Evaluating Community Violence Intervention Programs: A Scoping Review Synthesizing Methods and Measures

When it’s safer to walk away: Urban, low opportunity emerging adults’ willingness to use bystander behaviors in response to community and dating violence

Health economic evaluations of programs reducing preterm birth: A scoping review

Social impact bonds (SIBs) have emerged as an innovative financial instrument designed to support the social service sector in delivering innovative social programs. In particular, SIBs can be used to finance prevention of homelessness among those regarded as vulnerable. There is little evidence that outcomes from SIB-funded programs are significantly different compared to more traditional programs. This is the first scoping review of academic and gray literature that explores the main features and outcomes from all SIBs for homelessness based on evidence, addressing an important gap in the literature. The scoping review provides a transparent and comprehensive approach for mapping areas of this research. A total of 73 studies and articles were found eligible for inclusion. These concerned 32 SIBs for homelessness implemented in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and Belgium. The review found that academic papers on SIBs for homelessness lack evidence-based analysis, while gray literature lacks transparency, especially in evaluation method and outcome. We found that fourteen projects met their target outcomes. The common features of these SIBs were a navigator intervention model, effective partnership working, and use of Special Purpose Vehicles. Our findings show that it is necessary for the managers of SIBs to improve outcome metrics and evaluation methods, support target groups fairly, and attract more private investors to finance SIBs for better addressing homelessness.

Gun violence is a significant public healthcare challenge that continues to pose a problem in the US. Despite the number of regulations and policy recommendations in place, the burden is still prevalent, affecting over 40,000 Americans annually with the majority of these being gun suicides and homicides. For instance, in 2022, the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions reported at least 48,204 deaths attributed to gun violence. 27,032 of these deaths were suicides, 19,651 homicides, 463 unintentional discharges, 643 from legal interventions, and 415 were undetermined. Gun violence also disproportionately affects young people, with children and adolescents aged 1 to 19 bearing the brunt of this violence. In 2022 for example, 2,526 deaths in this population group were caused by gun violence. Gun violence also causes a lot of fear, anxiety, and stress among children and adolescents. Gun violence is attributed to a number of factors such as socioeconomic disadvantage, availability and access, storage practices, mental health problems, and structural and institutional racism. Considering the negative effects of gun violence in communities, there is a need for comprehensive measures that can address the problem. Regulatory reforms that emphasize more on strict measures such as carrying out background checks, gun control laws, and policy changes can help to address gun violence. Measures can also be implemented at the community level with different community interventions that have been proven to have positive effects. Such measures can help to tackle the complex factors that increase the risk of gun violence in communities. The aim of this review is to explore the growing burden of firearm violence and the impact it is having on the communities affected. The review will explore the statistical trends of gun violence over the past five years by looking at the recent number of firearm cases. The review will also explore measures that can be put in place to address the problem including stricter laws and community interventions.

We aimed to map literature on the barriers to effective implementation of health education programs (HEPs) in low to middle income countries (LMICs) to guide future implementation research. We employed a rigorous scoping review design. Our review was guided by the Arksey and O’Malley framework, 2005, further enhanced by Levac et al. The keyword search was comprehensive for relevant studies presenting evidence on barriers to implementation of HEPs in LMICs from Google Scholar, PubMed, EBSCOHost (CINAHL and Academic Search Complete) databases and grey literature. The first search identified 3,092 articles, of which 1,412 duplicates were eliminated. An additional 1,632, 34 and 7 articles did not meet the inclusion criteria based on sequential title screen, abstract review and full text review respectively. Seven studies met the inclusion criteria for the actual scoping review. Findings of the review revealed three categories of barriers to effective implementation of HEPs in LMICs grouped as individual or patient level, community level and population level barriers. A key barrier to effective implementation of HEPs in LMICs revealed from the review was socio-economic challenges, which result from resource constraints. This calls for adequate allocation of the limited resources toward health education to ensure effective implementation of HEPs in LMICs and improve health outcomes.

Social accountability is an important element in health system governance, which is necessary for health system reform and reaching Universal Health Coverage. Understanding the social accountability mechanism and tools will help policymakers to design policies according to the context. We aimed to explore the extent of the application of social accountability in health system governance, its results, challenges, and tools. We conducted a scoping review study, using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) extension for scoping review. An inclusive search in bibliographic databases and search engines was done to identify peer review articles and grey literatures, published in English in the range of 2010 to 2021. Search terms were (social accountability), (public accountability), AND (health system). Thirty-one records met inclusion criteria from 286 potentially relevant sources, which included 25 peer-review articles and 6 grey literatures. Maternal and child health was the main health subject for social accountability interventions. We identified some social accountability tools to apply at the health facility and community levels. Social accountability has some benefits for the health system and for the community and some challenges to the implementation of social accountability were listed. Social accountability improves health system performance. It contains different tools and strategies applied at different levels of the health system. Successful social accountability initiatives that are strategic, multi-interventional, and context-specific can produce good results in health services and social domains.

BackgroundHigh rates of social media use and mental ill-health among young people have drawn significant public, policy, and research concern. Rapid technological advancements and changes in platform design have outpaced our understanding of the health effects of social media and hampered timely evidence-based regulatory responses. While a proliferation of recommendations to social media companies and governments has been published, a comprehensive summary of recommendations for protecting young people’s mental health and digital safety does not yet exist.ObjectiveThis scoping review synthesized published recommendations for social media companies and governments in relation to young people’s (aged 12-25 years) mental health. A qualitative approach was used to undertake inductive content analysis, where recommendations were grouped under conceptually similar themes.MethodsWe searched academic (PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO) and nonacademic (Overton and Google) databases for relevant documents. Eligible documents provided recommendations to regulators and social media companies that pertained to social media, young people, and mental health. This review excluded recommendations for young people, caregivers, educators, or clinicians surrounding strategies for managing individual social media use; instead, the recommendations emphasized the regulation or design of social media products and practices of social media companies. Peer-reviewed and gray literature from selected Western contexts (Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States) were relevant for inclusion. Documents were published between January 2020 and September 2024.ResultsOf the identified 4980 unique reports, 120 (2.41%) progressed to full-text screening, and 70 (1.41%) met the inclusion criteria. Five interrelated themes were identified: (1) legislating and overseeing accountability, (2) transparency, (3) collaboration, (4) safety by design, and (5) restricting young people’s access to social media.ConclusionsThis review emphasizes the need for multipronged approaches to address the rapidly increasing presence and reach of social media platforms in the lives of young people. These recommendations provide practical and tangible paths forward for governments and industry, backed by expert organizations in youth mental health and technology regulation at a time when expert-informed guidance is sorely needed. Rigorous evaluation of the proposed recommendations is needed while continuing to build on the emerging peer-reviewed evidence base that should form the foundation of policy and regulatory changes.

Antimicrobial use in animal agriculture is often perceived to play a role in the emerging threat of antimicrobial resistance. Increased consumer awareness of this issue places pressure on animal husbandry to adopt policies to reduce or eliminate antimicrobial use. We use a scoping review methodology to assess research on consumer perceptions of antimicrobial drugs in meat products in the United States, Canada, or the European Union. Evaluating peer-reviewed and grey literature, we included studies for assessment if they met these topical and geographic requirements, involved primary data collection, and were originally published in English. Our screening process identified 124 relevant studies. Three reviewers jointly developed a data charting form and independently charted the contents of the studies. Of the 105 studies that measured consumer concern, 77.1% found that consumers were concerned about antimicrobial use in meat production. A minority of studies (29.8% of all studies) queried why consumers hold these views. These studies found human health and animal welfare were the main reasons for concern. Antimicrobial resistance rarely registered as an explicit reason for concern. A smaller group of studies (23.3%) measured the personal characteristics of consumers that expressed concern about antimicrobials. Among these studies, the most common and consistent features of these consumers were gender, age, income, and education. Regarding the methodology used, studies tended to be dominated by either willingness-to-pay studies or Likert scale questionnaires (73.64% of all studies). We recommend consideration of qualitative research into consumer views on this topic, which may provide new perspectives that explain consumer decision-making and mentality that are lacking in the literature. In addition, more research into the difference between what consumers claim is of concern and their ultimate purchasing decisions would be especially valuable.

The increasing number of people with dementia requires transparency and quality dementia education, training, and care. This scoping review aimed to determine the key elements of national or state-wide standards on dementia education and training that could underpin the development of international standards for dementia workforce training and education. The English-language peer-reviewed and gray literature were searched (2010-20). Key search domains were training, workforce, standards/frameworks, and dementia. Thirteen standards were identified from the United Kingdom (n = 5), the United States (n = 4), Australia (n = 3), and Ireland (n = 1). Most standards focused on training health care professionals with some including people in customer-centric settings, people living with dementia, and informal carers or the general community. Seventeen training topics were identified in 10 or more of the 13 standards. Cultural safety, rural issues, health care professional self-care, digital literacy, and health promotion topics were less commonly reported. The barriers to standards implementation were lack of organizational support, lack of access to relevant training, low staff literacy, lack of funding, high staff turnover, ineffective past program cycles, and inconsistent service delivery. Enablers included a strong implementation plan, funding, strength of partnerships, and building on previous work. The U.K. Dementia Skills and Core Training Standard, the Irish Department of Health Dementia Together, and the National Health Services Scotland Standard are the recommended strongest standards for underpinning the development of international standards. It is essential that training standards are tailored to the needs of the consumer, worker, and regions.

BackgroundGlobally, LGBT+ people continue to struggle to achieve full realization of their human rights. Amid reported health and mental health disparities, and economic insecurity, we conducted a scoping review to explore the breadth of the literature, map and summarize the evidence, and identify knowledge gaps on LGBT+ inclusion and human rights in Thailand.MethodsWe conducted a scoping review in accordance with the methodology developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute and PRISMA-ScR guidelines. We systematically searched 16 databases for peer-reviewed literature, and government and nongovernmental organization websites for grey literature, published in English or Thai from January 1, 2000–August 21, 2020. Two reviewers independently screened studies according to pre-set criteria. We abstracted and analyzed data on publication characteristics and focal populations, and synthesized findings in six domains of LGBT+ inclusion: political and civic participation, education, family, personal security and violence, economic well-being, and health.ResultsThe review captured 3327 results in total, which was scoped to 76 peer-reviewed articles and 39 grey literature sources, the majority published after 2010. Gay men and transgender women were the primary focal populations in the peer-reviewed literature, LGBT+ people as a whole in the grey literature. Health was the predominant domain across publications. Key findings include the absence of generalized antidiscrimination legislation for LGBT+ individuals and lack of recourse for transgender individuals to change their legal gender; multifaceted stigma and discrimination in the educational system; social isolation and exclusion in families; disproportionate prevalence of sexual violence and reluctance to report to police; discrimination and marginalization in employment; and LGBT+ disparities in health and mental health.ConclusionsFuture research and programmatic initiatives on LGBT+ inclusion in Thailand should aim to address: 1) understudied populations—lesbian and bisexual women, transmasculine persons; 2) underrepresented topics, including constraints to LGBT+ advocacy; 3) strategic policy initiatives around anti-discrimination laws and legal recognition of same-sex marriage and families; and 4) the need for consistent collection of disaggregated data on LGBT+ persons in education, family, economic, personal security/violence, and health domains in order to assess indicators of inclusion and progress in advancing human rights for LGBT+ people in Thailand.

It is widely recognized the high suicide rate among United States (US) veterans is a major ongoing public health problem. Suicide prevention programs that specifically target veterans are varied in their implementation and success rates. A scoping review was conducted to examine what types of suicide prevention programs are currently available for US veterans and their effectiveness. From this scoping review, 361 articles were located from two electronic databases, and 26 suicide prevention programs were located through the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) webpage/electronic resources. Of the 361 peer reviewed articles, 33 were classified as highly relevant and selected for full review, and 22 were identified as needing further review for relevance to the topic or target population. Nineteen VA webpage/electronic resources were classified as highly relevant and selected for full review. After implementing the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 28 journal articles and 16 VA webpage/electronic resources were included in this scoping review. Although the scoping review demonstrated there is a wide variety of suicide prevention programs available for US veterans, the review also indicated that (a) suicide prevention programs in use by the VA are not being widely disseminated in the peer-reviewed literature and (b) there is significantly more dissemination on the study of causes of suicidality than programs being implemented to prevent suicidal behavior. As a result, available research suggests additional research should be conducted on suicide prevention programs and more dissemination of current suicide prevention activities should take place.

BackgroundDespite remarkable achievements in antiretroviral therapy (ART), losses to follow-up (LTFU) might prevent the long-term success of HIV treatment and might delay the achievement of the 90–90-90 objectives. This scoping review is aimed at the description and analysis of the strategies used in high-income countries to reengage LTFU in HIV care, their implementation and impact.MethodsA scoping review was done following Arksey & O′Malley’s methodological framework and recommendations from Joanna Briggs Institute. Peer reviewed articles were searched for in Pubmed, Scopus and Web of Science; and grey literature was searched for in Google and other sources of information. Documents were charted according to the information presented on LTFU, the reengagement procedures used in HIV units in high-income countries, published during the last 15 years. In addition, bibliographies of chosen articles were reviewed for additional articles.ResultsTwenty-eight documents were finally included, over 80% of them published in the United States later than 2015. Database searches, phone calls and/or mail contacts were the most common strategies used to locate and track LTFU, while motivational interviews and strengths-based techniques were used most often during reengagement visits. Outcomes like tracing activities efficacy, rates of reengagement and viral load reduction were reported as outcome measures.ConclusionsThis review shows a recent and growing trend in developing and implementing patient reengagement strategies in HIV care. However, most of these strategies have been implemented in the United States and little information is available for other high-income countries. The procedures used to trace and contact LTFU are similar across reviewed studies, but their impact and sustainability are widely different depending on the country studied.

The objective of this review was to collate and summarize the current literature on what is known about organ donation following medical assistance in dying (MAiD). For this second part of a 2-part scoping review, the focus is on the existing procedures and processes for organ donation following MAiD. Organ donation following MAiD is a novel and contentious issue worldwide. To give direction for future research and initiatives, a comprehensive understanding of the available evidence of existing procedures and processes for organ donation following MAiD is needed. For this review, the population of interest included all individuals who underwent organ donation following MAiD; the concept was defined as procedures and processes involved in organ donation after MAiD; and the context was reports of organ donation following MAiD at home or in any health care setting worldwide. We considered quantitative and qualitative studies, text and opinion papers, gray literature, and unpublished material provided by stakeholders. This scoping review was conducted in line with JBI methodology. Published studies were retrieved from MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), PsycINFO (Ovid), Web of Science Core Collection, and Academic Search Complete (EBSCOhost). Gray and unpublished literature included reports from websites and organ donation organizations in Canada, Belgium, and The Netherlands. Two independent reviewers screened all reports (both title and abstract, and full text) against the predetermined inclusion criteria, extracted data, and completed a content analysis. Any disagreements between the 2 reviewers were resolved through discussion or with another reviewer. We included 121 documents across parts I and II, and we report on 107 documents in this second part. The majority of the 107 documents were discussion papers, published in English, and in Canada from 2019 to 2021. In the content analysis, we identified 5 major categories regarding existing procedures and processes of organ donation following MAiD: i) clinical pathways for organ donation following MAiD; ii) organ donation following MAiD and the donor; iii) clinical practice tools for organ donation following MAiD; iv) education and support for health care providers involved in organ donation following MAiD; and v) health care providers' roles and perceptions during organ donation following MAiD. Findings from this review can be used to provide support and guidance for improvements in procedures and processes, as well as a rich resource for countries currently planning to establish programs for organ donation after MAiD.

Background Identifying research gaps and priorities guides evidence-informed decision-making in health and social sciences. Although scoping reviews are widely used to map evidence and highlight gaps, but definitions, conceptualizations, and methods for identifying gaps and priorities vary considerably, resulting in inconsistent methodological approaches. Aim This study synthesized methodological frameworks in published scoping reviews and mapped how research gaps and priorities were reported across health disciplines (2000–2025). It also aimed to develop an integrated framework to enhance future scoping review methodology. Methods A scoping review was conducted following Arksey and O’Malley’s framework, enhanced by the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Comprehensive searches of electronic databases and grey literature were performed for English-language publications from January 2000 and May 2025. Eligible studies explicitly reported methodological approaches for identifying research gaps or research priorities. Study selection followed a three-stage screening process, and data were charted and synthesized using descriptive statistics and inductive content analysis. Results Among the twenty included studies, (45%) employed general scoping review approaches. Key themes were methodology and research (65%), education & training (15%), stakeholder engagement (10%), and Practice & Care (10%). Across the reviews, eleven categories of research gaps spotlights population underrepresentation, methodological inconsistency, and specialty-specific limitations. Additionally, seven research priorities centered on methodological rigor, innovation, stakeholder engagement, as the most emphasized areas. Conclusion This study provides the first comprehensive synthesis of how research gaps and priorities are identified within scoping reviews. Findings highlight under representation of human-centered, equity-focused, and practice-oriented domains, emphasizing the need for stakeholders to ensure research is inclusive, relevant, and impactful. The Integrated Framework provides guidance for future scoping reviews to enhance methodological rigor and impact.

BackgroundThe U.S. has experienced exponential growth in overdose fatalities over the past four decades and more than 22 million people are currently living with a substance use disorder (SUD). While great strides have been made in advancing the science of SUD prevention and treatment, proven programs and interventions are not commonly disseminated at scale in impacted communities. The U.S. Cooperative Extension System (Extension) has been recognized as a valued partner in addressing SUD in communities. Federal funding supporting Extension's response to the opioid epidemic reached $35 million in 2021 primarily through two grant programs: the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Health and Safety Education program; and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Rural Opioid Technical Assistance (ROTA) grants. The primary objective of this scoping review was to identify the range of Extension activities aimed at mediating substance misuse.MethodsAuthors utilized the PRISMA-SCR model to complete this scoping review. Due to the nature of Extension work and the expectation that few activities would be cited in the peer-reviewed literature, the scoping review included a search of peer-reviewed databases, Extension websites for each state and U.S. territory, and the utilization of a web search engine. Upon initial analysis of records returned, authors noted a discrepancy between results returned and the number of states receiving ROTA grants. Thus, authors supplemented the PRISMA-SCR review protocol with a systematic procedure for investigating ROTA funded activities not readily apparent in the peer-reviewed or grey literature.ResultsA total of 87 records met inclusion criteria. Findings included seven peer-reviewed articles and 80 results from the grey literature. An additional 11 ROTA grantees responded to requests for information regarding state level activities.ConclusionsNationwide, Extension has scaled multiple efforts to address SUD operating through a loose confederation of organizations connected to the land-grant system. Most activities are funded by federal grants and focus on state-sponsored training and resource sharing. The volume of effort is significant, however, implementation at the community-level has been slow. Significant opportunities exist for local adoption of evidence-based practices aimed at mitigating SUD.