Policy Engagement Framework for Public Health: A Tool to Enhance Maternal and Child Health Workforce Capacity.

PURPOSE: This paper proposes a framework for characterizing policy engagement that expands options available to MCH and other public health professionals. Its aim is to inform workforce capacity building and empower practitioners to better leverage policy for advancing population health and equity. DESCRIPTION: Policies of all types strongly influence population health and equity. Recognizing this, public health leaders identify policy engagement skills as key for public health professionals generally, and for maternal and child health (MCH) professionals specifically. Practitioners likewise see the importance of these skills and report deficiencies in them. Despite this gap, no literature to-date itemizes the range of policy engagement possibilities for public health professionals. ASSESSMENT: The Policy Engagement Framework for Public Health addresses this gap by providing a language and organizing structure for the numerous ways engagement may take shape. The possibilities are combinations of a particular target policy source (the what) and jurisdiction (the where), a policy process phase (the when), and an engagement role (the how). Policy source and jurisdiction are broken down to highlight the many types to consider for a given topic and population. Established public health constructs are adapted to enumerate policy phases and public health roles. CONCLUSIONS FOR PRACTICE: The Policy Engagement Framework can enhance workforce capacity by expanding mindsets about ways public health and MCH practitioners can consider engaging. It can facilitate communication and clarity within an organization regarding what activities are permitted in staff's official capacity. Finally, it can guide the strategic development of workforce education and training.

Transfusion Complications in Thalassemia: Patient Knowledge and Perspectives.

Chronic transfusion, used to manage clinically significant forms of thalassemia, carries complication risks including iron overload, alloimmunization, and allergic or hemolytic reactions. Dissemination and implementation of evidence-based guidelines for minimizing these risks are complicated by the small numbers and increasing dispersion of the thalassemia population. This elevates patients' role in understanding and communicating with providers about treatment. The present study sought to assess thalassemia patients' knowledge of transfusion, complications, and guidelines; their experience of clinicians' following guidelines; and their perspectives on ways to store and share personal transfusion data. A convenience sample of 32 patients participated in structured interviews. Most, if not all, understood iron overload, chelation therapy, blood typing, and cross-matching. Awareness of each of five of evidence-based transfusion guidelines that were discussed ranged from 72 to 88%. Patients expressed privacy concerns about each of three data storage options, slightly less for a registry than for a wallet card or smartphone app. The registry also avoided concerns that the other options placed extra burden on patients. Recommendations include increased education on the meaning and significance of packed, washed red blood cells, leuko-reduction, and detailed cross-matching, and implementation of a nationwide registry to make transfusion data available to providers anywhere at the point of care. Registry implementation should be sensitive to patients' privacy and security concerns, but also help them appropriately weigh those against safety benefits. These actions could help reduce transfusion complications in thalassemia by improving patient efficacy and increasing adherence to evidence-based guidelines.

Health Impact Assessment: A Missed Opportunity for MCH Professionals in Their Quest to Address the Social Determinants of Health.

INTRODUCTION: Public health professionals, especially ones concerned with maternal and child health (MCH), need to engage in cross-sector collaborations to address social determinants of health. Health Impact Assessment (HIA) systematically brings public health perspectives into non-health decision-making contexts that influence social determinants. Alignment of MCH and HIA practice has not previously been documented. METHODS: An exploratory review of HIAs conducted in the United States considered several dimensions of MCH-HIA alignment and produced data to test the hypothesis that HIAs involving MCH stakeholders are more likely to address MCH populations and relevant measures. The review examined three key variables for each HIA: inclusion of MCH-focused stakeholders, level of focus on MCH populations, and presence of MCH-relevant content. RESULTS: Of the 424 HIAs included in the database of US HIAs, 350 were included in this review. Twenty-four percent (84) included MCH-focused stakeholders, and 42% (148) focused on MCH populations. Ninety percent (317) included metrics or content relevant to at least one Title V National Performance Measure (NPM). HIAs that clearly included MCH stakeholders had seven times the odds of including both a focus on MCH populations and at least one NPM-relevant topic compared to HIAs that did not clearly include MCH stakeholders (OR 6.98; 95% CI 3.99, 12.20). DISCUSSION: Despite low engagement of MCH stakeholders in HIAs, many still consider MCH populations and measures. Intentional engagement of MCH workforce in HIAs could ensure greater alignment with existing MCH priorities (such as addressing the social determinants of health and equity) in a given jurisdiction.

Blood Transfusion: Knowledge, Perspectives, and Experience of Individuals With Sickle Cell Disease.

Patient voice and perspective were needed to inform effective, comprehensive strategies for reducing preventable transfusion-associated complications. This report presents the results of interviews with sickle cell disease (SCD) patients and implications for strategies to reduce transfusion complications in this population. Twenty-two participants were recruited from 2 comprehensive SCD treatment centers in Georgia and interviewed regarding knowledge about transfusions and potential complications, attitudes about data storage and sharing, and the transfusion experience. Participants had general knowledge of physiology, blood products, and blood transfusions, including knowing the risk of complications, but varied in comprehension of complex health information and level of misinformation. Patients also varied in preferences for how they would like their transfusion information stored. They saw both advantages and disadvantages to wallet cards, smartphone applications, and registries. There is a need for a patient-centered approach that involves transfusion education and shared decision-making. Education should range from essential and simple to more in-depth to accommodate varying education and comprehension levels. Multiple tracking methods should be offered to store sensitive patient information.

Characterizing complication risk from multisite, intermittent transfusions for the treatment of sickle cell disease.

Blood transfusions are indicated for some acute complications of sickle cell disease (SCD). To characterize the SCD population at increased risk of transfusion-associated complications, Georgia hospital discharge data were used to estimate the frequency of intermittent transfusions and the proportion of patients receiving them at multiple institutions. Ten years of data (2007-2016) showed almost 19% of patients with SCD (1585/8529) received transfusions at more than one hospital. The likelihood of multisite transfusions increased from ages 18 through 40 and with the number of transfusions received. The results support the need to track and share transfusion histories in order to reduce complication risks.

Impact of Red Blood Cell Antigen Matching on Alloimmunization and Transfusion Complications in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease: A Systematic Review.

Red blood cells (RBC) transfusion is critical in managing acute and chronic complications in sickle cell disease (SCD); however, it is complicated by RBC alloimmunization, iron overload, transfusion reactions and infection. Several reports documented an increased incidence of alloantibodies in transfused individuals with SCD, especially for Rh and Kell antigens. As a result, the National Institutes of Health Expert Panel and British Society for Haematology guidelines recommend primary matching for C/c, E/e and K antigens in addition to ABO/RhD for RBC transfusions. However, the evidence supporting these recommendations was cited as limited and understanding of alloimmunization in SCD is evolving. To examine the limitations of the evidence, we undertook a systematic review of evidence behind recommendations for limited and extended serologic and genotypic RBC antigen matching to reduce alloimmunization, autoimmunization and transfusion reactions. Searches of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases using MeSH index and free text terms between 1976 through October 2015 and papers and captured through July 2016 through review references in papers, word of mouth, and ongoing Google Scholar and Medline Alerts identified 303 unique articles. Nineteen articles met inclusion criteria and were classified by the Oxford Centre Evidence Based levels of evidence. Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology checklists were completed for 18 of the 19 studies. There were no prospective randomized controlled trials. Sixteen of the articles were cohort studies, two were cross-sectional studies, and one decision tree model examining costs. Low-quality evidence from observational cohort studies supports that alloimmunization prevalence can be decreased by extending serological RBC antigen matching. Transfusion reactions are generally poorly and inconsistently reported. There was no evidence reporting the effect prophylactic genotypic matching has on alloimmunization, autoimmunization or transfusion reactions. There were no studies comparing prophylactic genotypic matching to serologic matching. High-quality evidence was lacking to support clinical decision making regarding best transfusion practices. Multicenter prospective randomized clinical trials are needed to determine best strategies for reducing the rate of alloimmunization using serologic and genotypic matching.

Using Behavior Over Time Graphs to Spur Systems Thinking Among Public Health Practitioners.

Public health practitioners can use Behavior Over Time (BOT) graphs to spur discussion and systems thinking around complex challenges. Multiple large systems, such as health care, the economy, and education, affect chronic disease rates in the United States. System thinking tools can build public health practitioners' capacity to understand these systems and collaborate within and across sectors to improve population health. BOT graphs show a variable, or variables (y axis) over time (x axis). Although analyzing trends is not new to public health, drawing BOT graphs, annotating the events and systemic forces that are likely to influence the depicted trends, and then discussing the graphs in a diverse group provides an opportunity for public health practitioners to hear each other's perspectives and creates a more holistic understanding of the key factors that contribute to a trend. We describe how BOT graphs are used in public health, how they can be used to generate group discussion, and how this process can advance systems-level thinking. Then we describe how BOT graphs were used with groups of maternal and child health (MCH) practitioners and partners (N = 101) during a training session to advance their thinking about MCH challenges. Eighty-six percent of the 84 participants who completed an evaluation agreed or strongly agreed that they would use this BOT graph process to engage stakeholders in their home states and jurisdictions. The BOT graph process we describe can be applied to a variety of public health issues and used by practitioners, stakeholders, and researchers.

Using a Health in All Policies approach to address social determinants of sexually transmitted disease inequities in the context of community change and redevelopment.

OBJECTIVES: We used a Health in All Policies (HiAP) framework to determine what data, policy, and community efficacy opportunities exist for improving sexual health and reducing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in an area surrounding an Army base undergoing redevelopment in Atlanta, Georgia. METHODS: We conducted a literature review, consulted with experts, mapped social determinants in the community, conducted key informant interviews with community leaders to explore policy solutions, used Photovoice with community members to identify neighborhood assets, and shared data with all stakeholder groups to solicit engagement for next steps. RESULTS: We identified the following HiAP-relevant determinants of STD inequities in the literature: education, employment, male incarceration, drug and alcohol marketing, and social capital. Quantitative data confirmed challenges in education, employment, and male incarceration in the area. Interviews identified policy opportunities such as educational funding ratios, Community Hire Agreements, code and law enforcement, addiction and mental health resources, lighting for safety, and a nonemergency public safety number. Photovoice participants identified community assets to protect including family-owned businesses, green spaces, gathering places, public transportation resources, historical sites, and architectural elements. Stakeholder feedback provided numerous opportunities for next steps. CONCLUSIONS: This study contributes to the HiAP literature by providing an innovative mixed-methods design that locates social determinants of STDs within a geographic context, identifies policy solutions from local leaders, highlights community assets through the lens of place attachment, and engages stakeholders in identifying next steps. Findings from this study could inform other redevelopments, community-based studies of STDs, and HiAP efforts.