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World-wide, shortages of primary care physicians and an increased demand for services have provided the impetus for delivering team-based primary care. The diversity of the primary care workforce is increasing to include a wider range of health professionals such as nurse practitioners, registered nurses and other clinical staff members. Although this development is observed internationally, skill mix in the primary care team and the speed of progress to deliver team-based care differs across countries. This work aims to provide an overview of education, tasks and remuneration of nurses and other primary care team members in six OECD countries. Based on a framework of team organization across the care continuum, six national experts compare skill-mix, education and training, tasks and remuneration of health professionals within primary care teams in the United States, Canada, Australia, England, Germany and the Netherlands. Nurses are the main non-physician health professional working along with doctors in most countries although types and roles in primary care vary considerably between countries. However, the number of allied health professionals and support workers, such as medical assistants, working in primary care is increasing. Shifting from 'task delegation' to 'team care' is a global trend but limited by traditional role concepts, legal frameworks and reimbursement schemes. In general, remuneration follows the complexity of medical tasks taken over by each profession. Clear definitions of each team-member's role may facilitate optimally shared responsibility for patient care within primary care teams. Skill mix changes in primary care may help to maintain access to primary care and quality of care delivery. Learning from experiences in other countries may inspire policy makers and researchers to work on efficient and effective teams care models worldwide.

Background: The Active Script Programme (ASP) aimed to increase the number of general practitioners (GPs) in Victoria, Australia who deliver appropriate, consistent, and effective advice on physical activity to patients. To maximise GP participation, a capacity building strategy within Divisions of General Practice (DGPs) was used. The objectives of the programme were to (a) train and support GPs in advising sedentary patients, and (b) develop tools and resources to assist GPs. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of the ASP. Methods: A systems approach was used to promote capacity in Victorian general practice. Economic analyses were incorporated into the programme's evaluation. Participants were selected DGPs and their GP members. The programme worked with DGPs to train GPs and provide relevant resources. The main outcome measures were (a) changes in GP knowledge and behaviour and (b) cost effectiveness, based on modelled estimates of numbers of patients advised and adopting physical activity and gaining the associated health benefits. Results: GP awareness and provision of physical activity advice increased. Although the programme's reach was modest, based on actual GP involvement, the cost effectiveness figures ($138 per patient to become sufficiently active to gain health benefits, and $3647 per disability adjusted life year saved) are persuasive. Conclusions: The ASP increased DGPs' capacity to support GPs to promote physical activity. There is a strong economic argument for governments to invest in such programmes. However, caution is warranted about the maintenance of patients' activity levels. Programme refinement to encourage GPs to use community supports more effectively will guide future development. Further research on long term patient adherence through a multisectorial approach is warranted.

The VCSP project outcomes have added to growing evidence around posttreatment care. Future projects should consider the identified enablers and challenges when designing and implementing survivorship care.

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Health literacy is an increasingly important topic in the global context. In mainland China, health literacy measures mainly focus on health knowledge and practices or on the functional domain for adolescents. However, little is known about interactive and critical domains. This study aimed to adopt a skills-based and three-domain (functional, interactive and critical) instrument to measure health literacy in Chinese adolescents and to examine the status and determinants of each domain. Using a systematic review, the eight-item Health Literacy Assessment Tool (HLAT-8) was selected and translated from English to Chinese (c-HLAT-8). Following the translation process, a cross-sectional study was conducted in four secondary schools in Beijing, China. A total of 650 students in Years 7-9 were recruited to complete a self-administered questionnaire that assessed socio-demographics, self-efficacy, social support, school environment, community environment and health literacy. Results showed that the c-HLAT-8 had satisfactory reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.79; intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.72) and strong validity (translation validity index (TVI) ≥0.95; χ/ df = 3.388, p < 0.001; comparative fit index = 0.975, Tucker and Lewis's index of fit = 0.945, normed fit index = 0.965, root mean error of approximation = 0.061; scores on the c-HLAT-8 were moderately correlated with the Health Literacy Study-Taiwan, but weakly with the Newest Vital Sign). Chinese students had an average score of 26.37 (±5.89) for the c-HLAT-8. When the determinants of each domain of health literacy were examined, social support was the strongest predictor of interactive and critical health literacy. On the contrary, self-efficacy and school environment played more dominant roles in predicting functional health literacy. The c-HLAT-8 was demonstrated to be a reliable, valid and feasible instrument for measuring functional, interactive and critical health literacy among Chinese students. The current findings indicate that increasing self-efficacy, social support and creating supportive environments are important for promoting health literacy in secondary school settings in China.

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Objective: The Commonwealth Government's Enhanced Primary Care initiative supports measures to enhance the role of general practiioners (GPs) in promoting healthy ageing as part of a population health approach. This paper comments on how the heaith assessments can be conducted to best effect, to strengthen the role of GPs in primary care and to promote autonomy and independence in older people. Method:The relevant literature was collated to produce a review of public health and health promotion approaches and to ascertain the effectiveness of health promotion interventions for older people. A broad definition of health promotion including primary, secondary and tertiary prevention was adopted.