ESPEYB15 13 Global Health for the Paediatric Endocrinologist How does paediatric endocrinology and diabetes fit in the global initiatives? (7 abstracts)
13.4 Effects of the Informed Health Choices podcast on the ability of parents of primary school children in Uganda to assess claims about treatment effects: a randomised controlled trial
Semakula D , Nsangi A , Oxman AD , Oxman M , Austvoll-Dahlgren A , Rosenbaum S , Morelli A , Glenton C , Lewin S , Kaseje M , Chalmers I , Fretheim A , Kristoffersen DT & Sewenkambo NK
College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
To read the full abstract: Lancet 2017; 390(10092): 389-398
[Comment on 13.3 & 13.4] Access to quality medical care is often difficult in resource-limited settings and depends upon the collaboration of key stakeholder groups, including global/regional health policymakers, national governments and health system managers, the pharmaceutical industry and trained clinicians and health workers. In addition, patient advocacy groups (parents and children) are expected to play a major role in promoting access to health care. For instance, Caring and Living as Neighbours (CLAN, www.clanchildhealth.org) has identified patient groups as the main driver in advocating for essential medicines availability in resource-limited settings. These groups are the main pillars of their intervention.
In a recently released “Call to Action”, “non-communicable diseases” (NCD) Child (http://www.ncdchild.org/) emphasizes the importance of promoting “health literacy of children, youth and their families to ensure the most effective use of essential medicines and equipment”. In 2 studies, the researchers target young children (pediatric study 13.3) and their parents (adult study 13.4). The pediatric study (13.3) randomized whole schools while the adult study randomized individuals.
The pediatric study (13.3) shows that a simple curriculum taught at school increased knowledge and critical thinking about informed health choices. The curriculum comes as a small book (“The Health Choices Book: learning to think carefully about treatments, a health science book for primary school children”) that is used by the classroom teacher to discuss 12 basics concepts around treatment adequacy. Children in classrooms where the curriculum was delivered scored much higher on a knowledge test taken at the end of the intervention, compared to the children who did not receive the intervention.
The adult study (13.4) shows that a podcast on Informed Health Choices increased the ability of parents to assess claims about the effects of treatments. The duration of such effects and whether they translate into changed attitudes towards medicines is unclear. One can also wonder whether health literacy could lead to conflicts with traditional healers who commonly serve as the primary healthcare providers, in particular in rural areas.
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ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology
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