements, benefits, limitations and costs. The appropriate use of alternative tests requires their integration into joint clinical diagnostic services where experts in all methods collaborate. This statement summarises the principles that should guide developments in cardiovascular diagnostic services.This paper is published simultaneously in the European Heart Journal (2006;27:1750–1753) and in the European Journal of Echocardiography (2006;7:268–273).     

Self-selection of enrollers at the creation of a managed care organization

Factors affecting choice between a managed care organization(MCO) and a fee-for-service insurance plan were examined whenthe University of Geneva health insurance plan was transformedinto an MCO, in October 1992. A case-control study using a mailedquestionnaire (response rate 84%) was conducted to compare formermembers who joined the MCO (joiners, n=421) to former memberswho opted out in order to keep fee-for-service coverage (non-joiners,n=222). Non-joiners were more likely to be women (odds ratio(OR) from multivariate model was 1.15, p=0.50), to be born inSwitzerland (OR=2.04, p<0.01), to have an annual income >75,000Swiss francs (OR=2.00, p<0.01), to have a personal physician(OR=1.96, p<0.01) and to have consulted a specialist (OR=1.69,p=0.02) or used unconventional medicine (OR=4.59, p<0.01)in the past year. During the previous year, non-joiners hadmore health care visits than joiners (14.6 versus 9.1, p=0.01).Non-joiners reported better mental health and fewer complainedof persistent fatigue (OR=2.18, p=0.03). The choice of healthplan was strongly influenced by socio-demographic characteristics,past patterns of health services utilization and health status.The self-selection process was paradoxical: MCO joiners hadused fewer health care visits than non-joiners, but their self-reportedhealth status was worse. The differences we have observed betweenself-selected populations have important implications for thefinancial performance of competing health care delivery systems.     

上海地区学生午餐营养及供应链状况研究

目的 了解上海地区学生午餐营养及供应链状况，为改善学生午餐营养状况，保障食品供应安全提供参考。方法 分析上海市学生午餐的营养、卫生、供应链、加工工艺等状况，采用定期抽检的方法，应用SNHAS对营养素、食品安全、感官进行综合评价。结果 各单位样本综合评价均合格，其中热量、蛋白质、脂肪均能达到或超过DRIs供给量的要求，但矿物质中Ca(仅为AI的32％)、视黄醇当量(仅为AI的57％)供给量较低。对供应链及卫生状况的分析表明，大型企业对各个环节控制严格，产品质量较好，但也存在保存时间过长等问题。结论 应进一步完善供应体系，建立高效的质量控制体系，推广营养配膳系统。     

示范区创建活动与社区卫生服务长效机制的建立和可持续发展对策的思考

通过第三方评估全国社区卫生服务示范区是我国社区卫生服务发展史上的一大创举。此项活动的开展,极大的提高了各地政府对发展社区卫生服务的思想认识、政策理解和经费投入力度。通过创建和评估活动,系统总结了各申报地区社区卫生服务的经验和特色,分析了存在的问题和不足,提出了发展社区卫生服务的对策和建议,制定了社区卫生服务可持续发展的长效机制,取得了预期效果,达到了预期目的。随着《国务院关于发展城市社区卫生服务的指导意见》的出台,示范区的典型示范效应会日益凸显出来,对我国社区卫生服务的发展将起到不可估量的作用。     

Developing policy in the provision of parenting programmes: integrating a review of reviews with the perspectives of both parents and professionals

Background   Parenting programmes are a key component of the delivery of children's services, but evidence-based policy has often proved difficult to implement.
Methods   The present review addressed this issue by integrating a review of systematic reviews of parenting programmes and a series of focus groups with parents and professionals involved in parenting across three agencies in a regional area (health, education and social work). The review summarizes parenting interventions targeting infant mental health, emotional and behavioural difficulties, autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, abuse/neglect, alcohol/substance abuse and 'vulnerable' parents. The focus groups discussed topics such as the range of parenting services across the three agencies, accessibility, gaps in the service and future directions.
Results and conclusions   Twenty systematic reviews were summarized. These reviews demonstrated that there is a wide range of parenting programmes available that have the potential to benefit families who are affected by problems ranging from emotional and behavioural difficulties to adolescent substance abuse. However, the findings of the focus groups reveal that the success of these programmes will depend in part on how they can be tailored to meet the social context of the families targeted. These integrated findings are discussed in terms of their implications for policy and practice.     

'Jumping through hoops': parents' experiences with seeking respite care for children with special needs

Background   Respite care may act as a means to reduce stress and fatigue in people caring for a dependent who has a disability. Despite this, a variety of barriers may exist to obtaining such services. This study explored caregivers' experiences seeking respite care for their children with special needs within a province in Canada.
Methods   Caregivers were recruited from two agencies providing respite care for children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and other mental health and developmental difficulties. In total, 10 caregivers participated in in-depth individual interviews. A constructivist grounded theory approach was employed in the design and analysis of the data.
Results   Caregivers discussed their frustrations with the process of finding and obtaining respite care, a course of action described as 'jumping through hoops'. This construct was composed of subcategories emphasizing the complexity of 'navigating the system', the bidirectional process of 'meeting the requirements' and the challenges of 'getting help'.
Conclusions   The collective experiences of these caregivers point to the need for more flexibility and co-ordination of respite care services for children with special needs.     

To market! To market! A new dawn for community care?

The public sector in Britain has been subjected to over a decade of major reform aimed at breaking up public service monopolies, at containing costs while at the same time opening services up to greater consumer choice. Health and social services have not been exempt from this revolution in the organization and management of public sector services. The long-standing policy of care in the community is being subjected to market principles and the introduction of a ‘contract culture’ very similar to the NHS reforms introduced in 1991. This paper reviews the origins of these developments in the doctrines of ‘new public management’, a movement which has proved attractive to policy-makers in many countries. Local authority social services departments have been identified as the lead agency for the development of a mixed economy of care following a review of community care policy by the government's health adviser, Sir Roy Griffiths, and a subsequent white paper. This paper examines the limited empirical evidence available on how managers and providers are meeting the challenge bestowed upon them, and concludes that most authorities are moving ahead cautiously if at all. Only a handful of authorities studied have embraced the reforms with any degree of enthusiasm. The paper concludes with an assessment of the reforms from two perspectives: a pessimistic one and an optimistic one. There are many worrying features of the reforms, not least among these being a lack of clarity over their intended purpose. Tensions and contradictions are plentiful, which places in jeopardy the certainty of the reforms in becoming user led rather than provider driven. A more optimistic scenario is that the changes are leading to a loosening up of services and practices which have often suffered from sclerotic tendencies, paternalism and sometimes complacency. If the reform process is skilfully handled and not rushed and if the ends are clearly established and communicated then users and carers could prove to be the principal beneficiaries.     

免疫接种服务中一次性注射器处理方法及成本分析

利用山东省和陕西省现场调查资料,分析了2省不同层次医疗机构的一次性注射器的处理方式,并通过计算不同处理方式的成本,提出具有成本效果的一次性注射器的处理方式。结果表明:消毒/毁形、焚烧、掩埋和回收是主要的处理方法,在被调查的所有医疗机构中,没有一家医疗机构使用安全盒处理使用过的一次性注射器。由于没有使用规定的焚烧设备,实际调查结果表明,焚烧和掩埋的处理成本相对较低,是目前在村卫生室水平最适合的一次性注射器处理方法,而对于乡级和县级卫生机构而言,消毒/毁形和回收是目前较为适宜的处理一次性注射器的方法。     

What Are the Etiology and Epidemiology of Out‐of‐hospital Pediatric Cardiopulmonary Arrest in Ontario,Canada?

Background: Pediatric cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) outside of the hospital has a very high mortality rate. Objectives: To evaluate the etiology and initial compromise of pediatric CPA cases in hopes of developing strategies to improve out‐of‐hospital resuscitation. Methods: The Ontario Prehospital Advanced Life Support (OPALS) study was a large multicenter initiative to evaluate the impact of emergency medical services (EMS) programs on 17 communities with 40,000 critically ill and injured patients who were older than 11 years. As part of this study, the authors conducted a retrospective observational cohort study that included all children younger than 18 years of age with out‐of‐hospital CPA, during an 11‐year period from 1991–2002. CPA was defined as patient being pulseless, apneic, and requiring chest compressions. Data were collected from ambulance call reports and centralized dispatch data and were reviewed by two independent investigators. Results: There were 503 children with CPA in the sample. Mean age was 5.6 years (range, 0–17 yr); 58.4% of patients were male, and 37.8% were younger than 1 year of age. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) first was started by a bystander in 32.4% of cases, whereas 66.0% were unwitnessed arrests. Initial rhythms were asystole 77.2% of the time, pulseless electrical activity 16.4% of the time, and ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia 4% of the time. Annual incidence was 9.1/100,000 children. CPA was witnessed in 34.0% of cases; 80.7% of these were bystander‐witnessed, and 18.1% were EMS‐witnessed. Primary pathogenic cause of arrest was medical in 61.2% of cases, trauma in 37.2% of cases, and indeterminate in 1.6% of cases. Initial underlying physiologic compromise of witnessed arrests was judged to be respiratory in 39.8% of cases, sudden collapse (presumed electrical) in 16.4% of cases, progressive shock in 1.2% of cases, and indeterminate in 42.6% of cases. Presumed etiology was trauma, 37.6%; sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), 20.3%; and respiratory disease, 11.6%, most commonly. Survival to hospital discharge was 2.0%. Conclusions: This is one of the largest population‐based, prospective cohorts of pediatric CPA reported to date, and it reveals that most pediatric arrests are unwitnessed and receive no bystander CPR. Those that are witnessed most often are caused by respiratory arrests or trauma. Trauma, SIDS, and respiratory disease are the most common etiologies overall. These data are vital to planning large resuscitation trials looking at specific interventions (i.e., increasing bystander CPR) and highlight the need for better strategies for prevention and early recognition.