Ministry of Health Library - Health Improvement & Innovation Digest
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Issue 349 - 4 September 2026
Welcome to the fortnightly Health Improvement and Innovation Digest. The Digest has links to key evidence of interest, with access to new content arranged by topic.
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Article Access
For articles that aren't open access, contact your Health NZ district library, or organisational or local library for assistance in accessing the full text. If your organisation has a subscription, you may be able to use the icon under full text links in PubMed to access the full article.
Health Equity (New Zealand)
Ethical governance of artificial intelligence in digital health for Indigenous populations: A narrative review and conceptual framework Artificial intelligence (AI) integration into digital health care delivery is rapidly expanding and is increasingly viewed as a promising approach for improving access to care, strengthening diagnostic decision-making, and addressing persistent health inequities experienced by Indigenous populations. Although AI-enabled digital health applications offer potential benefits such as scalability, personalization, and improved clinical decision support, they also raise critical ethical concerns related to equitable implementation, culturally grounded design, representative data usage accountability, privacy protection, and Indigenous data sovereignty. A coherent ethical governance framework is necessary to guide the responsible development, deployment, and evaluation of AI applications implemented in digital health solutions involving Indigenous communities. This narrative review, published in Digital Health, was conducted to critically assess recent literature (2020-2025) addressing ethical considerations in the integration of AI into digital health care delivery for Indigenous populations.
Nutrition & Physical Activity (International)
Intervention structure and effectiveness in digital health interventions for childhood and adolescent obesity: A scoping reviewDigital health interventions for childhood and adolescent obesity have shown mixed effectiveness, with prior studies largely focusing on stand-alone mobile-based approaches. Limited attention has been given to how the structural characteristics of interventions influence outcomes. This study, published in Digital Health, aimed to examine the structural characteristics of contemporary digital health interventions, including wearable devices, artificial intelligence, web-based platforms, exergames, and virtual or augmented reality, and to assess how these factors relate to intervention effectiveness.
Quality Improvement (New Zealand)
Strengthening consumer and whānau engagement in health webinar evaluation reportIn April 2026, the Health Quality & Safety Commission, hosted a webinar to provide a practical introduction to consumer engagement.
Adult primary care patient experience survey — summary report for practicesThis document, published by the Health Quality & Safety Commission, is an anonymised version of a report provided to general practices summarising their adult primary care patient experience survey results.
Cancer Services (International)
Ethnic Differences in Comorbidity Burden Among Women Undergoing Breast Cancer Screening in HawaiiBreast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in the United States, including Hawaii. Comorbidity burden varies across populations and is an important indicator of overall health status. Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders experience a disproportionate burden of chronic disease, yet remain underrepresented in research. This study, published in Pacific Health Dialog, aimed to describe the differences in comorbidity burden across ethnic groups in a population of women undergoing breast cancer screening in Hawaii.
Household food insecurity (HFI) is a critical social determinant of health that can adversely influence cancer prevention, treatment, and survivorship, while a cancer diagnosis with its financial and functional consequences may also increase the risk of HFI. This study, published in Social Science & Medicine, aimed to examine the associations between HFI and cancer-related outcomes.
Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes (New Zealand)
Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are established markers of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk yet are not routinely incorporated into primary prevention. This study, published in European Heart Journal, aimed to assess how HDP is recorded across primary care and national hospitalisation data in New Zealand, and estimate the association between a history of HDP and incident CVD over 5 years.
Ethnic inequities in cardiovascular disease and healthcare access are well recognised worldwide, but it is unclear whether these inequities translate into differences in cardiac rehabilitation participation and subsequent clinical outcomes. This study, published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, examined ethnic differences in cardiac rehabilitation enrolment, participation, and mortality outcomes within a large multi-ethnic cohort to determine whether the association between rehabilitation exposure and mortality differed across ethnic groups.
Primary Health Care (New Zealand)
Emerging evidence indicates that Indigenous peoples experience disproportionately high rates of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This systematic review, published in Sleep Advances, aimed to examine OSA prevalence, contributing factors, and intervention or treatment outcomes among Indigenous peoples worldwide.
Although shame is recognised as a powerful force in clinical settings, it may be understood as an individual emotion and an episodic experience. Drawing on life course theory and narrative analysis, this paper, published in Social Science & Medicine, examines how shame creates a barrier to engaging with health care.
Primary Mental Health (New Zealand)
Early intervention for psychosis (EIP) has significantly improved outcomes for young people experiencing early psychosis. However, access to services is often variable, and can be impacted by wider systemic factors such as poverty and systemic racism, alongside the design of the wider mental health system. This study, published in the Community Mental Health Journal, took a critical realist perspective examining participant journeys to accessing early psychosis care in New Zealand.
Smoking Cessation (International)
Electronic cigarettes (EC) are handheld electronic vaping devices that produce an aerosol by heating a liquid. People who smoke, healthcare providers, and regulators want to know if EC can help people quit smoking, and if they are safe to use for this purpose. The objective of this Cochrane Review was to examine the safety, tolerability, and effectiveness of EC for helping people who smoke tobacco achieve long‐term smoking abstinence, in comparison to non‐nicotine EC, other smoking cessation treatments, and no treatment.
Depression is strongly associated with higher tobacco use and lower quit rate; few communication campaigns have been designed with these mental health factors in mind. This scoping review, published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research, compiles existing research on tobacco prevention and cessation messaging involving people with depression to identify gaps and opportunities for future message development.
Key Ministry of Health Publications
The Ministry undertook a consultation on Te Kaunihera proposed specified prescription medicines list from 6 June to 5 July 2026. This publication provides the analysis of submissions on the proposed list of specified prescription medicines considered appropriate for designated paramedic prescribers.
Health Sector Initiative
Cervical screening participation has increased significantly for both wāhine Māori and Pacific women, reflecting the strong impact of self-testing, Screening Services and the dedicated efforts of health providers working alongside their communities. Since HPV Primary Screening and self-testing were introduced in September 2023, cervical screening coverage has continued to grow across all population groups. Screening coverage for wāhine Māori has increased by 13.5 percentage points to 70.6 per cent, while Pacific women have exceeded the national screening target, reaching 80.4 per cent, an increase of 22.8 percentage points. Nationally, screening coverage has increased by 9.9 percentage points to 77.6 per cent. Health New Zealand’s National Director Prevention Screening Alana Ewe-Snow says these increases demonstrate how removing barriers to screening can deliver meaningful improvements in early detection and prevention.
The information available on or through this newsletter does not represent Ministry of Health policy. It is intended to provide general information to the health sector and the public, and is not intended to address specific circumstances of any particular individual or entity.