Conectar
Antenatal depression (AD), a maternal mental health condition, has been increasingly prevalent in recent years. It is often triggered by various stressors, including hormonal changes, relationship problems and economic challenges. In Ghana, there is currently no recent nationally representative prevalence data on AD, despite a number of studies conducted in various regions.
Review will include observational studies which employed standardised diagnostic criteria or validated screening tools. We will search the PubMed, SCOPUS, African Index Medicus (AIM), Science Direct, Web of Science (WoS) and Google Scholar databases. The African Journal Online (AJOL) will also be handsearched. Targeted grey literature search will include selected tertiary institutional repositories, Ghana Health Service, Ministry of Health and Mental Health Authority websites. Studies in English will be included with no limits to date. Data extraction will be performed by two independent reviewers using a structured table, with a third reviewer resolving any discrepancies. Quality assessment of included studies will be conducted using the adapted National Institiute of Health (NIH) Quality Assessment Tool for observational studies. Pooled prevalence estimates will be calculated using a random-effects meta-analysis if studies are sufficiently homogeneous and subgroup analysis.
Given that this study involves no primary data collection, an ethical review is not necessary. The findings will be disseminated through publication in a peer-reviewed journal, presentations at academic conferences and key national stakeholder events.
CRD42025644715.
Health emergencies continue to stimulate greater interest in health systems and services, particularly their ability to respond to such shock. While studies have been done on health system response to health emergencies, there has been no attempt to synthesise this body of evidence to inform future emergency preparedness and response plan, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where health systems are deemed to be weak. This paper aims to provide a systematic review protocol for synthesising evidence on health system response to health emergencies in LMICs.
The WHO building blocks of health system functioning will be used as a conceptual framework for the review. The review will be conducted and reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement. Nine electronic databases will be searched: Medline, Embase, Ovid Emcare, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Academic Search Complete, HINARI, CINAHL and African Index Medicus. The search will be supplemented by citation searching, searching reference lists of included articles, search for grey literature in Google Scholar and relevant websites. Studies focusing on health system response to health emergencies in LMICs, published in English and between 2007 and 2025, will be eligible for inclusion. A narrative synthesis will be performed on all the included studies. Studies will be mapped and categorised into the WHO six building blocks of health system functioning, exploring relationships between and within studies, identifying the response mechanisms of the health system during health emergencies and their barriers and facilitators.
The data to be used do not include individual patient data, so ethical approval is not required. The results of the systematic review will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed journal publication, presentations at conferences and seminars.
CRD42024556271
Historically, Black women have been positioned as primary caretakers and problem-solvers, often expected to bear disproportionate responsibility during times of crisis. There is an enduring image of Black women possessing exceptional strength handed down through generations, captured in the sociocultural phenomenon known as the superwoman schema, or SWS. The aim of this discursive review is to explore health disparities among Black women related to the SWS.
A discursive paper.
A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar to identify relevant papers published from 2016 to 2025 that addressed health disparities among Black women.
Through literature review, we identified three critical areas of health disparities associated with mental health disorders, maternal mortality and breast cancer, reflecting the influence of inequitable practices embedded within healthcare systems and society. Nurses, advanced practice nurses and other healthcare providers must prioritise identifying and addressing barriers that hinder access to quality healthcare for Black women. Many providers remain unaware of how depressive symptoms, chronic stress and social determinants impact maternal, mental and breast health outcomes. Encouraging Black women to prioritise mental health, engage in routine prenatal care and seek early breast cancer screening is critical to improving health outcomes. By understanding the historical, societal, and personal contexts of the SWS, nurses can clarify both its benefits and challenges for Black women.
FreshRSS 