Abu Dabrh, Abd Moain

Background Employee wellness programs can help manage stress and alleviate burnout. Objective To pilot and disseminate the Intentional Action(InAct) concept for employee wellbeing. Methods Five independent interactive workshop-lectures with an automated audience response system. Descriptive analysis of participant response data. Results Participants (n = 275): rated spirituality, physical environment and nutrition the most highly in contributing to their present well-being. Ninety-eight percent (n = 269) of participants identified a focus area to work on. The well-being area most selected was Exercise, (35% n = 95), however, other non-traditional areas, including Personal and Professional Development (18% n = 48), Relationships and Communication (17% n = 47), were selected, along with mind-body connection and mindful awareness (6% n = 15 and n = 16). Conclusion The pilot engaged employees to reflect and set goals for their future well-being. Healthcare institutions implementing programs should consider a broad range of whole person strategies addressing employee well-being, which go beyond the traditional focus on exercise and nutrition.

The past six decades have been marked by leaps and bounds in medical advances, while concurrently clinical outcomes and the quality of life continued to lag or decline. There is a need for more comprehensive approaches to delivering healthcare to patients that address illness and wellness within and outside healthcare settings. Mounting evidence shows that making sustainable changes in healthcare requires approaching patients’/individuals’ care as a continuum—within and outside healthcare settings—while addressing their capacity (ie ability) and workload (ie demands) and incorporating their values and preferences. Health and Wellness Coaching (HWC) has been proposed as a solution to create partnerships to empower individuals to take ownership, leadership, and accountability of their well-being, using nondirective, empathic, and mindful conversations that employ motivational-interviewing and evidence-based approaches. Insufficient clarity exists among healthcare professionals in understanding the definition, roles, and types of HWC. This primer summarizes HWC concepts and history and compares HWC types and its potential role in promoting, supporting, and improving the well-being, clinical outcomes, and quality of life of the pertinent stakeholders. This primer also highlights current and potential areas of application of HWC within different subpopulations and healthcare-related settings.

Abstract Background: Chronic conditions are placing a serious burden on individuals as well as the health care system. Health coaching (HC) has emerged as a promising approach that can support effective lifestyle interventions for chronic conditions. However, until now there is no particularly comprehensive systematic review of HC impact on a chronic condition from the angle of patient improvement and detail coaching characteristics reported. Objective: To synthesize available studies on the efficacy and current status of HC interventions on the health of chronically ill adult patients. Methods: The literature search will be conducted for trials published in English within the past four years. Electronic databases CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Embase, MEDLINE, and Scopus will be searched with keywords describing HC for chronic diseases. Randomized controlled trials that compare HC interventions to conventional care or other alternative therapies will be included. Data extraction will be conducted by two reviewers independently, and enrolled trials will be evaluated for quality and bias assessment. If appropriate, meta-analysis will be conducted on the last stage of the review; otherwise, the study findings will be described narratively. The software Review Manager (Revman version 5.3.5.) provided by the Cochrane Collaboration will be applied for the meta-analysis. Results: This is the first study to comprehensively explore the effectiveness and current status of HC intervention for patients with chronic conditions. Discussion: Study findings from this review will advance the appropriate utilization of coaching practice by determining whether HC is effective and feasible among patients with chronic disease. If proven effective, this approach may be applied more broadly through public health interventions. The current status findings will also provide evidence to inform decisions for integrating HC interventions into the current management pathway for individuals with chronic conditions. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42020153280.

AbstractBackgroundReflecting (“stop‐and‐think”) before rating may help patients consider the quality of shared decision making (SDM) and mitigate ceiling/halo effects that limit the performance of self‐reported SDM measures.MethodsWe asked a diverse patient sample from the United States to reflect on their care before completing the 3‐item CollaboRATE SDM measure. Study 1 focused on rephrasing CollaboRATE items to promote reflection before each item. Study 2 used 5 open‐ended questions (about what went well and what could be improved upon, signs that the clinician understood the patient's situation, how the situation will be addressed, and why this treatment plan makes sense) to invite reflection before using the whole scale. A linear analogue scale assessed the extent to which the plan of care made sense to the patient.ResultsIn Study 1, 107 participants completed surveys (84% response rate), 43 (40%) rated a clinical decision of which 27 (63%) after responding to reflection questions. Adding reflection lowered CollaboRATE scores (“less” SDM) and reduced the proportion of patients giving maximum (ceiling) scores (not statistically significant). In Study 2, 103 of 212 responders (49%) fully completed the version containing reflection questions. Reflection did not significantly change the distribution of CollaboRATE scores or of top scores. Participants indicated high scores on the sense of their care plan (mean 9.7 out of 10, SD 0.79). This rating was weakly correlated with total CollaboRATE scores (rho = .4, P = .0001).ConclusionReflection‐before‐quantification interventions may not improve the performance of patient‐reported measures of SDM with substantial ceiling/halo effects.

Chronic hepatitis B viral (HBV) infection remains a significant global health problem. Evidence‐based guidelines are needed to help providers determine when treatment should be initiated, which medication is most appropriate, and when treatment can safely be stopped. The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases HBV guideline methodology and writing committees developed a protocol a priori for this systematic review. We searched multiple databases for randomized controlled trials and controlled observational studies that enrolled adults ≥18 years old diagnosed with chronic HBV infection who received antiviral therapy. Data extraction was done by pairs of independent reviewers. We included 73 studies, of which 59 (15 randomized controlled trials and 44 observational studies) reported clinical outcomes. Moderate‐quality evidence supported the effectiveness of antiviral therapy in patients with immune active chronic HBV infection in reducing the risk of cirrhosis, decompensated liver disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma. In immune tolerant patients, moderate‐quality evidence supports improved intermediate outcomes with antiviral therapy. Only very low‐quality evidence informed the questions about discontinuing versus continuing antiviral therapy in hepatitis B e antigen‐positive patients who seroconverted from hepatitis B e antigen to hepatitis B e antibody and about the safety of entecavir versus tenofovir. Noncomparative and indirect evidence was available for questions about stopping versus continuing antiviral therapy in hepatitis B e antigen‐negative patients, monotherapy versus adding a second agent in patients with persistent viremia during treatment, and the effectiveness of antivirals in compensated cirrhosis with low‐level viremia. Conclusion: Most of the current literature focuses on the immune active phases of chronic HBV infection; decision‐making in other commonly encountered and challenging clinical settings depends on indirect evidence. (H epatology 2016;63:284–306)

Objectives: The objective was to assess the effect of menopausal hormonal therapy (MHT) on all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search of several databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Database of Systematic Reviews, and Scopus) from inception until August 2013. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of more than 6 months of duration comparing MHT with no treatment. Pairs of independent reviewers selected trials, assessed risk of bias and extracted data. We estimated risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using the random-effects model. Results: We included 43 RCTs at moderate risk of bias. Meta-analysis showed no effect on mortality (RR 0.99 [95% CI, 0.94–1.05]), regardless of MHT type or history of preexisting heart disease. No association was found between MHT and cardiac death (RR 1.04 [95% CI 0.87–1.23]) or stroke (RR 1.49 [95% CI 0.95–2.31]). Estrogen plus progesterone use was associated with a likely increase in breast cancer mortality (RR 1.96 [95% CI 0.98–3.94]), whereas estrogen use was not. MHT use was not associated with mortality of other types of cancer. In 5 trials, MHT was likely started at a younger age: 2 RCTs with mean age less than 60 and 3 RCTs with MHT started less than 10 years after menopause. Meta-analysis of these 5 RCTs showed a reduction of mortality with MHT (RR 0.70 [95% CI 0.52–0.95]). Conclusion: The current evidence suggests that MHT does not affect the risk of death from all causes, cardiac death and death from stroke or cancer. These data may be used to support clinical and policy deliberations about the role of MHT in the care of symptomatic postmenopausal women.

Background Motor vehicle accidents associated with commercial driving are an important cause of occupational death and impact public safety. Objectives We summarise the evidence regarding the type, prevalence and impact of medical conditions discovered during health assessment of commercial drivers. Evidence review We conducted a systematic review of multiple electronic databases and made a manual search for relevant studies that enrolled commercial drivers in any country and reported the outcomes of health assessment carried out in the context of commercial driving through November 2012. Data were extracted by a pair of independent reviewers and synthesised using a metanarrative approach. Results We identified 32 studies of moderate methodological quality enrolling 151 644 commercial drivers (98% men). The prevalence of multiple health conditions was high (sleep disorders 19%, diabetes 33%, hypertension 23% and obesity 45%). Some conditions, such as sleep disorders and obesity, were linked to increased risk of crashes. Evidence on several other highly relevant medical conditions was lacking. Cost-effectiveness data were sparse. Conclusions Several medical conditions are highly prevalent in commercial drivers and can be associated with increased risk of crashes, thus providing a rationale for health assessment of commercial drivers.