SALUS Global Knowledge Exchange’s Post

We have all heard about the importance of screening for Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) - which also requires the ability to be aware of unconscious biases when performing the screening. But the screening is the first step, not the last. See how this group was able to see impacts of addressing SDOH concerns on health outcomes. https://okt.to/vKZdf1

As a physician dedicated to improving the lives of those with chronic health conditions, Lisa Nelson, MD, witnessed firsthand the transformative healing that happens in group health visits. For people who struggle with physical conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, or chronic pain, or mental health conditions like anxiety and depression, a group health visit can help people forge connections, live better, and feel better. Read more about who is a good candidate for group health visits, what are the advantages of group health visits, how do group visit patients help each other, and what are some other benefits of group health care.

Health care systems face challenges like maternal mortality, medication compliance, hospital-acquired infections, and long ER wait times. M. Rashad Massoud from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health suggests that leaders adopt a science of improvement approach, focusing on system appreciation, variation understanding, theoretical application, and psychological insights. He proposes five steps for quality improvement: identifying problems, finding measurable solutions, emphasizing process implementation, using the Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycle, and being adaptable. This approach aims to improve patient outcomes and cost efficiency. https://lnkd.in/gDzQJAmG #healthcaremanagement #qualityimprovement 

In recent years, patients such as Rebecca Hiles and Ellen Maud Bennett have brought attention to the fact that weight bias can lead to the misdiagnosis of critical illnesses like cancer. “It was very scary to sort of exist in a body that I thought was failing me and have medical professionals who didn’t seem to take me seriously,” Hiles said. After years of being told she needed to lose weight, Hiles was diagnosed with cancer after a tumor was found in her bronchial tube. Tragically, we cannot hear from Ellen Maud Bennet directly. Benett’s obituary read, “Over the past few years of feeling unwell she sought out medical intervention and no one offered any support or suggestions beyond weight loss. Ellen’s dying wish was that women of size make her death matter by advocating strongly for their health and not accepting that fat is the only relevant health issue.” These are two cases among thousands of others. Weight bias causes untold and entirely unnecessary suffering, preventable illness, disability, and death. Poor care and poor outcomes due to bias and discrimination against people with larger body size is an overlooked epidemic - at least 1 in 3 people living in the USA are at risk for stigma, discrimination, and poor treatment solely due to their body size. Diversity Science recently provided an in-depth post if interested. This is an urgent issue for health care organization. And, it doesn't stop with patients: Healthcare personnel are also at high risk. We have conducted Organizational Climate Assessments with dozens of healthcare organizations and found that healthcare personnel employees of larger body size, as compared with others, are: - less likely to feel respected,  - more likely to report that they have to keep proving their competence (no matter how long they worked at their organization),  - and are less likely to feel to report that their organization is a good place to get healthcare for people like them. (If you want more information its available here: https://lnkd.in/gjgAr3hi) Diversity Science has been proud to work with Lead Subject Matter expert Sean Phelan and other stakeholders to develop an evidence-based Video eLearning course for healthcare personnel on this essential and overlooked topic. As with all our courses, they are evidence-based yet responsive to the real world of health care, guided by the learners themseves, and use case examples and engaging scenarios to bring the course to life. The course was free for review for September but after several requests, we just extended the free review access has been extended one more week. (https://lnkd.in/g9aaRF2K). After that time, the course is very low cost, free for organizational review and assessment, and discounts are available. If you complete it, please provide feedback!

“It was very scary to sort of exist in a body that I thought was failing me and have medical professionals who didn’t seem to take me seriously,” Rebecca Hiles said. After years of being told she needed to lose weight, Hiles was diagnosed with cancer after a tumor was found in her bronchial tube. Tragically, we cannot hear from Ellen Maud Bennet directly. Benett’s obituary read, “Over the past few years of feeling unwell, she sought out medical intervention and no one offered any support or suggestions beyond weight loss. Ellen’s dying wish was that women of size make her death matter by advocating strongly for their health and not accepting that fat is the only relevant health issue.” These are two cases among thousands of others. Weight bias causes untold and entirely unnecessary suffering, preventable illness, disability, and death. Poor care and poor outcomes due to bias and discrimination against people with larger body size is an overlooked epidemic - at least 1 in 3 people living in the USA are at risk for stigma, discrimination, and poor treatment solely due to their body size. Diversity Science recently provided an in-depth post if you are interested (https://lnkd.in/gP9nYmVX) See our course (Lead Subject Matter Expert Sean Phelan) at https://lnkd.in/gv3td7kH to get deeper insight and actionable strategies. Contact us directly for webinars and workshops on the crucial topic (solutions@diversityscience.org).

💡 CF Snapshot – the latest NHS England guidance on proactive care for frailty. In case you missed it, last month, NHS England released guidance to encourage a more consistent and integrated approach to providing care and support for people living at home with moderate or severe frailty. Frailty is not an inevitable part of ageing but is increasingly affecting older people’s quality of life and years lived with disability, as well as how they use health and care resources. The onset and progression of frailty can be slowed with the right evidence-based approaches in place. While not proposing novel services or pathways, the guidance aims to utilise existing resources, evidence and best practice to improve support to those with moderate or severe frailty. It aims to improve health outcomes and patient experiences in three ways: 1) Delaying health deterioration where possible 2) Maintaining independent living; 3) Reducing avoidable exacerbations of ill health, thereby reducing the use of unplanned care. Find a summary of the key pointers from the guidance in our latest snapshot: https://lnkd.in/etpBHHwB #NHSE #ICB #Proactivecare #Healthcareoutcomes 

USA Today offers some insight on how you can stay independent as you age. Medical professionals chime in on the best ways to keep your health and autonomy! Read here: https://lnkd.in/gBr4PCqZ

Movement Behaviour Change Physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour are both linked to poor health related and wellbeing outcomes. Around 1.4 billion adults worldwide are classified as physically inactive and two thirds of adults worldwide are at high risk of poor health outcomes due to increased sedentary behaviour. Physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour also has a huge economic impact on our health systems costing approximately $27 billion annually. Physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour is recognized as a global health priority and The World Health Organization (WHO) have created a Global Action Plan to help reduce the prevalence of physical inactivity by 2030. Health professionals are ideally placed to help promote positive health-related behaviours with one in four patients reporting they would be more active if advised by a health professional. However, there is currently no consensus on the specific minimum competencies required to provide movement behaviour change support, with some health professionals also reporting they lack the knowledge, skills and confidence to do so. So how can we as health professionals overcome this? On 4th October 2023 the BJSM published a consensus statement by Alsop et al., titled “What should all health professionals know about movement behaviour change? An international Delphi-based consensus statement.” The Delphi study recommended 11 competencies for all health professionals to implement to support movement behaviour change, these can be seen in the attached infographic below. We would love to hear from other health professionals to hear how you promote movement behaviour change amongst your patients, please join the discussion and comment below! If you would like to read the full article please click this link: https://lnkd.in/ePXubaGD #shphealth #evidencebasedpractice #physiotherapy #healthpromotion #movementbehaviourchange #bjsm #patientsupport

A useful summary of guidance for proactive and holistic care of people with early (and severe) frailty using integrated neighbourhood teams #populationhealthmanagement #frailty #holistic #improvinghealthcare