Publications
151 results found
Junghans C, Harris M, Majeed A, 2024, Community health and wellbeing workers: an off-the-peg solution for improving health and care in England, British Journal of General Practice, Vol: 74, Pages: 122-122, ISSN: 0960-1643
Williams A, Lennox L, Harris M, et al., 2023, Supporting translation of research evidence into practice—the use of Normalisation Process Theory to assess and inform implementation within randomised controlled trials: a systematic review, Implementation Science, Vol: 18, ISSN: 1748-5908
Background:The status of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) as the ‘gold standard’ for evaluating efficacy in healthcare interventions is increasingly debated among the research community, due to often insufficient consideration for implementation. Normalisation Process Theory (NPT), which focuses on the work required to embed processes into practice, offers a potentially useful framework for addressing these concerns. While the theory has been deployed in numerous RCTs to date, more work is needed to consolidate understanding of if, and how, NPT may aid implementation planning and processes within RCTs. Therefore, this review seeks to understand how NPT contributes to understanding the dynamics of implementation processes within RCTs. Specifically, this review will identify and characterise NPT operationalisation, benefits and reported challenges and limitations in RCTs.Methods:A qualitative systematic review with narrative synthesis of peer-reviewed journal articles from eight databases was conducted. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they reported sufficient detail on the use of NPT within RCTs in a healthcare domain. A pre-specified data extraction template was developed based on the research questions of this review. A narrative synthesis was performed to identify recurrent findings.Results:Searches identified 48 articles reporting 42 studies eligible for inclusion. Findings suggest that NPT is primarily operationalised prospectively during the data collection stage, with limited sub-construct utilisation overall. NPT is beneficial in understanding implementation processes by aiding the identification and analysis of key factors, such as understanding intervention fidelity in real-world settings. Nearly three-quarters of studies failed to report the challenges and limitations of utilising NPT, though coding difficulties and data falling outside the NPT framework are most common.Conclusions:NPT appears to be a consistent and generalisable frame
Junghans Minton C, Harris M, Williams A, et al., 2023, Learning from the universal, proactive outreach of the Brazilian Community Health Worker model: impact of a Community Health and Wellbeing Worker initiative on vaccination, cancer screening and NHS health check uptake in a deprived community in the UK, BMC Health Services Research, Vol: 23, ISSN: 1472-6963
BackgroundDelays in preventative service uptake are increasing in the UK. Universal, comprehensive monthly outreach by Community Health and Wellbeing Workers (CHW), who are integrated at the GP practice and local authority, offer a promising alternative to general public health campaigns as it personalises health promotion and prevention of disease holistically at the household level. We sought to test the ability of this model, which is based on the Brazilian Family Health Strategy, to increase prevention uptake in the UK.MethodsAnalysis of primary care patient records for 662 households that were allocated to five CHWWs from July 2021. Primary outcome was the Composite Referral Completion Indicator (CRCI), a measure of how many health promotion activities were received by members of a household relative to the ones that they were eligible for during the period July 2021-April 2022. The CRCI was compared between the intervention group (those who had received at least one visit) and the control group (allocated households that were yet to receive a visit). A secondary outcome was the number of GP visits in the intervention and control groups during the study period and compared to a year prior.ResultsIntervention and control groups were largely comparable in terms of household occupancy and service eligibilities. A total of 2251 patients in 662 corresponding households were allocated to 5 CHWs and 160 households had received at least one visit during the intervention period. The remaining households were included in the control group. Overall service uptake was 40% higher in the intervention group compared to control group (CRCI: 0.21 ± 0.15 and 0.15 ± 0.19 respectively). Likelihood of immunisation uptake specifically was 47% higher and cancer screening and NHS Health Checks was 82% higher. The average number of GP consultations per household decreased by 7.4% in the intervention group over the first 10 months of the pilot c
Brown C, Bhatti Y, Harris M, 2023, Environmental sustainability in healthcare systems: role of frugal innovation, BMJ, Vol: 383, ISSN: 1759-2151
Teixeira CS, Fernandes TG, Dias MAB, et al., 2023, Perinatal health in Amazon triple border region: cross-sectional analysis comparing outcomes in the Brazilian, Peruvian and Colombian population, Maternal and Child Health Journal, Vol: 27, Pages: 1876-1884, ISSN: 1092-7875
ObjectiveTo investigate the perinatal outcomes in Brazilian, Peruvian, and Colombian women in a Brazilian reference maternity hospital based at Amazon triple border region.MethodA cross-sectional case study of data from 3242 live birth certificates issued at the Tabatinga public maternity hospital, in the countryside of Amazonas, in the period between January 2015 and December 2017. Maternal and perinatal independent variables were analysed based on central tendency and variability, and frequency distribution for categorical variables. The Pearson’s Chi-Square test and univariate analyses were performed to estimate probability ratios (Odds Ratio-OR).ResultsSignificant differences were found in the education level in the three population groups, as well as in the number of previous pregnancies, antenatal consultations, month of initial prenatal care, and type of delivery. Brazilian pregnant women had more prenatal consultations, caesarean sections, and premature births. Peruvian and Colombian women started antenatal care later, and those with high-risk pregnancies tended to deliver in their home country.Conclusion for PracticeOur findings show some singularities in the care of women and infants in the Amazonian triple border region. The Brazilian Unified Health Care System performs an important role in the guarantee of free access to health services, and ensures comprehensive care for women and infants, promoting human rights in border regions regardless of nationality.
Teixeira CS, Fernandes TG, Dias MAB, et al., 2023, Perinatal Health in Amazon Triple Border Region: Cross-Sectional Analysis Comparing Outcomes in the Brazilian, Peruvian and Colombian Population (Jun, 10.1007/s10995-023-03673-w, 2023), MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH JOURNAL, Vol: 27, Pages: 1885-1885, ISSN: 1092-7875
HARRIS M, 2023, Decolonizing healthcare innovation low-cost solutions from low-income countries, Publisher: Routledge, ISBN: 9781032284958
This fascinating book offers a pathway for the NHS to adopt low-cost but effective innovations from areas of the world traditionally seen as beneficiaries rather than providers of help and support.
Lennox L, Antonacci G, Harris M, et al., 2023, ’Unpacking the ‘process of sustaining’—identifying threats to sustainability and the strategies used to address them: a longitudinal multiple case study, Implementation Science Communications, Vol: 4, Pages: 1-18, ISSN: 2662-2211
BackgroundAlthough sustainability remains a recognised challenge for Quality Improvement (QI) initiatives, most available research continues to investigate sustainability at the end of implementation. As a result, the learning and continuous adjustments that shape sustainability outcomes are lost. With little understanding of the actions and processes that influence sustainability within QI initiatives, there is limited practical guidance and direction on how to enhance the sustainability of QI initiatives. This study aims to unpack the ‘process of sustaining’, by exploring threats to sustainability encountered throughout the implementation of QI Initiatives and identifying strategies used by QI teams to address these threats over time.MethodsA longitudinal multiple case study design was employed to follow 4 QI initiatives over a 3-year period. A standardised sustainability tool was used quarterly to collect perceptions of sustainability threats and actions throughout implementation. Interviews (n=38), observations (32.5 h), documentary analysis, and a focus group (n=10) were conducted to enable a greater understanding of how the process of sustaining is supported in practice. Data were analysed using the Consolidated Framework for Sustainability (CFS) to conduct thematic analysis.ResultsAnalysis identified five common threats to sustainability: workforce stability, improvement timelines, organisational priorities, capacity for improvement, and stakeholder support. Each of these threats impacted multiple sustainability constructs demonstrating the complexity of the issues encountered. In response to threats, 12 strategies to support the process of sustaining were identified under three themes: engagement (five strategies that promoted the development of relationships), integration (three strategies that supported initiatives to become embedded within local systems), and adaptation (four strategies that enhanced understanding of, and response to, emergent
Antonacci G, Whitney J, Harris M, et al., 2023, How do healthcare providers use national audit data for improvement?, BMC Health Services Research, Vol: 23, Pages: 1-17, ISSN: 1472-6963
BackgroundSubstantial resources are invested by Health Departments worldwide in introducing National Clinical Audits (NCAs). Yet, there is variable evidence on the NCAs’ effectiveness and little is known on factors underlying the successful use of NCAs to improve local practice. This study will focus on a single NCA (the National Audit of Inpatient Falls -NAIF 2017) to explore: (i) participants’ perspectives on the NCA reports, local feedback characteristics and actions undertaken following the feedback underpinning the effective use of the NCA feedback to improve local practice; (ii) reported changes in local practice following the NCA feedback in England and Wales.MethodsFront-line staff perspectives were gathered through interviews. An inductive qualitative approach was used. Eighteen participants were purposefully sampled from 7 of the 85 participating hospitals in England and Wales. Analysis was guided by constant comparative techniques.ResultsRegarding the NAIF annual report, interviewees valued performance benchmarking with other hospitals, the use of visual representations and the inclusion of case studies and recommendations. Participants stated that feedback should target front-line healthcare professionals, be straightforward and focused, and be delivered through an encouraging and honest discussion. Interviewees highlighted the value of using other relevant data sources alongside NAIF feedback and the importance of continuous data monitoring. Participants reported that engagement of front-line staff in the NAIF and following improvement activities was critical. Leadership, ownership, management support and communication at different organisational levels were perceived as enablers, while staffing level and turnover, and poor quality improvement (QI) skills, were perceived as barriers to improvement. Reported changes in practice included increased awareness and attention to patient safety issues and greater involvement of patients and staff in
Banstola A, Pokhrel S, Hayhoe B, et al., 2023, Economic evaluations of interventional opportunities for the management of mental–physical multimorbidity: a systematic review, BMJ Open, Vol: 13, Pages: 1-10, ISSN: 2044-6055
Objectives Economic evaluations of interventions for people with mental–physical multimorbidity, including a depressive disorder, are sparse. This study examines whether such interventions in adults are cost-effective.Design A systematic review.Data sources MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, Cochrane CENTRAL, Scopus, Web of Science and NHS EED databases were searched until 5 March 2022.Eligibility criteria We included studies involving people aged ≥18 with two or more chronic conditions (one being a depressive disorder). Economic evaluation studies that compared costs and outcomes of interventions were included, and those that assessed only costs or effects were excluded.Data extraction and synthesis Two authors independently assessed risk of bias in included studies using recommended checklists. A narrative analysis of the characteristics and results by type of intervention and levels of healthcare provision was conducted.Results A total of 19 studies, all undertaken in high-income countries, met inclusion criteria. Four intervention types were reported: collaborative care, self-management, telephone-based and antidepressant treatment. Most (14 of 19) interventions were implemented at the organisational level and were potentially cost-effective, particularly, the collaborative care for people with depressive disorder and diabetes, comorbid major depression and cancer and depression and multiple long-term conditions. Cost-effectiveness ranged from £206 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) for collaborative care programmes for older adults with diabetes and depression at primary care clinics (USA) to £79 723 per QALY for combining collaborative care with improved opportunistic screening for adults with depressive disorder and diabetes (England). Conclusions on cost-effectiveness were constrained by methodological aspects of the included studies: choice of perspectives, time horizon and costing methods.Conclusions Economic evaluations of inte
Harris M, Lokugamage A, Chetwynd C, 2023, Biomedical research and global sustainability: throwing off the straight jacket of hierarchical thinking, making space for nomadic thinking, Decolonial Subversions, Vol: 3, Pages: 1-10
The biomedical paradigm, characterised by the separation of human from nature, of mind from body, and of ‘us’ from ‘them’, is encrusted with the jewels of western exploitation. Its legacy, one of many, has been to permit critical thinking to be infused with the domination of scientific knowledge over indigenous knowledge, of expert experience over patient experience, and of western knowledge over knowledge from other regions. Planetary sustainability has put us all into an uncomfortable liminal space where there is an urgent need to develop new ways of thinking to navigate the complexity and uncertainties of the Anthropocene. The decolonization/dismantling of the historically biased, epistemically rigid, hierarchical thinking that has led us to the brink of environmental collapse must re-centre a more ‘nomadic’ or ‘rhizomic’ type of thinking that works against the grain of traditional western categories and conventional methods, making breathing space for experiential person-centred, ecological wisdom to blossom. What might this look like for global health and academia? Practicing medicine using an ecological lens; a system with geographically diverse representation in the authorship of scientific literature; methodological diversity in the top journals, placing qualitative research, stories and art on an equal footing with Randomised Controlled Trials; and editorial boards composed in part of lay members. A more inclusive academe, through Cultural Safety, where works from patients, service users, indigenous community voices are published alongside and co-produced with expert/professional communities is a step in the right direction.
Dallera G, Alaa A, Kreindler J, et al., 2022, Evaluating the feasibility and acceptability of a safety protocol to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission risks when participating in full-capacity live mass events: a cross-sectional survey and interview-based study, BMJ Open, Vol: 12, ISSN: 2044-6055
Objective: Investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a novel COVID-19 safety protocol combining professionally witnessed home-based videoed pre-event testing and a data-driven risk assessment model that was piloted at the Standon Calling Festival in July 2021.Design: Observational study using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design involving a survey, personal interviews and group discussions with a cross section of participants.Setting: Standon Calling Festival, Hertfordshire, England.Participants: 4726 adults who attended Standon Calling and consented to participate in the study.Results: Nearly a quarter (23.1%; 1093) attendees (women 65%, men 35%) responded to the postevent survey. Eleven participants were interviewed before thematic saturation was reached. The majority (81.0%) of respondents found the at-home testing protocol convenient and of reasonable cost (73.6%). Confidence in the test result was enhanced due to professional-supported videoing (76.2%), whereas 72.6% had confidence in the security of the data. Videoed self-testing helped 45.0% of respondents to feel more confident in their lateral flow testing technique. The majority (85.5%) felt safer at the event and 93.7% agreed that the protocol did not interfere with their enjoyment of the event. Themes generated from interviews showed that the protocol could be applied to other disease areas and events, but there were concerns that over-reliance on test results alone could lead some people to have a false sense of security around the safety of the live event.Conclusions: Our study showed that a protocol that combines professionally witnessed home-based videoed pre-event testing is highly acceptable and feasible, and it can inform decision making and support the safe reopening of live mass events at full capacity. Although COVID-19 is now considered endemic in the UK, this protocol can be of value for other countries where the live events industry remains heavily impacted. Risk modelling sh
Harris P, Kirkland R, Masanja S, et al., 2022, Strengthening the primary care workforce to deliver high quality care for non-communicable diseases in refugee settings: lessons learnt from a UNHCR partnership, BMJ Global Health, Vol: 7, Pages: 1-10, ISSN: 2059-7908
Non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention and care in humanitarian contexts has been a long-neglected issue. Health care systems in humanitarian settings have focused heavily on communicable diseases and immediate life-saving health needs. NCDs are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in refugee settings, however in many situations NCD care is not well integrated into primary health care services. Increased risk of poorer outcomes from Covid 19 for people living with NCDs has heightened the urgency of responding to NCDs and shone a spotlight on their relativeneglect in these settings. Partnering with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) since 2014, Primary Care International (PCI) has provided clinical guidance and Training of Trainer (ToT) courses on NCDs to 649 health professionals working in primary care in refugee settings in 13 countries. Approximately 2,300 healthcare workers (HCW) have been reached through cascade trainings over the last six years. Our experience has shown that, despite fragile health services, high staff turnover and competing clinical priorities, it is possible to improve NCD knowledge, skills, and practice. ToT programmes are a feasible and practical format to deliver NCD trainingto mixed groups of healthcare workers (doctors, nurses, technical officers, pharmacy technicians and community health workers). Clinical guidance must be adapted to local settings whilst co-creating an enabling environment for health workers is essential to deliver accessible, high-quality continuity of care for NCDs. On-going support for non clinical systems change is equally critical for sustained impact. A shared responsibility for cascade training - and commitment from local health partners - is necessary to raise NCD awareness, influence local and national policy and to meet the UNHCR’sobjective of facilitating access to integrated prevention and control of NCDs.
Dallera G, Skopec M, Barlow J, et al., 2022, Review of a frugal cooling mattress to induce therapeutic hypothermia for treatment of hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy in the UK NHS, Globalization and Health, Vol: 18, ISSN: 1744-8603
Hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a major cause of neonatal mortality and disability in the United Kingdom (UK) and has significant human and financial costs. Therapeutic hypothermia (TH), which consists of cooling down the newborn’s body temperature, is the current standard of treatment for moderate or severe cases of HIE. Timely initiation of treatment is critical to reduce risk of mortality and disability associated with HIE. Very expensive servo-controlled devices are currently used in high-income settings to induce TH, whereas low-income settings rely on the use of low-tech devices such as water bottles, ice packs or fans. Cooling mattresses made with phase change materials (PCMs) were recently developed as a safe, efficient, and affordable alternative to induce TH in low-income settings. This frugal innovation has the potential to become a reverse innovation for the National Health Service (NHS) by providing a simple, efficient, and cost-saving solution to initiate TH in geographically remote areas of the UK where cooling equipment might not be readily available, ensuring timely initiation of treatment while waiting for neonatal transport to the nearest cooling centre. The adoption of PCM cooling mattresses by the NHS may reduce geographical disparity in the availability of treatment for HIE in the UK, and it could benefit from improvements in coordination across all levels of neonatal care given challenges currently experienced by the NHS in terms of constraints on funding and shortage of staff. Trials evaluating the effectiveness and safety of PCM cooling mattresses in the NHS context are needed in support of the adoption of this frugal innovation. These findings may be relevant to other high-income settings that experience challenges with the provision of TH in geographically remote areas. The use of promising frugal innovations such as PCM cooling mattresses in high-income settings may also contribute to challenge the dominant narrative that
Price R, Skopec M, Mackenzie S, et al., 2022, A novel data solution to inform curriculum decolonisation: the case of the Imperial College London Masters of Public Health, Scientometrics: an international journal for all quantitative aspects of the science of science, communication in science and science policy, Vol: 127, Pages: 1021-1037, ISSN: 0138-9130
There is increasing interest within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to examine curricula for legacies of colonialism or empire that might result in a preponderance of references to research from the global north. Prior attempts to study reading lists for author geographies have employed resource-intensive audit and data collection methods based on manual searching and tagging individual reading list items by characteristics such as author country or place of publication. However, these manual methods are impractical for large reading lists with hundreds of citations that change over instances the course is taught. Laborious manual methods may explain why there is a lack of quantitative evidence to inform this debate and the understanding of geographic distribution of curricula. We describe a novel computational method applied to 568 articles, representing 3166 authors from the Imperial College London Masters in Public Health programme over two time periods (2017–18 and 2019–20). Described with summary statistics, we found a marginal shift away from global north-affiliated authors on the reading lists of one Masters course over two time periods and contextualise the role and limitations of the use of quantitative data in the decolonisation discourse. The method provides opportunities for educators to examine the distribution of course readings at pace and over time, serving as a useful point of departure to engage in decolonisation debates.
Downey LE, Harris M, Jan S, et al., 2021, Global health system resilience is in everyone's interest., BMJ, Vol: 375, Pages: 1-2, ISSN: 1759-2151
Donnat C, Bunbury F, Liu D, et al., 2021, Predicting COVID-19 transmission to inform the management of mass events: a model-based approach, JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, Vol: 7, ISSN: 2369-2960
Background:Modelling COVID-19 transmission at live events and public gatherings is essential to control the probability of subsequent outbreaks and communicate to participants their personalised risk. Yet, despite the fast-growing body of literature on COVID transmission dynamics, current risk models either neglect contextual information on vaccination rates or disease prevalence or do not attempt to quantitatively model transmission.Objective:This paper attempts to bridge this gap by providing informative risk metrics for live public events, along with a measure of their uncertainty.Methods:Building upon existing models, our approach ties together three main components: (a) reliable modelling of the number of infectious cases at the time of the event, (b) evaluation of the efficiency of pre-event screening, and (c) modelling of the event’s transmission dynamics and their uncertainty along using Monte Carlo simulations.Results:We illustrate the application of our pipeline for a concert at the Royal Albert Hall and highlight the risk’s dependency on factors such as prevalence, mask wearing, or event duration. We demonstrate how this event held on three different dates (August 20th 2020, January 20th 2021, and March 20th 2021) would likely lead to transmission events that are similar to community transmission rates (0.06 vs 0.07, 2.38 vs 2.39, and 0.67 vs 0.60, respectively). However, differences between event and background transmissions substantially widen in the upper tails of the distribution of number of infections (as denoted by their respective 99th quantiles: 1 vs 1, 19 vs 8, and 6 vs 3 for our three dates), further demonstrating that sole reliance on vaccination and antigen testing to gain entry would likely significantly underestimate the tail risk of the event.Conclusions:Despite the unknowns surrounding COVID-19 transmission, our estimation pipeline opens the discussion on contextualized risk assessment by combining the best tools at hand to as
Harris M, Kreindler J, Donnat C, et al., 2021, Rapid response to BMJ: Are vaccine passports and covid passes a valid alternative to lockdown?, BMJ: British Medical Journal, Vol: 375, ISSN: 0959-535X
Issa H, Townsend W, Harris M, 2021, Benefiting the NHS through innovation: how to ensure international health partnerships are genuinely reciprocal Comment, BMJ Global Health, Vol: 6, Pages: 1-3, ISSN: 2059-7908
Shimizu H, Pacheco Santos L, Sanchez M, et al., 2021, Challenges facing the more doctors program (Programa Mais Médicos) in vulnerable and peri-urban areas in Greater Brasilia, Brazil, Human Resources for Health, Vol: 19, Pages: 1-8, ISSN: 1478-4491
BackgroundA shortage of physicians, especially in vulnerable and peri-urban areas, is a global phenomenon that has serious implications for health systems, demanding policies to assure the provision and retention of health workers. The aim of this study was to analyze the strategies employed by the More Doctors Program (Programa Mais Médicos) to provide primary care physicians in vulnerable and peri-urban parts of Greater Brasilia.MethodsThe study used a qualitative approach based on the precepts of social constructivism. Forty-nine semi-structured interviews were conducted: 24 with physicians employed as part of the More Doctors program, five with program medical supervisors, seven with secondary care physicians, twelve with primary care coordinators, and one federal administrator. The interviews occurred between March and September 2019. The transcripts of the interviews were submitted to thematic content analysis.ResultsThe partnership between the Ministry of Health and local authorities was essential for the provision of doctors—especially foreign doctors, most from Cuba, to assist vulnerable population groups previously without access to the health system. There was a notable presence of doctors with experience working with socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, which was important for gaining a better understanding of the effects of the endemic urban violence in the region. The incentives and other institutional support, such as enhanced salaries, training, and housing, transportation, and food allowances, were factors that helped provide a satisfactory working environment. However, the poor state of the infrastructure at some of the primary care units and limitations of the health service as a whole were factors that hampered the provision of comprehensive care, constituting a cause of dissatisfaction.ConclusionsMore Doctors introduced a range of novel strategies that helped ensure a supply of primary care doctors in vulnerable and peri-urb
Stefani G, Skopec M, Battersby C, et al., 2021, Why is Kangaroo Mother Care not yet scaled in the UK? A systematic review and realist synthesis of a frugal innovation for newborn care, BMJ Innovations, Vol: 8, Pages: 9-20, ISSN: 2055-642X
Objective: Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is a frugal innovation improving newborn health at a reduced cost compared with incubator use. KMC is widely recommended; however, in the UK, poor evidence exists on KMC, and its implementation remains inconsistent.Design: This Systematic Review and Realist Synthesis explores the barriers and facilitators in the implementation of KMC in the UK.Data source: OVID databases, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Scopus and Google Scholar were searched.Eligibility criteria: Studies were UK based, in maternity/neonatal units, for full-term/preterm children. First screening included studies on (1) KMC, Kangaroo Care (KC) or skin-to-skin contact (SSC) or (2) Baby Friendly Initiative, Small Wonders Change Program or family-centred care if in relation to KMC/KC/SSC. Full texts were reviewed for evidence regarding KMC/KC/SSC implementation.Results: The paucity of KMC research in the UK did not permit a realist review. However, expanded review of available published studies on KC and SSC, used as a proxy to understand KMC implementation, demonstrated that the main barriers are the lack of training, knowledge, confidence and clear guidelines.Conclusion: The lack of KMC implementation research in the UK stands in contrast to the already well-proven benefits of KMC for stable babies in low-income contexts and highlights the need for further research, especially in sick and small newborn population. Implementation of, and research into, KC/SSC is inconsistent and of low quality. Improvements are needed to enhance staff training and parental support, and to develop guidelines to properly implement KC/SSC. It should be used as an opportunity to emphasise the focus on KMC as a potential cost-effective alternative to reduce the need for incubator use in the UK.
Hindocha CN, Antonacci G, Barlow J, et al., 2021, Defining frugal innovation: a critical review, BMJ Innovations, Vol: 7, Pages: 647-656, ISSN: 2055-8074
Frugal innovation (FI), which has gained traction in various sectors, is loosely defined as developing quality solutions in a resource-constrained environment that are affordable to low-income consumers. However, with its popularity, multiple and diverse definitions have emerged that often lack a theoretical foundation. This has led to a convoluted conceptualisation that hinders research and adoption in practice. Despite this plethora of perspectives and definitions, scholars do agree that there is a need for a unified definition. This critical review across the management, entrepreneurship, business and organisation studies literatures explores the multiple definitions of FI that have appeared in the last two decades and seeks to examine the commonalities and differences. One definition is supported by a theoretical underpinning, and main themes include affordability, adaptability, resource scarcity, accessibility and sustainability, however, there remains significant ambiguity around what constitutes an FI. Defining FI as a concept should not deter from focusing on its core aim and identifying an FI may be best achieved by comparing it to an incumbent alternative, rather than against an ill-defined concept. There is merit in developing a common understanding of FI to support strategies for its successful acceptance and diffusion globally.
Harris M, 2021, Book Review: Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice by Rupa Marya and Raj Patel, Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group, ISBN: 9780374602512
Sharma D, Harris M, Agrawal V, et al., 2021, Plea for standardised reporting of frugal innovations, BMJ Innovations, Vol: 7, Pages: 642-646, ISSN: 2055-8074
Skopec M, Fyfe M, Issa H, et al., 2021, Decolonization in a higher education STEMM institution – is ‘epistemic fragility’ a barrier?, London Review of Education, Vol: 19, Pages: 1-21, ISSN: 1474-8460
Central to the decolonial debate is how high-income countries (HICs) have systematically negated ways of knowing from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and yet the paucity of empirical decolonization studies leaves educators relatively unsupported as to whether, and how, to address privilege in higher education. Particularly in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) institutions, there are few published examples of attempts to engage faculty in these debates. In 2018–19, we invited faculty on a master’s in public health course to engage with the decolonization debate by providing: (1) descriptive reading list analyses to all 16 module leads in the master’s programme to invite discussion about the geographic representation of readings; (2) an implicit association test adapted to examine bias towards or against research from LMICs; (3) faculty workshops exploring geographic bias in the curriculum; and (4) interviews to discuss decolonization of curricula and current debates. These initiatives stimulated debate and reflection around the source of readings for the master’s course, a programme with a strong STEMM focus, and the possibility of systemic barriers to the inclusion of literature from universities in LMICs. We propose the notion of epistemic fragility, invoking DiAngelo’s (2011) ‘white fragility’, because some of the responses appeared to result from the challenge to perceived meritocracy, centrality, authority, individuality and objectivity of the HIC episteme that this initiative invites. We posit that the effortful reinstatement of a status quo regarding knowledge hierarchies in the global context, although not a representative reaction, can lead to a significant impact on the initiative in general. Efforts to decolonize curricula require actions at both the individual and organizational levels and, in particular, a managed process of careful engagement so that fragility reactions
Harris M, Kreindler J, El-Osta A, et al., 2021, Safe management of full-capacity live/mass events in COVID19 will require mathematical, epidemiological and economic modelling, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Vol: 114, Pages: 290-294, ISSN: 0141-0768
Donnat C, Bunbury F, Kreindler J, et al., 2021, A Predictive Modelling Framework for COVID-19 Transmission to Inform the Management of Mass Events, Journal of Medical Internet Research, ISSN: 1438-8871
Price R, Skopec M, Mackenzie S, et al., 2021, A novel data solution to analyse curriculum decolonisation – the case of Imperial College London Masters in Public Health
Analyses of reading lists by some UK Higher Education institutions in attempt to identify bias in curricula have found a prevalence of articles from the global north. However, previous studies have employed resource-intensive audit and data collection methods such as the authors or volunteers manually searching for and tagging individual reading list items by characteristic such as author country or place of publication. This can be prohibitive to repeating the study at different time periods or on large reading list data sets, which leads to a gap in evidence-based data to support and inform curriculum decolonisation. We describe a novel computational method applied to 568 articles, representing 3,166 authors from the Imperial College London Masters in Public Health (MPH) programme over two time periods (2017-18 and 2019-20). Using summary statistics, we found a shift in composite geographic distribution of reading lists sources across the two time periods studied and relate this to interventions to decolonise the curriculum at Imperial. Our approach to applying a computational method to produce data as evidence in decolonisation toolkits is discussed.
Harris M, Saddi F, Parreira F, et al., 2021, Exploring front liners’ knowledge, participation and evaluation in the implementation of a pay for performance program (PMAQ) in primary health care in Brazil, Journal of Health, Organization and Management, ISSN: 0268-9235
Selhorst S, OToole RV, Slobogean GP, et al., 2021, Is a low-cost drill cover system non-inferior to conventional surgical drills for skeletal traction pin placement?, Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma, Vol: 35, Pages: e433-e436, ISSN: 0890-5339
The Drill Cover system was developed as a low-cost alternative to conventional surgical drills with specific applicability to low- and middle-income countries. However, the system may also be useful for the sterile placement of traction pins in the emergency department of high-income country hospitals. In September 2019, a US-based Level-1 trauma center began using the Drill Cover system to apply skeletal traction pins in patients with femoral shaft fractures. With these data, we performed a retrospective interrupted time series study to determine if the Drill Cover system was non-inferior to conventional surgical drills in terms of infections at the traction pin site. The study included 205 adult patients with femoral shaft fractures initially placed in skeletal traction using a conventional surgical drill (n=150, pre-intervention group) or the Drill Cover system (n=55, post-intervention group). The primary outcome was an infection at the site of skeletal traction pin placement that required surgery or antibiotics was compared between groups using a non-inferiority test with a one-sided alpha of 0.05 and a non-inferiority margin of 3%. No infections at the site of skeletal traction pin placement were found in either the pre-intervention or the post-intervention group (difference 0%, 95% CI: 0.0 to 1.4%, non-inferiority p-value<0.01). The results suggest that the Drill Cover system was non-inferior to conventional surgical drills regarding infections at the site of skeletal traction pins. The Drill Cover system may be a safe alternative to the more expensive surgical drills for skeletal traction pin placement in the emergency room environment.
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