Publications

Childhood vaccination is one of the most effective public health interventions for protecting children from serious illness and death. Vaccinating children is essential to reducing the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases and achieving global immunization goals. We conducted a systematic review of global research evaluating strategies designed to increase routine childhood vaccination among children under five years of age.

Limited race-based health data and a lack of synthesized evidence on clinical outcomes highlighted the need to better understand the pandemic’s impact on specific populations across Canada. The objective of this systematic review was to identify the health impact of COVID-19 on mortality, morbidity, hospital admission, and hospital readmission rates among Black Canadians.

Public health measures like mask-wearing, disinfection, sanitization, social distancing, and handwashing were among the first guidelines introduced in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. Black communities in Canada were among those who experienced disproportionately high rates of infection, hospitalization, and mortality during the pandemic. This study explored the factors that promoted and hindered the uptake of mask-wearing, disinfection and sanitization, handwashing, and social distancing among Black communities in Canada during COVID-19.

Globally, the use of mobile health (mHealth) apps or interventions has increased. Robust synthesis of existing systematic reviews on mHealth apps may offer useful insights to guide maternal health clinicians and policy makers. This systematic review aims to assess the effectiveness or impact of mHealth apps on maternal health care delivery globally.

Black communities have suffered disproportionately higher numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Canada. The present study investigated 1) experiences with COVID-19, 2) COVID-19’s impact, and 3) factors that have influenced COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and uptake among stakeholders and partners from the Federation of Black Canadians’ (FBC).

The global classroom is an emerging technology-based pedagogy used internationally by educational institutions. To evaluate a global classroom, we conducted a qualitative study using written reflections and semi-structured interviews of global classroom participants, based on two theoretical frameworks: Kearsley and Shneiderman’s engagement theory and Kolb’s experiential learning theory.

This case study piloted an interdisciplinary Problem-Based Learning course, utilizing Hung’s (2006) 3C3R model. We explain the course design, curriculum, and implementation. We collected qualitative written questionnaires from students who participated in the course to investigate their learning experiences. As a result, students shed light on lessons they learned throughout the course, which led to the creation of a lessons learned guide for future instructors.

The objective of this systematic review was to identify the health impact of COVID-19 on mortality, morbidity, hospital admission, and hospital readmission rates in the Black population across Canada.

In 2011, Rwanda led a successful national human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) campaign, achieving a 93% coverage rate among eligible girls. The success of the campaign has prompted us to explore the facilitators and barriers that led to its effective implementation so that it may inform vaccination rollouts in similar contextual settings.

Global efforts to eradicate polio by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative agency partners and country-level stakeholders have led to the implementation of global polio vaccination programs. This study presents the findings of existing studies regarding the barriers and facilitators that countries face when implementing polio interventions.

An effective form of personal protection against malaria is the insecticide-treated bed net (ITN). Although Tanzania has made great efforts to implement ITNs in the general population, gaps in use, access, coverage, and ownership remain. We conducted a systematic review of the available data on the barriers and facilitators to the implementation of ITNs in Tanzania.

In this article, we detail the design, implementation, and evaluation of a reflective writing assignment integrated into a lower-year undergraduate course.

MomConnect is a mHealth programme in South Africa targeted at improving antenatal and maternal health. This study explored the barriers and facilitators to implementing the MomConnect programme in South Africa and the applicable lessons for scaling mHealth programmes in Africa.

In this case study, students follow “Mr. Okoro” as he makes the long journey with his sick daughter “Ada” to seek medical attention at the nearest clinic in Enugu, Nigeria.

The objective of our paper was to identify the barriers that can impede the process of scaling up in sub-Saharan Africa. We reviewed the published literature and collected data through semi-structured interviews of six key players in the health technology space in three sub-Saharan African countries.

The primary objective of this study was to delineate the barriers to and facilitators of sustainable implementation in an upstream context of the delivery of the MenAfriVac vaccine and to draw critical lessons for other vaccination programs.

To gain deeper insights into the opportunities and challenges for scaling social franchises, we gathered quantitative and qualitative longitudinal data on Farm Shop, a social franchise with a network of 74 agricultural input shops seeking to reduce food security through improving productivity, incomes and food security of smallholder Kenyan farmers.

Extant literature suggest a positive association between women empowerment indicators and maternal healthcare utilisation in general. In Cameroon, this association has not received scholarly attention. To fill this knowledge gap, we investigated the association between women empowerment indicators and quality ANC in Cameroon.

The objective of this systematic review is to identify the barriers and facilitators to the implementation of oral rehydration therapy in low and middle-income countries.

In this Letter to the Editor, we argue that the best way to outsmart such a pathogen in Africa is through investments in stronger national health systems.

The effective implementation of large-scale nutrition interventions in Africa is an ongoing challenge. This scoping review identifies and explores the barriers and facilitators to the implementation of large-scale nutrition interventions in the African region.

This study examined students’ perspectives on the impact of an animated storyline surrounding the Sustainable Developmental Goals. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with students who participated in the storyline to gain insight on its impact on their learning experience.

A systematic search was conducted using eight databases and grey literature sources for articles published to date on the effectiveness of gamification on fruit and vegetable intake in adolescents.

We introduced an entrepreneurial pitch project where students had the opportunity to design and present technological and social innovations to an external panel of judges. We then evaluated the impact of such pitches on experiential learning by conducting semistructured, face-to-face interviews with student participants.

This pilot study was undertaken to understand whether, and how, gamification of nutrition can have an impact on addressing the problem of unhealthy eating among Nigerian adolescents.