Evidence Aid newsletter: 13 March 2023

Welcome to the March newsletter from Evidence Aid. Please share it with anyone who might be interested. If they would like to receive our newsletters directly, they should email info@evidenceaid.org). If you like our work and think it is important that we continue through 2023, please consider donating here.

In the aftermath of the Turkey/Syrian earthquake we are aware of the huge impact it will have on the mental health of those affected. Here is the link to our Managing Mental Injuries in Disasters Collections, which we hope will be of interest and help.

We have been working on our future plans, our products, our audience, and how we can best reach the people who most need our products – the decision-makers working in the disaster and humanitarian sector. We would like to say ‘thank you’ to all those who recently gave up their valuable time to take part in a series of interviews that fed into this process.

Our door remains open, and we continue to encourage feedback and dialogue for continuous improvement. You might consider telling us how you use our collections or feel you could help us develop a case study about the impact these have had from your own experience. There may be other ways in which we can work with you, and if you have any suggestions about how we can improve our work. Please do get in touch – we’d be happy to talk.

Excerpts from additions to our evidence collections: click the link to get to the full summary:

Use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic

Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic placed a great strain on health systems, evidence on how technologies, such as telehealth, has been collated to show how they may help to address and mitigate impacts and to improve the resilience of health systems. Proper integration of telehealth as an emerging technology to assist patients, healthcare providers and policymakers can improve and promote the development of high-quality healthcare practice. As the use of telehealth becomes more commonly used, new regulations should be developed to help facilitate the relationship between healthcare workers and patients.

(You can find the full summary for this review in our COVID-19 collection)

Interventions to improve birth outcomes of pregnant women living in low- and middle-income countries

Despite significant progress in maternal, newborn and child health, adverse birth outcomes, including preterm birth and low birthweight, remain challenging particularly for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The following were shown to reduce the risk of preterm birth: micronutrient supplements; supplementation of folic acid, iron, zinc and multiple micronutrients. Multiple micronutrients improved mean birthweight. Both high caloric local food intervention and calcium, multiple micronutrients, LNS20, and fortified LNS20 reduced the risk of low birthweight. What didn’t work included balanced energy food supplements (no reduction in the risk of preterm birth); deworming and maternal education (no improvements in mean birthweight) and a single dose of deworming during pregnancy did not show a decrease in low birthweight compared to standard care. The authors were not able to ascertain the impact of WASH interventions on preterm birth and birthweight outcomes could not be ascertained.

(You can find the full summary for this review in our Prevention and treatment of acute malnutrition and Resilient Health Systems collections)

Mental health impact of COVID-19 among children and college students

Lockdowns and school closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic placed a substantial mental health burden on children and college students. Those populations reported feeling more anxious, depressed, fatigued, and distressed than before the pandemic, with a strong relationship between mental health status and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Worse mental health outcomes were strongly associated with living in rural areas, low family socioeconomic status, being a family member or friend to a healthcare worker and knowing someone who was infected with COVID-19. Interventions need to be identified to address mental health among children and young adults during pandemics and that it is important to consider social contacts for mental well-being and offer starting points to identify and support those at most risk. Preparation for future pandemics should include developing interventions to improve the mental well-being for these populations.

(You can find the full summary for this review in our COVID-19 and Resilient Health Systems collections)

Ongoing work

How can we help you? We would welcome your comments on how we can improve the Evidence Aid resources, including our evidence collections, so that these are as helpful as possible for you. Please let us know about your needs and how we might meet them.

Social media: Our five volunteers (Leen, Molly, Reem, Carmela and Alice) promote our summaries and the work of Evidence Aid generally through Twitter (@Evidence Aid), Facebook (Evidence Aid – page and group) LinkedIn and Instagram (evidenceaid). Please follow us and share our content to anyone you feel would be interested.

Take a look at what our team has to offer: Information about Evidence Aid staff, interns, advisors and trustees is available here. You can read about the projects we’ve been undertaking here.

Volunteers: Our volunteers are vital to our work. They provide a huge amount of support and contribute to searching, screening, and downloading reviews, preparing, and writing summaries, supporting our website and social media and advising on translations as well as helping out with project management. If you are interested in joining the team, please email info@evidenceaid.org.

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