Can the NICE "end-of-life premium" be given a coherent ethical justification?

Science.gov (United States)

Cookson, Richard

2013-12-01

In 2009 the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) announced that its health technology appraisal committees would henceforth give special additional weight to health gains from life-extending end-of-life treatments. This was a response to mounting concern from NICE's stakeholders that effective new drugs for end-stage cancer often fail NICE's standard test of cost effectiveness. This change of policy may be justifiable on procedural grounds as the result of a democratic political process responding to stakeholder concerns. However, according to the "accountability for reasonableness" framework proposed by the philosopher Norman Daniels and endorsed by NICE, there also needs to be transparency about the substantive ethical grounds for public health care resource allocation decisions. In that spirit, I analyze eleven potentially relevant justifications for the NICE "end-of-life premium," drawn from the economics and philosophy literature: (1) rule of rescue, (2) fair chances, (3) ex post willingness to pay, (4) caring externality, (5) financial protection, (6) symbolic value, (7) diminishing marginal value of future life years, (8) concentration of benefits, (9) dread, (10) time to set your affairs in order, and (11) severity of illness. I conclude that none of them yields a coherent ethical justification for the NICE end-of-life premium.

The human genome as public: Justifications and implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Bayefsky, Michelle J

2017-03-01

Since the human genome was decoded, great emphasis has been placed on the unique, personal nature of the genome, along with the benefits that personalized medicine can bring to individuals and the importance of safeguarding genetic privacy. As a result, an equally important aspect of the human genome - its common nature - has been underappreciated and underrepresented in the ethics literature and policy dialogue surrounding genetics and genomics. This article will argue that, just as the personal nature of the genome has been used to reinforce individual rights and justify important privacy protections, so too the common nature of the genome can be employed to support protections of the genome at a population level and policies designed to promote the public's wellbeing. In order for public health officials to have the authority to develop genetics policies for the sake of the public good, the genome must have not only a common, but also a public, dimension. This article contends that DNA carries a public dimension through the use of two conceptual frameworks: the common heritage (CH) framework and the common resource (CR) framework. Both frameworks establish a public interest in the human genome, but the CH framework can be used to justify policies aimed at preserving and protecting the genome, while the CR framework can be employed to justify policies for utilizing the genome for the public benefit. A variety of possible policy implications are discussed, with special attention paid to the use of large-scale genomics databases for public health research. © Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Justifications for caregiving in white, Asian American, and native Hawaiian grandparents raising grandchildren.

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Yancura, Loriena A

2013-01-01

Race has been found to predict justifications for caregiving in family caregivers for older adults. However, little is known about this relationship in another type of family caregiver, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (GRG). This study examined relationships between race and justifications for caregiving in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and White GRG. A sample of 259 GRG registered as students' primary caregivers with a public school system completed a modified version of the 10-item Cultural Justifications for Caregiving (CJCG) scale. CJCG items did not load onto a single analytic factor. Two factors, custom and responsibility, emerged. Race was predictive of custom, with Native Hawaiian GRG having significantly higher scores than White or Asian American GRG. Native Hawaiian GRG also scored higher than Asian American, but not White, GRG on responsibility. Justifications for raising grandchildren appear to differ among groups based on racial identification. Findings elucidate cultural justification for caregiving in understudied GRG populations and suggest that justifications for caregiving are configured differently in GRG and family caregivers for older adults. Future studies should examine justifications for caregiving in GRG of other races.

[Grounding public health policies in ethics and economic efficiency. SESPAS report 2010].

Science.gov (United States)

Ramiro Avilés, Miguel A; Lobo, Félix

2010-12-01

In recent times, various voices in Spain have questioned public health policies as an assault to personal freedom. The present article aims to respond to these voices with ethical and economic arguments. The scope and characteristics of this current of opinion are described. Then, starting with John Stuart Mill, the ethical principles of non-maleficence, beneficence, personal autonomy and justice, as well as related concepts taken from economic efficiency, such as externalities, monopoly, incomplete and asymmetric information, agency relationship, public goods and adverse selection, are discussed. A short mention is made of equity in economics, the welfare state and public health systems. The justification for paternalist actions by the state, as well as limits to these actions, are briefly discussed. Respect for individual freedom does not exclude the implementation of public health actions but rather demands the adoption of such policies. If these actions comply with certain conditions, they do not limit individual freedom but rather serve to protect it. Copyright © 2010 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Health Care Professionals' Attitudes About Physician-Assisted Death: An Analysis of Their Justifications and the Roles of Terminology and Patient Competency.

Science.gov (United States)

Braverman, Derek W; Marcus, Brian S; Wakim, Paul G; Mercurio, Mark R; Kopf, Gary S

2017-10-01

Health care professionals (HCPs) are crucial to physician-assisted death (PAD) provision. To quantitatively assess the favorability of justifications for or against PAD legalization among HCPs, the effect of the terms "suicide" and "euthanasia" on their views and their support for three forms of PAD. Our questionnaire presented three cases: physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia for a competent patient, and euthanasia for an incompetent patient with an advance directive for euthanasia. Respondents judged whether each case was ethical and should be legal and selected their justifications from commonly cited reasons. The sample included physician clinicians, researchers, nonphysician clinicians, and other nonclinical staff at a major academic medical center. Of 221 HCPs, the majority thought that each case was ethical and should be legal. In order of declining favorability, justifications supporting PAD legalization were relief of suffering, right to die, mercy, acceptance of death, nonabandonment, and saving money for the health care system; opposing justifications were the slippery slope argument, unnecessary due to palliative care, killing patients is wrong, religious views, and suicide is wrong. The use of suicide and euthanasia terminology did not affect responses. Participants preferred physician-assisted suicide to euthanasia for a competent patient (P euthanasia for an incompetent patient to euthanasia for a competent patient (P euthanasia language did not bias HCPs against PAD, challenging claims that such value-laden terms hinder dialogue. More research is required to understand the significance of competency in shaping attitudes toward PAD. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Local leadership in public health: the role of the medical officer of health in Britain, 1872–1974

Science.gov (United States)

Gorsky, Martin

2007-01-01

The recent policy focus in British public health on the importance of local action invites consideration of historical precedent. The role and achievements of the medical officer of health (MOH), the local government official charged with public health responsibilities, is discussed. The gradual accretion of duties is traced in the first section: the mid‐Victorian concern with urban sanitation; the preventive strategies adopted after the bacteriological revolution; the extension of personal health services in the early 20th century; and the more diminished role under the National Health Service (NHS), when infectious diseases retreated. The historical verdicts passed on the MOsH are reviewed in the second section. The leading role of the MOsH in the late 19th‐century mortality decline has been reasserted, and although there is some justification in the argument that in the 20th century public health lost its focus, it is important to recall that the extension of personal health services under MOH direction signified a major extension of access to care. Similarly, the charge that MOsH did not redefine their role in the period before their final demise in 1974 is not entirely justified. The emphasis of the NHS on curative rather than preventive medicine, and the economic constraints on local authority health service expansion limited their room for manoeuvre. The history of local leadership in public health may offer some enduring lessons. These include the importance of monitoring local population health, acting as a public interface between medicine and the community, facilitating joined‐up working and confronting vested interests. PMID:17496253

Simulator justifications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fairchild, B.T.

1990-01-01

For several years, the authors have been convinced by overwhelming evidence that dynamic simulators are justified for many applications where acceptance has been slow. They speculate as to why this situation has existed and list many benefits that accrue to those who use simulators for training and other purposes. This paper along may be sufficient to convince a receptive approval chain of the value of simulator ownership. It is intended primarily as an aid and supporting document for those who find it necessary to build a detailed justification for a specific simulator acquisition. The purchase of a simulator requires justification. For new military aircraft and for spacecraft, a simulator for training and performance evaluation is virtually assumed, value having been proven many times over. for commercial aircraft, safety is the overwhelming justification. For nuclear power plants, government regulations require operators to be licensed by examination on a certified simulator. For other applications, including air traffic control, biomedical, communications, electronic power transmission and distribution, emergency engineering and management, fossil power plants, gaming land vehicles, manufacturing, maintenance, marine vehicles, process plants, weapons, etc

Justification of medical exposures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ditto, M.

2009-01-01

Justification of practices using ionising radiation is one of the principles of radiation protection, in addition to optimisation and limitation of dose. This contribution overviews the legal und practical implementation of the principle of justification of medical exposures taking into account the Austrian situation in particular. (orig.)

Justification of novel practices involving radiation exposure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webb, G.; Boal, T.; Mason, C.; Wrixon, T.

2006-01-01

The concept of 'justification' of practices has been one of the three basic principles of radiation protection for many decades. The principle is simple in essence - that any practice involving radiation exposure should do more good than harm. There is no doubt that the many uses of radiation in the medical field and in industry generally satisfy this principle, yielding benefits that could not be achieved using other techniques; examples include CT scanning and industrial radiography. However, even in the early period after the introduction of the justification principle, there were practices for which the decision on justification was not clear and for which different decisions were made by the authorities in different countries. Many of these involved consumer products such as luminous clocks and watches, telephone dials, smoke detectors, lightning preventers and gas mantles. In most cases, these practices were relatively small scale and did not involve large exposures of either individual workers or members of the public. Decisions on justification were therefore often made by the regulator without extensive national debate. Over recent years, several practices have been proposed and undertaken that involve exposure to radiation for purposes that were generally not envisaged when the current system of radiation protection was created. Some of these practices were reviewed during a recent symposium held in Dublin, Ireland and involve, for example, the x-raying of people for theft detection purposes, for detection of weapons or contraband, for the prediction of physical development of young athletes or dancers, for age determination, for insurance purposes and in cases of suspected child abuse. It is particularly in the context of such novel practices that the need has emerged for clearer international guidance on the application of the justification principle. This paper reviews recent activities of the IAEA with respect to these issues, including the

Justification of novel practices involving radiation exposure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Webb, G. [Radiation Protection Consul tant, Brighton (United Kingdom); Boal, T.; Mason, C.; Wrixon, T. [International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria)

2006-07-01

The concept of 'justification' of practices has been one of the three basic principles of radiation protection for many decades. The principle is simple in essence - that any practice involving radiation exposure should do more good than harm. There is no doubt that the many uses of radiation in the medical field and in industry generally satisfy this principle, yielding benefits that could not be achieved using other techniques; examples include CT scanning and industrial radiography. However, even in the early period after the introduction of the justification principle, there were practices for which the decision on justification was not clear and for which different decisions were made by the authorities in different countries. Many of these involved consumer products such as luminous clocks and watches, telephone dials, smoke detectors, lightning preventers and gas mantles. In most cases, these practices were relatively small scale and did not involve large exposures of either individual workers or members of the public. Decisions on justification were therefore often made by the regulator without extensive national debate. Over recent years, several practices have been proposed and undertaken that involve exposure to radiation for purposes that were generally not envisaged when the current system of radiation protection was created. Some of these practices were reviewed during a recent symposium held in Dublin, Ireland and involve, for example, the x-raying of people for theft detection purposes, for detection of weapons or contraband, for the prediction of physical development of young athletes or dancers, for age determination, for insurance purposes and in cases of suspected child abuse. It is particularly in the context of such novel practices that the need has emerged for clearer international guidance on the application of the justification principle. This paper reviews recent activities of the IAEA with respect to these issues, including the

Assessment of Trachoma in Cambodia: Trachoma Is Not a Public Health Problem.

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Ngy; Seiha, Do; Thorn, Pok; Willis, Rebecca; Flueckiger, Rebecca M; Dejene, Michael; Lewallen, Susan; Courtright, Paul; Solomon, Anthony W

2016-01-01

To determine whether trachoma is a public health problem requiring intervention in Cambodia. Based on historical evidence and reports, 14 evaluation units (EUs) in Cambodia, judged to be most likely to harbor trachoma, were selected. The Global Trachoma Mapping Project methodology was used to carry out rigorous surveys to determine the prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) and trichiasis in each EU. The EU-level prevalence of TF among 25,801 1-9-year-old children examined ranged from 0% to 0.2%. Among the 24,502 adults aged 15+ years examined, trichiasis was found in 59 people. Age- and sex-adjusted prevalences of trichiasis in all ages in the EUs studied ranged from 0% to 0.14%; five EUs had a prevalence of trichiasis ≥0.1%. There appears to be no need nor justification at this time for implementing public health measures to control trachoma in Cambodia.

Application of the principles of justification and optimisation to products causing public exposure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fleishman, A.B.; Wrixon, A.D.

1980-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore the practical incorporation of the ICRP principles of justification and optimisation into a policy designed to control radioactive consumer products. ICRP recommends the use of cost benefit analysis and differential cost benefit analysis for justification and optimisation respectively, and expresses these procedures in simple mathematical forms. This might suggest that their application should involve quantification and therefore be objective. The problems which arise in such quantification are discussed. These include the derivation of a market demand curve for a given product and its adjustment to remove any distortion of perceived value or risk produced by advertising; the costing of detriment to those who receive no benefit (e.g., as a consequence of uncontrolled disposal); and the costs of the analyses themselves. Furthermore, both cost benefit and differential cost benefit analyses are dependent on availability of market and performance data. This is incompatible with prior approval schemes in which a decision must be made before the product is distributed. Ultimately criteria for product justification must therefore be based on judgements on the acceptability of risk that are political rather than scientific in nature. Optimisation must initially be carried out on an intuitive basis. However as experience is gained with similar products the opportunity for more formal optimisation and the setting of radiological protection standards arise. This requires further value judgements which are illustrated with reference to examples. (author)

The case of Scott Ortiz: a clash between criminal justice and public health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tobia Maria S

2006-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract The criminal justice system creates particular challenges for persons with HIV and Hepatitis C, many of whom have a history of injection drug use. The case of Scott Ortiz, taken from public trial and sentencing transcripts, reveals the manner in which incarceration may delay learning of important health problems such as Hepatitis C infection. In addition, the case of Mr. Ortiz suggests the bias in sentencing that a former injection drug user may face. Collaboration between the Montefiore Medical Center residency in Social Medicine and a Bronx legal services agency, Bronx Defenders, yielded the discovery that a decade after diagnosis with HIV and after long term incarceration, Mr. Ortiz was infected with Hepatitis C. Mr. Ortiz only became aware of his advanced Hepatitis C and liver damage during his trial. The second important aspect of this case centers on the justification for lengthy sentence for a burglary conviction. The presiding Judge in Mr. Ortiz's case acknowledged that because of his advanced illness, Mr. Ortiz posed no threat to society as a burglar (the crime for which he was convicted. But the Judge elected to use his discretion to sentence Mr. Ortiz to a term of 15 years to life (as opposed to a minimum of two to four years based on the idea that the public health would be served by preventing Mr. Ortiz from returning to the life of a street addict, sharing dirty needles with others. Mr. Ortiz reports distant injection drug use, no evidence of current or recent drug use was presented during Mr. Ortiz's trial and he reports no injection drug use for over a decade. In this case, bias against a former injection drug user, masquerading as concern for public health, is used to justify a lengthier sentence. Mr. Ortiz's lack of awareness of his Hepatitis C infection despite long term incarceration, combined with the justification for his dramatically increased sentence, provide examples of how persons within the criminal justice

[Teaching performance assessment in Public Health employing three different strategies].

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez-González, Adrián; Moreno-Altamirano, Laura; Ponce-Rosas, Efrén Raúl; Martínez-Franco, Adrián Israel; Urrutia-Aguilar, María Esther

2011-01-01

The educational system depends upon the quality and performance of their faculty and should therefore be process of continuous improvement. To assess the teaching performance of the Public Health professors, at the Faculty of Medicine, UNAM through three strategies. Justification study. The evaluation was conducted under a mediational model through three strategies: students' opinion assessment, self-assessment and students' academic achievement. We applied descriptive statistics, Student t test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation. Twenty professors were evaluated from the Public Health department, representing 57% of all them who teach the subject. The professor's performance was highly valued self-assessment compared with assessment of student opinion, was confirmed by statistical analysis the difference was significant. The difference amongst the three evaluation strategies became more evident between self-assessment and the scores obtained by students in their academic achievement. The integration of these three strategies offers a more complete view of the teacher's performance quality. Academic achievement appears to be a more objective strategy for teaching performance assessment than students' opinion and self-assessment.

Ethical and legal analyses of policy prohibiting tobacco smoking in enclosed public spaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Oriola, Taiwo A

2009-01-01

A spate of legislations prohibiting cigarette smoking in enclosed public spaces, mainly on grounds of public health protection, recently swept across cities around the world. This is in tandem with a raft of increasingly restrictive national laws that emerged on the back of the ratification of the WHO Framework for Tobacco Control by more than one 168 countries in 2005. The central debate on the increasingly restrictive tobacco laws revolves on the extent to which public health interests justification should ground political intervention in a private right as basic as tobacco smoking, which interestingly is often lumped in the food and beverage category. The pertinent legal and ethical questions therefore are the following: Is or should there be a general unrestricted right to tobacco smoking? If there were such a right, should public health or ethical considerations trump private right to smoke in enclosed public spaces? And if public health interests were so paramount, should they go farther and ground tobacco smoking proscription in all private and public spheres? Using ethical principles and rights-based arguments, the paper critically examines the legal and ethical ramifications of public health justification for tobacco smoking proscription in enclosed public spaces.

Stripped of illusions? Exploring system justification processes in capitalist and post-Communist societies.

Science.gov (United States)

Cichocka, Aleksandra; Jost, John T

2014-02-01

Sociologists and political scientists have often observed that citizens of Central and Eastern Europe express high levels of disillusionment with their social, economic and political systems, in comparison with citizens of Western capitalist societies. In this review, we analyze system legitimation and delegitimation in post-Communist societies from a social psychological perspective. We draw on system justification theory, which seeks to understand how, when and why people do (and do not) defend, bolster and justify existing social systems. We review some of the major tenets and findings of the theory and compare research on system-justifying beliefs and ideologies in traditionally Capitalist and post-Communist countries to determine: (1) whether there are robust differences in the degree of system justification in post-Communist and Capitalist societies, and (2) the extent to which hypotheses derived from system justification theory receive support in the post-Communist context. To this end, we summarize research findings from over 20 countries and cite previously unpublished data from a public opinion survey conducted in Poland. Our analysis confirms that there are lower levels of system justification in post-Communist countries. At the same time, we find that system justification possesses similar social and psychological antecedents, manifestations and consequences in the two types of societies. We offer potential explanations for these somewhat complicated patterns of results and conclude by addressing implications for theory and research on system justification and system change (or transition). © 2013 International Union of Psychological Science.

Students' Problem Solving and Justification

Science.gov (United States)

Glass, Barbara; Maher, Carolyn A.

2004-01-01

This paper reports on methods of students' justifications of their solution to a problem in the area of combinatorics. From the analysis of the problem solving of 150 students in a variety of settings from high-school to graduate study, four major forms of reasoning evolved: (1) Justification by Cases, (2) Inductive Argument, (3) Elimination…

[Health services research for the public health service (PHS) and the public health system].

Science.gov (United States)

Hollederer, A; Wildner, M

2015-03-01

There is a great need for health services research in the public health system and in the German public health service. However, the public health service is underrepresented in health services research in Germany. This has several structural, historical and disciplinary-related reasons. The public health service is characterised by a broad range of activities, high qualification requirements and changing framework conditions. The concept of health services research is similar to that of the public health service and public health system, because it includes the principles of multidisciplinarity, multiprofessionalism and daily routine orientation. This article focuses on a specified system theory based model of health services research for the public health system and public health service. The model is based on established models of the health services research and health system research, which are further developed according to specific requirements of the public health service. It provides a theoretical foundation for health services research on the macro-, meso- and microlevels in public health service and the public health system. Prospects for public health service are seen in the development from "old public health" to "new public health" as well as in the integration of health services research and health system research. There is a significant potential for development in a better linkage between university research and public health service as is the case for the "Pettenkofer School of Public Health Munich". © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Justification of radiographic examinations: What are the key issues?

Science.gov (United States)

Vom, Jason; Williams, Imelda

2017-09-01

Justification of radiographic examinations is the practice of evaluating requested radiological examinations to assess for clinical merit and appropriateness based on clinical notes and patient information. This implies that justification in radiography requires the evaluation of requested examinations, the justification of exposures being applied and determining whether patients fit the recommended criteria for the procedure. Medico-legal requirements by the professional registration body, the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia (MRPBA), identify justification as an advocated and obligatory practice for radiographers. Yet, justification remains an inconsistent practice implemented amongst Australian radiographers. This review aims to identify associated barriers inhibiting the consistent practice of justification and the hesitance by radiographers in practicing justification responsibilities. It also recommends a change in workplace culture which encourages radiographers to accept a more autonomous role that cultivates critical thinking, reflection and research-informed decision making as justification will ultimately benefit patients. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy and New Zealand Institute of Medical Radiation Technology.

On Engster's care-justification of the specialness thesis about healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Rumbold, Benedict

2017-08-01

To say health is 'special' is to say that it has a moral significance that differentiates it from other goods (cars, say or radios) and, as a matter of justice, warrants distributing it separately. In this essay, I critique a new justification for the specialness thesis about healthcare (STHC) recently put forth by Engster. I argue that, regrettably, Engster's justification of STHC ultimately fails and fails on much the same grounds as have previous justifications of STHC. However, I also argue that Engster's argument still adds something valuable to the debate around STHC insofar as it reminds us that the moral significance of healthcare may be wider than simply its effect on the incidence of disability and disease: one further reason we may think healthcare is morally significant is because it concerns the treatment and care of those who are already unwell. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

THEORETICAL JUSTIFICATION OF EXPONENTIAL DISTRIBUTION LAW OF DISTANCES BETWEEN STOPS OF CITY PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gorbachov, P.

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the results of investigation of relation bitween the trip distance on stops location on the route between places of attraction. Theoretical justification of the use fulness of exponential distribution with the shift parameter for describing the trip distance between stops is given.

16 CFR 240.15 - Cost justification.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Cost justification. 240.15 Section 240.15 Commercial Practices FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION GUIDES AND TRADE PRACTICE RULES GUIDES FOR ADVERTISING ALLOWANCES AND OTHER MERCHANDISING PAYMENTS AND SERVICES § 240.15 Cost justification. It is no defense to a...

Public health emergencies and the public health/managed care challenge.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenbaum, Sara; Skivington, Skip; Praeger, Sandra

2002-01-01

The relationship between insurance and public health is an enduring topic in public health policy and practice. Insurers share certain attributes with public health. But public health agencies operate in relation to the entire community that they are empowered by public law to serve and without regard to the insurance status of community residents; on the other hand, insurers (whether managed care or otherwise) are risk-bearing entities whose obligations are contractually defined and limited to enrolled members and sponsors. Public insurers such as Medicare and Medicaid operate under similar constraints. The fundamental characteristics that distinguish managed care-style insurance and public health become particularly evident during periods of public health emergency, when a public health agency's basic obligations to act with speed and flexibility may come face to face with the constraints on available financing that are inherent in the structure of insurance. Because more than 70% of all personal health care in the United States is financed through insurance, public health agencies effectively depend on insurers to finance necessary care and provide essential patient-level data to the public health system. Critical issues of state and federal policy arise in the context of the public health/insurance relations during public health emergencies. These issues focus on coverage and the power to make coverage decisions, as well as the power to define service networks and classify certain data as exempt from public reporting. The extent to which a formal regulatory approach may become necessary is significantly affected by the extent to which private entities themselves respond to the problem with active efforts to redesign their services and operations to include capabilities and accountability in the realm of public health emergency response.

Training public health superheroes: five talents for public health leadership.

Science.gov (United States)

Day, Matthew; Shickle, Darren; Smith, Kevin; Zakariasen, Ken; Moskol, Jacob; Oliver, Thomas

2014-12-01

Public health leaders have been criticized for their policy stances, relationships with governments and failure to train the next generation. New approaches to the identification and training of public health leaders may be required. To inform these, lessons can be drawn from public health 'superheroes'; public health leaders perceived to be the most admired and effective by their peers. Members and Fellows of the UK Faculty of Public Health were contacted via e-newsletter and magazine and asked to nominate their 'Public Health Superhero'. Twenty-six responses were received, nominating 40 different people. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis, based on 'grounded theory', was conducted. Five leadership 'talents' for public health were identified: mentoring-nurturing, shaping-organizing, networking-connecting, knowing-interpreting and advocating-impacting. Talent-based approaches have been effective for leadership development in other sectors. These talents are the first specific to the practice of public health and align with some aspects of existing frameworks. An increased focus on identifying and developing talents during public health training, as opposed to 'competency'-based approaches, may be effective in strengthening public health leadership. Further research to understand the combination and intensity of talents across a larger sample of public health leaders is required. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

[Public health services between "new public health" and "new public management"].

Science.gov (United States)

Oppen, M

1996-04-01

Today, a substantial reorientation of the Public Health services in the Federal Republic of Germany is broadly seen necessary. Patterns of functional and organisational restructuring of Public Health services on the regional and the communal level are closely linked with concepts of prevention and health promotion. Hence, a number of agencies have already adopted new tasks and functions like comprehensive and transorganizational planning, coordination and evaluation as well as the establishment of new reporting systems. Presently, the transformation process from the bureaucratic mode of administering matters of health to a new Public Health orientation receives new impacts from the international "New Public Management" movement. Comparatively late, with the beginning of the 1990s, a growing number of German municipalities has introduced new concepts of administration. Local government administrations, of which the Public Health services are a part, follow the model of modern service organizations producing services in a more efficient, professionalized and consumer-oriented way. Specific elements of economising modernisation programmes like re-distribution of tasks, de-centralisation, extension of managerial capacities, setting of stimulating working conditions that provide employees with greater independence of action as well as career opportunities, are at the same time prerequisites for innovative strategies of health protection and coordination policies of Public Health services.

The justification of a medical exposure - Who does it?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marsden, P.J.; Hardwick, J.; McHugh, K.

2001-01-01

It is widely acknowledged that the use of ionising radiation in medical exposures must be justified, but it has often been difficult to determine who makes that justification, and who is responsible for it. New legislation introduced in the UK following the European Union Medical Exposures Directive makes it necessary to ensure that justification takes place and to ensure that the individuals responsible for it are identified and are adequately trained. This paper presents an approach to justification which minimises the need for extra training by focussing responsibility for justification on professionals who have gained sufficient knowledge as part of their specialisation. By acknowledging the role of radiographers in the justification process and allowing them flexibility in their judgement, it is proposed that the justification process will become more robust and should screen out inappropriate referrals more effectively. (author)

Leprosy: International Public Health Policies and Public Health Eras

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niyi Awofeso

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Public health policies continue to play important roles in national and international health reforms. However, the influence and legacies of the public health eras during which such policies are formulated remain largely underappreciated. The limited appreciation of this relationship may hinder consistent adoption of public health policies by nation-states, and encumber disinvestment from ineffective or anachronistic policies. This article reviews seven public health eras and highlights how each era has influenced international policy formulation for leprosy control—“the fertile soil for policy learning”. The author reiterates the role of health leadership and health activism in facilitating consistency in international health policy formulation and implementation for leprosy control.

Justification and optimization in radiation protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beninson, D.

1980-01-01

Two requirements of the system recommended by the ICRP for radiation protection are discussed: 1) justification of practices involving radiation exposures and 2) optimization of the level of protection for such practices. The ICRP recommended the use of cost-benefit analysis in justification and optimization. The application of cost-benefit analysis and the quantification of the radiation detriment are also discussed. (H.K.)

Partners in Public Health: Public Health Collaborations With Schools of Pharmacy, 2015.

Science.gov (United States)

DiPietro Mager, Natalie A; Ochs, Leslie; Ranelli, Paul L; Kahaleh, Abby A; Lahoz, Monina R; Patel, Radha V; Garza, Oscar W; Isaacs, Diana; Clark, Suzanne

To collect data on public health collaborations with schools of pharmacy, we sent a short electronic survey to accredited and preaccredited pharmacy programs in 2015. We categorized public health collaborations as working or partnering with local and/or state public health departments, local and/or state public health organizations, academic schools or programs of public health, and other public health collaborations. Of 134 schools, 65 responded (49% response rate). Forty-six (71%) responding institutions indicated collaborations with local and/or state public health departments, 34 (52%) with schools or programs of public health, and 24 (37%) with local and/or state public health organizations. Common themes of collaborations included educational programs, community outreach, research, and teaching in areas such as tobacco control, emergency preparedness, chronic disease, drug abuse, immunizations, and medication therapy management. Interdisciplinary public health collaborations with schools of pharmacy provide additional resources for ensuring the health of communities and expose student pharmacists to opportunities to use their training and abilities to affect public health. Examples of these partnerships may stimulate additional ideas for possible collaborations between public health organizations and schools of pharmacy.

Ultimate justification: Wittgenstein and medical ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, J

1995-02-01

Decisions must be justified. In medical ethics various grounds are given to justify decisions, but ultimate justification seems illusory and little considered. The philosopher Wittgenstein discusses the problem of ultimate justification in the context of general philosophy. His comments, nevertheless, are pertinent to ethics. From a discussion of Wittgensteinian notions, such as 'bedrock', the idea that 'ultimate' justification is grounded in human nature as such is derived. This discussion is relevant to medical ethics in at least five ways: it shows generally what type of certainty there is in practical ethics; it seems to imply some objective foundation to our ethical judgements; it squares with our experience of making ethical decisions; it shows something of the nature of moral arguments; and, finally, it has implications for teaching medicine and ethics.

Undergraduate Public Health Majors: Why They Choose Public Health or Medicine?

Science.gov (United States)

Hilton, Warren

2013-01-01

This mixed methods study examined the relationship between the motivations for attending college of undergraduate students with a focus on students with a public health major, and their desire to pursue graduate training in public health and subsequently, public health careers. The study highlighted the current public health workforce shortage and…

Keeping the "public" in schools of public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Freudenberg, Nicholas; Klitzman, Susan; Diamond, Catherine; El-Mohandes, Ayman

2015-03-01

In this article, we compared the characteristics of public and private accredited public health training programs. We analyzed the distinct opportunities and challenges that publicly funded schools of public health face in preparing the nation's public health workforce. Using our experience in creating a new, collaborative public school of public health in the nation's largest urban public university system, we described efforts to use our public status and mission to develop new approaches to educating a workforce that meets the health needs of our region and contributes to the goal of reducing health inequalities. Finally, we considered policies that could protect and strengthen the distinct contributions that public schools of public health make to improving population health and reducing health inequalities.

Justification of radiographic examinations: What are the key issues?

OpenAIRE

Vom, Jason; Williams, Imelda

2017-01-01

Abstract Justification of radiographic examinations is the practice of evaluating requested radiological examinations to assess for clinical merit and appropriateness based on clinical notes and patient information. This implies that justification in radiography requires the evaluation of requested examinations, the justification of exposures being applied and determining whether patients fit the recommended criteria for the procedure. Medico?legal requirements by the professional registratio...

Justification and Optimization in Clinical Practice. Chapter 23

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sandborg, M. [Linköping University, Linköping (Sweden); Båth, M. [Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg (Sweden); Järvinen, H. [Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), Helsinki (Finland); Faulkner, K. [North East Strategic Health Authority, Newcastle upon Tyne (United Kingdom)

2014-09-15

All medical exposures must be subject to the principles of justification and optimization of radiological protection, which are common to all practices dealing with potential exposures of humans to ionizing radiation. Justification of medical exposures requires that all medical imaging exposures must show a sufficient net benefit when balanced against possible detriment that the examination might cause. For patients undergoing medical diagnosis or treatment, there are different levels of justification (see Section 23.2). The practice involving exposure to radiation must be justified in principle through the endorsement of relevant professional societies, as matters of effective medical practice will be central to this judgement. Also, each procedure should be subject to a further, case by case, justification by both the referring clinician who is responsible for the management of the patient and the radiologist who selects the most appropriate imaging examination to answer the referrer’s question.

Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Request. Summary Justification

Science.gov (United States)

2009-05-01

SERVICES AND DEFENSE AGENCIES INTRODUCTION Services and Defense Agencies HIGHLIGHTS Overview The FY 2010 budget request organizes, trains...DoD FY 2010 Budget Request Summary Justification SPECIAL TOPICS INTRODUCTION Special Topics HIGHLIGHTS Overview The FY 2010 budget... MANGEMENT 2-48 DoD FY 2010 Budget Request Summary Justification SPECIAL TOPICS FINANCIAL MANGEMENT 2-49 While DoD has made progress in

Justification of Individual Medical Exposures for Diagnosis: A HERCA Position Paper

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-01-01

Improving the application of the justification principle in medical imaging is the responsibility of many stakeholders. This document is intended to provide clarity on the regulator's approach to the roles and responsibilities of the undertaking as well as a range of professionals involved in medical exposures. In doing so it considers the requirements of the new European Basic Safety Standards (BSS) Directive 2013/59/Euratom and discusses a number of emerging challenges associated with efficient, effective and rapidly changing health care systems. In summary, - the justification process should be completed prior to the exposure taking place and include consideration of the following: - adequate information regarding the clinical condition(s) of the patient, relevant to the imaging request -this must be available including known possible contraindications (e.g. pregnancy, breast feeding) - the diagnostic question(s) to be addressed - where practicable, information, with regard to possible previous/concurrent examinations - the decision on the appropriate imaging procedure including the option of one that does not involve ionising radiation - traceability of the above to the referrer and practitioner, - the role of the regulator is to provide, through regulations and associated guidance, a clear and unambiguous regulatory framework including requirements for the justification process and accountability within local procedures - these will be subject to inspection, - the role of the undertaking and the professionals involved is to demonstrate compliance with regulations through procedures and documentation associated with each individual exposure, showing beyond reasonable doubt that the elements of the justification process have been completed, and by whom, in accordance with the responsibilities laid down in procedures

Historical Perspectives in Marketing Education: Justification and Implementation

Science.gov (United States)

Petkus, Ed, Jr.

2010-01-01

This article provides a justification and an implementation plan for the establishment of a historical orientation across the undergraduate marketing curriculum. The justification for the historical perspective addresses three areas: tapping into the extensive body of knowledge in marketing history, practical implications, and critical thinking.…

The Oregon Public Health Policy Institute: Building Competencies for Public Health Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Jangho; Bernell, Stephanie; Tynan, Michael; Alvarado, Carla Sarai; Eversole, Tom; Mosbaek, Craig; Beathard, Candice

2015-01-01

The Oregon Public Health Policy Institute (PHPI) was designed to enhance public health policy competencies among state and local health department staff. The Oregon Health Authority funded the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University to develop the PHPI curriculum in 2012 and offer it to participants from 4 state public health programs and 5 local health departments in 2013. The curriculum interspersed short instructional sessions on policy development, implementation, and evaluation with longer hands-on team exercises in which participants applied these skills to policy topics their teams had selected. Panel discussions provided insights from legislators and senior Oregon health experts. Participants reported statistically significant increases in public health policy competencies and high satisfaction with PHPI overall. PMID:26066925

Justification and radiology: some ethical considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Sia, Santiago

2009-07-01

This paper, which seeks to address the issue of justification in radiology, intends firstly to comment on the current discussion of the ethical foundation of radiological practice that focuses on the move from utilitarianism to the rights-centred criterion. Secondly, and this constitutes the bulk of the paper, it aims to offer a philosophical perspective, which is hoped will lead to a consideration of certain specific areas in ethical decision-making in the attempts here to deal with the main issue of justification in radiology.

Justification and radiology: Some ethical considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sia, S.

2009-01-01

This paper, which seeks to address the issue of justification in radiology, intends firstly to comment on the current discussion of the ethical foundation of radiological practice that focuses on the move from utilitarianism to the rights-centred criterion. Secondly, and this constitutes the bulk of the paper, it aims to offer a philosophical perspective, which is hoped will lead to a consideration of certain specific areas in ethical decision-making in the attempts here to deal with the main issue of justification in radiology. (authors)

Ethical Justification of Moral Norms in Scientific Research: Scientists' External Responsibilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehmet AKÖZER

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Scientists' moral responsibilities have become a focus for the scientific community over the postwar decades. International and regional networks of leading academic bodies have responded to a widely perceived increase in scientific fraud and the ensued loss of public trust in science during the 1980s, and initiated a discussion with a view to codifying good practice in research. While scientists' “external” responsibilities towards society and the humankind have been variously addressed, codes drafted since then mainly dwell on problems of misconduct concerning scientists' “internal” responsibilities towards science and to the scientific community. They also reflect an ethical pluralism, which declines justifying moral standards in research with reference to universal ethical principles. However, the need for such justification has been first recognized decades ago, during the Doctor's Trial in Nuremberg, where the shortcomings of the established ethos of science and the inadequacy of the Hippocratic ethics in safeguarding human rights in research had become flagrant, with the resultant Nuremberg Code of 1947 introducing a human rights perspective into Hippocratic ethics. This paper argues for the necessity of an integral ethical justification of scientists' both external and inner responsibilities, as put down or assumed by internationally acclaimed codes of conduct. Such necessity is validated by the evidence that a historical current to monopolize ethical thinking in the name of science and nullify philosophical ethics lies at the root of an anti–morality that relativized human worth and virtually legitimized human rights violations in scientific practice. Kantian ethics based on humans' absolute inner worth, and Popperian epistemology rooted in respect for truth and for humans as rational beings, pledge an ethical justification of moral norms in science so as to reinforce the latter against intrusions of anti–morality. The paper

[Brazilian bibliographical output on public oral health in public health and dentistry journals].

Science.gov (United States)

Celeste, Roger Keller; Warmling, Cristine Maria

2014-06-01

The scope of this paper is to describe characteristics of the scientific output in the area of public oral health in journals on public health and dentistry nationwide. The Scopus database of abstracts and quotations was used and eight journals in public health, as well as ten in dentistry, dating from 1947 to 2011 were selected. A research strategy using key words regarding oral health in public health and key words about public health in dentistry was used to locate articles. The themes selected were based on the frequency of key words. Of the total number of articles, 4.7% (n = 642) were found in oral health journals and 6.8% (n = 245) in public health journals. Among the authors who published most, only 12% published in both fields. There was a percentile growth of public oral health publications in dentistry journals, though not in public health journals. In dentistry, only studies indexed as being on the topic of epidemiology showed an increase. In the area of public health, planning was predominant in all the phases studied. Research to evaluate the impact of research and postgraduate policies in scientific production is required.

Case Study on Justification: High Intensity Discharge Lamps. Annex II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

High intensity discharge lamps produce bright white light of a high intensity in an energy efficient manner. These lamps are typically used in large numbers in public and professional settings such as shops, warehouses, hotels and offices. They are also used in outdoor applications to illuminate streets, buildings, statues, flags and gardens and further as architectural lighting. They also have applications associated with film projection in cinemas, manufacture of semiconductors, fluorescence endoscopy and microscopy, schlieren photography, hologram projection, ultraviolet curing, sky beamers and car headlights. Some types of high intensity discharge lamp, as well as certain other consumer products for lighting, contain radioactive substances for functional reasons. The radionuclides that are typically incorporated into high intensity discharge lamps are 85 Kr and 232 Th. Given the wide range of uses, specific decisions on justification may be required for different applications. A small number of safety assessments for high intensity discharge lamps have been carried out and published. No published decisions at the national level specifically addressing the justification of the use of high intensity discharge lamps have been identified

Opportunities for Public Relations Research in Public Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Wise, Kurt

2001-01-01

Considers how communication researchers have developed a solid body of knowledge in the health field but know little about the activities of public relations practitioners in public health bodies. Suggests that public relations scholarship and practice have much to offer the field of public health in helping public health bodies meet their…

Justification: How to get referring physicians involved

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Remedios, D.

2011-01-01

Barriers to involvement of clinicians in the process of justification include an already overloaded knowledge base, lack of time, inconsistent guidance and disproportionate patient expectations. Strategies to improve referring physicians' input include education, use of imaging referral guidelines, clinical audit and regulation. This article discusses and reviews evidence for approaches to encourage greater participation in justification by clinicians. Approaches are best summarised by 'Awareness, appropriateness and audit'. (authors)

Ethics in public health research: privacy and public health at risk: public health confidentiality in the digital age.

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Julie; Frieden, Thomas R; Bherwani, Kamal M; Henning, Kelly J

2008-05-01

Public health agencies increasingly use electronic means to acquire, use, maintain, and store personal health information. Electronic data formats can improve performance of core public health functions, but potentially threaten privacy because they can be easily duplicated and transmitted to unauthorized people. Although such security breaches do occur, electronic data can be better secured than paper records, because authentication, authorization, auditing, and accountability can be facilitated. Public health professionals should collaborate with law and information technology colleagues to assess possible threats, implement updated policies, train staff, and develop preventive engineering measures to protect information. Tightened physical and electronic controls can prevent misuse of data, minimize the risk of security breaches, and help maintain the reputation and integrity of public health agencies.

Justification of x-ray examinations: General principles and an Irish perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthews, Kate; Brennan, Patrick C.

2008-01-01

The principles of justification and optimisation, and the establishment and use of Diagnostic Reference Levels are core tenets of the European Medical Exposures Directive [Council Directive 97/43], and ensuing legislation across Europe. In Ireland, the European Medical Exposures Directive [Council Directive 97/43] was enacted into national law in Statutory Instrument 478 of 2002. This series of three review articles discusses the status of justification and optimisation of X-ray examinations nationally, and progress with the establishment of Irish Diagnostic Reference Levels. The current article will outline the ICRP recommendations which preceded the European Medical Exposures Directive, describe how the Directive was transposed into Irish Statute, and review the literature associated with some of the justification concepts arising from the Statute in order to elucidate the prevailing practice regarding justification in Ireland. Three levels of justification are identified: general, generic and individual. The relationship between referral guidelines and generic justification is explored, and practical issues in the implementation of individual justification are considered with reference to the role of the radiographer. Two further articles in the series will adopt a similar approach in discussing optimisation, and the establishment and use of Diagnostic Reference Levels

[Terrorism, public health and health services].

Science.gov (United States)

Arcos González, Pedro; Castro Delgado, Rafael; Cuartas Alvarez, Tatiana; Pérez-Berrocal Alonso, Jorge

2009-01-01

Today the terrorism is a problem of global distribution and increasing interest for the international public health. The terrorism related violence affects the public health and the health care services in an important way and in different scopes, among them, increase mortality, morbidity and disability, generates a context of fear and anxiety that makes the psychopathological diseases very frequent, seriously alters the operation of the health care services and produces important social, political and economic damages. These effects are, in addition, especially intense when the phenomenon takes place on a chronic way in a community. The objective of this paper is to examine the relation between terrorism and public health, focusing on its effects on public health and the health care services, as well as to examine the possible frames to face the terrorism as a public health concern, with special reference to the situation in Spain. To face this problem, both the public health systems and the health care services, would have to especially adapt their approaches and operational methods in six high-priority areas related to: (1) the coordination between the different health and non health emergency response agencies; (2) the reinforcement of the epidemiological surveillance systems; (3) the improvement of the capacities of the public health laboratories and response emergency care systems to specific types of terrorism as the chemical or biological terrorism; (3) the mental health services; (4) the planning and coordination of the emergency response of the health services; (5) the relations with the population and mass media and, finally; (6) a greater transparency in the diffusion of the information and a greater degree of analysis of the carried out health actions in the scope of the emergency response.

Genetics, health care, and public policy: an introduction to public health genetics

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Stewart, Alison

2007-01-01

... initiative About this book Further reading and resources Principles of public health The emergence of public health genetics The human genome project and 'genomic medicine' Community genetics Current developments in public health genetics Genomics and global health 2 Genetic science and technology Basic molecular genetics Genes and the geno...

Towards a public health profession

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Foldspang, Anders

2015-01-01

in the theoretical as well as the practical potential of the public health professional. Thus, he and she must be able to perform, what WHO Europe has developed as Essential Public Health Operations (EPHOs).3 This, in turn, implies that the public health professional possesses the set of intellectual (knowledge...... endorsed by WHO Europe’s member states as the basis for the public health education in Europe.5 The sections of the lists include: Public health methods; Population health and: Its social and economic determinants, and: Its material environmental determinants; Man-made interventions and systems, namely...... Health policy, health economics, organizational theory, health legislation, and public health leadership and management; Health promotion—health education, health protection, disease prevention; public health ethics. This should form the central part of the basis for all public health professionals...

R. S. Peters' "The Justification of Education" Revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Cuypers, Stefaan E.

2012-01-01

In his 1973 paper "The Justification of Education" R. S. Peters aspired to give a non-instrumental justification of education. Ever since, his so-called "transcendental argument" has been under attack and most critics conclude that it does not work. They have, however, thrown the baby away with the bathwater, when they furthermore concluded that…

The Effects of General System Justification on Corruption Perception and Intent.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Xuyun; Liu, Li; Huang, Zhenwei; Zheng, Wenwen; Liang, Yuan

2016-01-01

Previous research stresses that system justifying belief can weaken corruption perception, by this possibly fostering unjust behaviors. However, general results of the effect of general system justification on corruption are ambiguous, indicating also a lessening impact. We conducted a line of studies trying to elucidate these circumstances by testing the effect of general system justification on corruption perception and intention. In addition, we explored institutional trust as a possible mediator in this process. For this purpose, we conducted three studies. The first two studies examined the association between general system justification and corruption. In Study 1, a correlational design was run using questionnaires to assess the relation between general system justification and corruption perception as well as corruption intention. In Study 2, an experimental design was conducted manipulating general system justification via exposure to high or low system threat condition, then measuring its effect on corruption perception and corrupt intention. In Study 3, two sub-studies using correlational and experimental designs were run to explore the mediating role of institutional trust, respectively. Results replicated former studies showing that general system justification is negatively associated with corruption perception. However, they also showed a negative correlation with corrupt intention. Furthermore, they showed that institutional trust mediated the relation between general system justification and corruption. We suggest to consider these findings to further elucidate the psychological basis underlying different effects of general system justification on human behaviors.

The Effects of General System Justification on Corruption Perception and Intent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xuyun Tan

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Previous research stresses that system justifying belief can weaken corruption perception, by this possibly fostering unjust behaviors. However, general results of the effect of general system justification on corruption are ambiguous, indicating also a lessening impact. We conducted a line of studies trying to elucidate these circumstances by testing the effect of general system justification on corruption perception and intention. In addition, we explored institutional trust as a possible mediator in this process. For this purpose we conducted three studies. The first two studies examined the association between general system justification and corruption. In Study 1, a correlational design was run using questionnaires to assess the relation between general system justification and corruption perception as well as corruption intention. In Study 2, an experimental design was conducted manipulating general system justification via exposure to high or low system threat condition, then measuring its effect on corruption perception and corrupt intention. In Study 3, two sub-studies using correlational and experimental designs were run to explore the mediating role of institutional trust, respectively. Results replicated former studies showing that general system justification is negatively associated with corruption perception. However, they also showed a negative correlation with corrupt intention. Furthermore, they showed that institutional trust mediated the relation between general system justification and corruption. We suggest to consider these findings to further elucidate the psychological basis underlying different effects of general system justification on human behaviors.

Pigs in Public Health

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svendsen, Mette N.

2017-01-01

of public health, made me re-evaluate both what ‘public’ and what ‘health’ means in public health. In this commentary I provide a short personal account of that intellectual journey. I argue that entanglements between species make it urgent that public health scholars investigate the moral, socio......Animals are rare topics in public health science texts and speech despite the fact that animal bodies and lives are woven into the health of human populations, and vice versa. Years of ethnographic and documentary research – following pigs and their humans in and out of biomedical research – made......-economic, material, and bacterial passages between humans and animals that constitute the various publics of public health and profoundly shape the health of human and animal populations in a globalized world....

Institutional Justification in Frames

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baden, Christian; Schultz, Friederike

consensus. It extents research on framing in mass communication by applying institutional theory and Boltanski and Thévenot’s (2006) theory on justification in order to explain how the success and failure of proposed interpretations depend on the mobilization of accepted social institutions to justify...

Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology to account for value for money of public health interventions: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Banke-Thomas, Aduragbemi Oluwabusayo; Madaj, Barbara; Charles, Ameh; van den Broek, Nynke

2015-06-24

-time horizon. Reported SROI ratios vary widely (1.1:1 to 65:1). SROI can be applied across healthcare settings. Best practices such as analysis involving only beneficiaries (not all stakeholders), providing justification for discount rates used in models, using purchasing power parity equivalents for monetary valuations and incorporating objective designs such as case-control or before-and-after designs for accounting for outcomes will improve robustness of public health SROI studies.

Justification: theory and application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rowe, W.D.

1979-01-01

The concept of justification implies that a specific decision as to the relative merits of benefits and costs and detriment be made whenever: (1) a new practice is introduced that involves an indirect or direct increase in radiation exposure; or (2) an existing practice affecting radiation exposure is modified; or (3) an increase in radiation protection of an existing practice is to be considered. Such decisions are imprecise and involve intangible values. ICRP has, however, developed a mathematical model to express the structure of such decisions. The utility of this model for making the key paramters of justification decisions visible is explored in this paper in two ways. First, the structure of the model and its implications are explored in the abstract. Secondly, several specific applications are studied to determine if the model has utility in structuring application decisions, and the extent to which conclusions can be evolved in a meaningful, visible manner. (author)

Profile of Public Health Leadership.

Science.gov (United States)

Little, Ruth Gaskins; Greer, Annette; Clay, Maria; McFadden, Cheryl

2016-01-01

Public health leaders play pivotal roles in ensuring the population health for our nation. Since 2000, the number of schools of public health has almost doubled. The scholarly credentials for leaders of public health in academic and practice are important, as they make decisions that shape the future public health workforce and important public health policies. This research brief describes the educational degrees of deans of schools of public health and state health directors, as well as their demographic profiles, providing important information for future public health leadership planning. Data were extracted from a database containing information obtained from multiple Web sites including academic institution Web sites and state government Web sites. Variables describe 2 sets of public health leaders: academic deans of schools of public health and state health directors. Deans of schools of public health were 73% males and 27% females; the PhD degree was held by 40% deans, and the MD degree by 33% deans. Seventy percent of deans obtained their terminal degree more than 35 years ago. State health directors were 60% males and 40% females. Sixty percent of state health directors had an MD degree, 4% a PhD degree, and 26% no terminal degree at all. Sixty-four percent of state health directors received their terminal degree more than 25 years ago. In addition to terminal degrees, 56% of deans and 40% of state health directors held MPH degrees. The findings call into question competencies needed by future public health professionals and leadership and the need to clarify further the level of public health training and degree type that should be required for leadership qualifications in public health.

A system justification view of sexual violence: legitimizing gender inequality and reduced moral outrage are connected to greater rape myth acceptance.

Science.gov (United States)

Chapleau, Kristine M; Oswald, Debra L

2014-01-01

Rape is a pervasive social problem that causes serious physical and psychological repercussions. Rape victims' recovery is often complicated by the public's failure to believe the victim and restore justice. This study applied system justification theory to examine whether the justification of gender inequality is related to moral outrage (an emotional precursor to corrective action) and rape myth acceptance; we also examined whether rape myth acceptance is associated with moral outrage at injustice. Results showed that gender-specific system justification correlated with less moral outrage at human suffering as well as greater rape myth acceptance. The relationships between these variables were similar for men and for women, a finding that suggests that rape myths are system justifying for women. When we controlled for gender-specific system justification, rape myth acceptance correlated with less moral outrage. Results are discussed in the context of how legitimizing ideologies reduce moral outrage at injustice and perpetuate a system of sexual violence.

Public Health Departments

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — State and Local Public Health Departments in the United States Governmental public health departments are responsible for creating and maintaining conditions that...

The Public Health Innovation Model: Merging Private Sector Processes with Public Health Strengths.

Science.gov (United States)

Lister, Cameron; Payne, Hannah; Hanson, Carl L; Barnes, Michael D; Davis, Siena F; Manwaring, Todd

2017-01-01

Public health enjoyed a number of successes over the twentieth century. However, public health agencies have arguably been ill equipped to sustain these successes and address the complex threats we face today, including morbidity and mortality associated with persistent chronic diseases and emerging infectious diseases, in the context of flat funding and new and changing health care legislation. Transformational leaders, who are not afraid of taking risks to develop innovative approaches to combat present-day threats, are needed within public health agencies. We propose the Public Health Innovation Model (PHIM) as a tool for public health leaders who wish to integrate innovation into public health practice. This model merges traditional public health program planning models with innovation principles adapted from the private sector, including design thinking, seeking funding from private sector entities, and more strongly emphasizing program outcomes. We also discuss principles that leaders should consider adopting when transitioning to the PHIM, including cross-collaboration, community buy-in, human-centered assessment, autonomy and creativity, rapid experimentation and prototyping, and accountability to outcomes.

The Public Health Innovation Model: Merging Private Sector Processes with Public Health Strengths

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cameron Lister

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Public health enjoyed a number of successes over the twentieth century. However, public health agencies have arguably been ill equipped to sustain these successes and address the complex threats we face today, including morbidity and mortality associated with persistent chronic diseases and emerging infectious diseases, in the context of flat funding and new and changing health care legislation. Transformational leaders, who are not afraid of taking risks to develop innovative approaches to combat present-day threats, are needed within public health agencies. We propose the Public Health Innovation Model (PHIM as a tool for public health leaders who wish to integrate innovation into public health practice. This model merges traditional public health program planning models with innovation principles adapted from the private sector, including design thinking, seeking funding from private sector entities, and more strongly emphasizing program outcomes. We also discuss principles that leaders should consider adopting when transitioning to the PHIM, including cross-collaboration, community buy-in, human-centered assessment, autonomy and creativity, rapid experimentation and prototyping, and accountability to outcomes.

Feminism and public health nursing: partners for health.

Science.gov (United States)

Leipert, B D

2001-01-01

It is a well-known fact that nursing and feminism have enjoyed an uneasy alliance. In recent years, however, nursing has begun to recognize the importance of feminism. Nevertheless, the literature still rarely addresses the relevance of feminism for public health nursing. In this article, I articulate the relevance of feminism for public health nursing knowledge and practice. First, I define and describe feminism and public health nursing and then I discuss the importance of feminism for public health nursing practice. The importance of feminism for the metaparadigm concepts of public health nursing is then reviewed. Finally, I examine several existing challenges relating to feminism and public health nursing research, education, and practice. The thesis of this article is that feminism is vitally important for the development of public health nursing and for public health care.

In between St. Augustine and Luther: Grace and justification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael M. Ramos

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The view presented in this study emphasized grace as a cause of spiritual strength and justification of man. In understanding the deep meaning and nature of grace, this paper analyzes the formations given on the subject by two great minds, St. Augustine and Martin Luther. Because of the great influence of their work on the theology of grace and justification, this paper attempts to seek whether man’s understanding and belief of prudence would mean nothing at all, that any good that he will perform on his behalf would do nothing for his own justification. Thus it raises the question on the purpose of man’s freedom if his proprium is nothing and that divine prudence is the source of everything good. This led to the idea that grace is the primary energy source of man to make good, not by his own, but by divine prudence to obtain justification. Therefore, in this sense there is nothing good in man.

The next public health revolution: public health information fusion and social networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Ali S; Fleischauer, Aaron; Casani, Julie; Groseclose, Samuel L

2010-07-01

Social, political, and economic disruptions caused by natural and human-caused public health emergencies have catalyzed public health efforts to expand the scope of biosurveillance and increase the timeliness, quality, and comprehensiveness of disease detection, alerting, response, and prediction. Unfortunately, efforts to acquire, render, and visualize the diversity of health intelligence information are hindered by its wide distribution across disparate fields, multiple levels of government, and the complex interagency environment. Achieving this new level of situation awareness within public health will require a fundamental cultural shift in methods of acquiring, analyzing, and disseminating information. The notion of information "fusion" may provide opportunities to expand data access, analysis, and information exchange to better inform public health action.

Feminism and public health ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, W A

2006-06-01

This paper sketches an account of public health ethics drawing upon established scholarship in feminist ethics. Health inequities are one of the central problems in public health ethics; a feminist approach leads us to examine not only the connections between gender, disadvantage, and health, but also the distribution of power in the processes of public health, from policy making through to programme delivery. The complexity of public health demands investigation using multiple perspectives and an attention to detail that is capable of identifying the health issues that are important to women, and investigating ways to address these issues. Finally, a feminist account of public health ethics embraces rather than avoids the inescapable political dimensions of public health.

Public health and Plowshare

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Terrill, Jr, J G [Consumer Protection and Environmental Health Service, U.S. PubIic Health Service, Washington, DC (United States)

1969-07-01

The protection of public health and safety is a principal area of concern in any application of nuclear energy. A health and safety analysis must be conducted and reviewed by appropriate agencies and the final results made available to interested agencies and groups, both public and private, prior to the application. This is especially important for the Plowshare Program - the peaceful uses of nuclear explosives - where the public is to be the ultimate beneficiary. Because public health must be a primary concern in the Plowshare Program, it is essential that the potential risk be weighed against the expected benefits to the public. Public health agencies must play an increasingly important role in the planning and operational stages of the peaceful applications of nuclear explosives and in the final stage of consumer use of Plowshare-generated products. There are many long term and long distance ramifications of the Plowshare Program, such a the potential radiological contamination of consumer products that may reach the consumer at long times after the event or at great distances from the site of the event. Criteria for evaluating public exposure to radiation from these products need to be developed based on sound scientific research. Standards for radioactivity in consumer products must be developed in relation to potential exposure of the public. Above all, a clear benefit to the public with a minimum of risk must be shown. The major purpose of this Symposium on the Public Health Aspects of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear-Explosives is to focus attention on the health and safety aspects, present the results of safety analyses accomplished to date and other information necessary to an understanding of the public health aspects, and to identify areas where additional research is required. A general overview of the total symposium content is presented with emphasis on the relationship of the topics to public health. (author)

Public health and Plowshare

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terrill, J.G. Jr.

1969-01-01

The protection of public health and safety is a principal area of concern in any application of nuclear energy. A health and safety analysis must be conducted and reviewed by appropriate agencies and the final results made available to interested agencies and groups, both public and private, prior to the application. This is especially important for the Plowshare Program - the peaceful uses of nuclear explosives - where the public is to be the ultimate beneficiary. Because public health must be a primary concern in the Plowshare Program, it is essential that the potential risk be weighed against the expected benefits to the public. Public health agencies must play an increasingly important role in the planning and operational stages of the peaceful applications of nuclear explosives and in the final stage of consumer use of Plowshare-generated products. There are many long term and long distance ramifications of the Plowshare Program, such a the potential radiological contamination of consumer products that may reach the consumer at long times after the event or at great distances from the site of the event. Criteria for evaluating public exposure to radiation from these products need to be developed based on sound scientific research. Standards for radioactivity in consumer products must be developed in relation to potential exposure of the public. Above all, a clear benefit to the public with a minimum of risk must be shown. The major purpose of this Symposium on the Public Health Aspects of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear-Explosives is to focus attention on the health and safety aspects, present the results of safety analyses accomplished to date and other information necessary to an understanding of the public health aspects, and to identify areas where additional research is required. A general overview of the total symposium content is presented with emphasis on the relationship of the topics to public health. (author)

Do ethnicity and polygyny contribute to justification of men beating women in Ghana?

Science.gov (United States)

Amo-Adjei, Joshua; Tuoyire, Derek Anamaale

2016-01-01

Violence against intimate partners threatens public health and social cohesion, and its prevalence could increase with an attitude of justification of such violence. The objective of this article was to use religion and ethnicity as proxies for culture to examine Ghanaian women's acceptance of being beaten. We employed descriptive and binary logistic regression statistics applied to Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey data collected in 2011 in Ghana. With a weighted sample of 10,627 women, the findings revealed that more than half (59.83%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 57.41%, 62.2%) of the respondents justified at least one form of intimate partner violence (IPV) or another and being a Mole-Dagbani (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.41; 95%; CI = 1.05, 1.90) and/or in a polygamous marriage/union (AOR = 1.22; 95% CI = 1.04, 1.420) were significant risk factors for justifying IPV. Activism in promoting IPV-free communities has to be group-specific to reach those in need of interventions.

Gambling and the Health of the Public: Adopting a Public Health Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Korn, David A.; Shaffer, Howard J.

1999-01-01

During the last decade there has been an unprecedented expansion of legalized gambling throughout North America. Three primary forces appear to be motivating this growth: (1) the desire of governments to identify new sources of revenue without invoking new or higher taxes; (2) tourism entrepreneurs developing new destinations for entertainment and leisure; and (3) the rise of new technologies and forms of gambling (e.g., video lottery terminals, powerball mega-lotteries, and computer offshore gambling). Associated with this phenomenon, there has been an increase in the prevalence of problem and pathological gambling among the general adult population, as well as a sustained high level of gambling-related problems among youth. To date there has been little dialogue within the public health sector in particular, or among health care practitioners in general, about the potential health impact of gambling or gambling-related problems. This article encourages the adoption of a public health perspective towards gambling. More specifically, this discussion has four primary objectives:1. Create awareness among health professionals about gambling, its rapid expansion and its relationship with the health care system;2. Place gambling within a public health framework by examining it from several perspectives, including population health, human ecology and addictive behaviors;3. Outline the major public health issues about how gambling can affect individuals, families and communities;4. Propose an agenda for strengthening policy, prevention and treatment practices through greater public health involvement, using the framework of The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion as a guide.By understanding gambling and its potential impacts on the public's health, policy makers and health practitioners can minimize gambling's negative impacts and appreciate its potential benefits.

Development of an online tool for public health: the European Public Health Law Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Basak, P

2011-09-01

The European Public Health Law Network was established in 2007 as part of the European Union (EU) co-funded Public Health Law Flu project. The aims of the website consisted of designing an interactive network of specialist information and encouraging an exchange of expertise amongst members. The website sought to appeal to academics, public health professionals and lawyers. The Public Health Law Flu project team designed and managed the website. Registered network members were recruited through publicity, advertising and word of mouth. Details of the network were sent to health organizations and universities throughout Europe. Corresponding website links attracted many new visitors. Publications, news, events and a pandemic glossary became popular features on the site. Although the website initially focused only on pandemic diseases it has grown into a multidisciplinary website covering a range of public health law topics. The network contains over 700 publications divided into 28 public health law categories. News, events, front page content, legislation and the francophone section are updated on a regular basis. Since 2007 the website has received over 15,000 views from 156 countries. Newsletter subscribers have risen to 304. There are now 723 followers on the associated Twitter site. The European Public Health Law Network has been a successful and innovative site in the area of public health law. Interest in the site continues to grow. Future funding can contribute to a bigger site with interactive features and pages in a wider variety of languages to attract a wider global audience. Copyright © 2011 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Public health and peace.

Science.gov (United States)

Laaser, Ulrich; Donev, Donco; Bjegović, Vesna; Sarolli, Ylli

2002-04-01

The modern concept of public health, the New Public Health, carries a great potential for healthy and therefore less aggressive societies. Its core disciplines are health promotion, environmental health, and health care management based on advanced epidemiological methodologies. The main principles of living together in healthy societies can be summarized as four ethical concepts of the New Public Health essential to violence reduction equity, participation, subsidiarity, and sustainability. The following issues are discussed as violence determinants: the process of urbanization; type of neighborhood and accommodation, and consequent stigmatization; level of education; employment status; socialization of the family; women's status; alcohol and drug consumption; availability of the firearms; religious, ethnic, and racial prejudices; and poverty. Development of the health systems has to contribute to peace, since aggression, violence, and warfare are among the greatest risks for health and the economic welfare. This contribution can be described as follows: 1) full and indiscriminate access to all necessary services, 2) monitoring of their quality, 3) providing special support to vulnerable groups, and 4) constant scientific and public accountability of the evaluation of the epidemiological outcome. Violence can also destroy solidarity and social cohesion of groups, such as family, team, neighborhood, or any other social organization. Durkheim coined the term anomie for a state in which social disruption of the community results in health risks for individuals. Health professionals can make a threefold contribution to peace by 1) analyzing the causal interrelationships of violence phenomena, 2) curbing the determinants of violence according to the professional standards, and 3) training professionals for this increasingly important task. Because tolerance is an essential part of an amended definition of health, monitoring of the early signs of public intolerance is

Public Health's Falling Share of US Health Spending.

Science.gov (United States)

Himmelstein, David U; Woolhandler, Steffie

2016-01-01

We examined trends in US public health expenditures by analyzing historical and projected National Health Expenditure Accounts data. Per-capita public health spending (inflation-adjusted) rose from $39 in 1960 to $281 in 2008, and has fallen by 9.3% since then. Public health's share of total health expenditures rose from 1.36% in 1960 to 3.18% in 2002, then fell to 2.65% in 2014; it is projected to fall to 2.40% in 2023. Public health spending has declined, potentially undermining prevention and weakening responses to health inequalities and new health threats.

Conscientious objection and abortion: rights and duties of public sector physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Diniz, Debora

2011-10-01

The paper analyzes conscientious objection by physicians, through the concrete situation of legal abortion in Brazil. It reviews the two main ethical frameworks about conscientious objection in public health, the incompatibility thesis and the integrity thesis, to analyze the reality of legal abortion services in the referral services of the Brazilian public health care system. From these two perspectives, a third perspective is proposed - the justification thesis, to manage the right to conscientious objection among physicians in referral services. This analysis may contribute to the organization of services for legal abortion and to the education of future physicians working in emergency obstetric care.

Transportation and public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Litman, Todd

2013-01-01

This article investigates various ways that transportation policy and planning decisions affect public health and better ways to incorporate public health objectives into transport planning. Conventional planning tends to consider some public health impacts, such as crash risk and pollution emissions measured per vehicle-kilometer, but generally ignores health problems resulting from less active transport (reduced walking and cycling activity) and the additional crashes and pollution caused by increased vehicle mileage. As a result, transport agencies tend to undervalue strategies that increase transport system diversity and reduce vehicle travel. This article identifies various win-win strategies that can help improve public health and other planning objectives.

[ETHICAL PRINCIPALS AND A POSTERIORI JUSTIFICATIONS].

Science.gov (United States)

Heintz, Monica

2015-12-01

It is difficult to conceive that the human being, while being the same everywhere, could be cared for in such different ways in other societies. Anthropologists acknowledge that the diversity of cultures implies a diversity of moral values, thus that in a multicultural society the individual could draw upon different moral frames to justify the peculiarities of her/his demand of care. But how could we determine what is the moral frame that catalyzes behaviour while all we can record are a posteriori justifications of actions? In most multicultural societies where several moralframes coexist, there is an implicit hierarchy between ethical systems derived from a hierarchy of power which falsifies these a posteriori justifications. Moreover anthropologists often fail to acknowledge that individual behaviour does not always reflect individual values, but is more often the result of negotiations between the moralframes available in society and her/his own desires and personal experience. This is certainly due to the difficulty to account for a dynamic and complex interplay of moral values that cannot be analysed as a system. The impact of individual experience on the way individuals give or receive care could also be only weakly linked to a moral system even when this reference comes up explicitly in the a posteriori justifications.

Public health systems under attack in Canada: Evidence on public health system performance challenges arbitrary reform.

Science.gov (United States)

Guyon, Ak'ingabe; Perreault, Robert

2016-10-20

Public health is currently being weakened in several Canadian jurisdictions. Unprecedented and arbitrary cuts to the public health budget in Quebec in 2015 were a striking example of this. In order to support public health leaders and citizens in their capacity to advocate for evidence-informed public health reforms, we propose a knowledge synthesis of elements of public health systems that are significantly associated with improved performance. Research consistently and significantly associates four elements of public health systems with improved productivity: 1) increased financial resources, 2) increased staffing per capita, 3) population size between 50,000 and 500,000, and 4) specific evidence-based organizational and administrative features. Furthermore, increased financial resources and increased staffing per capita are significantly associated with improved population health outcomes. We contend that any effort at optimization of public health systems should at least be guided by these four evidence-informed factors. Canada already has existing capacity in carrying out public health systems and services research. Further advancement of our academic and professional expertise on public health systems will allow Canadian public health jurisdictions to be inspired by the best public health models and become stronger advocates for public health's resources, interventions and outcomes when they need to be celebrated or defended.

System justification: A motivational process with implications for social conflict

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jost, J. T.; Liviatan, I.; van der Toorn, J.; Ledgerwood, A.; Mandisodza, A.; Nosek, B. A.

2012-01-01

According to system justification theory, people are motivated to defend and legitimize the social systems that affect them. In this chapter, we review 15 years of theory and empirical research demonstrating the motivational underpinnings of system justification processes. We begin by explaining why

Transitions in state public health law: comparative analysis of state public health law reform following the Turning Point Model State Public Health Act.

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, Benjamin Mason; Hodge, James G; Gebbie, Kristine M

2009-03-01

Given the public health importance of law modernization, we undertook a comparative analysis of policy efforts in 4 states (Alaska, South Carolina, Wisconsin, and Nebraska) that have considered public health law reform based on the Turning Point Model State Public Health Act. Through national legislative tracking and state case studies, we investigated how the Turning Point Act's model legal language has been considered for incorporation into state law and analyzed key facilitating and inhibiting factors for public health law reform. Our findings provide the practice community with a research base to facilitate further law reform and inform future scholarship on the role of law as a determinant of the public's health.

Educating the future public health workforce: do schools of public health teach students about the private sector?

Science.gov (United States)

Rutkow, Lainie; Traub, Arielle; Howard, Rachel; Frattaroli, Shannon

2013-01-01

Recent surveys indicate that approximately 40% of graduates from schools of public health are employed within the private sector or have an employer charged with regulating the private sector. These data suggest that schools of public health should provide curricular opportunities for their students--the future public health workforce--to learn about the relationship between the private sector and the public's health. To identify opportunities for graduate students in schools of public health to select course work that educates them about the relationship between the private sector and public health. We systematically identified and analyzed data gathered from publicly available course titles and descriptions on the Web sites of accredited schools of public health. Data were collected in the United States. The sample consisted of accredited schools of public health. Descriptions of the number and types of courses that schools of public health offer about the private sector and identification of how course descriptions frame the private sector relative to public health. We identified 104 unique courses with content about the private sector's relationship to public health. More than 75% of accredited schools of public health offered at least 1 such course. Nearly 25% of identified courses focused exclusively on the health insurance industry. Qualitative analysis of the data revealed 5 frames used to describe the private sector, including its role as a stakeholder in the policy process. Schools of public health face a curricular gap, with relatively few course offerings that teach students about the relationship between the private sector and the public's health. By developing new courses or revising existing ones, schools of public health can expose the future public health workforce to the varied ways public health professionals interact with the private sector, and potentially influence students' career paths.

Why Do People Work in Public Health? Exploring Recruitment and Retention Among Public Health Workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeager, Valerie A; Wisniewski, Janna M; Amos, Kathleen; Bialek, Ron

2016-01-01

The public health workforce is critical to the functioning of the public health system and protection of the population's health. Ensuring a sufficient workforce depends on effectively recruiting and retaining workers. This study examines factors influencing decisions to take and remain in jobs within public health, particularly for workers employed in governmental public health. This cross-sectional study employed a secondary data set from a 2010 national survey of US public health workers. Survey respondents were included in this study if they responded to at least 1 survey item related to recruitment and retention. A total of 10 859 survey responses fit this criterion. Data examined demographics of public health workers and factors that influenced decisions to take jobs in and remain in public health. Job security (β = 0.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.28-0.56) and competitive benefits (β = 0.49; 95% CI, 0.28-0.70) were significantly and positively associated with governmental employees' decisions to take positions with their current employers compared with public health workers employed by other types of organizations. The same finding held with regard to retention: job security (β = 0.40; 95% CI, 0.23-0.57) and competitive benefits (β = 0.53; 95% CI, 0.24-0.83). Two personal factors, personal commitment to public service (β = 0.30; 95% CI, 0.17-0.42) and wanted a job in the public health field (β = 0.44; 95% CI, 0.18-0.69), were significantly and positively related to governmental employees deciding to remain with their current employers. It is important to recognize the value of competitive benefits for both current and potential employees. Public health agencies should maintain these if possible and make the value of these benefits known to policy makers or other agencies setting these benefit policies. Job security associated with governmental public health jobs also appears to offer public health an advantage in recruiting and retaining employees.

Public mental health.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindert, Jutta; Bilsen, Johan; Jakubauskiene, Marija

2017-10-01

Public mental health (PMH) is a major challenge for public health research and practice. This article is organized in six parts. First, we will highlight the significance of PMH; second, we will define mental health and mental disorders; third, we identify and describe determinants of mental health and mental disorders on which we worked in the past 10 years since the establishment of the PMH section such as social determinants and violence. Fourth, we will describe the development of the EUPHA PMH section and provide details on vulnerable groups in the field of PMH, on violence as a main determinant and on suicide as an outcome which affects all countries in the European region. Fifth, we describe policy and practice implications of the development of PMH and highlight the European dimension of PMH. We will conclude this article by providing an outlook on potential further development of PMH as regards research and policy and practice. Finally, we hope that the EUPHA PMH section will contribute to public health in the next 25 years and we can contribute to improvement of PMH in Europe. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Social media in public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Kass-Hout, Taha A; Alhinnawi, Hend

2013-01-01

While social media interactions are currently not fully understood, as individual health behaviors and outcomes are shared online, social media offers an increasingly clear picture of the dynamics of these processes. Social media is becoming an increasingly common platform among clinicians and public health officials to share information with the public, track or predict diseases. Social media can be used for engaging the public and communicating key public health interventions, while providing an important tool for public health surveillance. Social media has advantages over traditional public health surveillance, as well as limitations, such as poor specificity, that warrant additional study. Social media can provide timely, relevant and transparent information of public health importance; such as tracking or predicting the spread or severity of influenza, west nile virus or meningitis as they propagate in the community, and, in identifying disease outbreaks or clusters of chronic illnesses. Further work is needed on social media as a valid data source for detecting or predicting diseases or conditions. Also, whether or not it is an effective tool for communicating key public health messages and engaging both, the general public and policy-makers.

Epistemic Beliefs about Justification Employed by Physics Students and Faculty in Two Different Problem Contexts

Science.gov (United States)

Çağlayan Mercan, Fatih

2012-06-01

This study examines the epistemic beliefs about justification employed by physics undergraduate and graduate students and faculty in the context of solving a standard classical physics problem and a frontier physics problem. Data were collected by a think-aloud problem solving session followed by a semi-structured interview conducted with 50 participants, 10 participants at freshmen, seniors, masters, PhD, and faculty levels. Seven modes of justification were identified and used for exploring the relationships between each justification mode and problem context, and expertise level. The data showed that justification modes were not mutually exclusive and many respondents combined different modes in their responses in both problem contexts. Success on solving the standard classical physics problem was not related to any of the justification modes and was independent of expertise level. The strength of the association across the problem contexts for the authoritative, rational, and empirical justification modes fell in the medium range and for the modeling justification mode fell in the large range of practical significance. Expertise level was not related with the empirical and religious justification modes. The strength of the association between the expertise level and the authoritative, rational, experiential, and relativistic justification modes fell in the medium range, and the modeling justification mode fell in the large range of practical significance. The results provide support for the importance of context for the epistemic beliefs about justification and are discussed in terms of the implications for teaching and learning science.

Assessing the public health impact of using poison center data for public health surveillance.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Alice; Law, Royal; Lyons, Rebecca; Choudhary, Ekta; Wolkin, Amy; Schier, Joshua

2017-12-13

The National Poison Data System (NPDS) is a database and surveillance system for US poison centers (PCs) call data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) use NPDS to identify incidents of potential public health significance. State health departments are notified by CDC of incidents identified by NPDS to be of potential public health significance. Our objective was to describe the public health impact of CDC's notifications and the use of NPDS data for surveillance. We described how NPDS data informed three public health responses: the Deepwater Horizon incident, national exposures to laundry detergent pods, and national exposures to e-cigarettes. Additionally, we extracted survey results of state epidemiologists regarding NPDS incident notification follow-up from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2016 to assess current public health application of NPDS data using Epi Info 7.2 and analyzed data using SAS 9.3. We assessed whether state health departments were aware of incidents before notification, what actions were taken, and whether CDC notifications contributed to actions. NPDS data provided evidence for industry changes to improve laundry detergent pod containers safety and highlighted the need to regulate e-cigarette sale and manufacturing. NPDS data were used to improve situational awareness during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Of 59 health departments and PCs who responded to CDC notifications about anomalies (response rate = 49.2%), 27 (46%) reported no previous awareness of the incident, and 20 (34%) said that notifications contributed to public health action. Monitoring NPDS data for anomalies can identify emerging public health threats and provide evidence-based science to support public health action and policy changes.

College Students; Justification for Digital Piracy: A Mixed Methods Study

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Szde

2012-01-01

A mixed methods project was devoted to understanding college students' justification for digital piracy. The project consisted of two studies, a qualitative one and a quantitative one. Qualitative interviews were conducted to identify main themes in students' justification for digital piracy, and then the findings were tested in a quantitative…

The impact of globalization on public health: implications for the UK Faculty of Public Health Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, K

2000-09-01

There has been substantial discussion of globalization in the scholarly and popular press yet limited attention so far among public health professionals. This is so despite the many potential impacts of globalization on public health. Defining public health broadly, as focused on the collective health of populations requiring a range of intersectoral activities, globalization can be seen to have particular relevance. Globalization, in turn, can be defined as a process that is changing the nature of human interaction across a wide range of spheres and along at least three dimensions. Understanding public health and globalization in these ways suggests the urgent need for research to better understand the linkages between the two, and effective policy responses by a range of public health institutions, including the UK Faculty of Public Health Medicine. The paper is based on a review of secondary literature on globalization that led to the development of a conceptual framework for understanding potential impacts on the determinants of health and public health. The paper then discusses major areas of public health in relation to these potential impacts. It concludes with recommendations on how the UK Faculty of Public Health Medicine might contribute to addressing these impacts through its various activities. Although there is growing attention to the importance of globalization to public health, there has been limited research and policy development in the United Kingdom. The UK Faculty of Public Health Medicine needs to play an active role in bringing relevant issues to the attention of policy makers, and encourage its members to take up research, teaching and policy initiatives. The potential impacts of globalization support a broader understanding and practice of public health that embraces a wide range of health determinants.

The public health leadership certificate: a public health and primary care interprofessional training opportunity.

Science.gov (United States)

Matson, Christine C; Lake, Jeffrey L; Bradshaw, R Dana; Matson, David O

2014-03-01

This article describes a public health leadership certificate curriculum developed by the Commonwealth Public Health Training Center for employees in public health and medical trainees in primary care to share didactic and experiential learning. As part of the program, trainees are involved in improving the health of their communities and thus gain a blended perspective on the effectiveness of interprofessional teams in improving population health. The certificate curriculum includes eight one-credit-hour didactic courses offered through an MPH program and a two-credit-hour, community-based participatory research project conducted by teams of trainees under the mentorship of health district directors. Fiscal sustainability is achieved by sharing didactic courses with MPH degree students, thereby enabling trainees to take advantage of a reduced, continuing education tuition rate. Public health employee and primary care trainees jointly learn knowledge and skills required for community health improvement in interprofessional teams and gain an integrated perspective through opportunities to question assumptions and broaden disciplinary approaches. At the same time, the required community projects have benefited public health in Virginia.

Justification and Rationality from the perspective of the Dual System Theory of Reasoning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonatan García-Campos

2009-04-01

Full Text Available A common assumption in epistemology is that there is an important connection between the notions of justification and rationality. However, this connection is unclear since there is no consensus about what rationality is or what a “correct” notion of justification would be. The purpose of this paper is to explain how the dual system theory of reasoning can build a “bridge” between justification and rationality. We argue that the dual system theory of reasoning supports, to a certainextent, an externalist notion of justification and a consequentialist view of rationality.

The trouble with justification, in search of an ethics of method for energy governance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meskens, G.

2015-01-01

In this series of slides the author tries to clarify the relationships between risks, knowledge, fairness and public acceptance. Fairness appears to be an important concept when dealing with risks. Fairness means a fair distribution of benefits and burdens and implies an informed consent or the possibility to avoid the risk. Fair risk justification in energy governance is risk justification of which the method of knowledge generation and decision making is trusted as fair by society. Seeking societal trust is the aim of sciences and technologies but the global social challenges we face are ultimately complex and our modern societies based on representative democracy do not favor consensus and stand in various comforts of polarization: pro or contra nuclear energy for instance, the same arguments being used in both sides. The result is a polarisation maintained by a lack of methodological intellectual confrontation in the structures of politics, science and civil society. There is a need for new practical forms of democracy, research and education

Developing an academia-based public health observatory: the new global public health observatory with emphasis on urban health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Castillo-Salgado

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Health observatories may differ according to their mission, institutional setting, topical emphasis or geographic coverage. This paper discusses the development of a new urban-focused health observatory, and its operational research and training infrastructure under the academic umbrella of the Department of Epidemiology and the Institute of Urban Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (BSPH in Baltimore, USA. Recognizing the higher education mission of the BSPH, the development of a new professional training in public health was an important first step for the development of this observatory. This new academia-based observatory is an innovative public health research and training platform offering faculty, investigators, professional epidemiology students and research partners a physical and methodological infrastructure for their operational research and training activities with both a local urban focus and a global reach. The concept of a public health observatory and its role in addressing social health inequalities in local urban settings is discussed.

Developing an academia-based public health observatory: the new global public health observatory with emphasis on urban health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Castillo-Salgado, Carlos

2015-11-01

Health observatories may differ according to their mission, institutional setting, topical emphasis or geographic coverage. This paper discusses the development of a new urban-focused health observatory, and its operational research and training infrastructure under the academic umbrella of the Department of Epidemiology and the Institute of Urban Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (BSPH) in Baltimore, USA. Recognizing the higher education mission of the BSPH, the development of a new professional training in public health was an important first step for the development of this observatory. This new academia-based observatory is an innovative public health research and training platform offering faculty, investigators, professional epidemiology students and research partners a physical and methodological infrastructure for their operational research and training activities with both a local urban focus and a global reach. The concept of a public health observatory and its role in addressing social health inequalities in local urban settings is discussed.

Advances in dental public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Holt, R D

2001-07-01

Dental public health has been defined as 'the science and art of preventing oral diseases, promoting oral health and improving the quality of life through the organised efforts of society'. Dental practitioners most often have the oral health of individual patients as their primary focus but the aim of public health is to benefit populations. Early developments in dental public health were concerned largely with demonstrating levels of disease and with treatment services. With greater appreciation of the nature of oral health and disease, and of their determinants has come recognition of the need for wider public health action if the effects of prevention and oral health promotion are to be maximized.

Health needs and public health functions addressed in scientific publications in Francophone sub-Saharan Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Benie-Bi, J; Cambon, L; Grimaud, O; Kivits, J; Alla, F

2013-09-01

To describe the reporting of public health research in Francophone sub-Saharan Africa (FSA). A bibliometric research study of scientific public health publications in FSA, which includes 24 countries and approximately 260 million people. Two researchers analysed original articles published in 2007 in the medical or social sciences fields and indexed in Scopus. At least one co-author of articles had to be based in FSA. The analysis focused on research field, public health function (WHO classification), FSA country author's affiliation, language, journal type and global burden of disease (WHO classification). Of 1047 articles retrieved by the search, 212 were from the public health field. The number of articles per country varied from 0 to 36. Public health functions examined were health service research (24.5%), health monitoring (27.4%), prevention (15%) and legislation (0.5%). The distribution of health needs described in the articles was close to that of the WHO data for Africa for 2004: infectious and parasitic diseases (70% vs 54%), maternal and perinatal conditions (15% vs 17%), non-communicable diseases (15.6% vs 21%), and injuries (0.5% vs 8%). The areas reported in published articles from sub-Saharan Africa reflect the health needs distribution in Africa; however, the number of publications is low, particularly for prevention. In light of the current focus on evidence-based public health, this study questions whether the international scientific community adequately considers the expertise and perspectives of African researchers and professionals. Copyright © 2013 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing entrepreneurship in governmental public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobson, Peter D; Wasserman, Jeffrey; Wu, Helen W; Lauer, Johanna R

2015-04-01

We assessed the feasibility and desirability of public health entrepreneurship (PHE) in governmental public health. Using a qualitative case study approach with semistructured interview protocols, we conducted interviews between April 2010 and January 2011 at 32 local health departments (LHDs) in 18 states. Respondents included chief health officers and senior LHD staff, representatives from national public health organizations, health authorities, and public health institutes. Respondents identified PHE through 3 overlapping practices: strategic planning, operational efficiency, and revenue generation. Clinical services offer the strongest revenue-generating potential, and traditional public health services offer only limited entrepreneurial opportunities. Barriers include civil service rules, a risk-averse culture, and concerns that PHE would compromise core public health values. Ongoing PHE activity has the potential to reduce LHDs' reliance on unstable general public revenues. Yet under the best of circumstances, it is difficult to generate revenue from public health services. Although governmental public health contains pockets of entrepreneurial activity, its culture does not sustain significant entrepreneurial activity. The question remains as to whether LHDs' current public revenue sources are sustainable and, if not, whether PHE is a feasible or desirable alternative.

Public health educational comprehensiveness: The strategic rationale in establishing networks among schools of public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Otok, Robert; Czabanowska, Katarzyna; Foldspang, Anders

2017-11-01

The establishment and continuing development of a sufficient and competent public health workforce is fundamental for the planning, implementation, evaluation, effect and ethical validity of public health strategies and policies and, thus, for the development of the population's health and the cost-effectiveness of health and public health systems and interventions. Professional public health strategy-making demands a background of a comprehensive multi-disciplinary curriculum including mutually, dynamically coherent competences - not least, competences in sociology and other behavioural sciences and their interaction with, for example, epidemiology, biostatistics, qualitative methods and health promotion and disease prevention. The size of schools and university departments of public health varies, and smaller entities may run into problems if seeking to meet the comprehensive curriculum challenge entirely by use of in-house resources. This commentary discusses the relevance and strength of establishing comprehensive curriculum development networks between schools and university departments of public health, as one means to meet the comprehensiveness challenge. This commentary attempts to consider a two-stage strategy to develop complete curricula at the bachelor and master's as well as PhD levels.

42 CFR 90.9 - Public health advisory.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Public health advisory. 90.9 Section 90.9 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HEALTH ASSESSMENTS AND HEALTH... PROCEDURES § 90.9 Public health advisory. ATSDR may issue a public health advisory based on the findings of a...

ICT Student Teachers’ Judgments and Justifications about Ethical Issues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Turgay Alakurt

2012-04-01

Full Text Available In this study, Turkish ICT student teachers’ judgments and justifications in four scenarios involving ICT-related ethical problems were investigated. Scenarios were designed based on Mason’s (1986 four ethical issues: privacy, accuracy, property and accessibility. The study was carried out in the fall of 2010. We used the critical incidents technique (CIT - a qualitative research approach- and the data were gathered via a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was conducted face-toface with an in-person interview. Participants were 35 ICT student teachers from the Faculty of Educational Science at Ankara University. The associations between different categorical variables were analysed with Fisher’s exact test. Open-ended questions were analysed through content analysis. The findings revealed that gender does not affect the ethical judgments and justifications of ICT student teachers. Furthermore the same reasons and justifications were reported by ICT student teachers who have taken course in ethic and those who have not taken the course. Moreover, out of the four issues considered in this study, accessibility was found as the most controversial issue. In addition to that it was observed that a number of ICT student teachers do not attain the right justifications due to the lack of knowledge on copyrights, intellectual property and the policies of web sites

GIS and Public Health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefania Bertazzon

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This Special Issue on GIS and public health is the result of a highly selective process, which saw the participation of some 20 expert peer-reviewers and led to the acceptance of one half of the high-quality submissions received over the past year. Many threads link these papers to each other and, indeed, to our original call for papers, but the element that most clearly emerges from these works is the inextricable connection between public health and the environment. Indeed, GIS analysis of public health simply cannot disregard the geospatial dimension of environmental resources and risks. What consistently emerges from these analyses is that current geospatial research can only scratch the surface of the complex interactions of spatial resources, risks, and public health. In today’s world, or at least in the developed world, researchers and practitioners can count on virtually endless data, on inexpensive computational power, and on seamless connectivity. In this research environment, these papers point to the need for improved analytical tools, covering concepts, representation, modeling and reliability. These works are important contributions that help us to identify what advances in geospatial analysis can better address the complex interactions of public health with our physical and cultural environment, and bridge research and practice, so that geospatial analyses can inform public health policy making. [...

Mental health in prisons: A public health agenda.

Science.gov (United States)

Fraser, A

2009-01-01

Mental illness affects the majority of prisoners. Mental health issues are beginning to take a central position in the development of prison health services, reflecting this burden of disease. This change in focus is not before time. But prison mental health services cannot exist in isolation. Public health systems should lead provision of care for patients with acute and severe illness. A whole prison approach to health and, specifically, mental health will offer the greatest likelihood that offenders will thrive, benefit from imprisonment, and lead law-abiding lives after release. Public awareness of the scale and commitment of prisons to mental health and illness, and understanding of prisons' role in society, are necessary developments that would protect and enhance public mental health, as well as creating a healthier and safer society. This article draws on recent reviews, information and statements to set out a public health agenda for mental health in prisons.

Academic dental public health diplomates: their distribution and recommendations concerning the predoctoral dental public health faculty.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaste, L M; Sadler, Z E; Hayes, K L; Narendran, S; Niessen, L C; Weintraub, J A

1998-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the representation of academically based diplomates of the American Board of Dental Public Health (ABDPH) and to identify their perceptions on the training of dental public health predoctoral faculty. Data were collected by a mailed, self-administered, 13-item questionnaire. The population was the 48 diplomates of the ABDPH as of March 1997 associated with academic institutions. Twenty of the 55 US dental schools had a diplomate of the ABDPH with a mean of 1.8 diplomates per school with a diplomate. An average of 4.5 full-time faculty members per school were associated with teaching dental public health. A master's degree in public health (MPH) was the most frequently suggested educational requirement for dental public health faculty. Continuing education courses were training needs perceived for dental public health faculty. The lack of time, money, and incentives, along with perceived rigidity of requirements for board certification, were reported as major barriers for faculty becoming dental public health board certified. Numerous challenges confront the development of a strong dental public health presence in US dental schools. These challenges include, among others, insufficient numbers of academic dental public health specialists and insufficient motivations to encourage promising candidates to pursue specialty status.

Public health

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berg, van den A.E.

2007-01-01

Agnes van den Berg wrote an essay about human health and nature, establishing that subject as an important policy argument in developing (urban) nature in the Netherlands. She studied the public balance of fear and fascination for nature, summarising benefits on human health. In this chapter, she

The "Buy One, Get One Free" Ethics of Investing Public and Philanthropic Funds in Health and Climate.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaidi, Ali A

2017-12-01

This article applies various ethical frameworks to inform decision making about investment in two specific goods-strengthening public health and stabilizing the global climate. I begin by outlining how these goods traditionally competed for common and constrained resources. I then discuss how this view of competition has been rendered more problematic by emerging and compelling ethical justifications for investment in both goods based on utilitarian, Rawlsian, and communitarian analyses. I conclude by showing that these goods no longer compete head-to-head in a zero-sum way. Changes in science, technology, and society mean that investment in either good has the potential to advance both goods-that is, the goods have become synergistic. As a result, the case for investing in both is better. © 2017 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.

Critical perspectives in public health

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Green, Judith; Labonte, Ronald N

2008-01-01

... the contemporary roles of 'critical voices' in public health research and practice from a range of disciplines and contexts. The book covers many of the pressing concerns for public health practitioners and researchers, including: * * * * * the implications of new genetic technologies for public health; the impact of globalisation on local practice...

EVALUATION OF LABOR CONDITIONS BY PUBLIC HEALTH WORKERS IN THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu. V. Kirik

2018-01-01

circulation is «unsatisfactory», the opportunity for professional development, self-realization and career growth as «satisfactory». Conclusion. Based on the subjective opinion of health workers, the results of the study made it possible to identify a number of economic and organizational aspects of working conditions in public health institutions that require scientific and practical justification in health care and management decisions affecting the development of the industry. 

Development of Systematic Knowledge Management for Public Health: A Public Health Law Ontology

Science.gov (United States)

Keeling, Jonathan

2012-01-01

The Institute of Medicine has stated that legal structures and the authority vested in health agencies and other partners within the public health system are essential to improving the public's health. Variation between the laws of different jurisdictions within the United States allows for natural experimentation and research into their…

Public health leadership education in North America

OpenAIRE

Uno, Hideo; Zakariasen,Kenneth

2010-01-01

Hideo Uno, Kenneth ZakariasenDepartment of Public Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, CanadaAbstract: Public health leadership is one of the priority disciplines public health professionals need to learn well if they are to deal with demanding public health issues effectively and efficiently. This article looks at the trends in public health leadership education by reviewing the literature and using the Internet to explore the public health leadershi...

Conceptualizing ORGANIZATIONAL HEALTH - Public health management and leadership perspectives

OpenAIRE

Orvik, Arne

2016-01-01

The thesis introduces a new conceptual model of organizational health and discusses its implications for public health management and leadership. It is developed with reference to organizational theories and ideologies, including New Public Management, the use of which has coincided with increasing workplace health problems in health care organizations. The model is based on empirical research and theories in the fields of public health, health care organization and management, and institutio...

PPACA and public health: creating a framework to focus on prevention and wellness and improve the public's health.

Science.gov (United States)

Majette, Gwendolyn Roberts

2011-01-01

PPACA epitomizes comprehensive health care reform legislation. Public health, disease prevention, and wellness were integral considerations in its development. This article reveals the author's personal experiences while working on the framework for health care reform in the United States Senate and reviews activity in the United States House of Representatives. This insider's perspective delineates PPACA's positive effect on public health by examining the infrastructure Congress designed to focus on prevention, wellness, and public health, with a particular focus on the National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council; the National Prevention, Health Promotion, Public Health, and Integrative Health Care Strategy; and the Prevention and Public Health Fund. The Council, strategy, and fund are especially important because they reflect compliance with some of the Institute of Medicine's recommendations to improve public health in the United States, as well as international health and human rights norms that protect the right to health. © 2011 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

One Health Perspectives on Emerging Public Health Threats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sukhyun Ryu

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Antimicrobial resistance and emerging infectious diseases, including avian influenza, Ebola virus disease, and Zika virus disease have significantly affected humankind in recent years. In the premodern era, no distinction was made between animal and human medicine. However, as medical science developed, the gap between human and animal science grew deeper. Cooperation among human, animal, and environmental sciences to combat emerging public health threats has become an important issue under the One Health Initiative. Herein, we presented the history of One Health, reviewed current public health threats, and suggested opportunities for the field of public health through better understanding of the One Health paradigm.

Un-National Normative Justification for European Union Foreign Policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Manners, Ian

2011-01-01

The European Union's foreign policy has traditionally been described in terms of national, supranational or transnational interests rather than being justified in terms of normative political theory. As European Commissioner Bonino declared over a decade ago, such differentiation between...... descriptive interests and normative ethics is unsustainable in European Union (EU) foreign policy. What are needed are normative justifications that can help inform political choices about foreign policy in the EU's democratic political order. In other words, what are the un-national normative justifications...

Climate Change and Public Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Ciesielski, Timothy

2017-05-01

It is clear that the public health community is concerned about the human health impacts of climate change, but are we inadvertently underestimating the scope of the problem and obfuscating potentially useful interventions by using a narrow intellectual frame in our discussions with policy makers? If we take a more holistic approach, we see that the public health impacts of climate change are only one subset of the enormous public health impacts of fossil fuel burning. This broader perspective can provide a more accurate and comprehensive assessment that is more useful for decision making in public policy settings.

Liberalism and Public Health Ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajczi, Alex

2016-02-01

Many public health dilemmas involve a tension between the promotion of health and the rights of individuals. This article suggests that we should resolve the tension using our familiar liberal principles of government. The article considers the common objections that (i) liberalism is incompatible with standard public health interventions such as anti-smoking measures or intervention in food markets; (2) there are special reasons for hard paternalism in public health; and (3) liberalism is incompatible with proper protection of the community good. The article argues that we should examine these critiques in a larger methodological framework by first acknowledging that the right theory of public health ethics is the one we arrive at in reflective equilibrium. Once we examine the arguments for and against liberalism in that light, we can see the weaknesses in the objections and the strength of the case for liberalism in public health. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Enhancing crisis leadership in public health emergencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Deitchman, Scott

2013-10-01

Reviews of public health emergency responses have identified a need for crisis leadership skills in health leaders, but these skills are not routinely taught in public health curricula. To develop criteria for crisis leadership in public health, published sources were reviewed to identify attributes of successful crisis leadership in aviation, public safety, military operations, and mining. These sources were abstracted to identify crisis leadership attributes associated with those disciplines and compare those attributes with crisis leadership challenges in public health. Based on this review, the following attributes are proposed for crisis leadership in public health: competence in public health science; decisiveness with flexibility; ability to maintain situational awareness and provide situational assessment; ability to coordinate diverse participants across very different disciplines; communication skills; and the ability to inspire trust. Of these attributes, only competence in public health science is currently a goal of public health education. Strategies to teach the other proposed attributes of crisis leadership will better prepare public health leaders to meet the challenges of public health crises.

Conceptualizing ORGANIZATIONAL HEALTH - Public health management and leadership perspectives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Orvik, Arne

The thesis introduces a new conceptual model of organizational health and discusses its implications for public health management and leadership. It is developed with reference to organizational theories and ideologies, including New Public Management, the use of which has coincided with increasing...... as the disintegration of such values. Possible implications for public health management and leadership include four different forms. The application of the conceptual model can potentially draw attention to value conflicts and help to clarify contradictory, institutional logics. It can also potentially support health...... workplace health problems in health care organizations. The model is based on empirical research and theories in the fields of public health, health care organization and management, and institutional theory. It includes five dimensions and defines organizational health in terms of how an organization...

13 CFR 130.460 - Budget justification.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Budget justification. 130.460 Section 130.460 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT...) Cost principles. Principles for determining allowable costs are contained in OMB Circulars A-21 (cost...

Surfing the net for public health resources.

Science.gov (United States)

Angell, C; Hemingway, A; Hartwell, H

2011-08-01

To identify public health open educational resources (OER) available online, map the identified OER to The Public Health Skills and Career Framework (PHSCF), and triangulate these findings with public health practitioners. Systematic online search for public health OER. An online search was undertaken using a pre-defined set of search terms and inclusion/exclusion criteria. Public health OER were then mapped against the UK PHSCF. The findings of the search were discussed with public health specialists to determine whether or not they used these resources. A number of public health OER were identified, located on 42 websites from around the world. Mapping against the UK PHSCF demonstrated a lack of coverage in some areas of public health education. It was noted that many of the OER websites identified were not those generally used in practice, and those sites preferred by public health specialists were not identified by the online search. Public health OER are available from a number of providers, frequently universities and government organizations. However, these reflect a relatively small pool of original OER providers. Tagging of websites does not always identify their public health content. In addition, users of public health OER may not use search engines to identify resources but locate them using other means. Copyright © 2011 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Intercultural competency in public health: a call for action to incorporate training into public health education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julia eFleckman

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Due to increasing national diversity, programs addressing cultural competence have multiplied in U.S. medical training institutions. Little progress has been made to translate cultural competency training from the clinical setting into the public health setting where the focus is on population-based health, preventative programming, and epidemiological and behavioral research. The need for culturally relevant public health programming and culturally sensitive public health research is more critical than ever. Awareness of differing cultural roles needs to be included in all processes of planning, implementation and evaluation. In focusing on community-based health program planning and research, cultural competence implies that it is possible for public health professionals to completely know another culture, whereas intercultural competence implies it is a dual-sided process. Public health professionals need a commitment toward intercultural competence and skills that demonstrate flexibility, openness and self-reflection so that cultural learning is possible. In this article, the authors recommend a number of elements to develop, adapt and strengthen intercultural competence education in public health educational institutions.

A systematic review of economic evaluations of local authority commissioned preventative public health interventions in overweight and obesity, physical inactivity, alcohol and illicit drugs use and smoking cessation in the United Kingdom.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Pam; Skirrow, Helen; George, Abraham; Memon, Anjum

2018-02-16

Since 2013, local authorities in England have been responsible for commissioning preventative public health interventions. The aim of this systematic review was to support commissioning by collating published data on economic evaluations and modelling of local authority commissioned public health preventative interventions in the UK. Following the PRISMA protocol, we searched for economic evaluations of preventative intervention studies in four different areas: overweight and obesity, physical inactivity, alcohol and illicit drugs use and smoking cessation. The systematic review identified studies between January 1994 and February 2015, using five databases. We synthesized the studies to identify the key methods and examined results of the economic evaluations. The majority of the evaluations related to cost-effectiveness, rather than cost-benefit analyses or cost-utility analyses. These analyses found preventative interventions to be cost effective, though the context of the interventions differed between the studies. Preventative public health interventions in general are cost-effective. There is a need for further studies to support justification of continued and/or increased funding for public health interventions. There is much variation between the types of economically evaluated preventative interventions in our review. Broader studies incorporating different contexts may help support funding for local authority-sponsored public health initiatives.

The State Public Health Laboratory System.

Science.gov (United States)

Inhorn, Stanley L; Astles, J Rex; Gradus, Stephen; Malmberg, Veronica; Snippes, Paula M; Wilcke, Burton W; White, Vanessa A

2010-01-01

This article describes the development since 2000 of the State Public Health Laboratory System in the United States. These state systems collectively are related to several other recent public health laboratory (PHL) initiatives. The first is the Core Functions and Capabilities of State Public Health Laboratories, a white paper that defined the basic responsibilities of the state PHL. Another is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Laboratory System (NLS) initiative, the goal of which is to promote public-private collaboration to assure quality laboratory services and public health surveillance. To enhance the realization of the NLS, the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) launched in 2004 a State Public Health Laboratory System Improvement Program. In the same year, APHL developed a Comprehensive Laboratory Services Survey, a tool to measure improvement through the decade to assure that essential PHL services are provided.

Ethics in public health: call for shared moral public health literacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Maeckelberghe, Els L M; Schröder-Bäck, Peter

2017-10-01

Public Health (PH) in Europe has become much more vocal about its moral understandings since 1992. The rising awareness that PH issues were inseparable from issues of human rights and social justice almost self-evidently directed the agenda of EUPHA and the European Public Health (EPH)-conferences. Problems of cultural and behavioural change, and environmental issues on a global scale were also added. The Section Ethics in PH invited the EPH community to join in 'arm chair thinking': coming together at conferences not only to share the 'how' and 'what' of PH research, practices and policies but also the 'why'. Time has been reserved to genuinely discuss what moral values are at stake in the work of PH and to actively develop a moral language and framework for PH Ethics. The challenge for the next decades is to find ways to involve the general public in the cultivation of a shared moral PH literacy. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Intercultural Competency in Public Health: A Call for Action to Incorporate Training into Public Health Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Fleckman, Julia M; Dal Corso, Mark; Ramirez, Shokufeh; Begalieva, Maya; Johnson, Carolyn C

2015-01-01

Due to increasing national diversity, programs addressing cultural competence have multiplied in U.S. medical training institutions. Although these programs share common goals for improving clinical care for patients and reducing health disparities, there is little standardization across programs. Furthermore, little progress has been made to translate cultural competency training from the clinical setting into the public health setting where the focus is on population-based health, preventative programming, and epidemiological and behavioral research. The need for culturally relevant public health programming and culturally sensitive public health research is more critical than ever. Awareness of differing cultures needs to be included in all processes of planning, implementation and evaluation. By focusing on community-based health program planning and research, cultural competence implies that it is possible for public health professionals to completely know another culture, whereas intercultural competence implies it is a dual-sided process. Public health professionals need a commitment toward intercultural competence and skills that demonstrate flexibility, openness, and self-reflection so that cultural learning is possible. In this article, the authors recommend a number of elements to develop, adapt, and strengthen intercultural competence education in public health educational institutions.

Conventional and ecological public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Rayner, G

2009-09-01

This paper suggests that current models of public health are no longer sufficient as a means for understanding the health challenges of the anthropogenic age, and argues for an alternative based upon an ecological model. The roots of this perspective originated within the Victorian era, although it found only limited expression at that time. Ecological thinking in public health has only been revived relatively recently. Derived from an analysis of obesity, this paper proposes the development of an approach to ecological public health based on four dimensions of existence: the material, the physiological, the social and the cultural-cognitive. The implications for public policy are considered.

Why feminism in public health?

Science.gov (United States)

Hammarström, A

1999-12-01

The issues raised in this editorial and exemplified within a number of the studies reported in this issue indicate new directions for public health, directions which take feminist scholarship, both outside and within the medical framework, into account. The changing potential of feminist public health, as derived from the articles in this issue, can be summarised within the following issues: new research areas, positioning women as actors, development of theoretical frameworks, reflexive theory of science, interplay between sex and gender, gender-sensitive methods, diversities among women/men, pro-feminist research on men's health and using the results for change. Thus, feminist public health represents a shift towards the new public health, with holistic and multidisciplinary activities, based on theoretical pluralism, multiple perspectives and collective actions with the aim of improving the health of gender-subordinated groups.

Education Improves Public Health and Promotes Health Equity.

Science.gov (United States)

Hahn, Robert A; Truman, Benedict I

2015-01-01

This article describes a framework and empirical evidence to support the argument that educational programs and policies are crucial public health interventions. Concepts of education and health are developed and linked, and we review a wide range of empirical studies to clarify pathways of linkage and explore implications. Basic educational expertise and skills, including fundamental knowledge, reasoning ability, emotional self-regulation, and interactional abilities, are critical components of health. Moreover, education is a fundamental social determinant of health - an upstream cause of health. Programs that close gaps in educational outcomes between low-income or racial and ethnic minority populations and higher-income or majority populations are needed to promote health equity. Public health policy makers, health practitioners and educators, and departments of health and education can collaborate to implement educational programs and policies for which systematic evidence indicates clear public health benefits. © The Author(s) 2015.

Well-Founded Belief and Perceptual Justification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Broncano-Berrocal, Fernando

2016-01-01

According to Alan Millar, justified beliefs are well-founded beliefs. Millar cashes out the notion of well-foundedness in terms of having an adequate reason to believe something and believing it for that reason. To make his account of justified belief compatible with perceptual justification he...

Public health emergencies in urban India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bhabani Prasad Acharya

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Public health emergencies in urban India can be caused by natural or man-made disasters. Occurrence of a public health emergency adds to the already stretched health system. This paper looks into the public health emergency conditions in urban India, and our preparedness to tackle them. To address this composite threat to nation’s health and development, a concerted public health response is needed, that can ensure efficient delivery in emergency situations Public health emergency is an occurrence or eminent threat of an illness or health condition caused by bio-terrorism, epidemic or pandemic disease, or novel and highly fatal infectious agent or biological toxin, that possess a substantial risk of a significant number of human facilities or incidents or permanent or long–term disability (1. It is a condition that requires the government to declare a state of public health emergency. The declaration of a state of public health emergency permits the government to suspend state regulations,and change the functions of state agencies (2. Term “Urban” refers to perplexing variety of environments.  Health circumstances of small cities and town differ in many ways from larger cities and metros. Within cities, change in lifestyle of residents is observed. The urban system is often present with full array of health providers ranging from traditional healer, street drug seller to highly –trained surgeons (3.

Influencing public health without authority.

Science.gov (United States)

Suresh, K

2012-01-01

This paper analyzes the present processes, products and needs of post-graduate public health education for the health programming, implementation and oversight responsibilities at field level and suggests some solutions for the institutes to adopt or adapt for improving the quality of their scholars. Large number of institutions has cropped up in India in the recent years to meet the growing demand of public health specialists/practitioners in various national health projects, international development partners, national and international NGOs. Throwing open MPH courses to multi-disciplinary graduate's is a new phenomenon in India and may be a two edged sword. On one hand it is advantageous to produce multi-faceted Public health postgraduates to meet the multi tasking required, on the other hand getting all of them to a common basic understanding, demystifying technical teaching and churning out products that are acceptable to the traditional health system. These Institutions can and must influence public health in the country through producing professionals of MPH/ MD degree with right attitude and skill-mix. Engaging learners in experimentation, experience sharing projects, stepping into health professionals' roles and similar activities lead to development of relatively clear and permanent neural traces in the brain. The MPH institutes may not have all efficient faculties, for which they should try to achieve this by inviting veterans in public health and professionals from corporate health industry for interface with students on a regular basis. The corporate and public health stalwarts have the capacities to transmit the winning skills and knowledge and also inspire them to adopt or adapt in order to achieve the desired goals.

Twitter and Public Health (Part 1): How Individual Public Health Professionals Use Twitter for Professional Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Hart, Mark; Stetten, Nichole E; Islam, Sabrina; Pizarro, Katherine

2017-09-20

The use of social networking sites is increasingly being adopted in public health, in part, because of the barriers to funding and reduced resources. Public health professionals are using social media platforms, specifically Twitter, as a way to facilitate professional development. The objective of this study was to identify public health professionals using Twitter and to analyze how they use this platform to enhance their formal and informal professional development within the context of public health. Keyword searches were conducted to identify and invite potential participants to complete a survey related to their use of Twitter for public health and professional experiences. Data regarding demographic attributes, Twitter usage, and qualitative information were obtained through an anonymous Web-based survey. Open-response survey questions were analyzed using the constant comparison method. "Using Twitter makes it easier to expand my networking opportunities" and "I find Twitter useful for professional development" scored highest, with a mean score of 4.57 (standard deviation [SD] 0.74) and 4.43 (SD 0.76) on a 5-point Likert scale. Analysis of the qualitative data shows the emergence of the following themes for why public health professionals mostly use Twitter: (1) geography, (2) continuing education, (3) professional gain, and (4) communication. For public health professionals in this study, Twitter is a platform best used for their networking and professional development. Furthermore, the use of Twitter allows public health professionals to overcome a series of barriers and enhances opportunities for growth. ©Mark Hart, Nichole E Stetten, Sabrina Islam, Katherine Pizarro. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 20.09.2017.

Public health terminology: Hindrance to a Health in All Policies approach?

Science.gov (United States)

Synnevåg, Ellen S; Amdam, Roar; Fosse, Elisabeth

2018-02-01

National public health policies in Norway are based on a Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach. At the local level, this means that public health, as a cross-sectional responsibility, should be implemented in all municipal sectors by integrating public health policies in municipal planning and management systems. The paper investigates these local processes, focusing on the use of public health terminology and how this terminology is translated from national to local contexts. We ask whether the terms 'public health' and 'public health work' are suitable when implementing an HiAP approach. A qualitative case study based on analyses of interviews and planning documents was performed in three Norwegian municipalities. The results present dilemmas associated with using public health terminology when implementing an HiAP approach. On the one hand, the terms are experienced as wide, complex, advanced and unnecessary. On the other hand, the terms are experienced as important for a systematic approach towards understanding public health ideology and cross-sectional responsibility. One municipality used alternative terminology. This paper promotes debate about the appropriateness of using the terms 'public health' and 'public health work' at the local level. It suggests that adaptation is suitable and necessary, unless it compromises knowledge, responsibility and a systematic approach. This study concludes that the use of terminology is a central factor when implementing the Norwegian Public Health Act at the local level.

Public health challenges in sun protection.

Science.gov (United States)

Eide, Melody J; Weinstock, Martin A

2006-01-01

Sunscreens are a popular choice for protection from ultraviolet radiation, and hence, important components in the public health campaign to reduce the burden of skin cancer. Public health messages in skin cancer prevention have been used effectively in educational campaigns. The benefits of sunscreen extend beyond skin cancer prevention into other aspects of health and disease prevention: sunscreen decreases the risk for sunburn during physical activity outdoors and seems not to increase the risk for osteoporosis. Public health efforts have laid a solid foundation on which to face the continuing challenge of promoting and developing effective public health campaigns and health policies that encourage sunscreen use, sun protection, and the primary prevention of skin cancer. In this article, the controversies, concerns, and challenges of sunscreen use as it relates to public health are discussed.

Periodontal health and global public health

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Poul E; Baehni, Pierre C

2012-01-01

Chronic diseases are a growing burden to people, to health-care systems and to societies across the world. The rapid increase in the burden of chronic diseases is particularly prevalent in the developing countries. Periodontal disease is one of the two most important oral diseases contributing...... to the global burden of chronic disease. In addition to social determinants, periodontal health status is related to several proximal factors. Modifiable risk factors, such as tobacco use, excessive alcohol consumption, poor diet and nutrition, obesity, psychological stress and insufficient personal....../oral hygiene, are important and these principal risk factors for periodontal disease are shared by other chronic diseases. The present monograph is devoted to the existing evidence on the practice of public health related to periodontal health. Public health is defined as the process of mobilizing and engaging...

Public Health Autonomy: A Critical Reappraisal.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmerman, Frederick J

2017-11-01

The ethical principle of autonomy is among the most fundamental in ethics, and it is particularly salient for those in public health, who must constantly balance the desire to improve health outcomes by changing behavior with respect for individual freedom. Although there are some areas in which there is a genuine tension between public health and autonomy-childhood vaccine mandates, for example-there are many more areas where not only is there no tension, but public health and autonomy come down to the same thing. These areas of overlap are often rendered invisible by a thin understanding of autonomy. Better integrating newer theoretical insights about autonomy into applied ethics can make discussions of public health ethics more rigorous, incisive, and effective. Even more importantly, bringing modern concepts of autonomy into public health ethics can showcase the many areas in which public health and autonomy have the same goals, face the same threats, and can be mutually advanced by the same kinds of solutions. This article provides a schema for relational autonomy in a public health context and gives concrete examples of how autonomy can be served through public-health interventions. It marshals insights from sociology, psychology, and philosophy to advance a theory of autonomy and coercion that recognizes three potential threats to autonomy: threats to choice sets, threats to knowledge, and threats to preferences. © 2017 The Hastings Center.

Dispute Resolution and Technology: Revisiting the Justification of Conflict Management

OpenAIRE

Koulu, Riikka

2016-01-01

This study, Dispute Resolution and Technology: Revisiting the Justification of Conflict Management, belongs to the fields of procedural law, legal theory and law and technology studies. In this study the changes in dispute resolution caused by technology are evaluated. The overarching research question of this study is how does implementing technology to dispute resolution challenge the justification of law as a legitimised mode of violence? Before answering such an abstract research question...

(Public) Health and Human Rights in Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Annas, George J; Mariner, Wendy K

2016-02-01

Public health's reliance on law to define and carry out public activities makes it impossible to define a set of ethical principles unique to public health. Public health ethics must be encompassed within--and consistent with--a broader set of principles that define the power and limits of governmental institutions. These include human rights, health law, and even medical ethics. The human right to health requires governments not only to respect individual human rights and personal freedoms, but also, importantly, to protect people from harm from external sources and third parties, and to fulfill the health needs of the population. Even if human rights are the natural language for public health, not all public health professionals are comfortable with the language of human rights. Some argue that individual human rights--such as autonomy and privacy--unfairly limit the permissible means to achieve the goal of health protection. We argue that public health should welcome and promote the human rights framework. In almost every instance, this will make public health more effective in the long run, because the goals of public health and human rights are the same: to promote human flourishing. Copyright © 2016 by Duke University Press.

Primary health care and public health: foundations of universal health systems.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Franklin

2015-01-01

The aim of this review is to advocate for more integrated and universally accessible health systems, built on a foundation of primary health care and public health. The perspective outlined identified health systems as the frame of reference, clarified terminology and examined complementary perspectives on health. It explored the prospects for universal and integrated health systems from a global perspective, the role of healthy public policy in achieving population health and the value of the social-ecological model in guiding how best to align the components of an integrated health service. The importance of an ethical private sector in partnership with the public sector is recognized. Most health systems around the world, still heavily focused on illness, are doing relatively little to optimize health and minimize illness burdens, especially for vulnerable groups. This failure to improve the underlying conditions for health is compounded by insufficient allocation of resources to address priority needs with equity (universality, accessibility and affordability). Finally, public health and primary health care are the cornerstones of sustainable health systems, and this should be reflected in the health policies and professional education systems of all nations wishing to achieve a health system that is effective, equitable, efficient and affordable. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Chiropractic care and public health

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johnson, Claire; Rubinstein, Sidney M; Côté, Pierre

2012-01-01

The purpose of this collaborative summary is to document current chiropractic involvement in the public health movement, reflect on social ecological levels of influence as a profession, and summarize the relationship of chiropractic to the current public health topics of: safety, health issues...... disorders? How can chiropractic use cognitive behavioral therapy to address chronic low back pain as a public health problem? What opportunities exist for doctors of chiropractic to more effectively serve the aging population? What is the role of ethics and the contribution of the chiropractic profession...

Public health medicine: the constant dilemma.

Science.gov (United States)

Eskin, Frada

2002-03-01

There is a well-known quotation by the nineteenth-century sociologist Virchow (quoted in Ref. 1) that aptly captures the dilemma that has confronted public health medicine since the specialty was created as a discrete entity in 1848. Virchow said: 'Medicine is politics and social medicine is politics writ large!' What does this mean in relation to effective public health medicine practice and how is it likely to affect its future? There is increasingly limited freedom of expression within the current context of political correctness, central control and a rapidly burgeoning litigious climate. The purpose of this paper is to explore these issues and to propose a means of maintaining public health medicine integrity within a working environment where action is becoming rapidly constrained by political rigidity. An additional factor to be included in the dialogue is the current context within which public health physicians work. Because the majority of public health doctors are employed within the National Health Service (NHS), they are finding themselves being expected to take on tasks and responsibilities marginal to their essential purpose and function. For example, public health physicians spend a great deal of time involved in detailed deliberations about health service provision. Although there is a great deal of evidence to show that good quality health care provision positively affects the health of the individual, there is no evidence to show that this activity has any effect on the population's health status. The essence of public health medicine practice is the prevention of ill-health and the promotion of the health of the population and, consequently, attention needs to be focused on the root causes of disease. However, as these are outside the aegis of the NHS, public health medicine involvement in such issues as education, nutrition, housing, transport and poverty is regarded as marginal to the NHS corporate agenda.

THE NECESSITY AND JUSTIFICATION OF REFORMS OF PUBLIC CORPORATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jokić Zoran

2016-04-01

Full Text Available In the present business environment, negative opinion on the work of the public sector prevails. According to the public opinion, one gets the impression that it is necessary to privatize the public corporations as soon as possible and this way get rid of this kind of ballast. Having in mind the negative effects of previous transitional period, it is necessary to approach this issue cautiously, so the process of the reforms would give optimal social benefits.

Child public health

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Blair, Mitch

2010-01-01

"Despite children making up around a quarter of the population, the first edition of this book was the first to focus on a public health approach to the health and sickness of children and young people...

[Survey on public health nursing education-in the comparison of nursing education courses, universities, advanced courses for public health nurse with junior nursing colleges, and public health nursing school].

Science.gov (United States)

Hirano, Kayoko; Ikeda, Nobuko; Kanagawa, Katuko; Shiomi, Sigeki; Suzuki, Akira; Hirayama, Tomoko; Furuya, Akie; Ymazaki, Kyoko; Yasumura, Seiji

2005-08-01

Changes in public health nursing education have been consideration. Theses changes include a dramatic increase in the number of public health nurses (PHNs) who have enrolled for nursing courses at university. This study was conducted to assess the current status and future of public health nursing education as perceived by teachers and students at three types of schools: universities offering nursing courses, advanced courses for PHNs with junior nursing colleges, and public health nursing schools. Questionnaires were distributed to teachers and students by mail. The questions that were sent to teachers asked which subjects were required to become a certified PHN, which lecture methods were employed to teach public health-particularly community health assessment methods, and what was the level of awareness of the activities of PHNs. Students were asked about their motivation to be a PHN, their understanding of public health, their views of public health activities and their images of PHNs. Responses were analyzed and differences between questionnaires from different schools were noted. These included the number of subjects and the total number of hours spent doing practical training and field experience in universities and the other types of schools, and the number of teachers. Differences also were noted among students at three types of schools about their age, methods of public health activities, knowledge about activities undertaken by PHNs, and their images of PHNs. No differences were observed among the schools with respect to the students' conceptual understanding of public health. Student age, practical training and field experience were found to contribute to their level of understanding of public health and public health nursing. It is thus necessary to consider the teaching methods employed by universities that administer nursing courses and the effectiveness of courses offered by graduate schools.

Justification and authority in institutional review board decision letters.

Science.gov (United States)

Clapp, Justin T; Gleason, Katharine A; Joffe, Steven

2017-12-01

While ethnographic study has described the discussions that occur during human subjects research ethics review, investigators have minimal access to the interactions of ethics oversight committees. They instead receive letters stipulating changes to their proposed studies. Ethics committee letters are central to the practice of research ethics: they change the nature of research, alter the knowledge it produces, and in doing so construct what ethical research is and how it is pursued. However, these letters have rarely been objects of analysis. Accordingly, we conducted a qualitative analysis of letters written by American institutional review boards (IRBs) overseeing biomedical and health behavioral research. We sought to clarify how IRBs exercise their authority by assessing the frequency with which they provided reasons for their stipulations as well as the nature of these reasons. We found that IRBs frequently do not justify their stipulations; rather, they often leave ethical or regulatory concerns implicit or frame their comments as boilerplate language replacements, procedural instructions, or demands for missing information. When they do provide justifications, their rationales exhibit substantial variability in explicitness and clarity. These rhetorical tendencies indicate that the authority of IRBs is grounded primarily in their role as bureaucratic gatekeepers. We conclude by suggesting that greater attention to justification could help shift the basis of the IRB-researcher relationship from compliance to mutual accountability. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Protecting Health and Saving Lives: The Part-Time/Internet-Based Master of Public Health Program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Science.gov (United States)

Bruce, Linda; Gresh, Kathy; Vanchiswaran, Rohini; Werapitiya, Deepthi

2007-01-01

This article discusses the part-time/Internet-based Master of Public Health (MPH) program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH). The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health was the first school of public health in the United States to offer a Master of Public Health program via the Internet. The JHSPH MPH Program…

Citizen Science for public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Den Broeder, Lea; Devilee, Jeroen; Van Oers, Hans; Schuit, A Jantine; Wagemakers, Annemarie

2016-12-23

Community engagement in public health policy is easier said than done. One reason is that public health policy is produced in a complex process resulting in policies that may appear not to link up to citizen perspectives. We therefore address the central question as to whether citizen engagement in knowledge production could enable inclusive health policy making. Building on non-health work fields, we describe different types of citizen engagement in scientific research, or 'Citizen Science'. We describe the challenges that Citizen Science poses for public health, and how these could be addressed. Despite these challenges, we expect that Citizen Science or similar approaches such as participatory action research and 'popular epidemiology' may yield better knowledge, empowered communities, and improved community health. We provide a draft framework to enable evaluation of Citizen Science in practice, consisting of a descriptive typology of different kinds of Citizen Science and a causal framework that shows how Citizen Science in public health might benefit both the knowledge produced as well as the 'Citizen Scientists' as active participants. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

77 FR 38296 - Draft Public Health Action Plan-A National Public Health Action Plan for the Detection...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-27

... Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Reproductive Health, Attn: National Public Health Action Plan... Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Reproductive Health, 4770 Buford Highway NE... topic's public health importance, existing challenges, and opportunities for action to decrease the...

Population mental health: evidence, policy, and public health practice

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Cohen, Neal L; Galea, Sandro

2011-01-01

... on population mental health with public mental health policy and practice. Issues covered in the book include the influence of mental health policies on the care and well-­ being of individuals with mental illness, the interconnectedness of physical and mental disorders, the obstacles to adopting a public health orientation to mental health/mental ill...

Working class conservatism: a system justification perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Jost, John T

2017-12-01

Working class conservatism is a perennial issue in social science, but researchers have struggled to provide an adequate characterization. In social psychology, the question has too often been framed in 'either/or' terms of whether the disadvantaged are more or less likely to support the status quo than the advantaged. This is a crude rendering of the issue obscuring the fact that even if most working class voters are not conservative, millions are-and conservatives could not win elections without their support. System justification theory highlights epistemic, existential, and relational needs to reduce uncertainty, threat, and social discord that are shared by everyone-and that promote conservative attitudes. I summarize qualitative and quantitative evidence of system justification among the disadvantaged and consider prospects for more constructive political activity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mind the public health leadership gap: the opportunities and challenges of engaging high-profile individuals in the public health agenda.

Science.gov (United States)

Shickle, Darren; Day, Matthew; Smith, Kevin; Zakariasen, Ken; Moskol, Jacob; Oliver, Thomas

2014-12-01

Public health leadership has been criticized as being ineffective. The public health profession is relatively small. Critics have argued that there is over-emphasis on technical aspects and insufficient use of the 'community as a source of public health actions'. The paper analyses the resources, motivations and skills utilized by high-profile individuals who have made contributions to the public health agenda. The phenomenon of celebrity diplomacy is critiqued. Two exemplars are discussed: Jamie Oliver and Michael Bloomberg. The risks of involving celebrities are also considered. Leaders for public health demonstrate 'a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will' to make the 'right decisions happen'. While they may have ego or self-interest, in this context, at least, they channel their ambition for the public health cause, not themselves. Leaders from outside public health may have no understanding of what public health is nor consider their work as part of a wider public health agenda. It is important to understand why they become leaders for public health. This will inform a strategy for how others may be encouraged to collaborate for public health causes. Some key points for working with high-profile leaders for public health are identified. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The Public Health Responsibility Deal: brokering a deal for public health, but on whose terms?

Science.gov (United States)

Panjwani, Clare; Caraher, Martin

2014-02-01

Coalitions of multinational food and drink businesses have pledged to reformulate their products and to market them responsibly. Largely business-led and self-regulated, the integrity of these voluntary initiatives has been questioned. The Public Health Responsibility Deal in England is an example of a voluntary initiative that is government-led. Does this approach provide evidence that with public leadership there is potential for voluntary actions to deliver meaningful results for public health? The subject of the research is the calorie reduction initiative of the Responsibility Deal. Source material was obtained primarily through a series of UK Freedom of Information requests and comprises previously unpublished Department of Health documentation relating to relevant meetings held during 2011 and 2012. The Responsibility Deal approach to calorie reduction deliberately involves the food industry in the specification of the measures it is to implement (reformulation and portion control). Finding the common ground between private and public interests has resulted in the deflection of public health objectives and the preclusion of adequate monitoring and evaluation. The Responsibility Deal approach is fundamentally flawed in its expectation that industry will take voluntary actions that prioritise public health interests above its own. Being government-led counts for little in the absence of sanctions to drive compliance. Instead the initiative affords private interests the opportunity to influence in their favour the public health policies and strategies that affect their products. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Public health legal preparedness in Indian country.

Science.gov (United States)

Bryan, Ralph T; Schaefer, Rebecca McLaughlin; DeBruyn, Lemyra; Stier, Daniel D

2009-04-01

American Indian/Alaska Native tribal governments are sovereign entities with inherent authority to create laws and enact health regulations. Laws are an essential tool for ensuring effective public health responses to emerging threats. To analyze how tribal laws support public health practice in tribal communities, we reviewed tribal legal documentation available through online databases and talked with subject-matter experts in tribal public health law. Of the 70 tribal codes we found, 14 (20%) had no clearly identifiable public health provisions. The public health-related statutes within the remaining codes were rarely well integrated or comprehensive. Our findings provide an evidence base to help tribal leaders strengthen public health legal foundations in tribal communities.

Systematic review of public health branding.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, W Douglas; Blitstein, Jonathan; Hersey, James C; Renaud, Jeanette; Yaroch, Amy L

2008-12-01

Brands build relationships between consumers and products, services, or lifestyles by providing beneficial exchanges and adding value to their objects. Brands can be measured through associations that consumers hold for products and services. Public health brands are the associations that individuals hold for health behaviors, or lifestyles that embody multiple health behaviors. We systematically reviewed the literature on public health brands; developed a methodology for describing branded health messages and campaigns; and examined specific branding strategies across a range of topic areas, campaigns, and global settings. We searched the literature for published studies on public health branding available through all relevant, major online publication databases. Public health branding was operationalized as any manuscripts in the health, social science, and business literature on branding or brands in health promotion marketing. We developed formalized decision rules and applied them in identifying articles for review. We initially identified 154 articles and reviewed a final set of 37, 10 from Africa, Australia, and Europe. Branded health campaigns spanned most of the major domains of public health and numerous communication strategies and evaluation methodologies. Most studies provided clear information on planning, development, and evaluation of the branding effort, while some provided minimal information. Branded health messages typically are theory based, and there is a body of evidence on their behavior change effectiveness, especially in nutrition, tobacco control, and HIV/AIDS. More rigorous research is needed, however, on how branded health messages impact specific populations and behaviors.

Risk tradeoffs and public health protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Charnley, G.

1998-01-01

Full text of publication follows: over the last 25 years, the traditional command-and-control, chemical-by-chemical environmental medium-by-environmental medium, risk-by-risk approach to protecting public health from environmental risks has worked well to greatly improve the quality of our food, air, water, and workplaces, but we are now left with the more complex problems, like urban air pollution or personal dietary behavior, that a chemical-by-chemical approach is not going to solve. Because current environmental regulatory programs have curbed the 'low-hanging fruit' and because of today's emphasis on achieving risk reductions cost-effectively, new and creative public health-based approaches to risk management are needed. Since public concern about pollution-related disease become serious in the 1960's and 1970's and regulatory agencies and laws began to proliferate, the public health goals of environmental protection have been obscured. As a society, we have made a tradeoff between environmental health and public health. The public health foundation of environmental health protection has been obscured by legalistic, technical, centralized decision-making processes that have often mistaken hazard for risk. A greater focus on public health would help us to assess aggregate risks and to target risk management resources by focusing on a problem and then identifying what is causing the problem as a guide to determining how best to solve it. Most of our current approaches start with a cause and then try to eliminate it without determining the extent to which it actually may contribute to a problem, making it difficult to set priorities among risks or to evaluate the impact of risk management actions on public health. (author)

How to characterize the public health workforce based on essential public health operations? environmental public health workers in the Netherlands as an example

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jambroes, M.; van Honschooten, R.; Doosje, J.; Stronks, K.; Essink-Bot, M. L.

2015-01-01

Public health workforce planning and policy development require adequate data on the public health workforce and the services provided. If existing data sources do not contain the necessary information, or apply to part of the workforce only, primary data collection is required. The aim of this

Personalism for public health ethics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlo Petrini

2010-06-01

Full Text Available In public health ethics, as in bioethics, utilitarian approaches usually prevail, followed by Kantian and communitarian foundations. If one considers the nature and core functions of public health, which are focused on a population perspective, utilitarianism seems still more applicable to public health ethics. Nevertheless, faulting additional protections towards the human person, utilitarianism doesn't offer appropriate solutions when conflicts among values do arise. Further criteria must be applied to protect the fundamental principles of respect for human life. Personalism offers similar advantages to utilitarianism but warrants more protection to the human person. We suggest a possible adaptation of personalism in the specific field of public health by means of four principles: absolute respect for life or principle of inviolability; subsidiarity and the "minimum" mandatory principle; solidarity; justice and non discrimination.

Personalism for public health ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Petrini, Carlo; Gainotti, Sabina; Requena, Pablo

2010-01-01

In public health ethics, as in bioethics, utilitarian approaches usually prevail, followed by Kantian and communitarian foundations. If one considers the nature and core functions of public health, which are focused on a population perspective, utilitarianism seems still more applicable to public health ethics. Nevertheless, faulting additional protections towards the human person, utilitarianism doesn't offer appropriate solutions when conflicts among values do arise. Further criteria must be applied to protect the fundamental principles of respect for human life. Personalism offers similar advantages to utilitarianism but warrants more protection to the human person. We suggest a possible adaptation of personalism in the specific field of public health by means of four principles: absolute respect for life or principle of inviolability; subsidiarity and the "minimum" mandatory principle; solidarity; justice and non discrimination.

Petroleum Scarcity and Public Health: Considerations for Local Health Departments

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Cindy L.; Caine, Virginia A.; McKee, Mary; Shirley, Lillian M.; Links, Jonathan M.

2011-01-01

Recognition of petroleum as a finite global resource has spurred increasing interest in the intersection between petroleum scarcity and public health. Local health departments represent a critical yet highly vulnerable component of the public health infrastructure. These frontline agencies currently face daunting resource constraints and rely heavily on petroleum for vital population-based health services. Against this backdrop, petroleum scarcity may necessitate reconfiguring local public health service approaches. We describe the anticipated impacts of petroleum scarcity on local health departments, recommend the use of the 10 Essential Public Health Services as a framework for examining attendant operational challenges and potential responses to them, and describe approaches that local health departments and their stakeholders could consider as part of timely planning efforts. PMID:21778471

Public health and the Australian Constitution.

Science.gov (United States)

Reynolds, C

1995-06-01

The powers vested in the Commonwealth Government by the Constitution contain the basis of much public health law in Australia. Yet this is not often recognised; public health law is generally, and historically, seen as the states' responsibility. This article surveys the broad range of constitutional powers that the Commonwealth Government can rely upon to make public health laws. It considers areas of power specified in the Constitution, such as those with respect to external affairs and corporations. Decisions of the High Court have interpreted the various heads of power very broadly and have significantly enhanced the potential of the Commonwealth to pass detailed and far-reaching public health law. To this fact must be added the taxation arrangements in Australia and, with these, the very extensive control that the Commonwealth can exercise through its monopoly of major taxation sources. Its power to make financial arrangements can tie dependent states into specific policies (including public health policies) as a condition of the grants made to them. However, these broad powers may be limited in some important respects: the High Court is increasingly identifying rights and freedoms in the Constitution that may increasingly bring both state and Commonwealth public health law under challenge. Despite this possibility, the Commonwealth may prove to be our most significant source of public health law, and public health policy makers should recognise the full potential of its power to make such laws.

The right to public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, James

2016-06-01

Much work in public health ethics is shaped by an 'autonomy first' view, which takes it to be axiomatic that it is difficult to justify state interference in the lives of competent adults unless the behaviours interfered with are compromised in terms of their autonomy, or would wrongfully infringe on the autonomy of others. However, such an approach is difficult to square with much of traditional public heath practice. Recent years have seen running battles between those who assume that an 'autonomy first' approach is basically sound (and so much the worse for public health practice) and those who assume that public health practice is basically sound (and so much the worse for the 'autonomy first' approach). This paper aims to reconcile in a normatively satisfying way what is best about the 'autonomy first' approach with what is best about a standard public health approach. It develops a positive case for state action to promote and protect health as a duty that is owed to each individual. According to this view, the state violates individuals' rights if it fails to take cost-effective and proportionate measures to remove health threats from the environment. It is thus a mistake to approach public health in the way that 'autonomy first' accounts do, as primarily a matter of individual entitlements versus the common good. Too little state intervention in the cause of improving population health can violate individuals' rights, just as too much can. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Publication ethics in public health emergencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, David; Elger, Bernice S

2017-09-01

In this article, we describe and analyse three issues in publication ethics that are raised when conducting research in emergencies and disasters. These include reluctance to share data and samples because of concerns about publications, loss of individual authorship in high high-profile multi-entity publications, and the deaths of authors during dangerous research projects. An emergency research pledge may be useful in avoiding some of these issues. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

An ecological public health approach to understanding the relationships between sustainable urban environments, public health and social equity.

Science.gov (United States)

Bentley, Michael

2014-09-01

The environmental determinants of public health and social equity present many challenges to a sustainable urbanism-climate change, water shortages and oil dependency to name a few. There are many pathways from urban environments to human health. Numerous links have been described but some underlying mechanisms behind these relationships are less understood. Combining theory and methods is a way of understanding and explaining how the underlying structures of urban environments relate to public health and social equity. This paper proposes a model for an ecological public health, which can be used to explore these relationships. Four principles of an ecological public health-conviviality, equity, sustainability and global responsibility-are used to derive theoretical concepts that can inform ecological public health thinking, which, among other things, provides a way of exploring the underlying mechanisms that link urban environments to public health and social equity. Theories of more-than-human agency inform ways of living together (conviviality) in urban areas. Political ecology links the equity concerns about environmental and social justice. Resilience thinking offers a better way of coming to grips with sustainability. Integrating ecological ethics into public health considers the global consequences of local urban living and thus attends to global responsibility. This way of looking at the relationships between urban environments, public health and social equity answers the call to craft an ecological public health for the twenty-first century by re-imagining public health in a way that acknowledges humans as part of the ecosystem, not separate from it, though not central to it. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Analyzing public health policy: three approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Coveney, John

2010-07-01

Policy is an important feature of public and private organizations. Within the field of health as a policy arena, public health has emerged in which policy is vital to decision making and the deployment of resources. Public health practitioners and students need to be able to analyze public health policy, yet many feel daunted by the subject's complexity. This article discusses three approaches that simplify policy analysis: Bacchi's "What's the problem?" approach examines the way that policy represents problems. Colebatch's governmentality approach provides a way of analyzing the implementation of policy. Bridgman and Davis's policy cycle allows for an appraisal of public policy development. Each approach provides an analytical framework from which to rigorously study policy. Practitioners and students of public health gain much in engaging with the politicized nature of policy, and a simple approach to policy analysis can greatly assist one's understanding and involvement in policy work.

What makes health public?: a critical evaluation of moral, legal, and political claims in public health

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Coggon, John

2012-01-01

.... Covering important works from legal, moral, and political theory, public health, public health law and ethics, and bioethics, this is a foundational text for scholars, practitioners and policy bodies interested in freedoms, rights and responsibilities relating to health"--

East African Journal of Public Health

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The East African Journal of Public Health is a multi-disciplinary journal publishing scientific research work from a range of public health related disciplines including community medicine, epidemiology, nutrition, behavioural sciences, health promotion, health education, communicable and non-communicable disease.

Gender issues in medical and public health education.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Y L

2000-01-01

There is no doubt that gender bias has been inherent in medical and public health education, research, and clinical practice. This paper discusses the central question for medical and public health educators viz. whether women's health concerns and needs could be best addressed by the conventional biomedical approach to medical and public health education, research, and practice. Gender inequalities in health and gender bias in medical and public health education are revealed. It is found that in most public health and prevention issues related to women's health, the core issue is male-female power relations, and not merely the lack of public health services, medical technology, or information. There is, thus, an urgent need to gender-sensitize public health and medical education. The paper proposes a gender analysis of health to distinguish between biological causes and social explanations for the health differentials between men and women. It also assessed some of the gender approaches to public health and medical education currently adopted in the Asia-Pacific region. It poses the pressing question of how medical and public health educators integrate the gender perspective into medical and public health education. The paper exhorts all medical and public health practitioners to explore new directions and identify innovative strategies to formulate a gender-sensitive curriculum towards the best practices in medicine and public health that will meet the health needs of women and men in the 21st century.

Tests to evaluate public health disease reporting systems in local public health agencies

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Dausey, David J

2005-01-01

... to evaluate the ability to receive and respond to case reports 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We refined these tests by beta-testing them at 20 metropolitan area local public health agencies across the country over the course of 10 months. The contents of this manual will be of interest to public health professionals at the state and local l...

JUSTIFICATION FOR INDIRECT DISCRIMINATION IN EU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cătălina-Adriana Ivănuş

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The right to non-discrimination is very important for a civilized society. EU legislation establishes direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment, instruction to discriminate and any less favourable treatment of a woman related to pregnancy or maternity leave as forms of discrimination. The law and the Court of Justice permit the justification of indirect discrimination.

JUSTIFICATION FOR INDIRECT DISCRIMINATION IN EU

OpenAIRE

Cătălina-Adriana Ivănuş

2014-01-01

The right to non-discrimination is very important for a civilized society. EU legislation establishes direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment, instruction to discriminate and any less favourable treatment of a woman related to pregnancy or maternity leave as forms of discrimination. The law and the Court of Justice permit the justification of indirect discrimination.

The pull of public health studies

OpenAIRE

Braine, Theresa

2007-01-01

Public health has burgeoned over the past 100 years, from the study of tropical diseases in the 19th century to national public health systems after World War One and, more recently, to include international public health. Education has kept up with these trends, and today there are hundreds of schools around the world, many flourishing in developing countries.

Public health nursing, ethics and human rights.

Science.gov (United States)

Ivanov, Luba L; Oden, Tami L

2013-05-01

Public health nursing has a code of ethics that guides practice. This includes the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Nurses, Principles of the Ethical Practice of Public Health, and the Scope and Standards of Public Health Nursing. Human rights and Rights-based care in public health nursing practice are relatively new. They reflect human rights principles as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and applied to public health practice. As our health care system is restructured and there are new advances in technology and genetics, a focus on providing care that is ethical and respects human rights is needed. Public health nurses can be in the forefront of providing care that reflects an ethical base and a rights-based approach to practice with populations. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

What does social justice require for the public's health? Public health ethics and policy imperatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Gostin, Lawrence O; Powers, Madison

2006-01-01

Justice is so central to the mission of public health that it has been described as the field's core value. This account of justice stresses the fair disbursement of common advantages and the sharing of common burdens. It captures the twin moral impulses that animate public health: to advance human well-being by improving health and to do so particularly by focusing on the needs of the most disadvantaged. This Commentary explores how social justice sheds light on major ongoing controversies in the field, and it provides examples of the kinds of policies that public health agencies, guided by a robust conception of justice, would adopt.

Do we develop public health leaders?- association between public health competencies and emotional intelligence: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Czabanowska, Katarzyna; Malho, André; Schröder-Bäck, Peter; Popa, Daniela; Burazeri, Genc

2014-04-17

Professional development of public health leaders requires a form of instruction which is competency-based to help them develop the abilities to address complex and evolving demands of health care systems. Concurrently, emotional intelligence (EI) is a key to organisational success. Our aim was twofold: i) to assess the relationship between the level of self-assessed public health and EI competencies among Master of European Public Health (MEPH) students and graduates at Maastricht University, and; ii) to determine the relationship between different groups of public health competencies and specific EI skills. A cross-sectional study was conducted including all recent MEPH graduates and students from 2009-2012, out of 67 eligible candidates N = 51 were contacted and N = 33 responded (11 males and 22 females; overall response: 64.7%).Two validated tools were employed: i) public health competencies self-assessment questionnaire, and; ii) Assessing Emotions Scale. Females scored higher than males in all seven domains of the self-assessed key public health competencies (NS) and emotional intelligence competences (P = 0.022). Overall, the mean value of public health competencies was the lowest in students with "staff" preferences and the highest among students with mixed job preferences (P leadership.

Global public health today: connecting the dots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta Lomazzi

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Background: Global public health today faces new challenges and is impacted by a range of actors from within and outside state boundaries. The diversity of the actors involved has created challenges and a complex environment that requires a new context-tailored global approach. The World Federation of Public Health Associations has embarked on a collaborative consultation with the World Health Organization to encourage a debate on how to adapt public health to its future role in global health. Design: A qualitative study was undertaken. High-level stakeholders from leading universities, multilateral organizations, and other institutions worldwide participated in the study. Inductive content analyses were performed. Results: Stakeholders underscored that global public health today should tackle the political, commercial, economic, social, and environmental determinants of health and social inequalities. A multisectoral and holistic approach should be guaranteed, engaging public health in broad dialogues and a concerted decision-making process. The connection between neoliberal ideology and public health reforms should be taken into account. The WHO must show leadership and play a supervising and technical role. More and better data are required across many programmatic areas of public health. Resources should be allocated in a sustainable and accountable way. Public health professionals need new skills that should be provided by a collaborative global education system. A common framework context-tailored to influence governments has been evaluated as useful. Conclusions: The study highlighted some of the main public health challenges currently under debate in the global arena, providing interesting ideas. A more inclusive integrated vision of global health in its complexity, shared and advocated for by all stakeholders involved in decision-making processes, is crucial. This vision represents the first step in innovating public health at the

Global public health today: connecting the dots

Science.gov (United States)

Lomazzi, Marta; Jenkins, Christopher; Borisch, Bettina

2016-01-01

Background Global public health today faces new challenges and is impacted by a range of actors from within and outside state boundaries. The diversity of the actors involved has created challenges and a complex environment that requires a new context-tailored global approach. The World Federation of Public Health Associations has embarked on a collaborative consultation with the World Health Organization to encourage a debate on how to adapt public health to its future role in global health. Design A qualitative study was undertaken. High-level stakeholders from leading universities, multilateral organizations, and other institutions worldwide participated in the study. Inductive content analyses were performed. Results Stakeholders underscored that global public health today should tackle the political, commercial, economic, social, and environmental determinants of health and social inequalities. A multisectoral and holistic approach should be guaranteed, engaging public health in broad dialogues and a concerted decision-making process. The connection between neoliberal ideology and public health reforms should be taken into account. The WHO must show leadership and play a supervising and technical role. More and better data are required across many programmatic areas of public health. Resources should be allocated in a sustainable and accountable way. Public health professionals need new skills that should be provided by a collaborative global education system. A common framework context-tailored to influence governments has been evaluated as useful. Conclusions The study highlighted some of the main public health challenges currently under debate in the global arena, providing interesting ideas. A more inclusive integrated vision of global health in its complexity, shared and advocated for by all stakeholders involved in decision-making processes, is crucial. This vision represents the first step in innovating public health at the global level and should lead

Putting the public (back) into public health: leadership, evidence and action.

Science.gov (United States)

South, J; Connolly, A M; Stansfield, J A; Johnstone, P; Henderson, G; Fenton, K A

2018-03-13

There is a strong evidence-based rationale for community capacity building and community empowerment as part of a strategic response to reduce health inequalities. Within the current UK policy context, there are calls for increased public engagement in prevention and local decision-making in order to give people greater control over the conditions that determine health. With reference to the challenges and opportunities within the English public health system, this essay seeks to open debate about what is required to mainstream community-centred approaches and ensure that the public is central to public health. The essay sets out the case for a reorientation of public health practice in order to build impactful action with communities at scale leading to a reduction in the health gap. National frameworks that support local practice are described. Four areas of challenge that could potentially drive an implementation gap are discussed: (i) achieving integration and scale, (ii) effective community mobilization, (iii) evidencing impact and (iv) achieving a shift in power. The essay concludes with a call to action for developing a contemporary public health practice that is rooted in communities and offers local leadership to strengthen local assets, increase community control and reduce health inequalities.

A knowledge management tool for public health: health-evidence.ca

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dobbins Maureen

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The ultimate goal of knowledge translation and exchange (KTE activities is to facilitate incorporation of research knowledge into program and policy development decision making. Evidence-informed decision making involves translation of the best available evidence from a systematically collected, appraised, and analyzed body of knowledge. Knowledge management (KM is emerging as a key factor contributing to the realization of evidence-informed public health decision making. The goal of health-evidence.ca is to promote evidence-informed public health decision making through facilitation of decision maker access to, retrieval, and use of the best available synthesized research evidence evaluating the effectiveness of public health interventions. Methods The systematic reviews that populate health evidence.ca are identified through an extensive search (1985-present of 7 electronic databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, BIOSIS, and SportDiscus; handsearching of over 20 journals; and reference list searches of all relevant reviews. Reviews are assessed for relevance and quality by two independent reviewers. Commonly-used public health terms are used to assign key words to each review, and project staff members compose short summaries highlighting results and implications for policy and practice. Results As of June 2010, there are 1913 reviews in the health-evidence.ca registry in 21 public health and health promotion topic areas. Of these, 78% have been assessed as being of strong or moderate methodological quality. Health-evidence.ca receives approximately 35,000 visits per year, 20,596 of which are unique visitors, representing approximately 100 visits per day. Just under half of all visitors return to the site, with the average user spending six minutes and visiting seven pages per visit. Public health nurses, program managers, health promotion workers, researchers, and program coordinators are

The Economic Crisis and Public Health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victor Sidel

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The current global economic crisis seriously threatens the health of the public. Challenges include increases in malnutrition; homelessness and inadequate housing; unemployment; substance abuse, depression, and other mental health problems; mortality; child health problems; violence; environmental and occupational health problems; and social injustice and violation of human rights; as well as decreased availability, accessibility, and affordability of quality medical and dental care. Health professionals can respond by promoting surveillance and documentation of human needs, reassessing public health priorities, educating the public and policymakers about health problems worsened by the economic crisis, advocating for sound policies and programs to address these problems, and directly providing necessary programs and services.

[Notes for understanding the problem of "public" health in the health sector].

Science.gov (United States)

Guimarães, Cristian Fabiano; da Silva, Rosane Azevedo Neves

2015-03-01

This paper presents a theoretical review of how the public health concept has been perceived in health practices, based on the problematic field introduced in Italian and Brazilian health reforms, in order to understand the construction of public health and the meanings that this term acquires in the health arena. The main goal is to understand how public health appears in the context of health movements in Italy and Brazil, as well as its movement of variation. In this sense, an attempt is made to identify elements that contribute to the composition of a genealogy of public health. From the investigation of public health practices, the tensions produced by this concept are analyzed, giving visibility to those practices that demonstrate the public health experience as a force in the world of health.

Soil and public health: invisible bridges

Science.gov (United States)

Pachepsky, Yakov

2017-04-01

Public health institutions, as ancient as civilizations itself, are intrinsically connected with soils. The massive body of the empirical knowledge about this connection has been accumulated. Recently unraveling the underlying mechanisms of this link has begun, and many of them appear to have the microbiological origin. The impressive progress in understanding the nexus between soil and health has been achieved by experimentation with preserved soil microbial systems functioning along with the metagenomic characterization. The objective of this work is to present an overview of some recent onsets. In the food safety arena, survival of human pathogens in soils has been related to the degree of soil eutrophication and/or related structure of soil microbial communities. Soil microbial systems affect the affinity of plants to internalizing pathogenic organisms. Pharmaceutical arsenals benefit from using field soil environment for developing antibiotics. Enzyme production by soil bacteria is used as the signal source for drug activation. Sanitary functions of sols are dependent on soil microbial system workings. The healthy living can be enhanced by the human immune system training received from direct contact with soils. The hygiene hypothesis considers the microbial input due to exposure to soil as the essential ecosystem service. The invisible links between soil and public health result in large-scale consequences. Examples of concurrent degradation of soil and public health are worth scrutinizing. Public health records can provide valuable sources of 'soil-public health' interactions. It may be worthwhile to examine current assessments of soil health from the public health standpoint. Soil management can be an efficient instrument of public health control.

REFLECTIONS ABOUT NURSES WORK IN PUBLIC HEALTH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Alves Barbosa

2006-12-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT: This research is a part of CIPESC (Classification of Nursing Practice in Public Health project, with national coordination by ABEn (Brazilian Nursing Association witch purpose was to elaborate an inventory of activities developed by Public Health Nurses. It sough to analyze the contribution of the nurses in public health in the South Sanitary District in the city of Goiânia (GO – Brazil, and to identify the meaning of nurses work contribution at Public Health Services, by users and managers. The study was developed by a descriptive-analytical investigation in a qualitative approach. The subjects were managers and users of the Public Health System. Data was collected by individual semi-structured interview directed to the managers and controlling and the Technique of Focal Group. The results had been grouped in three categories: "Performance of the professional", "Education Perspective of Nurses Work”, and "Health-care attendance". As conclusion was found that the nurses give great contribution in the implantation and maintenance of the health politics; that it has concern with the professional formation, that many times is responsible for the incompatibility between the service and the expected potential; it is stand out performance of the nurse as health education professional in the inserted activities in the public health, being intense its contact with the community. KEY WORDS: Public Health; Nursing; Public Health Nursing.

The case for transforming governmental public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Salinsky, Eileen; Gursky, Elin A

2006-01-01

Changing threats to the public's health necessitate a profound transformation of the public health enterprise. Despite recent attention to the biodefense role of public health, policymakers have not developed a clear, realistic vision for the structure and functionality of the governmental public health system. Lack of leadership and organizational disconnects across levels of government have prevented strategic alignment of resources and undermined momentum for meaningful change. A transformed public health system is needed to address the demands of emergency preparedness and health protection. Such transformation should include focused, risk-based resource allocation; regional planning; technological upgrades; workforce restructuring; improved integration of private-sector assets; and better performance monitoring.

Hegel’s justification of the human right to non-domination

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Westphal Kenneth R.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available ‘Hegel’ and ‘human rights’ are rarely conjoined, and the designation ‘human rights’ appears rarely in his works. Indeed, Hegel has been criticised for omitting civil and political rights all together. My surmise is that readers have looked for a modern Decalogue, and have neglected how Hegel justifies his views, and hence just what views he does justify. Philip Pettit (1997 has refocused attention on republican liberty. Hegel and I agree with Pettit that republican liberty is a supremely important value, but appealing to its value, or justifying it by appeal to reflective equilibrium, are insufficient both in theory and in practice. By reconstructing Kant’s Critical methodology and explicating the social character of rational justification in non-formal domains, Hegel shows that the republican right to non-domination is constitutive of the equally republican right to justification (Forst 2007 - both of which are necessary requirements for sufficient rational justification in all non-formal domains, including both claims to rights or imputations of duties or responsibilities. That is the direct moral, political and juridical implication of Hegel’s analysis of mutual recognition, and its fundamental, constitutive role in rational justification. Specific corollaries to the fundamental republican right to non-domination must be determined by considering what forms of illicit domination are possible or probable within any specific society, in view of its social, political and economic structures and functioning.

Public Health Intelligence: Learning From the Ebola Crisis

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, David Jay

2015-01-01

Today’s public health crises, as exemplified by the Ebola outbreak, lead to dramatic calls to action that typically include improved electronic monitoring systems to better prepare for, and respond to, similar occurrences in the future. Even a preliminary public health informatics evaluation of the current Ebola crisis exposes the need for enhanced coordination and sharing of trustworthy public health intelligence. We call for a consumer-centric model of public health intelligence and the formation of a national center to guide public health intelligence gathering and synthesis. Sharing accurate and actionable information with government agencies, health care practitioners, policymakers, and, critically, the general public, will mark a shift from doing public health surveillance on people to doing public health surveillance for people. PMID:26180978

Investigating the Development of Chinese Oral Explanation and Justification in Singapore Primary Students

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Jing

2016-01-01

Explanation and justification require cognitive ability which selects and organises relevant information in a logical way, and linguistic ability which enables speakers to encode the information with linguistic knowledge. This study aims to investigate the development of Chinese oral explanation and justification in Singapore primary students. The…

Shaping and authorising a public health profession

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarzyna Czabanowska

2015-12-01

doctors, nurses, lawyers, and architects can enjoy the benefits of the 2005/36/EC Directive amended by 2013/55/EU Directive on the recognition of professional qualifications, public health professionals are left out from these influential (elite professions. Firstly, we use the profession traits theory as a framework in arguing whether public health can be a legitimate profession in itself; secondly, we explain who public health professionals are and what usually is required for shaping the public health profession; and thirdly, we attempt to sketch the road to the authorisation or licensing of public health professionals. Finally, we propose some recommendations.

Health for all: a fundamental goal of public health in our region.

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Binns, Colin; Lee, Mi Kyung

2015-01-01

Since its foundation 30 years ago, the mission of the Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health has been promoting "health for all" through public health. "Health for all" became the theme of Walter Patrick's public health career and inspired his contribution to APACPH. However, the universality of health care is now under threat, more from economists and politicians than public health workers. Health for all remains a continuing challenge for all public health workers in our region. Progress is being made toward this goal as life expectancy in the Western Pacific has increased from 64 to 78 in the past 3 decades. Prof Walter Patrick was strong public health advocate, and this review was written as a tribute to good friend and inspiring colleague who believed in, and worked for "health for all." © 2014 APJPH.

The justification principle applied to Computed tomography exams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Machado Tejeda, A.; Mora Machado, R. de la; Garcia Moreira, T.; Hing Perdomo, J.

2008-01-01

The increasing use of imaging technologies and the installation of more sophisticated equipment in radiology services, such as multi-slice CT scanners have consequently increased the number of treated patients, as well as the collective doses to population. Radiation doses received from CT exams are higher than those received in conventional radiology. The optimal use of CT equipment, considering optimized techniques, and the justification of examinations, are imperative in order to minimize the undesirable effects of radiation. In this paper we do set out to the assessment of justification criteria applied for CT exams in a Cuban Hospital. The justification of prescribed tests by physicians was analyzed, assessing its incidence depending on the kind of studies and percentage (%) of positive and negative cases. The study was carried out in a Clinical Surgical Hospital in Havana City. This hospital has installed a Shimadzu SCT-7800TC helical single-slice device. The sample is made up of 81 patients, between 24 and 80 years old, both men and women. For all of them the pathology that causes the order of the exam as well as the existence of other previous tests, were considered. As a result of the assessment, the 56.8% of all cases turned out to be positives; the 55.5% only confirmed the pathologies and the 1.23% produced new evidences. On the other hand, the remaining 43.2% were negatives noting that the 65.3% of the patients there were not previous imaging tests. Skull exam was the most incidences compiling the 67.7% of cases, and it was the headache the most frequent clinical problem to perform the 41.1%. In terms of justification, the evaluation of prescriptions evidenced that CT exams were not justified in 43.2% of cases. As part of this last group, it was also found that 46.9% of clinical studies were negative. (author)

The justification of studies in genetic epidemiology - political scaling in China Medical City.

Science.gov (United States)

Sleeboom-Faulkner, Margaret

2018-04-01

Genetic epidemiology examines the role of genetic factors in determining health and disease in families and in populations to help addressing health problems in a responsible manner. This paper uses a case study of genetic epidemiology in Taizhou, China, to explore ways in which anthropology can contribute to the validation of studies in genetic epidemiology. It does so, first, by identifying potential overgeneralizations of data, often due to mismatching scale and, second, by examining it's embedding in political, historical and local contexts. The example of the longitudinal cohort study in Taizhou illustrates dimensions of such 'political scaling'. Political scaling is a notion used here to refer to the effects of scaling biases in relation to the justification of research in terms of relevance, reach and research ethics. The justification of a project on genetic epidemiology involves presenting a maximum of benefits and a minimum of burden for the population. To facilitate the delineation of political scaling, an analytical distinction between donating and benefiting communities was made using the notions of 'scaling of relevance', 'scaling of reach' and 'scaling of ethics'. Political scaling results at least partly from factors external to research. By situating political scaling in the context of historical, political and local discourses, anthropologists can play a complementary role in genetic epidemiology.

Statistical methods used in the public health literature and implications for training of public health professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayat, Matthew J; Powell, Amanda; Johnson, Tessa; Cadwell, Betsy L

2017-01-01

Statistical literacy and knowledge is needed to read and understand the public health literature. The purpose of this study was to quantify basic and advanced statistical methods used in public health research. We randomly sampled 216 published articles from seven top tier general public health journals. Studies were reviewed by two readers and a standardized data collection form completed for each article. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and frequency distributions. Results were summarized for statistical methods used in the literature, including descriptive and inferential statistics, modeling, advanced statistical techniques, and statistical software used. Approximately 81.9% of articles reported an observational study design and 93.1% of articles were substantively focused. Descriptive statistics in table or graphical form were reported in more than 95% of the articles, and statistical inference reported in more than 76% of the studies reviewed. These results reveal the types of statistical methods currently used in the public health literature. Although this study did not obtain information on what should be taught, information on statistical methods being used is useful for curriculum development in graduate health sciences education, as well as making informed decisions about continuing education for public health professionals.

Values, Watersheds and Justification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wiberg, Katrina

2015-01-01

concerning HOW. Together, this also hold potentials of achieving multiple benefits and action promoting resilience and liveability in urban landscapes. One way of approaching the value disputes is by asking if some conception of the common good in case of HOW can be justified at the same time...... as the plurality and diversity of values are recognised. Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot ́s concept of a plurality of regimes of justification -conflicting but also enabling compromise gives an affirmative answer to this question which is exemplified in the final parts of the paper....

Public health aspects of tobacco control revisited

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gallagher, Jennifer E.; Alajbeg, Ivan; Buechler, Silvia; Carrassi, Antonio; Hovius, Marjolijn; Jacobs, Annelies; Jenner, Maryan; Kinnunen, Taru; Ulbricht, Sabina; Zoitopoulos, Liana

The tobacco epidemic presents a major public health challenge, globally, and within Europe. The aim of the Public Health Work Stream at the 2nd European Workshop on Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation for Oral Health Professionals was to review the public health aspects of tobacco control and make

The Problem With Estimating Public Health Spending.

Science.gov (United States)

Leider, Jonathon P

2016-01-01

Accurate information on how much the United States spends on public health is critical. These estimates affect planning efforts; reflect the value society places on the public health enterprise; and allows for the demonstration of cost-effectiveness of programs, policies, and services aimed at increasing population health. Yet, at present, there are a limited number of sources of systematic public health finance data. Each of these sources is collected in different ways, for different reasons, and so yields strikingly different results. This article aims to compare and contrast all 4 current national public health finance data sets, including data compiled by Trust for America's Health, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), and the Census, which underlie the oft-cited National Health Expenditure Account estimates of public health activity. In FY2008, ASTHO estimates that state health agencies spent $24 billion ($94 per capita on average, median $79), while the Census estimated all state governmental agencies including state health agencies spent $60 billion on public health ($200 per capita on average, median $166). Census public health data suggest that local governments spent an average of $87 per capita (median $57), whereas NACCHO estimates that reporting LHDs spent $64 per capita on average (median $36) in FY2008. We conclude that these estimates differ because the various organizations collect data using different means, data definitions, and inclusion/exclusion criteria--most notably around whether to include spending by all agencies versus a state/local health department, and whether behavioral health, disability, and some clinical care spending are included in estimates. Alongside deeper analysis of presently underutilized Census administrative data, we see harmonization efforts and the creation of a standardized expenditure reporting system as a way to

Determination of discharge authorizations for French basic nuclear installations 58 and public information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tabard, Laurence; Conte, Dorothee

2013-01-01

The determination of discharge authorized limits for a French nuclear site is initiated by the request of the operator, based on the maximum nuclear and chemical inventory that could be released during normal operating conditions, accompanied with justifications. Request and justifications are analyzed and discussed by the ASN and the IRSN, taking into account nuclear and chemical inventories expected inside BNI, current regulations (BNI specific regulation, environment code, public health code), operating feedback (release feedback for an operating BNI, feedback coming from other nuclear sites or installations, etc.) and best available technologies that can be used to treat liquid or gaseous waste before release. After taking into account potential suggestions coming from public information or public enquiry concerning the operator request, the discharge authorized limits are settled down in specific ASN prescriptions that have to be ratified by the State secretaries in charge of nuclear safety. The whole process runs through 2 or 3 years to be achieved. Communication has revealed to be quite an uneasy task, even for administrative procedures. This aspect is mostly tested while communicating about events. Consequences of this communication can hardly be foreseen because of multiple external parameters like: news on the front pages at the same moment; historic communication difficulties still in the public mind; technical vocabulary not easily understood; public fear of things being hidden; power of ecologist or non-governmental associations. (authors)

Prioritizing Sleep Health: Public Health Policy Recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Christopher M; Drake, Christopher L

2015-11-01

The schedules that Americans live by are not consistent with healthy sleep patterns. In addition, poor access to educational and treatment aids for sleep leaves people engaging in behavior that is harmful to sleep and forgoing treatment for sleep disorders. This has created a sleep crisis that is a public health issue with broad implications for cognitive outcomes, mental health, physical health, work performance, and safety. New public policies should be formulated to address these issues. We draw from the scientific literature to recommend the following: establishing national standards for middle and high school start times that are later in the day, stronger regulation of work hours and schedules, eliminating daylight saving time, educating the public regarding the impact of electronic media on sleep, and improving access to ambulatory in-home diagnostic testing for sleep disorders. © The Author(s) 2015.

Mapping Rwanda public health research(1975-2014)

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objectives: In this paper, the aim was to map the scientific research on public health in Rwanda ... formed analyses on journals, most cited articles, authors, publication years, ... One of the major areas is public health. In fact, public health represented the needs ... In the advanced ... searches to get the main relevant topics.

The Partnership of Public Health and Anthropology.

Science.gov (United States)

Jelenc, Marjetka

2016-06-01

Public health focuses on health of the population and it is concerned with threats to health based on population health analysis. Anthropology covers most aspects that concern human beings. Both sciences converge on community and this fact represents a foundation for the partnership between public health and anthropology. Biological/medical anthropology is one of the highly developed fi elds of anthropology and the most important for public health.

Migration: a core public health ethics issue.

Science.gov (United States)

Wild, V; Dawson, A

2018-05-01

In this article, we outline the link between migration, public health and ethics. Discussing relevant arguments about migration from the perspective of public health and public health ethics. Critical review of theories and frameworks, case-based analysis and systematic identification and discussion of challenges. Migration is a core issue of public health ethics and must take a case-based approach: seeking to identify the specific ethical dimensions and vulnerabilities in each particular context. Public health as a practice, built upon the core value of justice, requires the protection and promotion of migrants' well-being (even if this produces tension with immigration services). Ethical analysis should take all phases of migration into account: before, during and after transit. We argue that migration policies, at least as they relate to migrants' well-being, should be founded upon a shared humanity, respect for human rights and on the idea that effective public health cannot and should not be confined within the borders and to the citizens of any host country. We make the case for migration to be seen as a core issue of public health ethics. Copyright © 2018 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Strengthening public health research for improved health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Enrique Gea-Izquierdo

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Research in public health is a range that includes from fundamental research to research in clinical practice, including novel advances, evaluation of results and their spreading. Actually, public health research is considered multidisciplinary incorporating numerous factors in its development. Establishing as a mainstay the scientific method, deepens in basic research, clinical epidemiological research and health services. The premise of quality and relevance is reflected in international scientific research, and in the daily work and good biomedical practices that should be included in the research as a common task. Therefore, the research must take a proactive stance of inquiry, integrating a concern planned and ongoing development of knowledge. This requires improve international coordination, seeking a balance between basic and applied research as well as science and technology. Thus research cannot be considered without innovation, weighing up the people and society needs. Acting on knowledge of scientific production processes requires greater procedures thoroughness and the effective expression of the results. It is noted as essential to establish explicit principles in review and evaluation of the adjustments of actions, always within the standards of scientific conduct and fairness of the research process. In the biomedical scientific lines it have to be consider general assessments that occur related to the impact and quality of health research, mostly leading efforts to areas that require further attention. However, other subject areas that may be deficient or with lower incidence in the population should not be overlook. Health research as a source of new applications and development provides knowledge, improving well-being. However, it is understandable without considering the needs and social demands. Therefore, in public health research and to improve the health of the population, we must refine and optimize the prevention and

History and evolution of surveillance in public health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Varun Kumar

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The modern concept of surveillance has evolved over the centuries. Public health surveillance provides the scientific database essential for decision making and appropriate public health action. It is considered as the best public health tool to prevent the occurrence of epidemics and is the backbone of public health programs and provides information so that effective action can be taken in controlling and preventing diseases of public health importance. This article reviews the history of evolution of public health surveillance from historical perspective: from Hippocrates, Black Death and quarantine, recording of vital events for the first time, first field investigation, legislations that were developed over time and modern concepts in public health surveillance. Eradication of small pox is an important achievement in public health surveillance but the recent Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS and Influenza pandemics suggest still there is a room for improvement. Recently new global disease surveillance networks like FluNet and DengueNet were developed as internet sites for monitoring influenza and dengue information. In spite of these developments, global public health surveillance still remains unevenly distributed. There is a need for increased international cooperation to address the global needs of public health surveillance.

Evaluating community-based public health leadership training.

Science.gov (United States)

Ceraso, Marion; Gruebling, Kirsten; Layde, Peter; Remington, Patrick; Hill, Barbara; Morzinski, Jeffrey; Ore, Peggy

2011-01-01

Addressing the nation's increasingly complex public health challenges will require more effective multisector collaboration and stronger public health leadership. In 2005, the Healthy Wisconsin Leadership Institute launched an annual, year-long intensive "community teams" program. The goal of this program is to develop collaborative leadership and public health skills among Wisconsin-based multisectoral teams mobilizing their communities to improve public health. To measure the scope of participation and program impacts on individual learning and practice, including application of new knowledge and collective achievements of teams on coalition and short-term community outcomes. End-of-year participant program evaluations and follow-up telephone interviews with participants 20 months after program completion. Community-based public health leadership training program. Sixty-eight participants in the Community Teams Program during the years 2006 to 2007 and 2007 to 2008. Professional diversity of program participants; individual learning and practice, including application of new knowledge; and collective achievements of teams, including coalition and short-term community outcomes. Participants in the Community Teams Program represent a diversity of sectors, including nonprofit, governmental, academic, business, and local public health. Participation increased knowledge across all public health and leadership competency areas covered in the program. Participating teams reported outcomes, including increased engagement of community leadership, expansion of preventive services, increased media coverage, strengthened community coalitions, and increased grant funding. Evaluation of this community-based approach to public health leadership training has shown it to be a promising model for building collaborative and public health leadership skills and initiating sustained community change for health improvement.

Reducing health inequities: the contribution of core public health services in BC

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Within Canada, many public health leaders have long identified the importance of improving the health of all Canadians especially those who face social and economic disadvantages. Future improvements in population health will be achieved by promoting health equity through action on the social determinants of health. Many Canadian documents, endorsed by government and public health leaders, describe commitments to improving overall health and promoting health equity. Public health has an important role to play in strengthening action on the social determinants and promoting health equity. Currently, public health services in British Columbia are being reorganized and there is a unique opportunity to study the application of an equity lens in public health and the contribution of public health to reducing health inequities. Where applicable, we have chosen mental health promotion, prevention of mental disorders and harms of substance use as exemplars within which to examine specific application of an equity lens. Methods/design This research protocol is informed by three theoretical perspectives: complex adaptive systems, critical social justice, and intersectionality. In this program of research, there are four inter-related research projects with an emphasis on both integrated and end of grant knowledge translation. Within an overarching collaborative and participatory approach to research, we use a multiple comparative case study research design and are incorporating multiple methods such as discourse analysis, situational analysis, social network analysis, concept mapping and grounded theory. Discussion An important aim of this work is to help ensure a strong public health system that supports public health providers to have the knowledge, skills, tools and resources to undertake the promotion of health equity. This research will contribute to increasing the effectiveness and contributions of public health in reducing unfair and inequitable differences

Citizen Science for public health

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Broeder, Den Lea; Devilee, Jeroen; Oers, Van Hans; Schuit, A.J.; Wagemakers, Annemarie

2016-01-01

Community engagement in public health policy is easier said than done. One reason is that public health policy is produced in a complex process resulting in policies that may appear not to link up to citizen perspectives. We therefore address the central question as to whether citizen engagement in

Citizen Science for public health

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Den Broeder, Lea; Devilee, Jeroen; Van Oers, J.A.M.; Schuit, A.J.; Wagemakers, Annemarie

2017-01-01

Community engagement in public health policy is easier said than done. One reason is that public health policy is produced in a complex process resulting in policies that may appear not to link up to citizen perspectives. We therefore address the central question as to whether citizen engagement in

Electronic health record case studies to advance environmental public health tracking.

Science.gov (United States)

Namulanda, Gonza; Qualters, Judith; Vaidyanathan, Ambarish; Roberts, Eric; Richardson, Max; Fraser, Alicia; McVeigh, Katharine H; Patterson, Scott

2018-03-01

Data from traditional public health surveillance systems can have some limitations, e.g., timeliness, geographic level, and amount of data accessible. Electronic health records (EHRs) could present an opportunity to supplement current sources of routinely collected surveillance data. The National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program (Tracking Program) sought to explore the use of EHRs for advancing environmental public health surveillance practices. The Tracking Program funded four state/local health departments to obtain and pilot the use of EHR data to address several issues including the challenges and technical requirements for accessing EHR data, and the core data elements required to integrate EHR data within their departments' Tracking Programs. The results of these pilot projects highlighted the potential of EHR data for public health surveillance of rare diseases that may lack comprehensive registries, and surveillance of prevalent health conditions or risk factors for health outcomes at a finer geographic level. EHRs therefore, may have potential to supplement traditional sources of public health surveillance data. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Hospital Adoption of Health Information Technology to Support Public Health Infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Daniel M; Diana, Mark L

2016-01-01

Health information technology (IT) has the potential to improve the nation's public health infrastructure. In support of this belief, meaningful use incentives include criteria for hospitals to electronically report to immunization registries, as well as to public health agencies for reportable laboratory results and syndromic surveillance. Electronic reporting can facilitate faster and more appropriate public health response. However, it remains unclear the extent that hospitals have adopted IT for public health efforts. To examine hospital adoption of IT for public health and to compare hospitals capable of using and not using public health IT. Cross-sectional design with data from the 2012 American Hospital Association annual survey matched with data from the 2013 American Hospital Association Information Technology Supplement. Multivariate logistic regression was used to compare hospital characteristics. Inverse probability weights were applied to adjust for selection bias because of survey nonresponse. All acute care general hospitals in the United States that matched across the surveys and had complete data available were included in the analytic sample. Three separate outcome measures were used: whether the hospital could electronically report to immunization registries, whether the hospital could send electronic laboratory results, and whether the hospital can participate in syndromic surveillance. A total of 2841 hospitals met the inclusion criteria. Weighted results show that of these hospitals, 62.7% can electronically submit to immunization registries, 56.6% can electronically report laboratory results, and 54.4% can electronically report syndromic surveillance. Adjusted and weighted results from the multivariate analyses show that small, rural hospitals and hospitals without electronic health record systems lag in the adoption of public health IT capabilities. While a majority of hospitals are using public health IT, the infrastructure still has

Creating training opportunities for public health practitioners.

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, D; Healton, C; Hamburg, M; Rosenfield, A; Cagan, E; Van Wie, W; Haviland, M L

1999-04-01

In response to several reports issued by the federal government and private foundations on the under-training of public health practitioners, Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University (SPH) and the New York City Department of Health (NYC DOH) initiated the Public Health Scholars program (SPH-PHS) to make degree-level public health training available to NYC DOH employees. Public Health Scholars receive a 50% tuition scholarship and enroll part-time while working full-time at NYC DOH. Sixteen scholars have enrolled during the past three years. The SPH-PHS program is considered a success by both SPH and NYC DOH. This article details the history of the collaboration between the two agencies and the structure of the program and provides a critical analysis of the SPH-PHS program based on interviews with 16 scholars. It also examines the cost and benefit to other schools of public health of implementing such a program.

Exploring the Application of Capital Facility Investment Justification Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marijan Karić

2013-07-01

Full Text Available For decades now, the models for identifying and quantifying the level of risk of investment projects and investment justification evaluation have been the subject of investigation by members of professional and research communities. It is important to quantify the level of risk because by evaluating investment justification in terms of the risks involved, the decision-maker (investor is able to choose from available alternatives the one that will achieve the most favourable ratio of expected profit to the assumed risk. In this way, the economic entity can raise its productivity, profitability and the quality of business operation in general. The aim of this paper was to investigate the extent to which medium and large companies have been using modern methods of investment justification evaluation in their decision-making process and determine the level of quality of the application of the selected methods in practice. The study was conducted on a sample of medium and large enterprises in the eastern Croatia during 2011 and 2012, and it was established that despite the fact that a large number of modern investment project profitability and risk assessment models have been developed, the level of their application in practice is not high enough. The analyzed investment proposals included only basic methods of capital budgeting without risk assessment. Hence, it was concluded that individual investors were presented with low-quality and incomplete investment justification evaluation results on the basis of which the decisions of key importance for the development of the economic entity as a whole were made. This paper aims to underline the need for financial managers to get informed and educate themselves about contemporary investment project profitability and risk assessment models as well as the need to create educational programmes and computer solutions that will encourage key people in companies to acquire new knowledge and apply modern

Viewpoint: Re-instating a 'public health' system under universal health care in India.

Science.gov (United States)

George, Mathew

2015-02-01

I examine possibilities for strengthening essential public health functions in the context of India's drive to implement universal health care. In a country where population health outcomes are rooted in social, political, economic, cultural, and ecological conditions, it is important to have a state mediated public health system that can modify the causes of the major public health problems. This calls for strengthening the social epidemiological approach in public health by demarcating public health functions distinct from medical care. This will be a prerequisite for the growth of the public health profession in the country, because it can offer avenues for newly trained professionals within the country to work in 'core' public health.

Public relations effectiveness in public health institutions.

Science.gov (United States)

Springston, Jeffrey K; Weaver Lariscy, Ruth Ann

2005-01-01

This article explores public relations effectiveness in public health institutions. First, the two major elements that comprise public relations effectiveness are discussed: reputation management and stakeholder relations. The factors that define effective reputation management are examined, as are the roles of issues and crisis management in building and maintaining reputation. The article also examines the major facets of stakeholder relations, including an inventory of stakeholder linkages and key audiences, such as the media. Finally, methods of evaluating public relations effectiveness at both the program level and the institutional level are explored.

Does Indonesian National Health Insurance serve a potential for improving health equity in favour of workers in informal economy?

OpenAIRE

Kartika, Dwintha Maya

2015-01-01

This study examines whether Indonesian national health insurance system promotes health equity in favour of informal economy workers. It first lays out the theoretical justification on the need of social protection, particularly health protection for informal workers. The paper argues that the absence of health protection for vulnerable informal workers in Indonesia has reinforced health inequity between formal and informal workers, thus provides a justification on extending health protection...

Music and Public Health

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bonde, Lars Ole; Juel, Knud; Ekholm, Ola

2016-01-01

Background: ‘Music and public health’ is a new field of study. Few scientific studies with small samples have documented health implications of musical participation. Research questions in this epidemiological study were: 1) Is there an association between self-rated health and active use of musi......: 57%. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate associations between musical background/activities and health-related indicators. Discussion: The study documents that a majority of informants use music to regulate physical and psychological states......Background: ‘Music and public health’ is a new field of study. Few scientific studies with small samples have documented health implications of musical participation. Research questions in this epidemiological study were: 1) Is there an association between self-rated health and active use of music...... in daily life? 2) What associations can be observed between musical background, uses and understanding of music as a health factor, and self-reported health? Method: Data came from the Danish Health and Morbidity Survey 2013, based on a simple random sample of 25.000 adult Danes (16+ years). Response rate...

Keeping the “Public” in Schools of Public Health

Science.gov (United States)

Klitzman, Susan; Diamond, Catherine; El-Mohandes, Ayman

2015-01-01

In this article, we compared the characteristics of public and private accredited public health training programs. We analyzed the distinct opportunities and challenges that publicly funded schools of public health face in preparing the nation’s public health workforce. Using our experience in creating a new, collaborative public school of public health in the nation’s largest urban public university system, we described efforts to use our public status and mission to develop new approaches to educating a workforce that meets the health needs of our region and contributes to the goal of reducing health inequalities. Finally, we considered policies that could protect and strengthen the distinct contributions that public schools of public health make to improving population health and reducing health inequalities. PMID:25706006

Hawaii's public mental health system.

Science.gov (United States)

VanderVoort, Debra J

2005-03-01

The following article addresses the nature of and problems with the public mental health system in Hawaii. It includes a brief history of Hawaii's public mental health system, a description and analysis of this system, economic factors affecting mental health, as well as a needs assessment of the elderly, individuals with severe mental illness, children and adolescents, and ethnically diverse individuals. In addition to having the potential to increase suicide rates and unnecessarily prolong personal suffering, problems in the public mental health system such as inadequate services contribute to an increase in social problems including, but not limited to, an increase in crime rates (e.g., domestic violence, child abuse), divorce rates, school failure, and behavioral problems in children. The population in need of mental health services in Hawaii is under served, with this inadequacy of services due to economic limitations and a variety of other factors.

Issues in public health

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Sim, Fiona; McKee, Martin

2011-01-01

..., there is increasing understanding of the inevitable limits of individual health care and of the need to complement such services with effective public health strategies. Major improvements in people's health will come from controlling communicable diseases, eradicating environmental hazards, improving people's diets and enhancing the availability ...

Public health system - current status and world experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreyeva І.А.

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In the review, the evolution of Public Health and global development tendencies of Public Health system have been discussed. Stages of formation of the updated concept, principles of Public Health organization and the role of various organizations have been shown in the connection with development of the global concept of "Health for All". A well-functioning public health system is primarily the result of multisectoral cooperation. The aim of modern Public Health is to provide conditions of access to appropriate and cost-effective health care for all population groups, including health promotion and disease prevention.

How Many Principles for Public Health Ethics?

Science.gov (United States)

Coughlin, Steven S.

2009-01-01

General moral (ethical) principles play a prominent role in certain methods of moral reasoning and ethical decision-making in bioethics and public health. Examples include the principles of respect for autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. Some accounts of ethics in public health have pointed to additional principles related to social and environmental concerns, such as the precautionary principle and principles of solidarity or social cohesion. This article provides an overview of principle-based methods of moral reasoning as they apply to public health ethics including a summary of advantages and disadvantages of methods of moral reasoning that rely upon general principles of moral reasoning. Drawing upon the literature on public health ethics, examples are provided of additional principles, obligations, and rules that may be useful for analyzing complex ethical issues in public health. A framework is outlined that takes into consideration the interplay of ethical principles and rules at individual, community, national, and global levels. Concepts such as the precautionary principle and solidarity are shown to be useful to public health ethics to the extent that they can be shown to provide worthwhile guidance and information above and beyond principles of beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice, and the clusters of rules and maxims that are linked to these moral principles. Future directions likely to be productive include further work on areas of public health ethics such as public trust, community empowerment, the rights of individuals who are targeted (or not targeted) by public health interventions, individual and community resilience and wellbeing, and further clarification of principles, obligations, and rules in public health disciplines such as environmental science, prevention and control of chronic and infectious diseases, genomics, and global health. PMID:20072707

Public Health 3.0: A Call to Action for Public Health to Meet the Challenges of the 21st Century.

Science.gov (United States)

DeSalvo, Karen B; Wang, Y Claire; Harris, Andrea; Auerbach, John; Koo, Denise; O'Carroll, Patrick

2017-09-07

Public health is what we do together as a society to ensure the conditions in which everyone can be healthy. Although many sectors play key roles, governmental public health is an essential component. Recent stressors on public health are driving many local governments to pioneer a new Public Health 3.0 model in which leaders serve as Chief Health Strategists, partnering across multiple sectors and leveraging data and resources to address social, environmental, and economic conditions that affect health and health equity. In 2016, the US Department of Health and Human Services launched the Public Health 3.0 initiative and hosted listening sessions across the country. Local leaders and community members shared successes and provided insight on actions that would ensure a more supportive policy and resource environment to spread and scale this model. This article summarizes the key findings from those listening sessions and recommendations to achieve Public Health 3.0.

Climate change and ecological public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodman, Benny

2015-02-17

Climate change has been identified as a serious threat to human health, associated with the sustainability of current practices and lifestyles. Nurses should expand their health promotion role to address current and emerging threats to health from climate change and to address ecological public health. This article briefly outlines climate change and the concept of ecological public health, and discusses a 2012 review of the role of the nurse in health promotion.

Bioethics in Public Health Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matilde Peguero

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The bioethics study method concerns the duties and values that must be fulfilled for respect for life. The aim of this article is to provide a reflection on bioethics in public health actions. It is a review article that includes authors with different positions. Bioethics, despite its apparent individual focus, is vital to fulfil essential functions in public health, and to guarantee the right to health and respect for human dignity.

Contributions of Public Health to nursing practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Káren Mendes Jorge de Souza

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: Analyze the perceptions of undergraduate nursing students about the contributions of public health to nursing practice in the Unified Health System. Method: Qualitative Descriptive Study. Data collection was carried out through semi-directed interviews with 15 students. The language material was analyzed according to content and thematic analysis. Results: Thematic categories were established, namely: "Perceptions about Public Health" and "Contribution of Public Health to nursing practice in the Unified Health System". Final considerations: Perceptions about Public Health are diversified, but converge to the recognition of this field as the basis for training nurses qualified to work in the SUS with technical competence, autonomy and focusing on the integrality in health care.

Mental health in schools and public health

OpenAIRE

Adelman, Howard S; Taylor, Linda

2006-01-01

Health policy and practice call for health and mental health parity and for a greater focus on universal interventions to promote, prevent, and intervene as early after problem onset as is feasible. Those in the public health field are uniquely positioned to help promote the mental health of young people and to reshape how the nation thinks about and addresses mental health. And schools are essential partners for doing the work.

The private partners of public health: public-private alliances for public good.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonnell, Sharon; Bryant, Carol; Harris, Jeff; Campbell, Marci Kramish; Lobb, Ano; Hannon, Peggy A; Cross, Jeffrey L; Gray, Barbara

2009-04-01

We sought to convey lessons learned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Prevention Research Centers (PRCs) about the value and challenges of private-sector alliances resulting in innovative health promotion strategies. Several PRCs based in a variety of workplace and community settings contributed. We conducted interviews with principal investigators, a literature review, and a review of case studies of private-sector alliances in a microbusiness model, a macrobusiness model, and as multiparty partnerships supporting public health research, implementation, and human resource services. Private-sector alliances provide many advantages, particularly access to specialized skills generally beyond the expertise of public health entities. These skills include manufacturing, distribution, marketing, business planning, and development. Alliances also allow ready access to employee populations. Public health entities can offer private-sector partners funding opportunities through special grants, data gathering and analysis skills, and enhanced project credibility and trust. Challenges to successful partnerships include time and resource availability and negotiating the cultural divide between public health and the private sector. Critical to success are knowledge of organizational culture, values, mission, currency, and methods of operation; an understanding of and ability to articulate the benefits of the alliance for each partner; and the ability and time to respond to unexpected changes and opportunities. Private-public health alliances are challenging, and developing them takes time and resources, but aspects of these alliances can capitalize on partners' strengths, counteract weaknesses, and build collaborations that produce better outcomes than otherwise possible. Private partners may be necessary for program initiation or success. CDC guidelines and support materials may help nurture these alliances.

The public health system in England

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hunter, David J; Marks, Linda; Smith, Katherine E

2010-01-01

.... The Public Health System in England offers a wide-ranging, provocative and accessible assessment of challenges confronting a public health system, exploring how its parameters have shifted over time...

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander public health: online and integrated into core Master of Public Health subjects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lynnell Angus

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The Master of Public Health (MPH is an internationally recognised post-graduate qualification for building the public health workforce. In Australia, MPH graduate attributes include six Indigenous public health (IPH competencies. The University of Melbourne MPH program includes five core subjects and ten specialisation streams, of which one is Indigenous health. Unless students complete this specialisation or electives in Indigenous health, it is possible for students to graduate without attaining the IPH competencies. To address this issue in a crowded and competitive curriculum an innovative approach to integrating the IPH competencies in core MPH subjects was developed. Five online modules that corresponded with the learning outcomes of the core public health subjects were developed, implemented and evaluated in 2015. This brief report outlines the conceptualisation, development, and description of the curriculum content; it also provides preliminary student evaluation and staff feedback on the integration project.

Global Disease Detection-Achievements in Applied Public Health Research, Capacity Building, and Public Health Diplomacy, 2001-2016.

Science.gov (United States)

Rao, Carol Y; Goryoka, Grace W; Henao, Olga L; Clarke, Kevin R; Salyer, Stephanie J; Montgomery, Joel M

2017-11-01

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has established 10 Global Disease Detection (GDD) Program regional centers around the world that serve as centers of excellence for public health research on emerging and reemerging infectious diseases. The core activities of the GDD Program focus on applied public health research, surveillance, laboratory, public health informatics, and technical capacity building. During 2015-2016, program staff conducted 205 discrete projects on a range of topics, including acute respiratory illnesses, health systems strengthening, infectious diseases at the human-animal interface, and emerging infectious diseases. Projects incorporated multiple core activities, with technical capacity building being most prevalent. Collaborating with host countries to implement such projects promotes public health diplomacy. The GDD Program continues to work with countries to strengthen core capacities so that emerging diseases can be detected and stopped faster and closer to the source, thereby enhancing global health security.

Challenges to Public Health

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

First page Back Continue Last page Graphics. Challenges to Public Health. Tracing of the infection. Isolation of patients to stop spread. Laboratory diagnosis. Hospitalization &Treatment. Stock pile & supply of drugs. Planning & mitigation. Information to public. Support to SEARO countries.

The Public Health Practitioner of the Future.

Science.gov (United States)

Erwin, Paul Campbell; Brownson, Ross C

2017-08-01

The requisite capacities and capabilities of the public health practitioner of the future are being driven by multiple forces of change, including public health agency accreditation, climate change, health in all policies, social media and informatics, demographic transitions, globalized travel, and the repercussions of the Affordable Care Act. We describe five critical capacities and capabilities that public health practitioners can build on to successfully prepare for and respond to these forces of change: systems thinking and systems methods, communication capacities, an entrepreneurial orientation, transformational ethics, and policy analysis and response. Equipping the public health practitioner with the requisite capabilities and capacities will require new content and methods for those in public health academia, as well as a recommitment to lifelong learning on the part of the practitioner, within an increasingly uncertain and polarized political environment.

Digital government and public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Fountain, Jane E

2004-10-01

Digital government is typically defined as the production and delivery of information and services inside government and between government and the public using a range of information and communication technologies. Two types of government relationships with other entities are government-to-citizen and government-to-government relationships. Both offer opportunities and challenges. Assessment of a public health agency's readiness for digital government includes examination of technical, managerial, and political capabilities. Public health agencies are especially challenged by a lack of funding for technical infrastructure and expertise, by privacy and security issues, and by lack of Internet access for low-income and marginalized populations. Public health agencies understand the difficulties of working across agencies and levels of government, but the development of new, integrated e-programs will require more than technical change - it will require a profound change in paradigm.

A public health perspective

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

EDITORIAL. Enabling local health departments to save more lives: A public ... promoting health through the organized efforts of society” (1) ... and synergistic with achieving the sustainable development goals because its furtherance brings a ...

Lighting and public health.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ierland, J. van & Schreuder, D.A.

1969-01-01

The following topics; are discussed with respect to public health: - the effect of visible and ultraviolet radiation upon man. - vision with respect to lighting. interior lighting. - artificial lighting of work environments. - day light and windows. - recommendations for lighting. public lighting. -

Health risks of passive smoking.

Science.gov (United States)

Papier, C M; Stellman, S D

1986-01-01

Passive or involuntary smoking is the inhalation of smoke which escapes directly into the air from the lit end of a burning cigarette. This unfiltered smoke contains the same toxic components of the mainstream smoke inhaled directly by the smoker, including numerous carcinogens, many in greater concentrations. It has long been known that exposure to this type of smoke leads to increased respiratory and other adverse health conditions in non-smokers, especially children. During the past five years, evidence has been accumulating that risk of lung cancer is also higher, particularly in non-smoking women whose husbands smoke. Despite uncertainties and differences in interpretation of various cancer studies, there is ample justification for public health measures now in place or proposed, such as restriction or elimination of smoking in the workplace and in public places.

38 CFR 3.753 - Public Health Service.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Public Health Service. 3... Pension, Compensation, and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation Retirement § 3.753 Public Health Service... of the Public Health Service, who was receiving disability compensation on December 31, 1956, as...

Public health interventions: evaluating the economic evaluations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Forster

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Recent years have witnessed much progress in the incorporation of economic considerations into the evaluation of public health interventions. In England, the Centre for Public Health Excellence within the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence works to develop guidance for preventing illness and assessing which public health interventions are most effective and provide best value for money...

Eugenics and public health in American history.

Science.gov (United States)

Pernick, M S

1997-11-01

Supporters of eugenics, the powerful early 20th-century movement for improving human heredity, often attacked that era's dramatic improvements in public health and medicine for preserving the lives of people they considered hereditarily unfit. Eugenics and public health also battled over whether heredity played a significant role in infectious diseases. However, American public health and eugenics had much in common as well. Eugenic methods often were modeled on the infection control techniques of public health. The goals, values, and concepts of disease of these two movements also often overlapped. This paper sketches some of the key similarities and differences between eugenics and public health in the United States, and it examines how their relationship was shaped by the interaction of science and culture. The results demonstrate that eugenics was not an isolated movement whose significance is confined to the histories of genetics and pseudoscience, but was instead an important and cautionary part of past public health and a general medical history as well.

Conflicts of Interest: Manipulating Public Health

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, Richard; Davis, Devra Lee

2014-01-01

Evaluating the potential health impacts of chemical, physical, and biological environmental factors represents a challenging task with profound medical, public health, and historical implications. The history of public health is replete with instances, ranging from tobacco to lead and asbestos, where the ability to obtain evidence on potential…

From mirror self-recognition to the looking-glass self: exploring the Justification Hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaffer, Leigh S

2005-01-01

In his Tree of Knowledge (ToK) System, Henriques (2003) posits that the human ego or "self" has evolved because human beings are the only animals that have had to justify their behavior to others. This essay provides evidence for this Justification Hypothesis (JH) from everyday life sociology, starting with the work of George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley, and focuses on research related to the concept of the "looking-glass self." Special emphasis is given to the pragmatics of speech acts, the presentation of self in interaction rituals, the accounts given by actors in justification of their actions, and the role of social norms and conformity in the large-scale justification systems commonly called "culture."

Obesity stigma: important considerations for public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Puhl, Rebecca M; Heuer, Chelsea A

2010-06-01

Stigma and discrimination toward obese persons are pervasive and pose numerous consequences for their psychological and physical health. Despite decades of science documenting weight stigma, its public health implications are widely ignored. Instead, obese persons are blamed for their weight, with common perceptions that weight stigmatization is justifiable and may motivate individuals to adopt healthier behaviors. We examine evidence to address these assumptions and discuss their public health implications. On the basis of current findings, we propose that weight stigma is not a beneficial public health tool for reducing obesity. Rather, stigmatization of obese individuals threatens health, generates health disparities, and interferes with effective obesity intervention efforts. These findings highlight weight stigma as both a social justice issue and a priority for public health.

Developing public health performance measures to capture the effects of transportation facilities on multiple public health outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-15

Increasingly, federal transportation and public health agencies are working together to identify : transportation investments that improve public health. Investments in transportation : infrastructure represent one method to utilize transportation to...

[Ethics versus economics in public health? On the integration of economic rationality in a discourse of public health ethics].

Science.gov (United States)

Rothgang, H; Staber, J

2009-05-01

In the course of establishing the discourse of public health ethics in Germany, we discuss whether economic efficiency should be part of public health ethics and, if necessary, how efficiency should be conceptualized. Based on the welfare economics theory, we build a theoretical framework that demands an integration of economic rationality in public health ethics. Furthermore, we consider the possible implementation of welfare efficiency against the background of current practice in an economic evaluation of health care in Germany. The indifference of the welfare efficiency criterion with respect to distribution leads to the conclusion that efficiency must not be the only criteria of public health ethics. Therefore, an ethical approach of principles should be chosen for public health ethics. Possible conflicts between principles of such an approach are outlined.

41 CFR 101-5.307 - Public Health Service.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Public Health Service... AND COMPLEXES 5.3-Federal Employee Health Services § 101-5.307 Public Health Service. (a) The only authorized contact point for assistance of and consultation with the Public Health Service is the Federal...

Considerations for increasing the competences and capacities of the public health workforce: assessing the training needs of public health workers in Texas.

Science.gov (United States)

Borders, Stephen; Blakely, Craig; Quiram, Barbara; McLeroy, Kenneth

2006-07-26

Over the last two decades, concern has been expressed about the readiness of the public health workforce to adequately address the scientific, technological, social, political and economic challenges facing the field. A 1988 report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) served as a catalyst for the re-examination of the public health workforce. The IOM's call to increase the relevance of public health education and training prompted a renewed effort to identify competences needed by public health personnel and the organizations that employ them. A recent evaluation sought to address the role of the 10 essential public health services in job services among the Texas public health workforce. Additionally, the evaluation examined the Texas public health workforce's need for training in the 10 essential public health services. Overall, the level of perceived training needs varied dramatically by job category and health department type. When comparing aggregate training needs, public health workers with greater day-to-day contact (nurses, health educators) indicated a greater need for training than their peers who did not, such as those working in administrative positions. When prioritizing and designing future training modules regarding the 10 essential public health services, trainers should consider the effects of job function, location and contact with the public.

Is globalization really good for public health?

Science.gov (United States)

Tausch, Arno

2016-10-01

In the light of recent very prominent studies, especially that of Mukherjee and Krieckhaus (), one should be initially tempted to assume that nowadays globalization is a driver of a good public health performance in the entire world system. Most of these studies use time series analyses based on the KOF Index of Globalization. We attempt to re-analyze the entire question, using a variety of methodological approaches and data. Our re-analysis shows that neoliberal globalization has resulted in very important implosions of public health development in various regions of the world and in increasing inequality in the countries of the world system, which in turn negatively affect health performance. We use standard ibm/spss ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions, time series and cross-correlation analyses based on aggregate, freely available data. Different components of the KOF Index, most notably actual capital inflows, affect public health negatively. The "decomposition" of the available data suggests that for most of the time period of the last four decades, globalization inflows even implied an aggregate deterioration of public health, quite in line with globalization critical studies. We introduce the effects of inequality on public health, widely debated in global public health research. Our annual time series for 99 countries show that globalization indeed leads to increased inequality, and this, in turn, leads to a deteriorating public health performance. In only 19 of the surveyed 99 nations with complete data (i.e., 19.1%), globalization actually preceded an improvement in the public health performance. Far from falsifying globalization critical research, our analyses show the basic weaknesses of the new "pro-globalization" literature in the public health profession. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ethical Issues in Public Health Practice in Michigan

Science.gov (United States)

Gollust, Sarah E.; Goold, Susan D.; Jacobson, Peter D.

2009-01-01

Objectives. We sought to ascertain the types of ethical challenges public health practitioners face in practice and to identify approaches used to resolve such challenges. Methods. We conducted 45 semistructured interviews with public health practitioners across a range of occupations (e.g., health officers, medical directors, sanitarians, nurses) at 13 health departments in Michigan. Results. Through qualitative analysis, we identified 5 broad categories of ethical issues common across occupations and locations: (1) determining appropriate use of public health authority, (2) making decisions related to resource allocation, (3) negotiating political interference in public health practice, (4) ensuring standards of quality of care, and (5) questioning the role or scope of public health. Participants cited a variety of values guiding their decision-making that did not coalesce around core values often associated with public health, such as social justice or utilitarianism. Public health practitioners relied on consultations with colleagues to resolve challenges, infrequently using frameworks for decision-making. Conclusions. Public health practitioners showed a nuanced understanding of ethical issues and navigated ethical challenges with minimal formal assistance. Decision-making guides that are empirically informed and tailored for practitioners might have some value. PMID:19059850

Public and private health-care financing with alternate public rationing rules.

Science.gov (United States)

Cuff, Katherine; Hurley, Jeremiah; Mestelman, Stuart; Muller, Andrew; Nuscheler, Robert

2012-02-01

We develop a model to analyze parallel public and private health-care financing under two alternative public sector rationing rules: needs-based rationing and random rationing. Individuals vary in income and severity of illness. There is a limited supply of health-care resources used to treat individuals, causing some individuals to go untreated. Insurers (both public and private) must bid to obtain the necessary health-care resources to treat their beneficiaries. Given individuals' willingnesses-to-pay for private insurance are increasing in income, the introduction of private insurance diverts treatment from relatively poor to relatively rich individuals. Further, the impact of introducing parallel private insurance depends on the rationing mechanism in the public sector. We show that the private health insurance market is smaller when the public sector rations according to need than when allocation is random. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Delivery of Health Promotion and Environmental Health Services; Public Health or Primary Care Settings?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lene Bjørn Jensen

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The WHO Regional Office for Europe developed a set of public health functions resulting in the ten Essential Public Health Operations (EPHO. Public health or primary care settings seem to be favorable to embrace all actions included into EPHOs. The presented paper aims to guide readers on how to assign individual health promotion and environmental health services to public health or primary care settings. Survey tools were developed based on EPHO 2, 3 and 4; there were six key informant surveys out of 18 contacted completed via e-mails by informants working in Denmark on health promotion and five face-to-face interviews were conducted in Australia (Melbourne and Victoria state with experts from environmental health, public health and a physician. Based on interviews, we developed a set of indicators to support the assignment process. Population or individual focus, a system approach or one-to-one approach, dealing with hazards or dealing with effects, being proactive or reactive were identified as main element of the decision tool. Assignment of public health services to one of two settings proved to be possible in some cases, whereas in many there is no clear distinction between the two settings. National context might be the one which guides delivery of public health services.

The Delivery of Health Promotion and Environmental Health Services; Public Health or Primary Care Settings?

Science.gov (United States)

Bjørn Jensen, Lene; Lukic, Irena; Gulis, Gabriel

2018-05-07

The WHO Regional Office for Europe developed a set of public health functions resulting in the ten Essential Public Health Operations (EPHO). Public health or primary care settings seem to be favorable to embrace all actions included into EPHOs. The presented paper aims to guide readers on how to assign individual health promotion and environmental health services to public health or primary care settings. Survey tools were developed based on EPHO 2, 3 and 4; there were six key informant surveys out of 18 contacted completed via e-mails by informants working in Denmark on health promotion and five face-to-face interviews were conducted in Australia (Melbourne and Victoria state) with experts from environmental health, public health and a physician. Based on interviews, we developed a set of indicators to support the assignment process. Population or individual focus, a system approach or one-to-one approach, dealing with hazards or dealing with effects, being proactive or reactive were identified as main element of the decision tool. Assignment of public health services to one of two settings proved to be possible in some cases, whereas in many there is no clear distinction between the two settings. National context might be the one which guides delivery of public health services.

The right to health, health systems development and public health policy challenges in Chad.

Science.gov (United States)

Azétsop, Jacquineau; Ochieng, Michael

2015-02-15

There is increasing consensus that the right to health can provide ethical, policy and practical groundings for health systems development. The goals of the right to health are congruent with those of health systems development, which are about strengthening health promotion organizations and actions so as to improve public health. The poor shape and performance of health systems in Chad question the extent of realization of the right to health. Due to its comprehensiveness and inclusiveness, the right to health has the potential of being an organizational and a normative backbone for public health policy and practice. It can then be understood and studied as an integral component of health systems development. This paper uses a secondary data analysis of existing documents by the Ministry of Public Health, Institut National de la Statistique, des Etudes Economiques et Démographiques (INSEED), the Ministry of Economy and Agence Française de Cooperation to analyze critically the shape and performance of health systems in Chad based on key concepts and components of the right to health contained in article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and on General Comment 14. The non-realization of the right to health, even in a consistently progressive manner, raises concerns about the political commitment of state officials to public health, about the justice of social institutions in ensuring social well-being and about individual and public values that shape decision-making processes. Social justice, democratic rule, transparency, accountability and subsidiarity are important groundings for ensuring community participation in public affairs and for monitoring the performance of public institutions. The normative ideals of health systems development are essentially democratic in nature and are rooted in human rights and in ethical principles of human dignity, equality, non-discrimination and social justice. These ideals are grounded

Climate Change and Public Health Policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Jason A; Vargo, Jason; Hoverter, Sara Pollock

2017-03-01

Climate change poses real and immediate impacts to the public health of populations around the globe. Adverse impacts are expected to continue throughout the century. Emphasizing co-benefits of climate action for health, combining adaptation and mitigation efforts, and increasing interagency coordination can effectively address both public health and climate change challenges.

Public health insurance under a nonbenevolent state.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemieux, Pierre

2008-10-01

This paper explores the consequences of the oft ignored fact that public health insurance must actually be supplied by the state. Depending how the state is modeled, different health insurance outcomes are expected. The benevolent model of the state does not account for many actual features of public health insurance systems. One alternative is to use a standard public choice model, where state action is determined by interaction between self-interested actors. Another alternative--related to a strand in public choice theory--is to model the state as Leviathan. Interestingly, some proponents of public health insurance use an implicit Leviathan model, but not consistently. The Leviathan model of the state explains many features of public health insurance: its uncontrolled growth, its tendency toward monopoly, its capacity to buy trust and loyalty from the common people, its surveillance ability, its controlling nature, and even the persistence of its inefficiencies and waiting lines.

A global public health imperative

African Journals Online (AJOL)

MESKE

Actions towards closing the health equity gap: A global public health imperative. Tewabech ... global health development. With only two ... of himself and of his family; including food, clothing .... impact on health equity and in the end issued the.

Public Health Interventions for School Nursing Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Schaffer, Marjorie A.; Anderson, Linda J. W.; Rising, Shannon

2016-01-01

School nurses (SNs) use public health nursing knowledge and skills to provide nursing services to school populations. The Public Health Intervention Wheel is a practice framework that can be used to explain and guide public health nursing interventions. SNs who were also members of the National Association of School Nurses completed an electronic…

System impact research - increasing public health and health care system performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Malmivaara, Antti

2016-01-01

Interventions directed to system features of public health and health care should increase health and welfare of patients and population. To build a new framework for studies aiming to assess the impact of public health or health care system, and to consider the role of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) and of Benchmarking Controlled Trials (BCTs). The new concept is partly based on the author's previous paper on the Benchmarking Controlled Trial. The validity and generalizability considerations were based on previous methodological studies on RCTs and BCTs. The new concept System Impact Research (SIR) covers all the studies which aim to assess the impact of the public health system or of the health care system on patients or on population. There are two kinds of studies in System Impact Research: Benchmarking Controlled Trials (observational) and Randomized Controlled Trials (experimental). The term impact covers in particular accessibility, quality, effectiveness, safety, efficiency, and equality. System Impact Research - creating the scientific basis for policy decision making - should be given a high priority in medical, public health and health economic research, and should also be used for improving performance. Leaders at all levels of health and social care can use the evidence from System Impact Research for the benefit of patients and population. Key messages The new concept of SIR is defined as a research field aiming at assessing the impacts on patients and on populations of features of public health and health and social care systems or of interventions trying to change these features. SIR covers all features of public health and health and social care system, and actions upon these features. The term impact refers to all effects caused by the public health and health and social care system or parts of it, with particular emphasis on accessibility, quality, effectiveness, adverse effects, efficiency, and equality of services. SIR creates the

Considerations for increasing the competences and capacities of the public health workforce: assessing the training needs of public health workers in Texas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Quiram Barbara

2006-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Over the last two decades, concern has been expressed about the readiness of the public health workforce to adequately address the scientific, technological, social, political and economic challenges facing the field. A 1988 report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM served as a catalyst for the re-examination of the public health workforce. The IOM's call to increase the relevance of public health education and training prompted a renewed effort to identify competences needed by public health personnel and the organizations that employ them. Methods A recent evaluation sought to address the role of the 10 essential public health services in job services among the Texas public health workforce. Additionally, the evaluation examined the Texas public health workforce's need for training in the 10 essential public health services. Results and conclusion Overall, the level of perceived training needs varied dramatically by job category and health department type. When comparing aggregate training needs, public health workers with greater day-to-day contact (nurses, health educators indicated a greater need for training than their peers who did not, such as those working in administrative positions. When prioritizing and designing future training modules regarding the 10 essential public health services, trainers should consider the effects of job function, location and contact with the public.

Tracking Master of Public Health graduates: Linking higher ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background. Master of Public Health (MPH) students come from a wide range of health professional backgrounds. Graduate programmes in public health should equip alumni with knowledge and skills to analyse and integrate health research findings, and have a practical approach to current public health issues. In South ...

Globalisation and public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Bettcher, D; Lee, K

2002-01-01

At the dawn of the 21st century, globalisation is a word that has become a part of everyday communication in all corners of the world. It is a concept that for some holds the promise of a new and brighter future, while for others it represents a threat that needs to be confronted and counteracted. In the area of public health, a wide range of claims have been made about the various impacts, both positive and negative, that can be attributed to globalisation. In the ever expanding literature on globalisation and health, it has become apparent that considerable confusion is emerging in both the ways that terminology is applied and concepts are defined. The determinants of health are increasingly multisectoral, and in tackling these challenges it is necessary to take a multidisciplinary approach that includes policy analyses in such areas as trade, environment, defence/security, foreign policy, and international law. In assembling the terms for this glossary, we have attempted to demonstrate the richness of the globalisation and public health debate, and in so doing have selected some of the core terms that require definition. We hope that this glossary will help to clarify this interesting and challenging area, and will also serve as a useful entry point to this new debate in public health.

Targeted marketing and public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Grier, Sonya A; Kumanyika, Shiriki

2010-01-01

Targeted marketing techniques, which identify consumers who share common needs or characteristics and position products or services to appeal to and reach these consumers, are now the core of all marketing and facilitate its effectiveness. However, targeted marketing, particularly of products with proven or potential adverse effects (e.g., tobacco, alcohol, entertainment violence, or unhealthful foods) to consumer segments defined as vulnerable raises complex concerns for public health. It is critical that practitioners, academics, and policy makers in marketing, public health, and other fields recognize and understand targeted marketing as a specific contextual influence on the health of children and adolescents and, for different reasons, ethnic minority populations and other populations who may benefit from public health protections. For beneficial products, such understanding can foster more socially productive targeting. For potentially harmful products, understanding the nature and scope of targeted marketing influences will support identification and implementation of corrective policies.

Crowdsourcing applications for public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Brabham, Daren C; Ribisl, Kurt M; Kirchner, Thomas R; Bernhardt, Jay M

2014-02-01

Crowdsourcing is an online, distributed, problem-solving, and production model that uses the collective intelligence of networked communities for specific purposes. Although its use has benefited many sectors of society, it has yet to be fully realized as a method for improving public health. This paper defines the core components of crowdsourcing and proposes a framework for understanding the potential utility of crowdsourcing in the domain of public health. Four discrete crowdsourcing approaches are described (knowledge discovery and management; distributed human intelligence tasking; broadcast search; and peer-vetted creative production types) and a number of potential applications for crowdsourcing for public health science and practice are enumerated. © 2013 American Journal of Preventive Medicine Published by American Journal of Preventive Medicine All rights reserved.

Informatics enables public health surveillance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Scott J. N McNabb

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Over the past decade, the world has radically changed. New advances in information and communication technologies (ICT connect the world in ways never imagined. Public health informatics (PHI leveraged for public health surveillance (PHS, can enable, enhance, and empower essential PHS functions (i.e., detection, reporting, confirmation, analyses, feedback, response. However, the tail doesn't wag the dog; as such, ICT cannot (should not drive public health surveillance strengthening. Rather, ICT can serve PHS to more effectively empower core functions. In this review, we explore promising ICT trends for prevention, detection, and response, laboratory reporting, push notification, analytics, predictive surveillance, and using new data sources, while recognizing that it is the people, politics, and policies that most challenge progress for implementation of solutions.

Machine-Learning Algorithms to Code Public Health Spending Accounts.

Science.gov (United States)

Brady, Eoghan S; Leider, Jonathon P; Resnick, Beth A; Alfonso, Y Natalia; Bishai, David

Government public health expenditure data sets require time- and labor-intensive manipulation to summarize results that public health policy makers can use. Our objective was to compare the performances of machine-learning algorithms with manual classification of public health expenditures to determine if machines could provide a faster, cheaper alternative to manual classification. We used machine-learning algorithms to replicate the process of manually classifying state public health expenditures, using the standardized public health spending categories from the Foundational Public Health Services model and a large data set from the US Census Bureau. We obtained a data set of 1.9 million individual expenditure items from 2000 to 2013. We collapsed these data into 147 280 summary expenditure records, and we followed a standardized method of manually classifying each expenditure record as public health, maybe public health, or not public health. We then trained 9 machine-learning algorithms to replicate the manual process. We calculated recall, precision, and coverage rates to measure the performance of individual and ensembled algorithms. Compared with manual classification, the machine-learning random forests algorithm produced 84% recall and 91% precision. With algorithm ensembling, we achieved our target criterion of 90% recall by using a consensus ensemble of ≥6 algorithms while still retaining 93% coverage, leaving only 7% of the summary expenditure records unclassified. Machine learning can be a time- and cost-saving tool for estimating public health spending in the United States. It can be used with standardized public health spending categories based on the Foundational Public Health Services model to help parse public health expenditure information from other types of health-related spending, provide data that are more comparable across public health organizations, and evaluate the impact of evidence-based public health resource allocation.

Public Health Events and International Health Regulations

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

2012-06-21

Dr. Katrin Kohl, a medical officer at the CDC, discusses the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations for assessing and reporting on public health events across the world.  Created: 6/21/2012 by National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID).   Date Released: 6/21/2012.

Population health intervention research training: the value of public health internships and mentorship.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamelin, Anne-Marie; Paradis, Gilles

2018-01-01

Better alignment between academia and public health practice and policies are critical to improve public health actions. Training of future researchers to address complex issues and to conduct transdisciplinary and collaborative research will help improve this alignment. In this paper, we describe the role of internship placements and mentorship for trainees' skills development in population health intervention research and the benefits of embedding research trainees within public health organizations. This qualitative descriptive study assessed the perceptions of the role and benefits of internships and mentorship for population health intervention research training among former doctoral and postdoctoral students, public health mentors, and senior public health managers who participated in the 4P Program, a research training program which bridges academic training and the public health system in Quebec, Canada. Two types of interviews were conducted: telephone semi-structured interviews by an external evaluator and face-to-face trainee "exit" interviews by the Program co-director. Semi-annual evaluation reports from each trainee were also reviewed. Qualitative data were subjected to a thematic analysis. Internships provided trainees with a working knowledge of the public health system and the context in which decisions and public health interventions are implemented. It was an opportunity for trainees to interact with knowledge-user partners and assess the gap between research and practice. Effective mentorship was key to help trainees interpret the public health reality and develop population health intervention research skills. Trainees learned to ask the "how" questions that are critical for in-depth understanding of complex interventions and the conditions under which they can be best implemented. Conditions of success of internships and mentorship for population health intervention research included the alignment of the interests between the trainee, the

Public Health System Research in Public Health Emergency Preparedness in the United States (2009-2015): Actionable Knowledge Base.

Science.gov (United States)

Savoia, Elena; Lin, Leesa; Bernard, Dottie; Klein, Noah; James, Lyndon P; Guicciardi, Stefano

2017-09-01

In 2008, the Institute of Medicine released a letter report identifying 4 research priority areas for public health emergency preparedness in public health system research: (1) enhancing the usefulness of training, (2) improving timely emergency communications, (3) creating and maintaining sustainable response systems, and (4) generating effectiveness criteria and metrics. To (1) identify and characterize public health system research in public health emergency preparedness produced in the United States from 2009 to 2015, (2) synthesize research findings and assess the level of confidence in these findings, and (3) describe the evolution of knowledge production in public health emergency preparedness system research. Search Methods and Selection Criteria. We reviewed and included the titles and abstracts of 1584 articles derived from MEDLINE, EMBASE, and gray literature databases that focused on the organizational or financial aspects of public health emergency preparedness activities and were grounded on empirical studies. We included 156 articles. We appraised the quality of the studies according to the study design. We identified themes during article analysis and summarized overall findings by theme. We determined level of confidence in the findings with the GRADE-CERQual tool. Thirty-one studies provided evidence on how to enhance the usefulness of training. Results demonstrated the utility of drills and exercises to enhance decision-making capabilities and coordination across organizations, the benefit of cross-sector partnerships for successfully implementing training activities, and the value of integrating evaluation methods to support training improvement efforts. Thirty-six studies provided evidence on how to improve timely communications. Results supported the use of communication strategies that address differences in access to information, knowledge, attitudes, and practices across segments of the population as well as evidence on specific

PERCC Tools: Public Health Preparedness for Clinicians

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

2011-08-29

CDC’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response funds Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Centers (PERRCs) to examine components of the public health system. This podcast is an overview of mental and behavioral health tools developed by the Johns Hopkins PERRC.  Created: 8/29/2011 by Emergency Risk Communication Branch (ERCB)/Joint Information Center (JIC); Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR).   Date Released: 8/30/2011.

Nuclear education in public health and nursing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winder, A.E.; Stanitis, M.A.

1988-01-01

Twenty-three public health schools and 492 university schools of nursing were surveyed to gather specific information on educational programs related to nuclear war. Twenty public health schools and 240 nursing schools responded. Nuclear war-related content was most likely to appear in disaster nursing and in environmental health courses. Three schools of public health report that they currently offer elective courses on nuclear war. Innovative curricula included political action projects for nuclear war prevention

The emergency of concept global health: perspectives for the field of public health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

João Roberto Cavalcante Sampaio

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In recent years, we have witnessed the emergence of new terms in the academic and political debate of public health, such as ‘’global health’’, ‘’global public goods’’, ‘’global health governance’’, ‘’global public health’’, ‘’health diplomacy’’, 'international cooperation’’. In this study, we aimed to analyze the historical development of the concept of ‘global health’, as well as the prospects of this new concept in the research and public health practice. A comprehensive literature review was performed in Pubmed, Scielo, Scopus, and BVS. We also analyzed documents obtained from the websites of international health organizations. 514 publications were retrieved and 36 were selected for this study. In general, the concept of "global health" refers to health as a transnational phenomenon linked to globalization, which has as main challenge to think public health beyond international relations between countries. International health organizations are particularly important in the development of the concept of "global health" and its new application prospects in the field of public health are health diplomacy, international cooperation and global health governance.

Future directions for Public Health Education reforms in India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanjay P Zodpey

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Health systems globally are experiencing a shortage of competent public health professionals. Public health education across developing countries is stretched by capacity generation and maintaining an adequate ‘standard’ and ‘quality’ of their graduate product. We analyzed the Indian public health education scenario using the institutional and instructional reforms framework advanced by the Lancet Commission report on Education of Health Professionals. The emergence of a new century necessitates a re-visit on the institutional and instructional challenges surrounding public health education. Currently, there is neither an accreditation council nor a formal structure or system of collaboration between academic stakeholders. Health systems have little say in health professional training with limited dialogue between health systems and public health education institutions. Despite a recognized shortfall of public health professionals, there are limited job opportunities for public health graduates within the health system and absence of a structured career pathway for them. Public health institutions need to evolve strategies to prevent faculty attrition. A structured development program in teaching-learning methods and pedagogy is the need of the hour.

Workshop salutogenesis and the future of health promotion and public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindström, Bengt

2018-02-01

This presentation is a synthesis of a workshop on Salutogenesis and the Future of Health Promotion and Public Health at the Nordic Health Promotion Research Conference in June 2016. A brief historical review of Public Health and Health Promotion development in a Nordic perspective is included. However, the main thrust of the article is to present how the salutogenic theory and approach could strengthen society's organised efforts to prevent disease, promote health and prolong life. A critical view based on existing evidence is maintained through the presentation that arrives at the conclusion it would be worthwhile to invest in effective theory driven approaches to the development of Public Health and Health Promotion in the future.

Governance of public health: Norway in a Nordic context.

Science.gov (United States)

Helgesen, Marit K

2014-11-01

The two pillars of public health are health promotion and disease prevention. Based on a notion of governance in the state -local relation as changing from hierarchical via New Public Management (NPM) to New Public Governance (NPG), the governance of public health in Norway is contrasted to governance of public health in the other Nordic states: Denmark, Finland and Sweden. The article aims to present and discuss the governance of public health as it is played out in the state-local relationship. The method is to study central state documents in the four countries, as well as articles, research reports and papers on public health. The article shows that the governance modes (hierarchy, NPM and NPG) exist in parallel, but that their mechanisms actually vary in use. Legal, economic and informational mechanisms are, to a varying degree, in use. In Finnish and Swedish public health policies, health promotion is at the forefront; while Danish and Norwegian public health policies spur the local governments to carry out interventions to prevent disease and hospital admissions. © 2014 the Nordic Societies of Public Health.

Bioterrorism, public health, and the law.

Science.gov (United States)

Bayer, Ronald; Colgrove, James

2002-01-01

The controversy over the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act has underscored the enduring tension in public health between guarding the common welfare and respecting individual liberty. The current version of the act, crafted in response to extensive public commentary, attempts to strike a balance between these values but has failed to allay the concerns of many civil libertarians and privacy advocates. Although the debates over the model act have been triggered by the threat of bioterrorism, they illustrate broader philosophical differences, with profound implications for all realms of public health policy.

Public Health Perspectives on Aquaculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Gormaz, Juan G; Fry, Jillian P; Erazo, Marcia; Love, David C

2014-01-01

Nearly half of all seafood consumed globally comes from aquaculture, a method of food production that has expanded rapidly in recent years. Increasing seafood consumption has been proposed as part of a strategy to combat the current non-communicable disease (NCD) pandemic, but public health, environmental, social, and production challenges related to certain types of aquaculture production must be addressed. Resolving these complicated human health and ecologic trade-offs requires systems thinking and collaboration across many fields; the One Health concept is an integrative approach that brings veterinary and human health experts together to combat zoonotic disease. We propose applying and expanding the One Health approach to facilitate collaboration among stakeholders focused on increasing consumption of seafood and expanding aquaculture production, using methods that minimize risks to public health, animal health, and ecology. This expanded application of One Health may also have relevance to other complex systems with similar trade-offs.

Tests to evaluate public health disease reporting systems in local public health agencies (electronic resource)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Ricci, Karen; Lurie, Nicole; Stoto, Michael A; Wasserman, Jeffrey; Dausey, David J; Meade, Barbara; Diamond, Alexis; Molander, Roger C

2005-01-01

... to evaluate the ability to receive and respond to case reports 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We refined these tests by beta-testing them at 20 metropolitan area local public health agencies across the country over the course of 10 months. The contents of this manual will be of interest to public health professionals at the state and local l...

Engaging students in community health: a public health advocacy curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Curran, Nell; Ned, Judith; Winkleby, Marilyn

2014-03-01

Individual risk assessment and behavior change dominate the content of high school health education instruction whereas broader social, political, and economic factors that influence health-known as upstream causes-are less commonly considered. With input from instructors and students, we developed a 10-lesson experiential Public Health Advocacy Curriculum that uses classroom-based activities to teach high school students about the upstream causes of health and engages them in community-based health advocacy. The Curriculum, most suitable for health- or advocacy-related elective classes or after-school programs, may be taught in its entirety or as single lessons integrated into existing coursework. Although students at many schools are using the Curriculum, it has been formally evaluated with 110 predominantly Latino students at one urban and one semirural public high school in Northern California (six classes). In pre-post surveys, students showed highly significant and positive changes in the nine questions that covered the three main Curriculum domains (Upstream Causes, Community Exploration, and Public Health Advocacy), p values .02 to Curriculum is being widely disseminated without charge to local, national, and international audiences, with the objective of grooming a generation of youth who are committed to the public health perspective to health.

Our health and theirs: forced migration, othering, and public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Grove, Natalie J; Zwi, Anthony B

2006-04-01

This paper uses 'othering' theory to explore how forced migrants are received in developed countries and considers the implications of this for public health. It identifies a variety of mechanisms by which refugees, asylum seekers and irregular migrants are positioned as 'the other' and are defined and treated as separate, distant and disconnected from the host communities in receiving countries. The paper examines how this process has the potential to affect health outcomes both for individuals and communities and concludes that public health must engage with and challenge this othering discourse. It argues that public health practitioners have a critical role to play in reframing thinking about health services and health policies for forced migrants, by promoting inclusion and by helping shape a narrative which integrates and values the experiences of this population.

Bullying Prevention for Public Health Practitioners

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

2012-01-19

This podcast discusses bullying as a public health problem, and provides information and resources for public health practitioners.  Created: 1/19/2012 by National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC).   Date Released: 1/19/2012.

A History of Social Work in Public Health

Science.gov (United States)

Ruth, Betty J.

2017-01-01

Social work is a core health profession with origins deeply connected to the development of contemporary public health in the United States. Today, many of the nation’s 600 000 social workers practice broadly in public health and in other health settings, drawing on a century of experience in combining clinical, intermediate, and population approaches for greater health impact. Yet, the historic significance of this long-standing interdisciplinary collaboration—and its current implications—remains underexplored in the present era. This article builds on primary and contemporary sources to trace the historic arc of social work in public health, providing examples of successful collaborations. The scope and practices of public health social work practice are explored, and we articulate a rationale for an expanded place for social work in the public health enterprise. PMID:29236533

A History of Social Work in Public Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruth, Betty J; Marshall, Jamie Wyatt

2017-12-01

Social work is a core health profession with origins deeply connected to the development of contemporary public health in the United States. Today, many of the nation's 600 000 social workers practice broadly in public health and in other health settings, drawing on a century of experience in combining clinical, intermediate, and population approaches for greater health impact. Yet, the historic significance of this long-standing interdisciplinary collaboration-and its current implications-remains underexplored in the present era. This article builds on primary and contemporary sources to trace the historic arc of social work in public health, providing examples of successful collaborations. The scope and practices of public health social work practice are explored, and we articulate a rationale for an expanded place for social work in the public health enterprise.

Identifying public health competencies relevant to family medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Harvey, Bart J; Moloughney, Brent W; Iglar, Karl T

2011-10-01

Public health situations faced by family physicians and other primary care practitioners, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and more recently H1N1, have resulted in an increased interest to identify the public health competencies relevant to family medicine. At present there is no agreed-on set of public health competencies delineating the knowledge and skills that family physicians should possess to effectively face diverse public health challenges. Using a multi-staged, iterative process that included a detailed literature review, the authors developed a set of public health competencies relevant to primary care, identifying competencies relevant across four levels, from "post-MD" to "enhanced." Feedback from family medicine and public health educator-practitioners regarding the set of proposed "essential" competencies indicated the need for a more limited, feasible set of "priority" areas to be highlighted during residency training. This focused set of public health competencies has begun to guide relevant components of the University of Toronto's Family Medicine Residency Program curriculum, including academic half-days; clinical experiences, especially identifying "teachable moments" during patient encounters; resident academic projects; and elective public health agency placements. These competencies will also be used to guide the development of a family medicine-public health primer and faculty development sessions to support family medicine faculty facilitating residents to achieve these competencies. Once more fully implemented, an evaluation will be initiated to determine the degree to which these public health competencies are being achieved by family medicine graduates, especially whether they attained the knowledge, skills, and confidence necessary to effectively face diverse public health situations-from common to emergent. Copyright © 2011 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The UK Public Health Skills and Career Framework--could it help to make public health the business of every workforce?

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Jenny; Rao, Mala; Walker, Karen

2008-06-01

There is growing recognition of the impact of the wider determinants of health and health inequalities, and an acknowledgement that addressing these root causes of ill health requires public health to be everyone's business and responsibility. Therefore, equipping the whole of the public health workforce and a wide range of other disciplines with the knowledge and skills to have a positive influence on health is a priority. The UK is implementing a competence-based skills framework that addresses this dual need. The aim of this paper is to describe how the UK Public Health Skills and Career Framework was developed, and to invite discussion on its potential usefulness as a tool for facilitating a shared approach to strengthening public health competence within and across countries.

Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaal, P.

2005-01-01

In this presentation author deals with the role of the Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic in radiation protection in the Slovak Republic. Public Health Authority is budgetary organization, which depends on the funding of the Ministry of Health. As the state administration authority performs execution of state regulatory activities in the field of health protection in Slovak republic and radiation protection as well. Radiation Protection Supervision is performed according to the act on public health protection. Organization scheme of radiation protection in the Slovak Republic is presented

Report of a consultation on justification of patient exposures in medical imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malone, J.

2009-01-01

Radiation protection in medicine is underpinned by the concepts of justification and optimisation. Over the last 20 y much successful work has been devoted to developing and consolidating approaches to optimisation. A substantial knowledge base and a set of practical approaches have now been created to give effect to it. With respect to justification, less effort has been applied and the efforts applied have not yet been as successful. Authoritative sources suggest that a substantial fraction of radiological examinations may be unnecessary. In addition, a mainstream general medical journal has identified that few of those responsible for prescribing or performing examinations were familiar with the units used to specify the amount of radiation (and risk) received. This report sets out the conclusions of a consultation held in Vienna, by the International Atomic Energy Agency, dealing with the nature of justification and how to give effect to it in practice. (authors)

Scaring the Public: Fear Appeal Arguments in Public Health Reasoning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Louise Cummings

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The study of threat and fear appeal arguments has given rise to a sizeable literature. Even within a public health context, much is now known about how these arguments work to gain the public’s compliance with health recommendations. Notwithstanding this level of interest in, and examination of, these arguments, there is one aspect of these arguments that still remains unexplored. That aspect concerns the heuristic function of these arguments within our thinking about public health problems. Specifically, it is argued that threat and fear appeal arguments serve as valuable shortcuts in our reasoning, particularly when that reasoning is subject to biases that are likely to diminish the effectiveness of public health messages. To this extent, they are rationally warranted argument forms rather than fallacies, as has been their dominant characterization in logic.

Public health practitioner incubation plight: following the money trail.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, L J; McFarlane, D R

1996-01-01

Schools of public health have a proud history of educating personnel for leadership roles in the field of practice. Such personnel have played key roles in developing public health. Over the years, however, the missions of the schools of public health have become blurred. To a significant degree, a focus on health care has displaced public health as schools have followed the money trail. Often research takes precedence over teaching, so that, ironically, research findings are not disseminated to those who will practice public health. Educating personnel for practitioner leadership roles in environmental health and protection is inadequate. These and other trends have serious, long-term ramifications for public health practice. This article offers suggestions for improving the situation, including making use of practitioners in schools of public health, encouraging partnerships between practitioners and academics for research and funding support, developing paid student practica, developing a market for MPH graduates, and changing the accreditation requirements of the Council on Education for Public Health.

Justification beliefs of violence, myths about love and cyber dating abuse.

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Borrajo, Erika; Gámez-Guadix, Manuel; Calvete, Esther

2015-01-01

Distorted beliefs about violence and love are often associated with the presence of violence in dating relationships. This study analyzes the relationship between beliefs that justify violence and myths about love in two types of cyber dating abuse (control and direct aggression). The sample consisted of 656 young people between the ages of 18 and 30 years (79.5% women). Regression analysis showed that justification of cyber dating abuse was significantly associated with a higher likelihood of direct aggression in online dating relationships. Myths about love were associated with a greater likelihood of control in online dating relationships. Furthermore, the relationship between justification of cyber dating abuse and perpetration of direct aggression was stronger in women. The relationship between myths about love and perpetration of online control was stronger among the youngest individuals. The justification of abuse and myths about love are important aspects in the development of different kinds of online abuse among young couples. This finding has important implications for the prevention of and intervention in these behaviors.

Public health workforce employment in US public and private sectors.

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Kennedy, Virginia C

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to describe the number and distribution of 26 administrative, professional, and technical public health occupations across the array of US governmental and nongovernmental industries. This study used data from the Occupational Employment Statistics program of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. For each occupation of interest, the investigator determined the number of persons employed in 2006 in five industries and industry groups: government, nonprofit agencies, education, healthcare, and all other industries. Industry-specific employment profiles varied from one occupation to another. However, about three-fourths of all those engaged in these occupations worked in the private healthcare industry. Relatively few worked in nonprofit or educational settings, and less than 10 percent were employed in government agencies. The industry-specific distribution of public health personnel, particularly the proportion employed in the public sector, merits close monitoring. This study also highlights the need for a better understanding of the work performed by public health occupations in nongovernmental work settings. Finally, the Occupational Employment Statistics program has the potential to serve as an ongoing, national data collection system for public health workforce information. If this potential was realized, future workforce enumerations would not require primary data collection but rather could be accomplished using secondary data.

Teaching seven principles for public health ethics: towards a curriculum for a short course on ethics in public health programmes.

Science.gov (United States)

Schröder-Bäck, Peter; Duncan, Peter; Sherlaw, William; Brall, Caroline; Czabanowska, Katarzyna

2014-10-07

Teaching ethics in public health programmes is not routine everywhere - at least not in most schools of public health in the European region. Yet empirical evidence shows that schools of public health are more and more interested in the integration of ethics in their curricula, since public health professionals often have to face difficult ethical decisions. The authors have developed and practiced an approach to how ethics can be taught even in crowded curricula, requiring five to eight hours of teaching and learning contact time. In this way, if programme curricula do not allow more time for ethics, students of public health can at least be sensitised to ethics and ethical argumentation. This approach - focusing on the application of seven mid-level principles to cases (non-maleficence, beneficence, health maximisation, efficiency, respect for autonomy, justice, proportionality) - is presented in this paper. Easy to use 'tools' applying ethics to public health are presented. The crowded nature of the public health curriculum, and the nature of students participating in it, required us to devise and develop a short course, and to use techniques that were likely to provide a relatively efficient introduction to the processes, content and methods involved in the field of ethics.

Environment and public health; Environnement et sante publique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Escande, J P [Hopital Cochin, 75 - Paris (France); Cicolella, A [Institut National de l' Environnement Industriel et des Risques, 60 - Verneuil en Halatte (INERIS) (France); Hemon, D [Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (INSERM), 75 - Paris (France); and others

1999-06-01

These fourteen presentations on the public health effects of the pollution, showed the environment and life style modifications effects on the public health but also the difficulty to evaluate the risk assessment. This analysis brings information and opinion on the environment, the public health, the scientific representation, the evaluation paradigm, the press amplification, the public health policy choices and the risks of too severe regulations. (A.L.B.)

Innovative statistical methods for public health data

CERN Document Server

Wilson, Jeffrey

2015-01-01

The book brings together experts working in public health and multi-disciplinary areas to present recent issues in statistical methodological development and their applications. This timely book will impact model development and data analyses of public health research across a wide spectrum of analysis. Data and software used in the studies are available for the reader to replicate the models and outcomes. The fifteen chapters range in focus from techniques for dealing with missing data with Bayesian estimation, health surveillance and population definition and implications in applied latent class analysis, to multiple comparison and meta-analysis in public health data. Researchers in biomedical and public health research will find this book to be a useful reference, and it can be used in graduate level classes.

The Struggle for the Soul of Public Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiley, Lindsay F

2016-12-01

Prevention has become a central focus for health care payers, providers, policy makers, and the general public. Given the centrality of prevention to public health science, practice, and law, it would seem that conditions are ripe for the public health law renaissance to expand beyond legal and scientific circles to permeate the general consciousness. Yet, public health law and policy interventions continue to face considerable political and legal opposition. The population perspective-which emphasizes the social determinants of health, collective action to create healthier communities, and communitarian rationales for prioritizing health-is as important to public health problem-solving as the prevention orientation. But it conflicts with the individualistic orientation that dominates American legal, cultural, and social discourse. This article suggests that public health law and policy debates offer important opportunities for public health advocates to reach across silos to promote the population perspective that unites the field. The article explores contrasting explanations for disease, injury, premature death, and health disparities offered by the population perspective and the individualistic orientation; political and cultural barriers that stand in the way of innovative law and policy interventions; and normative tensions between the communitarian population perspective and self-interested rationales for investment in prevention. Copyright © 2016 by Duke University Press.

Children's Health Publications

Science.gov (United States)

Each title has a brief description and link for downloading the full text. Includes the publications catalog, the Child Health Champion resource guide, student curriculum materials, reports, fact sheets, and booklets/brochures of advice and tools.

The Mediating Effect of Social Capital on the Relationship Between Public Health Managers' Transformational Leadership and Public Health Nurses' Organizational Empowerment in Korea Public Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Jun, Soo Young

2017-12-01

This study was to verify the effect of public health nurse's (PHN's) social capital on the relationship between public health manager's (PHM's) transformational leadership and PHN's organizational empowerment in Korea public health. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study involving 303 PHNs from public health centers in Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do cities in South Korea. Data were collected from February 29, 2016 to April 8, 2016, using structured questionnaires which included general characteristics, transformational leadership, organizational empowerment, and social capital. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlations, and structural equation model. PHM's transformational leadership has a positive effect on PHN's social capital and PHN's organizational empowerment. Social capital had a mediating effect between transformational leadership and organizational empowerment in PHNs. This study suggests that PHM's transformational leadership is a contributing factor to improve PHN's organizational empowerment, and transformational leadership can lead to improve PHN's organizational empowerment through PHN's social capital. So, an intervention program to promote organizational empowerment should include strategies to enhance PHM's transformational leadership as well as to improve PHN's social capital. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Chemical Risk Assessment: Traditional vs Public Health ...

Science.gov (United States)

Preventing adverse health impacts from exposures to environmental chemicals is fundamental to protecting individual and public health. When done efficiently and properly, chemical risk assessment enables risk management actions that minimize the incidence and impacts of environmentally-induced diseases related to chemical exposure. However, traditional chemical risk assessment is faced with multiple challenges with respect to predicting and preventing disease in human populations, and epidemiological studies increasingly report observations of adverse health effects at exposure levels predicted from animal studies to be safe for humans. This discordance reinforces concerns about the adequacy of contemporary risk assessment practices (Birnbaum, Burke, & Jones, 2016) for protecting public health. It is becoming clear that to protect public health more effectively, future risk assessments will need to use the full range of available data, draw on innovative methods to integrate diverse data streams, and consider health endpoints that also reflect the range of subtle effects and morbidities observed in human populations. Given these factors, there is a need to reframe chemical risk assessment to be more clearly aligned with the public health goal of minimizing environmental exposures associated with disease. Preventing adverse health impacts from exposures to environmental chemicals is fundamental to protecting individual and public health. Chemical risk assessments

Educating the Public Health Workforce: A Scoping Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donghua Tao

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The aim of this scoping review was to identify and characterize the recent literature pertaining to the education of the public health workforce worldwide. The importance of preparing a public health workforce with sufficient capacity and appropriate capabilities has been recognized by major organizations around the world (1. Champions for public health note that a suitably educated workforce is essential to the delivery of public health services, including emergency response to biological, manmade, and natural disasters, within countries and across the globe. No single repository offers a comprehensive compilation of who is teaching public health, to whom, and for what end. Moreover, no international consensus prevails on what higher education should entail or what pedagogy is optimal for providing the necessary education. Although health agencies, public or private, might project workforce needs, the higher level of education remains the sole responsibility of higher education institutions. The long-term goal of this study is to describe approaches to the education of the public health workforce around the world by identifying the peer-reviewed literature, published primarily by academicians involved in educating those who will perform public health functions. This paper reports on the first phase of the study: identifying and categorizing papers published in peer-reviewed literature between 2000 and 2015.

Using typing techniques in a specific outbreak: the ethical reflection of public health professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

Rump, B; Cornelis, C; Woonink, F; VAN Steenbergen, J; Verweij, M; Hulscher, M

2017-05-01

Typing techniques are laboratory methods used in outbreak management to investigate the degree to which microbes found within an outbreak are related. Knowledge about relational patterns between microbes benefits outbreak management, but inevitably also tells us something about the relational patterns of the people hosting them. Since the technique is often used without explicit consent of all individuals involved, this may raise ethical questions. The aim of this study was to unravel the complex ethical deliberation of professionals over the use of such techniques. We organised group discussions (n = 3) with Dutch outbreak managers (n = 23). The topic list was based on previously identified ethical issues and discussions were analysed for recurrent themes. We found that outbreak managers first and foremost reflect on the balance of individual harm with public health benefit. This key question was approached by way of discussing four more specific ethical themes: (1) justification of governmental intervention, (2) responsibility to prevent infections, (3) scientific uncertainty and (4) legal consequences. The themes found in this study, rephrased into accessible questions, represent the shared ethical understanding of professionals and can help to articulate the ethical dimensions of using molecular science in response to infectious disease outbreaks.

Creating a brand image for public health nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Baldwin, Kathleen A; Lyons, Roberta L; Issel, L Michele

2011-01-01

Public health nurses (PHNs) have declined as a proportion of both the nursing and the public health workforces in the past 2 decades. This decline comes as 30 states report public health nursing as the sector most affected in the overall public health shortage. Taken together, these data point to a need for renewed recruitment efforts. However, the current public images of nurses are primarily those of professionals employed in hospital settings. Therefore, this paper describes the development of a marketable image aimed at increasing the visibility and public awareness of PHNs and their work. Such a brand image was seen as a precursor to increasing applications for PHN positions. A multimethod qualitative sequential approach guided the branding endeavor. From the thoughts of public health nursing students, faculty, and practitioners came artists' renditions of four award-winning posters. These posters portray public health nursing-incorporating its image, location of practice, and levels of protection afforded the community. Since their initial unveiling, these posters have been distributed by request throughout the United States and Canada. The overwhelming response serves to underline the previous void of current professional images of public health nursing and the need for brand images to aid with recruitment. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Exploring areas of consensus and conflict around values underpinning public involvement in health and social care research: a modified Delphi study

Science.gov (United States)

Snape, D; Kirkham, J; Preston, J; Popay, J; Britten, N; Collins, M; Froggatt, K; Gibson, A; Lobban, F; Wyatt, K; Jacoby, A

2014-01-01

Objective There is growing interest in the potential benefits of public involvement (PI) in health and social care research. However, there has been little examination of values underpinning PI or how these values might differ for different groups with an interest in PI in the research process. We aimed to explore areas of consensus and conflict around normative, substantive and process-related values underpinning PI. Design Mixed method, three-phase, modified Delphi study, conducted as part of a larger multiphase project. Setting The UK health and social care research community. Participants Stakeholders in PI in research, defined as: clinical and non-clinical academics, members of the public, research managers, commissioners and funders; identified via research networks, online searches and a literature review. Results We identified high levels of consensus for many normative, substantive and process-related issues. However, there were also areas of conflict in relation to issues of bias and representativeness, and around whether the purpose of PI in health and social care research is to bring about service change or generate new knowledge. There were large differences by group in the percentages endorsing the ethical justification for PI and the argument that PI equalises power imbalances. With regard to practical implementation of PI, research support infrastructures were reported as lacking. Participants reported shortcomings in the uptake and practice of PI. Embedding PI practice and evaluation in research study designs was seen as fundamental to strengthening the evidence base. Conclusions Our findings highlight the extent to which PI is already embedded in research. However, they also highlight a need for ‘best practice’ standards to assist research teams to understand, implement and evaluate PI. These findings have been used in developing a Public Involvement Impact Assessment Framework (PiiAF), which offers guidance to researchers and members of the

Public and Private Responsibility for Mental Health: Mental Health's Fourth Revolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Dokecki, Paul R.

Three revolutions in the history of mental health were identified by Nicholas Hobbs: the humane revolution, the scientific and therapeutic revolution, and the public health revolution. The shift of responsibilities for mental health and substance abuse services from the public to the private sector may constitute a fourth mental health revolution.…

Justification, optimization and classification of exposure situations in radiation protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skrabalek, P.

2017-01-01

Inspiration to this brief information was the experience of studying the draft Radiation Protection Act submitted by the Ministry of Health to the Interdepartmental Annotation Procedure (IAP) on July 20, 2017 and of the IRP itself. The bill was drafted by officials from the Public Health Service. People who are expected to be well aware of the issue because they form national safety standards and laws, and manage and direct treatment of ionizing radiation sources, and oversee observing rules of protecting humans from the hazardous effects of ionizing radiation sources. Rules on the handling and protection of radiation sources for dangerous effects are recommended by multinational organizations. They are headed by ICRP International Radiological Protection Committee, which periodically issues updated radiation protection guidelines around the 10-year period. In line with ICRP recommendations, other professional organizations, such as the IAEA, WHO, EURATOM, and, ultimately, national governments, update their basic safety standards, translating recommendations into the national legal system. Most of interested know that ICRP 103 (2007) has brought some changes to the radiation protection system. In particular, there was an increased emphasis on the comprehensive optimization of radiation protection, and in the context of the recitals principle, the meaning of the word 'harm' was broadened. In addition to health damage, in the sense of which we have long been accustomed, it includes all economic and social losses to which comes from the introduction of the radiation source and introduction of protective measures around it. To simplify access to protect people from the effects of radiation and radiation sources, three basic models of human irradiation - exposure situations: - Exposure scenarios are the result of the optimization of human irradiation due to the operation of the radiation source or the performance of activities where the risk of irradiation is not

A multistate examination of partnership activity among local public health systems using the National Public Health Performance Standards.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Priscilla A; Curtis, Amy B; Hall-Downey, Laura; Moonesinghe, Ramal

2012-01-01

This study examines whether partnership-related measures in the second version of the National Public Health Performance Standards (NPHPS) are useful in evaluating level of activity as well as identifying latent constructs that exist among local public health systems (LPHSs). In a sample of 110 LPHSs, descriptive analysis was conducted to determine frequency and percentage of 18 partnership-related NPHPS measures. Principal components factor analysis was conducted to identify unobserved characteristics that promote effective partnerships among LPHSs. Results revealed that 13 of the 18 measures were most frequently reported at the minimal-moderate level (conducted 1%-49% of the time). Coordination of personal health and social services to optimize access (74.6%) was the most frequently reported measure at minimal-moderate levels. Optimal levels (conducted >75% of the time) were reported most frequently in 2 activities: participation in emergency preparedness coalitions and local health departments ensuring service provision by working with state health departments (67% and 61% of respondents, respectively) and the least optimally reported activity was review partnership effectiveness (4% of respondents). Factor analysis revealed categories of partnership-related measures in 4 domains: resources and activities contributing to relationship building, evaluating community leadership activities, research, and state and local linkages to support public health activities. System-oriented public health assessments may have questions that serve as proxy measures to examine levels of interorganizational partnerships. Several measures from the NPHPS were useful in establishing a national baseline of minimal and optimal activity levels as well as identifying factors to enhance the delivery of the 10 essential public health services among organizations and individuals in public health systems.

Comprehensive effective and efficient global public health surveillance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McNabb Scott JN

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract At a crossroads, global public health surveillance exists in a fragmented state. Slow to detect, register, confirm, and analyze cases of public health significance, provide feedback, and communicate timely and useful information to stakeholders, global surveillance is neither maximally effective nor optimally efficient. Stakeholders lack a globa surveillance consensus policy and strategy; officials face inadequate training and scarce resources. Three movements now set the stage for transformation of surveillance: 1 adoption by Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO of the revised International Health Regulations (IHR[2005]; 2 maturation of information sciences and the penetration of information technologies to distal parts of the globe; and 3 consensus that the security and public health communities have overlapping interests and a mutual benefit in supporting public health functions. For these to enhance surveillance competencies, eight prerequisites should be in place: politics, policies, priorities, perspectives, procedures, practices, preparation, and payers. To achieve comprehensive, global surveillance, disparities in technical, logistic, governance, and financial capacities must be addressed. Challenges to closing these gaps include the lack of trust and transparency; perceived benefit at various levels; global governance to address data power and control; and specified financial support from globa partners. We propose an end-state perspective for comprehensive, effective and efficient global, multiple-hazard public health surveillance and describe a way forward to achieve it. This end-state is universal, global access to interoperable public health information when it’s needed, where it’s needed. This vision mitigates the tension between two fundamental human rights: first, the right to privacy, confidentiality, and security of personal health information combined with the right of sovereign, national entities

Comprehensive effective and efficient global public health surveillance.

Science.gov (United States)

McNabb, Scott J N

2010-12-03

At a crossroads, global public health surveillance exists in a fragmented state. Slow to detect, register, confirm, and analyze cases of public health significance, provide feedback, and communicate timely and useful information to stakeholders, global surveillance is neither maximally effective nor optimally efficient. Stakeholders lack a globa surveillance consensus policy and strategy; officials face inadequate training and scarce resources.Three movements now set the stage for transformation of surveillance: 1) adoption by Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) of the revised International Health Regulations (IHR[2005]); 2) maturation of information sciences and the penetration of information technologies to distal parts of the globe; and 3) consensus that the security and public health communities have overlapping interests and a mutual benefit in supporting public health functions. For these to enhance surveillance competencies, eight prerequisites should be in place: politics, policies, priorities, perspectives, procedures, practices, preparation, and payers.To achieve comprehensive, global surveillance, disparities in technical, logistic, governance, and financial capacities must be addressed. Challenges to closing these gaps include the lack of trust and transparency; perceived benefit at various levels; global governance to address data power and control; and specified financial support from globa partners.We propose an end-state perspective for comprehensive, effective and efficient global, multiple-hazard public health surveillance and describe a way forward to achieve it. This end-state is universal, global access to interoperable public health information when it's needed, where it's needed. This vision mitigates the tension between two fundamental human rights: first, the right to privacy, confidentiality, and security of personal health information combined with the right of sovereign, national entities to the ownership and stewardship

Public health economics: a systematic review of guidance for the economic evaluation of public health interventions and discussion of key methodological issues.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Rhiannon Tudor; Charles, Joanna Mary; Lloyd-Williams, Huw

2013-10-24

If Public Health is the science and art of how society collectively aims to improve health, and reduce inequalities in health, then Public Health Economics is the science and art of supporting decision making as to how society can use its available resources to best meet these objectives and minimise opportunity cost. A systematic review of published guidance for the economic evaluation of public health interventions within this broad public policy paradigm was conducted. Electronic databases and organisation websites were searched using a 22 year time horizon (1990-2012). References of papers were hand searched for additional papers for inclusion. Government reports or peer-reviewed published papers were included if they; referred to the methods of economic evaluation of public health interventions, identified key challenges of conducting economic evaluations of public health interventions or made recommendations for conducting economic evaluations of public health interventions. Guidance was divided into three categories UK guidance, international guidance and observations or guidance provided by individual commentators in the field of public health economics. An assessment of the theoretical frameworks underpinning the guidance was made and served as a rationale for categorising the papers. We identified 5 international guidance documents, 7 UK guidance documents and 4 documents by individual commentators. The papers reviewed identify the main methodological challenges that face analysts when conducting such evaluations. There is a consensus within the guidance that wider social and environmental costs and benefits should be looked at due to the complex nature of public health. This was reflected in the theoretical underpinning as the majority of guidance was categorised as extra-welfarist. In this novel review we argue that health economics may have come full circle from its roots in broad public policy economics. We may find it useful to think in this broader

The Perceived and Real Value of Health Information Exchange in Public Health Surveillance

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon, Brian Edward

2011-01-01

Public health agencies protect the health and safety of populations. A key function of public health agencies is surveillance or the ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data about health-related events. Recent public health events, such as the H1N1 outbreak, have triggered increased funding for and…

Articles Published and Downloaded by Public Health Scientists: Analysis of Data From the CDC Public Health Library, 2011-2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Iskander, John; Bang, Gail; Stupp, Emma; Connick, Kathy; Gomez, Onnalee; Gidudu, Jane

2016-01-01

To describe scientific information usage and publication patterns of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Public Health Library and Information Center patrons. Administratively collected patron usage data and aggregate data on CDC-authored publications from the CDC Library for 3 consecutive years were analyzed. The CDC Public Health Library and Information Center, which serves CDC employees nationally and internationally. Internal patrons and external users of the CDC Library. Three-year trends in full-text article publication and downloads including most common journals used for each purpose, systematic literature searches requested and completed, and subscriptions to a weekly public health current literature awareness service. From 2011 to 2013, CDC scientists published a total of 7718 articles in the peer-reviewed literature. During the same period, article downloads from the CDC Library increased 25% to more than 1.1 million, completed requests for reviews of the scientific literature increased by 34%, and electronic subscriptions to literature compilation services increased by 23%. CDC's scientific output and information use via the CDC Library are both increasing. Researchers and field staff are making greater use of literature review services and other customized information content delivery. Virtual public health library access is an increasingly important resource for the scientific practice of public health.

E-mentoring in public health nursing practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Louise C; Devaney, Susan W; Kelly, Glenda L; Kuehn, Alice F

2008-09-01

Attrition in the public health nursing work force combined with a lack of faculty to teach public health prompted development of a "long-distance" learning project. Practicing associate degree nurses enrolled in an online course in population-based practice worked with experienced public health nurse "e-mentors." Student-mentor pairs worked through course assignments, shared public health nursing experiences, and problem-solved real-time public health issues. Nursing faculty served as coordinators for student learning and mentor support. Over 3 years, 38 student-mentor pairs participated in the project. Students reported they valued the expertise and guidance of their mentors. Likewise, mentors gained confidence in their practice and abilities to mentor. Issues related to distance learning and e-mentoring centered around use of technology and adequate time to communicate with one another. E-mentoring is a viable strategy to connect nurses to a learning, sharing environment while crossing the barriers of distance, agency isolation, and busy schedules.

Environmental, public health, and safety assessment of fuel pipelines and other freight transportation modes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strogen, Bret; Bell, Kendon; Breunig, Hanna; Zilberman, David

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Externalities are examined for pipelines, truck, rail, and barge. • Safety impact factors include incidences of injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. • Environmental impact factors include CO_2eq emissions and air pollution disease burden. • Externalities are estimated for constructing and operating a large domestic pipeline. • A large pipeline has lower cumulative impacts than other modes within ten years. - Abstract: The construction of pipelines along high-throughput fuel corridors can alleviate demand for rail, barge, and truck transportation. Pipelines have a very different externality profile than other freight transportation modes due to differences in construction, operation, and maintenance requirements; labor, energy, and material input intensity; location and profile of emissions from operations; and frequency and magnitude of environmental and safety incidents. Therefore, public policy makers have a strong justification to influence the economic viability of pipelines. We use data from prior literature and U.S. government statistics to estimate environmental, public health, and safety characterization factors for pipelines and other modes. In 2008, two pipeline companies proposed the construction of an ethanol pipeline from the Midwest to Northeast United States. This proposed project informs our case study of a 2735-km $3.5 billion pipeline (2009 USD), for which we evaluate potential long-term societal impacts including life-cycle costs, greenhouse gas emissions, employment, injuries, fatalities, and public health impacts. Although it may take decades to break even economically, and would result in lower cumulative employment, such a pipeline would likely have fewer safety incidents, pollution emissions, and health damages than the alternative multimodal system in less than ten years; these results stand even if comparing future cleaner ground transport modes to a pipeline that utilizes electricity produced from coal

Kierkegaard, Justification and the Integrity of Christian Education

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Andrew W.

2015-01-01

The doctrine of justification is frequently interpreted in a manner that excludes our active involvement in the drama of salvation. This reading has a detrimental effect on Christian education concerned to enable the learner's attentive, reasonable and responsible understanding of the Gospel. Taking its lead from Kierkegaard's account of…

First steps in the computation of root justifications

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Meyer, T

2010-08-01

Full Text Available in section 3. The method is based on the notion of root justifications which we define and discuss. The approach we describe is applicable to a wide class of DLs. We don’t provide a comprehensive formal introduction to DLs, but rather point the reader...

Social capital and health: implications for public health and epidemiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Lomas, J

1998-11-01

Public health and its "basic science", epidemiology, have become colonised by the individualistic ethic of medicine and economics. Despite a history in public health dating back to John Snow that underlined the importance of social systems for health, an imbalance has developed in the attention given to generating "social capital" compared to such things as modification of individual's risk factors. In an illustrative analysis comparing the potential of six progressively less individualised and more community-focused interventions to prevent deaths from heart disease, social support and measures to increase social cohesion faired well against more individual medical care approaches. In the face of such evidence public health professionals and epidemiologists have an ethical and strategic decision concerning the relative effort they give to increasing social cohesion in communities vs expanding access for individuals to traditional public health programs. Practitioners' relative efforts will be influenced by the kind of research that is being produced by epidemiologists and by the political climate of acceptability for voluntary individual "treatment" approaches vs universal policies to build "social capital". For epidemiologists to further our emerging understanding of the link between social capital and health they must confront issues in measurement, study design and analysis. For public health advocates to sensitise the political environment to the potential dividend from building social capital, they must confront the values that focus on individual-level causal models rather than models of social structure (dis)integration. The evolution of explanations for inequalities in health is used to illustrate the nature of the change in values.

Public Health Crisis in War and Conflict - Health Security in Aggregate.

Science.gov (United States)

Quinn, John; Zelený, Tomáš; Subramaniam, Rammika; Bencko, Vladimír

2017-03-01

Public health status of populations is multifactorial and besides other factors it is linked to war and conflict. Public health crisis can erupt when states go to war or are invaded; health security may be reduced for affected populations. This study reviews in aggregate multiple indices of human security, human development and legitimacy of the state in order to describe a predictable global health portrait. Paradigm shift of large global powers to that non-state actors and proxies impact regional influence through scaled conflict and present major global health challenges for policy makers. Small scale conflict with large scale violence threatens health security for at-risk populations. The paper concludes that health security is directly proportional to state security. Copyright© by the National Institute of Public Health, Prague 2017

[Global Public Health - Results of the Working Group 3 of the Forum Future Public Health, Berlin 2016].

Science.gov (United States)

Razum, Oliver; Zeeb, Hajo

2017-11-01

In the age of globalization, few health issues remain "local". For example, neither infectious diseases nor climate change stop at national borders, and hence cannot be controlled only within the nation state. The same applies to smoking and nutritional behaviors that affect health and are influenced by multinational companies and transnational policies. Therefore, public health needs to develop strategies and interventions that are not restricted to the nation state alone. This also applies to public health in Germany that needs a stronger global health perspective. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Innovation and motivation in public health professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

García-Goñi, Manuel; Maroto, Andrés; Rubalcaba, Luis

2007-12-01

Innovations in public health services promote increases in the health status of the population. Therefore, it is a major concern for health policy makers to understand the drivers of innovation processes. This paper focuses on the differences in behaviour of managers and front-line employees in the pro-innovative provision of public health services. We utilize a survey conducted on front-line employees and managers in public health institutions across six European countries. The survey covers topics related to satisfaction, or attitude towards innovation or their institution. We undertake principal components analysis and analysis of variance, and estimate a multinomial ordered probit model to analyse the existence of different behaviour in managers and front-line employees with respect to innovation. Perception of innovation is different for managers and front-line employees in public health institutions. While front-line employees' attitude depends mostly on the overall performance of the institution, managers feel more involved and motivated, and their behaviour depends more on individual and organisational innovative profiles. It becomes crucial to make both managers and front-line employees at public health institutions feel participative and motivated in order to maximise the benefits of technical or organisational innovative process in the health services provision.

[Workplace health promotion in public health policies in Poland].