Health Advisory Summaries

Healthcare decision makers in search of reliable information that compares health interventions increasingly turn to systematic reviews for the best summary of the evidence. Systematic reviews identify, select, assess, and synthesize the findings of similar but separate studies, and can help clarify what is known and not known about the potential benefits and harms of drugs, devices, and other healthcare services. Systematic reviews can be helpful for clinicians who want to integrate research findings into their daily practices, for patients to make well-informed choices about their own care, for professional medical societies and other organizations that develop clinical practice guidelines. Too often systematic reviews are of uncertain or poor quality. There are no universally accepted standards for developing systematic reviews leading to variability in how conflicts of interest and biases are handled, how evidence is appraised, and the overall scientific rigor of the process. In Finding What Works in Health Care the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends 21 standards for developing high-quality systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research. The standards address the entire systematic review process from the initial steps of formulating the topic and building the review team to producing a detailed final report that synthesizes what the evidence shows and where knowledge gaps remain. Finding What Works in Health Care also proposes a framework for improving the quality of the science underpinning systematic reviews. This book will serve as a vital resource for both sponsors and producers of systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research.

"The Nation has lost sight of its public health goals and has allowed the system of public health to fall into 'disarray'," from The Future of Public Health. This startling book contains proposals for ensuring that public health service programs are efficient and effective enough to deal not only with the topics of today, but also with those of tomorrow. In addition, the authors make recommendations for core functions in public health assessment, policy development, and service assurances, and identify the level of government--federal, state, and local--at which these functions would best be handled.

Summarizes papers commissioned by three working groups of a national forum convened to inform and involve Canadians and advise the federal government on innovative ways to improve the health system and the health of the population. Papers by the Values Working Group explore values and principles that Canadians hold regarding health and health care, and their implications for decision-making. The feasibility of a national ethics advisory committee is also considered. The Striking a Balance Working Group examined how to allocate limited resources to best protect, restore, and promote the health of Canadians. Their papers studied the private/public mix in health care, the federal role, integrated health care models, pharmaceutical policy, and international comparisons. The Evidence-Based Decision Making Working Group considered how individuals, practitioners, and policy makers can have access to and utilize the best available evidence in making decisions. Topics of papers include a national health information network, decision support tools, and consumer involvement in health policy development.

En 4è de couverture : "This book explains how travellers can stay healthy and provides WHO guidance on vaccinations, malaria chemoprophylaxis and treatment, personal protection against insects and other disease vectors, and safety in different environmental settings. It covers all the principal risks to travellers' health, both during their journeys and at their destinations. it describes all relevant infectious diseases, including their causative agents, modes of transmission, clinical features and geographical distribution, and provides detials of prophylactic and preventive measures."

"This project aimed to collect and critically review the existing evidence on practices relevant to improving patient safety"--P. v.