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Public Health Issues (public + health_issues)
Selected AbstractsWhat sticks: How medical residents and academic health care faculty transfer conflict resolution training from the workshop to the workplaceCONFLICT RESOLUTION QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2008Ellen B. Zweibel Workshops in conflict resolution were given to enhance the ability of residents and academic health care faculty to collaborate in multidisciplinary teams, patient care, hospital committees, public health issues, teaching, and research. A qualitative research study on the transfer of learning from the workshops to the workplace reports on the attitude, knowledge, and skills consistently reported both immediately after the workshops and twelve months later. Learners' descriptions of workplace conflict confirmed they gained a positive outlook on conflict and their own ability to solve problems and apply conflict resolution skills, such as interest analysis and communication techniques, to gain perspective, reduce tension, increase mutual understanding, and build relationships in patient care, teaching, research, and administration. [source] When intimate partner violence against women and HIV collide:Challenges for healthcare assessment and interventionJOURNAL OF FORENSIC NURSING, Issue 2 2010FAAN, Kimberly Adams Tufts DNP, WHNP-BC Abstract Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) both constitute major public health issues that impact the overall health of women. IPV, including sexual assault, remains a persistent public health concern that has proven to be both difficult and significantly dangerous to prevent and treat. Based on data from UNAIDS more than 14.5 million women were living with HIV by the end of 2005. IPV and HIV are often interrelated. Exposure to IPV has been associated with an increased risk for contracting HIV and women who are living with HIV may be more likely to become victims of IPV. Implications: comprehensive care and services have to be offered in the context of where women seek health care. Screening and effective intervention for IPV are essential components of HIV-related services including prevention programming, voluntary counseling and testing, and treatment. Including IPV-related services into the context of HIV-related services delivers the message that violence is not a taboo topic in the health-care setting. [source] Globalization, coca-colonization and the chronic disease epidemic: can the Doomsday scenario be averted?JOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 3 2000P. Zimmet Zimmet P (International Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia). Globalization, coca-colonization and the chronic disease epidemic: can the Doomsday scenario be averted? J Intern Med 2000; 247: 301,310. There are at present approximately 110 million people with diabetes in the world but this number will reach over 220 million by the year 2010, the majority of them with type 2 diabetes. Thus there is an urgent need for strategies to prevent the emerging global epidemic of type 2 diabetes to be implemented. Tackling diabetes must be part of an integrated program that addresses lifestyle related disorders. The prevention and control of type 2 diabetes and the other major noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) can be cost- and health-effective through an integrated (i.e. horizontal) approach to noncommunicable diseases disease prevention and control. With the re-emergence of devastating communicable diseases including AIDS, the Ebola virus and tuberculosis, the pressure is on international and regional agencies to see that the noncommunicable disease epidemic is addressed. The international diabetes and public health communities need to adopt a more pragmatic view of the epidemic of type 2 diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases. The current situation is a symptom of globalization with respect to its social, cultural, economic and political significance. Type 2 diabetes will not be prevented by traditional medical approaches; what is required are major and dramatic changes in the socio-economic and cultural status of people in developing countries and the disadvantaged, minority groups in developed nations. The international diabetes and public health communities must lobby and mobilize politicians, other international agencies such as UNDP, UNICEF, and the World Bank as well as other international nongovernmental agencies dealing with the noncommunicable diseases to address the socio-economic, behavioural, nutritional and public health issues that have led to the type 2 diabetes and noncommunicable diseases epidemic. A multidisciplinary Task Force representing all parties which can contribute to a reversal of the underlying socio-economic causes of the problem is an urgent priority. [source] The Evaluation of School-Based Violence Prevention Programs: A Meta-Analysis,JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 9 2008Hyoun-Kyoung Park-Higgerson PhD ABSTRACT Background:, Youth violence and related aggressive behaviors have become serious public health issues with physical, economic, social, and psychological impacts and consequences. This study identified and evaluated the characteristics of successful school-based violence prevention programs. Methods:, Twenty-six randomized controlled trial (RCT), school-based studies that were designed to reduce externalizing, aggressive, and violent behavior between the 1st and 11th grades were analyzed for assessing the effects of 5 program characteristics by comparing results of intervention groups to control groups (no intervention) after intervention using a meta-analysis. Electronic databases and bibliographies were systematically searched, and a standardized mean difference was used for analysis. Results:, There was no significant difference between interventions, although programs that used non,theory-based interventions, focused on at-risk and older children, and employed intervention specialists had slightly stronger effects in reducing aggression and violence. Interventions using a single approach had a mild positive effect on decreasing aggressive and violent behavior (effect size =,0.15, 95% CI =,0.29 to ,0.02, p = .03). Conclusions:, Unlike previous individual study findings, this meta-analysis did not find any differential effects for 4 of the 5 program characteristics. In addition, the significant effect noted was contrary to expectation, exemplifying the complexity of identifying effective program strategies. This study adds to the current literature by assessing the program characteristics of RCT studies in an effort to determine what factors may affect school-based violence prevention program success. [source] Avian influenza: risk, preparedness and the roles of public health nurses in Hong KongNURSING INQUIRY, Issue 1 2006Georgina Ho This paper provides an overview of the Hong Kong government's influenza preparedness plan and the key roles of public health nurses in that plan. The part played by Hong Kong public health nurses in the management of the avian influenza outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997 and the sudden acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003, together with the capacity-building work they are now undertaking in preparing for an influenza pandemic, highlight their crucial role in public health. Recent strengthening of public health infrastructure in Hong Kong and heightened public awareness of public health issues have facilitated more proactive and effective public health nursing activities. [source] Early communication of drug safety concerns: a feasibility study on enhancing interaction between the pharmaceutical industry and regulatorsPHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 3 2010Elizabeth Swain BPharm, MRPharmS Abstract Purpose The responsibility for monitoring the safety of marketed medicines is shared between regulatory authorities and the pharmaceutical industry and is underpinned by legal obligations on both sides. Both marketing authorisation holders (MAHs) and regulators initially evaluate and investigate potential safety concerns, and then work together on further review as appropriate. We wanted to test the feasibility of enhanced interaction between MAH and regulator via a regular monthly, two-way communication of potential safety concerns between the MAHs and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). It was envisaged that such a process would aid prioritisation and planning by both parties, avoid duplication of effort and support a collaborative approach for decision making. Methods Four MAHs took part in the pilot, which was conducted between July 2007 and June 2008. Potential safety concerns were exchanged on a monthly basis. The MAH/MHRA proposed a timeline for evaluation of each potential safety concern. The pilot did not include serious public health issues which are immediately reported to regulatory authorities. Results During the pilot, 136 potential safety concerns were exchanged. Thirteen per cent of these resulted in a change to product information for health professionals and patients. There was concurrence between the MAHs and MHRA on timelines proposed for evaluation. Conclusions The pilot proved feasible for the companies involved and indicated potential benefits of a system for avoiding duplication of effort and supporting a collaborative approach to planning and prioritisation of investigation of potential safety concerns between pharmaceutical industry and regulatory authorities. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This article was published online on December 27, 2009. An error was subsequently identified. This notice is included in the online and print versions to indicate that both have been corrected (08/01/10). [source] Utility of Qualitative Research Findings in Evidence-Based Public Health PracticePUBLIC HEALTH NURSING, Issue 3 2006Ph.D., Susan M. Jack R.N. ABSTRACT Epidemiological data, derived from quantitative studies, provide important information about the causes, prevalence, risk correlates, treatment and prevention of diseases, and health issues at a population level. However, public health issues are complex in nature and quantitative research findings are insufficient to support practitioners and administrators in making evidence-informed decisions. Upshur's Synthetic Model of Evidence (2001) situates qualitative research findings as a credible source of evidence for public health practice. This article answers the following questions: (1) where does qualitative research fit within the paradigm of evidence-based practice and (2) how can qualitative research be used by public health professionals? Strategies for using qualitative research findings instrumentally, conceptually, and symbolically are identified by applying Estabrooks' (1999) conceptual structure of research utilization. Different research utilization strategies are illustrated through the use of research examples from the field of work on intimate partner violence against women. Recommendations for qualitative researchers disseminating findings and for public health practitioners/policy makers considering the use of qualitative findings as evidence to inform decisions are provided. [source] Is lack of retail competition in the grocery sector a public health issue?AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 5 2009Jon Wardle Abstract Objectives: The economic implications of a lack of competition in the grocery retail sector are hotly contested. However, there are also significant health implications of such anti-competitive practices that seldom receive attention. This paper hopes to draw attention to the potential public health issues that arise as a result of lack of competition in the grocery retail sector. Method: Relevant supporting literature was reviewed to explore the possible effects of market concentration on various health outcomes. Results: High retailer concentration may adversely affect affordability, accessibility, quality, and choice of healthy food options to consumers. In turn this has significant implications for public health. Implications: Unless these upstream factors are addressed through the development of healthy competition, policy public health programs aimed purely at encouraging the public to consume higher quantities of healthful foods may be rendered ineffective. [source] The Beijing Eye StudyACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 3 2009Jost B. Jonas Abstract. Purpose:, This review presents and summarizes the findings of the Beijing Eye Study. Methods:, The Beijing Eye Study is a population-based study which included 4439 of 5324 subjects (aged , 40 years) who were initially examined in 2001. The study was repeated in 2006, when 3251 (73.2% of 4439, or 61.1% of 5324) of the original subjects participated. Participants underwent a series of examinations including: refractometry; pneumotonometry; biomicroscopy assisted by slit-lamp; optical coherence tomography of the anterior segment; photography of the cornea, lens, optic disc, macula and fundus; blood sampling for laboratory tests; blood pressure measurements, and determinations of anthropomorphic parameters. They were also asked to complete a questionnaire which included questions on socioeconomic parameters, and awareness and treatment of ocular and general diseases. Results:, We present normative data for refractive error, anterior segment measurements, intraocular pressure and optic disc structures and their associations, frequency and causes of visual impairment, blindness and visual field defects, prevalences of trachoma, pterygia, open-angle glaucoma and angle-closure glaucoma, cortical, nuclear and posterior subcapsular cataract, age-related macular degeneration, retinal vein occlusions, diabetes mellitus and diabetic retinopathy, myelinated nerve fibres, and retinitis pigmentosa, and associated and risk factors. Discussion:, These data may be helpful for dealing with public health issues in China and for assessing associated and risk factors of ocular and general diseases in general. [source] | ||||||||||