Does financial hardship account for elevated psychological distress in lone mothers?

Lone mothers have been shown to have higher levels of psychological distress than married mothers, but it is not clear how this difference arises. Using data from the 1958 British birth cohort followed to age 33, we investigated alternative explanations for the excess distress of lone mothers. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios for distress (measured using the Malaise Inventory) in lone vs married mothers. Odds ratios were adjusted to assess the contribution of explanatory factors. At age 33, psychological distress was greater among lone than married mothers (OR 2.59, 95% CI 1.97, 3.41). The odds ratio decreased to 1.43 (95% CI 1.02, 2.01) after adjustment for all explanatory factors (prior psychological distress, age of youngest child and number of children in the household, and contemporary measures of financial hardship, employment, and social support). Attenuation of the odds ratio was most marked after taking account of financial hardship. Psychological distress was greater among divorced mothers than never married mothers, though not significantly (OR = 1.70, 95% CI 0.88, 3.28). This difference was not explained by the factors examined, and was not due to the immediate distress associated with a recent divorce. Elevated psychological distress of lone mothers appears to be related to financial hardship, while other explanations, including social support and selection, have a more modest impact. Not all of the elevated psychological distress among lone mothers was accounted for, particularly among divorced lone mothers.     

基本卫生技术包应用研究概述

影响卫生服务提供绩效的主要因素之一是服务提供的过程（即临床诊疗流程）及所需的各类卫生技术（包括人力资源、设备、设施、药品等）.基本卫生技术包（EHTP）是一种优化临床诊疗流程和卫生技术配置的管理工具,可通过这种核心技术,对卫生技术实施优化干预,以促进和改善服务提供的绩效.作者介绍了基本卫生技术包的方法学原理、技术路线、研究设计和其在单病种质量管理中应用的可行性,以便为决策者提供循证依据,将有限的卫生技术投入到最具成本效果的服务项目上.     

2009~2018年国家自然科学基金对儿科学研究资助情况回顾与展望

目的 对国家自然科学基金委员会立项资助的儿科研究课题进行回顾整理与数据分析,以了解学科重点支持领域和研究方向、热点的变化。方法 以中国国家自然科学基金数据库为基础,对2009~2018年儿科领域研究课题进行筛选,并对资助力度和研究方向变化进行分析。结果 2009~2018年国家自然科学基金委员会共资助1 017项儿科领域课题,其中面上项目485项（47.69%）,青年基金426项（41.89%）,地区项目73项（7.18%）,重点项目16项（1.57%）,优青项目6项（0.59%）,海外项目7项（0.69%）,其他项目4项（0.39%）。资助经费总额从2009年的842万元增加至2018年的6 625万元,增幅近7倍之多。以生殖系统/围产期医学/新生儿、神经系统和精神疾病、循环系统为一级学科代码申请立项的课题获资助力度最大。结论 近10年来国家自然科学基金委员会对儿科研究的资助力度持续增加,以面上项目和青年基金为主;研究获资助项目申请方向以新生儿、神经系统和精神、循环系统疾病为主。     

Medicaid care management: Description of high-cost addictions treatment clients

High utilizers of alcohol and other drug treatment (AODTx) services are a priority for healthcare cost control. We examine characteristics of Medicaid-funded AODTx clients, comparing three groups: individuals < 90th percentile of AODTx expenditures (n = 41,054); high-cost clients in the top decile of AODTx expenditures (HC; n = 5,718); and 1760 enrollees in a chronic care management (CM) program for HC clients implemented in 22 counties in New York State. Medicaid and state AODTx registry databases were combined to draw demographic, clinical, social needs and treatment history data. HC clients accounted for 49% of AODTx costs funded by Medicaid. As expected, HC clients had significant social welfare needs, comorbid medical and psychiatric conditions, and use of inpatient services. The CM program was successful in enrolling some high-needs, high-cost clients but faced barriers to reaching the most costly and disengaged individuals.     

Sanitation,financial incentives and health spillovers: A cluster randomised trial

Poor sanitation and its consequent negative health outcomes continue to plague the developing world. Drawing on the finding that financial subsidies have changed behaviour in other health contexts, we conducted a clustered randomised trial in 160 villages in Lao PDR to evaluate the effectiveness of combining financial incentives with Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS), a widely-conducted behaviour change program. Villages were randomly allocated to four groups, all of which received CLTS but differed in the type of subsidy offered (none, household, village or both). Using data from a random sample of households with young children and village administrative data, we show that household incentives increased sanitation take-up among the poor, whereas a village incentive increased take-up primarily among the non-poor. Improved sanitation produced positive health spillovers - a 10 percentage point increase in village sanitation coverage decreased the probability of childhood stunting by 3 percentage points.     

Palliative and hospice care in gynecologic cancer: A review

Despite the increasing availability of palliative care, oncology providers often misunderstand and underutilize these resources. The goals of palliative care are relief of suffering and provision of the best possible quality of life for both the patient and her family, regardless of where she is in the natural history of her disease. Lack of understanding and awareness of the services provided by palliative care physicians underlie barriers to referral. Oncologic providers spend a significant amount of time palliating the symptoms of cancer and its treatment; involvement of specialty palliative care providers can assist in managing the complex patient. Patients with gynecologic malignancies remain an ideal population for palliative care intervention. This review of the literature explores the current state of palliative care in the treatment of gynecologic cancers and its implications for the quality and cost of this treatment.     

Priority-setting and rationing in healthcare: Evidence from the English experience

In a context of ever increasing demand, the recent economic downturn has placed further pressure on decision-makers to effectively target healthcare resources. Over recent years there has been a push to develop more explicit evidence-based priority-setting processes, which aim to be transparent and inclusive in their approach and a number of analytical tools and sources of evidence have been developed and utilised at national and local levels. This paper reports findings from a qualitative research study which investigated local priority-setting activity across five English Primary Care Trusts, between March and November 2012. Findings demonstrate the dual aims of local decision-making processes: to improve the overall effectiveness of priority-setting (i.e. reaching ‘correct’ resource allocation decisions); and to increase the acceptability of priority-setting processes for those involved in both decision-making and implementation. Respondents considered priority-setting processes to be compartmentalised and peripheral to resource planning and allocation. Further progress was required with regard to disinvestment and service redesign with respondents noting difficulty in implementing decisions. While local priority-setters had begun to develop more explicit processes, public awareness and input remained limited. The leadership behaviours required to navigate the political complexities of working within and across organisations with differing incentives systems and cultures remained similarly underdeveloped.