65 research outputs found
The Added Value of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Interventions to Mass Drug Administration for Reducing the Prevalence of Trachoma: A Systematic Review Examining
No full textTrachoma is the leading cause of infectious blindness worldwide. The SAFE strategy, the World Health Organization-recommended method to eliminate blinding trachoma, combines developments in water, sanitation, surgery, and antibiotic treatment. Current literature does not focus on the comprehensive effect these components have on one another. The present systematic review analyzes the added benefit of water, sanitation, and hygiene education interventions to preventive mass drug administration of azithromycin for trachoma. Trials were identified from the PubMed database using a series of search terms. Three studies met the complete criteria for inclusion. Though all studies found a significant change in reduction of active trachoma prevalence, the research is still too limited to suggest the impact of the “F” and “E” components on trachoma prevalence and ultimately its effects on blindness.Originally published in:
Anyess Travers, Sheryl Strasser, Stephanie L. Palmer, and Christine Stauber, “The Added Value of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Interventions to Mass Drug Administration for Reducing the Prevalence of Trachoma: A Systematic Review Examining,” Journal of Environmental and Public Health, vol. 2013, Article ID 682093, 10 pages, 2013. doi:10.1155/2013/682093</p
The healing touch: spiritual healing in England, c.1870-1955
No full textThis thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of spiritual healing in England in its various different guises during the late-nineteenth and early- to mid-twentieth centuries. It considers the interplay between the various spiritual healing groups themselves and between their philosophies and practices and orthodox medical theory more generally. The first half examines how spiritual healing was conceptualised by those who practised it - who spiritual healers were, what they believed and how they defined illness and healing. The specific therapeutic techniques used by healers are delineated, and the themes of touch and morality explored in detail. The second half of this thesis then examines how spiritual healing was perceived by the religious and medical establishments, and explores their co-operational discourse. Firstly, the reaction of the orthodox Christian churches to spiritual healing and their fractured and inherently conservative attempts to utilise it as a means of revitalising orthodox Christianity are analysed. The final chapters then chart the chronological relationship between spiritual healing and orthodox medicine during three specific periods, and explore the way in which spiritual healing intersected and impacted upon medical reactions to the new psychology of the twentieth century
Characteristics of African American Adolescent Females Who Use Emergency Contraception
No full textUnintended pregnancy remains to be a public health priority for adolescents as there are a myriad of negative social and developmental consequences for both young mothers and their children. The goal of this study was to examine associations of individual-level determinants of health with sexual risk behaviors and protective factors among a sample of African American female adolescents. African American adolescent females were recruited from sexual health clinics to participate in a cross-sectional survey at 18 months post-participation in a STD/HIV prevention trial. Surveys were administered using Audio Computer Assisted Self Interview (ACASI). Statistical analyses were run to determine associations of protective and sexual risk behaviors with age, education, household income status, sexual history, other contraception use and knowledge of emergency contraception (EC). A total of 410 surveys were included in the analyses. (N=410; mean age=19.06) Almost sixteen percent (n=65) of participants reported ever using emergency contraception. Bivariate analyses indicated that EC use among African American female adolescents was significantly associated with age, education level, job status, receipt of government assistance, age at first sex, knowledge of EC availability and number of average condom errors. The findings in this study are consistent with previous studies exploring social determinants and their relationship to sexual health practices among high risk populations. The findings of this study could be used to design effective pregnancy prevention initiatives including EC education and promotion targeting specific segments of the African American adolescent female population that may be at a greater risk for unintended pregnancies
An investigation of the liquid crystalline thermal and optical properties of random copolymers and homopolymers
No full textThermal analysis was used to characterize a number of aliphatic and aromatic copolymers and homopolymers. Dif-ferential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and polarizing optical microscopy were used to obtain therma1 properties of interest to us: the glass transit ion temperature (Tg), the melting point (Tm), and the decomposition temperature (T^). The liquid crystalline properties of the polymers were examined using polarizing optical microscopy. Poly[oxy(2-chloro-l,4-phenylene)oxycarbonyl-1,4-bicy- clo [2.2.2] oct y 1 enecar bony 1 - c o-o xy ( 2 - ch 1 o r o -1,4 - phe ny 1- ene)oxysebacoyl ], poly[oxy(2-methy1-1,4-phenylene)oxy- terephthaloyl-co-oxy(2-methyl-l,4-phenylene)oxy-l,4-cyclo- hexanediacetoy1 ] 60:40, poly[oxy(2-methy1-1,4-pheny1ene) oxyterephthaloyl-co-oxymethylene-1,4-cyclohexylenemethyl- eneoxyterephtha1oy 1 ]50:50, poly[oxy(2-pheny1-1,4-pheny1- ene)oxy-carbonyl-l,4-bicyclo[2.2.2]octylenecarbonyl-co- oxyethyleneoxycarbonyl-l,4-bicyclo[2.2.2]octylenecarbonyl], and poly[oxy(2-bromo-l,4-phenylene)oxycarbonyl-l,4-blcy- clo[2.2.2 ] octylenecarbonyl-co-oxy(2-bromo-l,4-phenyl- ene)oxysebacoyl ] were found to exhibit liquid crystalline properties
An Evaluation of the State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System: Cross-Promoting Healthy People 2020
No full textThe State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System is an interactive web-based application and data tool providing up-to-date state-level information related to tobacco use. Indicators in STATE present data related to current and former tobacco use, smoking cessation, funding, tobacco-related health costs, and tobacco control policies. The STATE System also serves as a primary data source for many objectives in Healthy People 2020’s Tobacco Use chapter. Currently, there is no common thread between access to information pertaining to Healthy People 2020 objectives and STATE System data. For this reason, a comprehensive evaluation was conducted of the STATE System’s individual reports and static web-content as it relates to Healthy People 2020 objectives. Implications for research and evaluation are intended to educate the Office on Smoking and Health’s staff & colleagues in the states, networks, and territories on identifiable, cross-promotional opportunities that highlight both state and national data
Needs Assessment for the Development of a Community Clinic: A Tool Kit for Untrained Community Workers in Renacimiento, Mexico
No full textBackground: Renacimiento, Mexico in the state of Nuevo Leon is home to approximately 1,000 families who currently experience a host of social, health, and community challenges that span both rural and urban Mexico. The state has committed to initiate the construction of a community health clinic.
Methodology: In preparing for the clinic, a needs assessment instrument and associated materials were developed for community members and volunteers to administer to residents within Nuevo Leon.
Results: A culturally sensitive survey instrument and associated documents were created with consideration for low-literacy participants and with a wide variety of topics in the areas of individual, women’s, children’s and community health.
Conclusions: The creation of this needs assessment survey provide insight to stakeholders in Mexico and abroad who stand to benefit from learning what community residents’ perceive as their greatest needs. The results from the survey will provide the first ever documentation of this unique community’s health status and will demonstrate areas of need within which the community health clinic can focus their efforts
Assessing the Impact of the Department of Health (DHS) Division of Aging Services’ At-risk Adult Crime Tactics (ACT) Certification on Professionals
No full textBackground: Adults over 60 years of age in the United States are increasing in total percentage of the population and will continue to do so as each wave of the post-war, baby-boom generation enters older adulthood. Though elder mistreatment (EM) has undoubtedly been a public health problem for years, only recently has it been recognized as such. Violence prevention programs that focus on EM are needed to curb this rising epidemic. One such program, the At-Risk Adult Crime Tactics (ACT) Certification Training, is an at-risk, adult (elderly or disabled adults) prevention program designed to increase professional awareness of this population and equip primary and secondary responders (all mandated reporters) with the knowledge and skills to address the needs of Georgia’s at-risk adult crime victims.
Methodology: In order to assess the effectiveness of the ACT training, an invitation was emailed to 482 individuals who had previously completed the ACT Certification Training, inviting them to complete an (approximately) 20 minute, 41-question, online survey. Data analyses were performed to determine if these various professionals had, post ACT training, increased knowledge regarding at-risk adult abuse, increased interagency collaboration, changed management of cases involving at-risk adults, and felt that workshop topics presented during training were helpful in their profession. The survey also collected information on seven demographic indicators, and correlation analyses were run to determine their influence on survey responses. A p-value of \u3c .05 was used to determine statistical significance of the analyses performed.
Results: Of the 482 professionals surveyed, 176 surveys were used for this research (a response rate of slightly over thirty-six percent). Results show that, post ACT training, respondents’ reported significantly increased levels of knowledge regarding all at-risk abuse topics, significantly increased interagency collaboration across all included agencies, significant change in case management of at-risk adults, significant levels of helpfulness on all workshop topics presented during ACT training. Furthermore, demographic analyses found significant negative correlations between extent of change in case management of at-risk adults and the demographic indicators of education and age. Also, a positive correlation was found between reported level of helpfulness on one workshop topic (community resources) and the service area of respondents.
Conclusions: Though the results of this survey are quite positive, more surveys need to be conducted on future classes of ACT training graduates to determine the validity of this study’s results. Moreover, in order to truly substantiate claims that ACT training prevents EM and other at-risk adult abuse, research must be conducted to document the link between this prevention program and improvements in EM outcomes
An Evaluation of a Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Program in Rural Communities Outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti
No full textBackground: In 2010, a massive earthquake left the capitol Port-au-Prince in ruins and destroyed infrastructure providing electricity, piped clean water, and waste removal to the region. Water, sanitation, and hygiene intervention programs attempt to reduce the burden of water-related disease in earthquake-affected regions. However, there are few evaluations of these programs, especially following natural disasters.
Methods: Data provided by Samaritan’s Purse Canada’s WASH program were examined. The data set included a household (N=1198) and a latrine (N=167) survey that recorded household use of laundry pads, bath houses, hand-pumped drilled wells, health and hygiene education sessions, and latrines as well as demographic data. Data analysis was conducted in IBM SPSS Version 20.0. Descriptive statistics were computed, and statistical relationships were analyzed for 1.) Health and hygiene education session attendance and program outcomes and 2.) Household diarrheal disease and program interventions
Results: This study found that households attending any of four health and hygiene sessions were significantly more likely to use program-provided bath houses and hand-pumped wells (p\u3c0.05). Attendance was also significantly associated with increased knowledge of diarrheal disease prevention and hand washing technique. Households using the program-provided hand pump reported lower rates of diarrhea in children under five years old.
Discussion: This study concluded that health and hygiene session attendance is positively associated with the utilization of program interventions. However, further improvements in data collection methodology are needed to fully understand the effects of this multi-intervention WASH program on target communities
Promoting Older Adults\u27 Health through Policy
No full textThe purpose of this capstone project was to develop the content for an online training module entitled Promoting Older Adults’ Health through Policy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Aging and Health Work Group was interested in complementing their workshop, Promoting Older Adults’ Health: Opportunities and Resources for CDC Professionals with an online training module on aging and policy.
This project highlights significant pieces of U.S. legislation that promotes older adults’ health and draws attention to emerging policy, systems, and environmental changes on the horizon. An anticipated short-term outcome is a demonstrated sensitivity to population aging in all CDC centers, divisions, programs, and initiatives. Similarly, an anticipated long-term outcome is growth in the number, quality, and scope of collaborative efforts across CDC centers, divisions, programs, and initiatives that focus on older adults’ health.
Two perspectives, “Healthy Aging” and “Successful Aging,” provide the foundation for a discussion of legislation and policies oriented towards older adults’ health. Various policy frameworks, i.e., cost-benefit, problem, political, vision, and a futures policy approach frame the discussion of policy development. Significant legislation that promotes older adults’ health, i.e., Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Older Americans Act of 1965 provide a historical context for a discussion of emerging policy, systems, and environmental changes that promise even greater advances. The mobility challenge for older adults as a population group in the U.S. provides the thematic thrust of this section of the module. Examples of CDC’s work exploring the link between older adults’ health and mobility, the built environment, and emergency preparedness are highlighted based on several criteria: burden of the problem, preventability, relationship to other CDC initiatives, and usefulness to practitioners are critical considerations.
The module also discusses how legislation and policies designed to promote health aging also improve the quality of life for all population groups. Policies focused on healthy aging lay the groundwork for an integration of a “health in all policies” approach (World Health Organization/ WHO, 2006), working in tandem with the “health for all” framework (WHO, 1998) and the “society for all ages” construct (United Nations, 1999)
Victimization of the Elderly: An Application of Lifestyles/Routine Activities Theory
No full textThe study of victimization among the elderly crosses multiple disciplines. A large body of research focuses on identifying the nature of and risk factors for elder abuse, while theory has remained relatively underdeveloped in the elder abuse literature. In comparison, the criminological literature is characterized by a plethora of theoretically-driven studies that explore the causes of crime and victimization. Criminology, however, is heavily focused on crimes committed by and against younger individuals. The current study filled a gap in both bodies of work by using the lifestyles/routine activities theoretical (L/RAT) framework, a widely-used criminological perspective, to understand victimization risk among a sample of 1,257 younger and older adults. Using multivariate logistic regression models, it was found that age was a significant predictor of victimization risk. Consistent with findings from the criminological literature, victimization risk generally declines with age. Findings also suggested that the effects of L/RAT variables vary across offense type, as well as across the lifecourse. Implications for theoretical development, policy, and practice are discussed, as well as directions for future research
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