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Table 3 Acquiring skills and competencies—strategies with sufficient or some evidence to support their implementation

From: Knowledge translation strategies for dissemination with a focus on healthcare recipients: an overview of systematic reviews

Sufficient evidence

Some evidence

Single strategies

 None identified

None identified

Combined strategies

 • People self-managing antithrombotics (self-testing and self-adjusting therapy based on a predetermined dose schedule) decreases thromboembolic events and mortality; and there is some evidence that self-management improves clinical outcomes, but with mixed results [9].

 • Self-monitoring (self-testing and calling clinic for the appropriate dose adjustment) of antithrombotic is effective in reducing major hemorrhages [9].

 • In hypertension, there is also sufficient evidence that home blood pressure monitoring is generally effective to improve clinical markers for hypertension, medicines overuse, and therapeutic inertia [9].

• A home safety toolkit for caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s improve home safety, risky behavior, caregiver self-efficacy, and caregiver strain [53].

• Strategies that focus on the acquisition of skills and competencies may improve adherence to medicines and clinical outcomes, but results are mixed [9].

• Patient-controlled analgesia may increase analgesic consumption and decrease pain scores, although with mixed results [9].

• Structured patient-controlled analgesia education may improve knowledge, but there is insufficient evidence that it improves postoperative pain control [9].

• Packaged resources or guidelines providing information and/or activation (e.g. information or tools to prompt action for actively managing a condition) are potential sources of self-management support for patients [5].

• Intensive mixed strategy health literacy interventions that promote adherence and facilitate self-management may reduce use of health care services (emergency room visits and hospitalizations) [11].

• Mixed strategy health literacy interventions including individual or group counseling may improve self-management behaviors (e.g. physical activity, foot care, medication adherence, and glucose self-monitoring) [11].