Data Collection Plan Research Articles

The Role of Hospice and Palliative Care Nurses in Quality Improvement

Now more than ever, it is essential for hospice and palliative care nurse leaders to be front and center in the quality improvement (QI) arena. Because nurses are integral to the delivery of hospice and palliative care, they are pivotal in efforts to improve quality. This article sought to provide an in-depth understanding of the leadership role that nurses can play in QI activities from project inception and team formation, to the planning stage. The analysis revealed that hospice and palliative care nurses have a leadership role at the onset of the QI project that includes active team membership as a QI team leader, team member, and/or champion. Nurses also have a leadership role in formulating the project aims and choosing the appropriate project model within their organizations. Finally, hospice and palliative care nurses use their planning skills to develop QI project measures, data collection plan, data analysis plan, and communication/implementation/evaluation plan. The QI project provides opportunities for hospice and palliative care nurse leaders to use their clinical, technical, and administrative knowledge to improve the care of patients and families at the end of life.

Emon: an R‐package to support the design of marine ecological and environmental studies, surveys and monitoring programmes

Summary Marine systems and their biota are always changing, in response to environmental and human pressures such as climate variation and change, eutrophication, fisheries exploitation, litter, noise and accidental releases or regular discharges of contaminants, radioactivity and hazardous substances. Studies, surveys and monitoring help to describe and understand system responses to these pressures, and provide evidence to assess the needs for, and effects of, management interventions. Studies, surveys and monitoring are often costly, especially offshore, so small investments in preliminary data collection and systematic planning of these activities can help to make best use of resources and inform trade‐offs between budgets and expectations. To meet recognised needs for accessible tools to plan some aspects of studies, surveys and monitoring, we developed the R package emon. Emon includes routines for study design through power analysis (assuming independence of observations) and feature detection; which are the focus of this paper. We hope that access to the functions in emon, many drawing on work which was previously published but without code for implementation, will raise awareness of what marine studies, surveys and monitoring can achieve, thus encouraging cost‐effective, needs‐ and evidence‐based designs.

Developing consensus measures for global programs: lessons from the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases Hypertension research program

BackgroundThe imperative to improve global health has prompted transnational research partnerships to investigate common health issues on a larger scale. The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD) is an alliance of national research funding agencies. To enhance research funded by GACD members, this study aimed to standardise data collection methods across the 15 GACD hypertension research teams and evaluate the uptake of these standardised measurements. Furthermore we describe concerns and difficulties associated with the data harmonisation process highlighted and debated during annual meetings of the GACD funded investigators.With these concerns and issues in mind, a working group comprising representatives from the 15 studies iteratively identified and proposed a set of common measures for inclusion in each of the teams’ data collection plans. One year later all teams were asked which consensus measures had been implemented.ResultsImportant issues were identified during the data harmonisation process relating to data ownership, sharing methodologies and ethical concerns. Measures were assessed across eight domains; demographic; dietary; clinical and anthropometric; medical history; hypertension knowledge; physical activity; behavioural (smoking and alcohol); and biochemical domains. Identifying validated measures relevant across a variety of settings presented some difficulties. The resulting GACD hypertension data dictionary comprises 67 consensus measures. Of the 14 responding teams, only two teams were including more than 50 consensus variables, five teams were including between 25 and 50 consensus variables and four teams were including between 6 and 24 consensus variables, one team did not provide details of the variables collected and two teams did not include any of the consensus variables as the project had already commenced or the measures were not relevant to their study.ConclusionsDeriving consensus measures across diverse research projects and contexts was challenging. The major barrier to their implementation was related to the time taken to develop and present these measures. Inclusion of consensus measures into future funding announcements would facilitate researchers integrating these measures within application protocols. We suggest that adoption of consensus measures developed here, across the field of hypertension, would help advance the science in this area, allowing for more comparable data sets and generalizable inferences.

Impact of a national antimicrobial stewardship mentoring program: Insights and lessons learned.

The impact of an interprofessional mentoring program to advance antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) in selected U.S. hospitals and lessons learned are described. A seven-step mentoring process with self-assessment, telephone calls, continuing education, a one-day onsite visit, action plan, and outcome data collection and analysis was provided to ASP teams at nine hospitals. Six hospitals completed the program. A significant improvement in the timeliness and appropriateness of i.v. antibiotic therapy (defined as a hang time within one hour after prescriber order entry and broad-spectrum coverage for gram-negative pathogens administered first when combination therapy was used) was observed in patients with sepsis over the 12-month period after implementation of the mentoring program. As a result of requiring hospital administration's participation in the mentoring program, increased funding became available at three hospitals for the microbiology laboratory to provide new rapid diagnostic tests and for pharmacist and physician time to devote to ASP activities. The collaboration and engagement of ASP team members, inclusion of hospital administrators and pharmacy directors in the onsite mentoring visits, and an experienced mentor team with an infectious diseases (ID) physician and ID pharmacist contributed to ASP success. Challenges included insufficient time to collect outcome metrics due to competing hospital priorities and loss of momentum over time. A mentoring program for antimicrobial stewardship provided the perspective that comes from experience. Engagement of hospital administration was a key factor for both developing and sustaining a stewardship program.

A National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Management System for South Africa

South Africa has committed to reducing its contribution to the global GHG budget. It ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol. The UNFCCC stipulates that Non-Annex 1 countries are required to submit inventory reports every two years as part of their Biennial Update Reports (BURs) or National Communications (NCs). To assist with this increased reporting a National GHG Inventory Management System (NGHGIS), with new internal procedures and capacities, is being developed. The NGHGIS has been designed to ensure transparency, consistency, comparability, completeness and accuracy of the GHG inventory. It ensures the quality of the inventory through planning, preparation and management of inventory activities. The NGHGIS has been set up in a web-based, collaborative platform that allows for document management, sharing and storage. The main components of the NGHGIS are the (a) organisational structure; (b) inventory preparation work plan where responsibilities are assigned; (c) data supplier and stakeholder lists; (d) input datasets (linked to the stakeholder list) providing information on required data, MOU’s, and data due dates; (e) quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) objectives, checks, logs and tools; (f) emission calculation method statements; (g) GHG inventory outputs which include estimation files, a trend viewer and a public website; and (h) improvement plans. In addition to the web-based system, new institutional arrangements and data flows have been proposed, the legal landscape has been mapped, draft MOUs for data suppliers have been drawn up and a detailed QA/QC plan has been developed. The final stage of the NGHGIS is the development of the data collection plan and technical guidelines for the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) and Waste sectors. The centralised NGHGIS will reduce the loss of information, improve continuity between inventories and assist in the timely completion of inventory updates.

Assessment of the scope and practice of evaluation among medical donation programs.

BackgroundMedical donation programs for drugs, other medical products, training and other supportive services can improve access to essential medicines in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and provide emergency and disaster relief. The scope and extent to which medical donation programs evaluate their impact on recipients and health systems is not well documented.MethodsWe conducted a survey of the member organizations of the Partnership for Quality Medical Donations (PQMD), a global alliance of non-profit and corporate organizations, to identify evaluations conducted in conjunction with donation programs.ResultsTwenty-five out of the 36 PQMD organizations that were members at the time of the survey participated in the study, for a response rate of 69 %. PQMD members provided information on 34 of their major medical donation programs. Half of the donation programs reported conducting trainings as a part of their donation program. Twenty-six (76 %) programs reported that they conduct routine monitoring of their donation programs. Less than 30 % of donation programs were evaluated for their impact on health. Lack of technical staff and lack of funding were reported as key barriers to conducting impact evaluations.ConclusionsMember organizations of PQMD provide a broad range of medical donations, targeting a wide range of public health issues and events. While some level of monitoring and evaluation was conducted in nearly 80 % of the donation programs, a program’s impact was infrequently evaluated. Opportunities exist to develop consistent metrics for medical donation programs, develop a common framework for impact evaluations, and advocate for data collection and analysis plans that collect meaningful metrics.

The Incidence Patterns Model to Estimate the Distribution of New HIV Infections in Sub-Saharan Africa: Development and Validation of a Mathematical Model.

BackgroundProgrammatic planning in HIV requires estimates of the distribution of new HIV infections according to identifiable characteristics of individuals. In sub-Saharan Africa, robust routine data sources and historical epidemiological observations are available to inform and validate such estimates.Methods and FindingsWe developed a predictive model, the Incidence Patterns Model (IPM), representing populations according to factors that have been demonstrated to be strongly associated with HIV acquisition risk: gender, marital/sexual activity status, geographic location, “key populations” based on risk behaviours (sex work, injecting drug use, and male-to-male sex), HIV and ART status within married or cohabiting unions, and circumcision status. The IPM estimates the distribution of new infections acquired by group based on these factors within a Bayesian framework accounting for regional prior information on demographic and epidemiological characteristics from trials or observational studies. We validated and trained the model against direct observations of HIV incidence by group in seven rounds of cohort data from four studies (“sites”) conducted in Manicaland, Zimbabwe; Rakai, Uganda; Karonga, Malawi; and Kisesa, Tanzania. The IPM performed well, with the projections’ credible intervals for the proportion of new infections per group overlapping the data’s confidence intervals for all groups in all rounds of data. In terms of geographical distribution, the projections’ credible intervals overlapped the confidence intervals for four out of seven rounds, which were used as proxies for administrative divisions in a country. We assessed model performance after internal training (within one site) and external training (between sites) by comparing mean posterior log-likelihoods and used the best model to estimate the distribution of HIV incidence in six countries (Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Swaziland, and Zambia) in the region. We subsequently inferred the potential contribution of each group to transmission using a simple model that builds on the results from the IPM and makes further assumptions about sexual mixing patterns and transmission rates. In all countries except Swaziland, individuals in unions were the single group contributing to the largest proportion of new infections acquired (39%–77%), followed by never married women and men. Female sex workers accounted for a large proportion of new infections (5%–16%) compared to their population size. Individuals in unions were also the single largest contributor to the proportion of infections transmitted (35%–62%), followed by key populations and previously married men and women. Swaziland exhibited different incidence patterns, with never married men and women accounting for over 65% of new infections acquired and also contributing to a large proportion of infections transmitted (up to 56%). Between- and within-country variations indicated different incidence patterns in specific settings.ConclusionsIt is possible to reliably predict the distribution of new HIV infections acquired using data routinely available in many countries in the sub-Saharan African region with a single relatively simple mathematical model. This tool would complement more specific analyses to guide resource allocation, data collection, and programme planning.

Estimating Health-State Utility for Economic Models in Clinical Studies: An ISPOR Good Research Practices Task Force Report

Cost-utility models are increasingly used in many countries to establish whether the cost of a new intervention can be justified in terms of health benefits. Health-state utility (HSU) estimates (the preference for a given state of health on a cardinal scale where 0 represents dead and 1 represents full health) are typically among the most important and uncertain data inputs in cost-utility models. Clinical trials represent an important opportunity for the collection of health-utility data. However, trials designed primarily to evaluate efficacy and safety often present challenges to the optimal collection of HSU estimates for economic models. Careful planning is needed to determine which of the HSU estimates may be measured in planned trials; to establish the optimal methodology; and to plan any additional studies needed. This report aimed to provide a framework for researchers to plan the collection of health-utility data in clinical studies to provide high-quality HSU estimates for economic modeling. Recommendations are made for early planning of health-utility data collection within a research and development program; design of health-utility data collection during protocol development for a planned clinical trial; design of prospective and cross-sectional observational studies and alternative study types; and statistical analyses and reporting.

Development of Urban Driving Cycle with GPS Data Post Processing

This paper presents GIS-based methodology for urban area driving cycle construction. The approach reaches beyond the frames of usual driving cycle development methods and takes into account another perspective of data collection. Rather than planning data collection, the approach is based on available in-vehicle measurement data post processing using Geographic Information Systems to manipulate the excessive database and extract only the representative and geographically limited individual trip data. With such data post processing the data was carefully adjusted to include only the data that describe representative driving in Ljubljana urban area. The selected method for the driving cycle development is based on searching for the best microtrips combination while minimizing the difference between two vectors; one based on generated cycle and the other on the database. Accounting for a large random sample of actual trip data, our approach enables more representative area-specific driving cycle development than the previously used techniques.

Male and female condoms: What do women of a subnormal agglomerate know

Evaluate the knowledge about male and female condoms among women living in subnormal agglomerate and identify sources of information and appropriate care to use. Household survey, descriptive, transversal and quantitative study with 300 women over 18 of João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brasil, who began their sexual life. The systematic sampling plan for data collection was used. The interview form included sociodemographic questions and gazed relevant aspects of the use of condoms as a preventive measure of sexually transmitted infections and AIDS. TV and healthcare professionals were the main sources of information. The participants knew more often the male condom features compared to women. The care most often mentioned by women as the use of male and female condoms were related to the validity, form of openness and conditions of packaging and storage of condoms. The largest number of care focused on measures taken in the pre-sexual moment. Moreover, care was nonspecific on the female condom. The participating women have inadequate knowledge on female and male condoms. It is necessary that the nursing seek health education strategies for improving knowledge about relevant information about male and female condoms.

해외도시개발 지원 종합정보시스템 구축방안

ABSTRACT This research aims to build a total information system that systematizes existing sporadic information, which may lead to revitalization and efficiency of overseas urban development. To achieve this, this study firstly analyses the current information systems for urban development in foreign countries and information from the private sector. The results show that the information system that operates in the domestic agencies, are less likely to involve the contents related to information sharing, social network building and business process. However, that used in agencies ordering the overseas urban development projects, mostly provides the information of professionals, project participants and their business. Second, this research selects the information to be provided by the integrated information system and proposes a data collection plan. The information, required to push forward urban development in abroad, is classified into seven categories. Third, this study establishes a target model of comprehensive information system and makes suggestions for institutional improvement. For doing this, it categorizes overseas urban development information, links to classified information, organizes the system into three stages to services through informational channels, and then suggests a target model. Furthermore, it proposes institutional improvement to achieve efficiency of information systems through a comprehensive review of the similar cases such as administrative system of architecture(Seumter) and land information system.Key words : Overseas Urban Development, Information System

Reflections on the value and impact of library and information services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine frameworks (such as scorecards) for ongoing library assessment and how business process modelling contributes in Part 3 of the series of viewpoint papers. Design/methodology/approach – Reviews the statistical data collection for strategic planning, and use of data analytics. Considers how to organise further value explorations. Compares macro-frameworks (balanced scorecard, values scorecard) and micro-frameworks for library assessment. Reviews the evidence on business process modelling/re-engineering initiatives. Describes how the Riva approach can be used to both derive a process architecture and to model individual processes. Findings – Data analytics requires collaboration among library services to develop reliable data sets and effective data visualisations for managers to use. Frameworks such as the balanced scorecard may be used to organise ongoing impact and performance evaluation. Queries that arise during ongoing library assessment may require a framework to formulate questions, and assemble evidence (qualitative and quantitative). Both macro- and micro-value frameworks are useful. Work on process modelling within libraries can help to develop an assessment culture, and the Riva approach provides both a process architecture and models of individual processes. Originality/value – Examines how to implement a library assessment culture through use of data analytics, value frameworks and business process modelling.

The current state of child and adolescent mental health services in Europe: A survey in 28 countries

IntroductionTransition to adulthood is the period of onset of most serious mental disorders. The current discontinuity of care between Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) and Adult Mental Health (AMHS) Services is a major socioeconomic and societal challenge for the EU.Objectives/aimsIn the framework of the MILESTONE project this study aims to map current services and transitional policies across Europe, highlighting current gaps and the need for innovation in care provision.MethodsAn on-line mapping survey has been conducted across all 28 European countries through the administration of two ad-hoc instruments: the Standardized Assessment Tool for Mental Health Transition (SATMEHT) and the European CAMHS Mapping Questionnaire (ECM-Q). The survey systematically collected data about CAMHS organization and characteristics, with a specific focus on actual national transition policies and practice.ResultsResponse rate was 100%. Despite up to 49% of CAMHS service users need to continue with specialist AMHS care, written policies for managing the interface between these two services are available only in 4/28 countries and transition support services are reported as missing by half of the respondents. Lack of connection between CAMHS and AMHS is reported as the major (82%) difficulty experienced by young service users.ConclusionPreliminary results indicate a marked variability in characteristics of services and in data activity among the 28 European countries, with important missing information at national level about CAMHS and their functioning. All these conclusions warrant an improvement in data collection and service planning and delivery.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Risk assessment of radioisotope contamination for aquatic living resources in and around Japan

Food contamination caused by radioisotopes released from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is of great public concern. The contamination risk for food items should be estimated depending on the characteristics and geographic environments of each item. However, evaluating current and future risk for food items is generally difficult because of small sample sizes, high detection limits, and insufficient survey periods. We evaluated the risk for aquatic food items exceeding a threshold of the radioactive cesium in each species and location using a statistical model. Here we show that the overall contamination risk for aquatic food items is very low. Some freshwater biota, however, are still highly contaminated, particularly in Fukushima. Highly contaminated fish generally tend to have large body size and high trophic levels.

Precinct resources and voter wait times

The amount of time that voters wait in line while casting their ballots has been a matter of consternation in electorates across the world and a subject of ongoing academic research in the field of election administration. With this as context, we offer here a study of voting lines that combines observed voter arrival times and measures of precinct processes with simulation results. Empirically, we focus on the town of Hanover, New Hampshire, during the 2014 United States General Election. Voters in Hanover initially authenticate themselves to election officials, mark their ballots in secret, and finally insert said ballots into optical scan tabulating machines. These steps are reasonably generic, and thus the way we study Hanover voters is generalizable to the study of voters in democracies across the world. Our simulations show that line voting evolution can be studied after a simple data-collection plan is implemented, and we show how scholars and election officials can evaluate the effects of changing precinct resources, like the numbers of voter authentication stations and voting booths, on the formation and duration of voting lines.

Development of a Survey Tool to Quantify Health Impacts of Trail Use

While cost-benefit analysis has been employed in highway planning processes for decades, such analytical approaches are less frequently used in trail planning due to the limited availability of data and methodologies for quantifying trail benefits. As a result, even projects that provide critical access to safe, high-quality open space with real mobility and health benefits are often considered “amenities,” rather than “needs.” Individual agencies and trail project sponsors have measured trail use and benefits along local greenways, but there currently are no generalizable methods for predicting demand or conducting impact assessment on trails. To address this gap, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is developing the Trail Modeling and Assessment Platform (T-MAP), a set of trail planning data collection and analysis tools, including a trail user survey. The T-MAP survey tool was developed to allow implementing agencies to learn more about trail use and users, especially users’ physical activity. This paper describes the development of a survey instrument and sampling protocol that yielded a response rate of 55% in field testing. The survey includes questions from the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire, an internationally validated instrument developed by the World Health Organization. We report the results of testing the effect of alternative survey distribution methods (in-person interview and online post-survey) and incentives on overall response rates and sample bias across multiple population variables, including gender, age, trail use mode, overall health status, and physical activity frequency. The highest response rates (64%) were achieved through a combination of personal intercept interview with incentive, followed by online participation after receiving a card from a surveyor on the trail. When designing a survey data collection and sampling plan, decisions such as whether to use field workers, to offer incentives, and the survey administration format all impact the response rate and the representativeness of the sample, and thus the cost and quality of the data collected. These findings can help trail managers, local planners, or advocates to estimate survey administration costs and maximize returns through efficient and valid data collection to conduct trail benefit assessments based on high-quality data.

Development of a Protocol for Risk Assessment of Microorganisms in Separate Stormwater Systems

Recent research has shown that the concentrations of microbial indicator organisms (e.g., fecal coliforms) in stormwater may be quite high. However, studies have not clearly established relationships between the concentrations of indicator organisms and microbial pathogens in stormwater, or between stormwater indicator organism concentrations and illness. Thus, it is difficult to interpret indicator data collected by local public agencies in the context of potential risk to human health. The primary objective of this investigation was to generate guidance to enable more accurate and defensible evaluations of stormwater microorganism data and the associated risks to human health from exposure to microbial pathogens in stormwater. The investigation consisted of three major tasks: reviewing and summarizing relevant published literature, conducting a web-based data questionnaire and developing a science-directed data collection plan. Topics discussed include: 1. waterborne pathogens that pose the greatest risk to human health, 2. concentrations of pathogens and indicator organisms observed in stormwater, 3. defensible relations between indicator organisms and pathogens of public health concern in stormwater, 4. the environmental fate of pathogens and indicator organisms in stormwater, 5. the use of microbial source tracking (MST) techniques to identify sources of fecal contamination, and 6. the effectiveness of stormwater microorganism control technologies and associated costs. Additionally, recommended next steps needed to enable defensible evaluations of stormwater microorganism data and the associated risk to human health from exposure to stormwater are presented. Next steps include the development of interim guidance for management prioritization, pathogens enumeration method development, and pilot and nation-wide data collection programs. This title belongs to WERF Research Report Series ISBN: 9781843397670 (Print) ISBN: 9781780403809 (eBook)

Optimizing Electronic Capture of Clinical Outcome Assessment Data in Clinical Trials: The Case of Patient-Reported Endpoints.

For a number of compelling scientific, operational, and regulatory reasons, the use of electronic data capture is becoming the preferred means of collecting clinical outcome assessment (eg, patient-reported outcome [PRO]) data in clinical trials. Electronic PRO (ePRO) data collection leverages screen-based technologies (eg, handheld devices, tablet computers, and web-based systems) and telephone-based (eg, interactive voice response) systems. Data collection is routinely either site based (ie, clinical study site) or field based (eg, subject's home, school, or workplace). While tablet computers are often used for site-based PRO data collection, handheld devices have become the mainstay for ePRO data capture in field-based settings. The data collection devices are usually provisioned to the sites or subjects by an ePRO system provider contracted by the clinical trial sponsor. With site-based data collection, study staff are responsible for ensuring subject compliance with the protocol-driven data collection procedures, whereas with field-based data collection, the subject is responsible for compliance with the data entry requirements and sites are accountable for remotely monitoring the data for compliance. In addition to site and subject compliance issues, technology-related factors must be anticipated in order to adhere to the electronic PRO data collection plan. The objective of this paper is to describe study site-, subject-, and technology-related factors that may lead to deviations from the planned electronic collection of PRO data (eg, defaulting to paper-based data collection) and to provide recommendations aimed at preventing potential problems or quickly resolving problems once they occur.

Applied, behavioral, analytic and… technological: a current literature review on the use of technologies in behavior analysis

ABSTRACTWe conducted a literature review regarding the use of technology in both the experimental and applied settings of behavior analysis. The use of technology began with the onset of the field of behavior analysis and continued to develop over time. Behavior analysts should be familiar with the use of technology, both in the process of data collection and intervention planning and implementation. We summarize by providing advantages and disadvantages for using technologies as found in the research literature.

Stormwater Field Evaluation and Its Challenges of a Sediment Basin with Skimmer and Baffles at a Highway Construction Site

A field-scale data collection plan to monitor and evaluate the performance of a sediment basin design was developed and implemented using portable automatic stormwater samplers, flow modules, a rain gauge, and inflow weirs. The design configuration consisted of a skimmer as the primary dewatering device, three coir baffles installed inside the basin, polyacrylamide flocculant blocks and ditch checks in the inflow channel. A sediment basin built on a highway construction site in Franklin County, Alabama, U.S. using the aforementioned design configuration was monitored over 16 rainfall events from 15 November 2011 to 6 February 2012. The basin effectively removed sediments during the early stages of construction when the correct type of polyacrylamide flocculant blocks was used, e.g., 97.9% of sediment removal after a rainfall event on 16 November 2011. It is difficult and challenging to dose sediment-laden stormwater inflow with an exact amount of flocculating agent across all runoff producing events since rainfall is a stochastic variable. Based upon results from this study, it is recommended that a minimum volume of 251.9 m3/ha of contributing drainage area be used to sufficiently size a basin, which is still significantly under-designed for a 2-year, 24-h storm event in the southeast. This paper presents challenges and lessons learned regarding sediment basin design, monitoring, and performance that are beneficial to future studies.