An evidence synthesis of qualitative and quantitative research on component intervention techniques, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, equity and acceptability of different versions of health-related lifestyle advisor role in improving health.

Abstract

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Outreach programmes for health improvement of Traveller Communities: a synthesis of evidence

“…146 The benefit from attendance at mammographic screening is small and unlikely to justify a programme to encourage attendance at screening. 107,147 The benefits of boosting vaccination rates are less well defined. Around nine deaths and 5500 inpatient days are attributed to pertussis annually in the UK.…”

“…This approach, which blends evidence review and data synthesis, was used successfully to highlight which health promotional activities undertaken by lay health advisers might be considered cost-effective. 107 However, the lack of quantitative evaluation of the effectiveness of outreach in Traveller Communities rendered this approach infeasible. To maximise learning from the available literature, the initial criteria for inclusion of only articles describing the evaluation of outreach interventions for Traveller Communities was relaxed to include any article that provided a description of the delivery of outreach, the impact of outreach or the resource implications.…”

Narrative approaches to systematic review and synthesis of evidence for international development policy and practice

“…It is worth noting that the term 'realist synthesis' has been used in different ways, including to explore a theory and its application in different contexts (Pawson 2002), to understand which aspects of interventions shape impacts in different contexts in the framework of effectiveness reviews (Greenhalgh et al 2007) and to develop a theory by exploring the dimensions of interventions with similar goals (Carr et al 2011). …”

Impact and acceptability of lay health trainer-led lifestyle interventions delivered in primary care: a mixed method study

“…Previous reviews have identified positive effects from LHW programmes, often in terms of increasing access to care for disadvantaged and marginalised populations (Swider, 2002, Andrews et al, 2004. Specific areas where LHW interventions have been found to be effective and cost-effective include: smoking cessation, tuberculosis treatment, HIV prevention, and education to reduce neonatal and maternal mortality (Islam et al, 2002, Sinanovic et al, 2003, Carr et al, 2011, Borghi et al, 2005, Manandhar et al, 2004, Pennington et al, 2013. There is also a separate but linked body of literature on the role of lay or peer support in the management of chronic conditions (Lorig et al, 1993, Reinschmidt et al, 2006, Lorig et al, 1999.…”