Public health policies for children and youth with special health care needs in OECD member countries and Brazil: A scoping review protocol

Abstract

Background Because public health policies lay down guidelines for health promotion in specific populations, a review of policies devised for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) can reveal the actual degree of priority assigned to this population segment, while also highlighting relevant policies in this field. Objective To map the available evidence of public health policies for CYSHCN in member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Brazil. Method A scoping review protocol was developed as per the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) manual and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses–Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist, for application to the Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, PubMed, and Embase databases;to theLatin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS)multilingual thesaurus; and to gray literature.The review will map the principal documents (irrespective of time frame or language) addressing public health policies for CYSHCN up to 19 years old. The research protocol has been registered on the Open Science Framework platform (identifier 10.17605/OSF.IO/UW5BH:DOI). Results and conclusion Tables, maps, charts, and/or graphs accompanied by descriptive texts will be employed to present the results to the research question and provide answers to it. Use of both open-access software IRaMuTeQ for similitude analysis and word clouds is also planned. This protocol is expected to reveal policies that meet the specific needs of this vulnerable population segment and highlight examples of good practices or current gaps. Introduction Public health policies constitute social-protection strategies—in the form of governmental plans, programs, and projects—to minimize social inequality and injustice. They are formulated to meet the demands of populations and social movements for improved living and working conditions [1–4]. The concept of children with special health care needs was coined by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, in the United States, to refer to children at greater risk of experiencing or developing physical problems, chronic conditions, or problematic behavioral or emotional traits—a population segment whose need for health services and specialized care is greater than that of other children [5]. With the subsequent inclusion of adolescents in the concept, the term was expanded to children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN)—an important move, since adolescence is the phase of life when future adults need to prepare to take responsibility for their own health care, as well as for their personal and professional lives [6]. However, a number of gaps remain in policies formulated for CYSHCN. In Brazil, the absence of specific policies for this population segment numbers among these gaps. Also lacking, in broader terms, is a more precise definition of special health care needs, as well as more suitable categorization of these needs to prevent the occurrence of conceptual and epistemological limitations that may hinder access of this population segment to health care services. Furthermore, different terms, such as chronic illness or chronic health condition, have been employed to refer to special needs [7]. Given the recency of the definition of CYSHCN, and the absence of specific Brazilian policies, the review sought to include data from developed OECD member countries and Brazil and compare how these nations have been designing policies for this population. Mapping health policies using the scoping review method involves an initial identification of policy gaps. To this end, a search of both scoping reviews and systematic reviews on the topic of health policies was performed to ensure that the research question had not been previously answered. The databases employed for the search were Portal Periódicos CAPES, Cochrane Library, JBI, Research Registry, and Prospero, using terms and keywords related to the topic. This initial search retrieved no previous reviews or protocols. Given the breadth of the research question, the scoping review corpus will not be limited to scientific articles, but will include any untrimmed, open-access sources addressing public health policies for CYSHCN, irrespective of language or time frame. Identifying, tracking, and mapping evidence of public health policies can reveal models, experiences, and contexts, providing support for improvement and reorientation of health care systems and services for CYSHCN and their families. The purpose of the investigation is to map the evidence on public health policies for CYSHCN available in OECD countries and Brazil. Method A scoping review mapping policies and identifying the main documents and statements, whether from governmental bodies or professional organizations, that are capable of influencing and guiding the nature of practices in this area, will be conducted [8].