Use of screens by female adolescents in Brazil: practice and perceptions
Objective
To describe the screen usage profile among female adolescents in Brazil and analyze the practices and perceptions related to the use of these technologies.
Predictors of mortality among individuals with advanced HIV disease in a contemporary Brazilian cohort
Objective
To identify clinical characteristics and risk factors associated with mortality, with a focus on oppor- tunistic infections (OIs), in patients with advanced HIV in Brazil.
HEARTS Pharmacy: A framework for integrating pharmacists in hypertension and cardiovascular disease risk management in primary care
HEARTS Pharmacy, a project within the HEARTS in the Americas Initiative, provides a framework to integrate pharmacists into primary health care. Pharmacists are highly respected in health care but face challenges, such as limited scope of practice, regulatory barriers, and insufficient recognition, compounded by social norms that hinder their full potential. This paper presents compelling evidence that pharmacist-led interven- tions improve blood pressure control, lower cardiovascular risk, and reduce health care costs.
Systematic review of teen pregnancy prevention programs using websites and chatbots
Objective
To evaluate the effectiveness of artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbots in preventing teenage pregnancy compared with traditional methods of sex education or no intervention.
AI’s ongoing impact: Implications of AI’s effects on health equity for women’s healthcare providers
Objective
To assess the effects of the current use of artificial intelligence (AI) in women’s health on health equity, specifically in primary and secondary prevention efforts among women.
Methods
Two databases, Scopus and PubMed, were used to conduct this narrative review. The keywords included “artificial intelligence,” “machine learning,” “women’s health,” “screen,” “risk factor,” and “prevent,” and papers were filtered only to include those about AI models that general practitioners may use.
Regulation and performance of health systems: a review of analytical frameworks
The private health sector has expanded significantly in recent decades, both in Latin America and other regions. Governments and international organizations have dealt with this process in a heterogeneous manner. A policy approach and, above all, a regulatory framework, are required in order to put health objectives and the right to health above the profit motive that drives private sector participation. This paper reviews frameworks for analyzing the performance of health systems and the regulation of financing and service provision, primarily (but not exclusively) in the private sector.
Critical factors for institutionalizing evidence-informed decision-making in healthcare organizations
Objective
To map critical factors for sustainable processes in the institutionalization of evidence-informed decision-making in public health organizations.
Method
A rapid critical interpretative synthesis was carried out based on searches conducted in databases, websites, and reference lists, with findings categorized into an appropriate framework.
Political support and micro-planning as success factors in a high-quality follow-up vaccination campaign in Ecuador, 2023
Objective
To describe the results, achievements, and lessons learned through administrative coverage and rapid monitoring of a follow-up vaccination campaign, in the context of political prioritization and micro-planning as determining factors in the different stages of follow-up campaigns, and the application of these good practices to strengthen the National Immunization Program.
Alcohol use, heavy episodic drinking, and associated cardiovascular risk in Guyana
Objective
To determine associations between demographic characteristics, alcohol use, heavy episodic drinking (HED), and cardiovascular risk factors using the 2016 Guyana World Health Organization (WHO) STEPwise noncommunicable diseases risk factor survey.
Methods
A weighted sample was used in a secondary analysis of data obtained from an online database. Descriptive statistics, binary logistic regression, and linear regression models were applied to identify which subpopulations were at highest risk of HED or cardiovascular disease.
Using data systems to conduct health research in the Caribbean: challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic
We aimed to assess how control measures during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affected the metabolic health of people with noncommunicable diseases when severe restrictions on movement and safety concerns prevented the use of traditional methods of health data collection. To identify study participants, we attempted to use hospital laboratory databases in Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago.
