Objectives To describe the range of strategies for expanding health insurance coverage for vulnerable population and how the authors have assessed these strategies. Methods Search words were chosen by both health policy experts and search coordinators after discussion and pilot. What was searched included 28 electronic databases, 12 websites of health institutions, 3 grey literature databases and search engine Google. Any report of implemented strategies to expand health insurance coverage for vulnerable population was included. Pre-designed data extraction form was used for collecting strategies and study methods of the included studies. Then the extracted information was analyzed and described. Results A total of 86 studies were included, most of which were the ones in the U.S. and the main targeted population was children. In terms of the study objective, 61 studies aimed to describe strategies and 25 ones are to evaluate effectiveness of the strategies. All strategies could be categorized into 6 groups based on the theoretical framework: changing eligibility criteria of health insurance, increasing awareness, making premium affordable, innovating enrollment approaches, improving health care delivery and strengthening management capacity. Most of the studies evaluating effectiveness were retrospective analysis of longitude data, and there were also two experimental studies. Conclusions The U.S. and other developed countries have implemented a great many strategies for expanding insurance coverage, while few strategies and related studies are found in developing countries. However, developing countries can learn from the developed countries in extending health insurance coverage. The 25 included studies evaluating strategies need further systematic reviews to assess the effectiveness of these strategies.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the implementation status, effectiveness and existing problems of nutrition improvement measures for vulnerable populations in rural areas of China. MethodsAll studies about the implementation status, effectiveness and existing problems of nutrition improvement measures for vulnerable populations in rural areas of China were electronically searched in VIP, CNKI, WanFang Data and CBM from inception to January 1st, 2014. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality of included studies, and then performed qualitative analysis in terms of implementation effectiveness and situation. ResultsA total of 79 studies were finally included. The results of qualitative analysis showed that:the earliest study was published in 1990; 38.0% of these studies were carried out in the southwest and northwest areas of China; 31.6% of these studies were financially supported, and most funds were provided by some international institutions; 90.0% of these research subjects focused on infants and children (under the age of 10); a variety of nutrition improvement measures had been taken, and 55.7% of these interventions measures were nutrition education which could be implemented easily; the implementation duration of 38.0% of these measures lasted less than half a year; 32.9% of these studies adopted the blood test to evaluate the outcomes of nutrition measures; all of the studies showed that nutrition levels of vulnerable populations in rural areas of China had been obviously improved by these measures. ConclusionThe nutrition improvement measures for vulnerable populations in rural areas of China have been implemented relatively earlier focusing on populations in West China where was less developed. However, an imbalance exists in the attention to target populations, especially to the elderly. Face to face nutrition education is most frequently taken; however, it could not directly reflect the changing of nutritional status. In addition, implementation duration is fairly short which indicates that more fund supports are needed from the government or institutions.