Modular literature review: a novel systematic search and review method to support priority setting in health policy and practice

Background There is an unmet need for review methods to support priority-setting, policy-making and strategic planning when a wide variety of interventions from differing disciplines may have the potential to impact a health outcome of interest. This article describes a Modular Literature Review, a novel systematic search and review method that employs systematic search strategies together with a hierarchy-based appraisal and synthesis of the resulting evidence. Methods We designed the Modular Review to examine the effects of 43 interventions on a health problem of global significance. Using the PICOS (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Study design) framework, we developed a single four-module search template in which population, comparison and outcome modules were the same for each search and the intervention module was different for each of the 43 interventions. A series of literature searches were performed in five databases, followed by screening, extraction and analysis of data. “ES documents”, source documents for effect size (ES) estimates, were systematically identified based on a hierarchy of evidence. The evidence was categorised according to the likely effect on the outcome and presented in a standardised format with quantitative effect estimates, meta-analyses and narrative reporting. We compared the Modular Review to other review methods in health research for its strengths and limitations. Results The Modular Review method was used to review the impact of 46 antenatal interventions on four specified birth outcomes within 12 months. A total of 61,279 records were found; 35,244 were screened by title-abstract. Six thousand two hundred seventy-two full articles were reviewed against the inclusion criteria resulting in 365 eligible articles. Conclusions The Modular Review preserves principles that have traditionally been important to systematic reviews but can address multiple research questions simultaneously. The result is an accessible, reliable answer to the question of “what works?”. Thus, it is a well-suited literature review method to support prioritisation, decisions and planning to implement an agenda for health improvement.

Content requirements for narrative reporting in the public sector: a contextual perspective

Purpose Accounting literature is definite about the content and presentation of traditional financial statements, but the basic information to be provided in the narrative reports of public sector entities remains unsettled. This paper aims to investigate the needs and expectations of stakeholders (primary users and preparers) regarding the content and presentation of narrative reports in the public sector of Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach The research used a qualitative approach that draws on stakeholder and contingency theories to collect primary data through in-depth individual interviews using semi-structured questionnaires. Data were analysed by a thematic method using the NVivo 11 Pro software package. Findings The study reveals that financial statements constitute the statutory financial reports of public sector entities in Nigeria as narrative reporting is undeveloped, both as a concept and in practice. Stakeholders believe that narrative reporting is required to enhance the accountability usefulness of the annual financial reports published by the government and public agencies. Data analysis further reveals that public perception about the management of government financial resources influences the information needs of stakeholders regarding financial reporting. In addition, stakeholders consider the approved budget as the cornerstone of public financial reporting. Accordingly, users and other stakeholders expect public sector narrative reports to provide budget-based performance information that relates the accounting data presented in the financial statements to the key budgetary provisions, in both financial outlays and service delivery achievements. Stakeholders also expect narrative reports to be presented in plain language and provide information about the impact of financial decisions and actions on the basic socioeconomic variables that signpost citizens’ well-being, such as education, health care, employment and security. Practical implications The study suggests that the inclusion of narrative information in the statutory financial reports of public entities in Nigeria is imperative and should engage the attention of policymakers and relevant regulatory authorities. In addition, a more elaborate systematic investigation of the information needs of stakeholders in Nigeria should be undertaken by relevant units of government. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first documented research on narrative reporting and the information needs of a broad range of stakeholders in the public sector of Nigeria. The paper identifies the approved budget as the focal point of governmental financial reporting, and a clear linkage between budget provisions, accounting results and service delivery achievements as the basic content of a narrative report in developing countries.

Narrative reporting as a journalistic genre in Spain between literature and journalism

The relationship between literature and journalism is regarded as ambiguous and conflicting. It would be necessary to underline the complementary nature of the two creative dimensions of human communication in order to assess the combination of creative resources available. By virtue of the exchange of stylistic and structural techniques and strategies produced at the crossroads of the two fields, it is essential to devote attention to the hybrid genres originated by such an encounter, as is the case with narrative reporting. Therefore, this study analyzes its connotative elements, reviewing the evolution of the leading classification theories of journalistic genres in the Spanish context from a comparative perspective.

The concept of a maturity index for narrative disclosures of risk areas and factors

Purpose: The subject of the considerations is a proposal for a maturity index for narrative disclosures on risk areas and factors as a tool for diagnosis and analysis, but also for im-proving narrative reporting in the area under study. Methodology/approach: The study is conceptual and was prepared based on a literature review and the results of previous empirical research. Findings: The proposed method of constructing a maturity index enables the measure-ment of the quality of narrative disclosures of risk areas and factors on a universal five-point scale. Research limitations/implications: The proposed index has been designed with entities that operate in non-financial sectors in mind. Originality/value: The index is a universal tool that can be used in narrative research on risk reports and in improving the practices of preparing annual reports of enterprises from non-financial sectors

Toward a Platform for Structured Data Acquisition in Oncology: A Pilot Study on Prostate Cancer Screening

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Physicians spend an ever-rising amount of time to collect relevant information from highly variable medical reports and integrate them into the patient’s health condition. <b><i>Objectives:</i></b> We compared synoptic reporting based on data elements to narrative reporting in order to evaluate its capabilities to collect and integrate clinical information. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We developed a novel system to align medical reporting to data integration requirements and tested it in prostate cancer screening. We compared expenditure of time, data quality, and user satisfaction for data acquisition, integration, and evaluation. <b><i>Results:</i></b> In a total of 26 sessions, 2 urologists, 2 radiologists, and 2 pathologists conducted the diagnostic work-up for prostate cancer screening with both narrative reporting and the novel system. The novel system led to a significantly reduced time for collection and integration of patient information (91%, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001), reporting in radiology (44%, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001) and pathology (33%, <i>p</i> = 0.154). The system usage showed a high positive effect on evaluated data quality parameters completeness, format, understandability, as well as user satisfaction. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> This study provides evidence that synoptic reporting based on data elements is effectively reducing time for collection and integration of patient information. Further research is needed to assess the system’s impact for different patient journeys.

“It’s a war! It’s a battle! It’s a fight!”: Do militaristic metaphors increase people's threat perceptions and support for COVID-19 policies?

Governments around the world have made use of militaristic metaphors at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to draw attention to the dangers of the virus. But do militaristic metaphors indeed affect individuals’ threat perceptions and support for restrictive COVID-19 policies? Using a fictitious newspaper design, COVID-19 policies were described with similarly negatively valanced metaphors but different in militaristic connotation (e.g., “war” vs. “struggle”). Overall, data of 3 framing experiments (N = 1,114) in Germany and the United States indicate limited evidence on the effectiveness of the tested militaristic metaphors. In the U.S. context, the non-militaristic concept of struggle was consistently more strongly associated with the desired outcomes than militaristic metaphors. In study 2 and 3, we also tested whether a narrative compared to factual style of reporting additionally influenced the framing effect. A congruency effect of narrative reporting style and the use of warfare metaphors was found in the German but not in the U.S. sample. Results of post-experimental norming studies (N = 437) in both countries revealed that the metaphor of war is associated with higher responsibility ascriptions to the government, whereas the concept of struggle triggers individual responsibility in the pandemic. The results are discussed in light of the usefulness and appropriateness of militaristic metaphors in medical contexts.

Integrated reporting

Companies struggle to communicate value through traditional reporting. Integrated reporting can prove to be an effective tool for businesses looking to shift their reporting focus from annual financial performance to long-term shareholder value creation. Such a shift should cover the demand from investors for a structured reporting framework that goes beyond the traditional financial reporting. The International Integrated Reporting Framework will encourage the preparation of a report that shows business performance against strategy, explains the various capital used and affected, and gives a longer term view of the organization. The framework will be attractive to companies who wish to develop their narrative reporting around the business model to explain how the business has been developed. Integrated reporting attained various degrees of popularity depending on the geographical regions. While it is mandatory for all companies listed in South Africa’s stock exchange, in other regions it is used by businesses on voluntary basis. Re-search shows that in the USA the adoption of integrated reporting is slower than in most of the other developed regions.

Narrative reporting

For years financial and management accounting reports were based primarily on “hard” numbers. Extensive written descriptions and explanations were not common in practice. However, in recent decades there has been a significant shift towards “softer” and more narrative communication in accounting. The purpose of the chapter is to identify and describe the determinants of the develop-ment of accounting narratives in practice, and to explain why narratives are gaining importance in accounting communication. The chapter presents the links between accounting and language, the development of accounting narratives and the factors determining the use of narratives.Narratives give economic units the opportunity to explain the situation and the achieved finan-cial results. The use of narratives helps to better meet the information needs of stakeholders. There are still many challenges ahead of narrative financial reporting, such as determining the minimum content of reports, ensuring comparability of reports or the issue of external control of narrative financial reporting.An insufficient application of professional accounting materiality judgment is considered as one of the main causes of disclosing too much irrelevant information and not enough relevant informa-tion. Preparers of narrative reports should be aware that without applying materiality principle the information disclosed in the reports are not considered transparent and stakeholders lose confidence in such companies.