Grant: Prize - IHDCYH Talks

As many children die shortly after hospital discharge following in hospital treatment for sepsis as during hospital admission. This global epidemic is acutely felt in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) which are plagued by large numbers of socioeconomically disadvantaged children served with limited resources in congested and non-resilient health care systems. Post-discharge deaths, however, are largely ignored despite concerted efforts to address child mortality worldwide during the United Nations Millennium Declaration. Infectious diseases account for approximately half of childhood deaths, and sepsis is the final common pathway leading to most of these deaths. However, while decreases in mortality were substantial, approximately 18,000 deaths still occur daily, mostly from preventable causes, with the major burden in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia. Precision Public Health approaches (i.e. risk based public health intervention) are ideally suited to address this global epidemic. Smart Discharges is a precision public health tool which focuses limited resources towards the most vulnerable children. Smart Discharges use risk prediction to identify at-risk children. At-risk children receive comprehensive discharge planning along with interventions focused on reducing the post-discharge mortality (ex. education on illness recognition, risk reduction practices and linkages for early routine follow-up). Using an evidence-based, Smart Discharge approach, hospitals and health centers in resource limited settings can be equipped to improve and streamline the discharge process.