Community Paramedicine Initiative: Transforming Paramedicine in British Columbia.

British Columbia's health care system is facing challenges related to rural access to care and an ever increasing demand for services. These variables are compounded by the anticipated needs of an aging population that can expect to live several of their golden years with a chronic illness. The introduction of community paramedicine in BC allows for a care delivery model that expands the role of qualified paramedics to include the delivery of prevention, health promotion and primary care services in the community. The implementation of the Community Paramedicine Initiative in rural and remote BC highlights a transformational approach to health care delivery empowered by a technology enabled perspective of community needs.

Managing skin disease in resource-poor environments - the role of community-oriented training and control programs.

Programs that have been devised to improve the lot of patients with skin disease, or disease presenting with skin signs and symptoms, in resource-poor regions have focused mainly on education and training or community-oriented control measures. However, both have in common an objective of managing disease at population level. Training has been delivered in different ways both by direct teaching for varying periods of time or by web-based and electronic communication; control measures have been less in evidence and there is a great need for more support from funding agencies. Despite this, there is now a growing number of successful initiatives in health improvement for skin conditions that cover many parts of the world. This report describes many of these schemes as an example of what can be done to help patients.

Translating research into evidence-based practice: the National Cancer Institute Community Clinical Oncology Program.

The recent rapid acceleration of basic science is reshaping both our clinical research system and our healthcare delivery system. The pace and growing volume of medical discoveries are yielding exciting new opportunities, yet we continue to face old challenges to maintain research progress and effectively translate research into practice. The National Institutes of Health and individual government programs increasingly are emphasizing research agendas that involve evidence development, comparative-effectiveness research among heterogeneous populations, translational research, and accelerating the translation of research into evidence-based practice as well as building successful research networks to support these efforts. For more than 25 years, the National Cancer Institute Community Clinical Oncology Program has successfully extended research into the community and facilitated the translation of research into evidence-based practice. By describing its keys to success, this article provides practical guidance to cancer-focused, provider-based research networks as well as those in other disciplines.

Movimentos de mudança na formação em saúde: da medicina comunitária às diretrizes curriculares / Changing movements in health higher education: from community medicine to the activators course

Este ensaio busca refletir as diversas iniciativas pró-mudança na formação superior em saúde implantadas no Brasil. Esta análise histórica faz-se necessária tendo em vista a importância da sistematização e difusão das experiências anteriores para o auxilio na construção das novas propostas pró-mudança. Estamos hoje refletindo sobre processos ativos de ensino-aprendizagem por termos vivenciado propostas como a da Medicina Comunitária, o Projeto de Integração Docente Assistencial, o Programa UNI, o movimento da Rede UNIDA, a Lei de Diretrizes Curriculares, Educação Permanente em Saúde e o Curso de Ativadores. Avançamos a partir da construção da tentativa anterior. Não é necessária a descoberta da roda a todo momento. Ela pode ser adaptada e voltar a girar. O olhar para as experiências do passado e para as necessidades do presente ajuda na construção do futuro almejado.

This paper aims to ponder over the various pro-change initiatives in health higher education in Brazil. A historical analysis is needed since prior experiences systematization and diffusion are important on attempting to build new pro-change proposals. Today we are pondering over active processes of teaching-learning because we have experienced proposals such as Community Medicine, the Professor Integrative Assistence Project, the PROUNI Program, the Rede UNIDA movement, the Curricular Guideline Law, Permanent Education in Health and the Activators' course. There is no need to discover the wheel all the time. It can be adapted and start to spin again. Taking a look into the past experiences and into the present needs helps in building a desirable future.

A comparison between integrating clinical practice setting and randomized controlled trial setting into economic evaluation models of therapeutics.

BACKGROUND: Cost-effectiveness analyses generated from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) represent results obtained under ideal experimental conditions (efficacy) and the applicability of these data to real-world settings (effectiveness) may be questionable. OBJECTIVE: To compare cost-effectiveness results obtained from a RCT setting with the results derived from community-based clinical practice. METHODS: Using data from a community-based cohort study and from a RCT, two cost-effectiveness analyses were performed and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated for the use of etanercept in the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. RESULTS: Using an effectiveness-based analysis, the mean quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained during the 12-month monitoring period were 0.45 and 0.35 for the treatment and control groups respectively. The ICER for etanercept treatment was 174,200 dollars (CDN) per QALY (95% confidence limits between 119,500 dollars and 285,000 dollars). Incorporating efficacy data obtained from the RCT into the analysis, the mean QALYs gained were 0.56 and 0.35 for the treatment and control groups respectively. This resulted in a substantially lower ICER for etanercept treatment of 82,952 dollars per QALY (95% confidence limits between 66,500 dollars and 103,430 dollars). CONCLUSION: Depending on the type of clinical setting used for the analysis, the resulting ICER for etanercept treatment was very different. These results help to explain the difference in cost-effectiveness reported in previous modeling studies, some based on RCT assumptions and some based on effectiveness setting.

Fair rationing is essentially local: an argument for postcode prescribing.

In this paper I argue that resource allocation in publicly funded medical systems cannot be done using a purely substantive theory of justice, but must also involve procedural justice. I argue further that procedural justice requires institutions and that these must be "local" in a specific sense which I define. The argument rests on the informational constraints on any non-market method for allocating scarce resources among competing claims of need. However, I resist the identification of this normative account of local justice with the actual approach to local decision-making taken within the UK National Health Service. I illustrate my argument with reference to the case of provision of In Vitro Fertilisation within the UK NHS.

Healing the body and the soul through visualization: a technique used by the Community Healing Team of Cape Dorset, Nunavut.

As Alice Kimiksana indicated, the Healing Circle or Healing Teams evolved to help First Nations people who attended residential schools deal with the aftermath of the abuse many of them suffered there. They use a variety of interventions, some traditional and some more Western in origin, for an innovative approach to a very serious problem. One technique developed by Western psychology, but very useful and adaptable in other cultural settings, is guided imagery or visualization. Often used for performance enhancement in sports, it is also applicable to other situations from medical settings to mental health treatment. In this presentation, Novaliinga Kingwatsiaq of Kingnait (Cape Dorset) led the audience through a modified version of a visualization used by her Community Healing Team. (During visualization one assumes a relaxed state with one's eyes closed and imagines oneself in the context of a story told by the person guiding the imagery.) The imagery she chose is both symbolically and culturally appropriate. Most audience members were unfamiliar with the process of visualization, and several indicated that they were intrigued by the experience. Kumaarjuk Pii introduced Novaliinga Kingwatsiaq and translated for her.

[Community medicine and diagnostic radiology]. / Community Medicine und Diagnostische Radiologie.

The main topics of community medicine are widespread diseases, quality of life and the efficiency of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures under out-patient conditions. Among its allied disciplines, diagnostic radiology is of some importance. Studies in community medicine take advantage of diagnostic imaging in all stages of their development. Many fields of radiologic activity (bone absorptiometry, mammography, vascular and chest radiology) have been examined by community medicine researchers. A similar evaluation of differential indications for cross-sectional imaging and teleradiology is still to be expected. In order to increase the research on interrelations between the two disciplines, radiologists have to set foot on new grounds of scientific methods (decision trees, models, cost-efficiency analysis). In this way, the mechanisms that control the transfer of research into the so-called good radiological practice can be clarified.

A collaborative model for supporting community-based interdisciplinary education.

Development and support of community-based, interdisciplinary ambulatory medical education has achieved high priority due to on-site capacity and the unique educational experiences community sites contribute to the educational program. The authors describe the collaborative model their school developed and implemented in 2000 to integrate institution- and community-based interdisciplinary education through a centralized office, the strengths and challenges faced in applying it, the educational outcomes that are being tracked to evaluate its effectiveness, and estimates of funds needed to ensure its success. Core funding of $180,000 is available annually for a centralized office, the keystone of the model described here. With this funding, the office has (1) addressed recruitment, retention, and quality of educators for UME; (2) promoted innovation in education, evaluation, and research; (3) supported development of a comprehensive curriculum for medical school education; and (4) monitored the effectiveness of community-based education programs by tracking product yield and cost estimates needed to generate these programs. The model's Teaching and Learning Database contains information about more than 1,500 educational placements at 165 ambulatory teaching sites (80% in northern New England) involving 320 active preceptors. The centralized office facilitated 36 site visits, 22% of which were interdisciplinary, involving 122 preceptors. A total of 98 follow-up requests by community-based preceptors were fulfilled in 2000. The current submission-to-funding ratio for educational grants is 56%. Costs per educational activity have ranged from $811.50 to $1,938, with costs per preceptor ranging from $101.40 to $217.82. Cost per product (grants, manuscripts, presentations) in research and academic scholarship activities was $2,492. The model allows the medical school to balance institutional and departmental support for its educational programs, and to better position itself for the ongoing changes in the health care system.

Practice guidelines for community-based parenteral anti-infective therapy. ISDA Practice Guidelines Committee.

This is the fourth in a series of practice guidelines commissioned by the Infectious Diseases Society of America through its Practice Guidelines Committee. The purpose of this guideline is to provide assistance to clinicians when making decisions on when and how to best administer parenteral antimicrobial therapy. The targeted providers are internists, pediatricians, family practitioners, and other providers of outpatient antiinfective therapy. Criteria for selecting the appropriate patients and settings to deliver therapy in the community are described. Panel members represented experts in adult and pediatric infectious diseases. The guidelines are evidence-based. A standard ranking system is used for the strength of the recommendations and the quality of the evidence cited in the literature reviewed. The document has been subjected to external review by peer reviewers as well as by the Practice Guidelines Committee and was approved by the IDSA Council. An executive summary and tables highlight the major recommendations.

Community-based medical education: feasibility and cost.

The General Medical Council has issued a call for an increase in community-based medical education, and many medical schools are enhancing the community component of their curricula. This paper uses the experience of a community-based junior medical firm to explore the potential costs, and highlight some of the unresolved problems, which a major transfer of education to the community might engender. Community-based medical education is not a cheap option. The cost of this programme for the academic year 1992-93 was 266,494 pounds, or 60 pounds per student session. This compares with the Service Increment for Teaching and Research (SIFTR) provision of 41,140 pounds per student per annum, or (excluding the 25% of SIFTR which is supposed to cover research costs), 64 pounds per student session. There are a number of possible ways of funding community-based education, including a diversion of SIFTR toward departments of primary health care. As this would have serious implications for the financial viability of some medical schools, an urgent discussion about the future funding of medical education is required.

Use of teicoplanin in community medicine.

Administration of parenteral antibiotics to outpatients is increasingly used to reduce hospital costs, to reduce loss of earnings for the patient and to improve the quality of life in patients requiring prolonged antibiotic treatment. The glycopeptides are required for treatment of infections caused by methicillin resistant staphylococci and some enterococci, or for treatment of patients allergic to beta-lactam agents. For home therapy, teicoplanin has some advantages over vancomycin in that it requires only once-daily bolus administration, does not necessitate monitoring of serum concentrations and offers the choice of intravenous or intramuscular administration. Teicoplanin has been used to complete treatment of endocarditis at home in selected patients, streptococcal disease being the most suitable form of endocarditis for this treatment. In open trials, teicoplanin has been found effective in home therapy of osteomyelitis but, as with other agents, prolonged dosage can be associated with adverse effects. It has also been used for home treatment of infections of the respiratory tract, intravascular catheters and soft tissue. Despite its higher acquisition costs, teicoplanin is to be preferred over vancomycin because of the reduced administration and assay costs and fewer adverse effects.

[The Bamako initiative: hope or illusion? Observations on the Benin experience]. / L'initiative de Bamako: espoir ou illusion? Réflexions autour de l'expérience béninoise.

In various countries in Africa, community financing has become the main source of finance for health services. In Benin, the "Bamako Initiative" experiment started in 1988 for many health structures and has subsequently been greatly expanded. After three years experience, the authors try to answer some important questions about community financing: To what extent does payment of fees have an influence on the use of health services? How are the funds collected and used and is embezzlement a serious problem? The question of equity is also considered as well as cost recovery, allowing an economics-based assessment of the Bamako Initiative which suggests that it has a promising future in Benin.

Partial cost-benefit analysis of two different modes of nonpharmacological control of hypertension in the community.

In the Dan and Ashkelon areas of Israel, 28 male and 24 female mild to moderate hypertensives without target organ damage aged 35-65 years were randomly assigned to treatment programmes (based on nutritional management, exercise and stress management techniques) either on an individual basis administered by physician-nurse teams (PN) or on a group basis from a team of paramedical professionals (PP) consisting of a psychologist, nutritionist and physical activity instructor. At 11 and 24 months follow-up, there were similar significant improvements in both treatment modes for such risk factors as body mass index, caloric intake and physical activity levels. There was a significant decrease in drug use from $36.28 a month at baseline to $18.94 a month at 11 month follow-up (P = 0.01) and to an estimated $20.48 at 24 months. Mean BP remained unchanged, despite the reduction in drug use, indicating a reduction in the underlying BP. The net present value (NPV) of the reduction in drug utilisation totalled $740 per person over a five year time horizon and a 7.5% discount rate. The total extra costs of treatment, training, case-note writing, travelling and follow-up booster sessions, amounted to $95 per patient for the PN mode and $234 per patient for the PP mode, yielding benefit to cost ratios of 7.79/1 and 3.16/l, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)