Promoting Health Literacy through the Health Education Assessment Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marx, Eva; Hudson, Nancy; Deal, Tami B.; Pateman, Beth; Middleton, Kathleen

2007-01-01

Background: The Council of Chief State School Officers' State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards Health Education Assessment Project (SCASS-HEAP) allows states to pool financial and human resources to develop effective ready-to-use health education assessment resources through a collaborative process. The purpose of this article is…

[Outcomes evaluation of the school staff health promotion project].

PubMed

Woynarowska-Sołdan, Magdalena

This article presents selected outcomes of a 3-year project "Health promotion of school staff in health-promoting schools," as well as the achievements and difficulties in its implementation. The research was conducted on 644 teachers and 226 members of non-teaching staff in 21 schools. The method involved opinion poll and authored questionnaires. A 2-part model of outcome evaluation was developed. Most participants appreciated the changes that took place within the 3 years of the project implementation. These included the improved level of their knowledge about health, health-conducive behaviors (62-93%) and the physical and social environment of the school (50-92%). Changes were more frequently acknowledged by teachers. About 80% of the participants had a positive attitude to the project, but only 20% assessed their involvement as considerable. About 90% believed that health promotion activities should be continued. According to the project leaders, insufficient support and financial resources, and difficulties in motivating school employees, particularly the nonteaching staff, to undertake health-promotion activities were the major handicaps in the project implementation. The project outcomes can be assessed as satisfying. They revealed that it is posssible to initiate health promotion among school staff. This can be effective on condition that participants are motivated, actively engaged in the project and supported by the head teacher and the local community. Necessarily, school leaders should be prepared to promote health among adults and to gain support from school policy decision makers, school administration, trade unions and universities involved in teacher training. Med Pr 2016;67(2):187-200. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

Final Evaluation Report for Minneapolis Health and Nutrition Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guardian Resource Development, Inc., St. Paul, Minn.

The social, mental and physical health of children in target Minneapolis Schools has been carefully studied. The intent of this project was to design and implement a program which would improve health. This report discusses the progress of the project for the first year. The project's activities centered around planning, needs assessment and…

eHealth for Remote Regions: Findings from Central Asia Health Systems Strengthening Project.

PubMed

Sajwani, Afroz; Qureshi, Kiran; Shaikh, Tehniat; Sayani, Saleem

2015-01-01

Isolated communities in remote regions of Afghanistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan and Tajikistan lack access to high-quality, low-cost health care services, forcing them to travel to distant parts of the country, bearing an unnecessary financial burden. The eHealth Programme under Central Asia Health Systems Strengthening (CAHSS) Project, a joint initiative between the Aga Khan Foundation, Canada and the Government of Canada, was initiated in 2013 with the aim to utilize Information and Communication Technologies to link health care institutions and providers with rural communities to provide comprehensive and coordinated care, helping minimize the barriers of distance and time. Under the CAHSS Project, access to low-cost, quality health care is provided through a regional hub and spoke teleconsultation network of government and non-government health facilities. In addition, capacity building initiatives are offered to health professionals. By 2017, the network is expected to connect seven Tier 1 tertiary care facilities with 14 Tier 2 secondary care facilities for teleconsultation and eLearning. From April 2013 to September 2014, 6140 teleconsultations have been provided across the project sites. Additionally, 52 new eLearning sessions have been developed and 2020 staff members have benefitted from eLearning sessions. Ethics and patient rights are respected during project implementation.

Kentucky Allied Health Project Final Report: A State System for Allied Health Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kentucky State Council on Higher Education, Frankfort.

The accomplishments of the Kentucky Allied Health Project, which implemented a model articulated system of allied health education, are described. The system included plans to promote transition from one education level to another and articulation in educational planning and resource utilization. The project has greatly increased…

Project-induced displacement, secondary stressors, and health.

PubMed

Cao, Yue; Hwang, Sean-Shong; Xi, Juan

2012-04-01

It has been estimated that about 15 million people are displaced by development projects around the world each year. Despite the magnitude of people affected, research on the health and other impacts of project-induced displacement is rare. This study extends existing knowledge by exploring the short-term health impact of a large scale population displacement resulting from China's Three Gorges Dam Project. The study is theoretically guided by the stress process model, but we supplement it with Cernea's impoverishment risks and reconstruction (IRR) model widely used in displacement literature. Our panel analysis indicates that the displacement is associated positively with relocatees' depression level, and negatively with their self-rated health measured against a control group. In addition, a path analysis suggests that displacement also affects depression and self-rated health indirectly by changing social integration, socioeconomic status, and community resources. The importance of social integration as a protective mechanism, a factor that has been overlooked in past studies of population displacement, is highlighted in this study. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

PROJECT-INDUCED DISPLACEMENT, SECONDARY STRESSORS, AND HEALTH

PubMed Central

Cao, Yue; Hwang, Sean-Shong; Xi, Juan

2012-01-01

It has been estimated that about 15 million people are displaced by development projects around the world each year. Despite the magnitude of people affected, research on the health and other impacts of project-induced displacement is rare. This study extends existing knowledge by exploring the short-term health impact of a large scale population displacement resulting from China’s Three Gorges Dam Project. The study is theoretically guided by the stress process model, but we supplement it with Cernea’s Impoverishment Risks and Reconstruction (IRR) model widely used in displacement literature. Our panel analysis indicates that the displacement is associated positively with relocatees’ depression level, and negatively with their self-rated health measured against a control group. In addition, a path analysis suggests that displacement also affects depression and self-rated health indirectly by changing social integration, socioeconomic status, and community resources. The importance of social integration as a protective mechanism, a factor that has been overlooked in past studies of population displacement, is highlighted in this study. PMID:22341203

The integrated project: a promising promotional strategy for primary health care.

PubMed

Daniel, C; Mora, B

1985-10-01

The integrated project using parasite control and nutrition as entry points for family planning practice has shown considerable success in promoting health consciousness among health workers and project beneficiaries. This progress is evident in the Family Planning, Parasite Control and Nutrition (FAPPCAN) areas. The project has also mobilized technical and financial support from the local government as well as from private and civic organizations. The need for integration is underscored by the following considerations: parasite control has proved to be effective for preventive health care; the integrated project uses indigenous community health workers to accomplish its objectives; the primary health care (PHC) movement depends primarily on voluntary community participation and the integrated project has shown that it can elicit this participation. The major health problems in the Philippines are: a prevalence of communicable and other infectious diseases; poor evironmental sanitation; malnutrition; and a rapid population growth rate. The integrated program utilizes the existing village health workers in identifying problems related to family planning, parasite control and nutrition and integrates these activities into the health delivery system; educates family members on how to detect health and health-related problems; works out linkages with government agencies and the local primary health care committee in defining the scope of health-related problems; mobilizes community members to initiate their own projects; gets the commitment of village officials and committe members. The integrated project operates within the PHC. A health van with a built-in video playback system provides educational and logistical support to the village worker. The primary detection and treatment of health problems are part of the village health workers' responsibilities. Research determines the project's capability to reactivate the village primary health care committees and sustain

Researchers' experience with project management in health and medical research: Results from a post-project review

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Project management is widely used to deliver projects on time, within budget and of defined quality. However, there is little published information describing its use in managing health and medical research projects. We used project management in the Alcohol and Pregnancy Project (2006-2008) http://www.ichr.uwa.edu.au/alcoholandpregnancy and in this paper report researchers' opinions on project management and whether it made a difference to the project. Methods A national interdisciplinary group of 20 researchers, one of whom was the project manager, formed the Steering Committee for the project. We used project management to ensure project outputs and outcomes were achieved and all aspects of the project were planned, implemented, monitored and controlled. Sixteen of the researchers were asked to complete a self administered questionnaire for a post-project review. Results The project was delivered according to the project protocol within the allocated budget and time frame. Fifteen researchers (93.8%) completed a questionnaire. They reported that project management increased the effectiveness of the project, communication, teamwork, and application of the interdisciplinary group of researchers' expertise. They would recommend this type of project management for future projects. Conclusions Our post-project review showed that researchers comprehensively endorsed project management in the Alcohol and Pregnancy Project and agreed that project management had contributed substantially to the research. In future, we will project manage new projects and conduct post-project reviews. The results will be used to encourage continuous learning and continuous improvement of project management, and provide greater transparency and accountability of health and medical research. The use of project management can benefit both management and scientific outcomes of health and medical research projects. PMID:21635721

Project HealthDesign: enhancing action through information.

PubMed

Brennan, Patricia Flatley; Casper, Gail; Downs, Stephen; Aulahk, Veenu

2009-01-01

Project HealthDesign is a country-wide initiative in the United States designed to stimulate innovation in personal health records (PHRs). Nine grantee teams engaged in an 18-month long design and prototyping process. Two teams addressed the needs of children and adolescents; three created novel approaches to help adults prevent or manage metabolic syndrome; three groups employed interface innovations to assist patients with chronic care management and one team devised a novel calendaring system to assist patients undergoing complex medical/surgical treatments to integrate care processes into their daily lives. These projects not only included development and testing of novel personal health records applications, but also served as the starting point to specify and implement a common technical core platform. The project advanced PHR development in two key ways: intensive user-centered design and a development architecture that separates applications of PHRs from the infrastructure that supports them. The initiative also allowed systematic investigation of significant ethical, legal and social issues, including how privacy considerations are changed when information technology innovations are used in the home and the rebalancing of the authority structure of health care decision making when patient-centered approaches guide the design of PHRs.

Health Activities Project (HAP), Trial Edition III.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buller, Dave; And Others

Contained within this Health Activities Project (HAP) trial edition (set III) are a teacher information folio and numerous student activity folios which center around the idea that students in grades 5-8 can control their own health and safety. Each student folio is organized into an Overview, Health Background, Materials, Setting Up, and…

Camp for all connection: a community health information outreach project.

PubMed

Huber, Jeffrey T; Walsh, Teresa J; Varman, Beatriz

2005-07-01

The purpose of the Camp For All Connection project is to facilitate access to electronic health information resources at the Camp For All facility. Camp For All is a barrier-free camp working in partnership with organizations to enrich the lives of children and adults with chronic illnesses and disabilities and their families by providing camping and retreat experiences. The camp facility is located on 206 acres in Burton, Texas. The project partners are Texas Woman's University, Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library, and Camp For All. The Camp For All Connection project placed Internet-connected workstations at the camp's health center in the main lodge and provided training in the use of electronic health information resources. A train-the-trainer approach was used to provide training to Camp For All staff. Project workstations are being used by health care providers and camp staff for communication purposes and to make better informed health care decisions for Camp For All campers. A post-training evaluation was administered at the end of the train-the-trainer session. In addition, a series of site visits and interviews was conducted with camp staff members involved in the project. The site visits and interviews allowed for ongoing dialog between project staff and project participants.

Health Activities Project (HAP), Trial Edition II.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buller, Dave; And Others

Contained within this Health Activities Project (HAP) trial edition (set II) are a teacher information folio and numerous student activity folios which center around the idea that students in grades 5-8 can control their own health and safety. Each student folio is organized into a Synopsis, Health Background, Materials, Setting Up, and Activities…

Experiments in Mental Health Training. Project Summaries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silverstein, Sam, Ed.; And Others

This report contains summaries of mental health training projects conducted under grants awarded by the Experimental and Special Training Branch of the Division of Manpower and Training Programs. The projects have been developed in both academic and non-academic settings for professional, subprofessional, and nonprofessional training for a variety…

Practice points in utilizing local volunteers in community health projects.

PubMed

Muula, Adamson S; Theu, Joe; Hofman, Jan J

2004-07-01

Community volunteers are recruited for many health intervention projects. There are various motivations for the use of the volunteers and these include: the desire to reduce financial costs of projects/programmes; to encourage community ownership; ensure long-term sustainability of the health intervention; and to empower local communities through training offered the project. Health intervention measures working with community volunteers should not be implemented without due consideration of issues regarding mobilization and engagement, skills and motivation of the volunteers and their effectiveness and efficiency towards the attainment of the project goals. This paper discusses some tips that should be considered when community volunteers are used in resource-limited situations.

FLORIDA MIGRANT HEALTH PROJECT. FOURTH ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT, 1966-1967.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Florida State Board of Health, Jacksonville.

THE FOURTH ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT OF THE FLORIDA MIGRANT HEALTH PROJECT INDICATES THAT IN 1966-67 THERE WAS AN APPRECIABLE INCREASE IN THE AMOUNT AND VARIETY OF MIGRANT HEALTH SERVICES RENDERED, THE NUMBER OF MIGRANTS CONTACTED, AND THE ACTIVITIES PERFORMED BY PROJECT PERSONNEL. MIGRANT HEALTH SERVICE REFERRALS INCREASED BY 1,222 OVER THE SAME…

Poster project to emphasize public health in the pharmacy curriculum.

PubMed

Kelsch, Michael P; Werremeyer, Amy B

2011-02-10

To implement and assess a required public health poster project in a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program. Third-year PharmD students collaborated in pairs to research a public health topic relating to pharmacy practice. Each student group prepared an informational poster, while receiving feedback from a faculty mentor at each stage of the project. The students presented their completed posters at a statewide pharmacy conference. Faculty members evaluated the posters with a grading rubric, and students completed a survey instrument that assessed the overall experience. In general, faculty members rated the class highly across all domains of the grading rubric. The class generally agreed that the poster project increased their awareness of public health issues related to pharmacy practice, overall knowledge of public health, and presentation skills. The implementation of a poster project was well received by students and faculty members as an effective method for enhancing public health instruction in the PharmD program at North Dakota State University.

Health impairment of system engineers working on projects with heavy workload.

PubMed

Shimizui, Hayato; Ooshima, Kirika; Miki, Akiko; Matsushita, Yoshie; Hattori, Youji; Sugita, Minoru

2011-03-01

It has been reported that many system engineers must work hard to produce computer systems, and some of them suffer from health impairment due to their hard work. The purpose of the present cross-sectional study was to investigate the situation of impaired health status of system engineers in projects with high job strain. Countermeasures against health impairment of the subjects in the projects with high job strain in practices of occupational health fields are discussed. The study subjects were five superiors and their 35 subordinates working on computer system projects with high job strain at a large computer systems corporation in the Tokyo area. The control group was comprised of three superiors and their 18 subordinates in the same corporation. From July to November, 2006, the above were interviewed by six occupational health nurses, who evaluated their health and recorded their health evaluation scores. The problems involved in producing the computer systems were sometimes very difficult to solve, even if they spent long hours working on them. The present study detected a tendency showing that healthy superiors' subordinates were unhealthy and unhealthy superiors' subordinates were healthy in the overload projects with high job strain, while this was not detected in the control groups. A few employees whose health deteriorated were faced with very hard jobs in the overload projects. This means that heavy workloads were unevenly distributed in the overload projects among superiors, and their subordinates, and the health of a few members with heavy workloads deteriorated due to the heavy workload. In order to improve such a situation, it may be important not only to commit the necessary number of employees whose working ability is high to the section but also to even the workload in the overload project by informing all members of the project the health impairment of a few members due to heavy workload, from the viewpoint of the practice of occupational health

The Journey Project: a case study in providing health information to mitigate health disparities

PubMed Central

Leisey, Monica

2009-01-01

The Journey Project, part of the Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries' Social Work Information Specialist in Context Fellowship, was designed to merge social work and consumer health librarianship skills in order to improve the provision of health information to patients. A resource notebook was created encompassing the many dimensions of cancer health information. A social work informationist distributed the notebooks and provided individualized consultations with respect to patients' health information needs. Areas of congruence as well as key differences between social work and consumer health librarianship emerged during the course of the project. Merging the two professions into the role of a social work informationist increased the ability to attend holistically to clients' health information needs. PMID:19159008

The Current and Projected Taxpayer Shares of US Health Costs.

PubMed

Himmelstein, David U; Woolhandler, Steffie

2016-03-01

We estimated taxpayers' current and projected share of US health expenditures, including government payments for public employees' health benefits as well as tax subsidies to private health spending. We tabulated official Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services figures on direct government spending for health programs and public employees' health benefits for 2013, and projected figures through 2024. We calculated the value of tax subsidies for private spending from official federal budget documents and figures for state and local tax collections. Tax-funded health expenditures totaled $1.877 trillion in 2013 and are projected to increase to $3.642 trillion in 2024. Government's share of overall health spending was 64.3% of national health expenditures in 2013 and will rise to 67.1% in 2024. Government health expenditures in the United States account for a larger share of gross domestic product (11.2% in 2013) than do total health expenditures in any other nation. Contrary to public perceptions and official Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates, government funds most health care in the United States. Appreciation of government's predominant role in health funding might encourage more appropriate and equitable targeting of health expenditures.

National Health Expenditures: Short-Term Outlook and Long-Term Projections

PubMed Central

Freeland, Mark S.; Schendler, Carol Ellen

1981-01-01

This paper presents projections of national health expenditures by type of expenditure and source of funds for 1981, 1985, and 1990. Rapid growth in national health expenditures is projected to continue through 1990. National health expenditures increased 400 percent between 1965 and 1979, reaching $212 billion in 1979. As a proportion of the Gross National Product (GNP), health expenditures rose from 6.1 percent to 9.0 percent between 1965 and 1979. They are expected to continue to rise, reaching 10.8 percent by 1990. This study projects that, under current legislation, national health expenditures will reach $279 billion in 1981, $462 billion in 1985, and $821 billion in 1990. Sources of payments for these expenditures are shifting. From 1965 to 1979, the percentage of total health expenditures financed by public funds increased 17 percentage points—from 26 to 43 percent. The Federal share of public funds during this same period grew rapidly, from 51 percent in 1965 to 67 percent in 1979. This study projects that in 1985 approximately 45 percent of total health spending will be financed from public funds, of which 68 percent will be paid for by the Federal government. Public funds will account for 46 percent of total national health expenditures by 1990. PMID:10309366

Including Health in Environmental Assessments of Major Transport Infrastructure Projects: A Documentary Analysis

PubMed Central

Riley, Emily; Harris, Patrick; Kent, Jennifer; Sainsbury, Peter; Lane, Anna; Baum, Fran

2018-01-01

Background: Transport policy and practice impacts health. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) are regulated public policy mechanisms that can be used to consider the health impacts of major transport projects before they are approved. The way health is considered in these environmental assessments (EAs) is not well known. This research asked: How and to what extent was human health considered in EAs of four major transport projects in Australia. Methods: We developed a comprehensive coding framework to analyse the Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) of four transport infrastructure projects: three road and one light rail. The coding framework was designed to capture how health was directly and indirectly included. Results: We found that health was partially considered in all four EISs. In the three New South Wales (NSW) projects, but not the one South Australian project, this was influenced by the requirements issued to proponents by the government which directed the content of the EIS. Health was assessed using human health risk assessment (HHRA). We found this to be narrow in focus and revealed a need for a broader social determinants of health approach, using multiple methods. The road assessments emphasised air quality and noise risks, concluding these were minimal or predicted to improve. The South Australian project was the only road project not to include health data explicitly. The light rail EIS considered the health benefits of the project whereas the others focused on risk. Only one project considered mental health, although in less detail than air quality or noise. Conclusion: Our findings suggest EIAs lag behind the known evidence linking transport infrastructure to health. If health is to be comprehensively included, a more complete model of health is required, as well as a shift away from health risk assessment as the main method used. This needs to be mandatory for all significant developments. We also found that considering health only at

UMDNJ school of nursing mobile healthcare project: a component of the New Jersey Children's Health Project.

PubMed

McNeal, Gloria J

2008-01-01

This article describes a mobile ambulatory care nurse-managed center on wheels designed to address the healthcare needs of at-risk inner city residents. A grant-funded initiative, the Project uniquely joins nursing academe with community-based organizations in a partnership that brings healthcare services directly to those communities most in need. In addition to providing healthcare services, the Project serves as a site for faculty practice and community clinical rotations for nursing and medical students. The broad objectives of this nurse-faculty managed mobile healthcare project are: (1) to screen, identify and provide health promotion/disease management services for at-risk populations, (2) to foster community involvement in the health assessment and referral process; and, (3) to provide culturally and linguistically sensitive health promotion/disease management health education.

Health-promoting residential aged care: a pilot project in Austria.

PubMed

Krajic, Karl; Cichocki, Martin; Quehenberger, Viktoria

2015-09-01

Long-term care for the aged is an area that has not been in the focus of health promotion so far. The paper describes context, concept and project plan of a 2-year pilot project of comprehensive health-promoting setting development in residential aged care in Austria, and provides an overview over main experiences and results. Austria's most relevant health promotion agencies, a specialized scientific institute and Austria's largest provider of aged care acted as partners. The project aimed at developing elements of a comprehensive approach, but also providing evidence for the effectiveness of health promotion. Therefore, the project combined an organizational development approach with a scientific, randomized controlled study on mobility enhancement for residents. A comprehensive settings approach turned out acceptable for the main stakeholders of aged care (owners and management, staff, residents and residents' relatives). Strategy development, based on a systematic needs assessment, found staff health to be of special interest for the organization (ergonomics, workability over life course), and residents' relatives, got more attention. The mobility study was able to achieve positive results on occupational performance, concerning quality-of-life indicators and reached also formerly inactive groups. After the end of the project, health promotion is still on the agenda of the organization; further developments will be monitored. Good support from the policy level and well-established networking between the aged care provider, health promotion agencies and a network for health promotion in health care seems to have been an important resource for success. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The girlpower project--recreation, BC health goals and social capital.

PubMed

Higgins, J W; Reed, N

2001-01-01

'GirlPower,' a participatory action research project, explored how participation in recreation might contribute to the achievement of BC's Health Goals and nurture social capital. After identifying their health issues, up to 43 young women participated in recreational activities for 10 months, gradually taking responsibility for the planning of the weekly sessions. Data collection methods included weekly participation rates, two surveys to measure self-perceptions and health habits, focus groups with participants to assess needs and as a process evaluation tool, a qualitative summative evaluation with participants, key informant interviews with staff, a journal kept by the project leader and fieldnotes of researchers' observations. Quantitative findings did not support the propositions that the project contributed to the health of participants. However, analysis of the qualitative data suggests that GirlPower participants emerged from the project with a better sense of control over their lives and feeling more connected to their community.

Cardiovascular Health Behavior and Health Factor Changes (1988 –2008) and Projections to 2020

PubMed Central

Huffman, Mark D.; Capewell, Simon; Ning, Hongyan; Shay, Christina M.; Ford, Earl S.; Lloyd-Jones, Donald M.

2014-01-01

Background The American Heart Association’s 2020 Strategic Impact Goals target a 20% relative improvement in overall cardiovascular health with the use of 4 health behavior (smoking, diet, physical activity, body mass) and 3 health factor (plasma glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure) metrics. We sought to define current trends and forward projections to 2020 in cardiovascular health. Methods and Results We included 35 059 cardiovascular disease–free adults (aged ≥20 years) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1988–1994 and subsequent 2-year cycles during 1999–2008. We calculated population prevalence of poor, intermediate, and ideal health behaviors and factors and also computed a composite, individual-level Cardiovascular Health Score for all 7 metrics (poor=0 points; intermediate=1 point; ideal=2 points; total range, 0–14 points). Prevalence of current and former smoking, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension declined, whereas prevalence of obesity and dysglycemia increased through 2008. Physical activity levels and low diet quality scores changed minimally. Projections to 2020 suggest that obesity and impaired fasting glucose/diabetes mellitus could increase to affect 43% and 77% of US men and 42% and 53% of US women, respectively. Overall, population-level cardiovascular health is projected to improve by 6% overall by 2020 if current trends continue. Individual-level Cardiovascular Health Score projections to 2020 (men=7.4 [95% confidence interval, 5.7–9.1]; women=8.8 [95% confidence interval, 7.6–9.9]) fall well below the level needed to achieve a 20% improvement (men=9.4; women=10.1). Conclusions The American Heart Association 2020 target of improving cardiovascular health by 20% by 2020 will not be reached if current trends continue. PMID:22547667

Poster Project to Emphasize Public Health in the Pharmacy Curriculum

PubMed Central

Werremeyer, Amy B.

2011-01-01

Objective To implement and assess a required public health poster project in a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program. Design Third-year PharmD students collaborated in pairs to research a public health topic relating to pharmacy practice. Each student group prepared an informational poster, while receiving feedback from a faculty mentor at each stage of the project. The students presented their completed posters at a statewide pharmacy conference. Assessment Faculty members evaluated the posters with a grading rubric, and students completed a survey instrument that assessed the overall experience. In general, faculty members rated the class highly across all domains of the grading rubric. The class generally agreed that the poster project increased their awareness of public health issues related to pharmacy practice, overall knowledge of public health, and presentation skills. Conclusion The implementation of a poster project was well received by students and faculty members as an effective method for enhancing public health instruction in the PharmD program at North Dakota State University. PMID:21451754

The Current and Projected Taxpayer Shares of US Health Costs

PubMed Central

Woolhandler, Steffie

2016-01-01

Objectives. We estimated taxpayers’ current and projected share of US health expenditures, including government payments for public employees’ health benefits as well as tax subsidies to private health spending. Methods. We tabulated official Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services figures on direct government spending for health programs and public employees’ health benefits for 2013, and projected figures through 2024. We calculated the value of tax subsidies for private spending from official federal budget documents and figures for state and local tax collections. Results. Tax-funded health expenditures totaled $1.877 trillion in 2013 and are projected to increase to $3.642 trillion in 2024. Government’s share of overall health spending was 64.3% of national health expenditures in 2013 and will rise to 67.1% in 2024. Government health expenditures in the United States account for a larger share of gross domestic product (11.2% in 2013) than do total health expenditures in any other nation. Conclusions. Contrary to public perceptions and official Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates, government funds most health care in the United States. Appreciation of government’s predominant role in health funding might encourage more appropriate and equitable targeting of health expenditures. PMID:26794173

Metabolic Networks Integrative Cardiac Health Project (ICHP) - Center of Excellence

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-08-01

Award Number: TITLE: Metabolic Networks Integrative Cardiac Health Project (ICHP) - Center of Excellence PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: COL (Ret) Marina N...2016 2. REPORT TYPE FINAL 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 29 Sep 2011 – 31 May 2016 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE "Metabolic Networks Integrative Cardiac Health...ABSTRACT The Integrative Cardiac Health Project (ICHP) aims to lead the way in Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Prevention by conducting novel research

Health Activities Project (HAP): Action/Reaction Module.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buller, Dave; And Others

Contained within this Health Activities Project (HAP) learning packet are activities for children in grades 5-8. Design of the activities centers around the idea that students can control their own health and safety. Within this module are teacher and student folios describing activities in timing, improving, and practicing to improve reaction…

Recent health sciences library building projects.

PubMed Central

Ludwig, L

1993-01-01

The Medical Library Association's third annual survey of recent health sciences library building projects identified fourteen libraries planning, expanding, or constructing new library facilities. Three of five new library buildings are freestanding structures where the library occupies all or a major portion of the space. The two other new facilities are for separately administered units where the library is a major tenant. Nine projects involve additions to or renovations of existing space. Six projects are in projected, predesign, or design stages or are awaiting funding approval. This paper describes four projects that illustrate technology's growing effect on librarians and libraries. They are designed to accommodate change, a plethora of electronic gear, and easy use of technology. Outwardly, they do not look much different than many other modern buildings. But, inside, the changes have been dramatic although they have evolved slowly as the building structure has been adapted to new conditions. Images PMID:8251970

Health Education Field Experience Stories: A Reflective, Digital, Performance-Based Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lyde, Adrian R.

2012-01-01

This article describes a reflective, systematic, performance-based project resulting in the development of a digital story about a community health education field experience. The project is designed for preservice health education students at the college/university level. The primary benefit of the project is that it challenges students to engage…

Validation Report for the Title IV-C Health Through Science Project, 1979-80.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLean, James E.; And Others

Three objectives were identified regarding the Health Through Science Project, a comprehensive K-12 health project designed to increase student knowledge and understanding of health topic. Topics composing the core curriculum of the project were nutrition, safety, family living skills, personal hygiene and health, and human reproduction. Upon full…

Innovative health systems projects.

PubMed

Green, Michael; Amad, Mansoor; Woodland, Mark

2015-02-01

Residency programmes struggle with the systems-based practice and improvement competency promoted by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The development of Innovative Health Systems Projects (IHelP) was driven by the need for better systems-based initiatives at an institutional level. Our objective was to develop a novel approach that successfully incorporates systems-based practice in our Graduate Medical Education (GME) programmes, while tracking our impact on health care delivery as an academic medical centre. We started the IHelP programme as a 'volunteer initiative' in 2010. A detailed description of the definition, development and implementation of the IHelP programme, along with our experience of the first year, is described. Residents, fellows and faculty mentors all played an important role in establishing the foundation of this initiative. Following the positive response, we have now incorporated IHelP into all curricula as a graduating requirement. IHelP has promoted scholarly activity and faculty mentorship, [and] has improved aspects of patient care and safety A total of 123 residents and fellows, representing 26 specialties, participated. We reviewed 145 projects that addressed topics ranging from administrative and departmental improvements to clinical care algorithms. The projects by area of focus were: patient care - clinical care, 38 per cent; patient care - quality, 27 per cent; resident education, 21 per cent; and a cumulative 16 per cent among pharmacy, department activities, patient education, medical records and clinical facility. We are pleased with the results of our first year of incorporating a systems-based improvement programme into the GME programmes. This initiative has promoted scholarly activity and faculty mentorship, has improved aspects of patient care and safety, and has led to the development of many practical innovations. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Health Activities Project (HAP): Breathing Fitness Module.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buller, Dave; And Others

Contained within this Health Activities Project (HAP) learning packet are activities for children in grades 5-8. Design of the activities centers around the idea that students can control their own health and safety. Within this module are teacher and student folios describing four activities which involve students in learning how to measure their…

The green choices project: integrating environmental health education into reproductive health care settings.

PubMed

Worthington, Sandra; Armstrong, Kay; Debevec, Elie

2010-01-01

A national reproductive health organization developed the Green Choices project to educate staff and clients about how to live in healthier environments by reducing potentially harmful environmental exposures to toxicants. An advisory group, comprised of experts in environmental and reproductive health and literacy, defined the project's scope and common environmental exposures to address. The following educational materials were developed: an online staff environmental health 101 curriculum, an environmental health assessment tool for clients to identify their potential risks, and information sheets for each environmental exposure that described potential risks and ways to reduce risks. Beta-testing methods included baseline and follow-up surveys, one-on-one interviews, focus groups, and recommendations from experts. Staff and client feedback on the educational materials resulted in increased clarity, sensitivity, relevancy, and appeal. Environmental health experts ensured accuracy of information, and reading experts lowered the reading level from 12th to 6th grade. A campaign to disseminate environmental health information and educational materials nationally is under way.

Evaluation of the Florida coordinated school health program pilot schools project.

PubMed

Weiler, Robert M; Pigg, R Morgan; McDermott, Robert J

2003-01-01

The Florida Department of Education, with CDC funding, designed the Florida Coordinated School Health Program Pilot Schools Project (PSP) to encourage innovative approaches to promote coordinated school health programs (CSHP) in Florida schools. Each of eight pilot schools received $15,000 in project funding, three years of technical assistance including on-site and off-site assistance, a project office resource center, mailings of resource materials, needs assessment and evaluation assistance, and three PSP Summer Institutes. Project evaluators created a context evaluation, approaching each school independently as a "case study" to measure the school's progress in meeting goals established at baseline. Data were collected using the How Healthy is Your School? needs assessment instrument, a School Health Portfolio constructed by each school team, a Pilot Schools Project Team Member Survey instrument, midcourse team interviews, final team interviews, and performance indicator data obtained from pilot and control schools. The PSP posed two fundamental questions: "Can financial resources, professional training, and technical assistance enable individual schools to create and sustain a coordinated school health program?" and "What outcomes reasonably can one expect from a coordinated school health program, assuming programs receive adequate support over time?" First, activities at the eight schools confirmed that a coordinated school health programs can be established and sustained. Program strength and sustainability depend on long-term resources, qualified personnel, and administrative support. Second, though coordinated school health programs may improve school performance indicators, the PSP yielded insufficient evidence to support that belief. Future projects should include robust measurement and evaluation designs, thereby producing conclusive evidence about the influence of a coordinated school health program on such outcomes.

Including Health in Environmental Assessments of Major Transport Infrastructure Projects: A Documentary Analysis.

PubMed

Riley, Emily; Harris, Patrick; Kent, Jennifer; Sainsbury, Peter; Lane, Anna; Baum, Fran

2018-05-10

Transport policy and practice impacts health. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) are regulated public policy mechanisms that can be used to consider the health impacts of major transport projects before they are approved. The way health is considered in these environmental assessments (EAs) is not well known. This research asked: How and to what extent was human health considered in EAs of four major transport projects in Australia. We developed a comprehensive coding framework to analyse the Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) of four transport infrastructure projects: three road and one light rail. The coding framework was designed to capture how health was directly and indirectly included. We found that health was partially considered in all four EISs. In the three New South Wales (NSW) projects, but not the one South Australian project, this was influenced by the requirements issued to proponents by the government which directed the content of the EIS. Health was assessed using human health risk assessment (HHRA). We found this to be narrow in focus and revealed a need for a broader social determinants of health approach, using multiple methods. The road assessments emphasised air quality and noise risks, concluding these were minimal or predicted to improve. The South Australian project was the only road project not to include health data explicitly. The light rail EIS considered the health benefits of the project whereas the others focused on risk. Only one project considered mental health, although in less detail than air quality or noise. Our findings suggest EIAs lag behind the known evidence linking transport infrastructure to health. If health is to be comprehensively included, a more complete model of health is required, as well as a shift away from health risk assessment as the main method used. This needs to be mandatory for all significant developments. We also found that considering health only at the EIA stage may be a significant

Health sciences library building projects, 1998 survey.

PubMed Central

Bowden, V M

1999-01-01

Twenty-eight health sciences library building projects are briefly described, including twelve new buildings and sixteen additions, remodelings, and renovations. The libraries range in size from 2,144 square feet to 190,000 gross square feet. Twelve libraries are described in detail. These include three hospital libraries, one information center sponsored by ten institutions, and eight academic health sciences libraries. Images PMID:10550027

African American community breast health education: a pilot project.

PubMed

Robertson, Ethel M; Franklin, Anett Wakefield; Flores, AnnMarie; Wherry, Shari; Buford, Juanita

2006-01-01

This paper reports the results of a project designed to examine the effectiveness of a Train the Trainer breast health education and screening program for African American, elderly and underserved women residing in the greater Nashville area. The project aimed to identify a cadre of women from the community willing to serve as leaders advocated and peer breast health educators. Data collected from the community leaders and the women from the local community during the course of the project suggest that the Train the Trainer model was well suited to provide education, support and breast cancer resource referral to women residing within this rural Tennessee community.

Health sciences library building projects: 1994 survey.

PubMed Central

Ludwig, L

1995-01-01

Designing and building new or renovated space is time consuming and requires politically sensitive discussions concerning a number of both long-term and immediate planning issues. The Medical Library Association's fourth annual survey of library building projects identified ten health sciences libraries that are planning, expanding, or constructing new facilities. Two projects are in predesign stages, four represent new construction, and four involve renovations to existing libraries. The Texas Medical Association Library, the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre Library, and the Northwestern University Galter Health Sciences Library illustrate how these libraries are being designed for the future and take into account areas of change produced by new information technologies, curricular trends, and new ways to deliver library services. Images PMID:7599586

Incorporation of project-based learning into an occupational health course.

PubMed

Dehdashti, Alireza; Mehralizadeh, Semira; Kashani, Masoud Motalebi

2013-01-01

Use of an appropriate teaching approach is a major concern for faculty members who are involved in occupational health and safety academic education. The challenge is to explore teaching tools to equip students with knowledge and skills to prepare them for their practices, in which they will encounter occupational health and safety issues in various occupational settings. The current study presents the design and implementation of a team project-based learning approach for undergraduate occupational health students to examine the appropriateness and perceptions of students and educators with regard to such a learning experience. Steps were taken to guide the educators and students through the learning process based on projects completed in teams. The research tools for collecting data were a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with participants. The results illustrated that use of the proposed teaching approach as part of occupational health education may have the potential to motivate and enhance the active roles of educators and students in the learning process, and improve students' technical and social skills that are crucial for practice in the occupational health field. The study findings showed that project-based learning may provide a promising teaching strategy in the education and training of occupational health students. In addition, academic institutions should encourage educators to plan, introduce and evaluate the effectiveness of project-based learning.

Office of Maternal and Child Health Active Projects FY 1989. An Annotated Listing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health, Washington, DC.

An annotated listing is presented of projects offering maternal and child health care services. These projects, referred to as special projects of regional and national significance (SPRANS), are supported by the Office of Maternal and Child Health of the Department of Health and Human Services. The first section provides information on services…

Health Impact Assessment of an oil drilling project in California.

PubMed

McCallum, Lindsay C; Souweine, Kathleen; McDaniel, Mary; Koppe, Bart; McFarland, Christine; Butler, Katherine; Ollson, Christopher A

2016-01-01

The Health Impact Assessment (HIA) was conducted to evaluate the potential community health implications of a proposed oil drilling and production project in Hermosa Beach, California. The HIA considered 17 determinants of health that fell under 6 major categories (i.e., air quality, water and soil quality, upset conditions, noise and light emissions, traffic, and community livability). This paper attempts to address some of the gaps within the HIA practice by presenting the methodological approach and results of this transparent, comprehensive HIA; specifically, the evaluation matrix and decision-making framework that have been developed for this HIA and form the basis of the evaluation and allow for a clear conclusion to be reached in respect of any given health determinant (i.e., positive, negative, neutral). There is a number of aspects of the project that may positively influence health (e.g., increased education funding, ability to enhance green space), and at the same time there have been potential negative effects identified (e.g., odor, blowouts, property values). Except for upset conditions, the negative health outcomes have been largely nuisance-related (e.g., odor, aesthetics) without irreversible health impacts. The majority of the health determinants, that had been examined, have revealed that the project would have no substantial effect on the health of the community. Using the newly developed methodology and based on established mitigation measures and additional recommendations provided in the HIA, the authors have concluded that the project will have no substantial effect on community health. This approach and methodology will assist practitioners, stakeholders and decision-makers in advancing the HIA as a useful, reproducible, and informative tool. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

The Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH) Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bopp, Eugenia; Wear, Mary L.; Lee, Lesley R.; VanBaalen, Mary

2013-01-01

From 1989-2010 NASA conducted a research study, the Longitudinal Study of Astronaut Health, to investigate the incidence of acute and chronic morbidity and mortality in astronauts and to determine whether their occupational exposures were associated with increased risk of death or disability. In 2004, the Institute of Medicine recommended that NASA convert the longitudinal study into an occupational health surveillance program and in 2010, NASA initiated the Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health project. The new program collects data on astronaut workplace exposures, especially those occurring in the training and space flight environments, and conducts operational and health care analyses to look for trends in exposure and health outcomes. Astronaut selection and retention medical standards are rigorous, requiring an extensive clinical testing regimen. As a result, this employee population has contributed to a large set of health data available for analyses. Astronauts represent a special population with occupational exposures not typically experienced by other employee populations. Additionally, astronauts are different from the general population in terms of demographic and physiologic characteristics. The challenges and benefits of conducting health surveillance for an employee population with unique occupational exposures will be discussed. Several occupational surveillance projects currently underway to examine associations between astronaut workplace exposures and medical outcomes will be described.

Building a partnership to evaluate school-linked health services: the Cincinnati School Health Demonstration Project.

PubMed

Rose, Barbara L; Mansour, Mona; Kohake, Kelli

2005-12-01

The Cincinnati School Health Demonstration Project was a 3-year collaboration that evaluated school-linked health services in 6 urban elementary (kindergarten to eighth grade) schools. Partners from the Cincinnati Health Department, Cincinnati Public Schools, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati wanted to determine if levels of school-linked care made a difference in student quality of life, school connectedness, attendance, emergency department use, and volume of referrals to health care specialists. School nurses, principals and school staff, parents and students, upper-level managers, and health service researchers worked together over a 2.5-year period to learn about and use new technology to collect information on student health, well-being, and outcome measures. Varying levels of school health care intervention models were instituted and evaluated. A standard model of care was compared with 2 models of enhanced care and service. The information collected from students, parents, nurses, and the school system provided a rich database on the health of urban children. School facilities, staffing, and computer technology, relationship building among stakeholders, extensive communication, and high student mobility were factors that influenced success and findings of the project. Funding for district-wide computerization and addition of school health staff was not secured by the end of the demonstration project; however, relationships among the partners endured and paved the way for future collaborations designed to better serve urban school children in Cincinnati.

National health expenditures projections through 2030

PubMed Central

Burner, Sally T.; Waldo, Daniel R.; McKusick, David R.

1992-01-01

If current laws and practices continue, health expenditures in the United States will reach $1.7 trillion by the year 2000, an amount equal to 18.1 percent of the Nation's gross domestic product (GDP). By the year 2030, as America's baby boomers enter their seventies and eighties, health spending will top $16 trillion, or 32 percent of GDP. The projections presented here incorporate the assumptions and conclusions of the Medicare trustees in their 1992 report to Congress on the status of Medicare, and the 1992 President's budget estimates of Medicaid outlays. PMID:10124432

Working with Climate Projections to Estimate Disease Burden: Perspectives from Public Health.

PubMed

Conlon, Kathryn C; Kintziger, Kristina W; Jagger, Meredith; Stefanova, Lydia; Uejio, Christopher K; Konrad, Charles

2016-08-09

There is interest among agencies and public health practitioners in the United States (USA) to estimate the future burden of climate-related health outcomes. Calculating disease burden projections can be especially daunting, given the complexities of climate modeling and the multiple pathways by which climate influences public health. Interdisciplinary coordination between public health practitioners and climate scientists is necessary for scientifically derived estimates. We describe a unique partnership of state and regional climate scientists and public health practitioners assembled by the Florida Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) program. We provide a background on climate modeling and projections that has been developed specifically for public health practitioners, describe methodologies for combining climate and health data to project disease burden, and demonstrate three examples of this process used in Florida.

Working with Climate Projections to Estimate Disease Burden: Perspectives from Public Health

PubMed Central

Conlon, Kathryn C.; Kintziger, Kristina W.; Jagger, Meredith; Stefanova, Lydia; Uejio, Christopher K.; Konrad, Charles

2016-01-01

There is interest among agencies and public health practitioners in the United States (USA) to estimate the future burden of climate-related health outcomes. Calculating disease burden projections can be especially daunting, given the complexities of climate modeling and the multiple pathways by which climate influences public health. Interdisciplinary coordination between public health practitioners and climate scientists is necessary for scientifically derived estimates. We describe a unique partnership of state and regional climate scientists and public health practitioners assembled by the Florida Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) program. We provide a background on climate modeling and projections that has been developed specifically for public health practitioners, describe methodologies for combining climate and health data to project disease burden, and demonstrate three examples of this process used in Florida. PMID:27517942

The Comprehensive Health Education Workers Project and Caring Professionals as Asset-Builders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lévesque, Michel

2017-01-01

The Comprehensive Health Education Workers (CHEW) Project is a community-based initiative that educates sexual and gender minority (SGM or LGBTQ) young people about comprehensive--mental, physical, sexual, and social--health and that supports their comprehensive health needs with other services. Since October 2014, CHEW Project staff have served…

Family health nurse project--an education program of the World Health Organization: the University of Stirling experience.

PubMed

Murray, Ian

2008-11-01

This article outlines the delivery of the Family Health Nurse Education Programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) at the University of Stirling, Scotland, from 2001 to 2005. The program was part of the WHO European Family Health Nurse pilot project. The curriculum outlined by the WHO Curriculum Planning Group detailed the broad thrust of the Family Health Nurse Education Programme and was modified to be responsive to the context in which it was delivered, while staying faithful to general principles and precepts. The Family Health Nurse Education Programme is described in its evolving format over the two phases of the project; the remote and rural context occurred from 2001 to 2003, and the modification of the program for the urban phase of the project occurred during 2004 and 2005. The conceptual framework that was foundational to the development of the curriculum to prepare family health nurses will be described.

Faculty development projects for international health professions educators: Vehicles for institutional change?

PubMed

Burdick, William P; Friedman, Stacey R; Diserens, Deborah

2012-01-01

Projects are an important tool in faculty development, and project emphasis may offer insights into perceived education priorities. Impact of projects has been focused on individuals, not institutions or health. Education innovation projects of Fellows in an international faculty development program were examined to better understand perceived needs in health professions education and institutional impact of projects. Four hundred and thirty-five projects were analyzed to identify focus areas. Fellows were asked to identify changes in their schools and communities resulting from their projects. New education methods and curriculum change were common project focus areas. Regional differences were evident with a higher percentage of education methods projects by Fellows residing in India (52%), compared with South Africa (25%) and Brazil (24%). Fifty-six percent of projects were incorporated into the curriculum and/or incorporated as institutional policy. One-third to two-thirds of respondents noted improved teaching quality, collaboration, education research interest, assessment, student performance, and curriculum alignment with community health needs. National differences in project focus may offer insight into local conditions and needs. High rates of diffusion of projects and impact on faculty, students, and curriculum suggest that faculty development projects may be a strategy for institutional change in resource limited environments.

Personal Project Content and Stress: Relations to Subjective Health and Depressive Mood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wallenius, Marjut A.

2007-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine how personal project stress and stress related to different personal project contents are associated with subjective health and depressive mood among adults. Participants were 343 men and women (20-76 years old), who responded to the questionnaire including the Little's Personal Project Analysis, and health and…

Maternal and Child Health Research Program. Completed Projects 1989, 1990, and 1991.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health, Arlington, VA.

This publication describes 33 research projects supported by the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau and completed in 1989, 1990, and 1991. It is the third edition in a series of collected abstracts of completed maternal and child health research projects. Each project abstract contains the name of the grantee, name and address of the…

Common ground: the HealthWeb project as a model for Internet collaboration.

PubMed Central

Redman, P M; Kelly, J A; Albright, E D; Anderson, P F; Mulder, C; Schnell, E H

1997-01-01

The establishment of the HealthWeb project by twelve health sciences libraries provides a collaborative means of organizing and enhancing access to Internet resources for the international health sciences community. The project is based on the idea that the Internet is common ground for all libraries and that through collaboration a more comprehensive, robust, and long-lasting information product can be maintained. The participants include more than seventy librarians from the health sciences libraries of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), an academic consortium of twelve major research universities. The Greater Midwest Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine serves as a cosponsor. HealthWeb is an information resource that provides access to evaluated, annotated Internet resources via the World Wide Web. The project vision as well as the progress reported on its implementation may serve as a model for other collaborative Internet projects. PMID:9431420

Challenges of a worksite health promotion project.

PubMed

Gates, Donna M; Brehm, Bonnie J

2010-03-01

It is estimated that American employers spend more than $900 billion annually on health care and that obesity-attributable health care expenditures total $75 billion. The authors discuss a yearlong health promotion research project aimed at obesity and involving eight small manufacturing companies. Three hundred forty-one employees randomly selected at the intervention and control worksites were followed at baseline and at 3, 6, and 12 months for anthropometric measures, lifestyle behaviors, absences, and work performance. The authors conclude that although the worksite offers unique opportunities to develop health promotion programs, these efforts are not without challenges due to the tensions regarding the need to protect and promote health for the population, the increasing concerns over health care costs and access, and the priority to maintain individuals' rights and privacy.

Pan-American Health Organization CD-ROM Pilot Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brito, Claudio J.

1987-01-01

Examines the difficulties faced by the implementors of information dissemination systems in developing nations and explores the possible use of optical data disk technologies to overcome them. A pilot project of the Pan American Health Organization for the production of a CD-ROM containing bibliographic references on public health is described.…

Health Activities Project (HAP): Sight and Sound Module.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buller, Dave; And Others

Contained within this Health Activities Project (HAP) learning packet are activities for children in grades 5-8. Design of the activities centers around the idea that students can control their own health and safety. Within this module are teacher and student folios describing six activities which involve students in restricting their vision by…

Integrating Public Health and Health Promotion Practice in the Medical Curriculum: A Self-Directed Team-Based Project Approach

PubMed Central

Kershaw, Geraldine; Grivna, Michal; Elbarazi, Iffat; AliHassan, Souheila; Aziz, Faisal; Al Dhaheri, Aysha Ibrahim

2017-01-01

Preparing health professionals in health promotion (HP) and disease prevention is essential for improvement of population health, community HP, and better health care for individuals. The aim of this article is to describe an HP project in the form of a major self-directed project-based learning task integrated within the curriculum in the second year of the medical degree program at United Arab Emirates University. The project introduces students to public health and HP practice and develops students’ literature searching, writing, presentation skills, and team work. Students learn the principles underlying behavioral change, and the design of HP programs and materials, through a lecture format. Small groups of students each choose a specific health topic for their project. Over 11 weeks, students obtain information about their topic from appropriate sources (library, PubMed, Google Scholar, credible health sources such as World Health Organization). Using the principles learned in the lectures, they develop appropriate materials for their target audience: for example, posters, a pamphlet, social media content, or a video or radio message. Students seek advice from specialist faculty as needed. In week 12, each team presents their project background, rationale, and materials to their colleagues in a seminar format open to all faculty. They then submit the materials they developed for assessment. Group marks are assigned for presentations and materials. Key concepts are assessed by multiple choice questions in comprehensive course examinations. By participation in the HP project, many students develop a solid background in prevention. The information retrieval, writing, and presentation skills, as well as experience of team work, are valuable both for the remaining years of their training and their future careers. PMID:28879173

Integrating Public Health and Health Promotion Practice in the Medical Curriculum: A Self-Directed Team-Based Project Approach.

PubMed

Kershaw, Geraldine; Grivna, Michal; Elbarazi, Iffat; AliHassan, Souheila; Aziz, Faisal; Al Dhaheri, Aysha Ibrahim

2017-01-01

Preparing health professionals in health promotion (HP) and disease prevention is essential for improvement of population health, community HP, and better health care for individuals. The aim of this article is to describe an HP project in the form of a major self-directed project-based learning task integrated within the curriculum in the second year of the medical degree program at United Arab Emirates University. The project introduces students to public health and HP practice and develops students' literature searching, writing, presentation skills, and team work. Students learn the principles underlying behavioral change, and the design of HP programs and materials, through a lecture format. Small groups of students each choose a specific health topic for their project. Over 11 weeks, students obtain information about their topic from appropriate sources (library, PubMed, Google Scholar, credible health sources such as World Health Organization). Using the principles learned in the lectures, they develop appropriate materials for their target audience: for example, posters, a pamphlet, social media content, or a video or radio message. Students seek advice from specialist faculty as needed. In week 12, each team presents their project background, rationale, and materials to their colleagues in a seminar format open to all faculty. They then submit the materials they developed for assessment. Group marks are assigned for presentations and materials. Key concepts are assessed by multiple choice questions in comprehensive course examinations. By participation in the HP project, many students develop a solid background in prevention. The information retrieval, writing, and presentation skills, as well as experience of team work, are valuable both for the remaining years of their training and their future careers.

1991 survey of recent health sciences library building projects.

PubMed Central

Ludwig, L T

1992-01-01

Twenty health sciences libraries reported building planning, expansion, or construction of new facilities in the association's second annual survey of recent building projects. Six projects are new, freestanding structures in which the library occupies all or a major portion of the space. Six other projects are part of new construction for separately administered units in which the library is a major tenant. The final eight projects involve additions to or renovations of existing space. Seven of these twenty libraries were still in projected, predesign, or design stages of awaiting funding approval; of those seven, five were not prepared to release the requested information. Six projects are reported here as illustrative of current building projects. Images PMID:1600420

Metabolic Networks Integrative Cardiac Health Project (ICHP) - Center of Excellence

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-01

2.6; P = 0.001) among all variables, as the most significant predictor of abnormal CIMT, thus increasing risk for CVD. Conclusions: The Integrative ...1 Award Number: W81XWH-11-2-0227 TITLE: "Metabolic Networks Integrative Cardiac Health Project (ICHP) - Center of Excellence." PRINCIPAL...April 2016 2. REPORT TYPE ANNUAL 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE "Metabolic Networks Integrative Cardiac Health Project (ICHP

Project HITE (health individualization and teacher education): a health curriculum for 3-, 4- and 5-year olds.

PubMed

Davis, A P

1983-09-01

South Carolina has been a national leader in such health problems as cardiovascular disease, syphillis and gonorrhea. Since many of the problems could be attributed to poor health habits, education of the state's residents seemed in order. The education/re-education of inaccessible adults with firmly established health habits--poor or otherwise--was not feasible, but the education of impressionable, readily accessible three-, four- and five-year olds was possible. Through a grant from the federal government, an individualized health curriculum that could accommodate the differences of the learners and include vital health content was developed. This project of developing and distributing the health curriculum to teachers of young children was called Project HITE (Health Individualization and Teacher Education).

Health sciences library building projects: 1995 survey.

PubMed Central

Ludwig, L

1996-01-01

The Medical Library Association's fifth annual survey of recent health sciences library building projects identified twenty-five libraries planning, expanding, or constructing new library facilities. None of the fifteen new library projects are free standing structures; however, several occupy a major portion of the project space. Ten projects involve renovation of or addition to existing space. Information regarding size, cost of project, type of construction, completion date, and other factual data was provided for twelve projects. The remaining identified projects are in pre-design or early-design stages, or are awaiting funding approval. Library building projects for three hospital libraries, three academic medical libraries, and an association library are described. Each illustrates how considerations of economics and technology are changing the traditional library model from a centrally stored information depository housing a wide range of information under one roof where users come to the information, into an electronic model gradually shifting from investment in the physical presence of resources to investment in creating work space for creditible information specialists who help in-house and distanced users to obtain information electronically from any place and at any time. This new model includes a highly skilled library team to manage, filter, and package the information to users trained by these resident experts. Images PMID:8883981

Health sciences library building projects: 1995 survey.

PubMed

Ludwig, L

1996-07-01

The Medical Library Association's fifth annual survey of recent health sciences library building projects identified twenty-five libraries planning, expanding, or constructing new library facilities. None of the fifteen new library projects are free standing structures; however, several occupy a major portion of the project space. Ten projects involve renovation of or addition to existing space. Information regarding size, cost of project, type of construction, completion date, and other factual data was provided for twelve projects. The remaining identified projects are in pre-design or early-design stages, or are awaiting funding approval. Library building projects for three hospital libraries, three academic medical libraries, and an association library are described. Each illustrates how considerations of economics and technology are changing the traditional library model from a centrally stored information depository housing a wide range of information under one roof where users come to the information, into an electronic model gradually shifting from investment in the physical presence of resources to investment in creating work space for creditible information specialists who help in-house and distanced users to obtain information electronically from any place and at any time. This new model includes a highly skilled library team to manage, filter, and package the information to users trained by these resident experts.

Survival of the project: a case study of ICT innovation in health care.

PubMed

Andreassen, Hege K; Kjekshus, Lars Erik; Tjora, Aksel

2015-05-01

From twenty years of information and communication technology (ICT) projects in the health sector, we have learned one thing: most projects remain projects. The problem of pilotism in e-health and telemedicine is a growing concern, both in medical literature and among policy makers, who now ask for large-scale implementation of ICT in routine health service delivery. In this article, we turn the question of failing projects upside down. Instead of investigating the obstacles to implementing ICT and realising permanent changes in health care routines, we ask what makes the temporary ICT project survive, despite an apparent lack of success. Our empirical material is based on Norwegian telemedicine. Through a case study, we take an in-depth look into the history of one particular telemedical initiative and highlight how ICT projects matter on a managerial level. Our analysis reveals how management tasks were delegated to the ICT project, which thus contributed to four processes of organisational control: allocating resources, generating and managing enthusiasm, system correction and aligning local practice and national policies. We argue that the innovation project in itself can be considered an innovation that has become normalised in health care, not in clinical, but in management work. In everyday management, the ICT project appears to be a convenient tool suited to ease the tensions between state regulatory practices and claims of professional autonomy that arise in the wake of new public management reforms. Separating project management and funding from routine practice handles the conceptualised heterogeneity between innovation and routine within contemporary health care delivery. Whilst this separation eases the execution of both normal routines and innovative projects, it also delays expected diffusion of technology. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Project on School Staff Health Promotion in Poland: The First Experiences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woynarowska-Soldan, Magdalena

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the concept, methods of implementation, results and experiences from the first stage of the three-year project on school staff health promotion carried out within the framework of the health-promoting school (HPS) network in Poland. Design/methodology/approach: The project was implemented in 2012 in…

BRONX HEALTH EDUCATION PROJECT FOR WEST AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS.

PubMed

Wilson, Rebecca Dover; Elgoghail, Nadia

2016-01-01

The transition from a traditional West African diet and lifestyle to a modern diet has a significant impact on health and the risk of chronic disease. To implement a health education program for West African immigrants in the U.S. to address health risks associated with the modern diet. A health education program model targeted at West African immigrants in the Bronx was determined based on existing health education programs with educational materials, group education sessions, and targeted individual counseling. A health education program was successfully implemented at a clinic comprised of West African immigrant patients in the Bronx. This project demonstrates an example of a targeted health education program for West African immigrants to address health risks related to diet.

The state and profile of open source software projects in health and medical informatics.

PubMed

Janamanchi, Balaji; Katsamakas, Evangelos; Raghupathi, Wullianallur; Gao, Wei

2009-07-01

Little has been published about the application profiles and development patterns of open source software (OSS) in health and medical informatics. This study explores these issues with an analysis of health and medical informatics related OSS projects on SourceForge, a large repository of open source projects. A search was conducted on the SourceForge website during the period from May 1 to 15, 2007, to identify health and medical informatics OSS projects. This search resulted in a sample of 174 projects. A Java-based parser was written to extract data for several of the key variables of each project. Several visually descriptive statistics were generated to analyze the profiles of the OSS projects. Many of the projects have sponsors, implying a growing interest in OSS among organizations. Sponsorship, we discovered, has a significant impact on project success metrics. Nearly two-thirds of the projects have a restrictive license type. Restrictive licensing may indicate tighter control over the development process. Our sample includes a wide range of projects that are at various stages of development (status). Projects targeted towards the advanced end user are primarily focused on bio-informatics, data formats, database and medical science applications. We conclude that there exists an active and thriving OSS development community that is focusing on health and medical informatics. A wide range of OSS applications are in development, from bio-informatics to hospital information systems. A profile of OSS in health and medical informatics emerges that is distinct and unique to the health care field. Future research can focus on OSS acceptance and diffusion and impact on cost, efficiency and quality of health care.

Systematic review on what works, what does not work and why of implementation of mobile health (mHealth) projects in Africa.

PubMed

Aranda-Jan, Clara B; Mohutsiwa-Dibe, Neo; Loukanova, Svetla

2014-02-21

Access to mobile phone technology has rapidly expanded in developing countries. In Africa, mHealth is a relatively new concept and questions arise regarding reliability of the technology used for health outcomes. This review documents strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of mHealth projects in Africa. A systematic review of peer-reviewed literature on mHealth projects in Africa, between 2003 and 2013, was carried out using PubMed and OvidSP. Data was synthesized using a SWOT analysis methodology. Results were grouped to assess specific aspects of project implementation in terms of sustainability and mid/long-term results, integration to the health system, management process, scale-up and replication, and legal issues, regulations and standards. Forty-four studies on mHealth projects in Africa were included and classified as: "patient follow-up and medication adherence" (n = 19), "staff training, support and motivation" (n = 2), "staff evaluation, monitoring and guidelines compliance" (n = 4), "drug supply-chain and stock management" (n = 2), "patient education and awareness" (n = 1), "disease surveillance and intervention monitoring" (n = 4), "data collection/transfer and reporting" (n = 10) and "overview of mHealth projects" (n = 2). In general, mHealth projects demonstrate positive health-related outcomes and their success is based on the accessibility, acceptance and low-cost of the technology, effective adaptation to local contexts, strong stakeholder collaboration, and government involvement. Threats such as dependency on funding, unclear healthcare system responsibilities, unreliable infrastructure and lack of evidence on cost-effectiveness challenge their implementation. mHealth projects can potentially be scaled-up to help tackle problems faced by healthcare systems like poor management of drug stocks, weak surveillance and reporting systems or lack of resources. mHealth in Africa is an innovative approach

National health expenditure projections, 2014-24: spending growth faster than recent trends.

PubMed

Keehan, Sean P; Cuckler, Gigi A; Sisko, Andrea M; Madison, Andrew J; Smith, Sheila D; Stone, Devin A; Poisal, John A; Wolfe, Christian J; Lizonitz, Joseph M

2015-08-01

Health spending growth in the United States is projected to average 5.8 percent for 2014-24, reflecting the Affordable Care Act's coverage expansions, faster economic growth, and population aging. Recent historically low growth rates in the use of medical goods and services, as well as medical prices, are expected to gradually increase. However, in part because of the impact of continued cost-sharing increases that are anticipated among health plans, the acceleration of these growth rates is expected to be modest. The health share of US gross domestic product is projected to rise from 17.4 percent in 2013 to 19.6 percent in 2024. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

[Health effects of ambient ultrafine particles--the project UFIREG].

PubMed

Dostál, Miroslav; Pastorková, Anna; Lanzinger, Stefanie; Schneider, Alexandra; Bastian, Susanne; Senghaas, Monika; Erzen, Ziva; Novák, Jiří; Kolodnitska, Teťana; Šrám, Radim J; Peters, Annette

2015-01-01

The project "Ultrafine particles--an evidence based contribution to the development of regional and European environmental and health policy" (UFIREG) started in July 2011 and ended in December 2014. It was implemented through the Central Europe Programme and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. Five cities in four Central European countries participated in the study: Augsburg (Germany), Chernivtsi (Ukraine), Dresden (Germany), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Prague (Czech Republic). The aim of the UFIREG project was to improve the knowledge base on possible health effects of ambient ultrafine particles (UFP) and to raise overall awareness of environmental and health care authorities and the population. Epidemiological studies in the frame of the UFIREG project have assessed the short-term effects of UFP on human mortality and morbidity, especially in relation to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Official statistics were used to determine the association between air pollution concentration and daily (cause-specific: respiratory and cardiovascular) hospital admissions and mortality. Associations of UFP levels and health effects were analysed for each city by use of Poisson regression models adjusting for a number of confounding factors. Results on morbidity and mortality effects of UFP were heterogeneous across the five European cities investigated. Overall, an increase in respiratory hospital admissions and mortality could be detected for increases in UFP concentrations. Results on cardiovascular health were less conclusive. Further multi-centre studies such as UFIREG are needed preferably investigating several years in order to produce powerful results.

Advertising a "Healthy Lifestyle:" A Cypriot Health Education Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ioannou, Soula

2006-01-01

This paper describes a health education program entitled "Young Consumer" project, financed by the European Union and implemented by the Cyprus Consumer Association between March and June 2004. The aim of the project was to promote a healthy lifestyle among a group of Cypriot primary school pupils (11-12 years old). Participants were…

Building capacity in a health sciences library to support global health projects*

PubMed Central

Lackey, Mellanye; Swogger, Susan; McGraw, Kathleen A.

2014-01-01

This paper describes how a large, academic health sciences library built capacity for supporting global health at its university and discusses related outcomes. Lean budgets require prioritization and organizational strategy. A committee, with leadership responsibilities assigned to one librarian, guided strategic planning and the pursuit of collaborative, global health outreach activities. A website features case studies and videos of user stories to promote how library partnerships successfully contributed to global health projects. Collaborative partnerships were formed through outreach activities and from follow-up to reference questions. The committee and a librarian's dedicated time established the library's commitment to help the university carry out its ambitious global agenda. PMID:24860264

Building capacity in a health sciences library to support global health projects.

PubMed

Lackey, Mellanye; Swogger, Susan; McGraw, Kathleen A

2014-04-01

This paper describes how a large, academic health sciences library built capacity for supporting global health at its university and discusses related outcomes. Lean budgets require prioritization and organizational strategy. A committee, with leadership responsibilities assigned to one librarian, guided strategic planning and the pursuit of collaborative, global health outreach activities. A website features case studies and videos of user stories to promote how library partnerships successfully contributed to global health projects. Collaborative partnerships were formed through outreach activities and from follow-up to reference questions. The committee and a librarian's dedicated time established the library's commitment to help the university carry out its ambitious global agenda.

Financing health development projects: some macro-economic considerations.

PubMed

Sorkin, A L

1986-01-01

The paper briefly discusses the importance of macro-economic policy in health sector financing. The ways in which monetary and fiscal policy (macro-economic policy) affect interest rates, price levels and aggregate output are presented. The main portion of the paper considers a variety of methods for public financing of health and development projects. These approaches are analyzed in light of distributional and efficiency considerations. One way of increasing health sector resources is through reallocation from other sectors of the economy. The potential for redistribution from the defense to the health service industry is briefly considered.

Community participation in primary health care projects of the Muldersdrift Health and Development Programme.

PubMed

Barker, M; Klopper, H

2007-06-01

After numerous teething problems (1974-1994), the Department of Nursing Education of WITS University took responsibility for the Muldersdrift Health and Development Programme (MHDP). The nursing science students explored and implemented an empowerment approach to community participation. The students worked with MHDP health workers to improve health through community participation, in combination with primary health care (PHC) activities and the involvement of a variety of community groups. As the PHC projects evolved over time, the need arose to evaluate the level of community participation and how much community ownership was present over decision-making and resources. This led to the question "What was the level of community participation in PHC projects of the MHDP?" Based on the question the following objectives were set, i.e. (i) to evaluate the community participation in PHC initiatives; (ii) to provide the project partners with motivational affirmation on the level of community participation criteria thus far achieved; (iii) to indicate to participants the mechanisms that should still be implemented if they wanted to advance to higher levels of community participation; (iv) to evaluate the MHDP's implementation of a people-centred approach to community participation in PHC; and (v) the evaluation of the level of community participation in PHC projects in the MHDP. An evaluative, descriptive, contextual and quantitative research design was used. Ethical standards were adhered to throughout the study. The MHDP had a study population of twenty-three (N=23) PHC projects. A purposive sample of seven PHC initiatives was chosen according to specific selection criteria and evaluated according to the "Criteria to evaluate community participation in PHC projects" instrument (a quantitative tool). Structured group interviews were done with PHC projects' executive committee members. The Joint Management Committee's data was collected through mailed self

The Teen Photovoice Project: A Pilot Study to Promote Health Through Advocacy

PubMed Central

Necheles, Jonathan W.; Chung, Emily Q.; Hawes-Dawson, Jennifer; Ryan, Gery W.; Williams, La’Shield B.; Holmes, Heidi N.; Wells, Kenneth B.; Vaiana, Mary E.; Schuster, Mark A.

2009-01-01

Background Clinicians, public health practitioners, and policymakers would like to understand how youth perceive health issues and how they can become advocates for health promotion in their communities. 1,2 Traditional research methods can be used to capture these perceptions, but are limited in their ability to activate (excite and engage) youth to participate in health promotion activities. Objectives To pilot the use of an adapted version of photovoice as a starting point to engage youth in identifying influences on their health behaviors in a process that encourages the development of health advocacy projects. Methods Application of qualitative and quantitative methods to a participatory research project that teaches youth the photovoice method to identify and address health promotion issues relevant to their lives. Participants included 13 students serving on a Youth Advisory Board (YAB) of the UCLA/RAND Center for Adolescent Health Promotion working in four small groups of two to five participants. Students were from the Los Angeles, California, metropolitan area. Results Results were derived from photograph sorting activities, analysis of photograph narratives, and development of advocacy projects. Youth frequently discussed a variety of topics reflected in their pictures that included unhealthy food choices, inducers of stress, friends, emotions, environment, health, and positive aspects of family. The advocacy projects used social marketing strategies, focusing on unhealthy dietary practices and inducers of stress. The youths’ focus on obesity-related issues have contributed to the center’s success in partnering with the Los Angeles Unified School District on a new community-based participatory research (CBPR) project. Conclusion Youth can engage in a process of identifying community-level health influences, leading to health promotion through advocacy. Participants focused their advocacy work on selected issues addressing the types of unhealthy food

[Role of "Health" National project in improvement of health parameters in working population].

PubMed

Bykovskaia, T Iu

2011-01-01

The author analyzed results of "Health" National project accomplishment in Rostov region over 2006-2009. Findings are that quality of primary medical care has improved, material and technical basis of municipal health care institutions has progressed, salary of primary health care division specialists has increased. Over this period, infant mortality and mortality among able-bodied population in the region has decreased, birth rate has increased, coefficient of natural loss of population has reduced, life expectancy has increased.

Improving Pain Care with Project ECHO in Community Health Centers.

PubMed

Anderson, Daren; Zlateva, Ianita; Davis, Bennet; Bifulco, Lauren; Giannotti, Tierney; Coman, Emil; Spegman, Douglas

2017-10-01

Pain is an extremely common complaint in primary care, and patient outcomes are often suboptimal. This project evaluated the impact of Project ECHO Pain videoconference case-based learning sessions on knowledge and quality of pain care in two Federally Qualified Health Centers. Quasi-experimental, pre-post intervention, with comparison group. Two large, multisite federally qualified health centers in Connecticut and Arizona. Intervention (N = 10) and comparison (N = 10) primary care providers. Primary care providers attended 48 weekly Project ECHO Pain sessions between January and December 2013, led by a multidisciplinary pain specialty team. Surveys and focus groups assessed providers' pain-related knowledge and self-efficacy. Electronic health record data were analyzed to evaluate opioid prescribing and specialty referrals. Compared with control, primary care providers in the intervention had a significantly greater increase in pain-related knowledge and self-efficacy. Providers who attended ECHO were more likely to use formal assessment tools and opioid agreements and refer to behavioral health and physical therapy compared with control providers. Opioid prescribing decreased significantly more among providers in the intervention compared with those in the control group. Pain is an extremely common and challenging problem, particularly among vulnerable patients such as those cared for at the more than 1,200 Federally Qualified Health Centers in the United States. In this study, attendance at weekly Project ECHO Pain sessions not only improved knowledge and self-efficacy, but also altered prescribing and referral patterns, suggesting that knowledge acquired during ECHO sessions translated into practice changes. © 2017 American Academy of Pain Medicine.

Integrating Health and Transportation in Nashville, Tennessee, USA: From Policy to Projects

PubMed Central

Meehan, Leslie A; Whitfield, Geoffrey P

2017-01-01

The Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is among the first MPOs in the United States to recognize the interplay of transportation and public health, particularly regarding physical activity, air pollution, and traffic crashes. The Nashville MPO has taken a multifaceted approach to simultaneously improve the transportation system, quality of life, and health status of the region’s population. The purpose of this paper is to describe the multiple programs and projects that the MPO has undertaken to this end, so that other cities might learn from Nashville’s example. The MPO’s strategy comprised six processes. First, the MPO conducted the Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Study in 2009 and 2014 that established priority issues to be addressed by bicycle and pedestrian projects in Regional Transportation Plans. Second, the MPO responded to public opinion by adopting new transportation policies in the 2035 and 2040 Regional Transportation Plans, including increasing bicycle and pedestrian options and expanding public transit. Third, the MPO created scoring criteria for proposed roadway projects that prioritized health impacts. Fourth, the MPO reserved funding for projects selected under the new criteria and established a new funding program, the Active Transportation Program. Fifth, the MPO conducted the Middle Tennessee Transportation and Health Study, one of the first regional studies in the nation linking transportation and health. Finally, the MPO implemented the Integrated Transport and Health Impact Model which predicts and monetizes population-level health impacts of shifting the population towards active transportation modes. Recent inventories of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure suggest these interrelated processes are increasing opportunities for walking, bicycling, and public transit use in the region. Further, each of these projects has contributed to a growing appreciation in the region of the links between transportation and

Integrating Health and Transportation in Nashville, Tennessee, USA: From Policy to Projects.

PubMed

Meehan, Leslie A; Whitfield, Geoffrey P

2017-03-01

The Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is among the first MPOs in the United States to recognize the interplay of transportation and public health, particularly regarding physical activity, air pollution, and traffic crashes. The Nashville MPO has taken a multifaceted approach to simultaneously improve the transportation system, quality of life, and health status of the region's population. The purpose of this paper is to describe the multiple programs and projects that the MPO has undertaken to this end, so that other cities might learn from Nashville's example. The MPO's strategy comprised six processes. First, the MPO conducted the Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Study in 2009 and 2014 that established priority issues to be addressed by bicycle and pedestrian projects in Regional Transportation Plans. Second, the MPO responded to public opinion by adopting new transportation policies in the 2035 and 2040 Regional Transportation Plans, including increasing bicycle and pedestrian options and expanding public transit. Third, the MPO created scoring criteria for proposed roadway projects that prioritized health impacts. Fourth, the MPO reserved funding for projects selected under the new criteria and established a new funding program, the Active Transportation Program. Fifth, the MPO conducted the Middle Tennessee Transportation and Health Study, one of the first regional studies in the nation linking transportation and health. Finally, the MPO implemented the Integrated Transport and Health Impact Model which predicts and monetizes population-level health impacts of shifting the population towards active transportation modes. Recent inventories of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure suggest these interrelated processes are increasing opportunities for walking, bicycling, and public transit use in the region. Further, each of these projects has contributed to a growing appreciation in the region of the links between transportation and health

Innovation in health service management: Adoption of project management offices to support major health care transformation.

PubMed

Lavoie-Tremblay, Mélanie; Aubry, Monique; Cyr, Guylaine; Richer, Marie-Claire; Fortin-Verreault, Jean-François; Fortin, Claude; Marchionni, Caroline

2017-11-01

To explore the characteristics that influence project management offices acceptance and adoption in healthcare sector. The creation of project management offices has been suggested as a promising avenue to promote successful organisational change and facilitate evidence-based practice. However, little is known about the characteristics that promote their initial adoption and acceptance in health care sector. This knowledge is important in the context where many organisations are considering implementing project management offices with nurse managers as leaders. A descriptive multiple case study design was used. The unit of analysis was the project management offices. The study was conducted in three university-affiliated teaching hospitals in 2013-14 (Canada). Individual interviews (n = 34) were conducted with senior managers. Results reveal that project management offices dedicated to project and change management constitute an innovation and an added value that addresses tangible needs in the field. Project management offices are an innovation highly compatible with health care managers and their approach has parallels to the process of clinical problem solving and reasoning well-known to adopters. This knowledge is important in a context where many nurses hold various roles in project management offices, such as Director, project manager, clinical expert and knowledge broker. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cardiovascular health behavior and health factor changes (1988-2008) and projections to 2020: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.

PubMed

Huffman, Mark D; Capewell, Simon; Ning, Hongyan; Shay, Christina M; Ford, Earl S; Lloyd-Jones, Donald M

2012-05-29

The American Heart Association's 2020 Strategic Impact Goals target a 20% relative improvement in overall cardiovascular health with the use of 4 health behavior (smoking, diet, physical activity, body mass) and 3 health factor (plasma glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure) metrics. We sought to define current trends and forward projections to 2020 in cardiovascular health. We included 35 059 cardiovascular disease-free adults (aged ≥20 years) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1988-1994 and subsequent 2-year cycles during 1999-2008. We calculated population prevalence of poor, intermediate, and ideal health behaviors and factors and also computed a composite, individual-level Cardiovascular Health Score for all 7 metrics (poor=0 points; intermediate=1 point; ideal=2 points; total range, 0-14 points). Prevalence of current and former smoking, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension declined, whereas prevalence of obesity and dysglycemia increased through 2008. Physical activity levels and low diet quality scores changed minimally. Projections to 2020 suggest that obesity and impaired fasting glucose/diabetes mellitus could increase to affect 43% and 77% of US men and 42% and 53% of US women, respectively. Overall, population-level cardiovascular health is projected to improve by 6% overall by 2020 if current trends continue. Individual-level Cardiovascular Health Score projections to 2020 (men=7.4 [95% confidence interval, 5.7-9.1]; women=8.8 [95% confidence interval, 7.6-9.9]) fall well below the level needed to achieve a 20% improvement (men=9.4; women=10.1). The American Heart Association 2020 target of improving cardiovascular health by 20% by 2020 will not be reached if current trends continue.

Systematic review on what works, what does not work and why of implementation of mobile health (mHealth) projects in Africa

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Access to mobile phone technology has rapidly expanded in developing countries. In Africa, mHealth is a relatively new concept and questions arise regarding reliability of the technology used for health outcomes. This review documents strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of mHealth projects in Africa. Methods A systematic review of peer-reviewed literature on mHealth projects in Africa, between 2003 and 2013, was carried out using PubMed and OvidSP. Data was synthesized using a SWOT analysis methodology. Results were grouped to assess specific aspects of project implementation in terms of sustainability and mid/long-term results, integration to the health system, management process, scale-up and replication, and legal issues, regulations and standards. Results Forty-four studies on mHealth projects in Africa were included and classified as: “patient follow-up and medication adherence” (n = 19), “staff training, support and motivation” (n = 2), “staff evaluation, monitoring and guidelines compliance” (n = 4), “drug supply-chain and stock management” (n = 2), “patient education and awareness” (n = 1), “disease surveillance and intervention monitoring” (n = 4), “data collection/transfer and reporting” (n = 10) and “overview of mHealth projects” (n = 2). In general, mHealth projects demonstrate positive health-related outcomes and their success is based on the accessibility, acceptance and low-cost of the technology, effective adaptation to local contexts, strong stakeholder collaboration, and government involvement. Threats such as dependency on funding, unclear healthcare system responsibilities, unreliable infrastructure and lack of evidence on cost-effectiveness challenge their implementation. mHealth projects can potentially be scaled-up to help tackle problems faced by healthcare systems like poor management of drug stocks, weak surveillance and reporting systems or

Alternative health practices in ethnically diverse rural areas: a collaborative research project.

PubMed

Vest, G W; Ronnau, J; Lopez, B R; Gonzales, G

1997-05-01

Many alternative health practices are gaining popularity in traditional medical centers throughout the country. However, social workers and allied health professionals are rarely educated in these practices. The collaborative pilot research project discussed in this article involved community health providers and a state university department of social work. The project, conducted in rural health clinics, introduced an approach to skillful, safe, and appropriate use of touch synthesized with an awareness of the breath for giver and receiver to a group of Mexican Americans diagnosed with diabetes and their families. This alternative health practice holds promise for reducing stress, promoting health and well-being, and building relationships and warrants further study.

A Progress Assessment of the School Health Education Project of Appalachian Maryland.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Regional Education Service Agency of Appalachian Maryland, Cumberland.

This document evaluates the effectiveness of a project on health education conducted in Appalachian Maryland. The emphasis of the project was on teaching children in the fifth grade about lung and respiratory system problems and their connection with smoking. This health education course was incorporated into their regular curriculum. Prior to…

An innovative program to fund health-oriented student projects and research.

PubMed

Bybee, Ronald F; Thompson, Sharon E

2004-01-01

The price of a university education has increased over the years. As a result, students often graduate with thousands of dollars of debt. Conducting research or developing class projects that require personal expenditures can be overwhelming, if not impossible. Participation in research and in developing projects can enhance a student's educational experience. In an effort to address cost issues and provide an optimal learning experience for all students through participation in projects and research, the College of Health Sciences at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) collaborated with a regional foundation to fund health-oriented students' projects and research. Approximately 100 projects have been funded in amounts from 200 dollars to 10,000 dollars at UTEP. Similar programs can be replicated at other US universities. Establishing a general fund and identifying contributors may be a viable option, although finding a foundation or agency to fund the project poses a challenge.

Generic project definitions for improvement of health care delivery: a case-based approach.

PubMed

Niemeijer, Gerard C; Does, Ronald J M M; de Mast, Jeroen; Trip, Albert; van den Heuvel, Jaap

2011-01-01

The purpose of this article is to create actionable knowledge, making the definition of process improvement projects in health care delivery more effective. This study is a retrospective analysis of process improvement projects in hospitals, facilitating a case-based reasoning approach to project definition. Data sources were project documentation and hospital-performance statistics of 271 Lean Six Sigma health care projects from 2002 to 2009 of general, teaching, and academic hospitals in the Netherlands and Belgium. Objectives and operational definitions of improvement projects in the sample, analyzed and structured in a uniform format and terminology. Extraction of reusable elements of earlier project definitions, presented in the form of 9 templates called generic project definitions. These templates function as exemplars for future process improvement projects, making the selection, definition, and operationalization of similar projects more efficient. Each template includes an explicated rationale, an operationalization in the form of metrics, and a prototypical example. Thus, a process of incremental and sustained learning based on case-based reasoning is facilitated. The quality of project definitions is a crucial success factor in pursuits to improve health care delivery. We offer 9 tried and tested improvement themes related to patient safety, patient satisfaction, and business-economic performance of hospitals.

Health Activities Project (HAP): Heart Fitness and Action Module.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buller, Dave; And Others

Contained within this Health Activities Project (HAP) learning packet are activities for children in grades 5-8. Design of the activities centers around the idea that students can control their own health and safety. Within the Heart Fitness and Action Module are teacher and student folios describing five activities which involve students in…

Health Advocacy Project: Evaluating the Benefits of Service Learning to Nursing Students and Low Income Individuals Involved in a Community-Based Mental Health Promotion Project.

PubMed

Samuels-Dennis, Joan; Xia, Liudi; Secord, Sandra; Raiger, Amelia

2016-10-08

Poverty, along with other factors such as unemployment, work and life stressors, interpersonal violence, and lack of access to high quality health and/or social services all play a role in determining who develops a mental illness and for whom those symptoms persist or worsen. Senior nursing student preparing to enter the field and working in a service learning capacity may be able to influence early recovery and symptom abatement among those most vulnerable to mental illness. A consortium of community stakeholders and researchers collaboratively designed a 10-week mental health promotion project called the Health Advocacy Project (HAP). The project combines case management and system navigation support delivered by trained and highly supervised nursing students to individuals experiencing major depressive disorder (MDD) and/or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this article, we present the findings of a qualitative fidelity evaluation that examines the effectiveness of nursing students in delivering the health advocacy intervention at the level and with the intensity originally intended. The findings demonstrate how the services of senior nursing students may be optimized to benefit our healthcare system and populations most at risk for developing MDD and PTSD.

Reorienting health services with capacity building: a case study of the Core Skills in Health Promotion Project.

PubMed

Yeatman, H R; Nove, T

2002-12-01

This paper presents a case study of the application of a framework for capacity building [Hawe, P., King, L., Noort, M., Jordens, C. and Lloyd, B. (2000) Indicators to Help with Capacity Building in Health Promotion. NSW Health, Sydney] to describe actions aimed at building organizational support for health promotion within an area health service in New South Wales, Australia. The Core Skills in Health Promotion Project (CSHPP) arose from an investigation which reported that participants of a health promotion training course had increased health promotion skills but that they lacked the support to apply their skills in the workplace. The project was action-research based. It investigated and facilitated the implementation of a range of initiatives to support community health staff to apply a more preventive approach in their practice and it contributed to the establishment of new organizational structures for health promotion. An evaluation was undertaken 4 years after the CSHPP was established, and 2 years after it had submitted its final report. Interviews with senior managers, document analysis of written reports, and focus groups with middle managers and service delivery staff were undertaken. Change was achieved in the three dimensions of health infrastructure, program maintenance and problem solving capacity of the organization. It was identified that the critically important elements in achieving the aims of the project-partnership, leadership and commitment-were also key elements of the capacity building framework. This case study provides a practical example of the usefulness of the capacity building framework in orienting health services to be supportive of health promotion.

Lay perspectives on lay health worker roles, boundaries and participation within three UK community-based health promotion projects.

PubMed

South, J; Kinsella, K; Meah, A

2012-08-01

This paper examines lay interpretations of lay health worker roles within three UK community-based health promotion projects. It argues that understanding lay health worker roles requires critical analysis of the complex interrelationships between professionals, lay workers and the communities receiving a programme. Findings are presented that are drawn from a qualitative study of lay engagement in public health programme delivery where a key objective was to examine the perspectives of community members with the experience of receiving services delivered by lay health workers. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with 46 programme recipients from three case study projects; a breastfeeding peer support service, a walking for health scheme and a neighbourhood health project. The results show how participants interpreted the function and responsibilities of lay health workers and how those roles provided personalized support and facilitated engagement in group activities. Further insights into community participation processes are provided revealing the potential for active engagement in both formal and informal roles. The paper concludes that social relationships are core to understanding lay health worker programmes and therefore analysis needs to take account of the capacity for community members to move within a spectrum of participation defined by increasing responsibility for others.

[Health impact assessment methodology for urban planning projects in Andalusia (Spain)].

PubMed

Moya-Ruano, Luis A; Candau-Bejarano, Ana; Rodríguez-Rasero, Francisco J; Ruiz-Fernández, Josefa; Vela-Ríos, José

To describe the tool developed in Andalusia (Spain) to conduct an analysis and prospective assessment of health impacts from urban planning projects as well as the process followed to design it. On the one hand, direct and indirect relationships between urban setting and health were identified in light of the best scientific evidence available; and, on the other hand, methods and tools in impact assessment were reviewed. After the design of the tool, it was tested via both internal and external validation processes (meetings, workshops and interviews with key informants). The tool consists of seven phases, structured in two stages. A first descriptive stage shows how to obtain information about goals, objectives and general points pertaining the project and also to characterise the potentially affected population. The second one indicates, in several phases, how to identify and sort out potential impacts from the project using different supporting tools. Both in the testing phase and through its implementation since the entry into force of Andalusian Decree 169/2014 (16 June 2015) and forced all urban planning projects to be subjected to an Health Impact Assessment, this methodology has proved responsive, identifying major potential health impacts from the measures included in those projects. However, the tool has been shaped as a living tool and will be adapted in line with the experience acquired in its use. Copyright © 2017. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U.

[Quality of life and well-being in a housing project in Berlin--experiences gained in cooperation between a community health promotion office and a university-based public health project].

PubMed

Gottwald, S; Voigt, T; Luber, E

1999-05-01

The realization of a community-based health promotion within the framework of a cooperation between a public health office and a university-based PH project is described and discussed. First of all, the project, the cooperating partners and the common aims are described. We will then deal with telephone survey as the method used, and present the results. In a third step the methods and results of the "future workshops" are discussed. Finally there is a critical reflection on the course of the project, the limiting factors of the actions and consideration of further developments. The project dealt with was a cooperation of a community public health agency (Plan- und Leitstelle) in the district of Berlin-Wilmersdorf and the research project A8 "Cooperative project development for communal health promotion" of the Berlin Centre for Public Health at the Technical University Berlin. Starting point was the agreement for those politically responsible of the district that the living quarter "Schlangenbader Strasse" was a focus of social problems. The quarter had been built in 1980 above a highway with 1800 apartments for 4000 people. Health promotion was defined as a concern of a wide range of sectors within the community. Mutual rights and responsibilities of the cooperating partners were laid down in a contract. The Plan- und Leitstelle tried to gain experience with the definition of health promotion the university partners stood for. This introduces a notion of health beyond bio-medical understanding and deals with the connection of quality of life, well-being and the environment in the residential area. Thus health- or sickness-related variables were not specifically asked for. One result is that actors within the given framework are reluctant to permit operationalisation of this concept. The telephone survey reached 324 household within 10 working days. 68p.c. of the interviewed were pleased with the comfort of the apartments, 37p.c. enjoyed the peace and quiet and 35

Sources of project financing in health care systems.

PubMed

Smith, D G; Wheeler, J R; Rivenson, H L; Reiter, K L

2000-01-01

Through discussions with chief financial officers of leading health care systems, insights are offered on preferences for project financing and development efforts. Data from these same systems provide at least anecdotal evidence in support of pecking-order theory.

Disseminating relevant health information to underserved audiences: implications of the Digital Divide Pilot Projects*

PubMed Central

Kreps, Gary L.

2005-01-01

Objective: This paper examines the influence of the digital divide on disparities in health outcomes for vulnerable populations, identifying implications for medical and public libraries. Method: The paper describes the results of the Digital Divide Pilot Projects demonstration research programs funded by the National Cancer Institute to test new strategies for disseminating relevant health information to underserved and at-risk audiences. Results: The Digital Divide Pilot Projects field-tested innovative systemic strategies for helping underserved populations access and utilize relevant health information to make informed health-related decisions about seeking appropriate health care and support, resisting avoidable and significant health risks, and promoting their own health. Implications: The paper builds on the Digital Divide Pilot Projects by identifying implications for developing health communication strategies that libraries can adopt to provide digital health information to vulnerable populations. PMID:16239960

Health impact assessment of industrial development projects: a spatio-temporal visualization.

PubMed

Winkler, Mirko S; Krieger, Gary R; Divall, Mark J; Singer, Burton H; Utzinger, Jürg

2012-05-01

Development and implementation of large-scale industrial projects in complex eco-epidemiological settings typically require combined environmental, social and health impact assessments. We present a generic, spatio-temporal health impact assessment (HIA) visualization, which can be readily adapted to specific projects and key stakeholders, including poorly literate communities that might be affected by consequences of a project. We illustrate how the occurrence of a variety of complex events can be utilized for stakeholder communication, awareness creation, interactive learning as well as formulating HIA research and implementation questions. Methodological features are highlighted in the context of an iron ore development in a rural part of Africa.

User Participation in Coproduction of Health Innovation: Proposal for a Synergy Project

PubMed Central

Zukauskaite, Elena; Westberg, Niklas

2018-01-01

Background This project concerns advancing knowledge, methods, and logic for user participation in coproduction of health innovations. Such advancement is vital for several reasons. From a user perspective, participation in coproduction provides an opportunity to gain real influence over goal definition, design, and implementation of health innovations, ensuring that the solution developed solves real problems in right ways. From a societal perspective, it’s a mean to improve the efficiency of health care and the implementation of the Patient Act. As for industry, frameworks and knowledge of coproduction offer tools to operate in a complex sector, with great potential for innovation of services and products. Objective The fundamental objective of this project is to advance knowledge and methods of how user participation in the coproduction of health innovations can be applied in order to benefit users, industry, and public sector. Methods This project is a synergy project, which means that the objective will be accomplished through collaboration and meta-analysis between three subprojects that address different user groups, apply different strategies to promote human health, and relate to different parts of the health sector. Furthermore, subprojects focus on distinctive stages in the spectrum of innovation, with the objective to generate knowledge of the innovation process as a whole. The project is organized around three work packages related to three challenges—coproduction, positioning, and realization. Each subproject is designed such that it has its own field of study with clearly identified objectives but also targets work packages to contribute to the project as a whole. The work on the work packages will use case methodology for data collection and analysis based on the subprojects as data sources. More concretely, logic of multiple case studies will be applied with each subproject representing a separate case which is similar to each other in its

User Participation in Coproduction of Health Innovation: Proposal for a Synergy Project.

PubMed

Nygren, Jens; Zukauskaite, Elena; Westberg, Niklas

2018-05-09

This project concerns advancing knowledge, methods, and logic for user participation in coproduction of health innovations. Such advancement is vital for several reasons. From a user perspective, participation in coproduction provides an opportunity to gain real influence over goal definition, design, and implementation of health innovations, ensuring that the solution developed solves real problems in right ways. From a societal perspective, it's a mean to improve the efficiency of health care and the implementation of the Patient Act. As for industry, frameworks and knowledge of coproduction offer tools to operate in a complex sector, with great potential for innovation of services and products. The fundamental objective of this project is to advance knowledge and methods of how user participation in the coproduction of health innovations can be applied in order to benefit users, industry, and public sector. This project is a synergy project, which means that the objective will be accomplished through collaboration and meta-analysis between three subprojects that address different user groups, apply different strategies to promote human health, and relate to different parts of the health sector. Furthermore, subprojects focus on distinctive stages in the spectrum of innovation, with the objective to generate knowledge of the innovation process as a whole. The project is organized around three work packages related to three challenges-coproduction, positioning, and realization. Each subproject is designed such that it has its own field of study with clearly identified objectives but also targets work packages to contribute to the project as a whole. The work on the work packages will use case methodology for data collection and analysis based on the subprojects as data sources. More concretely, logic of multiple case studies will be applied with each subproject representing a separate case which is similar to each other in its attention to user participation in

Development of Home Health Aide Curriculum Project. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Patricia

This package contains materials intended for use in a new home health aide curriculum that is designed to be presented as a two-quarter program at Tacoma Community College in Tacoma, Washington. Included in the package are a final report outlining the objectives and outcomes of the project to develop a home health aide curriculum that would meet…

Oral health promotion and education messages in Live.Learn.Laugh. projects.

PubMed

Horn, Virginie; Phantumvanit, Prathip

2014-10-01

The FDI-Unilever Live.Learn.Laugh. phase 2 partnership involved dissemination of the key oral health message of encouraging 'twice-daily toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste' and education of people worldwide by FDI, National Dental Associations, the Unilever Oral Care global team and local brands. The dissemination and education process used different methodologies, each targeting specific groups, namely: mother and child (Project option A); schoolchildren (Project option B); dentists and patients (Project option C); and specific communities (Project option D). Altogether, the partnership implemented 29 projects in 27 countries. These consisted of educational interventions, evaluations including (in some cases) clinical assessment, together with communication activities at both global and local levels, to increase the reach of the message to a broader population worldwide. The phase 2 experience reveals the strength of such a public-private partnership approach in tackling global oral health issues by creating synergies between partners and optimising the promotion and education process. © 2014 FDI World Dental Federation.

Empowering women: participatory approaches in women's health and development projects.

PubMed

Manderson, L; Mark, T

1997-01-01

The authors describe the experience of NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) and community-based organizations in implementing projects aimed at improving women's health. The study included 16 projects, reflecting Australian NGO experiences in Africa, China, Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and South America. They illustrate the value of participatory approaches in determining needs and priorities, and the value of the continued involvement of women in implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Approaches that succeeded in increasing women's access to and use of health services addressed gender issues, set realistic and achievable objectives, and recognized and enhanced the roles and status of women.

Success in health information exchange projects: solving the implementation puzzle.

PubMed

Sicotte, Claude; Paré, Guy

2010-04-01

Interest in health information exchange (HIE), defined as the use of information technology to support the electronic transfer of clinical information across health care organizations, continues to grow among those pursuing greater patient safety and health care accessibility and efficiency. In this paper, we present the results of a longitudinal multiple-case study of two large-scale HIE implementation projects carried out in real time over 3-year and 2-year periods in Québec, Canada. Data were primarily collected through semi-structured interviews (n=52) with key informants, namely implementation team members and targeted users. These were supplemented with non-participants observation of team meetings and by the analysis of organizational documents. The cross-case comparison was particularly relevant given that project circumstances led to contrasting outcomes: while one project failed, the other was a success. A risk management analysis was performed taking a process view in order to capture the complexity of project implementations as evolving phenomena that are affected by interdependent pre-existing and emergent risks that tend to change over time. The longitudinal case analysis clearly demonstrates that the risk factors were closely intertwined. Systematic ripple effects from one risk factor to another were observed. This risk interdependence evolved dynamically over time, with a snowball effect that rendered a change of path progressively more difficult as time passed. The results of the cross-case analysis demonstrate a direct relationship between the quality of an implementation strategy and project outcomes. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors of human capital related to project success in health care work units.

PubMed

Suhonen, Marjo; Paasivaara, Leena

2011-03-01

To explore factors of human capital related to project success that employees expect from nurse managers. Human capital refers to those resources that managers working with projects possess, such as abilities, knowledge and qualities of character. The data were collected by open interviews (n=14) with nurses, public health nurses and nurse managers working in primary health care and a hospital. Data analysis was carried out using qualitative content analysis. The main factors of human capital related to project success proved to be as follows: (1) management of enthusiastic project culture, (2) management of regeneration and (3) management of emotional intelligence. Future research is needed on the kind of means nurse managers use in human capital management in projects and how they see their possibilities in managing human capital. Human capital management skills should be underlined as an important competence area when recruiting a nurse manager. The success of health care projects cannot be improved only through education or by training of nurse managers; in addition, projects need nurse managers who understand workplace spirituality and have high emotional intelligence. © 2011 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The C8 health project: design, methods, and participants.

PubMed

Frisbee, Stephanie J; Brooks, A Paul; Maher, Arthur; Flensborg, Patsy; Arnold, Susan; Fletcher, Tony; Steenland, Kyle; Shankar, Anoop; Knox, Sarah S; Pollard, Cecil; Halverson, Joel A; Vieira, Verónica M; Jin, Chuanfang; Leyden, Kevin M; Ducatman, Alan M

2009-12-01

The C8 Health Project was created, authorized, and funded as part of the settlement agreement reached in the case of Jack W. Leach, et al. v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (no. 01-C-608 W.Va., Wood County Circuit Court, filed 10 April 2002). The settlement stemmed from the perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, or C8) contamination of drinking water in six water districts in two states near the DuPont Washington Works facility near Parkersburg, West Virginia. This study reports on the methods and results from the C8 Health Project, a population study created to gather data that would allow class members to know their own PFOA levels and permit subsequent epidemiologic investigations. Final study participation was 69,030, enrolled over a 13-month period in 2005-2006. Extensive data were collected, including demographic data, medical diagnoses (both self-report and medical records review), clinical laboratory testing, and determination of serum concentrations of 10 perfluorocarbons (PFCs). Here we describe the processes used to collect, validate, and store these health data. We also describe survey participants and their serum PFC levels. The population geometric mean for serum PFOA was 32.91 ng/mL, 500% higher than previously reported for a representative American population. Serum concentrations for perfluorohexane sulfonate and perfluorononanoic acid were elevated 39% and 73% respectively, whereas perfluorooctanesulfonate was present at levels similar to those in the U.S. population. This largest known population study of community PFC exposure permits new evaluations of associations between PFOA, in particular, and a range of health parameters. These will contribute to understanding of the biology of PFC exposure. The C8 Health Project also represents an unprecedented effort to gather basic data on an exposed population; its achievements and limitations can inform future legal settlements for populations exposed to environmental contaminants.

National Health Expenditure Projections, 2017-26: Despite Uncertainty, Fundamentals Primarily Drive Spending Growth.

PubMed

Cuckler, Gigi A; Sisko, Andrea M; Poisal, John A; Keehan, Sean P; Smith, Sheila D; Madison, Andrew J; Wolfe, Christian J; Hardesty, James C

2018-03-01

Under current law, national health spending is projected to grow 5.5 percent annually on average in 2017-26 and to represent 19.7 percent of the economy in 2026. Projected national health spending and enrollment growth over the next decade is largely driven by fundamental economic and demographic factors: changes in projected income growth, increases in prices for medical goods and services, and enrollment shifts from private health insurance to Medicare that are related to the aging of the population. The recent enactment of tax legislation that eliminated the individual mandate is expected to result in only a small reduction to insurance coverage trends.

Lessons Learned From the Environmental Public Health Tracking Sub-County Data Pilot Project.

PubMed

Werner, Angela K; Strosnider, Heather; Kassinger, Craig; Shin, Mikyong

2017-12-07

Small area data are key to better understanding the complex relationships between environmental health, health outcomes, and risk factors at a local level. In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program (Tracking Program) conducted the Sub-County Data Pilot Project with grantees to consider integration of sub-county data into the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (Tracking Network). The Tracking Program and grantees developed sub-county-level data for several data sets during this pilot project, working to standardize processes for submitting data and creating required geographies. Grantees documented challenges they encountered during the pilot project and documented decisions. This article covers the challenges revealed during the project. It includes insights into geocoding, aggregation, population estimates, and data stability and provides recommendations for moving forward. National standards for generating, analyzing, and sharing sub-county data should be established to build a system of sub-county data that allow for comparison of outcomes, geographies, and time. Increasing the availability and accessibility of small area data will not only enhance the Tracking Network's capabilities but also contribute to an improved understanding of environmental health and informed decision making at a local level.

Possible illnesses: assessing the health impacts of the Chad Pipeline Project.

PubMed Central

Leonard, Lori

2003-01-01

Health impact assessments associated with large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project, monitor pre-existing conditions and new diseases associated with particular industries or changes in social organization. This paper suggests that illness self-reports constitute a complementary set of benchmarks to measure the health impacts of these projects, and presents data gathered in ongoing household and health service surveys in Ngalaba, a village near a major oilfield in Chad. In an initial 16-week period of weekly data collection, 363 people reported few of the clinically chronic or asymptomatic conditions expected according to health transition theory, and the overall level of illness reporting was low. Illnesses often were described by symptoms or lay diagnoses. Health care practitioners were consulted rarely; when they were, resources for diagnosis and treatment were limited. Clinically acute, short-duration illnesses (e.g. parasitic infections, toothaches, or hernias) were experienced as chronic conditions and were reported week after week. The low levels of illness reporting and lack of clinically chronic conditions are not taken to mean that rural Chadians are healthy. Rather, the patterns of morbidity reflect a particular local ecology in which health services are organized and care dispensed in ways that limit the possibilities for illness in terms of types of illnesses that can be diagnosed and reported, forms illnesses take, and ways in which illnesses are experienced. Illness self-reports are useful adjuncts to "harder" biological measures in HIAs, particularly in the context of large-scale infrastructure projects with explicit development goals. Rather than providing data on the extent to which harm has been mitigated by corporate, state, and donor activities, self-reports show the possibilities of illness in local contexts. PMID:12894327

Information and Communications Technologies Health Projects in Panama: A Systematic Review and their Relation with Public Policies.

PubMed

Sánchez, Gema Anabel Castillo; Berbey, Aranzazu; de la Torre-Díez, Isabel; López-Coronado, Miguel

2017-07-01

This paper presents a review about Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) health projects in Panama. The main contribution is to provide a vision of the situation in Panama, allowing an understanding of the dynamics of health policies and how they have affected the implementation of ICT's Projects to improve the health of Panamanians. We analyze the projects found with ICT's in health of Panama, which allow us to see a perspective of projects information is obtained from 2000 to 2016, however it is important to highlight that there may be other projects that we do not know because we did not find enough information or evidence of the same. That is why this review has interviews with key personnel, who have guided us with the search for information. 56% of technology projects are concentrated in the capital city and only 16% in the province of Chiriquí. 64% of these projects are focused on the development of information systems, mainly focused on electronic patient registration. And 60% refers to projects related to primary health care. The MINSA and CSS both with a 20% participation in ICT project, in addition we can notice the dispersion of projects for hospitals, where each one is developing programs per their needs or priorities. The national information about ICT projects of Health, it has been notorious the state of dispersion and segmented of public health information. We consider that it is a natural consequence of Policy in Panamanian Health System. This situation limits the information retrieval and knowledge of ICT in Health of Panama. To stakeholders, this information is directed so that health policies are designed towards a more effective and integral management, administering the ICT's as tools for the well-being of most the Panamanian population, including indigenous group.

Strengthening global health security capacity--Vietnam demonstration project, 2013.

PubMed

Tran, Phu Dac; Vu, Long Ngoc; Nguyen, Hien Tran; Phan, Lan Trong; Lowe, Wayne; McConnell, Michelle S; Iademarco, Michael F; Partridge, Jeffrey M; Kile, James C; Do, Trang; Nadol, Patrick J; Bui, Hien; Vu, Diep; Bond, Kyle; Nelson, David B; Anderson, Lauren; Hunt, Kenneth V; Smith, Nicole; Giannone, Paul; Klena, John; Beauvais, Denise; Becknell, Kristi; Tappero, Jordan W; Dowell, Scott F; Rzeszotarski, Peter; Chu, May; Kinkade, Carl

2014-01-31

Over the past decade, Vietnam has successfully responded to global health security (GHS) challenges, including domestic elimination of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and rapid public health responses to human infections with influenza A(H5N1) virus. However, new threats such as Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and influenza A(H7N9) present continued challenges, reinforcing the need to improve the global capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to public health threats. In June 2012, Vietnam, along with many other nations, obtained a 2-year extension for meeting core surveillance and response requirements of the 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR). During March-September 2013, CDC and the Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MoH) collaborated on a GHS demonstration project to improve public health emergency detection and response capacity. The project aimed to demonstrate, in a short period, that enhancements to Vietnam's health system in surveillance and early detection of and response to diseases and outbreaks could contribute to meeting the IHR core capacities, consistent with the Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases. Work focused on enhancements to three interrelated priority areas and included achievements in 1) establishing an emergency operations center (EOC) at the General Department of Preventive Medicine with training of personnel for public health emergency management; 2) improving the nationwide laboratory system, including enhanced testing capability for several priority pathogens (i.e., those in Vietnam most likely to contribute to public health emergencies of international concern); and 3) creating an emergency response information systems platform, including a demonstration of real-time reporting capability. Lessons learned included awareness that integrated functions within the health system for GHS require careful planning, stakeholder buy-in, and intradepartmental and interdepartmental coordination and

The national community mental health care project in Vietnam: a review for future guidance.

PubMed

Ng, Chee Hong; Than, Phong Thai; La, Cuong Duc; Van Than, Quang; Van Dieu, Chu

2011-04-01

The aim of this paper is to review the national community mental health care (CMHC) project in Vietnam and recommend improvements to the model based on findings reported at a national workshop of major service providers, and supplemented by information gathered from site visits and discussions with mental health leaders, professionals and stakeholders in the hospital and community mental health services. Since 2000, the CMHC project has been carried out in all 63 provinces with an overall national district coverage of around 64% and a total registry of 145 160 patients. It demonstrates a commitment by the government to integrate mental health into primary health care, in line with the World Health Organization recommendations, and set up a national community mental health network. Free treatment is provided for patients, mostly with schizophrenia (62.83%) and epilepsy (34.78%), at the local community level, and a national monitoring system is well established. However, the limitations include the lack of project funds, human resources and facilities, treatment scope, and linkages with families and community. A revised model of CMHC that builds on the strengths of existing services is proposed. While progress in community mental health care in Vietnam has been significant, many challenges facing the CMHC project need addressing.

Applying projective techniques to formative research in health communication development.

PubMed

Wiehagen, Theresa; Caito, Nicole M; Thompson, Vetta Sanders; Casey, Christopher M; Weaver, Nancy L; Jupka, Keri; Kreuter, Matthew W

2007-04-01

This article describes a new approach to formative research in which projective techniques commonly used in psychological assessment were adapted for use in focus groups to help design colorectal-cancer screening materials for African American men and women. Participants (N = 20) were divided into six "design teams." Each team was given a selection of design supplies and asked to create and discuss a visual layout for screening materials. Participants chose design elements that reflected visual preferences that they felt would connect meaningfully with other African Americans. The dynamics within the design teams were different than in traditional focus groups, with participants having more control over the group's direction. Using projective techniques helped draw out unique information from participants by allowing them to "project" their opinions onto objects. This approach may be a valuable tool for health-promotion and health-communication practitioners seeking insight on the implicit values of a priority population.

The ECHI project: health indicators for the European Community.

PubMed

Kramers, Pieter G N

2003-09-01

Within the EU Health Monitoring Programme (HMP), the ECHI project has proposed a comprehensive list of 'European Community Health Indicators'. In the design of the indicator set, a set of explicit criteria was applied. These included: i) be comprehensive and coherent, i.e. cover all domains of the public health field; ii) take account of earlier work, especially that by WHO-Europe, OECD and Eurostat; and iii) cover the priority areas that Member States and Community health policies currently pursue. Flexibility is an important characteristic of the present proposal. In ECHI, this has been emphasized by the definition of 'user-windows'. These are subsets from the overall indicator list, each of which should reflect a specific user's requirement or interest. The proposed indicators are, in most cases, defined as generic indicators, i.e. their actual operational definitions have not yet been attempted. This work has been, and is being carried out to a large part by other projects financed under the HMP, which cover specific areas of public health or areas of data collection. Apart from indicators covered by regularly available data, indicators (or issues) have been proposed for which data are currently difficult to collect but which from a policy point of view would be needed. All this points to the fact that establishing an indicator list which is actually used by Member States is a continuously developing process. This process is now continued by the first strand of the new EU Public Health Action Programme.

The Advanced Credential for Health Education Specialists: A Seven-Year Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dennis, Dixie L.; Lysoby, Linda

2010-01-01

The only advanced credential exam for health educators, The Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES), involved a seven-year process. The process began in December 2004, with the information from the Competency Update Project (CUP) report that health educators practice at entry- and advanced-levels of practice. In October 2011, the date…

Project-based teaching in health informatics: a course on health care quality improvement.

PubMed

Moehr, J R; Berenji, G R; Green, C J; Kagolovsky, Y

2001-01-01

Teaching the skills and knowledge required in health informatics [1] is a challenge because the skill of applying knowledge in real life requires practice. We relate the experience with introducing a practice component to a course in "Health Care Quality Improvement". Working health care professionals were invited to bring an actual quality problem from their place of work and to work alongside students in running the problem through a quality improvement project lifecycle. Multiple technological and process oriented teaching innovations were employed including project sessions in observation rooms, video recording of these sessions, generation of demonstration examples and distance education components. Both students and their collaborators from the work place developed proficiency in applying quality improvement methods as well as in experiencing the realities of group processes, information gaps and organizational constraints. The principles used to achieve high involvement of the whole class, the employed resources and technical support are described. The resulting academic and practical achievements are discussed in relation to the alternative instructional modalities, and with respect to didactic implications for similar endeavors and beyond to other fields such as systems engineering.

Supplementing forest ecosystem health projects on the ground

Treesearch

Cathy Barbouletos; Lynette Z. Morelan

1995-01-01

Understanding the functions and processes of ecosystems is critical before implementing forest ecosystem health projects on the landscape. Silvicultural treatments such as thinning, prescribed fire, and reforestation can simulate disturbance regimes and landscape patterns that have regulated forest ecosystems for centuries. As land managers we need to understand these...

Maternal and child health project in Nigeria.

PubMed

Okafor, Chinyelu B

2003-12-01

Maternal deaths in developing countries are rooted in womens powerlessness and their unequal access to employment, finance, education, basic health care, and other resources. Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, and it is an oil producing country, but Nigeria has one of the worst maternal mortality rates in Africa. These deaths were linked to deficiencies in access to health care including poor quality of health services, socio-cultural factors, and access issues related to the poor status of women. To address these problems, a participatory approach was used to bring Christian women from various denominations in Eastern Nigeria together. With technical assistance from a research unit in a university in Eastern Nigeria, the women were able to implement a Safe Motherhood project starting from needs assessment to program evaluation. Lessons learned from this program approach are discussed.

Overview of the National Health Educator Competencies Update Project, 1998-2004

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilmore, Gary David; Olsen, Larry K.; Taub, Alyson; Connell, David

2005-01-01

The National Health Educator Competencies Update Project (CUP), conducted during 1998-2004, addressed what health educators currently do in practice, the degree to which the role definition of the entry-level health educator is still up-to-date, and the validation of advanced-level competencies. A 19-page questionnaire was sent to a representative…

AGRI Grain Power ethanol-for-fuel project feasibility-study report. Volume III. Project environmental/health/safety/ and socioeconomic

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1981-04-01

The AGRI GRAIN POWER (AGP) project, hereafter referred to as the Project, was formed to evaluate the commercial viability and assess the desireability of implementing a large grain based grass-roots anhydrous ethanol fuel project to be sited near Des Moines, Iowa. This report presents the results of a Project feasibility evaluation. The Project concept is based on involving a very strong managerial, financial and technical joint venture that is extremely expert in all facets of planning and implementing a large ethanol project; on locating the ethanol project at a highly desireable site; on utilizing a proven ethanol process; and onmore » developing a Project that is well suited to market requirements, resource availability and competitive factors. This volume contains the results of the environmental, health, safety, and socio-economic studies.« less

Disadvantaged persons' participation in health promotion projects: some structural dimensions.

PubMed

Boyce, W F

2001-05-01

A structural perspective was used in studying community participation of disadvantaged groups (poor women, street youth, and disabled persons) in health promotion projects. Five community projects in the Canadian Health Promotion Contribution Program were examined in a comparative case study utilizing in-depth interviews, documents, and secondary sources. Analysis revealed relatively low numbers and restricted range of participants, difficulties in recruiting and maintaining participants, declining rates of active participation over time, and limited target group influence and power. This paper reports on the relationship between various dimensions of structure (social-cultural, organizational, political-legal-economic) and the community participation process. Participation was influenced by structural factors such as bureaucratic rules and regulators, perceived minority group rights and relations, agency reputations and responsibilities, available resources, and organizational roles. Control of projects by target group members, rather than by service agencies, was an important overall organizational structural factor which allowed community members to achieve influence in projects. The study concludes that a conceptual model based on structural factors is useful in explaining how key factors from federal and local levels can restrict or facilitate the community participation process.

Projected Allied Health and Nursing Training Needs for a Seven-County Area in West Virginia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bertram, Charles L.; And Others

This report describes a project that developed and field tested a model for projecting state-wide manpower needs in the allied health and nursing occupations in West Virginia and presents projections made for sixteen allied health and nursing occupations in the Charleston area. The content of the report is presented in three sections. The first…

OECD Health Care Quality Indicator Project. The expert panel on primary care prevention and health promotion.

PubMed

Marshall, Martin; Klazinga, Niek; Leatherman, Sheila; Hardy, Charlie; Bergmann, Eckhard; Pisco, Luis; Mattke, Soeren; Mainz, Jan

2006-09-01

This article describes a project undertaken as part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)'s Healthcare Quality Indicator (HCQI) Project, which aimed to develop a set of quality indicators representing the domains of primary care, prevention and health promotion, and which could be used to assess the performance of primary care systems. Existing quality indicators from around the world were mapped to an organizing framework which related primary care, prevention, and health promotion. The indicators were judged against the US Institute of Medicine's assessment criteria of importance and scientific soundness, and only those which met these criteria and were likely to be feasible were included. An initial large set of indicators was reduced by the primary care expert panel using a modified Delphi process. A set of 27 indicators was produced. Six of them were related to health promotion, covering health-related behaviours that are typically targeted by health education and outreach campaigns, 13 to preventive care with a focus on prenatal care and immunizations and eight to primary clinical care mainly addressing activities related to risk reduction. The indicators selected placed a strong emphasis on the public health aspects of primary care. This project represents an important but preliminary step towards a set of measures to evaluate and compare primary care quality. Further work is required to assess the operational feasibility of the indicators and the validity of any benchmarking data drawn from international comparisons. A conceptual framework needs to be developed that comprehensively captures the complex construct of primary care as a basis for the selection of additional indicators.

A methodological and operative framework for the evaluation of an e-health project.

PubMed

Buccoliero, Luca; Calciolari, Stefano; Marsilio, Marta

2008-01-01

Assessing public sector ICT investments represents the premise for successful implementation of an e-health strategy. The recent literature stresses the importance of going beyond the mere financial and/or technical dimensions of the analysis. Consequently, the paper proposes an example of e-health project evaluation aiming to develop measures which get close to the notion of benefits to the different stakeholders involved: top management, patients, local community. The case study refers to an Italian health care organization that implemented a project of digitalization of its clinical reports production few years ago. Based on on-field research, different approaches are used to assess costs and benefits from different stakeholders' perspectives. The results of a multidimensional evaluation are reported to emphasize the need for different measures to assess the sustainability of an e-health project according to the financial convenience, the social role of the organization, and the contingent situation.

Alzheimer's and other dementias in Canada, 2011 to 2031: a microsimulation Population Health Modeling (POHEM) study of projected prevalence, health burden, health services, and caregiving use.

PubMed

Manuel, Douglas G; Garner, Rochelle; Finès, Philippe; Bancej, Christina; Flanagan, William; Tu, Karen; Reimer, Kim; Chambers, Larry W; Bernier, Julie

2016-01-01

Worldwide, there is concern that increases in the prevalence of dementia will result in large demands for caregivers and supportive services that will be challenging to address. Previous dementia projections have either been simple extrapolations of prevalence or macrosimulations based on dementia incidence. A population-based microsimulation model of Alzheimer's and related dementias (POHEM:Neurological) was created using Canadian demographic data, estimates of dementia incidence, health status (health-related quality of life and mortality risk), health care costs and informal caregiving use. Dementia prevalence and 12 other measures were projected to 2031. Between 2011 and 2031, there was a projected two-fold increase in the number of people living with dementia in Canada (1.6-fold increase in prevalence rate). By 2031, the projected informal (unpaid) caregiving for dementia in Canada was two billion hours per year, or 100 h per year per Canadian of working age. The projected increase in dementia prevalence was largely related to the expected increase in older Canadians, with projections sensitive to changes in the age of dementia onset.

Evaluation of the Rural South Australian Tri-Division Adolescent Health Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naccarella, Lucio

2003-01-01

An Australian project aimed to strengthen relationships of general practitioners (GPs) with rural adolescents and school personnel through GP school visits, educational seminars on health topics for students, and student visits to GP clinics. Surveys of 5 project personnel, 6 GPs, 3 school counselors, and 30 secondary school students found…

"2+2" Articulated Health Occupations Project. Nursing Program. Second Year Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paris Independent School District, TX.

A project was conducted to develop a 2 + 2 articulated training program in health careers to link the last 2 years of secondary and the first 2 years of postsecondary training. During the second year of the secondary project, the first year of training was implemented and the model program was further developed and refined. Project tasks included…

Sharing MedlinePlus®/MEDLINE for Information Literacy Education (SMILE): A Dental Public Health Information Project

PubMed Central

Gaines, Julie K.; Levy, Linda S.; Cogdill, Keith W.

2012-01-01

The SMILE project represented a partnership among the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Libraries, the Gateway Clinic in Laredo, and the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. The project focused on improving dental practitioners' access to reliable information resources and integrating the best evidence into public health dental practice. Through its training program, SMILE cultivated a set of “power information users” among the dentists, dental hygienists, and community health workers (promotores) who provide public health preventive care and oral health education. The dental public health practitioners gained information literacy skills and increased their knowledge about reliable sites such as blogs, PubMed®, and MedlinePlus®. This project fostered opportunities for expanded partnerships with public health personnel. PMID:22040242

Sharing MedlinePlus®/MEDLINE® for information literacy education (SMILE): a dental public health information project.

PubMed

Gaines, Julie K; Levy, Linda S; Cogdill, Keith W

2011-01-01

The SMILE project represented a partnership among the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Libraries, the Gateway Clinic in Laredo, and the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. The project focused on improving dental practitioners' access to reliable information resources and integrating the best evidence into public health dental practice. Through its training program, SMILE cultivated a set of "power information users" among the dentists, dental hygienists, and community health workers (promotores) who provided public health preventive care and oral health education. The dental public health practitioners gained information literacy skills and increased their knowledge about reliable sites such as blogs, PubMed®, and MedlinePlus®. This project fostered opportunities for expanded partnerships with public health personnel.

[Anthropology and oral health projects in developing countries].

PubMed

Grasveld, A E

2016-01-01

The mouth and teeth play an important role in social interactions around the world. The way people deal with their teeth and mouth, however, is determined culturally. When oral healthcare projects are being carried out in developing countries, differing cultural worldviews can cause misunderstandings between oral healthcare providers and their patients. The oral healthcare volunteer often has to try to understand the local assumptions about teeth and oral hygiene first, before he or she can bring about a change of behaviour, increase therapy compliance and make the oral healthcare project sustainable. Anthropology can be helpful in this respect. In 2014, in a pilot project commissioned by the Dutch Dental Care Foundation, in which oral healthcare was provided in combination with anthropological research, an oral healthcare project in Kwale (Kenia) was evaluated. The study identified 6 primary themes that indicate the most important factors influencing the oral health of school children in Kwale. Research into the local culture by oral healthcare providers would appear to be an important prerequisite to meaningful work in developing countries.

Information dissemination and training: two key issues for consolidating and strengthening the results of health telematic projects.

PubMed

Arcarese, T; Boi, S; Gagliardi, R

2000-01-01

The concepts expressed in this paper concerns the activities to be developed within HEALTHLINE, a European project under the Telematics Application programme. HEALTHLINE is an umbrella project which takes initiatives and provides links to other international projects on health telematics. The projects involved are NIVEMES and RISE; they represent the starting point from which a common approach will be developed. The experience gained from these projects has highlighted two emerging requirements: information dissemination and training. To fulfil the needs of information, an Internet corner will be set up; it will allow citizens and health professionals to find and exchange information as well as to discuss themes concerning health care. Due to the most advanced technologies recently introduced, the Health care sector has had to modify its traditional ways of working to aid professionals in exploiting new training techniques and Health Care provision methods. HEALTHLINE will focus on training and on the development of the use of new tools and services. Furthermore, the project will exploit the training methodologies based on multimedia technology for developing training-on-the-job modules. The entire system, in its final stage, will consist of a network for co-operating training and information dissemination; European sites in the project will share information, training material and provide education and information on tele-health, medical and health-care issues to health care providers, beneficiaries and the general public.

Lawrence Children's Health Project. A Demonstration of a Collaborative Brokering Model and School-Based EPSDT. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Himes, John H.; And Others

The Lawrence (Massachusetts) Children's Health Project (LCHP) was a demonstration project consisting of an alternative approach to providing health care to children, many of whom were not receiving health services. The project was carried out by the Merrimack Education Center and focused on a school-based model for Early Periodic Screening,…

Health impact assessment and evaluation of a Roma housing project in Hungary.

PubMed

Molnár, Agnes; Adány, Róza; Adám, Balázs; Gulis, Gabriel; Kósa, Karolina

2010-11-01

An outstanding feature of marginalized Roma communities is their severely substandard living conditions, which contribute to their worse health status compared to the majority. However, health consequences of international and local-level housing initiatives in most cases fail to be assessed prospectively or evaluated after implementation. This paper summarizes the result of a retrospective health impact assessment of a Roma housing project in Hungary in comparison with the outcome evaluation of the same project. Positive impacts on education, in- and outdoor conditions were noted, but negative impacts on social networks, housing expenses and maintenance, neighbourhood satisfaction and no sustained change in health status or employment were identified. Recommendations are made to improve efficiency and sustainability of housing development initiatives among disadvantaged populations. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Health and Environment Linked for Information Exchange (HELIX)-Atlanta: A CDC-NASA Joint Environmental Public Health Tracking Collaborative Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Al-Hamdan, Mohammad; Luvall, Jeff; Crosson, Bill; Estes, Maury; Limaye, Ashutosh; Quattrochi, Dale; Rickman, Doug

2008-01-01

HELIX-Atlanta was developed to support current and future state and local EPHT programs to implement data linking demonstration projects which could be part of the CDC EPHT Network. HELIX-Atlanta is a pilot linking project in Atlanta for CDC to learn about the challenges the states will encounter. NASA/MSFC and the CDC are partners in linking environmental and health data to enhance public health surveillance. The use of NASA technology creates value added geospatial products from existing environmental data sources to facilitate public health linkages. Proving the feasibility of the approach is the main objective

National health expenditure projections: modest annual growth until coverage expands and economic growth accelerates.

PubMed

Keehan, Sean P; Cuckler, Gigi A; Sisko, Andrea M; Madison, Andrew J; Smith, Sheila D; Lizonitz, Joseph M; Poisal, John A; Wolfe, Christian J

2012-07-01

For 2011-13, US health spending is projected to grow at 4.0 percent, on average--slightly above the historically low growth rate of 3.8 percent in 2009. Preliminary data suggest that growth in consumers' use of health services remained slow in 2011, and this pattern is expected to continue this year and next. In 2014, health spending growth is expected to accelerate to 7.4 percent as the major coverage expansions from the Affordable Care Act begin. For 2011 through 2021, national health spending is projected to grow at an average rate of 5.7 percent annually, which would be 0.9 percentage point faster than the expected annual increase in the gross domestic product during this period. By 2021, federal, state, and local government health care spending is projected to be nearly 50 percent of national health expenditures, up from 46 percent in 2011, with federal spending accounting for about two-thirds of the total government share. Rising government spending on health care is expected to be driven by faster growth in Medicare enrollment, expanded Medicaid coverage, and the introduction of premium and cost-sharing subsidies for health insurance exchange plans.

Outcomes associated with community-based research projects in teaching undergraduate public health.

PubMed

Bouhaimed, Manal; Thalib, Lukman; Doi, Suhail A R

2008-01-01

Community based research projects have been widely used in teaching public health in many institutions. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of information on the learning outcomes of such a teaching strategy. We therefore attempted to evaluate our experience with such a project based teaching process. The objective of this study was to evaluate the factors related to quality, impact and relevance of a 6-week student project for teaching public health in the faculty of medicine at Kuwait University. Interactive sessions familiarized students with research methods. Concurrently, they designed and completed a participatory project with a Community Medicine mentor. Questionnaires were used to assess quality, impact and relevance of the project, and these were correlated with multiple demographic, statistical and research design factors. We evaluated a total of 104 projects that were completed during the period of September 2001 to June 2006. Three dimensions of outcome were assessed: quality; impact and relevance. The average (mean + SE; maximum of 5) scores across all projects were 2.6 + 0.05 (range 1.7-3.7) for quality, 2.8 + 0.06 (range 1.7-4.3) for impact and 3.3 + 0.08 (range 1.3-5) for relevance. The analysis of the relationship between various factors and the scores on each dimension of assessment revealed that various factors were associated with improved quality, impact or relevance to public health practice. We conclude that use of more objective measurement instruments with better a priori conceptualization along with appropriate use of statistics and a more developed study design were likely to result in more meaningful research outcomes. We also found that a biostatistics or epidemiology mentor improved the research outcome.

Cohort profile: the Amirkola Health and Ageing Project (AHAP).

PubMed

Hosseini, Seyed Reza; Cumming, Robert G; Kheirkhah, Farzan; Nooreddini, Hajighorban; Baiani, Mohammadali; Mikaniki, Ebrahim; Taghipour-darzi, Mohammad; Akhavan Niaki, Haleh; Rasolinejad, Seyed Ahmad; Mostafazadeh, Amrollah; Parsian, Hadi; Bijani, Ali

2014-10-01

This is the first comprehensive cohort study of the health of older people ever conducted in Iran. The aim of this project is to investigate the health status of older people in Amirkola in the northern part of Iran, near the Caspian Sea. The Amirkola Health and Ageing Project (AHAP) is mainly concerned with geriatric medical problems, such as falling, bone fragility and fractures, cognitive impairment and dementia, poor mobility and functional dependence. It is planned that all participants will be re-examined after 2 years. Data are collected via questionnaire, examinations and venepuncture. AHAP started in April 2011 and 1616 participants had been seen by 18 July 2012, the end of the baseline stage of this study. The participation rate was 72.3%. The prevalence of self-reported hypertension (41.2%) and diabetes mellitus (23.3%) are high. Only 14.4% of older people considered their health as excellent or good in comparison with others at this age. The prevalence of osteoporosis (T score≤-2.5) was 57.4% in women and 16.1% in men, and 38.2 % of older people were vitamin D deficient (<20 ng/ml). Researchers interested in using the information are invited to contact the principal investigator Seyed Reza Hosseini (hosseinim46@yahoo.com). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association © The Author 2013; all rights reserved.

Associate Degree Nursing Students in Family Health Maintenance: A Pilot Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conatser, Cheryl

The report describes the implementation and continuation of a family health maintenance program for associate degree nursing students at a community college. Four specific objectives are stated supporting the overall purpose of increasing student awareness of the total health care situation of the family. Implementation of the project, which…

Rehabilitation Therapy Discipline Advisory Group Final Report. Kentucky Allied Health Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kentucky Council on Public Higher Education, Frankfort.

Rehabilitation therapy education in Kentucky and articulation within the fields of physical therapy and occupational therapy are examined, based on the Kentucky Allied Health Project (KAHP). The KAHP's model system of allied health education promotes articulation in learning, planning, and resource utilization, and seeks to meet the needs of…

Strengthening rural Latinos' civic engagement for health: The Voceros de Salud project.

PubMed

López-Cevallos, Daniel; Dierwechter, Tatiana; Volkmann, Kelly; Patton-López, Megan

2013-11-01

This article describes the Latino Health Ambassadors Network (Voceros de Salud ) project created to support and mobilize Latino community leaders to address health inequalities in a rural Oregon county. Voceros de Salud is discussed as a model that other rural communities may implement towards strengthening Latino civic engagement for health.

Yshareit: A Project Promoting the Use of E-Mental Health Resources among Young People

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spiranovic, Caroline; Briggs, Kate; Kirkby, Kenneth; Mobsby, Caroline; Daniels, Brett

2008-01-01

The yshareit project aims to increase awareness of and access to reputable e-mental health resources among young people. This is achieved by developing peer support networks, supported by e-mental health resources including the triage website, http://www.yshareit.com. Young people involved in the evaluation of the project described in this paper…

Building Geographic Information System Capacity in Local Health Departments: Lessons From a North Carolina Project

PubMed Central

Miranda, Marie Lynn; Silva, Jennifer M.; Overstreet Galeano, M. Alicia; Brown, Jeffrey P.; Campbell, Douglas S.; Coley, Evelyn; Cowan, Christopher S.; Harvell, Dianne; Lassiter, Jenny; Parks, Jerry L.; Sandelé, Wanda

2005-01-01

State government, university, and local health department (LHD) partners collaborated to build the geographic information system (GIS) capacity of 5 LHDs in North Carolina. Project elements included procuring hardware and software, conducting individualized and group training, developing data layers, guiding the project development process, coordinating participation in technical conferences, providing ongoing project consultation, and evaluating project milestones. The project provided health department personnel with the skills and resources required to use sophisticated information management systems, particularly those that address spatial dimensions of public health practice. This capacity-building project helped LHDs incorporate GIS technology into daily operations, resulting in improved time and cost efficiency. Keys to success included (1) methods training rooted in problems specific to the LHD, (2) required project identification by LHD staff with associated timelines for development, (3) ongoing technical support as staff returned to home offices after training, (4) subgrants to LHDs to ease hardware and software resource constraints, (5) networks of relationships among LHDs and other professional GIS users, and (6) senior LHD leadership who supported the professional development activities being undertaken by staff. PMID:16257950

National Health Expenditure Projections, 2015-25: Economy, Prices, And Aging Expected To Shape Spending And Enrollment.

PubMed

Keehan, Sean P; Poisal, John A; Cuckler, Gigi A; Sisko, Andrea M; Smith, Sheila D; Madison, Andrew J; Stone, Devin A; Wolfe, Christian J; Lizonitz, Joseph M

2016-08-01

Health spending growth in the United States for 2015-25 is projected to average 5.8 percent-1.3 percentage points faster than growth in the gross domestic product-and to represent 20.1 percent of the total economy by 2025. As the initial impacts associated with the Affordable Care Act's coverage expansions fade, growth in health spending is expected to be influenced by changes in economic growth, faster growth in medical prices, and population aging. Projected national health spending growth, though faster than observed in the recent history, is slower than in the two decades before the recent Great Recession, in part because of trends such as increasing cost sharing in private health insurance plans and various Medicare payment update provisions. In addition, the share of total health expenditures paid for by federal, state, and local governments is projected to increase to 47 percent by 2025. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Framework to Define Structure and Boundaries of Complex Health Intervention Systems: The ALERT Project.

PubMed

Boriani, Elena; Esposito, Roberto; Frazzoli, Chiara; Fantke, Peter; Hald, Tine; Rüegg, Simon R

2017-01-01

Health intervention systems are complex and subject to multiple variables in different phases of implementation. This constitutes a concrete challenge for the application of translational science in real life. Complex systems as health-oriented interventions call for interdisciplinary approaches with carefully defined system boundaries. Exploring individual components of such systems from different viewpoints gives a wide overview and helps to understand the elements and the relationships that drive actions and consequences within the system. In this study, we present an application and assessment of a framework with focus on systems and system boundaries of interdisciplinary projects. As an example on how to apply our framework, we analyzed ALERT [an integrated sensors and biosensors' system (BEST) aimed at monitoring the quality, health, and traceability of the chain of the bovine milk], a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary project based on the application of measurable biomarkers at strategic points of the milk chain for improved food security (including safety), human, and ecosystem health (1). In fact, the European food safety framework calls for science-based support to the primary producers' mandate for legal, scientific, and ethical responsibility in food supply. Because of its multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach involving human, animal, and ecosystem health, ALERT can be considered as a One Health project. Within the ALERT context, we identified the need to take into account the main actors, interactions, and relationships of stakeholders to depict a simplified skeleton of the system. The framework can provide elements to highlight how and where to improve the project development when project evaluations are required.

Framework to Define Structure and Boundaries of Complex Health Intervention Systems: The ALERT Project

PubMed Central

Boriani, Elena; Esposito, Roberto; Frazzoli, Chiara; Fantke, Peter; Hald, Tine; Rüegg, Simon R.

2017-01-01

Health intervention systems are complex and subject to multiple variables in different phases of implementation. This constitutes a concrete challenge for the application of translational science in real life. Complex systems as health-oriented interventions call for interdisciplinary approaches with carefully defined system boundaries. Exploring individual components of such systems from different viewpoints gives a wide overview and helps to understand the elements and the relationships that drive actions and consequences within the system. In this study, we present an application and assessment of a framework with focus on systems and system boundaries of interdisciplinary projects. As an example on how to apply our framework, we analyzed ALERT [an integrated sensors and biosensors’ system (BEST) aimed at monitoring the quality, health, and traceability of the chain of the bovine milk], a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary project based on the application of measurable biomarkers at strategic points of the milk chain for improved food security (including safety), human, and ecosystem health (1). In fact, the European food safety framework calls for science-based support to the primary producers’ mandate for legal, scientific, and ethical responsibility in food supply. Because of its multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach involving human, animal, and ecosystem health, ALERT can be considered as a One Health project. Within the ALERT context, we identified the need to take into account the main actors, interactions, and relationships of stakeholders to depict a simplified skeleton of the system. The framework can provide elements to highlight how and where to improve the project development when project evaluations are required. PMID:28804707

mHealth Series: mHealth project in Zhao County, rural China – Description of objectives, field site and methods

PubMed Central

van Velthoven, Michelle Helena; Li, Ye; Wang, Wei; Du, Xiaozhen; Wu, Qiong; Chen, Li; Majeed, Azeem; Rudan, Igor; Zhang, Yanfeng; Car, Josip

2013-01-01

Background We set up a collaboration between researchers in China and the UK that aimed to explore the use of mHealth in China. This is the first paper in a series of papers on a large mHealth project part of this collaboration. This paper included the aims and objectives of the mHealth project, our field site, and the detailed methods of two studies. Field site The field site for this mHealth project was Zhao County, which lies 280 km south of Beijing in Hebei Province, China. Methods We described the methodology of two studies: (i) a mixed methods study exploring factors influencing sample size calculations for mHealth–based health surveys and (ii) a cross–over study determining validity of an mHealth text messaging data collection tool. The first study used mixed methods, both quantitative and qualitative, including: (i) two surveys with caregivers of young children, (ii) interviews with caregivers, village doctors and participants of the cross–over study, and (iii) researchers’ views. We combined data from caregivers, village doctors and researchers to provide an in–depth understanding of factors influencing sample size calculations for mHealth–based health surveys. The second study, a cross–over study, used a randomised cross–over study design to compare the traditional face–to–face survey method to the new text messaging survey method. We assessed data equivalence (intrarater agreement), the amount of information in responses, reasons for giving different responses, the response rate, characteristics of non–responders, and the error rate. Conclusions This paper described the objectives, field site and methods of a large mHealth project part of a collaboration between researchers in China and the UK. The mixed methods study evaluating factors that influence sample size calculations could help future studies with estimating reliable sample sizes. The cross–over study comparing face–to–face and text message survey data collection

Health and equity impacts of a large oil project in Africa.

PubMed Central

Jobin, William

2003-01-01

A system of external reviewers was established by the World Bank Group to promote a thorough environmental and health impact assessment for the 3.5 billion US dollars Chad Oil Export Project, based on a loan request from Chad, Cameroon and a consortium of oil companies. The environmental and health assessment process showed evidence of its ability to minimize the number of deaths from malaria, traffic accidents and construction accidents and the occurrence of minor sexually transmitted diseases, diarrhoeal diseases and respiratory diseases; it also probably limited adverse impacts on wildlife and tropical ecology along the pipeline route. However, the system was unable to deal with the larger issues, which included: the intrinsic unsustainability of this kind of extraction project; its eventual contribution to large amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; the lack of equity in sharing the risks, negative impacts, benefits and decision-making among the various participants in the project; and the possible acceleration of transmission of the AIDS virus into central Africa. Unfortunately, the international panel of experts appointed by the World Bank Group was largely ignored by the project proponents, and had little success in minimizing the most serious impacts or in improving the social equity of the project. PMID:12894326

Sex on premises venue (SOPV) health promotion project in response to sustained increases in HIV notifications.

PubMed

Mullens, Amy B; Staunton, Shaun; Debattista, Joseph; Hamernik, Elisabeth; Gill, Darren

2009-03-01

Due to increases in HIV notifications in Queensland, a health promotion outreach project was developed with sex on premises venues (SOPV) in Brisbane. A health promotion officer (HPO) promoted safer sex behaviours among SOPV patrons over 14 months, including providing information, counselling and skills to enhance safer sexual behaviours and providing referrals. Surveys were introduced to facilitate discussions regarding HIV/sexually transmissible infections, testing and safer sex practices. The project demonstrated feasibility within this highly sexualised environment, and was enhanced by careful monitoring and revising the procedure to improve patron/staff responses to the project. The introduction of a survey instrument was a significant contributor to the project's effectiveness, providing opportunities for patrons to discuss a variety of key sexual health issues. This initiative reflected effective partnering between the Health Department, a community HIV/lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organisation and private industry. Despite initial difficulties, the presence of a health worker within an SOPV was acceptable to patrons and allowed for brief interventions to be conducted. This project was deemed effective for a limited time period and within certain constraints.

Health. Nevada Competency-Based Adult High School Diploma Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nevada Univ., Las Vegas. Coll. of Education.

This document is one of ten curriculum guides developed by the Nevada Competency-Based Adult High School Diploma (CBAHSD) Project. This curriculum guide on health is divided into ten topics. The topics included are Nutrition, Reproduction, Menstruation, Contraception, Alcohol Abuse, Tobacco, Immunization, Disease, Accident Prevention, and…

Empowering patients through eHealth: a case report of a pan-European project.

PubMed

Lettieri, Emanuele; Fumagalli, Lia P; Radaelli, Giovanni; Bertele', Paolo; Vogt, Jess; Hammerschmidt, Reinhard; Lara, Juan L; Carriazo, Ana; Masella, Cristina

2015-08-05

This paper crystallises the experience developed by the pan-European PALANTE Consortium in dealing with the generation of relevant evidence from heterogeneous eHealth services for patient empowerment in nine European Regions. The European Commission (EC) recently funded a number of pan-European eHealth projects aimed at empowering European patients/citizens thus transforming the traditional patient/citizen role in the management of their health (e.g., PALANTE, SUSTAIN, CARRE, HeartCycle, Empower). However, the heterogeneity of the healthcare systems, of the implemented services and of the target patients, the use of ad-hoc definitions of the salient concepts and the development of small-size experiences have prevented the dissemination of "global" results and the development of cumulative knowledge. The main challenge has been the generation of large-scale evidence from heterogeneous small-size experiences. Three lessons have been collectively learnt during the development of the PALANTE project, which involves 9 sites that have implemented different eHealth services for empowering different typologies of patients. These lessons have been refined progressively through project meetings, reviews with the EC Project Officer and Reviewers. The paper illustrates the ten steps followed to develop the three lessons. The first lesson learnt is about how EC-funded projects should develop cumulative knowledge by avoiding self-crafted measures of outcome and by adopting literature-grounded definitions and scales. The second lesson learnt is about how EC-funded projects should identify ambitious, cross-pilot policy and research questions that allow pooling of data from across heterogeneous experiences even if a multi-centre study design was not agreed before. The third lesson learnt is about how EC-funded projects should open their collections of data and make them freely-accessible to the scientific community shortly after the conclusion of the project in order to guarantee

The Outreach Sourcebook, Volume 5: Rural Health Demonstration Projects, 1995 to 1998.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Randall, Teri

In 1995, the federal Office of Rural Health Policy awarded 3-year outreach demonstration grants to 25 projects to provide direct primary and preventive health care services to rural residents in 20 states. The grant program allows recipients to test innovative ideas against persistent problems of rural health care, such as provider shortages,…

The Outreach Sourcebook, Volume 7: Rural Health Demonstration Projects, 1997 to 2000.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Health Resources and Services Administration (DHHS), Rockville, MD. Office of Rural Health Policy.

In 1997, the federal Office of Rural Health Policy awarded 3-year outreach demonstration grants to 45 projects to provide direct primary and preventive health care services to rural residents in 28 states. The grant program allows recipients to test innovative ideas against the challenges of rural health care delivery, such as provider shortages,…

The Outreach Sourcebook, Volume 6: Rural Health Demonstration Projects, 1996 to 1999.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Health Resources and Services Administration (DHHS), Rockville, MD. Office of Rural Health Policy.

In 1996, the federal Office of Rural Health Policy awarded 3-year outreach demonstration grants to 25 projects to provide direct primary and preventive health care services to rural residents in 20 states. The grant program allows recipients to test innovative ideas against the challenges of rural health care delivery, such as provider shortages,…

The Evaluation of SEPAS National Project Based on Electronic Health Record System (EHRS) Coordinates in Iran.

PubMed

Asadi, Farkhondeh; Moghaddasi, Hamid; Rabiei, Reza; Rahimi, Forough; Mirshekarlou, Soheila Jahangiri

2015-12-01

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are secure private lifetime records that can be shared by using interoperability standards between different organizations and units. These records are created by the productive system that is called EHR system. Implementing EHR systems has a number of advantages such as facilitating access to medical records, supporting patient care, and improving the quality of care and health care decisions. The project of electronic health record system in Iran, which is the goal of this study, is called SEPAS. With respect to the importance of EHR and EHR systems the researchers investigated the project from two perspectives: determining the coordinates of the project and how it evolved, and incorporating the coordinates of EHR system in this project. In this study two evaluation tools, a checklist and a questionnaire, were developed based on texts and reliable documentation. The questionnaire and the checklist were validated using content validity by receiving the experts' comments and the questionnaire's reliability was estimated through Test-retest(r =87%). Data were collected through study, observation, and interviews with experts and specialists of SEPAS project. This research showed that SEPAS project, like any other project, could be evaluated. It has some aims; steps, operational phases and certain start and end time, but all the resources and required facilities for the project have not been considered. Therefore it could not satisfy its specified objective and the useful and unique changes which are the other characteristics of any project have not been achieved. In addition, the findings of EHR system coordinates can be determined in 4 categories as Standards and rules, Telecommunication-Communication facilities, Computer equipment and facilities and Stakeholders. The findings indicated that SEPAS has the ability to use all standards of medical terminology and health classification systems in the case of Maksa approval (The reference

The State of Open Source Electronic Health Record Projects: A Software Anthropology Study

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Background Electronic health records (EHR) are a key tool in managing and storing patients’ information. Currently, there are over 50 open source EHR systems available. Functionality and usability are important factors for determining the success of any system. These factors are often a direct reflection of the domain knowledge and developers’ motivations. However, few published studies have focused on the characteristics of free and open source software (F/OSS) EHR systems and none to date have discussed the motivation, knowledge background, and demographic characteristics of the developers involved in open source EHR projects. Objective This study analyzed the characteristics of prevailing F/OSS EHR systems and aimed to provide an understanding of the motivation, knowledge background, and characteristics of the developers. Methods This study identified F/OSS EHR projects on SourceForge and other websites from May to July 2014. Projects were classified and characterized by license type, downloads, programming languages, spoken languages, project age, development status, supporting materials, top downloads by country, and whether they were “certified” EHRs. Health care F/OSS developers were also surveyed using an online survey. Results At the time of the assessment, we uncovered 54 open source EHR projects, but only four of them had been successfully certified under the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC Health IT) Certification Program. In the majority of cases, the open source EHR software was downloaded by users in the United States (64.07%, 148,666/232,034), underscoring that there is a significant interest in EHR open source applications in the United States. A survey of EHR open source developers was conducted and a total of 103 developers responded to the online questionnaire. The majority of EHR F/OSS developers (65.3%, 66/101) are participating in F/OSS projects as part of a paid activity and only 25.7% (26

The State of Open Source Electronic Health Record Projects: A Software Anthropology Study.

PubMed

Alsaffar, Mona; Yellowlees, Peter; Odor, Alberto; Hogarth, Michael

2017-02-24

Electronic health records (EHR) are a key tool in managing and storing patients' information. Currently, there are over 50 open source EHR systems available. Functionality and usability are important factors for determining the success of any system. These factors are often a direct reflection of the domain knowledge and developers' motivations. However, few published studies have focused on the characteristics of free and open source software (F/OSS) EHR systems and none to date have discussed the motivation, knowledge background, and demographic characteristics of the developers involved in open source EHR projects. This study analyzed the characteristics of prevailing F/OSS EHR systems and aimed to provide an understanding of the motivation, knowledge background, and characteristics of the developers. This study identified F/OSS EHR projects on SourceForge and other websites from May to July 2014. Projects were classified and characterized by license type, downloads, programming languages, spoken languages, project age, development status, supporting materials, top downloads by country, and whether they were "certified" EHRs. Health care F/OSS developers were also surveyed using an online survey. At the time of the assessment, we uncovered 54 open source EHR projects, but only four of them had been successfully certified under the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC Health IT) Certification Program. In the majority of cases, the open source EHR software was downloaded by users in the United States (64.07%, 148,666/232,034), underscoring that there is a significant interest in EHR open source applications in the United States. A survey of EHR open source developers was conducted and a total of 103 developers responded to the online questionnaire. The majority of EHR F/OSS developers (65.3%, 66/101) are participating in F/OSS projects as part of a paid activity and only 25.7% (26/101) of EHR F/OSS developers are, or have been

Quality of life and psychological health indicators in the national social life, health, and aging project.

PubMed

Shiovitz-Ezra, Sharon; Leitsch, Sara; Graber, Jessica; Karraker, Amelia

2009-11-01

The National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) measures seven indicators of quality of life (QoL) and psychological health. The measures used for happiness, self-esteem, depression, and loneliness are well established in the literature. Conversely, measures of anxiety, stress, and self-reported emotional health were modified for their use in this unique project. The purpose of this paper is to provide (a) an overview of NSHAP's QoL assessment and (b) evidence for the adequacy of the modified measures. First, we examined the psychometric properties of the modified measures. Second, the established QoL measures were used to examine the concurrent validity of the modified measures. Finally, gender- and age-group differences were examined for each modified measure. The anxiety index exhibited good internal reliability and concurrent validity. Consistent with the literature, a single-factor structure best fit the data. Stress was satisfactory in terms of concurrent validity but with only fair internal consistency. Self-reported emotional health exhibited good concurrent validity and moderate external validity. The modified indices used in NSHAP tended to exhibit good internal reliability and concurrent validity. These measures can confidently be used in the exploration of QoL and psychological health in later life and its many correlates.

Techniques for the computation in demographic projections of health manpower.

PubMed

Horbach, L

1979-01-01

Some basic principles and algorithms are presented which can be used for projective calculations of medical staff on the basis of demographic data. The effects of modifications of the input data such as by health policy measures concerning training capacity, can be demonstrated by repeated calculations with assumptions. Such models give a variety of results and may highlight the probable future balance between health manpower supply and requirements.

Strengths and weaknesses of the Young Black Men, Masculinities, and Mental Health (YBMen) Facebook project.

PubMed

Watkins, Daphne C; Allen, Julie Ober; Goodwill, Janelle R; Noel, Blake

2017-01-01

The Young Black Men, Masculinities, and Mental Health (YBMen) project is a Facebook-based intervention that provides mental health education and social support to young Black men. The YBMen project was created to better understand and address the pressures and needs of young Black men, particularly with regard to issues related to their conceptualization of masculinity and mental health. Black men from a 2-year liberal arts college in the Midwest (United States) enrolled in the YBMen pilot project. The purpose of this study is to report what participants in the YBMen pilot project liked and disliked about the intervention, along with their suggestions for improvement. Qualitative results from the 8 Black men who actively participated in the YBMen Facebook intervention and completed the postintervention interview are reported. A systematic analysis identified 9 subthemes that described participants' reactions to different components and characteristics of the Facebook intervention. Results indicated that opportunities for relationship building and connectivity, coupled with engaging popular culture references used in the intervention encouraged young Black men to actively participate in the YBMen Facebook intervention. The YBMen project has potential to improve the health and well-being of young Black men by providing nontraditional resources that are easily accessible, culturally sensitive, and gender-specific. Implications of the YBMen project as an effective Internet-based program that promotes mental health and increases social support among young Black men are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Social network properties and self-rated health in later life: comparisons from the Korean social life, health, and aging project and the national social life, health and aging project.

PubMed

Youm, Yoosik; Laumann, Edward O; Ferraro, Kenneth F; Waite, Linda J; Kim, Hyeon Chang; Park, Yeong-Ran; Chu, Sang Hui; Joo, Won-Tak; Lee, Jin A

2014-09-14

This paper has two objectives. Firstly, it provides an overview of the social network module, data collection procedures, and measurement of ego-centric and complete-network properties in the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (KSHAP). Secondly, it directly compares the KSHAP structure and results to the ego-centric network structure and results of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), which conducted in-home interviews with 3,005 persons 57 to 85 years of age in the United States. The structure of the complete social network of 814 KSHAP respondents living in Township K was measured and examined at two levels of networks. Ego-centric network properties include network size, composition, volume of contact with network members, density, and bridging potential. Complete-network properties are degree centrality, closeness centrality, betweenness centrality, and brokerage role. We found that KSHAP respondents with a smaller number of social network members were more likely to be older and tended to have poorer self-rated health. Compared to the NSHAP, the KSHAP respondents maintained a smaller network size with a greater network density among their members and lower bridging potential. Further analysis of the complete network properties of KSHAP respondents revealed that more brokerage roles inside the same neighborhood (Ri) were significantly associated with better self-rated health. Socially isolated respondents identified by network components had the worst self-rated health. The findings demonstrate the importance of social network analysis for the study of older adults' health status in Korea. The study also highlights the importance of complete-network data and its ability to reveal mechanisms beyond ego-centric network data.

Social network properties and self-rated health in later life: comparisons from the Korean social life, health, and aging project and the national social life, health and aging project

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background This paper has two objectives. Firstly, it provides an overview of the social network module, data collection procedures, and measurement of ego-centric and complete-network properties in the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (KSHAP). Secondly, it directly compares the KSHAP structure and results to the ego-centric network structure and results of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), which conducted in-home interviews with 3,005 persons 57 to 85 years of age in the United States. Methods The structure of the complete social network of 814 KSHAP respondents living in Township K was measured and examined at two levels of networks. Ego-centric network properties include network size, composition, volume of contact with network members, density, and bridging potential. Complete-network properties are degree centrality, closeness centrality, betweenness centrality, and brokerage role. Results We found that KSHAP respondents with a smaller number of social network members were more likely to be older and tended to have poorer self-rated health. Compared to the NSHAP, the KSHAP respondents maintained a smaller network size with a greater network density among their members and lower bridging potential. Further analysis of the complete network properties of KSHAP respondents revealed that more brokerage roles inside the same neighborhood (Ri) were significantly associated with better self-rated health. Socially isolated respondents identified by network components had the worst self-rated health. Conclusions The findings demonstrate the importance of social network analysis for the study of older adults’ health status in Korea. The study also highlights the importance of complete-network data and its ability to reveal mechanisms beyond ego-centric network data. PMID:25217892

Internal evaluation of the European network for health technology assessment project.

PubMed

Håheim, Lise Lund; Imaz, Iñaki; Loud, Marlène Läubli; Gasparetto, Teresa; González-Enriquez, Jesús; Dahlgren, Helena; Trofimovs, Igor; Berti, Elena; Mørland, Berit

2009-12-01

The internal evaluation studied the development of the European network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) Project in achieving the general objective of establishing an effective and a sustainable network of health technology assessment (HTA) in Europe. The Work Package 3 group was dedicated to this task and performed the work. Information on activities during the project was collected from three sources. First, three yearly cross-sectional studies surveyed the participants' opinions. Responses were by individuals or by institutions. The last round included surveys to the Steering Committee, the Stakeholder Forum, and the Secretariat. Second, the Work Package Lead Partners were interviewed bi-annually, five times in total, to update the information on the Project's progress. Third, additional information was sought in available documents. The organizational structure remained stable. The Project succeeded in developing tools aimed at providing common methodology with intent to establish a standard of conducting and reporting HTA and to facilitate greater collaboration among agencies. The participants/agencies expressed their belief in a network and in maintaining local/national autonomy. The Work Package Leaders expressed a strong belief in the solid base of the Project for a future network on which to build, but were aware of the need for funding and governmental support. Participants and Work Package Leaders have expressed support for a future network that will improve national and international collaboration in HTA based on the experience from the EUnetHTA project.

National health expenditure projections, 2013-23: faster growth expected with expanded coverage and improving economy.

PubMed

Sisko, Andrea M; Keehan, Sean P; Cuckler, Gigi A; Madison, Andrew J; Smith, Sheila D; Wolfe, Christian J; Stone, Devin A; Lizonitz, Joseph M; Poisal, John A

2014-10-01

In 2013 health spending growth is expected to have remained slow, at 3.6 percent, as a result of the sluggish economic recovery, the effects of sequestration, and continued increases in private health insurance cost-sharing requirements. The combined effects of the Affordable Care Act's coverage expansions, faster economic growth, and population aging are expected to fuel health spending growth this year and thereafter (5.6 percent in 2014 and 6.0 percent per year for 2015-23). However, the average rate of increase through 2023 is projected to be slower than the 7.2 percent average growth experienced during 1990-2008. Because health spending is projected to grow 1.1 percentage points faster than the average economic growth during 2013-23, the health share of the gross domestic product is expected to rise from 17.2 percent in 2012 to 19.3 percent in 2023. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Analysis of central enterprise architecture elements in models of six eHealth projects.

PubMed

Virkanen, Hannu; Mykkänen, Juha

2014-01-01

Large-scale initiatives for eHealth services have been established in many countries on regional or national level. The use of Enterprise Architecture has been suggested as a methodology to govern and support the initiation, specification and implementation of large-scale initiatives including the governance of business changes as well as information technology. This study reports an analysis of six health IT projects in relation to Enterprise Architecture elements, focusing on central EA elements and viewpoints in different projects.

Health economics in radiation oncology: introducing the ESTRO HERO project.

PubMed

Lievens, Yolande; Grau, Cai

2012-04-01

New evidence based regimens and novel high precision technology have reinforced the important role of radiotherapy in the management of cancer. Current data estimate that more than 50% of all cancer patients would benefit from radiotherapy during the course of their disease. Within recent years, the radiotherapy community has become more than conscious of the ever-increasing necessity to come up with objective data to endorse the crucial role and position of radiation therapy within the rapidly changing global oncology landscape. In an era of ever expanding health care costs, proven safety and effectiveness is not sufficient anymore to obtain funding, objective data about cost and cost-effectiveness are nowadays additionally requested. It is in this context that ESTRO is launching the HERO-project (Health Economics in Radiation Oncology), with the overall aim to develop a knowledge base and a model for health economic evaluation of radiation treatments at the European level. To accomplish these objectives, the HERO project will address needs, accessibility, cost and cost-effectiveness of radiotherapy. The results will raise the profile of radiotherapy in the European cancer management context and help countries prioritizing radiotherapy as a highly cost-effective treatment strategy. This article describes the different steps and aims within the HERO-project, starting from evidence on the role of radiotherapy within the global oncology landscape and highlighting weaknesses that may undermine this position. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Maternal and Child Health Bureau Active Projects FY 1991: An Annotated Listing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health, Washington, DC.

This annotated listing provides brief descriptions of the 591 projects funded during 1991 by federal set-aside funds of the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Services Block Grant and identified as special projects of regional and national significance (SPRANS). Preliminary information includes an introduction, an organization chart of the Maternal…

Sexual health promotion on social networking sites: a process evaluation of The FaceSpace Project.

PubMed

Nguyen, Phuong; Gold, Judy; Pedrana, Alisa; Chang, Shanton; Howard, Steve; Ilic, Olivia; Hellard, Margaret; Stoove, Mark

2013-07-01

This article reports findings from an evaluation of reach and engagement of The FaceSpace Project, a novel sexual health promotion project delivered through social networking sites that targeted young people aged 16-29 years. Multiple methods were used to evaluate project reach and engagement. The evaluation focussed on quantitative data (online usage statistics, online surveys), complemented by available qualitative data (project team meeting notes). The project reached 900 fans who were mostly between 18 and 34 years of age. The most successful ways of increasing audience reach were via Facebook advertisements and tagging photos of young people attending a music festival on the project Facebook page. Peaks in Facebook page interactions (comments and "likes") coincided with recruitment peaks and when videos were posted. However, video views varied greatly between postings. Feedback from the project team for increasing engagement in future social networking site interventions included having one centralized Facebook page and using episodic videos. This evaluation is among the first to assess the use of social networking sites for sexual health promotion and provides information to inform the implementation and evaluation of future projects using new media. Social networking sites offer great potential to reach and engage young people for sexual health promotion. However, further work is required to improve implementation and promote audience reach and engagement as well as to determine effectiveness of social networking sites in changing knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Copyright © 2013 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A community-wide school health project for the promotion of smoke-free homes.

PubMed

Loke, Alice Yuen; Mak, Y W

2015-11-26

A community-wide school health project for the promotion of smoke-free homes was launched in June 2010 with the aim of promoting the benefits of smoke-free homes to all school-aged children (aged 6-18), and indirectly to their parents and family members. The 1-year project included health talks on a smoke-free life; the distribution of educational leaflets; slogan and visual art competitions; and a health fair held in June 2011. Two sets of questionnaires were developed to solicit a resolution and action from the participants regarding the establishment of a smoke-free home, and their decision to stay smoke-free. This is a paper to report on the activities of this project, the attempts to reach out to school-aged children, and their indications of agreement with, support for, and commitment to promoting smoke-free homes. The project reached an estimated 12,800 school-aged children in Hong Kong. A large proportion of those received educational leaflets (69.6-88.2 %). Of those who participated in the health fair, 69.7-87.6 % agreed to promote the concept of smoke-free homes to friends and family. More primary than secondary students pledged to not take up smoking (90.8 vs 85.8 %). About 82 % of those who had experimented with smoking pledged to stop. A small proportion of them reported already having established a smoke-free policy at home (14.9 %), placed a 'No Smoking' sign at home (16.4 %), informed visitors of their smoke-free policy at home (12.9 %), and asked visitors to dispose of lit cigarettes before entering their home (15.9 %). This community-wide school health project on the benefits of smoke-free homes reached a large number of students, and indirectly to family members, and home visitors. Public health efforts of this kind should be continued to reach younger generations and the general public.

Community development and health project: a 5-year (1995-1999) experience in Mozambique, Africa.

PubMed

Ferrell, B J A G

2002-03-01

The Community Development and Health Project (1995-1999) in Mozambique, East Africa, was undertaken to help alleviate the dire circumstances of daily life following years of internal warfare. The project was supported by the International United Methodist Church and was administered by the Mozambique Conference of the United Methodist Church, Chicuque Rural Hospital and Cambine Health Center. The target population, whose daily survival depended on subsistence farming, lived throughout the country, in particular in rural areas, far from health care facilities. The Project Content included the following topics: basic education in personal and environmental hygiene; proper nutrition using locally available food products; methods of agriculture that would ensure the best use of the land for growing nutritious food; economic methods to guarantee a supply of safe drinking water; disease prevention/home treatment; maternal child health; self-esteem issues; and establishing a representatively inclusive community-development committee. Indigenous women, the 'promotoras/os', were selected from their communities, attended a 4-week training session and then returned to their homes as 'Promotoras/os of Community Development and Health'.

Perceptions of community participation and health gain in a community project for the South Asian population: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Bandesha, G; Litva, A

2005-09-01

The new public health rejects old individualist attempts at improving health and embraces community-based approaches in reducing health inequalities. Primary Care Trusts in England face the challenge of converting community participation in health into reality. This study explores differences in perception of participation between lay and professional stakeholders of a community health project for a South Asian population in Greater Manchester. In-depth interviews and focus groups were used to explore the views of professional and lay stakeholders. All data were audio-taped, transcribed and analysed for emerging themes using a qualitative framework. Professionals talked of working in partnership with the community but lay stakeholders did not feel that they had control over the project. There were problems in engaging the community and local health professionals in the project. Lack of cultural awareness hampered participation in the project. There was agreement that the project improved the self-confidence of participants and created a more informed population. However, there was little support for claims of improvements in social cohesion and changes in lifestyle directly as a result of the project. Converting the rhetoric of community participation in health into reality is a greater challenge than was envisaged by policy makers. Marginalized communities may not be willing participants and issues of language and cultural sensitivity are important. Project outcomes need to be agreed to ensure projects are evaluated appropriately. Projects with South Asian communities should not be seen to be dealing with all 'ethnic health' issues without addressing changes in statutory organizations and other wider social determinants of health.

The WHISK (Women's Health: Increasing the Awareness of Science and Knowledge) Pilot Project: Recognizing Sex and Gender Differences in Women's Health and Wellness.

PubMed

Edwards, Lorece V; Dennis, Sabriya; Weaks, Francesca

2013-09-01

Women's health encompasses a continuum of biological, psychological, and social challenges that differ considerably from those of men. Despite the remarkable advances in science, women's health and sex differences research is slowly gaining recognition and acceptance. It is important that women's health gain attention as women are usually the gatekeepers of care for the family. Women's health and health outcomes are strongly influenced by sex and gender differences as well as geography. Around the world, the interplay of biology and culture brings about differences in men's and women's health, which have been largely overlooked. The Women's Health: Increasing the Awareness of Science and Knowledge (WHISK) Pilot Project was a multidisciplinary project aimed to increase the awareness of sex and gender differences in women's health and research among healthcare professionals. Theater expression and creative art were used to translate knowledge, enhance understanding, and increase the awareness of sex differences. Findings from this project clearly showed an apparent increase in knowledge and cultivation of new insights.

[Analysis on effect of health promotion project for pupils in Wushan County].

PubMed

Lei, Hong-xia; Zhong, Ji-rong

2010-04-01

To evaluate the effect of health promotion project ahout hepatitis for pupils, and provide strategies for health promotion. Health promotion program was implemented through health education classes, along with many entertainments and lively activities. 213 teachers, pupils and parents from schools in the county were surveyed. The awareness of them were 100%, and the inoculating rates of hepatitis A vaccine and hepatitis B vaccine were hoth improved to 93%. Health promotion program plays an important role to promote the healthy knowledge of pupils.

Impact assessment of a maternal health project in a megacity, Nigeria: toward a future with more demand for maternal health services.

PubMed

Matsuoka, Sadatoshi; Koga, Sumiko; Suzui, Emiko; Tsukada, Yoshiko; Ohashi, Kazutomo; Johnson, Taiwo

2017-10-01

To improve the quantity and quality of maternal health services in Lagos State, Nigeria having a maternal mortality ratio of 555 per 100 000 live births, a four-year project was implemented since February 2010. The major activity of the project was training for both the service supply and demand sides. This study aimed to examine the impact of the project on coverages and quality of the services in target areas, and guide statewide policies. The Cochran-Armitage test for trend was applied to understand trends in the service coverages during 2009-2013. The same test was performed to analyse trends in the proportions of perineal conditions (i.e. intact or tear) and to evaluate variations in midwives' snkill during 2011-2013. The paired t-test was used to analyse changes in midwives' knowledge. The project interventions contributed to a significant increase in the overall service coverages, including improvements in midwifery knowledge and possibly in their skills. However, the service coverage was still limited as of the termination of the project. To instal the interventions and maximise the effect of them state-wide, it is recommended to undertake five tasks: (i) establishment of public primary health centres offering 24-h maternal health services; (ii) redeployment and recruitment of public health personnel; (iii) expansion of midwifery trainings and continuous education by the local trainers; (iv) review of grass-roots level activities; and (v) scrutiny of barriers to maternal health services. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[RIU project: perceived changes by health agents and professionals after a health intervention in an urban area of socioeconomic disadvantage].

PubMed

Aviñó, Dory; Paredes-Carbonell, Joan J; Peiró-Pérez, Rosana; La Parra Casado, Daniel; Álvarez-Dardet, Carlos

2014-12-01

To describe how health agents and professionals working in a community project perceive the changes related to the population health status and their use of health-care services after the RIU intervention in an urban area of socioeconomic disadvantage. A qualitative descriptive study based on individual and group interviews and participant observation conducted between October 2008-July 2009. Raval (Algemesí-Valencia) We selected by purposive sample 7 women health agents, all persons who completed the intervention, and 10 professionals for their involvement in the intervention. We conducted a group interview with the women at 6 months and a group and 7 individuals interviews both at 9 months of intervention. We realized a thematic descriptive analysis from health promotion framework. We used participant observation in a meeting with professionals at 9 months and analyzed field notes as: appraisal project, detected changes, challenges and recommendations. Women acquired information about health, contraception, pregnancy and heath services; they noted changes in self-care and social skills and leadership; they internalized the role of health worker disseminating what they learned and showed improvement in self-esteem and social recognition. They caused changes in the people related on health care and access to services. Professionals didn't incorporate at their work the community perspective; they valued positively the project; professionals and women agreed on improving access and use of services and closeness population-professionals. RIU increases the capabilities of the participants, their social recognition and improves access and use of health services. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Extending Occupational Health and Safety to Urban Street Vendors: Reflections From a Project in Durban, South Africa.

PubMed

Alfers, Laura; Xulu, Phumzile; Dobson, Richard; Hariparsad, Sujatha

2016-08-01

This article focuses on an action-research project which is attempting to extend occupational health and safety to a group of street traders in Durban, South Africa, using a variety of different (and sometimes unconventional) institutional actors. The article is written from the perspective of key people who have played a role in conceptualizing and administering the project and is intended to deepen the conversation about what it means to extend occupational health to the informal economy. It explores this question through a reflection on three key project activities: the setting up of a trader-led health and safety committee, an occupational health and safety training course, and a clinical health assessment. It concludes with a discussion of the issues that emerge from the reflections of project participants, which include the need to bring occupational health and urban health into closer conversation with one another, the need to be cognizant of local "informal" politics and the impact that has on occupational health and safety interventions, and the need to create greater opportunities for occupational health and safety professionals to interact with workers in the informal economy. © The Author(s) 2016.

The United States needs a WHO health in prisons project.

PubMed

Weinstein, C

2010-11-01

Some facts about imprisonment in the USA are used to justify the comment that US is a country that loves prisons. The lack of provision of rehabilitative type services is stressed and the example of Valley Fever in one area of California demonstrates the public health disasters which can occur with the present arrangements. The organisations concerned with prisons seem to support the idea of prisons as a business. The article is a plea for a WHO health in prisons project as the way forward. Copyright © 2010 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Social and Economic Policies Matter for Health Equity: Conclusions of the SOPHIE Project.

PubMed

Malmusi, Davide; Muntaner, Carles; Borrell, Carme

2018-01-01

Since 2011, the SOPHIE project has accumulated evidence regarding the influence of social and economic policies on population health levels, as well as on health inequalities according to socioeconomic position, gender, and immigrant status. Through comparative analyses and evaluation case studies across Europe, SOPHIE has shown how these health inequalities vary according to contexts in macroeconomics, social protection, labor market, built environment, housing, gender equity, and immigrant integration and may be reduced by equity-oriented policies in these fields. These studies can help public health and social justice advocates to build a strong case for fairer social and economic policies that will lead to the reduction of health inequalities that most governments have included among their policy goals. In this article, we summarize the main findings and policy implications of the SOPHIE project and the lessons learned on civil society participation in research and results communication.

Regional Projections of Extreme Apparent Temperature Days in Africa and the Related Potential Risk to Human Health

PubMed Central

Garland, Rebecca M.; Matooane, Mamopeli; Engelbrecht, Francois A.; Bopape, Mary-Jane M.; Landman, Willem A.; Naidoo, Mogesh; van der Merwe, Jacobus; Wright, Caradee Y.

2015-01-01

Regional climate modelling was used to produce high resolution climate projections for Africa, under a “business as usual scenario”, that were translated into potential health impacts utilizing a heat index that relates apparent temperature to health impacts. The continent is projected to see increases in the number of days when health may be adversely affected by increasing maximum apparent temperatures (AT) due to climate change. Additionally, climate projections indicate that the increases in AT results in a moving of days from the less severe to the more severe Symptom Bands. The analysis of the rate of increasing temperatures assisted in identifying areas, such as the East African highlands, where health may be at increasing risk due to both large increases in the absolute number of hot days, and due to the high rate of increase. The projections described here can be used by health stakeholders in Africa to assist in the development of appropriate public health interventions to mitigate the potential health impacts from climate change. PMID:26473895

Health-Related Fitness Knowledge Development through Project-Based Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hastle, Peter A.; Chen, Senlin; Guarino, Anthony J.

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the process and outcome of an intervention using the project-based learning (PBL) model to increase students' health-related fitness (HRF) knowledge. Method: The participants were 185 fifth-grade students from three schools in Alabama (PBL group: n = 109; control group: n = 76). HRF knowledge was…

Pittsburgh Technical Health Training Institute Demonstration Project; Quarterly Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kishkunas, Louis J.

This fifth quarterly report covers the period June 15, 1967 to December 15, 1967 of a project aimed at demonstrating a faster method of training higly qualified workers for the health field. During this period, nurse aides were trained in a pilot program based upon the educational objectives derived from entry level behavioral specifications…

Weird Project: E-Health Service Improvement Using WiMAX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cimmino, Antonio; Casali, Fulvio; Mambretti, Cinzia

Today the major obstacle to massive deployment of telemedicine applications are the security issues related to the exchange of real time information between different elements that are not at fixed locations. WiMAX, the new standard for wireless communications, is one of the most promising technologies for broadband access in a fixed and mobile environment and it is expected to overcome the above mentioned obstacle. The FP6-WEIRD [1] (WiMax Extension to Isolated Remote Data networks) project has: analysed how this technology can guarantee secure real time data transmission between mobile elements, built some successful demonstrations and paved the way to future commercial applications. This paper in particular describes: main promising e-health applications that WiMax would enable; the technological highlights and the main challenges that WiMax has to face in e-health applications such as accounting, privacy, security, data integrity; the way in which the WEIRD project 0 has studied the wireless access to medical communities and equipment in remote or impervious areas. 0 0; some envisaged implementations.

Continued multidisciplinary project-based learning - implementation in health informatics.

PubMed

Wessel, C; Spreckelsen, C

2009-01-01

Problem- and project-based learning are approved methods to train students, graduates and post-graduates in scientific and other professional skills. The students are trained on realistic scenarios in a broader context. For students specializing in health informatics we introduced continued multidisciplinary project-based learning (CM-PBL) at a department of medical informatics. The training approach addresses both students of medicine and students of computer science. The students are full members of an ongoing research project and develop a project-related application or module, or explore or evaluate a sub-project. Two teachers guide and review the students' work. The training on scientific work follows a workflow with defined milestones. The team acts as peer group. By participating in the research team's work the students are trained on professional skills. A research project on a web-based information system on hospitals built the scenario for the realistic context. The research team consisted of up to 14 active members at a time, who were scientists and students of computer science and medicine. The well communicated educational approach and team policy fostered the participation of the students. Formative assessment and evaluation showed a considerable improvement of the students' skills and a high participant satisfaction. Alternative education approaches such as project-based learning empower students to acquire scientific knowledge and professional skills, especially the ability of life-long learning, multidisciplinary team work and social responsibility.

[A project to reduce the incidence of intubation care errors among foreign health aides].

PubMed

Chen, Mei-Ju; Lu, Yu-Hua; Chen, Chiu-Chun; Li, Ai-Cheng

2014-08-01

Foreign health aides are the main providers of care for the elderly and the physically disabled in Taiwan. Correct care skills improve patient safety. In 2010, the incidence of mistakes among foreign health aides in our hospital unit was 58% for nasogastric tube care and 57% for tracheostomy tube care. A survey of foreign health aides and nurses in the unit identified the main causes of these mistakes as: communication difficulties, inaccurate instructions given to patients, and a lack of standard operating procedures given to the foreign health aides. This project was designed to reduce the rates of improper nasogastric tube care and improper tracheostomy tube care to 20%, respectively. This project implemented several appropriate measures. We produced patient instruction hand-outs in Bahasa Indonesia, established a dedicated file holder for Bahasa Indonesian tube care reference information, produced Bahasa Indonesian tube-care-related posters, produced a short film about tube care in Bahasa Indonesian, and established a standardized operating procedure for tube care in our unit. Between December 15th and 31st, 2011, we audited the performance of a total of 32 foreign health aides for proper execution of nasogastric tube care (21 aides) and of proper execution of tracheostomy tube care (11 aides). Patients with concurrent nasogastric and tracheostomy tubes were inspected separately for each care group. The incidence of improper care decreased from 58% to 18% nasogastric intubation and 57% to 18% for tracheostomy intubation. This project decreased significantly the incidence of improper tube care by the foreign health aides in our unit. Furthermore, the foreign health aides improved their tube nursing care skills. Therefore, this project improved the quality of patient care.

Championing mental health at work: emerging practice from innovative projects in the UK.

PubMed

Robinson, Mark; Tilford, Sylvia; Branney, Peter; Kinsella, Karina

2014-09-01

This paper examines the value of participatory approaches within interventions aimed at promoting mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. Specifically the paper explores data from the thematic evaluation of the Mental Health and Employment project strand within the Altogether Better programme being implemented in England in the Yorkshire and Humber region, which was funded through the BIG Lottery and aimed to empower people across the region to lead better lives. The evaluation combined a systematic evidence review with semi-structured interviews across mental health and employment projects. Drawing on both evaluation elements, the paper examines the potential of workplace-based 'business champions' to facilitate organizational culture change within enterprises within a deprived regional socio-economic environment. First, the paper identifies key policy drivers for interventions around mental health and employment, summarizes evidence review findings and describes the range of activities within three projects. The role of the 'business champion' emerged as crucial to these interventions and therefore, secondly, the paper examines how champions' potential to make a difference depends on the work settings and their existing roles, skills and motivation. In particular, champions can proactively coordinate project strands, embed the project, encourage participation, raise awareness, encourage changes to work procedures and strengthen networks and partnerships. The paper explores how these processes can facilitate changes in organizational culture. Challenges of implementation are identified, including achieving leverage with senior management, handover of ownership to fellow employees, assessing impact and sustainability. Finally, implications for policy and practice are discussed, and conclusions drawn concerning the roles of champions within different workplace environments. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For

Project TEAMS (Techniques and Education for Achieving Management Skills): Health Care Administrators.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Platte Technical Community Coll., Columbus, NE.

These Project TEAMS (Techniques and Education for Achieving Management Skills) instructional materials consist of five units for use in training health care administrators. Unit 1 contains materials designed to help the health care administrators increase their management skills in regard to self-awareness, time management, problem solving,…

Building Capacity in the Sikh Asian Indian Community to Lead Participatory Oral Health Projects.

PubMed

Kavathe, Rucha; Islam, Nadia; Zanowiak, Jennifer; Wyatt, Laura; Singh, Hardayal; Northridge, Mary E

2018-01-01

Lack of access to oral health care is a significant burden for disadvantaged populations, yet rarely draws the attention of policymakers or community leaders. To understand how UNITED SIKHS identified oral health care as a priority need through its involvement in community-based participatory research (CBPR) initiatives and local data collection, thereby building its capacity to lead participatory oral health projects. The foundation for the partnership between UNITED SIKHS and the New York University (NYU) Prevention Research Center (PRC) was the joint implementation of a CBPR project to prevent diabetes in the Sikh Asian Indian community. Project partners also included a community coalition composed of religious leaders, health providers, members of the media, and dental students and faculty at the NYU College of Dentistry (NYU Dentistry). A community needs and resources assessment survey was jointly developed and conducted in 2010 to better understand health needs in the Sikh community. Fewer than one-half of the Sikh participants (43.0%) reported ever receiving a check-up or screening by a dentist, and of those who did, only one-half (50.0%) reported that it occurred in the past 12 months. Upon clinical assessment, more than one-half of Sikh adults (58.2%) had untreated dental decay. The collection and analysis of local data motivated UNITED SIKHS to develop new priorities based upon the findings. UNITED SIKHS applied for and received external funding to lead a CBPR project that developed, implemented, evaluated, and disseminated a culturally tailored oral health and healthy living curriculum for the Sikh Asian Indian community.

Effectiveness of an Adaptation of the Project Connect Health Systems Intervention: Youth and Clinic-Level Findings.

PubMed

Loosier, Penny S; Doll, Shelli; Lepar, Danielle; Ward, Kristin; Gamble, Ginger; Dittus, Patricia J

2016-08-01

The Project Connect Health Systems Intervention (Project Connect) uses a systematic process of collecting community and healthcare infrastructure information to craft a referral guide highlighting local healthcare providers who provide high quality sexual and reproductive healthcare. Previous self-report data on healthcare usage indicated Project Connect was successful with sexually experienced female youth, where it increased rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted disease (STD) testing and receipt of contraception. This adaption of Project Connect examined its effectiveness in a new context and via collection of clinic encounter-level data. Project Connect was implemented in 3 high schools. (only 2 schools remained open throughout the entire project period). Participant recruitment and data collection occurred in 5 of 8 participating health clinics. Students completed Youth Surveys (N = 608) and a Clinic Survey (paired with medical data abstraction in 2 clinics [N = 305]). Students were more likely than nonstudents to report having reached a clinic via Project Connect. Nearly 40% of students attended a Project Connect school, with 32.7% using Project Connect to reach the clinic. Students were most likely to have been referred by a school nurse or coach. Project Connect is a low-cost, sustainable structural intervention with multiple applications within schools, either as a standalone intervention or in combination with ongoing efforts. © 2016, American School Health Association.

Using and interpreting mental health measures in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project.

PubMed

Payne, Carolyn; Hedberg, E C; Kozloski, Michael; Dale, William; McClintock, Martha K

2014-11-01

National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) included five unique mental health measures in Waves 1 and 2 that researchers can use to measure the overall emotional health of participants: depressive symptoms, happiness-unhappiness, anxiety symptoms, perceived stress, and felt loneliness. For each, we detail the rationale for its development and explain how to score, analyze, and interpret results. NSHAP developed its measures by modifying traditional short-form scales to improve response efficiency and reduce respondent burden. Scoring protocols and interpretations were developed for each measure. U.S. population estimates for older adults born between 1920 and 1947 were generated using age-eligible samples from Waves 1 and 2. NSHAP's protocols yielded U.S. prevalence rates similar to other nationally representative studies of older adults and comparable between waves. Higher estimates of anxiety symptoms and perceived stress in Wave 2 compared with Wave 1 were explained by age, administration mode, and time period. Analytic strategies for longitudinal analyses are provided. In Wave 2, mental health generally was worse at older ages, with women having more symptoms at younger ages than men. Women had fewer anxiety symptoms at the oldest ages. NSHAP's mental health measures were successfully integrated into the project's survey and showed acceptable external reliability as well as moderately stable individual characteristics across the 5 years between Waves 1 and 2. Depressive symptoms and unhappiness may form a mental health cluster in the elderly, distinct from anxiety symptoms, perceived stress, and felt loneliness. Gender differences in age-specific patterns of mental health were evident using the exact age of participants rather than the traditional decade groupings. Administration mode and time period (between 2005-2006 and 2010-2011) were determined to be potential confounds that need to be accommodated in longitudinal analyses of aging, whereas

National Health Expenditure Projections, 2016-25: Price Increases, Aging Push Sector To 20 Percent Of Economy.

PubMed

Keehan, Sean P; Stone, Devin A; Poisal, John A; Cuckler, Gigi A; Sisko, Andrea M; Smith, Sheila D; Madison, Andrew J; Wolfe, Christian J; Lizonitz, Joseph M

2017-03-01

Under current law, national health expenditures are projected to grow at an average annual rate of 5.6 percent for 2016-25 and represent 19.9 percent of gross domestic product by 2025. For 2016, national health expenditure growth is anticipated to have slowed 1.1 percentage points to 4.8 percent, as a result of slower Medicaid and prescription drug spending growth. For the rest of the projection period, faster projected growth in medical prices is partly offset by slower projected growth in the use and intensity of medical goods and services, relative to that observed in 2014-16 associated with the Affordable Care Act coverage expansions. The insured share of the population is projected to increase from 90.9 percent in 2015 to 91.5 percent by 2025. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

The multilingual videotape project: community involvement in a unique health education program.

PubMed Central

Clabots, R B; Dolphin, D

1992-01-01

The large number of Southeast Asian, Hispanic, and Portuguese immigrants in Rhode Island face formidable language and cultural barriers in gaining access to the health care that they need. As the funding for refugee-specific programs diminishes, the focus is on programs that encourage self-sufficiency, assist in gaining access to mainstream health care, and involve a collaboration among service agencies and the communities they serve. On behalf of a coalition of health care and community agencies, Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island received a private foundation grant to produce nine multilingual videotapes that would educate immigrants and refugees about health issues specific to them and help them access the health care system. The project was structured to maximize the involvement of the various communities and to "empower" community members in working with mainstream service agencies. Coalition and other community members provided input into topic selection, script content, and presentation methods for the videotapes that would be culturally appropriate. During the 2-year project, nine videotapes were produced with narration in seven languages. Copies of the videotapes were distributed free of charge to coalition members. PMID:1738812

Building Capacity in the Sikh Asian Indian Community to Lead Participatory Oral Health Projects

PubMed Central

Kavathe, Rucha; Islam, Nadia; Zanowiak, Jennifer; Wyatt, Laura; Singh, Hardayal; Northridge, Mary E.

2018-01-01

Background Lack of access to oral health care is a significant burden for disadvantaged populations, yet rarely draws the attention of policymakers or community leaders. Objectives To understand how UNITED SIKHS identified oral health care as a priority need through its involvement in community-based participatory research (CBPR) initiatives and local data collection, thereby building its capacity to lead participatory oral health projects. Methods The foundation for the partnership between UNITED SIKHS and the New York University (NYU) Prevention Research Center (PRC) was the joint implementation of a CBPR project to prevent diabetes in the Sikh Asian Indian community. Project partners also included a community coalition composed of religious leaders, health providers, members of the media, and dental students and faculty at the NYU College of Dentistry (NYU Dentistry). A community needs and resources assessment survey was jointly developed and conducted in 2010 to better understand health needs in the Sikh community. Results Fewer than one-half of the Sikh participants (43.0%) reported ever receiving a check-up or screening by a dentist, and of those who did, only one-half (50.0%) reported that it occurred in the past 12 months. Upon clinical assessment, more than one-half of Sikh adults (58.2%) had untreated dental decay. The collection and analysis of local data motivated UNITED SIKHS to develop new priorities based upon the findings. Conclusions UNITED SIKHS applied for and received external funding to lead a CBPR project that developed, implemented, evaluated, and disseminated a culturally tailored oral health and healthy living curriculum for the Sikh Asian Indian community. PMID:29606688

The Norwegian national project for ethics support in community health and care services.

PubMed

Magelssen, Morten; Gjerberg, Elisabeth; Pedersen, Reidar; Førde, Reidun; Lillemoen, Lillian

2016-11-08

Internationally, clinical ethics support has yet to be implemented systematically in community health and care services. A large-scale Norwegian project (2007-2015) attempted to increase ethical competence in community services through facilitating the implementation of ethics support activities in 241 Norwegian municipalities. The article describes the ethics project and the ethics activities that ensued. The article first gives an account of the Norwegian ethics project. Then the results of two online questionnaires are reported, characterizing the scope, activities and organization of the ethics activities in the Norwegian municipalities and the ethical topics addressed. One hundred and thirty-seven municipal contact persons answered the first survey (55 % response rate), whereas 217 ethics facilitators from 48 municipalities responded to the second (33 % response rate). The Norwegian ethics project is vast in scope, yet has focused on some institutions and professions (e.g., nursing homes, home-based care; nurses, nurses' aides, unskilled workers) whilst seldom reaching others (e.g., child and adolescent health care; physicians). Patients and next of kin were very seldom involved. Through the ethics project employees discussed many important ethical challenges, in particular related to patient autonomy, competence to consent, and cooperation with next of kin. The "ethics reflection group" was the most common venue for ethics deliberation. The Norwegian project is the first of its kind and scope, and other countries may learn from the Norwegian experiences. Professionals have discussed central ethical dilemmas, the handling of which arguably makes a difference for patients/users and service quality. The study indicates that large (national) scale implementation of CES structures for the municipal health and care services is complex, yet feasible.

Implementing Brief Interventions in Health Care: Lessons Learned from the Swedish Risk Drinking Project

PubMed Central

Nilsen, Per; Wåhlin, Sven; Heather, Nick

2011-01-01

The Risk Drinking Project was a national implementation endeavour in Sweden, carried out from 2004 to 2010, based on a government initiative to give alcohol issues a more prominent place in routine primary, child, maternity and occupational health care. The article describes and analyses the project. Critical factors that were important for the results are identified. The magnitude of the project contributed to its reach and impact in terms of providers’ awareness of the project goals and key messages. The timing of the project was appropriate. The increase in alcohol consumption in Sweden and diminished opportunities for primary prevention strategies since entry to the European Union in 1995 have led to increased expectations for health care providers to become more actively involved in alcohol prevention. This awareness provided favourable conditions for this project. A multifaceted approach was used in the project. Most educational courses were held in workshops and seminars to encourage learning-by-doing. Motivational interviewing was an integral aspect. The concept of risk drinking was promoted in all the activities. Subprojects were tailored to the specific conditions of each respective setting, building on the skills the providers already had to modify existing work practices. Nurses were afforded a key role in the project. PMID:22016706

Implementing brief interventions in health care: lessons learned from the Swedish Risk Drinking Project.

PubMed

Nilsen, Per; Wåhlin, Sven; Heather, Nick

2011-09-01

The Risk Drinking Project was a national implementation endeavour in Sweden, carried out from 2004 to 2010, based on a government initiative to give alcohol issues a more prominent place in routine primary, child, maternity and occupational health care. The article describes and analyses the project. Critical factors that were important for the results are identified. The magnitude of the project contributed to its reach and impact in terms of providers' awareness of the project goals and key messages. The timing of the project was appropriate. The increase in alcohol consumption in Sweden and diminished opportunities for primary prevention strategies since entry to the European Union in 1995 have led to increased expectations for health care providers to become more actively involved in alcohol prevention. This awareness provided favourable conditions for this project. A multifaceted approach was used in the project. Most educational courses were held in workshops and seminars to encourage learning-by-doing. Motivational interviewing was an integral aspect. The concept of risk drinking was promoted in all the activities. Subprojects were tailored to the specific conditions of each respective setting, building on the skills the providers already had to modify existing work practices. Nurses were afforded a key role in the project.

75 FR 59237 - TRICARE Co-Pay Waiver at Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center Demonstration Project

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-27

... Federal Health Care Center Demonstration Project AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Defense. ACTION: Notice of TRICARE Co-Pay waiver at Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center... ``TRICARE Co-Pay Waiver at Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care (FHCC) Demonstration Project.'' Under...

Public library consumer health information pilot project: results of a National Library of Medicine evaluation

PubMed Central

Wood, Fred B.; Lyon, Becky; Schell, Mary Beth; Kitendaugh, Paula; Cid, Victor H.; Siegel, Elliot R.

2000-01-01

In October 1998, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) launched a pilot project to learn about the role of public libraries in providing health information to the public and to generate information that would assist NLM and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) in learning how best to work with public libraries in the future. Three regional medical libraries (RMLs), eight resource libraries, and forty-one public libraries or library systems from nine states and the District of Columbia were selected for participation. The pilot project included an evaluation component that was carried out in parallel with project implementation. The evaluation ran through September 1999. The results of the evaluation indicated that participating public librarians were enthusiastic about the training and information materials provided as part of the project and that many public libraries used the materials and conducted their own outreach to local communities and groups. Most libraries applied the modest funds to purchase additional Internet-accessible computers and/or upgrade their health-reference materials. However, few of the participating public libraries had health information centers (although health information was perceived as a top-ten or top-five topic of interest to patrons). Also, the project generated only minimal usage of NLM's consumer health database, known as MEDLINEplus, from the premises of the monitored libraries (patron usage from home or office locations was not tracked). The evaluation results suggested a balanced follow-up by NLM and the NN/LM, with a few carefully selected national activities, complemented by a package of targeted activities that, as of January 2000, are being planned, developed, or implemented. The results also highlighted the importance of building an evaluation component into projects like this one from the outset, to assure that objectives were met and that evaluative information was available on a timely basis, as was

Public library consumer health information pilot project: results of a National Library of Medicine evaluation.

PubMed

Wood, F B; Lyon, B; Schell, M B; Kitendaugh, P; Cid, V H; Siegel, E R

2000-10-01

In October 1998, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) launched a pilot project to learn about the role of public libraries in providing health information to the public and to generate information that would assist NLM and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) in learning how best to work with public libraries in the future. Three regional medical libraries (RMLs), eight resource libraries, and forty-one public libraries or library systems from nine states and the District of Columbia were selected for participation. The pilot project included an evaluation component that was carried out in parallel with project implementation. The evaluation ran through September 1999. The results of the evaluation indicated that participating public librarians were enthusiastic about the training and information materials provided as part of the project and that many public libraries used the materials and conducted their own outreach to local communities and groups. Most libraries applied the modest funds to purchase additional Internet-accessible computers and/or upgrade their health-reference materials. However, few of the participating public libraries had health information centers (although health information was perceived as a top-ten or top-five topic of interest to patrons). Also, the project generated only minimal usage of NLM's consumer health database, known as MEDLINEplus, from the premises of the monitored libraries (patron usage from home or office locations was not tracked). The evaluation results suggested a balanced follow-up by NLM and the NN/LM, with a few carefully selected national activities, complemented by a package of targeted activities that, as of January 2000, are being planned, developed, or implemented. The results also highlighted the importance of building an evaluation component into projects like this one from the outset, to assure that objectives were met and that evaluative information was available on a timely basis, as was

The Coronary Health Improvement Projects Impact on Lowering Eating, Sleep, Stress, and Depressive Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Merrill, Ray M.; Aldana, Stephen G.; Greenlaw, Roger L.; Diehl, Hans A.

2008-01-01

Background: The Coronary Health Improvement Project (CHIP) is designed to lower cardiovascular risk factors among a group of generally healthy individuals through health education. Purpose: This study will evaluate the efficacy of the CHIP intervention at improving eating, sleep, stress, and depressive disorders. Methods: A health education…

Multilingual health education tapes project.

PubMed

Vryheid, R

1992-01-01

The success of Thailand's 1985 malaria education cassette tapes project motivated the Highland Development Program to produce tapes in 6 tribal languages on family planning, maternal and child health, nutrition, and disease prevention. Staff produced tapes using a drama or radio magazine format as a series of short features with music and sound effects. Scriptwriters consulted villagers, broadcasting professionals, research workers, and health officials to tailor messages to the various hill tribes. They tried to avoid conflict between traditional and modern concepts and to minimize distrust of government services. The scriptwriters used basically short, grammatically simple sentences, and colloquial Thai to simplify translation. The staff tried to recruit literate, adult, native speakers of the target languages with some experience in health education in their own languages. Obstacles encountered with translation included some languages used an uncommon alphabet or translators did not know their own alphabet. The program backtranslated the scripts to assure the accuracy of the messages and the appropriateness of the words used. Backtranslation revealed deficiencies in the translated messages. Altering the meaning of technical terms tended to be simple mistakes, words with multiple meanings, and exaggeration of problems and/or solutions. Translators also sometimes failed to adapt cultural ideas to those of their tribes. For example, some persons translated all possible misconceptions about a disease yet the tribes did not have all the misconceptions. As of early 1992, recording, pretesting, distribution, and follow up had not yet taken place. The staff should meet with a recording studio to coordinate production including technicians and translators identifying means to communicate. Staff should be aware of signs of poor translation which they may have missed earlier and surfaces during recording. Pretesting should occur among literate and illiterate members of

The National Program for Occupational Safety and Health in Agriculture. 1992 Project Facts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Inst. for Occupational Safety and Health (DHHS/PHS), Cincinnati, OH.

This book contains information about a project instituted in 1990 by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to prevent work-related diseases and injuries among agricultural workers. Included are facts about 25 projects within NIOSH and 42 cooperative agreements between NIOSH and institutions in 25 states. These…

[About experience of producing city health profile as a part of the international who healthy cities project].

PubMed

Zhilenko, E L; Gomerova, N I; Zakharova, M A; L'vov, A A; Shalygina, L S

2012-01-01

The article presents information about the international project "Healthy cities", knowledge about principles and axioms of the project. The authors have analyzed the experience of producing the "City Health Profile" under the project WHO "Healthy cities". The authors believe that the "Health Profile" of each individual city varies depending on specific conditions, both physical (the size of the territory, the state of the environment, its location) and political, and socio-economic. However, the formation of the "City Health Profile" is universally, regardless of geographical location or structure. It was noted that the "City Health Profile" has reflected all aspects of the life of the city, facilitates or barriers the promotion of inhabitants' health and their well-being. For producing of "City Health Profile" additional data are needed: survey, sociological polls of the city population (self-assessment of their health status, lifestyle and quality of life). The advantage of these researches, carried out in the framework of the project "Healthy Cities", is implementation of complex sociological survey with a focused multi-purpose monitoring, covering all spheres of life in the city, to present a versatile, complete and objective evidences to illustrate the city as a territory of health and make up the holistic picture and the centre of which is the citizen and his/her health according to the WHO recommendations.

Implementation of an ICT-Based Learning Environment in a Nutrition Health Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raiha, Teija; Tossavainen, Kerttu; Enkenberg, Jorma; Turunen, Hannele

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the views of school staff on a nutrition health project implemented via an ICT-based learning environment in a secondary school (7th to 9th grades). Design/methodology/approach: The study was a part of the wider European Network for Health Promoting Schools programme (ENHPS; since 2008, Schools…

Using the Neptune project to benefit Australian aquatic animal health research.

PubMed

McNamara, M; Ernst, I; Adlard, R D

2015-06-29

Diseases of aquatic animals have had, and continue to have, a significant impact on aquatic animal health. In Australia, where fisheries and aquaculture are important industries, aquatic species have been subject to serious disease outbreaks, including pilchard herpesvirus, the cause of one of the largest wild fish kills ever recorded. At the same time, there is a consensus that Australia's parasite fauna are largely unknown, and that aquatic animal health information is difficult to access. Managing aquatic animal diseases is challenging because they may be entirely new, their hosts may be new to aquaculture, and specialist expertise and basic diagnostic tools may be lacking or absent. The Neptune project was created in response to these challenges, and it aims to increase awareness of aquatic animal diseases, improve disease management, and promote communication between aquatic animal health professionals in Australia. The project consists of an online database, a digital microscopy platform containing a whole-slide image library, a community space, and online communications technology. The database contains aquatic animal health information from published papers, government reports, and other sources, while the library contains slides of key diseases both endemic and exotic to Australia. These assets make Neptune a powerful resource for researchers, students, and biosecurity officials.

An analysis of subject areas and country participation for all health-related projects in the EU's FP5 and FP6 programmes.

PubMed

Galsworthy, Michael J; Irwin, Rachel; Charlesworth, Kate; Ernst, Kelly; Hristovski, Dimitar; Wismar, Matthias; McKee, Martin

2014-06-01

Previous analyses concerning health components of European Union (EU)-funded research have shown low project participation levels of the 12 newest member states (EU-12). Additionally, there has been a lack of subject-area analysis. In the Health Research for Europe project, we screened all projects of the EU's Framework Programmes for research FP5 and FP6 (1998-2006) to identify health research projects and describe participation by country and subject area. FP5 and FP6 project databases were acquired and screened by coders to identify health-related projects, which were then categorized according to the 47 divisions of the EU Health Portal (N = 2728 projects) plus an extra group of 'basic/biotech' projects (N = 1743). Country participation and coordination rates for projects were also analyzed. Approximately 20% of the 26 946 projects (value €29.2bn) were health-related (N = 4756. Value €6.04bn). Within the health categories, the largest expenditures were cancer (11.9%), 'other' (i.e. not mental health or cardiovascular) non-communicable diseases (9.5%) and food safety (9.4%). One hundred thirty-two countries participated in these projects. Of the 27 EU countries (and five partner countries), north-western and Nordic states acquired more projects per capita. The UK led coordination with > 20% of projects. EU-12 countries were generally under-represented for participation and coordination. Combining our findings with the associated literature, we comment on drivers determining distribution of participation and funds across countries and subject areas. Additionally, we discuss changes needed in the core EU projects database to provide greater transparency, data exploitation and return on investment in health research. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Academic Health Center Management of Chronic Diseases through Knowledge Networks: Project ECHO

PubMed Central

Arora, Sanjeev; Geppert, Cynthia M. A.; Kalishman, Summers; Dion, Denise; Pullara, Frank; Bjeletich, Barbara; Simpson, Gary; Alverson, Dale C.; Moore, Lori B.; Kuhl, Dave; Scaletti, Joseph V.

2013-01-01

The authors describe an innovative academic health center (AHC)-led program of health care delivery and clinical education for the management of complex, common, and chronic diseases in underserved areas, using hepatitis C virus (HCV) as a model. The program, based at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, represents a paradigm shift in thinking and funding for the threefold mission of AHCs, moving from traditional fee-for-service models to public health funding of knowledge networks. This program, Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO), involves a partnership of academic medicine, public health offices, corrections departments, and rural community clinics dedicated to providing best practices and protocol-driven health care in rural areas. Telemedicine and Internet connections enable specialists in the program to comanage patients with complex diseases, using case-based knowledge networks and learning loops. Project ECHO partners (nurse practitioners, primary care physicians, physician assistants, and pharmacists) present HCV-positive patients during weekly two-hour telemedicine clinics using a standardized, case-based format that includes discussion of history, physical examination, test results, treatment complications, and psychiatric, medical, and substance abuse issues. In these case-based learning clinics, partners rapidly gain deep domain expertise in HCV as they collaborate with university specialists in hepatology, infectious disease, psychiatry, and substance abuse in comanaging their patients. Systematic monitoring of treatment outcomes is an integral aspect of the project. The authors believe this methodology will be generalizable to other complex and chronic conditions in a wide variety of underserved areas to improve disease outcomes, and it offers an opportunity for AHCs to enhance and expand their traditional mission of teaching, patient care, and research. PMID:17264693

Delivering a MOOC for literature searching in health libraries: evaluation of a pilot project.

PubMed

Young, Gil; McLaren, Lisa; Maden, Michelle

2017-12-01

In an era when library budgets are being reduced, Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC's) can offer practical and viable alternatives to the delivery of costly face-to-face training courses. In this study, guest writers Gil Young from Health Care Libraries Unit - North, Lisa McLaren from Brighton and Sussex Medical School and Liverpool University PhD student Michelle Maden describe the outcomes of a funded project they led to develop a MOOC to deliver literature search training for health librarians. Funded by Health Education England, the MOOC was developed by the Library and Information Health Network North West as a pilot project that ran for six weeks. In particular, the MOOC target audience is discussed, how content was developed for the MOOC, promotion and participation, cost-effectiveness, evaluation, the impact of the MOOC and recommendations for future development. H. S. © 2017 Health Libraries Group.

Is there enough research output of EU projects available to assess and improve health system performance? An attempt to understand and categorise the output of EU projects conducted between 2002 and 2012.

PubMed

Zander, Britta; Busse, Reinhard

2017-02-22

Adequate performance assessment benefits from the use of disaggregated data to allow a proper evaluation of health systems. Since routinely collected data are usually not disaggregated enough to allow stratified analyses of healthcare needs, utilisation, cost and quality across different sectors, international research projects could fill this gap by exploring means to data collection or even providing individual-level data. The aim of this paper is therefore to (1) study the availability and accessibility of relevant European-funded health projects, and (2) to analyse their contents and methodologies. The European Commission Public Health Projects Database and CORDIS were searched for eligible projects, which were then analysed by information openly available online. Overall, only a few of the 39 identified projects produced data useful for proper performance assessment, due to, for example, lacking available or accessible data, or poor linkage of health status to costs and patient experiences. Other problems were insufficient databases to identify projects and poor communication of project contents and results. A new approach is necessary to improve accessibility to and coverage of data on outcomes, quality and costs of health systems enabling decision-makers and health professionals to properly assess performance.

Development of the National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project Sleep Health Surveillance Questions

PubMed Central

Morgenthaler, Timothy I.; Croft, Janet B.; Dort, Leslie C.; Loeding, Lauren D.; Mullington, Janet M.; Thomas, Sherene M.

2015-01-01

Objectives: For the first time ever, as emphasized by inclusion in the Healthy People 2020 goals, sleep health is an emphasis of national health aims. The National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project (NHSAP) was tasked to propose questions for inclusion in the next Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a survey that includes a number of questions that target behaviors thought to impact health, as a means to measure community sleep health. The total number of questions could not exceed five, and had to include an assessment of the risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Methods: An appointed workgroup met via teleconference and face-to-face venues to develop an inventory of published survey questions being used to identify sleep health, to develop a framework on which to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of current survey questions concerning sleep, and to develop recommendations for sleep health and disease surveillance questions going forward. Results: The recommendation was to focus on certain existing BRFSS questions pertaining to sleep duration, quality, satisfaction, daytime alertness, and to add to these other BRFSS existing questions to make a modified STOP-BANG questionnaire (minus the N for neck circumference) to assess for risk of OSA. Conclusions: Sleep health is an important dimension of health that has previously received less attention in national health surveys. We believe that 5 questions recommended for the upcoming BRFSS question banks will assist as important measures of sleep health, and may help to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to improve sleep health in our nation. Citation: Morgenthaler TI, Croft JB, Dort LC, Loeding LD, Mullington JM, Thomas SM. Development of the National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project sleep health surveillance questions. J Clin Sleep Med 2015;11(9):1057–1062. PMID:26235156

Introducing quality improvement methods into local public health departments: structured evaluation of a statewide pilot project.

PubMed

Riley, William; Parsons, Helen; McCoy, Kim; Burns, Debra; Anderson, Donna; Lee, Suhna; Sainfort, François

2009-10-01

To test the feasibility and assess the preliminary impact of a unique statewide quality improvement (QI) training program designed for public health departments. One hundred and ninety-five public health employees/managers from 38 local health departments throughout Minnesota were selected to participate in a newly developed QI training program and 65 of those engaged in and completed eight expert-supported QI projects over a period of 10 months from June 2007 through March 2008. As part of the Minnesota Quality Improvement Initiative, a structured distance education QI training program was designed and deployed in a first large-scale pilot. To evaluate the preliminary impact of the program, a mixed-method evaluation design was used based on four dimensions: learner reaction, knowledge, intention to apply, and preliminary outcomes. Subjective ratings of three dimensions of training quality were collected from participants after each of the scheduled learning sessions. Pre- and post-QI project surveys were administered to collect participant reactions, knowledge, future intention to apply learning, and perceived outcomes. Monthly and final QI project reports were collected to further inform success and preliminary outcomes of the projects. The participants reported (1) high levels of satisfaction with the training sessions, (2) increased perception of the relevance of the QI techniques, (3) increased perceived knowledge of all specific QI methods and techniques, (4) increased confidence in applying QI techniques on future projects, (5) increased intention to apply techniques on future QI projects, and (6) high perceived success of, and satisfaction with, the projects. Finally, preliminary outcomes data show moderate to large improvements in quality and/or efficiency for six out of eight projects. QI methods and techniques can be successfully implemented in local public health agencies on a statewide basis using the collaborative model through distance training and

The Role of the Health Information Manager in a Research-Based Information Technology Project.

PubMed

Freyne, Alice

2009-06-01

Information technology advances in healthcare provide many and varied opportunities for the Health Information Manager. Here is one example involving a Melbourne-based research project and an innovative approach to patient information delivery. The research project area of study is multimedia content delivery in the following applications: as an adjunct to the surgical informed consent process, patient information or instruction presentation and clinical education. The objective is to develop evidence-based, effective and accessible information and knowledge resources for patients and health care providers.

PROJECTING POLLEN ALLERGENS AND THEIR HEALTH IMPLICATIONS IN A CHANGING WORLD

EPA Science Inventory

This project will increase our basic understanding of the links between climatic conditions and atmospheric concentrations of pollen and pollen-derived respirable allergenic material, and impacts of airborne pollen on human health. The work will result in new parameterization...

Community health outreach program of the Chad-Cameroon petroleum development and pipeline project.

PubMed

Utzinger, Jürg; Wyss, Kaspar; Moto, Daugla D; Tanner, Marcel; Singer, Burton H

2004-02-01

A critical appraisal has been presented of the CHOP for a large-scale energy infrastructure development project that was implemented in two of the world's poorest countries. The project is under close scrutiny from various independent monitoring groups, civil society organizations, and human rights groups. Reviewing the achievements and shortcomings permits the extraction of important lessons that will be critical for the future adoption of the CHOP in the current setting and for the implementation of additional CHOPs elsewhere in the developing world. The authors believe that the design must be flexible, efficient, and innovative so that a CHOP promptly can address pressing public health issues as they arise (eg, epidemic outbreak) and include the needs and demands of the concerned communities. An innovative feature of the current project is the high degree and mix of public-private partnerships. The project's CHOP also relies on partnerships. As elaborated elsewhere, public-private partnerships should be seen as a social experiment--they reveal promise but are not the solution for every problem. For this CHOP, the focus is on partnerships between a multinational consortium, government agencies, and international organizations. The partnerships also include civil society organizations for monitoring and evaluation and local NGOs designated for the implementation of the selected public health interventions within the CHOP. The governments and their respective health policies often form the umbrella under which the partnerships operate. With the increase in globalization, however, the importance and capacities of governments have diminished, and there is growing private-sector involvement. Private enterprise is seen as an efficient, innovative, pragmatic, and powerful means to achieve environmental and social sustainability. Experiences with the partnership configurations in the current CHOP are of importance for tackling grand challenges in global health by

The role of health professionals in informing cancer patients: findings from The Teamwork Project (phase one)

PubMed Central

Smith

2001-01-01

Background The Teamwork Project is managed by the National Cancer Alliance (NCA) and funded jointly by the National Lottery Charities Board and the Department of Health. The aim of the Project is to produce a Personal Information File to help people with cancer work in partnership with health professionals. Phase one was carried out between September 1998 and April 2000. The Teamwork Project arose as a direct result of the NCA report, ‘Patient‐Centred Cancer Services’? – What Patients Say, 1 one of a number of studies that found people with cancer want to be involved in decisions about their treatment and care. The study also found that, for this involvement to be successful, health professionals need to support patients in accessing information relevant to their individual needs and help them understand and apply that information. The focus of The Teamwork Project is to help provide a practical solution to meeting this information need. Approach The Teamwork Project has used a wide‐range of methods including literature appraisal; patient questionnaires; focus groups; semi‐structured interviews and a consultation exercise. Throughout the Project there has been on‐going involvement from both patients and professionals. Conclusions There may be a divergence of views among health professionals in cancer services regarding their role as providers of patient information. Consequently, there may also be a significant variance in how their patients are informed in practice. This finding needs to be validated and the reasons for this understood if the full potential of the forthcoming National Health Service (NHS) Cancer Information Strategy is to be realised. PMID:11281931

"Does Hope Change? Testing a Project-Based Health Intervention among Urban Students of Color"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zusevics, Kaija L.; Johnson, Sheri

2014-01-01

Hope is positively correlated with educational attainment and health. Interventions based on project-based learning (PBL) may increase youth hope. This study examined how a PBL intervention affected hope among urban students of color. Students in health classes were invited to participate. A PBL health class was implemented in four classrooms. The…

"Curriculum Development for Home and Health Nursing," January 1995-1996. Final Report on Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nagel, Mary

In 1995, Southwestern College, in California, participated in a project to develop a home health course for registered nurses and students interested in working in home health settings. The course was intended to provide nurses and students with the knowledge and clinical skills required for home health care, improve collaboration among community…

Nonevent stress contributes to mental health disparities based on sexual orientation: evidence from a personal projects analysis.

PubMed

Frost, David M; LeBlanc, Allen J

2014-09-01

This study examined the role of nonevent stress--in the form of frustrated personal project pursuits in the arenas of relationships and work--as a contributing factor to mental health disparities between heterosexual and lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populations. A purposive sample of 431 LGB (55%) and heterosexually identified (45%) individuals living in the United States and Canada completed the Personal Project Inventory by describing and rating core personal projects they were pursuing. The intensity of perceived barriers to the achievement of relationship- and work-related personal projects served as indicators nonevent stress. Hierarchical linear regression models tested the hypothesis that nonevent stress contributes to the association between sexual orientation and two indicators of mental health: depressive symptoms and psychological well-being. LGB individuals had significantly more depressive symptoms and lower levels of psychological well-being than heterosexuals. Indicators of nonevent stress were significantly associated with mental health outcomes and their inclusion in models attenuated sexual orientation differences in mental health. The critical indirect pathway leading from sexual minority status to mental health occurred via barriers to relationship projects from interpersonal sources. This research suggests that nonevent stress because of structural and interpersonal stigma may contribute to mental health disparities between LGB and heterosexual individuals. The findings have important implications for policy reform around same-sex relationship recognition and workplace discrimination. Future research and clinical work will benefit by expanding existing foci on stress to include nonevent stressors to better understand and address mental health problems, particularly in LGB populations.

Nonevent Stress Contributes to Mental Health Disparities Based on Sexual Orientation: Evidence From a Personal Projects Analysis

PubMed Central

Frost, David M.; LeBlanc, Allen J.

2015-01-01

This study examined the role of nonevent stress—in the form of frustrated personal project pursuits in the arenas of relationships and work—as a contributing factor to mental health disparities between heterosexual and lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populations. A purposive sample of 431 LGB (55%) and heterosexually identified (45%) individuals living in the United States and Canada completed the Personal Project Inventory by describing and rating core personal projects they were pursuing. The intensity of perceived barriers to the achievement of relationship- and work-related personal projects served as indicators nonevent stress. Hierarchical linear regression models tested the hypothesis that nonevent stress contributes to the association between sexual orientation and two indicators of mental health: depressive symptoms and psychological well-being. LGB individuals had significantly more depressive symptoms and lower levels of psychological well-being than heterosexuals. Indicators of nonevent stress were significantly associated with mental health outcomes and their inclusion in models attenuated sexual orientation differences in mental health. The critical indirect pathway leading from sexual minority status to mental health occurred via barriers to relationship projects from interpersonal sources. This research suggests that nonevent stress because of structural and interpersonal stigma may contribute to mental health disparities between LGB and heterosexual individuals. The findings have important implications for policy reform around same-sex relationship recognition and workplace discrimination. Future research and clinical work will benefit by expanding existing foci on stress to include nonevent stressors to better understand and address mental health problems, particularly in LGB populations. PMID:25265219

The WAMI Rural Hospital Project. Part 5: Community perception of local health care services.

PubMed

Hart, L G; Lishner, D M; Amundson, B A

1991-01-01

Rural health care facilities commonly employ community health care surveys as marketing research instruments to assess consumer utilization of and satisfaction with local services. However, there is little information on the use of survey findings as a way to design interventions to enhance consumer satisfaction and hospital viability. A community survey was administered in six Northwest rural communities as part of the Rural Hospital Project (RHP) to identify weaknesses in local health care services, guide remedial activities, act as a catalyst for change, and assess changes in community perceptions following project interventions. Descriptive findings revealed problems typically observed in small rural communities, including relatively low hospital and physician market share, outmigration for certain types of health care not available locally, and dissatisfaction with some aspects of hospital and physician services. Satisfaction with various aspects of care tended to be lower among males, the uninsured, and younger respondents. Comparisons of survey responses before (1985) and after (1989) the RHP generally demonstrated stability in hospital and physician market share, with project hospitals performing well in 1989 in comparison to other rural hospitals of similar size. The percentage of respondents who rated overall quality of local hospital and physician care positively generally increased or remained stable over the study period. Substantial decreases in satisfaction levels were found for access to care. Importantly, gains were made in those areas and services which received particular emphasis in the project.

Spending on mental and substance use disorders projected to grow more slowly than all health spending through 2020.

PubMed

Mark, Tami L; Levit, Katharine R; Yee, Tracy; Chow, Clifton M

2014-08-01

Spending on mental and substance use disorders will likely grow more slowly than all health spending through 2020. We project that spending on mental and substance use disorders, as a share of all health spending, will fall from 7.4 percent in 2009 ($172 billion out of $2.3 trillion) to 6.5 percent in 2020 ($281 billion out of $4.3 trillion). This trend is the projected result of reduced spending on mental health drugs because of patent expirations, the low likelihood of innovative drugs entering the market, and a slowdown in spending growth for hospital treatment. By 2020 the expansion of coverage to previously uninsured Americans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), combined with the projected slowdown in Medicare provider payment rates under the ACA and the Budget Control Act of 2011, are expected to add 2.7 percent to behavioral health spending, compared to spending without these changes. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Using Technology to Claim Rights to Free Maternal Health Care: Lessons about Impact from the My Health, My Voice Pilot Project in India.

PubMed

Dasgupt, Jashodhara; Sandhya, Y K; Lobis, Samantha; Verma, Pravesh; Schaaf, Marta

2015-12-10

My Health, My Voice is a human rights-based project that pilots the use of technology to monitor and display online data regarding informal payments for maternal health care in two districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. SAHAYOG, an organization based in Uttar Pradesh, partnered with a grassroots women's forum to inform women about their entitlements, to publicize the project, and to implement a toll-free hotline where women could report health providers' demands for informal payments. Between January 2012 and May 2013, the hotline recorded 873 reports of informal payment demands. Monitoring and evaluation revealed that the project enhanced women's knowledge of their entitlements, as well as their confidence to claim their rights. Anecdotal evidence suggests that health providers' demands for informal payments were reduced in response to the project, although hospital and district officials did not regularly consult the data. The use of technology accorded greater legitimacy among governmental stakeholders. Future research should examine the sustainability of changes, as well as the mechanisms driving health sector responsiveness. Copyright © 2015 Dasgupta et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Sexual and reproductive health needs of sex workers: two feminist projects in Brazil.

PubMed

Chacham, Alessandra S; Diniz, Simone G; Maia, Mônica B; Galati, Ana F; Mirim, Liz A

2007-05-01

The sexual and reproductive health needs of sex workers have been neglected both in research and public health interventions, which have almost exclusively focused on STI/HIV prevention. Among the reasons for this are the condemnation, stigma and ambiguous legal status of sex work. This paper describes work carried out by two feminist NGOs in Brazil, Mulher e Saúde (MUSA) in Belo Horizonte and Coletivo Feminista Sexualidade e Saúde in São Paulo, to promote sexual and reproductive health for sex workers. MUSA's project "In the Battle for Health", was begun in 1992; sex workers were trained as peer educators and workshops were offered on self-care for sex workers and their clients. In São Paulo, the Coletivo project "Get Friendly with Her", begun in 2002, offers clinic consultations and self-care workshops on sexuality, contraception, STI/HIV prevention and self-examination. Health care needs during menstruation and unhealthy vaginal practices led to promotion of the diaphragm as a contraceptive, for prevention of reproductive tract infection and to catch menstrual blood. Meeting the sexual and reproductive health needs of sex workers depends on the promotion of their human rights, access to health care without discrimination, and attention to psychosocial health issues, alcohol and drug abuse, and violence from clients, partners, pimps and police.

Design, Implementation, and Lessons Learned from a Digital Storytelling Project in an Undergraduate Health Promotion Theory Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rimando, Marylen; Smalley, K. Bryant; Warren, Jacob C.

2015-01-01

This article describes the design, implementation and lessons learned from a digital storytelling project in a health promotion theory course. From 2011-2012, 195 health promotion majors completed a digital storytelling project at a Midwestern university. The instructor observed students' understanding of theories and models. This article adds to…

Proctor Creek's Boone Boulevard Green Street Project Health Impact Assessment (HIA)

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research and Development and Region 4 led a health impact assessment to evaluate a proposed green street demonstration project under consideration by the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management (DWM). The HIA id...

Annual Medical Report of the Coastal Bend Migrant Council Health Project, San Patricio Migrant Health Center (Texas), 1973-1974.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krebethe, William F.

The primary goal of the migrant health project in San Patricio County, Texas was to establish out-patient family health care for migrant and seasonal farmworkers. Several accomplishments were made. By using a physician assistant, the clinic was able to add an additional work without the necessity of extending their hours. The dental services have…

TPS In-Flight Health Monitoring Project Progress Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kostyk, Chris; Richards, Lance; Hudston, Larry; Prosser, William

2007-01-01

Progress in the development of new thermal protection systems (TPS) is reported. New approaches use embedded lightweight, sensitive, fiber optic strain and temperature sensors within the TPS. Goals of the program are to develop and demonstrate a prototype TPS health monitoring system, develop a thermal-based damage detection algorithm, characterize limits of sensor/system performance, and develop ea methodology transferable to new designs of TPS health monitoring systems. Tasks completed during the project helped establish confidence in understanding of both test setup and the model and validated system/sensor performance in a simple TPS structure. Other progress included complete initial system testing, commencement of the algorithm development effort, generation of a damaged thermal response characteristics database, initial development of a test plan for integration testing of proven FBG sensors in simple TPS structure, and development of partnerships to apply the technology.

The Tsimane Health and Life History Project: Integrating anthropology and biomedicine

PubMed Central

Stieglitz, Jonathan; Trumble, Benjamin; Blackwell, Aaron D.; Beheim, Bret; Davis, Helen; Hooper, Paul; Kaplan, Hillard

2017-01-01

Abstract The Tsimane Health and Life History Project, an integrated bio‐behavioral study of the human life course, is designed to test competing hypotheses of human life‐history evolution. One aim is to understand the bidirectional connections between life history and social behavior in a high‐fertility, kin‐based context lacking amenities of modern urban life (e.g. sanitation, banks, electricity). Another aim is to understand how a high pathogen burden influences health and well‐being during development and adulthood. A third aim addresses how modernization shapes human life histories and sociality. Here we outline the project's goals, history, and main findings since its inception in 2002. We reflect on the implications of current findings and highlight the need for more coordinated ethnographic and biomedical study of contemporary nonindustrial populations to address broad questions that can situate evolutionary anthropology in a key position within the social and life sciences. PMID:28429567

The effects of health changes on projections of health service needs for the elderly population of the United States

PubMed Central

Singer, Burton H.; Manton, Kenneth G.

1998-01-01

The 1982–1994 National Long-Term Care Surveys indicate an accelerating decline in disability among the U.S. elderly population, suggesting that a 1.5% annual decline in chronic disability for elderly persons is achievable. Furthermore, many risk factors for chronic diseases show improvements, many linked to education, from 1910 to the present. Projections indicate the proportion of persons aged 85–89 with less than 8 years of education will decline from 65% in 1980 to 15% in 2015. Health and socioeconomic status trends are not directly represented in Medicare Trust Fund and Social Security Administration beneficiary projections. Thus, they may have different economic implications from projections directly accounting for health trends. A 1.5% annual disability decline keeps the support ratio (ratio of economically active persons aged 20–64 to the number of chronically disabled persons aged 65+) above its 1994 value, 22:1, when the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund was in fiscal balance, to 2070. With no changes in disability, projections indicate a support ratio in 2070 of 8:1—63% below a cash flow balance. PMID:9861019

[The Ineq-Cities research project on urban health inequalities: knowledge dissemination and transfer in Spain].

PubMed

Camprubí, Lluís; Díez, Èlia; Morrison, Joana; Borrell, Carme

2014-01-01

The Ineq-Cities project analyzed inequalities in mortality in small areas and described interventions to reduce inequalities in health in 16 European cities. This field note describes the dissemination of the project in Spain. In accordance with the recommendations of the project, the objective was to translate relevant results to key stakeholders - mainly technical staff, municipal officers and local social agents - and to provide an introduction to urban inequalities in health and strategies to address them. Twenty-four workshops were given, attended by more than 350 professionals from 92 municipalities. Knowledge dissemination consisted of the publication of a short book on inequalities in health and the approach to this problem in cities and three articles in nonspecialized media, a proposal for a municipal motion, and knowledge dissemination activities in social networks. Users rated these activities highly and stressed the need to systematize these products. This process may have contributed to the inclusion of health inequalities in the political agenda and to the training of officers to correct them. Copyright © 2013 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

[Application of the technique of analytical structure of project for the sub-project of websites catalog of the Virtual Health Library-Nursing].

PubMed

dos, Santos Luís Augusto; Marin, Heimar de Fátima; Marques, Isaac Rosa; Cunha, Isabel Cristina Kowal Olm

2007-01-01

This work intents, in a didactic form, to explain the benefits of use of a technique of project management, named Work Breakdown Structure: a graphical tool to identify the main results to be developed in a project. The real examples are applied to a sub-project of the Virtual Library in Health in Nursing (BVS-Enfermagem) to development of the Sites Catalogs. The benefits of graphical visualization for a major agreement between professionals of different expertise are presented.

Report on Discussions of the Task Force on the Manpower Distribution Project of the National Health Council.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Health Council, New York, NY.

Twenty-six health manpower experts met to: (1) recommend criteria for selecting proposals for local/regional demonstration projects; (2) recommend criteria for selection of areas or sites in which to implement demonstration projects, and (3) develop guidelines for a national program to involve the health professions in alleviating the problem of…

Can a quality improvement project impact maternal and child health outcomes at scale in northern Ghana?

PubMed

Singh, Kavita; Brodish, Paul; Speizer, Ilene; Barker, Pierre; Amenga-Etego, Issac; Dasoberi, Ireneous; Kanyoke, Ernest; Boadu, Eric A; Yabang, Elma; Sodzi-Tettey, Sodzi

2016-06-16

Quality improvement (QI) interventions are becoming more common in low- and middle-income countries, yet few studies have presented impact evaluations of these approaches. In this paper, we present an impact evaluation of a scale-up phase of 'Project Fives Alive!', a QI intervention in Ghana that aims to improve maternal and child health outcomes. 'Project Fives Alive!' employed a QI methodology to recognize barriers to care-seeking and care provision at the facility level and then to identify, test and implement simple and low-cost local solutions that address the barriers. A quasi-experimental design, multivariable interrupted time series analysis, with data coming from 744 health facilities and controlling for potential confounding factors, was used to study the effect of the project. The key independent variables were the change categories (interventions implemented) and implementation phase - Wave 2a (early phase) versus Wave 2b (later phase). The outcomes studied were early antenatal care (ANC), skilled delivery, facility-level under-five mortality and attendance of underweight infants at child welfare clinics. We stratified the analysis by facility type, namely health posts, health centres and hospitals. Several of the specific change categories were significantly associated with improved outcomes. For example, three of five change categories (early ANC, four or more ANC visits and skilled delivery/immediate postnatal care (PNC)) for health posts and two of five change categories (health education and triage) for hospitals were associated with increased skilled delivery. These change categories were associated with increases in skilled delivery varying from 28% to 58%. PNC changes for health posts and health centres were associated with greater attendance of underweight infants at child welfare clinics. The triage change category was associated with increased early antenatal care in hospitals. Intensity, the number of change categories tested, was associated

Increasing Health Portal Utilization in Cardiac Ambulatory Patients: A Pilot Project.

PubMed

Shaw, Carmen L; Casterline, Gayle L; Taylor, Dennis; Fogle, Maureen; Granger, Bradi

2017-10-01

Increasing health portal participation actively engages patients in their care and improves outcomes. The primary aim for this project was to increase patient health portal utilization. Nurses used a tablet-based demo to teach patients how to navigate the health portal. Assigning health videos to the portal was a tactic used to increase utilization. Each patient participant was surveyed about health portal utilization at initial nurse navigator appointment, day of procedure, and 30 days after discharge. Seventy-three percent (n = 14) of the 19 selected patients received the intervention; 36% (n = 4) of patients reported using a health portal feature; meaningful use metric preintervention increased from 12% to 16% after the intervention; 16% and 18% of patients viewed assigned videos in their health portal prior to procedure and after hospital discharge. Patients need a reason to access their health portal. Education alone is not enough to motivate patient portal use. Further research is needed to specify what tactics are required to motivate patients to use their health portals.

Innovative approaches to educating medical students for practice in a changing health care environment: the National UME-21 Project.

PubMed

Rabinowitz, H K; Babbott, D; Bastacky, S; Pascoe, J M; Patel, K K; Pye, K L; Rodak, J; Veit, K J; Wood, D L

2001-06-01

In today's continually changing health care environment, there is serious concern that medical students are not being adequately prepared to provide optimal health care in the system where they will eventually practice. To address this problem, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) developed a $7.6 million national demonstration project, Undergraduate Medical Education for the 21st Century (UME-21). This project funded 18 U.S. medical schools, both public and private, for a three-year period (1998-2001) to implement innovative educational strategies. To accomplish their goals, the 18 UME-21 schools worked with more than 50 organizations external to the medical school (e.g., managed care organizations, integrated health systems, Area Health Education Centers, community health centers). The authors describe the major curricular changes that have been implemented through the UME-21 project, discuss the challenges that occurred in carrying out those changes, and outline the strategies for evaluating the project. The participating schools have developed curricular changes that focus on the core primary care clinical clerkships, take place in ambulatory settings, include learning objectives and competencies identified as important to providing care in the future health care system, and have faculty development and internal evaluation components. Curricular changes implemented at the 18 schools include having students work directly with managed care organizations, as well as special demonstration projects to teach students the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for successfully managing care. It is already clear that the UME-21 project has catalyzed important curricular changes within 12.5% of U.S. medical schools. The ongoing national evaluation of this project, which will be completed in 2002, will provide further information about the project's impact and effectiveness.

Projections of health care expenditures as a share of the GDP: actuarial and macroeconomic approaches.

PubMed Central

Warshawsky, M J

1994-01-01

STUDY QUESTION. Can the steady increases in health care expenditures as a share of GDP projected by widely cited actuarial models be rationalized by a macroeconomic model with sensible parameters and specification? DATA SOURCES. National Income and Product Accounts, and Social Security and Health Care Financing Administration are the data sources used in parameters estimates. STUDY DESIGN. Health care expenditures as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) are projected using two methodological approaches--actuarial and macroeconomic--and under various assumptions. The general equilibrium macroeconomic approach has the advantage of allowing an investigation of the causes of growth in the health care sector and its consequences for the overall economy. DATA COLLECTION METHODS. Simulations are used. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS. Both models unanimously project a continued increase in the ratio of health care expenditures to GDP. Under the most conservative assumptions, that is, robust economic growth, improved demographic trends, or a significant moderation in the rate of health care price inflation, the health care sector will consume more than a quarter of national output by 2065. Under other (perhaps more realistic) assumptions, including a continuation of current trends, both approaches predict that health care expenditures will comprise between a third and a half of national output. In the macroeconomic model, the increasing use of capital goods in the health care sector explains the observed rise in relative prices. Moreover, this "capital deepening" implies that a relatively modest fraction of the labor force is employed in health care and that the rest of the economy is increasingly starved for capital, resulting in a declining standard of living. PMID:8063567

Retrospective: lessons learned from the Santa Barbara project and their implications for health information exchange.

PubMed

Frohlich, Jonah; Karp, Sam; Smith, Mark D; Sujansky, Walter

2007-01-01

Despite its closure in December 2006, the Santa Barbara County Care Data Exchange helped focus national attention on the value of health information exchange (HIE). This in turn led to the federal government's plan to establish regional health information organizations (RHIOs). During its existence, the project pioneered innovative approaches, including certification of health information technology vendors, a community-wide governance model, and deployment of a peer-to-peer technical model now in wider use. RHIO efforts will benefit from the project's lessons about the need for an incremental development approach, rigorous implementation processes, early attention to privacy and liability concerns, and planning for a sustainable business model.

Toward a sustainable European Network for Health Technology Assessment. The EUnetHTA project.

PubMed

Kristensen, F B; Chamova, J; Hansen, N W

2006-03-01

EUnetHTA is a recently initiated EU network aiming at connecting national HTA agencies, research institutions, and health ministries to enable an effective exchange of information and to lend support to health policy decisions by the Member States. The article briefly discusses the policy background, the specific objectives, and the project structure of the network.

Parent Partnerships Project for Children's Mental Health Training for Professionals. PHP-c87

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

PACER Center, 2004

2004-01-01

In the fall of 2003, PACER Center's Parent Partnership Project for Children's Mental Health conducted a survey to better understand what parents and families need from the children?s mental health system in Minnesota. The research team developed a survey questionnaire, a telephone interview, and a focus group session directed at learning what was…

Expanding occupational and environmental health nurse resources. Using community projects to inspire volunteerism.

PubMed

Rojak, J; Fredrickson, P; Fitpold, K; Uhlken, C J

2001-03-01

1. Community involvement is becoming a natural extension of health and wellness services. Participation by occupational and environmental health nurses in community initiatives provides personal satisfaction, improves chapter cohesion, and increases visibility for the profession. 2. Variety in community projects enhances participation by appealing to the diversified interests and time constraints of members. 3. Volunteerism appeals to the basic beliefs of nurses helping to reach beyond individual health and wellness and target global issues.

A Statistical Modeling Framework for Projecting Future Ambient Ozone and its Health Impact due to Climate Change

PubMed Central

Chang, Howard H.; Hao, Hua; Sarnat, Stefanie Ebelt

2014-01-01

The adverse health effects of ambient ozone are well established. Given the high sensitivity of ambient ozone concentrations to meteorological conditions, the impacts of future climate change on ozone concentrations and its associated health effects are of concern. We describe a statistical modeling framework for projecting future ozone levels and its health impacts under a changing climate. This is motivated by the continual effort to evaluate projection uncertainties to inform public health risk assessment. The proposed approach was applied to the 20-county Atlanta metropolitan area using regional climate model (RCM) simulations from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program. Future ozone levels and ozone-related excesses in asthma emergency department (ED) visits were examined for the period 2041–2070. The computationally efficient approach allowed us to consider 8 sets of climate model outputs based on different combinations of 4 RCMs and 4 general circulation models. Compared to the historical period of 1999–2004, we found consistent projections across climate models of an average 11.5% higher ozone levels (range: 4.8%, 16.2%), and an average 8.3% (range: −7% to 24%) higher number of ozone exceedance days. Assuming no change in the at-risk population, this corresponds to excess ozone-related ED visits ranging from 267 to 466 visits per year. Health impact projection uncertainty was driven predominantly by uncertainty in the health effect association and climate model variability. Calibrating climate simulations with historical observations reduced differences in projections across climate models. PMID:24764746

Projecting health-care expenditure for Switzerland: further evidence against the 'red-herring' hypothesis.

PubMed

Colombier, Carsten; Weber, Werner

2011-01-01

This paper contributes to the debate about the impact of population ageing on health-care (HC) expenditure. Some health economists claim that the commonly presumed impact of population ageing is a 'red herring'. Based on empirical studies, these authors conclude that proximity to death and not age per se matters. In projecting HC expenditure for Switzerland, the present study provides evidence that proximity to death is of marginal importance. These projections suggest that population ageing is still the most important age-related cost-driver. Moreover, morbidity outweighs mortality as a factor of HC expenditure. But most vital are non-demographic drivers such as medical progress. Thus, from the point of view of cost-benefit analysis one should even ignore costs of dying when projecting HC expenditure. Moreover, regressions might overestimate proximity to death due to systematic biases. Finally, ever-increasing HC expenditure can be slowed down by appropriate policy measures. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Tsimane Health and Life History Project: Integrating anthropology and biomedicine.

PubMed

Gurven, Michael; Stieglitz, Jonathan; Trumble, Benjamin; Blackwell, Aaron D; Beheim, Bret; Davis, Helen; Hooper, Paul; Kaplan, Hillard

2017-04-01

The Tsimane Health and Life History Project, an integrated bio-behavioral study of the human life course, is designed to test competing hypotheses of human life-history evolution. One aim is to understand the bidirectional connections between life history and social behavior in a high-fertility, kin-based context lacking amenities of modern urban life (e.g. sanitation, banks, electricity). Another aim is to understand how a high pathogen burden influences health and well-being during development and adulthood. A third aim addresses how modernization shapes human life histories and sociality. Here we outline the project's goals, history, and main findings since its inception in 2002. We reflect on the implications of current findings and highlight the need for more coordinated ethnographic and biomedical study of contemporary nonindustrial populations to address broad questions that can situate evolutionary anthropology in a key position within the social and life sciences. © 2017 The Authors Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Health system and societal barriers for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) services - lessons from World Diabetes Foundation supported GDM projects.

PubMed

Nielsen, Karoline Kragelund; de Courten, Maximilian; Kapur, Anil

2012-12-05

Maternal mortality and morbidity remains high in many low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) represents an underestimated and unrecognised impediment to optimal maternal health in LMIC; left untreated - it also has severe consequences for the offspring. A better understanding of the barriers hindering detection and treatment of GDM is needed. Based on experiences from World Diabetes Foundation (WDF) supported GDM projects this paper seeks to investigate societal and health system barriers to such efforts. Questionnaires were filled out by 10 WDF supported GDM project partners implementing projects in eight different LMIC. In addition, interviews were conducted with the project partners. The interviews were analysed using content analysis. Barriers to improving maternal health related to GDM nominated by project implementers included lack of trained health care providers - especially female doctors; high staff turnover; lack of standard protocols, consumables and equipment; financing of health services and treatment; lack of or poor referral systems, feedback mechanisms and follow-up systems; distance to health facility; perceptions of female body size and weight gain/loss in relation to pregnancy; practices related to pregnant women's diet; societal negligence of women's health; lack of decision-making power among women regarding their own health; stigmatisation; role of women in society and expectations that the pregnant woman move to her maternal home for delivery. A number of barriers within the health system and society exist. Programmes need to consider and address these barriers in order to improve GDM care and thereby maternal health in LMIC.

Process evaluation of Project WebHealth: a nondieting Web-based intervention for obesity prevention in college students.

PubMed

Dour, Colleen A; Horacek, Tanya M; Schembre, Susan M; Lohse, Barbara; Hoerr, Sharon; Kattelmann, Kendra; White, Adrienne A; Shoff, Suzanne; Phillips, Beatrice; Greene, Geoffrey

2013-01-01

To evaluate the motivational effect of the Project WebHealth study procedures and intervention components on weight-related health behavior changes in male and female college students. Process evaluation. Eight universities in the United States. Project WebHealth participants (n = 653; 29% men). Participants rated motivational effects of study procedures and intervention components. Participants were grouped into outcome-based health behavior categories based on achievement of desired targets for fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, and/or body weight. Differences in motivation from each procedure and component were analyzed by gender- and outcome-based health behavior category. Women were generally more motivated than men. Compared to those who did not meet any target health behaviors, men with improved health outcomes (68%) were significantly more motivated by the skills to fuel the body lesson, goal setting, and research snippets. Their female counterparts (63%) were significantly more motivated by the lessons on body size and eating enjoyment, and by the suggested weekly activities. Specific study procedures and components of Project WebHealth motivated study participants to improve their weight-related health behaviors, and they differed by gender. Findings support the need for gender-tailored interventions in this population. Copyright © 2013 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Baseline health conditions in selected communities of northern Sierra Leone as revealed by the health impact assessment of a biofuel project.

PubMed

Winkler, Mirko S; Knoblauch, Astrid M; Righetti, Aurélie A; Divall, Mark J; Koroma, Manso M; Fofanah, Ibrahim; Turay, Hamid; Hodges, Mary H; Utzinger, Jürg

2014-09-01

As biofuel projects may be associated with positive and negative effects on people's health and wellbeing, a health impact assessment was performed for the Addax Bioenergy Sierra Leone (ABSL) project. We present data from the baseline health survey, which will provide a point of departure for future monitoring and evaluation activities. In December 2010, a cross-sectional survey was carried out in eight potentially affected communities. A broad set of clinical and parasitological indicators were assessed using standardised, quality-controlled procedures, including anthropometry and prevalence of anaemia, Plasmodium falciparum and helminth infections. Complete datasets were obtained from 1221 individuals of 194 households and eight schools. Of children aged <5 years (n=586), 41.8% were stunted, 23.2% were underweight and 4.8% were wasted. Very high prevalences of anaemia and P. falciparum were found in children aged 6-59 months (n=571; 86.1% and 74.0%, respectively). Overall, 73.7% of women of reproductive age (n=395) were anaemic. In school-aged children (n=240), 27.9% had light- to moderate-intensity hookworm infections, whereas Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and Schistosoma mansoni were rare (<3% each). The detailed description of the baseline health conditions, in combination with future health surveys, will deepen the understanding of how a biofuel project impacts on community health in a rural setting in sub-Saharan Africa. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

75 FR 8927 - Autism Services Demonstration Project for TRICARE Beneficiaries Under the Extended Care Health...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-26

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary Autism Services Demonstration Project for TRICARE... Access to Autism Services Demonstration Project under the Extended Care Health Option for beneficiaries diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Under the demonstration, the Department implemented a...

"Sitting in different chairs:" roles of the community health workers in the Poder es Salud/Power for Health Project.

PubMed

Farquhar, S A; Wiggins, N; Michael, Y L; Luhr, G; Jordan, J; Lopez, A

2008-07-01

Evaluations of Community Health Worker programs consistently document improvements in health, yet few articles clearly describe the roles of Community Health Workers (CHWs) from the CHWs' perspective. This article presents the CHWs' points of view regarding the various roles they played in a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project, Poder es Salud/Power for Health in Portland, Oregon, including their roles as community organizers and co-researchers. Authors draw from an analysis of transcript data from in-depth interviews conducted with CHWs to present a description of the strategies employed by the CHWs to build leadership skills and knowledge among community members. CHWs also discuss their own personal and professional development. The analysis of the interviews suggests that CHWs valued their multiple roles with Poder es Salud/Power for Health and their participation on the project's Steering Committee. Based on CHWs' descriptions of their work, this type of involvement appears to build the CHWs' leadership skills and sense of efficacy to create change in their communities. By serving as community organizers and participating as producers of research, rather than acting merely as a deliverer of the intervention activities, the CHWs were able to build skills that make them more successful as CHWs.

Tackling the social determinants of inequalities in health during Phase V of the Healthy Cities Project in Europe.

PubMed

Ritsatakis, Anna; Ostergren, Per-Olof; Webster, Premila

2015-06-01

The WHO European Healthy Cities Network has from its inception aimed at tackling inequalities in health. In carrying out an evaluation of Phase V of the project (2009-13), an attempt was made to examine how far the concept of equity in health is understood and accepted; whether cities had moved further from a disease/medical model to looking at the social determinants of inequalities in health; how far the HC project contributed to cities determining the extent and causes of inequalities in health; what efforts were made to tackle such inequalities and how far inequalities in health may have increased or decreased during Phase V. A broader range of resources was utilized for this evaluation than in previous phases of the project. These indicated that most cities were definitely looking at the broader determinants. Equality in health was better understood and had been included as a value in a range of city policies. This was facilitated by stronger involvement of the HC project in city planning processes. Although almost half the cities participating had prepared a City Health Profile, only few cities had the necessary local level data to monitor changes in inequalities in health. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Engaging cultural resources to promote mental health in Dutch LSES neighborhoods: study of a community-based participatory media project.

PubMed

Knibbe, Mare; de Vries, Marten; Horstman, Klasien

2017-06-01

Community-based participatory media projects form a promising new strategy for mental health promotion that can help address the mental health-gap identified by the World Health Organization. (2008b) mhGAP, Mental Health Gap Action Programme: Scaling Up Care for Mental, Neurological and Substance Use Disorders. World Health Organization, Geneva. In this article we present an ethnographic study about a participatory media project that was developed to promote mental health in selected Dutch low socio-economic status neighborhoods. Through narrowcastings (group film viewings), participant observation and interviews we mapped the ways in which the media project effected and facilitated the collective sense-making process of the audience with regard to sources of stress impacting mental health and opportunities for action. These determinants of mental health are shaped by cultural dimensions, since the cultural context shapes everyday experiences of stress as well as the resources and skills to manage them. Our analysis shows that the media project engaged cultural resources to challenge stressful social scripts. We conclude that more attention should be paid to cultural narratives in a community to understand how health promotion strategies can support social resilience. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The community health worker cultural mentoring project: preparing professional students for team work with health workers from urban communities.

PubMed

Sherwen, Laurie N; Schwolsky-Fitch, Elena; Rodriquez, Romelia; Horta, Greg; Lopez, Ivanna

2007-01-01

Community Health Workers or CHWs (also known by a variety of alternative titles) are health workers drawn from communities to provide access to care for members of their communities. CHWs have been documented as effective in delivering a variety of services in a culturally-sensitive manner, and in providing a bridge between health professionals and underserved or minority communities. Yet, CHWs have not been well incorporated into interdisciplinary health care teams. The majority of health professionals are not even aware of the possible role and skills of CHWs. Believing that the best time to educate professionals about this valuable health worker and ensure that CHWs become part of interdisciplinary health care teams is during the student years, the Hunter College Schools of the Health Professions, and the Community Health Worker Network of New York City developed a pilot project, the Community Health Worker Cultural Mentoring Project. Community Health Workers, who were members of the Network, served as "community mentors" for health professions students drawn from the programs of community health education, nursing, and nutrition. CHWs worked with faculty of selected courses in each of the professional programs, and served as panelists in these courses, presenting information about health beliefs and alternative health practices of diverse cultural groups in communities of New York City. Class sessions were first held in the fall of 2004; subsequent sessions were held in following semesters. Approximately 40 students participated in 7 classes, with 6 CHWs serving as mentors - two per class. At the end of the classroom presentations, students wrote reflections relating to their understanding of the CHW role and relevance for their future interdisciplinary practice. The majority of reflections met the goal of increasing professional students' understanding of the CHW role and skills. At this point, quantitative and qualitative data will need to be collected to

Operational challenges in conducting a community-based technology-enabled mental health services delivery model for rural India: Experiences from the SMART Mental Health Project.

PubMed

Maulik, Pallab K; Kallakuri, Sudha; Devarapalli, Siddhardha

2018-01-01

Background: There are large gaps in the delivery of mental health care in low- and middle-income countries such as India, and the problems are even more acute in rural settings due to lack of resources, remoteness, and lack of infrastructure, amongst other factors. The Systematic Medical Appraisal Referral and Treatment (SMART) Mental Health Project was conceived as a mental health services delivery model using technology-based solutions for rural India. This paper reports on the operational strategies used to facilitate the implementation of the intervention. Method: Key components of the SMART Mental Health Project included delivering an anti-stigma campaign, training of primary health workers in screening, diagnosing and managing stress, depression and increased suicide risk and task sharing of responsibilities in delivering care; and using mobile technology based electronic decision support systems to support delivery of algorithm based care for such disorders. The intervention was conducted in 42 villages across two sites in the state of Andhra Pradesh in south India. A pre-post mixed methods evaluation was done, and in this paper operational challenges are reported. Results: Both quantitative and qualitative results from the evaluation from one site covering about 5000 adults showed that the intervention was feasible and acceptable, and initial results indicated that it was beneficial in increasing access to mental health care and reducing depression and anxiety symptoms. A number of strategies were initiated in response to operational challenges to ensure smoother conduct of the project and facilitated the project to be delivered as envisaged. Conclusions: The operational strategies initiated for this project were successful in ensuring the delivery of the intervention. Those, coupled with other more systematic processes have informed the researchers to understand key processes that need to be in place to develop a more robust study, that could eventually be

Investing in mental health and well-being: findings from the DataPrev project

PubMed Central

Mcdaid, David; Park, A-La

2011-01-01

A systematic review was conducted to determine the extent to which an economic case has been made in high-income countries for investment in interventions to promote mental health and well-being. We focused on areas of interest to the DataPrev project: early years and parenting interventions, actions set in schools and workplaces and measures targeted at older people. Economic evaluations had to have some focus on promotion of mental health and well-being and/or primary prevention of poor mental health through health-related means. Studies preventing exacerbations in existing mental health problems were excluded, with the exception of support for parents with mental health problems, which might indirectly affect the mental health of their children. Overall 47 studies were identified. There was considerable variability in their quality, with a variety of outcome measures and different perspectives: societal, public purse, employer or health system used, making policy comparisons difficult. Caution must therefore be exercised in interpreting results, but the case for investment in parenting and health visitor-related programmes appears most strong, especially when impacts beyond the health sector are taken into account. In the workplace an economic return on investment in a number of comprehensive workplace health promotion programmes and stress management projects (largely in the USA) was reported, while group-based exercise and psychosocial interventions are of potential benefit to older people. Many gaps remain; a key first step would be to make more use of the existence evidence base on effectiveness and model mid- to long-term costs and benefits of action in different contexts and settings. PMID:22079932

Radiological Sciences Discipline Advisory Group Final Report. Kentucky Allied Health Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kentucky Council on Public Higher Education, Frankfort.

Radiological sciences education in Kentucky and articulation within this field are examined, based on the Kentucky Allied Health Project (KAHP), which designed an articulated statewide system to promote entry and exit of personnel at a variety of educational levels. The KAHP model promotes articulation in learning, planning, and resource…

Nutrition and bone health projects funded by the UK Food Standards Agency: have they helped to inform public health policy?

PubMed Central

Ashwell, Margaret; Stone, Elaine; Mathers, John; Barnes, Stephen; Compston, Juliet; Francis, Roger M.; Key, Tim; Cashman, Kevin D.; Cooper, Cyrus; Khaw, Kay Tee; Lanham-New, Susan; Macdonald, Helen; Prentice, Ann; Shearer, Martin; Stephen, Alison

2009-01-01

The UK Food Standards Agency convened an international group of expert scientists to review the Agency-funded projects on diet and bone health in the context of developments in the field as a whole. The potential benefits of fruit and vegetables, vitamin K, early-life nutrition and vitamin D on bone health were presented and reviewed. The workshop reached two conclusions which have public health implications. First, that promoting a diet rich in fruit and vegetable intakes might be beneficial to bone health and would be very unlikely to produce adverse consequences on bone health. The mechanism(s) for any effect of fruit and vegetables remains unknown, but the results from these projects did not support the postulated acid–base balance hypothesis. Secondly, increased dietary consumption of vitamin K may contribute to bone health, possibly through its ability to increase the γ-carboxylation status of bone proteins such as osteocalcin. A supplementation trial comparing vitamin K supplementation with Ca and vitamin D showed an additional effect of vitamin K against baseline levels of bone mineral density, but the benefit was only seen at one bone site. The major research gap identified was the need to investigate vitamin D status to define deficiency, insufficiency and depletion across age and ethnic groups in relation to bone health. PMID:18086331

Articulating current service development practices: a qualitative analysis of eleven mental health projects

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The utilisation of good design practices in the development of complex health services is essential to improving quality. Healthcare organisations, however, are often seriously out of step with modern design thinking and practice. As a starting point to encourage the uptake of good design practices, it is important to understand the context of their intended use. This study aims to do that by articulating current health service development practices. Methods Eleven service development projects carried out in a large mental health service were investigated through in-depth interviews with six operation managers. The critical decision method in conjunction with diagrammatic elicitation was used to capture descriptions of these projects. Stage-gate design models were then formed to visually articulate, classify and characterise different service development practices. Results Projects were grouped into three categories according to design process patterns: new service introduction and service integration; service improvement; service closure. Three common design stages: problem exploration, idea generation and solution evaluation - were then compared across the design process patterns. Consistent across projects were a top-down, policy-driven approach to exploration, underexploited idea generation and implementation-based evaluation. Conclusions This study provides insight into where and how good design practices can contribute to the improvement of current service development practices. Specifically, the following suggestions for future service development practices are made: genuine user needs analysis for exploration; divergent thinking and innovative culture for idea generation; and fail-safe evaluation prior to implementation. Better training for managers through partnership working with design experts and researchers could be beneficial. PMID:24438471

Articulating current service development practices: a qualitative analysis of eleven mental health projects.

PubMed

Jun, Gyuchan Thomas; Morrison, Cecily; Clarkson, P John

2014-01-17

The utilisation of good design practices in the development of complex health services is essential to improving quality. Healthcare organisations, however, are often seriously out of step with modern design thinking and practice. As a starting point to encourage the uptake of good design practices, it is important to understand the context of their intended use. This study aims to do that by articulating current health service development practices. Eleven service development projects carried out in a large mental health service were investigated through in-depth interviews with six operation managers. The critical decision method in conjunction with diagrammatic elicitation was used to capture descriptions of these projects. Stage-gate design models were then formed to visually articulate, classify and characterise different service development practices. Projects were grouped into three categories according to design process patterns: new service introduction and service integration; service improvement; service closure. Three common design stages: problem exploration, idea generation and solution evaluation - were then compared across the design process patterns. Consistent across projects were a top-down, policy-driven approach to exploration, underexploited idea generation and implementation-based evaluation. This study provides insight into where and how good design practices can contribute to the improvement of current service development practices. Specifically, the following suggestions for future service development practices are made: genuine user needs analysis for exploration; divergent thinking and innovative culture for idea generation; and fail-safe evaluation prior to implementation. Better training for managers through partnership working with design experts and researchers could be beneficial.

Dental management of pediatric HIV patients--state of Israel, Ministry of Health Project at Rambam Health Care Campus, 2006-2011.

PubMed

Yavnai, Nirit; Rosen-Walther, Anda; Pery-Front, Yael; Aizenbud, Dror

2011-01-01

Over two million children around the world are living with AIDS. Oral health and oral manifestations, such as dental caries and periodontitis, are important issues requiring focus when treating these children. Descriptive data of a project conducted at Rambam Hospital, financed by the Israeli Ministry of Health, are presented in order to investigate and characterize dental treatment for HIV infected children. Thirty-seven infected children, most originating from the Ethiopian community, participated in the project between 2006 and 2011. A total of 724 dental procedures during 185 dental appointments were performed successfully. These children should be provided proactive preventive dental care, while health service providers should undergo further training on prevention and early identification and management of orofacial manifestations. All dental and medical personnel should be made aware of this service in order to refer HIV infected children who can greatly benefit from this special program.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE HEALTH CAREERS PROJECT PHASE II--TEACHER PREPARATION. FINAL REPORT.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

RATNER, MURIEL

THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO AND CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK COOPERATED WITH THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE HEALTH CAREERS PROJECT BY ESTABLISHING PROGRAMS TO PREPARE PRACTITIONERS TO TEACH IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE PROGRAMS IN (1) OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSISTING, (2) DENTAL ASSISTING, (3) OPHTHALMIC DISPENSING, AND (4) MEDICAL RECORD,…

MedlinePlus and the challenge of low health literacy: findings from the Colonias project*

PubMed Central

Olney, Cynthia A.; Warner, Debra G.; Reyna, Greysi; Wood, Fred B.; Siegel, Elliot R.

2007-01-01

Objective: To explore the potential of a community-based health information outreach project to overcome problems associated with health literacy in low-income Hispanic communities along the Texas-Mexico border. Methods: Using a train-the-trainer approach, community outreach workers known as promotoras were trained by a health information outreach team to search English and Spanish versions of MedlinePlus. These 15 promotoras submitted written examples on a weekly basis of the topics they helped residents explore on MedlinePlus and the ways in which the residents used the information. These weekly reports, along with verbal interviews with promotoras and others in the communities, allowed development of a database of 161 incidents (“stories”) demonstrating how community residents used MedlinePlus. These stories were thematically analyzed to explore how the program benefited participants. Results: The database of stories included examples of community residents becoming better informed about their illnesses, resolving to visit doctors, making decisions about recommended treatments, reducing their anxiety about health conditions, committing to healthy or preventive behavior, and assisting family members. Conclusion: With the help of paraprofessionals like promotoras, community-based health information outreach projects may improve the ability of community residents to understand their health conditions and to participate actively in their health care. PMID:17252064

Realizing universal health coverage for maternal health services in the Republic of Guinea: the use of workforce projections to design health labor market interventions.

PubMed

Jansen, Christel; Codjia, Laurence; Cometto, Giorgio; Yansané, Mohamed Lamine; Dieleman, Marjolein

2014-01-01

Universal health coverage requires a health workforce that is available, accessible, and well-performing. This article presents a critical analysis of the health workforce needs for the delivery of maternal and neonatal health services in Guinea, and of feasible and relevant interventions to improve the availability, accessibility, and performance of the health workforce in the country. A needs-based approach was used to project human resources for health (HRH) requirements. This was combined with modeling of future health sector demand and supply. A baseline scenario with disaggregated need and supply data for the targeted health professionals per region and setting (urban or rural) informed the identification of challenges related to the availability and distribution of the workforce between 2014 and 2024. Subsequently, the health labor market framework was used to identify interventions to improve the availability and distribution of the health workforce. These interventions were included in the supply side modeling, in order to create a "policy rich" scenario B which allowed for analysis of their potential impact. In the Republic of Guinea, only 44% of the nurses and 18% of the midwives required for maternal and neonatal health services are currently available. If Guinea continues on its current path without scaling up recruitment efforts, the total stock of HRH employed by the public sector will decline by 15% between 2014 and 2024, while HRH needs will grow by 22% due to demographic trends. The high density of HRH in urban areas and the high number of auxiliary nurses who are currently employed pose an opportunity for improving the availability, accessibility, and performance of the health workforce for maternal and neonatal health in Guinea, especially in rural areas. Guinea will need to scale up its recruitment efforts in order to improve health workforce availability. Targeted labor market interventions need to be planned and executed over several decades

[Experience in training in emergencies, Division of Special Projects in Health, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social].

PubMed

Cruz-Vega, Felipe; Loría-Castellanos, Jorge; Hernández-Olivas, Irma Patricia; Franco-Bey, Rubén; Ochoa-Avila, César; Sánchez-Badillo, Victoria

2016-01-01

There has been interest in the Division of Special Projects in Health to offer the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social personnel resources for training and quality thereby respond to potential contingencies. Presented here is their experience in this field. To describe and analyse the productivity in different training programs in emergencies and disasters developed by the Division of Special Projects in Health, Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS). Observational study in which different training activities conducted by the Division of Special Projects in Health between 1989 and 2014 are described. Descriptive statistics were used. In these 25 years have trained 20,674 participants; 19.451 IMSS and 1,223 other health institutions. The most productive courses were life support (BLS/ACLS) (47.17%), distance courses "Hospital medical evacuation plans and units" (14.17%), the workshop-run "Evacuation of hospital units with an emphasis on critical areas" (5.93%) and course "Programme Evaluators of Hospital Insurance" (8.43%). Although the Special Projects Division Health has primarily operational functions, it nevertheless has neglected its responsibility to maintain constantly trained and updated institute staff that every day is in a position to face any type of emergency and disaster. This increases the chance that the answer to any contingency is more organised and of higher quality, always to the benefit of the population. Copyright © 2015 Academia Mexicana de Cirugía A.C. Published by Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

The Environmental Health/Home Safety Education Project: a successful and practical U.S.-Mexico border initiative.

PubMed

Forster-Cox, Susan C; Mangadu, Thenral; Jacquez, Benjamín; Fullerton, Lynne

2010-05-01

The Environmental Health/Home Safety Education Project (Proyecto de Salud Ambiental y Seguridad en el Hogar) has been developed in response to a wide array of severe and often preventable environmental health issues occurring in and around homes on the U.S.-Mexico border. Utilizing well-trained community members, called promotoras , homes are visited and assessed for potential environmental hazards, including home fire and food safety issues. Data analyzed from project years 2002 to 2005 shows a significant impact in knowledge levels and initial behavior change among targeted participants as it relates to fire and food safety issues. Since the initiation of the project in 1999, hundreds of participants have improved their quality of life by making their homes safer. The project has proven to be sustainable, replicable, flexible, and attractive to funders.

[Subtainable health promotion via organisational development--a model project for teachers in professional training schools].

PubMed

Schumacher, L; Nieskens, B; Bräuer, H; Sieland, B

2005-02-01

The goal of this project is the development, implementation and evaluation of a concept designed for sustainable health promotion among occupational and trade school teachers. We assume that for sustainable health promotion -- along with a behavioral prevention program -- a change is necessary in the structure, as well as, the working and communication processes within schools. The realization of early teacher participation and self regulated cooperative groups initiates comprehensive and goal-oriented developmental processes in the project schools. The organizational development process was accomplished in the following way: At the beginning we conducted a diagnosis of school-specific and individual health risks and the resources available to the project schools. The results were reported for both the individual and for the teacher group. This was intended to clarify the potential for improvement and, thus, strengthen the teachers' motivation toward processes of change. Following the diagnosis, the teachers chose areas of stress-related strain and then worked in groups to develop and implement behaviour and working condition-oriented intervention strategies for health promotion. The diagnosis results confirm the necessity of school-specific health promotion: the schools demonstrate very different demand and resource profiles. Furthermore, is has become evident that the central success factor for health promotion in schools is the teachers' willingness for change. The individual and group reports of the diagnosis results seem to have made clear how essential individual and organisational changes are.

Health sciences library building projects, 1996-1997 survey.

PubMed Central

Bowden, V M

1998-01-01

Nine building projects are briefly described, including four new libraries, two renovations, and three combined renovations and additions. The libraries range in size from 657 square feet to 136,832 square feet, with seating varying from 14 to 635. Three hospital libraries and four academic health sciences libraries are described in more detail. In each case an important consideration was the provision for computer access. Two of the libraries expanded their space for historical collections. Three of the libraries added mobile shelving as a way of storing print materials while providing space for other activities. Images PMID:9549012

[A network of LIFE projects to promote the transfer and exchange of knowledge on environment and health].

PubMed

Cori, Liliana; Carducci, Annalaura; Donzelli, Gabriele; La Rocca, Cinzia; Bianchi, Fabrizio

2018-01-01

Eleven projects within the LIFE programme (through which the Directorate-General for Environment of the European Commission provides funding for projects aim at protecting environment and nature) addressing environmental-health-related issues have been involved in a collaborative network called KTE LIFE EnvHealth Network. The shared issues tackled by that projects are knowledge transfer and exchange (KTE). The objective of the LIFE programme is to support the implementation of the environmental legislation in the European Union, to provide new tools and knowledge that will help to better protect both the territory and the communities. Transferring knowledge to decision makers, at the appropriate and effective level, is therefore a central function of the projects. The Network promotes national and international networking, which intends to involve other projects, to provide methodological support, to make information and successful practices circulate, with the aim of multiplying the energies of each project involved.

A tool to assess sex-gender when selecting health research projects.

PubMed

Tomás, Concepción; Yago, Teresa; Eguiluz, Mercedes; Samitier, M A Luisa; Oliveros, Teresa; Palacios, Gemma

2015-04-01

To validate the questionnaire "Gender Perspective in Health Research" (GPIHR) to assess the inclusion of gender perspective in research projects. Validation study in two stages. Feasibility was analysed in the first, and reliability, internal consistence and validity in the second. Aragón Institute of Health Science, Aragón, Spain. GPIHR was applied to 118 research projects funded in national and international competitive tenders from 2003 to 2012. Analysis of inter- and intra-observer reliability with Kappa index and internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha. Content validity analysed through literature review and construct validity with an exploratory factor analysis. Validated GPIHR has 10 questions: 3 in the introduction, 1 for objectives, 3 for methodology and 3 for research purpose. Average time of application was 13min Inter-observer reliability (Kappa) varied between 0.35 and 0.94 and intra-observer between 0.40 and 0.94. Theoretical construct is supported in the literature. Factor analysis identifies three levels of GP inclusion: "difference by sex", "gender sensitive" and "feminist research" with an internal consistency of 0.64, 0.87 and 0.81, respectively, which explain 74.78% of variance. GPIHR questionnaire is a valid tool to assess GP and useful for those researchers who would like to include GP in their projects. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

A Nurse Leadership Project to Improve Health Literacy on a Maternal-Infant Unit.

PubMed

Stikes, Reetta; Arterberry, Katheryn; Logsdon, M Cynthia

2015-01-01

To describe how participation in the Sigma Theta Tau International Maternal-Child Health Nurse Leadership Academy positioned the authors to lead an interdisciplinary team through implementation and evaluation of a change project related to patient education based upon national health literacy standards. The project goal was to improve patient satisfaction with nurse communication and preparation for hospital discharge. Quality improvement. Mother/-baby unit of an academic medical center serving a high percentage of patients of a minority population and underserved clients. The five- step intervention included (a) review of current health literacy standards, (b) formation of an infrastructure for development and evaluation of existing patient education materials, (c) assessment of patient education materials currently in use, (d) assessment of literacy level and learning styles of new mothers, and (e) provision of continuing education to increase knowledge of nurses as patient teachers and of health literacy. Mean scores of Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) in the domains of patient satisfaction with nurse communication and discharge information were used to measure patient satisfaction with health communication. Patient satisfaction with nurse communication increased from 75.9% to 84.6%. Satisfaction with discharge information increased from 84.6% to 98.6%. The leadership academy successfully positioned the authors to guide an interdisciplinary team through development of a process to meet the education and communication needs of patients and improve their health literacy. As a result, a positive effect was noted on patient satisfaction with health communication. © 2015 AWHONN, the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.

Task Analysis for Curriculum Design and Validation. Allied Health Professions Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byers, Bruce B.; And Others

This report contains an outline of the method and the rationale for a project whose purpose is to develop training programs which are relevant to the specific requirements of technical occupations in nine allied health professions. The nine professions are in (a) nursing, (b) inhalation therapy, (c) radiology (technician level), (d) clinical…

Occupational Analysis: Hospital Radiologic Technologist. The UCLA Allied Health Professions Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reeder, Glenn D.; And Others

In an effort to meet the growing demand for skilled radiologic technologists and other supportive personnel educated through the associate degree level, a national survey was conducted as part of the UCLA Allied Health Professions Project to determine the tasks performed by personnel in the field and lay the groundwork for development of…

The development of an Alzheimer's disease channel for the Michigan Interactive Health Kiosk Project.

PubMed

Connell, Cathleen M; Shaw, Benjamin A; Holmes, Sara B; Hudson, Margaret L; Derry, Holly A; Strecher, Victor J

2003-01-01

The overall objective of this article is to describe the development and implementation of an Alzheimer's disease (AD) module for the Michigan Interactive Health Kiosk Project. This project provides access to health information via 100 kiosks located in public places throughout the state (e.g., churches, senior centers, schools, shopping malls, grocery stores, hospitals) using interactive multimedia software. Because the kiosk screen was designed to resemble a television set, program modules are referred to as "channels." The AD channel is designed to increase knowledge and awareness of the disease among the general public. After an overview of the overall project, the steps involved in developing the AD channel and strategies designed to monitor its use are described, including touch-screen usage data and an on-line user survey. Finally, marketing and promotion of the channel and the implications of this initiative for disseminating information about AD are discussed.

Effects of an Interprofessional Project on Students' Perspectives on Interprofessional Education and Knowledge of Health Disciplines

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jutte, Lisa S.; Browne, Fredrick R.; Reynolds, Marie

2016-01-01

Context: Interprofessional education (IPE) is encouraged in health care education in the hope that it will improve communication among future health care professionals. In response, health professional education programs are developing IPE curricula. Objective: To determine if a multicourse interprofessional (IP) project impacted students'…

Providing maternal and child health-family planning services to a large rural population: results of the Bohol Project, Philippines.

PubMed Central

Williamson, N E; Parado, J P; Maturan, E G

1983-01-01

The Bohol Project (1975-1979) sought to improve maternal and child health and to increase the use of family planning among a rural Philippine population of 400,000. Research indicated that maternal and child health (MCH) services did become more available during the Project period and coverage of the priority populations improved. Family planning (FP) use, particularly of less effective methods, increased and fertility declined although some change could have been expected even without the Project. Deaths due to neonatal tetanus were almost eliminated by mortality rates did not decline for a number of reasons, including the fact that services were probably not tailored closely enough to local health problems, especially respiratory diseases. The Project showed that it was possible to increase health and family planning services by using low-cost strategies (such as setting up community drug stores) and by employing paramedical workers, in this case, midwives. Preventive MCH-FP services were not overwhelmed by curative services as had been feared. Perhaps the most significant contributions of the Project were the lessons learned about delivering health and family planning services and conducting evaluation research. In general, if developing countries could maintain well-evaluated field laboratories for working out health and family planning delivery approaches before going nationwide, it is likely that time and money would be saved in the long run. PMID:6848001

[Transparency as a prerequisite of innovation in health services research: deficits in the reporting of model projects concerning managed care].

PubMed

Wiethege, J; Ommen, O; Ernstmann, N; Pfaff, H

2010-10-01

Currently, elements of managed care are being implemented in the German health-care system. The legal basis for these innovations are § 140, § 73, § 137, and §§ 63 et seq. of the German Social Code - Part 5 (SGB V). For the model projects according to §§ 63 et seq. of the German Social Code a scientific evaluation and publication of the evaluation results is mandatory. The present study examines the status of evaluation of German model projects. The present study has a mixed method design: A mail and telephone survey with the German Federal Social Insurance Authority, the health insurance funds, and the regional Associations of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians has been conducted. Furthermore, an internet research on "Medpilot" and "Google" has been accomplished to search for model projects and their evaluation reports. 34 model projects met the inclusion criteria. 13 of these projects had been terminated up to 30/9/2008. 6 of them have published an evaluation report. 4 model projects have published substantial documents. One model project in progress has published a meaningful interim report. 12 model projects failed to give information concerning the evaluator or the duration of the model projects. The results show a significant deficit in the mandatory reporting of the evaluation of model projects in Germany. There is a need for action for the legislator and the health insurance funds in terms of promoting the evaluation and the publication of the results. The institutions evaluating the model projects should obligate themselves to publish the evaluation results. The publication is an essential precondition for the development of managed care structures in the health-care system and in the development of scientific evaluation methods. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Project #138. Coronary Care Education of Health Care Team. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saint Joseph Hospital, MO.

The goal of this project was to develop, establish, and implement a system for the educational development of health care team members of the St. Joseph region in emergency and coronary care. Programs, curricula, and evaluation methodology were devised for four levels of critical care personnel: R.N.s emphasizing emergency and coronary care;…

The Teen Outreach Reproductive Challenge: Improving Adolescent Health Care Delivery through Peer Education Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeMairo, Pauline; Dischell, Jackie; Jouthe, Sorahya A.; Horner, Andrea

2008-01-01

The Teen Outreach Reproductive CHallenge (TORCH) is a peer education program that provides information on various topics relevant to adolescent sexual health to a diverse audience, ranging from teens to health care providers. This information is disseminated through various projects by a group of New York City high-school students who are…

Distributed and grid computing projects with research focus in human health.

PubMed

Diomidous, Marianna; Zikos, Dimitrios

2012-01-01

Distributed systems and grid computing systems are used to connect several computers to obtain a higher level of performance, in order to solve a problem. During the last decade, projects use the World Wide Web to aggregate individuals' CPU power for research purposes. This paper presents the existing active large scale distributed and grid computing projects with research focus in human health. There have been found and presented 11 active projects with more than 2000 Processing Units (PUs) each. The research focus for most of them is molecular biology and, specifically on understanding or predicting protein structure through simulation, comparing proteins, genomic analysis for disease provoking genes and drug design. Though not in all cases explicitly stated, common target diseases include research to find cure against HIV, dengue, Duchene dystrophy, Parkinson's disease, various types of cancer and influenza. Other diseases include malaria, anthrax, Alzheimer's disease. The need for national initiatives and European Collaboration for larger scale projects is stressed, to raise the awareness of citizens to participate in order to create a culture of internet volunteering altruism.

The Torres Indigenous Hip Hop Project: evaluating the use of performing arts as a medium for sexual health promotion.

PubMed

McEwan, Alexandra; Crouch, Alan; Robertson, Heather; Fagan, Patricia

2013-08-01

The Torres Indigenous Hip Hop Project (the Project) was conducted in the Torres and Northern Peninsula Area of Queensland during early 2010. This paper provides a critical analysis of project outcomes and identifies criteria that may form a suitable framework for the assessment of proposals for sexual health promotion using performing arts-based approaches in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander settings. A case study method was used. The first phase of analysis assessed whether project objectives were met using data collected during project planning and implementation. The second phase used these findings, augmented by interviews with key personnel, to respond to the question 'How could this be done better?'. The Project required significant human and organisational implementation support. The project was successful in facilitating event-specific community mobilisation. It raised awareness of sexual health disadvantage and engaged effectively with the target group. It laid important groundwork to progress school-based and community mechanisms to address regional youth disadvantage. Against these benefits are issues of opportunity cost and the need for ongoing resources to capitalise on the opportunities created. With substantial support and planning, such approaches can play an important role in engaging young people and bridging the gap between clinical interventions and improvements in health deriving from community-driven strategies. SO WHAT? This paper contributes to existing literature by identifying key elements of an effective approach to using performing arts in sexual health promotion in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander settings. It also provides guidance when consideration is being given to investment in resource-intensive health promotion initiatives.

[Evaluating the efficiency of basic public health service project in Beijing rural areas based on data envelopment analysis].

PubMed

Zhang, Gui-lin; Pan, Xi-long

2013-04-18

To measure the efficiency changes of basic public health service in Beijing rural areas and to provide some suggestions for the basic public health service project throughout China. In the study, stratified random samples from 32 township health centers (THCs) were measured by data envelopment analysis (DEA) model with the panel data from 2007 to 2009. (1) The average total efficiency score of samples was 0.972. The TE non-efficient THCs were with excess in all input indicators and insufficient outputs in technology management, health promotion and chronic disease management. (2) The total factor productivity (TFP) from 2007 to 2008 increased 8.8%, which was attributed to technology change. The TFP decreased by 6.6% from 2008 to 2009, but the technical efficiency increased by 3.3%. There is room for improvemrnt in the basic public health service project in Beijing rural areas. Scale efficiency should be improved and the common development of technical efficiency and technology progress promoted in order to increase the project outputs.

Evaluation of regional project to strengthen national health research systems in four countries in West Africa: lessons learned.

PubMed

Sombié, Issiaka; Aidam, Jude; Montorzi, Gabriela

2017-07-12

Since the Commission on Health Research for Development (COHRED) published its flagship report, more attention has been focused on strengthening national health research systems (NHRS). This paper evaluates the contribution of a regional project that used a participatory approach to strengthen NHRS in four post-conflict West African countries - Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Mali. The data from the situation analysis conducted at the start of the project was compared to data from the project's final evaluation, using a hybrid conceptual framework built around four key areas identified through the analysis of existing frameworks. The four areas are governance and management, capacities, funding, and dissemination/use of research findings. The project helped improve the countries' governance and management mechanisms without strengthening the entire NHRS. In the four countries, at least one policy, plan or research agenda was developed. One country put in place a national health research ethics committee, while all four countries could adopt a research information management system. The participatory approach and support from the West African Health Organisation and COHRED were all determining factors. The lessons learned from this project show that the fragile context of these countries requires long-term engagement and that support from a regional institution is needed to address existing challenges and successfully strengthen the entire NHRS.

International assistance and health care reform in Poland: barriers to project development and implementation.

PubMed

Sabbat, J

1997-09-01

The restoration of democracy in Poland initiated a major system transformation including reform of the health sector. The international community were quick to respond to the need for assistance. Polish proposals were supported by international experts and projects were developed together with international development agencies and donors. Donors had no experience of central and eastern Europe, these countries had never been beneficiaries of aid and neither side had experience working together. Progress and absorption of funds was slow. Comparative experience from developing countries was used to analyze the barriers encountered in project development and implementation in Poland. The conditions necessary for implementation were not satisfied. Insufficient attention was paid to the project process. Barriers originate on the side of both donors and recipients and additionally from programme characteristics. The most serious problems experience in Poland were lack of government commitment to health care reform leading to failure to provide counterpart funds and low capacity for absorption of aid. Rent seeking attitudes were important. Donor paternalistic attitudes, complex procedures and lack of innovative approach were also present. Poor coordination was a problem on both sides. Multi-lateral projects were too complex and it was not always possible to integrate project activities with routine ones. External consultants played an excessive role in project development and implementation, absorbing a large portion of funds. The barriers have been operationalised to create a checklist which requires validation elsewhere and may be useful for those working in this field.

The Orthodontist, Our Friend: World of Work Project: Fifth Grade: Health.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Nancy

The document is one of the teaching units developed by the Utah World of Work Project, designed to integrate career awareness into the regular curriculum at the elementary level. The fifth grade guide is tied to the health education area and focuses on the work of the orthodontist in terms of understanding what an orthodontist does, learning what…

"2 + 2" Articulated Health Occupations Project. Nursing Program. First Year Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paris Independent School District, TX.

This report describes the procedures and accomplishments of the first year of a multiyear project to develop a "2 + 2" articulated training program in health careers that links the last 2 years of secondary and the first 2 years of postsecondary training to prepare students for employment in one or more occupations. A related goal for…

Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) Technology Demonstration Project Final Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mackey, Ryan; Iverson, David; Pisanich, Greg; Toberman, Mike; Hicks, Ken

2006-01-01

Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) is an essential capability that will be required to enable upcoming explorations mission systems such as the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV), as well as NASA aeronautics missions. However, the lack of flight experience and available test platforms have held back the infusion by NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of ISHM technologies into future space and aeronautical missions. To address this problem, a pioneer project was conceived to use a high-performance aircraft as a low-cost proxy to develop, mature, and verify the effectiveness of candidate ISHM technologies. Given the similarities between spacecraft and aircraft, an F/A-18 currently stationed at Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) was chosen as a suitable host platform for the test bed. This report describes how the test bed was conceived, how the technologies were integrated on to the aircraft, and how these technologies were matured during the project. It also describes the lessons learned during the project and a forward path for continued work.

Increasing use of mental health services in remote areas using mobile technology: a pre–post evaluation of the SMART Mental Health project in rural India

PubMed Central

Maulik, Pallab K; Kallakuri, Sudha; Devarapalli, Siddhardha; Vadlamani, Vamsi Krishna; Jha, Vivekanand; Patel, Anushka

2017-01-01

Background About 25% of the Indian population experience common mental disorders (CMD) but only 15–25% of them receive any mental health care. Stigma, lack of adequate mental health professionals and mental health services account for this treatment gap, which is worse in rural areas. Our project evaluated task shifting and mobile–technology based electronic decision support systems to enhance the ability of primary care health workers to provide evidence–based mental health care for stress, depression, and suicidal risk in 30 remote villages in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Methods The Systematic Medical Appraisal Referral and Treatment (SMART) Mental Health project between May 2014 and April 2016 trained lay village health workers (Accredited Social Health Activists – ASHAs) and primary care doctors to screen, diagnose and manage individuals with common mental disorders using an electronic decision support system. An anti–stigma campaign using multi–media approaches was conducted across the villages at the outset of the project. A pre–post evaluation using mixed methods assessed the change in mental health service utilization by screen positive individuals. This paper reports on the quantitative aspects of that evaluation. Results Training was imparted to 21 ASHAs and 2 primary care doctors. 5007 of 5167 eligible individuals were screened, and 238 were identified as being positive for common mental disorders and referred to the primary care doctors for further management. Out of them, 2 (0.8%) had previously utilized mental health services. During the intervention period, 30 (12.6%) visited the primary care doctor for further diagnosis and treatment, as advised. There was a significant reduction in the depression and anxiety scores between start and end of the intervention among those who had screened positive at the beginning. Stigma and mental health awareness in the broader community improved during the project. Conclusions The intervention

Increasing use of mental health services in remote areas using mobile technology: a pre-post evaluation of the SMART Mental Health project in rural India.

PubMed

Maulik, Pallab K; Kallakuri, Sudha; Devarapalli, Siddhardha; Vadlamani, Vamsi Krishna; Jha, Vivekanand; Patel, Anushka

2017-06-01

About 25% of the Indian population experience common mental disorders (CMD) but only 15-25% of them receive any mental health care. Stigma, lack of adequate mental health professionals and mental health services account for this treatment gap, which is worse in rural areas. Our project evaluated task shifting and mobile-technology based electronic decision support systems to enhance the ability of primary care health workers to provide evidence-based mental health care for stress, depression, and suicidal risk in 30 remote villages in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The Systematic Medical Appraisal Referral and Treatment (SMART) Mental Health project between May 2014 and April 2016 trained lay village health workers (Accredited Social Health Activists - ASHAs) and primary care doctors to screen, diagnose and manage individuals with common mental disorders using an electronic decision support system. An anti-stigma campaign using multi-media approaches was conducted across the villages at the outset of the project. A pre-post evaluation using mixed methods assessed the change in mental health service utilization by screen positive individuals. This paper reports on the quantitative aspects of that evaluation. Training was imparted to 21 ASHAs and 2 primary care doctors. 5007 of 5167 eligible individuals were screened, and 238 were identified as being positive for common mental disorders and referred to the primary care doctors for further management. Out of them, 2 (0.8%) had previously utilized mental health services. During the intervention period, 30 (12.6%) visited the primary care doctor for further diagnosis and treatment, as advised. There was a significant reduction in the depression and anxiety scores between start and end of the intervention among those who had screened positive at the beginning. Stigma and mental health awareness in the broader community improved during the project. The intervention led to individuals being screened for common mental

Improving the quality of workers' compensation health care delivery: the Washington State Occupational Health Services Project.

PubMed

Wickizer, T M; Franklin, G; Plaeger-Brockway, R; Mootz, R D

2001-01-01

This article has summarized research and policy activities undertaken in Washington State over the past several years to identify the key problems that result in poor quality and excessive disability among injured workers, and the types of system and delivery changes that could best address these problems in order to improve the quality of occupational health care provided through the workers' compensation system. Our investigations have consistently pointed to the lack of coordination and integration of occupational health services as having major adverse effects on quality and health outcomes for workers' compensation. The Managed Care Pilot Project, a delivery system intervention, focused on making changes in how care is organized and delivered to injured workers. That project demonstrated robust improvements in disability reduction; however, worker satisfaction suffered. Our current quality improvement initiative, developed through the Occupational Health Services Project, synthesizes what was learned from the MCP and other pilot studies to make delivery system improvements. This initiative seeks to develop provider incentives and clinical management processes that will improve outcomes and reduce the burden of disability on injured workers. Fundamental to this approach are simultaneously preserving workers' right to choose their own physician and maintaining flexibility in the provision of individualized care based on clinical need and progress. The OHS project then will be a "real world" test to determine if aligning provider incentives and giving physicians the tools they need to optimize occupational health delivery can demonstrate sustainable reduction in disability and improvements in patient and employer satisfaction. Critical to the success of this initiative will be our ability to: (1) enhance the occupational health care management skills and expertise of physicians who treat injured workers by establishing community-based Centers of Occupational

Avoiding Failure for Australia's Digital Health Record: The Findings from a Rural E-Health Participatory Research Project.

PubMed

Almond, H; Cummings, E; Turner, P

2016-01-01

Low adoption and use of Australia's digital health record has driven the Australian Government to trial 'opt-out' registration from mid-June 2016. The assumption that automatic registration will increase use and thereby deliver benefit requires further investigation especially amongst those sections of the population in rural, regional, remote Australia living with complex chronic conditions. This paper reports on findings from a community based participatory e-health research project based on an initiative where people with complex chronic conditions and their carers attended a rural health promotion and lifestyle modification program. Through co-operative enquiry, health promotion officers and their clients were actively supported to adopt and use Australia's digital health record as an intervention. Simultaneously they were encouraged to reflect on its design and their perceptions of its overall impact on their individual ability to self-manage complex chronic conditions. The findings, ultimately contributing to a conceptual implementation and evaluation framework for Australia's digital health record that could directly avoid failure of the new 'opt-out' approach being adopted.

Médicarte software developed for the Quebec microprocessor health card project.

PubMed

Lavoie, G; Tremblay, L; Durant, P; Papillon, M J; Bérubé, J; Fortin, J P

1995-01-01

The Quebec Patient Smart Card Project is a Provincial Government initiative under the responsibility of the Rgie de l'assurance-maladie du Québec (Quebec Health Insurance Board). Development, implementation, and assessment duties were assigned to a team from Université Laval, which in turn joined a group from the Direction de la santé publique du Bas-St-Laurent in Rimouski, where the experiment is taking place. The pilot project seeks to evaluate the use and acceptance of a microprocessor card as a way to improve the exchange of clinical information between card users and various health professionals. The card can be best described as a résumé containing information pertinent to an individual's health history. It is not a complete medical file; rather, it is a summary to be used as a starting point for a discussion between health professionals and patients. The target population is composed of persons 60 years and over, pregnant women, infants under 18 months, and the residents of a small town located in the target area, St-Fabien, regardless of age. The health professionals involved are general practitioners, specialists, pharmacists, nurses, and ambulance personnel. Participation in the project is on a voluntary basis. Each health care provider participating in the project has a personal identification number (PIN) and must use both an access card and a user card to access information. This prevents unauthorized access to a patient's card and allows the staff to sign and date information entered onto the patient card. To test the microprocessor card, we developed software based on a problem-oriented approach integrating diagnosis, investigations, treatments, and referrals. This software is not an expert system that constrains the clinician to a particular decisional algorithm. Instead, the software supports the physician in decision making. The software was developed with a graphical interface (Windows 3.1) to maximize its user friendliness. A version of the

The UCSF AIDS Health Project Guide to Counseling: Perspectives on Psychotherapy, Prevention, and Therapeutic Practice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dilley, James W., Ed.; Marks, Robert, Ed.

The University of California San Francisco AIDS Health Project has more than 15 years' experience in working with thousands of people with AIDS. This guide, developed by the Project, provides practical, state-of-the-art resources in the field. Part 1, "Risk and Behavior: Helping Clients Remain Uninfected," covers the following topics:…

Realizing universal health coverage for maternal health services in the Republic of Guinea: the use of workforce projections to design health labor market interventions

PubMed Central

Jansen, Christel; Codjia, Laurence; Cometto, Giorgio; Yansané, Mohamed Lamine; Dieleman, Marjolein

2014-01-01

Background Universal health coverage requires a health workforce that is available, accessible, and well-performing. This article presents a critical analysis of the health workforce needs for the delivery of maternal and neonatal health services in Guinea, and of feasible and relevant interventions to improve the availability, accessibility, and performance of the health workforce in the country. Methods A needs-based approach was used to project human resources for health (HRH) requirements. This was combined with modeling of future health sector demand and supply. A baseline scenario with disaggregated need and supply data for the targeted health professionals per region and setting (urban or rural) informed the identification of challenges related to the availability and distribution of the workforce between 2014 and 2024. Subsequently, the health labor market framework was used to identify interventions to improve the availability and distribution of the health workforce. These interventions were included in the supply side modeling, in order to create a “policy rich” scenario B which allowed for analysis of their potential impact. Results In the Republic of Guinea, only 44% of the nurses and 18% of the midwives required for maternal and neonatal health services are currently available. If Guinea continues on its current path without scaling up recruitment efforts, the total stock of HRH employed by the public sector will decline by 15% between 2014 and 2024, while HRH needs will grow by 22% due to demographic trends. The high density of HRH in urban areas and the high number of auxiliary nurses who are currently employed pose an opportunity for improving the availability, accessibility, and performance of the health workforce for maternal and neonatal health in Guinea, especially in rural areas. Conclusion Guinea will need to scale up its recruitment efforts in order to improve health workforce availability. Targeted labor market interventions need to be

Challenges associated with tracking resources allocation for reproductive health in sub-Saharan African countries: the UNFPA/NIDI resource flows project experience.

PubMed

Sidze, Estelle M; Beekink, Erik; Maina, Beatrice W

2015-05-05

Universal access to reproductive health services entails strengthening health systems, but requires significant resource commitments as well as efficient and effective use of those resources. A number of international organizations and governments in developing countries are putting efforts into tracking the flow of health resources in order to inform resource mobilization and allocation, strategic planning, priority setting, advocacy and general policy making. The UNFPA/NIDI-led Resource Flows Project ("The UNFPA/NIDI RF Project") has conducted annual surveys since 1997 to monitor progress achieved by developing countries in implementing reproductive health financial targets. This commentary summarizes the Project experiences and challenges in gathering data on allocation of resources for reproductive health at the domestic level in sub-Saharan African countries. One key lesson learnt from the Project experience is the need for strengthening tracking mechanisms in sub-Saharan African countries and making information on reproductive health resources and expenditures available, in particular the private sector resources.

Agile informatics: application of agile project management to the development of a personal health application.

PubMed

Chung, Jeanhee; Pankey, Evan; Norris, Ryan J

2007-10-11

We describe the application of the Agile method-- a short iteration cycle, user responsive, measurable software development approach-- to the project management of a modular personal health record, iHealthSpace, to be deployed to the patients and providers of a large academic primary care practice.

Introduction to the "Evaluating the Impact of Structural Policies on Health Inequalities and Their Social Determinants and Fostering Change" (SOPHIE) Project.

PubMed

Borrell, Carme; Malmusi, Davide; Muntaner, Carles

2017-01-01

The SOPHIE Project (acronym for Structural Policies for Health Inequalities Evaluation) has focused on evaluating the impact of structural policies on health equity, considering as such all those policies that exert a powerful influence on the structural determinants of health (e.g., patterns of social stratification, living and working conditions) and thus on health-related exposures through intermediary determinants. In these sections of the International Journal of Health Services, we present some of the main findings of the SOPHIE Project. We include both articles that summarize all the evidence already published in the project on a thematic area (such as labor market, gender, or housing) and articles that present new, unpublished evidence on a specific health inequality or policy. © The Author(s) 2016.

[Globalization, the Camisea Project and the Matsigenkas health].

PubMed

Torres-Slimming, Paola

2010-09-01

Globalization has been the consequence of an important opening of the economies, achieved through the reduction in the obstacles to commerce, elimination of the capital controls and exchange restrictions. The impact of the Camisea Project in the Peruvian economy has aroused great interest and controversy with respect to the future social and economic national impact, and especially, in the Matsigenka population, located in the 88 and 56 lots, where gas extraction is being done. The area of Camisea gas exploitation offers the challenge of a complex sanitary problem, not only because of the impacts and risks produced by the hidrocarbon exploitation, but also due to a legacy of economical and sanitary precariousness that has accumulated from other times. At the same time, this area offers the opportunity to rethink the public health system according to the indigenous reality. It is necessary to take action in the social determinants of inequity and poverty in order to reach the positive effects the globalization can have in health, ensuring the interests of developing countries and vulnerable populations.

Evaluation of Health Equity Impact of Structural Policies: Overview of Research Methods Used in the SOPHIE Project.

PubMed

Kunst, Anton E

2017-07-01

This article briefly assesses the research methods that were applied in the SOPHIE project to evaluate the impact of structural policies on population health and health inequalities. The evaluation of structural policies is one of the key methodological challenges in today's public health. The experience in the SOPHIE project was that mixed methods are essential to identify, understand, and predict the health impact of structural policies. On the one hand, quantitative studies that included spatial comparisons or time trend analyses, preferably in a quasi-experimental design, showed that some structural policies were associated with improved population health and smaller health inequalities. On the other hand, qualitative studies, often inspired by realist approaches, were important to understand how these policies could have achieved the observed impact and why they would succeed in some settings but fail in others. This review ends with five recommendations for future studies that aim to evaluate, understand, and predict how health inequalities can be reduced through structural policies.

Mental Health Services to Rural Consumers. Lessons Learned from a Four Year Iowa Farm Crisis Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Link, Emerson A.

The Southwest Iowa Mental Health Center recently completed a 4-year project to increase use of mental health services by normally reluctant rural populations and to increase coping ability among persons affected by the farm crisis. During the first 2 years, program goals included aggressive outreach to potential patients, mental health education…

Health Care Administrators. Project TEAMS. (Techniques and Education for Achieving Management Skills).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Platte Technical Community Coll., Columbus, NE.

The result of a project to develop short courses to help health care administrators and supervisors in developing practical, up-to-date management skills, this instructional workbook provides information and exercises applicable to on-the-job situations. Unit I covers the following leadership considerations: self-awareness, time management,…

Effectiveness of an Adaptation of the Project Connect Health Systems Intervention: Youth and Clinic-Level Findings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loosier, Penny S.; Doll, Shelli; Lepar, Danielle; Ward, Kristin; Gamble, Ginger; Dittus, Patricia J.

2016-01-01

Background: The Project Connect Health Systems Intervention (Project Connect) uses a systematic process of collecting community and healthcare infrastructure information to craft a referral guide highlighting local healthcare providers who provide high quality sexual and reproductive healthcare. Previous self-report data on healthcare usage…

Leadership in workplace health promotion projects: 1- and 2-year effects on long-term work attendance.

PubMed

Dellve, Lotta; Skagert, Katrin; Vilhelmsson, Rebecka

2007-10-01

Despite the acknowledged role of leadership in the psychosocial work environment, few studies focus on how leadership qualities and strategies may act as key processes of importance to positive effects of workplace health promotion (WHP). The aim of this study was to increase knowledge about how leadership qualities and strategies in WHP projects influence employees' long-term work attendance. The 1- and 2-year effect of leadership on the prevalence of long-term work attendance among municipal human service workers (n = 3 275) was analysed using 3-year register-based data on sick leave, questionnaires and a qualitative categorization of each unit. Increased leadership qualities, especially where leaders used rewards, recognition and respect, were associated with higher prevalence of work attendance at follow-up [PR 1.42 (1.20-1.69)]. Leaders' strategies and views on work-related health had a significant impact on increased work attendance in projects that had goals clearly focusing on changeable factors [1.36 (1.11-1.67)], in multi-focused projects [1.60 (1.24-2.04)] and in projects aimed to increase employees' awareness of their health. Workplace health promotion strategies with a single focus on strengthening individual, professional or organizational resources were negatively associated with work attendance. A higher proportion of employee work attendance was also seen in units whose leaders viewed the organization or the society (rather than individual workers) as responsible for the high rate of sick leave. Leadership, WHP strategies and leaders' attitudes towards employee work-related health have importance for implementation processes, as well as affecting employee work attendance. In this study, multi-focused WHP interventions had the largest effect on work attendance.

Health Care Employee Perceptions of Patient-Centered Care: A Photovoice Project

PubMed Central

Balbale, Salva Najib; Turcios, Stephanie; LaVela, Sherri L.

2015-01-01

Given the importance of health care employees in the delivery of patient-centered care, understanding their unique perspective is essential for quality improvement. The purpose of this study was to use photovoice to evaluate perceptions and experiences around patient-centered care among Veterans Affairs (VA) health care employees. We asked participants to take photographs of salient features in their environment related to patient-centered care. We used the photographs to facilitate dialogue during follow-up interviews. Twelve VA health care employees across two VA sites participated in the project. Although most participants felt satisfied with their work environment and experiences at the VA, several areas for improvement were identified. These included a need for more employee health and wellness initiatives and a need for enhanced opportunities for training and professional growth. Application of photovoice enabled us to learn about employees' unique perspectives around patient-centered care while engaging them in an evaluation of care delivery. PMID:25274626

"Making a difference" - Medical students' opportunities for transformational change in health care and learning through quality improvement projects.

PubMed

Bergh, Anne-Marie; Bac, Martin; Hugo, Jannie; Sandars, John

2016-07-11

Quality improvement is increasingly becoming an essential aspect of the medical curriculum, with the intention of improving the health care system to provide better health care. The aim of this study was to explore undergraduate medical students' experiences of their involvement in quality improvement projects during a district health rotation. Student group reports from rotations in learning centres of the University of Pretoria in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa were analysed for the period 2012 to 2015. Interviews were conducted with health care providers at four learning centres in 2013. Three main themes were identified: (1) 'Situated learning', describing students' exposure to the discrepancies between ideal and reality in a real-life situation and how they learned to deal with complex situations, individually and as student group; (2) 'Facing dilemmas', describing how students were challenged about the non-ideal reality; (3) 'Making a difference', describing the impact of the students' projects, with greater understanding of themselves and others through working in teams but also making a change in the health care system. Quality improvement projects can provide an opportunity for both the transformation of health care and for transformative learning, with individual and 'collective' self-authorship.

Learning about population-health through a community practice learning project: An evaluation study.

PubMed

Davenport, Maggie; Ooms, Ann; Marks-Maran, Di

2016-03-01

Increasing student nurse numbers requiring community placement learning opportunities has led to insufficient numbers of community nurses being available to support student nurses in the community. Although the study presented in the article is based in the UK this issue is reported widely in the literature across the globe. Universities in many countries have had to find innovative ways of providing community health learning opportunities for student nurses. This article reports on how one university in the UK has approached this challenge through students engaging in a population-based study in the community through group work. A research study was undertaken into this innovation which found that the student nurses engaged well with the project and with their groups and undertaking the project had positive value and impact on them and their understanding of population-health. Issues that arose for them largely focused on unequal participation in the group work by some with many participants perceiving that they had done more work on the group project and presentation than others in their group. However, working in this way was perceived to be a good learning experience for the majority of participants. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

78 FR 38287 - Bitterroot National Forest, Darby Ranger District, Como Forest Health Project

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-26

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Bitterroot National Forest, Darby Ranger District, Como Forest Health Project AGENCY: Forest Service. ACTION: Notice; Correction. SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, Bitterroot National Forest, Darby Ranger District published a document in...

[To live well: health care or life project? Part I].

PubMed

Viniegra-Velázquez, Leonardo

To live well is a universal human aspiration as well as the ultimate goal of the services that take care of people's health. In this paper, two different ideas are discussed about how to achieve it: health care and life project. Part I begins with a detailed account of human degradation and the social inequities responsible for the unprecedented social and cultural breakdown of the actual society. Under this interpretative framework, the medicalization of human life as result of the alienating consumerism is analyzed as well as the excesses it entails from both health care institutions and health services users. By exploring the reasons of medicalization, it becomes clear that its influence in our actual lifestyles has driven us to be obsessed with being healthy and horrified of diseases; this works as a very effective mean of social control from the powers that maintain and deepen inequality. As such, the first to benefit from it is the health industry. This constant concern for health takes us away from our goal of living well since it causes anxiety, insecurity and disquietude. In conclusion, different considerations about the inconveniences of devoting all our energies towards health care are offered and it is suggested that instead we all have the responsibility of creating a more hospitable and inclusive world. Copyright © 2016 Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez. Publicado por Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

Cost-effectiveness of the Health X Project for tuberculosis control in China.

PubMed

Wang, W-B; Zhang, H; Petzold, M; Zhao, Q; Xu, B; Zhao, G-M

2014-08-01

Between 2002 and 2008, China's National Tuberculosis Control Programme created the Health X Project, financed in part by a World Bank loan, with additional funding from the UK Department for International Development. To assess the cost-effectiveness of the Project and its impact from a financial point of view on tuberculosis (TB) control in China. A decision-analytic model was used to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the Project. Sensitivity analysis was used to assess the impact of different scenarios and assumptions on results. The primary outcome of the study was cost per disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) saved and incremental DALYs saved. In comparison with alternative scenario 1, the Project detected 1.6 million additional cases, 44 000 deaths were prevented and a total of 18.4 million DALYs saved. The Project strategies cost approximately Chinese yuan (CNY) 953 per DALY saved (vs. CNY1140 in the control areas), and saved an estimated CNY17.5 billion in comparison with the unchanged alternative scenario (scenario 1) or CNY10.8 billion with the control scenario (scenario 2). The Project strategies were affordable and of comparable cost-effectiveness to those of other developing countries. The results also provide strong support for the existing policy of scaling up DOTS in China.

Implementing transnational telemedicine solutions: a connected health project in rural and remote areas of six Northern Periphery countries Series on European collaborative projects.

PubMed

Casey, Monica; Hayes, Patrick S; Heaney, David; Dowie, Lee; Ólaighin, Gearoid; Matero, Matti; Hun, Soo; Knarvik, Undine; Alrutz, Käte; Eadie, Leila; Glynn, Liam G

2013-03-01

This is the first article in a Series on collaborative projects between European countries, relevant for general practice/family medicine and primary healthcare. Telemedicine, in particular the use of the Internet, videoconferencing and handheld devices such as smartphones, holds the potential for further strides in the application of technology for the delivery of healthcare, particularly to communities in rural and remote areas within and without the European Union where this study is taking place. The Northern Periphery Programme has funded the 'Implementing Transnational Telemedicine Solutions' (ITTS) project from September 2011 to December 2013, led by the Centre for Rural Health in Inverness, Scotland. Ten sustainable projects based on videoconsultation (speech therapy, renal services, emergency psychiatry, diabetes), mobile patient self-management (physical activity, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease) and home-based health services (medical and social care emergencies, rehabilitation, multi-morbidity) are being implemented by the six partner countries: Scotland, Finland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Norway and Sweden. In addition, an International Telemedicine Advisory Service, created for the project, provides business expertise and advice. Community panels contribute feedback on the design and implementation of services and ensure 'user friendliness'. The project goals are to improve accessibility of healthcare in rural and remote communities, reducing unnecessary hospital visits and travel in a sustainable way. Opportunities will be provided for comparative research studies. This article provides an introduction to the ITTS project and how it aims to fulfil these needs. The ITTS team encourage all healthcare providers to at least explore possible technological solutions within their own context.

The Union RAP: Industry-Wide Research-Action Projects to Win Health and Safety Improvements

PubMed Central

McQuiston, Thomas H.; Lippin, Tobi Mae; Anderson, Leeann G.; Beach, M. Josie; Frederick, James; Seymour, Thomas A.

2009-01-01

Unions are ripe to engage in community-based participatory research (CBPR). We briefly profile 3 United Steelworker CBPR projects aimed at uncovering often-undocumented, industry-wide health and safety conditions in which US industrial workers toil. The results are to be used to advocate improvements at workplace, industry, and national policy levels. We offer details of our CBPR approach (Research-Action Project [RAP]) that engages workers and others in all research stages. Elements of RAPs include strategically constructed teams with knowledge of the industry and health and safety and with skills in research, participatory facilitation, and training; reciprocal training on these knowledge and skill areas; iterative processes of large and small group work; use of technology; and facilitator-developed tools and intermediate products. PMID:19890145

Clinical Laboratory Sciences Discipline Advisory Group Final Report. Kentucky Allied Health Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kentucky Council on Public Higher Education, Frankfort.

Education in the clinical laboratory sciences in Kentucky and articulation within the field are examined, based on the Kentucky Allied Health Project (KAHP), which designed an articulated statewide system to promote entry and exit of personnel at a variety of educational levels. The KAHP model promotes articulation in learning, planning, and…

Post-Project Assessment of Community-Supported Emergency Transport Systems for Health Care Services in Tanzania

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahluwalia, Indu B.; Robinson, Dorcas; Vallely, Lisa; Myeya, Juliana; Ngitoria, Lukumay; Kitambi, Victor; Kabakama, Alfreda

2012-01-01

We examined the continuation of community-organized and financed emergency transport systems implemented by the Community-Based Reproductive Health Project (CBRHP) from 1998 to 2000 in two rural districts in Tanzania. The CBRHP was a multipronged program, one component of which focused on affordable transport to health facilities from the…

The Effect of an Interdisciplinary Community Health Project on Student Attitudes toward Community Health, People Who Are Indigent and Homeless, and Team Leadership Skill Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rose, Molly A.; Lyons, Kevin J.; Miller, Kathleen Swenson; Cornman-Levy, Diane

2003-01-01

A study of 22 health occupations students examined whether participation in an interdisciplinary community health empowerment project with urban homeless and formerly homeless people changed their attitudes about community health practice, attitudes toward people who are indigent and homeless, and perceived leadership skills. Posttests revealed a…

Lessons from the first two years of Project Heartland, Oklahoma's mental health response to the 1995 bombing.

PubMed

Call, J A; Pfefferbaum, B

1999-07-01

On April 19, 1995, a terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City killed 168 people and injured 853 others. The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services was the lead agency in crafting a community mental health response to reduce impairment of those affected. The Project Heartland program, which opened on May 15, 1995, was the first community mental health program in the U.S. designed to intervene in the short to medium term with survivors of a major terrorist event. The authors describe lessons learned in the areas of planning and service delivery, as well as the types and extent of services provided in the project's first two years.

Commitment of project participants to developing health care services based on the internet technology.

PubMed

Kouri, Pirkko; Karjalainen-Jurvelin, Ritva; Kinnunen, Juha

2005-12-01

When developing Information and Communication Technology (ICT), such as services for the decision-making process, skilled health care professionals with their comprehensive knowledge of patients/clients are essential contributors to the project. Careful evaluation is needed to assess the effectiveness of project management as well as to analyze the commitment of the personnel to goal attainment. In the course of the development of integrated maternity care services, the commitment of project participants (n=48) was evaluated. What factors enhanced or impaired their commitment to the project work? Questionnaire (n=80, response rate 60%) with quantitative analysis as well as open-ended questions with qualitative content analysis. Positive commitment was related to a confidential and open atmosphere during the project. The utilization of personal skills and experience was appreciated. Differences in the working principles and cultures between the participating organizations complicated fluent collaboration. To encourage commitment, a lot of attention should be paid to internal communication as well as the effective realization of project tasks. The strength of the project was the highly innovative and confidential atmosphere. The well-established project goals, the highly inspired project team, and the effective co-operation between the project manager and the core group helped to deepen overall commitment in the project.

Is the Alma Ata vision of comprehensive primary health care viable? Findings from an international project

PubMed Central

Labonté, Ronald; Sanders, David; Packer, Corinne; Schaay, Nikki

2014-01-01

Background The 4-year (2007–2011) Revitalizing Health for All international research program (http://www.globalhealthequity.ca/projects/proj_revitalizing/index.shtml) supported 20 research teams located in 15 low- and middle-income countries to explore the strengths and weaknesses of comprehensive primary health care (CPHC) initiatives at their local or national levels. Teams were organized in a triad comprised of a senior researcher, a new researcher, and a ‘research user’ from government, health services, or other organizations with the authority or capacity to apply the research findings. Multiple regional and global team capacity-enhancement meetings were organized to refine methods and to discuss and assess cross-case findings. Objective Most research projects used mixed methods, incorporating analyses of qualitative data (interviews and focus groups), secondary data, and key policy and program documents. Some incorporated historical case study analyses, and a few undertook new surveys. The synthesis of findings in this report was derived through qualitative analysis of final project reports undertaken by three different reviewers. Results Evidence of comprehensiveness (defined in this research program as efforts to improve equity in access, community empowerment and participation, social and environmental health determinants, and intersectoral action) was found in many of the cases. Conclusions Despite the important contextual differences amongst the different country studies, the similarity of many of their findings, often generated using mixed methods, attests to certain transferable health systems characteristics to create and sustain CPHC practices. These include:  Well-trained and supported community health workers (CHWs) able to work effectively with marginalized communities Effective mechanisms for community participation, both informal (through participation in projects and programs, and meaningful consultation) and formal (though program

Is the Alma Ata vision of comprehensive primary health care viable? Findings from an international project.

PubMed

Labonté, Ronald; Sanders, David; Packer, Corinne; Schaay, Nikki

2014-01-01

The 4-year (2007-2011) Revitalizing Health for All international research program (http://www.globalhealthequity.ca/projects/proj_revitalizing/index.shtml) supported 20 research teams located in 15 low- and middle-income countries to explore the strengths and weaknesses of comprehensive primary health care (CPHC) initiatives at their local or national levels. Teams were organized in a triad comprised of a senior researcher, a new researcher, and a 'research user' from government, health services, or other organizations with the authority or capacity to apply the research findings. Multiple regional and global team capacity-enhancement meetings were organized to refine methods and to discuss and assess cross-case findings. Most research projects used mixed methods, incorporating analyses of qualitative data (interviews and focus groups), secondary data, and key policy and program documents. Some incorporated historical case study analyses, and a few undertook new surveys. The synthesis of findings in this report was derived through qualitative analysis of final project reports undertaken by three different reviewers. Evidence of comprehensiveness (defined in this research program as efforts to improve equity in access, community empowerment and participation, social and environmental health determinants, and intersectoral action) was found in many of the cases. Despite the important contextual differences amongst the different country studies, the similarity of many of their findings, often generated using mixed methods, attests to certain transferable health systems characteristics to create and sustain CPHC practices. These include:1. Well-trained and supported community health workers (CHWs) able to work effectively with marginalized communities2. Effective mechanisms for community participation, both informal (through participation in projects and programs, and meaningful consultation) and formal (though program management structures)3.�

Strengthening government health and family planning programs: findings from an action research project in rural Bangladesh.

PubMed

Simmons, R; Phillips, J F; Rahman, M

1984-01-01

An ongoing study at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) is based on the premise that public sector health and family planning programs can be improved through an assessment of the dysfunctional aspects of their operations, the development of problem-solving capabilities, and the transfer of strategies successfully tested in a small-scale pilot project. This paper reports findings from a field trial implemented in a subunit of the project area at an early stage of the project. Operational barriers to public sector program implementation are discussed with regard to the quantity of work, the quality of work, supplies and facilities, integration of health and family planning, and leadership, supervision, and decision making. Initial results of the ICDDR,B intervention on these managerial processes are also indicated.

The NYA/UCLA Project: A Community-University Model for Mental Health Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobs, Marion K.; And Others

This three-part paper describes a pilot demonstration project for training psychology graduate students and social-work agency personnel to provide mental health services for minority adolescents and their families. The training model assumes that all participants possess skill and knowledge that can be shared with each other and that a strong…

Environmental Scanning as a Public Health Tool: Kentucky's Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Project.

PubMed

Wilburn, Amanda; Vanderpool, Robin C; Knight, Jennifer R

2016-08-18

Borrowing from business, quality improvement programs, and strategic planning principles, environmental scanning is gaining popularity in public health practice and research and is advocated as an assessment and data collection tool by federal funding agencies and other health-related organizations. Applicable to a range of current and emerging health topics, environmental scans - through various methods - assess multiple facets of an issue by engaging stakeholders who can ask or answer research questions, exploring related policy, critiquing published and gray literature, collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data in both primary and secondary forms, disseminating findings to internal and external stakeholders, and informing subsequent planning and decision making. To illustrate the environmental scanning process in a public health setting and showcase its value to practitioners in the field, we describe a federally funded environmental scan for a human papillomavirus vaccination project in Kentucky.

Urban Health Project: A Sustainable and Successful Community Internship Program for Medical Students.

PubMed

Roberts, Kasey; Park, Thomas; Elder, Nancy C; Regan, Saundra; Theodore, Sarah N; Mitchell, Monica J; Johnson, Yolanda N

2015-11-01

Urban Health Project (UHP) is a mission and vision-driven summer internship at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine that places first-year medical students at local community agencies that work with underserved populations. At the completion of their internship, students write Final Intern Reflections (FIRs). Final Intern Reflections written from 1987 to 2012 were read and coded to both predetermined categories derived from the UHP mission and vision statements and new categories created from the data themselves. Comments relating to UHP's mission and vision were found in 47% and 36% of FIRs, respectively. Positive experiences outweighed negative by a factor of eight. Interns reported the following benefits: educational (53%), valuable (25%), rewarding (25%), new (10%), unique (6%), and life-changing (5%). Urban Health Project is successful in providing medical students with enriching experiences with underserved populations that have the potential to change their understanding of vulnerable populations.

Projections of global health outcomes from 2005 to 2060 using the International Futures integrated forecasting model

PubMed Central

Hughes, Barry B; Peterson, Cecilia M; Rothman, Dale S; Solórzano, José R; Mathers, Colin D; Dickson, Janet R

2011-01-01

Abstract Objective To develop an integrated health forecasting model as part of the International Futures (IFs) modelling system. Methods The IFs model begins with the historical relationships between economic and social development and cause-specific mortality used by the Global Burden of Disease project but builds forecasts from endogenous projections of these drivers by incorporating forward linkages from health outcomes back to inputs like population and economic growth. The hybrid IFs system adds alternative structural formulations for causes not well served by regression models and accounts for changes in proximate health risk factors. Forecasts are made to 2100 but findings are reported to 2060. Findings The base model projects that deaths from communicable diseases (CDs) will decline by 50%, whereas deaths from both non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries will more than double. Considerable cross-national convergence in life expectancy will occur. Climate-induced fluctuations in agricultural yield will cause little excess childhood mortality from CDs, although other climate−health pathways were not explored. An optimistic scenario will produce 39 million fewer deaths in 2060 than a pessimistic one. Our forward linkage model suggests that an optimistic scenario would result in a 20% per cent increase in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, despite one billion additional people. Southern Asia would experience the greatest relative mortality reduction and the largest resulting benefit in per capita GDP. Conclusion Long-term, integrated health forecasting helps us understand the links between health and other markers of human progress and offers powerful insight into key points of leverage for future improvements. PMID:21734761

Projections of global health outcomes from 2005 to 2060 using the International Futures integrated forecasting model.

PubMed

Hughes, Barry B; Kuhn, Randall; Peterson, Cecilia M; Rothman, Dale S; Solórzano, José R; Mathers, Colin D; Dickson, Janet R

2011-07-01

To develop an integrated health forecasting model as part of the International Futures (IFs) modelling system. The IFs model begins with the historical relationships between economic and social development and cause-specific mortality used by the Global Burden of Disease project but builds forecasts from endogenous projections of these drivers by incorporating forward linkages from health outcomes back to inputs like population and economic growth. The hybrid IFs system adds alternative structural formulations for causes not well served by regression models and accounts for changes in proximate health risk factors. Forecasts are made to 2100 but findings are reported to 2060. The base model projects that deaths from communicable diseases (CDs) will decline by 50%, whereas deaths from both non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries will more than double. Considerable cross-national convergence in life expectancy will occur. Climate-induced fluctuations in agricultural yield will cause little excess childhood mortality from CDs, although other climate-health pathways were not explored. An optimistic scenario will produce 39 million fewer deaths in 2060 than a pessimistic one. Our forward linkage model suggests that an optimistic scenario would result in a 20% per cent increase in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, despite one billion additional people. Southern Asia would experience the greatest relative mortality reduction and the largest resulting benefit in per capita GDP. Long-term, integrated health forecasting helps us understand the links between health and other markers of human progress and offers powerful insight into key points of leverage for future improvements.

42 CFR 137.327 - May multiple projects be included in a single construction project agreement?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false May multiple projects be included in a single construction project agreement? 137.327 Section 137.327 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF...-GOVERNANCE Construction Project Assumption Process § 137.327 May multiple projects be included in a single...

Health status assessment of workers during construction phase of highway rehabilitation projects around lahore, Pakistan.

PubMed

Abrar, Amina; Cheema, Kausar Jamal; Saif, Samia; Mahmood, Asim

2017-01-24

The study focused on assessment of the health status of workers during construction phase of highway rehabilitation projects at six selected sites of N5 around Lahore, including Kala Shah Kaku, Muridke, Kamuki, Bhaipheru, Pattoki, and Okara. The study was based on multi-methods approach involving hazard identification through survey and checklist as well as a questionnaire for health status assessment and measurements of health parameters including peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and audiometric screening of 300 subjects. The study revealed non-congenial working conditions at the sites. Noise, vibrations, dust, asphalt fumes, poor work postures, and injuries were found to be major health hazards. PEFR of most of the workers was found to be significantly lower than the reference value. Average PEFR±SEM values were 187±5.1 l/min, 178±4.3 l/min, and 266±5.3 l/min in ground preparation workers, asphalt workers, and heavy vehicle drivers, respectively. The highest rate (29%) of hearing loss was recorded among heavy vehicle drivers. Musculoskeletal problems were found to be more common among ground preparation workers. Data revealed unsatisfactory health status of most of the workers. Direct relationship between health outcomes and the type of construction activities were observed. The current study focuses on the importance of including occupational health and safety plan in the execution phase of every developmental project that involves construction activities.

Latin American special project: kidney health cooperation project between Uruguay and Bolivia.

PubMed

Sola, Laura; Plata-Cornejo, Raúl; Fernández-Cean, Juan

2015-01-01

Uruguay and Bolivia are two countries that show heterogenicity of the Latin American region, including the national income, the expenditure on health and the services for renal care. In Bolivia, there is manpower shortage for renal care with only 5 nephrologists per million people (pmp) and the prevalence of patients on dialysis is only 200 pmp. This is much lower than the mean prevalence rate of renal replacement therapy for Latin America as a whole. Uruguay on the other hand has more dedicated renal resources with 50 nephrologists pmp, and renal replacement therapy is provided to ~ 1,000 dialysis patients pmp. In November 2012, a collaborative project financed by the Uruguayan International Cooperation Agency was signed by both the Uruguay and Bolivia Ministries of Health, and the goal was to develop a comprehensive program for the prevention and management of all stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Bolivia. The specific objectives were to: a) promote renal healthcare in the primary healthcare setting, b) identify kidney disease in populations at risk, and c) optimize patient care at all stages of CKD, including dialysis and transplantation supported with a national ESRD registry in Bolivia. As a first step, delegates from the Bolivian Health Ministry, visited Uruguay in April 2014, primarily to strengthen the development of tools required for developing and maintaining a national registry. In addition, during this visit, a meeting with the president of the Latin American Society of Nephrology and Hypertension (SLANH) culminated in designing a training program for peritoneal dialysis. This highly cooperative relationship is advancing the prevention and care of CKD in Bolivia and may serve as a model for international approaches to advance system level CKD care in countries with limited healthcare resources.

NASA Human Health and Performance Center: Open Innovation Successes and Collaborative Projects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Jeffrey R.; Richard, Elizabeth E.

2014-01-01

In May 2007, what was then the Space Life Sciences Directorate published the 2007 Space Life Sciences Strategy for Human Space Exploration, which resulted in the development and implementation of new business models and significant advances in external collaboration over the next five years. The strategy was updated on the basis of these accomplishments and reissued as the NASA Human Health and Performance Strategy in 2012, and continues to drive new approaches to innovation for the directorate. This short paper describes the open innovation successes and collaborative projects developed over this timeframe, including the efforts of the NASA Human Health and Performance Center (NHHPC), which was established to advance human health and performance innovations for spaceflight and societal benefit via collaboration in new markets.

Preliminary report from the World Health Organisation Chest Radiography in Epidemiological Studies project.

PubMed

Mahomed, Nasreen; Fancourt, Nicholas; de Campo, John; de Campo, Margaret; Akano, Aliu; Cherian, Thomas; Cohen, Olivia G; Greenberg, David; Lacey, Stephen; Kohli, Neera; Lederman, Henrique M; Madhi, Shabir A; Manduku, Veronica; McCollum, Eric D; Park, Kate; Ribo-Aristizabal, Jose Luis; Bar-Zeev, Naor; O'Brien, Katherine L; Mulholland, Kim

2017-10-01

Childhood pneumonia is among the leading infectious causes of mortality in children younger than 5 years of age globally. Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is the leading infectious cause of childhood bacterial pneumonia. The diagnosis of childhood pneumonia remains a critical epidemiological task for monitoring vaccine and treatment program effectiveness. The chest radiograph remains the most readily available and common imaging modality to assess childhood pneumonia. In 1997, the World Health Organization Radiology Working Group was established to provide a consensus method for the standardized definition for the interpretation of pediatric frontal chest radiographs, for use in bacterial vaccine efficacy trials in children. The definition was not designed for use in individual patient clinical management because of its emphasis on specificity at the expense of sensitivity. These definitions and endpoint conclusions were published in 2001 and an analysis of observer variation for these conclusions using a reference library of chest radiographs was published in 2005. In response to the technical needs identified through subsequent meetings, the World Health Organization Chest Radiography in Epidemiological Studies (CRES) project was initiated and is designed to be a continuation of the World Health Organization Radiology Working Group. The aims of the World Health Organization CRES project are to clarify the definitions used in the World Health Organization defined standardized interpretation of pediatric chest radiographs in bacterial vaccine impact and pneumonia epidemiological studies, reinforce the focus on reproducible chest radiograph readings, provide training and support with World Health Organization defined standardized interpretation of chest radiographs and develop guidelines and tools for investigators and site staff to assist in obtaining high-quality chest radiographs.

Sustainability in Primary Care and Mental Health Integration Projects in Veterans Health Administration

PubMed Central

Ford, James H.; Krahn, Dean; Oliver, Karen Anderson; Kirchner, JoAnn

2015-01-01

Objective To explore staff perceptions about sustainability, commitment to change, participation in change process, and information received about the change project within the Veterans Administration Primary Care and Mental Health Integration (PC-MHI) initiative and to examine differences from the Veterans Health Administration Mental Health Systems Redesign (MHSR) initiative. Data Sources Surveys of change team members involved in the Veterans Affairs PC-MHI and MHSR initiatives. Study Design One-way analysis of variance examined the relationship between commitment, participation and information, and sustainability. Differences in PC-MHI sustainability were explored by location and job classification. Staff sustainability perceptions were compared with MHSR results. Principal Findings Sustainability differed by staff discipline. Difference between MHSR and PC-MHI existed by job function and perceptions about the change benefits. Participation in the change process and information received about the change process were positively correlated with sustainability. Staff commitment to change was positively associated with staff perceptions about the benefits of change and staff attitudes toward change. Conclusions Sustainability is an important part of organizational change efforts. Change complexity seems to influence perception about sustainability and impacts staff perceptions about the benefits of change. These perceptions seem to be driven by the information received and opportunities to participate in the change process. Further research is needed to understand how information and participation influence sustainability and affect employee commitment to change. PMID:23011071

Sustainability in primary care and Mental Health Integration projects in Veterans Health Administration.

PubMed

Ford, James H; Krahn, Dean; Oliver, Karen Anderson; Kirchner, JoAnn

2012-01-01

To explore staff perceptions about sustainability, commitment to change, participation in change process, and information received about the change project within the Veterans Administration Primary Care and Mental Health Integration (PC-MHI) initiative and to examine differences from the Veterans Health Administration Mental Health Systems Redesign (MHSR) initiative. Surveys of change team members involved in the Veterans Affairs PC-MHI and MHSR initiatives. One-way analysis of variance examined the relationship between commitment, participation and information, and sustainability. Differences in PC-MHI sustainability were explored by location and job classification. Staff sustainability perceptions were compared with MHSR results. Sustainability differed by staff discipline. Difference between MHSR and PC-MHI existed by job function and perceptions about the change benefits. Participation in the change process and information received about the change process were positively correlated with sustainability. Staff commitment to change was positively associated with staff perceptions about the benefits of change and staff attitudes toward change. Sustainability is an important part of organizational change efforts. Change complexity seems to influence perception about sustainability and impacts staff perceptions about the benefits of change. These perceptions seem to be driven by the information received and opportunities to participate in the change process. Further research is needed to understand how information and participation influence sustainability and affect employee commitment to change.

An Innovative Project Breaks Down Barriers to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable Young Children in Los Angeles County.

PubMed

Crall, James J; Illum, Jackie; Martinez, Ana; Pourat, Nadereh

2016-06-01

Despite the high rate of untreated tooth decay, many young children in California under six years of age have never been to a dentist. Numerous and complex barriers to access to oral health care for young children exist, and a multifaceted approach is required to improve receipt of preventive and treatment services that could improve the oral health of this population. This policy brief describes the UCLA-First 5 LA 21st Century Dental Homes Project, which was designed to improve oral health care for young children in 12 Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) clinic sites with co-located dental and primary care services and its accessibility in their service areas throughout Los Angeles County. The project funded infrastructure and staffing, provided technical assistance to improve operations, trained clinical personnel to provide oral health care to young children, implemented a quality improvement learning collaborative, trained parents and child care providers in oral hygiene and healthy habits, and disseminated information to promote effective policies. Early data on the project indicated twofold increases in delivery of both diagnostics and treatment visits for young children, and a threefold increase in preventive services for young children during the program.

Integrating a project monitoring system into a public health network: experiences from Alive & Thrive Vietnam.

PubMed

Tuan, Nguyen Thanh; Alayon, Silvia; Do, Tran Thanh; Ngan, Tran Thi; Hajeebhoy, Nemat

2015-01-01

Little information is available about how to build a monitoring system to measure the output of preventive nutrition interventions, such as counselling on infant and young child feeding. This paper describes the Alive & Thrive Vietnam (A&T) project experience in nesting a large-scale project monitoring system into the existing public health information system (e.g. using the system and resources), and in using monitoring data to strengthen service delivery in 15 provinces with A&T franchises. From January 2012 to April 2014, the 780 A&T franchises provided 1,700,000 counselling contacts (~3/4 by commune franchises). In commune franchises in April 2014, 80% of mothers who were pregnant or with children under two years old had been to the counselling service at least one time, and 87% of clients had been to the service earlier. Monitoring data are used to track the progress of the project, make decisions, provide background for a costing study and advocate for the integration of nutrition counselling indicators into the health information system nationwide. With careful attention to the needs of stakeholders at multiple levels, clear data quality assurance measures and strategic feedback mechanisms, it is feasible to monitor the scale-up of nutrition programmes through the existing routine health information system.

A rural virtual health sciences library project: research findings with implications for next generation library services.

PubMed

Richwine, M P; McGowan, J J

2001-01-01

The Shared Hospital Electronic Library of Southern Indiana (SHELSI) research project was designed to determine whether access to a virtual health sciences library and training in its use would support medical decision making in rural southern Indiana and achieve the same level of impact seen by targeted information services provided by health sciences librarians in urban hospitals. Based on the results of a needs assessment, a virtual medical library was created; various levels of training were provided. Virtual library users were asked to complete a Likert-type survey, which included questions on intent of use and impact of use. At the conclusion of the project period, structured interviews were conducted. Impact of the virtual health sciences library showed a strong correlation with the impact of information provided by health sciences librarians. Both interventions resulted in avoidance of adverse health events. Data collected from the structured interviews confirmed the perceived value of the virtual library. While librarians continue to hold a strong position in supporting information access for health care providers, their roles in the information age must begin to move away from providing information toward selecting and organizing knowledge resources and instruction in their use.

An Exploration of the Effect of Community Engagement in Research on Perceived Outcomes of Partnered Mental Health Services Projects*

PubMed Central

Khodyakov, Dmitry; Stockdale, Susan; Jones, Felica; Ohito, Elizabeth; Jones, Andrea; Lizaola, Elizabeth; Mango, Joseph

2011-01-01

Mental health research projects address sensitive issues for vulnerable populations and are implemented in complex environments. Community-Based Participatory Research approaches are recommended for health research on vulnerable populations, but little is known about how variation in participation affects outcomes of partnered research projects. We developed a conceptual model demonstrating the impact of community engagement in research on outcomes of partnered projects. We collected data on key constructs from community and academic leaders of 21 sampled partnered research projects in two cycles of an NIMH research center. We conducted empirical analyses to test the model. Our findings suggest that community engagement in research is positively associated with perceived professional development, as well as political and community impact. PMID:22582144

New approaches for education and training in veterinary public health: the SAPUVET projects.

PubMed

Ortega, Carmelo; Parilla, Guillermo; De Balogh, Katinka; De Rosa, Mauro; Gimeno, Olga; Estol, Leopoldo; Dobosh, Dora; Leguia, Guillermo; Falcon, Nestor; Fonseca, Adolfo; Torres, Miguel; Caballero, Magaly; Quiros, Jorge; Vilhena, Manuela Clemente; Villamil, Luis Carlos; Cediel, Natalia; De Meneghi, Daniele

2007-01-01

Continued contact between humans and animals, in combination with the ever-increasing movement of human and animal populations that is one effect of globalization, contributes to the spread of diseases, often with detrimental effects on public health. This has led professionals involved in both animal health and public health to recognize veterinary public health (VPH) as a key area for their activities to address the human-animal interface. Veterinarians, a profession with major involvement in this field, are in need of specific knowledge and skills to prevent and control public-health problems. As a result, VPH must be directly integrated into veterinary educational programs. At present, only few veterinary schools have specific VPH programs; in most institutions, VPH does not feature as a specific subject in either undergraduate or post-graduate curricula. SAPUVET and SAPUVETNET II are network projects supported by the ALFA program of the European Union (EU). Their main objectives are to reach a common understanding between European and Latin American universities in the definition of the areas in which VPH is important in their respective countries, and to design a harmonized training program for veterinarians in VPH, by making use of new technological applications and innovative teaching methodologies. The elaboration of educational material in combination with case studies presenting real-life problems provides a basis to apply the knowledge acquired on VPH. It is envisaged that the material and modules developed during the two projects will be integrated into the veterinary curricula of the participating universities, as well as in other partner organizations.

Monitoring of hearing and language in primary health care: project pilot.

PubMed

Wagner, Julianne; Bonamigo, Andrea Wander; Oliveira, Fabiana de; Machado, Márcia Salgado

2017-11-01

This article analyzes the feasibility of implementing a program that monitors the hearing and language development in the first year of life. It is a prospective longitudinal study, in which 41 community health workers were invited to monitor, on a monthly basis, by means of a questionnaire validated earlier, the hearing and language of children born in their micro areas of expertise. Thirty-nine community health workers agreed to participate, with only two refusals. Five gave up participating. Twenty-six (66.66%) did not perform monitoring, seven (17.94%) monitored improperly and only six (15.38%) monitored properly. Just one child failed the quiz, who was forwarded to the hospital that conducted the auditory screening for retesting. These professionals' high activity demand was considered the main reason for the difficulties encountered in this project. In addition, there is the difficulty to have contact with the Family Health Strategy teams, as well as the impossibility of permanent face-to-face discussions and the influence of the community health agents' supervisors.

Ranking the effects of urban development projects on social determinants of health: health impact assessment.

PubMed

Shojaei, Parisa; Karimlou, Masoud; Nouri, Jafar; Mohammadi, Farahnaz; Malek Afzali, Hosein; Forouzan, Ameneh Setareh

2014-05-30

Health impact assessment (HIA) offer a very logical and interesting approach for those aiming to integrate health issues into planning processes. With a lot of works and plans waiting to be done (e.g., developing and updating plans, counseling planning commissions, cooperation with other organizations), planners find it difficult to prioritize health among a variety of possible issues and solutions they confront. In the present article, first, the list of social determinants of health associated with Chitgar man-made lake was extracted out using a qualitative method and with content analysis approach, and then they were prioritized using analytic hierarchy process. 28 social determinants of health including "intermediary" and "structural" determinants were extracted out. Regarding positive effects of lake on these determinants, "recreational services" and "traffic" received the highest and the lowest weights with 0.895 and 0.638 respectively among structural determinants and with consideration to "construction" option. Furthermore, among intermediary determinants for "construction" option, sub-criteria of both "physical activity" and "air quality" received the final highest weight (0.889) and "pathogenesis" indicated the lowest weight with 0.617. Moreover, lake demonstrated the highest negative effects on "housing" among "structural" determinants which it takes the highest weight (0.476) in "non-construction" option. Additionally, lake had the highest negative effects on "noise pollution" among "intermediary determinants" and it takes the highest weight (0.467) in "non-construction" option. It has been shown that urban development projects such as green spaces, man-made lakes … have a huge range of effects on community's health, and having not considered these effects by urban planners and mangers is going to confront urban health with many challenges.

Application of Computational Toxicological Approaches in Supporting Human Health Risk Assessment, Project Summary

EPA Science Inventory

Summary

An examination of the social determinants of health as factors related to health, healing and prevention of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder in a northern context – the brightening our home fires project, Northwest Territories, Canada

PubMed Central

Badry, Dorothy; Felske, Aileen Wight

2013-01-01

Objective The Brightening Our Home Fires (BOHF) project was conceptualized as an exploratory project to examine the issue of the prevention of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) from a women's health perspective in the Northwest Territories (NT). While dominant discourse suggests that FASD is preventable by abstention from alcohol during pregnancy, a broader perspective would indicate that alcohol and pregnancy is a far more complex issue, that is, bound in location, economics, social and cultural views of health. This project was prevention focused and a social determinant of health (SDH) perspective informed this research. Methods The BOHF project was a qualitative research project using a participatory action research framework to examine women's health and healing in the north. The methodology utilized was Photovoice. Women were provided training in digital photography and given cameras to use and keep. The primary research question utilized was: What does health and healing look like for you in your community? Women described their photos, individually or in groups around this central topic. This research was FASD informed, and women participants were aware this was an FASD prevention funded project whose approach focused on a broader context of health and lived experience. Results This project drew 30 participants from: Yellowknife, Lutsel ‘ke, Behchokö and Ulukhaktok. These four different communities across the NT represented Dene and Inuit culture. The qualitative data analysis offered themes of importance to women's health in the north including: land and tradition; housing; poverty; food; family; health, mental health and trauma, and travel. Photovoice provides a non-threatening way to engage in dialogue on complex health and social issues. PMID:23984290

Linking Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and HIV Services for Young People: The Link Up Project.

PubMed

Stackpool-Moore, Lucy; Bajpai, Divya; Caswell, Georgina; Crone, Tyler; Dewar, Fleur; Gray, Greg; Kyendikuwa, Allen; Mellin, Julie; Miller, Andrew; Morgan, Felicity; Orza, Luisa; Stevenson, Jacqui; Westerhof, Nienke; Wong, Felicia; Yam, Eileen; Zieman, Brady

2017-02-01

Sexual health and access to services are a pressing need for young people. This article introduces Link Up, a 3-year project in three African and two Asian countries, to enable and scale up access to integrated HIV services and sexual and reproductive health and rights for marginalized young people. The young people we worked with in this project included young men who have sex with men, young sex workers, young people who use drugs, young transgender people, young homeless people, and other vulnerable young people. The research and programmatic activities of Link Up, as illustrated in this Supplement, have highlighted the importance of recognizing and engaging with diversity among young people to improve access to services and outcomes protecting their health and human rights. Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A School-Based Mental Health Service Model for Youth Exposed to Disasters: "Project Fleur-de-lis"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, Douglas W.

2008-01-01

Project Fleur-de-lis was designed only days after Hurricane Katrina to address the intermediate and long-term mental health issues of students as they re-entered school. This article describes the creation, design, impact, and "lessons learned" of this innovative school-based mental health system. (Contains 1 figure.)

Cohort Profile Update: The Amirkola Health and Ageing Project (AHAP).

PubMed

Bijani, Ali; Ghadimi, Reza; Mikaniki, Ebrahim; Kheirkhah, Farzan; Mozaffarpur, Seyyed Ali; Motallebnejad, Mina; Esmaili, Haleh; Majidi, Fatemeh; Cumming, Robert Graham; Hosseini, Seyed Reza

2017-01-01

The original cohort study of AHAP started in 2011 on 1616 elderly residents of Amirkola, northern part of Iran near the Caspian Sea. The main goal of this study was to comprehensively evaluate the health of the elderly in the region with the emphasis on chronic diseases such as osteoporosis. The first cohort profile was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology in 2014. The phase 1 AHAP showed the elevated level of some diseases and conditions including osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome, obesity, vision problems and relatively low levels of oral health. Therefore, the second phase of this cohort started with more complete population coverage in 2016, not only to collect and record the information based on previous protocol, but also consider new areas such as nutritional status, complete eye and dental examinations and health assessment on the basis of Iranian Traditional Medicine. The new aspect of this project is to conduct clinical and laboratory examinations at the health center to extend more facilities to the elderly. In addition to serum and DNA, samples of saliva, hair and nails are collected and kept under standard conditions in the biobank of this cohort. Researchers can apply for access to data or suggest a collaborative study by submitting the proposal to AHAP committee.

Cohort Profile Update: The Amirkola Health and Ageing Project (AHAP)

PubMed Central

Bijani, Ali; Ghadimi, Reza; Mikaniki, Ebrahim; Kheirkhah, Farzan; Mozaffarpur, Seyyed Ali; Motallebnejad, Mina; Esmaili, Haleh; Majidi, Fatemeh; Cumming, Robert Graham; Hosseini, Seyed Reza

2017-01-01

The original cohort study of AHAP started in 2011 on 1616 elderly residents of Amirkola, northern part of Iran near the Caspian Sea. The main goal of this study was to comprehensively evaluate the health of the elderly in the region with the emphasis on chronic diseases such as osteoporosis. The first cohort profile was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology in 2014. The phase 1 AHAP showed the elevated level of some diseases and conditions including osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome, obesity, vision problems and relatively low levels of oral health. Therefore, the second phase of this cohort started with more complete population coverage in 2016, not only to collect and record the information based on previous protocol, but also consider new areas such as nutritional status, complete eye and dental examinations and health assessment on the basis of Iranian Traditional Medicine. The new aspect of this project is to conduct clinical and laboratory examinations at the health center to extend more facilities to the elderly. In addition to serum and DNA, samples of saliva, hair and nails are collected and kept under standard conditions in the biobank of this cohort. Researchers can apply for access to data or suggest a collaborative study by submitting the proposal to AHAP committee. PMID:28932373

Comprehensive review of the evidence regarding the effectiveness of community–based primary health care in improving maternal, neonatal and child health: 7. shared characteristics of projects with evidence of long–term mortality impact

PubMed Central

Perry, Henry B; Rassekh, Bahie M; Gupta, Sundeep; Freeman, Paul A

2017-01-01

Background There is limited evidence about the long–term effectiveness of integrated community–based primary health care (CBPHC) in improving maternal, neonatal and child health. However, the interventions implemented and the approaches used by projects with such evidence can provide guidance for ending preventable child and maternal deaths by the year 2030. Methods A database of 700 assessments of the effectiveness of CBPHC in improving maternal, neonatal and child health has been assembled, as described elsewhere in this series. A search was undertaken of these assessments of research studies, field project and programs (hereafter referred to as projects) with more than a single intervention that had evidence of mortality impact for a period of at least 10 years. Four projects qualified for this analysis: the Matlab Maternal Child Health and Family Planning (MCH–FP) P in Bangladesh; the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles, Haiti; the Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP) in Jamkhed, India; and the Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH) in Gadchiroli, India. Results These four projects have all been operating for more than 30 years, and they all have demonstrated reductions in infant mortality, 1– to 4–year mortality, or under–5 mortality for at least 10 years. They share a number of characteristics. Among the most notable of these are: they provide comprehensive maternal, child health and family planning services, they have strong community–based programs that utilize community health workers who maintain regular contact with all households, they have develop strong collaborations with the communities they serve, and they all have strong referral capabilities and provide first–level hospital care. Conclusions The shared features of these projects provide guidance for how health systems around the world might improve their effectiveness in improving maternal, neonatal and child health. Strengthening these

Comprehensive review of the evidence regarding the effectiveness of community-based primary health care in improving maternal, neonatal and child health: 7. shared characteristics of projects with evidence of long-term mortality impact.

PubMed

Perry, Henry B; Rassekh, Bahie M; Gupta, Sundeep; Freeman, Paul A

2017-06-01

There is limited evidence about the long-term effectiveness of integrated community-based primary health care (CBPHC) in improving maternal, neonatal and child health. However, the interventions implemented and the approaches used by projects with such evidence can provide guidance for ending preventable child and maternal deaths by the year 2030. A database of 700 assessments of the effectiveness of CBPHC in improving maternal, neonatal and child health has been assembled, as described elsewhere in this series. A search was undertaken of these assessments of research studies, field project and programs (hereafter referred to as projects) with more than a single intervention that had evidence of mortality impact for a period of at least 10 years. Four projects qualified for this analysis: the Matlab Maternal Child Health and Family Planning (MCH-FP) P in Bangladesh; the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles, Haiti; the Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP) in Jamkhed, India; and the Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH) in Gadchiroli, India. These four projects have all been operating for more than 30 years, and they all have demonstrated reductions in infant mortality, 1- to 4-year mortality, or under-5 mortality for at least 10 years. They share a number of characteristics. Among the most notable of these are: they provide comprehensive maternal, child health and family planning services, they have strong community-based programs that utilize community health workers who maintain regular contact with all households, they have develop strong collaborations with the communities they serve, and they all have strong referral capabilities and provide first-level hospital care. The shared features of these projects provide guidance for how health systems around the world might improve their effectiveness in improving maternal, neonatal and child health. Strengthening these features will contribute to achieving the goal of

Assessment and prevention of acute health effects of weather conditions in Europe, the PHEWE project: background, objectives, design

PubMed Central

Michelozzi, Paola; Kirchmayer, Ursula; Katsouyanni, Klea; Biggeri, Annibale; McGregor, Glenn; Menne, Bettina; Kassomenos, Pavlos; Anderson, Hugh Ross; Baccini, Michela; Accetta, Gabriele; Analytis, Antonis; Kosatsky, Tom

2007-01-01

Background The project "Assessment and prevention of acute health effects of weather conditions in Europe" (PHEWE) had the aim of assessing the association between weather conditions and acute health effects, during both warm and cold seasons in 16 European cities with widely differing climatic conditions and to provide information for public health policies. Methods The PHEWE project was a three-year pan-European collaboration between epidemiologists, meteorologists and experts in public health. Meteorological, air pollution and mortality data from 16 cities and hospital admission data from 12 cities were available from 1990 to 2000. The short-term effect on mortality/morbidity was evaluated through city-specific and pooled time series analysis. The interaction between weather and air pollutants was evaluated and health impact assessments were performed to quantify the effect on the different populations. A heat/health watch warning system to predict oppressive weather conditions and alert the population was developed in a subgroup of cities and information on existing prevention policies and of adaptive strategies was gathered. Results Main results were presented in a symposium at the conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology in Paris on September 6th 2006 and will be published as scientific articles. The present article introduces the project and includes a description of the database and the framework of the applied methodology. Conclusion The PHEWE project offers the opportunity to investigate the relationship between temperature and mortality in 16 European cities, representing a wide range of climatic, socio-demographic and cultural characteristics; the use of a standardized methodology allows for direct comparison between cities. PMID:17456236

Managing Projects for Change: Contextualised Project Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tynan, Belinda; Adlington, Rachael; Stewart, Cherry; Vale, Deborah; Sims, Rod; Shanahan, Peter

2010-01-01

This paper will detail three projects which focussed on enhancing online learning at a large Australian distance education University within a School of Business, School of Health and School of Education. Each project had special funding and took quite distinctive project management approaches, which reflect the desire to embed innovation and…

Health status assessment of workers during construction phase of highway rehabilitation projects around lahore, Pakistan

PubMed Central

Abrar, Amina; Cheema, Kausar Jamal; Saif, Samia; Mahmood, Asim

2016-01-01

Objective: The study focused on assessment of the health status of workers during construction phase of highway rehabilitation projects at six selected sites of N5 around Lahore, including Kala Shah Kaku, Muridke, Kamuki, Bhaipheru, Pattoki, and Okara. Methods: The study was based on multi-methods approach involving hazard identification through survey and checklist as well as a questionnaire for health status assessment and measurements of health parameters including peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and audiometric screening of 300 subjects. Results: The study revealed non-congenial working conditions at the sites. Noise, vibrations, dust, asphalt fumes, poor work postures, and injuries were found to be major health hazards. PEFR of most of the workers was found to be significantly lower than the reference value. Average PEFR±SEM values were 187±5.1 l/min, 178±4.3 l/min, and 266±5.3 l/min in ground preparation workers, asphalt workers, and heavy vehicle drivers, respectively. The highest rate (29%) of hearing loss was recorded among heavy vehicle drivers. Musculoskeletal problems were found to be more common among ground preparation workers. Conclusion: Data revealed unsatisfactory health status of most of the workers. Direct relationship between health outcomes and the type of construction activities were observed. The current study focuses on the importance of including occupational health and safety plan in the execution phase of every developmental project that involves construction activities. PMID:27853055

The Heartfile Lodhran CVD prevention project--end of project evaluation.

PubMed

Nishtar, Sania; Badar, Asma; Kamal, Mohammad Umer; Iqbal, Azhar; Bajwa, Rashid; Shah, Tauqeer; Larik, Zahid; Karim, Fazle; Mehmood, Mahmood ul Hassan; Jehangir, Haroon; Azam, Syed Iqbal; Mirza, Yasir Abbas; Khan, Shahzad Ali; Qayyum, Aamra; Aqeel, Fauzia; Bakir, Abdul; Rahim, Ejaz

2007-01-01

Mainstream preventive interventions often fail to reach poor populations with a high risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in Pakistan. A community-based CVD primary prevention project aimed at developing approaches to reduce risk factors in such populations was established by Heartfile in collaboration with the National Rural Support Program in the district of Lodhran. The project implemented a range of activities integrated with existing social and health service mechanisms during a three year intervention period 2000/01-03/04. These were targeted in 4 key settings: community health education, mass media interventions, training of health professionals and health education through Lady Health Workers. The project received support from the Department for International Development, U.K. At the community level, a pre-test-post-test quasi-experimental design was used for examining project outcomes related to the community component of the intervention. Pre and post-intervention (training) evaluations were conducted involving all health care providers in randomly selected workshops in order to determine baseline levels of knowledge and the impact of training on knowledge level. In order to assess practices of physician and non-physician health care providers patient interviews, with control comparisons were conducted at each health care facility. Significant positive changes were observed in knowledge levels at a community level in the district of intervention compared with baseline knowledge levels particularly in relation to a heart healthy diet, beneficial level of physical activity, the causes of high blood pressure and heart attack and the effects of high blood pressure and active and passive smoking on health. Significant changes in behaviors at a practice level were not shown in the district of intervention. However the project played a critical role in spurring national action for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases and introducing

[Health projects managed by Nursing Coordinators: an analysis of contents and degree of success].

PubMed

Palese, Alvisa; Bresciani, Federica; Brutti, Caterina; Chiari, Ileana; Fontana, Luciana; Fronza, Ornella; Gasperi, Giuseppina; Gheno, Oscar; Guarese, Olga; Leali, Anna; Mansueti, Nadia; Masieri, Enrico; Messina, Laura; Munaretto, Gabriella; Paoli, Claudia; Perusi, Chiara; Randon, Giulia; Rossi, Gloria; Solazzo, Pasquale; Telli, Debora; Trenti, Giuliano; Veronese, Elisabetta; Saiani, Luisa

2012-01-01

To describe the evolution and results of health projects run in hospitals and managed by Nursing Coordinators. A convenience sample of 13 north Italian hospital, and a sample of 56 Nursing Coordinators with a permanent position from at least 1 year, was contacted. The following information was collected with a structured interview: projects run in 2009, topic, if bottom up or top down, number of staff involved and state (ended, still running, stopped). In 2009 Nursing Coordinators started 114 projects (mean 1.8±1.2 each): 94 (82.5%) were improvement projects, 17 (14.9%) accreditation, and 3 (2.6%) research. The projects involved 2.732 staff members (73.7%; average commitment 84 hours); 55 (48.2%) projects were still running, 52 (45.6%) completed, for 5 (4.4%) there was no assessment and 2 (1.8%) had been stopped. Nurses are regularly involved in several projects. A systematic monitoring of the results obtained and stabilization strategies are scarce. Due to the large number of resources invested, a correct management and the choice of areas relevant for patients' problems and needs are pivotal.

A nursing association's leadership in primary health care: policy, projects, and partnerships in the 1990s.

PubMed

Whyte, N; Stone, S

2000-06-01

This paper documents the work of one provincial nursing association, the Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia (RNABC), to promote primary health care (PHC) as the foundation of the health-care system. In 1990 the RNABC embarked on a comprehensive policy program to influence change from a nursing perspective. A wide array of strategies was used over a 10-year period to help make PHC a reality in British Columbia's health-care system. Successful strategies used during this period included: writing and distributing policy papers, conducting and evaluating demonstration projects, and developing partnerships with other groups. Some of the projects and their outcomes are highlighted, followed by a critical reflection on lessons learned through the various initiatives. Although remarkable achievements were made from the RNABC's policy work during the 1990s, the advancement of PHC requires further collaborative efforts using multiple strategies.

Using public relations strategies to prompt populations at risk to seek health information: the Hanford Community Health Project.

PubMed

Thomas, Gregory D; Smith, Stephen M; Turcotte, Joseph A

2009-01-01

The Hanford Community Health Project (HCHP) addressed health concerns among "downwinders" exposed to releases of radioactive iodine (I-131) from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in the 1940s and 1950s. After developing educational materials and conducting initial outreach, HCHP had to decide whether to apply its limited resources to an advertising or public relations approach. The decision to apply public relations strategies was effective in driving awareness of the risk communication message at the community level, reinvigorating the affected community, and ultimately increasing the number of people who sought information about their risk of exposure and related health issues. HCHP used a series of communication tools to reach out to local and regional media, medical and health professionals, and community organizations. The campaign was successful in increasing the number of unique visitors to HCHP Web site and educating and activating the medical community around the releases of I-131 and patient care choices.

[Effects of community health promotion project for garlic cultivating farmers based on self-efficacy theory and community capacity building framework].

PubMed

Kim, Hyang-Sook; Gu, Mee Ock

2011-02-01

This study was conducted to test the effects of a community health promotion project for farmers cultivating garlic. Bandura's self-efficacy theory (1986) and Chaskin's community capacity framework (2001) were used as the theoretical framework. A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. Study participants were 72 garlic farmers (intervention: 36, control: 36). The community health promotion project consisted of health promotion program and community capacity building strategies and was provided for 12 weeks (8 during farming off-season and 4 during farming season). Data were collected between February 23 and May 31, 2009 and were analyzed using chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, t-test, and repeated measure ANOVA using SPSS/WIN 12.0. For the experimental group, significant improvement was found for self-efficacy, farming related health behavior, physical fitness (muscle strength, muscle endurance, upper body flexibility, lower body flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, balance, agility), farmer's syndrome, and health related quality of life as compared to the control group. The findings of the study indicate that the community health promotion project for garlic farmers is effective and can be recommended as a nursing intervention for health promotion of garlic cultivating farmers.

Family Health Services project: the way forward.

PubMed

Dabiri, O M

1993-01-01

Nigerians did not readily accept family planning when Family Health Services (FHS) began in 1988. FHS has made much headway in training, IEC (information, education, and communication), and constituency building and advocacy. Its staff have identified obstacles to implementation, especially program sustainability and management structure. Key limits to sustainability of IEC efforts were inadequately trained personnel and inability of trained personnel to apply what they learned at work stations. The Federal Ministry and Social Services' role in the FHS project was not clearly defined. Some private sector factors contributing to a confused management structure were inadequate method mix, high contraceptive cost, poor monitoring of quality of care, and no coordination of family planning training with the public factor. FHS has since decided to focus its efforts on increasing the demand for and availability of modern contraceptives and improving the quality of family planning services of both the public and private sectors. FHS hopes that accomplishing these activities will reduce fertility, morbidity, and mortality. Strategic plans include a regional focus, quality of care, a variety of methods offered, intensification, hospital and clinics, a management information system, contraceptive logistics, distribution regulations, and addressing social, cultural, and behavioral factors. To effectively implement the strategy, USAID and the Federal Ministry held a workshop in 1993 to effect full integration of Nigerian experience in the 2nd phase of the project (FHS II). Participants reviewed the strengths and weaknesses of the first phase and agreed on implementation. For example, nongovernmental organizations should implement FHS II. FHS II includes training, IEC, and commodities/logistics.

Factors influencing the development of primary care data collection projects from electronic health records: a systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Gentil, Marie-Line; Cuggia, Marc; Fiquet, Laure; Hagenbourger, Camille; Le Berre, Thomas; Banâtre, Agnès; Renault, Eric; Bouzille, Guillaume; Chapron, Anthony

2017-09-25

Primary care data gathered from Electronic Health Records are of the utmost interest considering the essential role of general practitioners (GPs) as coordinators of patient care. These data represent the synthesis of the patient history and also give a comprehensive picture of the population health status. Nevertheless, discrepancies between countries exist concerning routine data collection projects. Therefore, we wanted to identify elements that influence the development and durability of such projects. A systematic review was conducted using the PubMed database to identify worldwide current primary care data collection projects. The gray literature was also searched via official project websites and their contact person was emailed to obtain information on the project managers. Data were retrieved from the included studies using a standardized form, screening four aspects: projects features, technological infrastructure, GPs' roles, data collection network organization. The literature search allowed identifying 36 routine data collection networks, mostly in English-speaking countries: CPRD and THIN in the United Kingdom, the Veterans Health Administration project in the United States, EMRALD and CPCSSN in Canada. These projects had in common the use of technical facilities that range from extraction tools to comprehensive computing platforms. Moreover, GPs initiated the extraction process and benefited from incentives for their participation. Finally, analysis of the literature data highlighted that governmental services, academic institutions, including departments of general practice, and software companies, are pivotal for the promotion and durability of primary care data collection projects. Solid technical facilities and strong academic and governmental support are required for promoting and supporting long-term and wide-range primary care data collection projects.

A team public health research project for first-year pharmacy students to apply content from didactic courses.

PubMed

Fuentes, David; Deguire, Nancy; Patel, Rajul; Boyce, Eric

2010-08-10

To implement and assess a first-year pharmacy student group research project that provided practical hands-on application and reinforced the curricula of concurrent didactic courses. Groups of 6 to 7 students chose a public health topic based on the Healthy People 2010 Priority Areas and created a survey instrument. Faculty facilitated mock institutional review board (IRB) review sessions which provided teams with ongoing feedback and refinement recommendations before each team administered their survey instrument to a predefined population. Data analysis, formal written reports, and oral presentations were presented to peers and project faculty members. Teams complied with the requirements of the mock IRB, effectively applied basic research principles learned in class, collected survey data, performed inferential statistical analyses on the data, , and presented their project findings. Two-hundred six of 210 students (98%) reported feeling satisfied with both the results of their project and the accomplishments of their team. Teams applied a varied skill set including primary literature evaluation, basic research principles, statistics, public speaking, and peer collaboration in conducting a public health research project. First-year pharmacy students may benefit from participation in a collaborative research project that provides hands-on application of material being taught in didactic courses.

Project monitoring and evaluation: an enhancing method for health research system management.

PubMed

Djalalinia, Shirin; Owlia, Parviz; Malekafzali, Hossein; Ghanei, Mostafa; Babamahmoodi, Abdolreza; Peykari, Niloofar

2014-04-01

Planning, organizing, staffing, leading and monitoring are the basic functional component of management. In present article, we aim to define the project monitoring and evaluation in health research system (HRS) considering its success and challenges based on our national experience. IN THIS STUDY BASED ON THE INFORMATION OF ANNUAL MEDICAL SCIENCE UNIVERSITIES EVALUATION DURING THE LAST DECADE THE HRS INDICATORS HAVE BEEN SCORED IN THREE AXES BASED ON HRS FUNCTIONS: Stewardship, capacity building and knowledge production. In this article, we will focus on the results of HRS evaluation from 2002 to 2010, also on its success and challenges. In an overall view, the main results are the experiences of the designing and implantation of such process after pre-project preparation, all parts followed under the whole supervision of the aims of the HRS evaluation. Project management light the way of practical application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques for better HRS evaluation and management. We concluded that; although monitoring and evaluation as an essential part of HRS Management light the improvement ahead way but we still need to advantage of the new project management advances.

Ranking the Effects of Urban Development Projects on Social Determinants of Health: Health Impact Assessment

PubMed Central

Shojaei, Parisa; Karimlou, Masoud; Nouri, Jafar; Mohammadi, Farahnaz; Afzali, Hosein Malek; Forouzan, Ameneh Setareh

2014-01-01

Background and Objective: Health impact assessment (HIA) offer a very logical and interesting approach for those aiming to integrate health issues into planning processes. With a lot of works and plans waiting to be done (e.g., developing and updating plans, counseling planning commissions, cooperation with other organizations), planners find it difficult to prioritize health among a variety of possible issues and solutions they confront. Method: In the present article, first, the list of social determinants of health associated with Chitgar man-made lake was extracted out using a qualitative method and with content analysis approach, and then they were prioritized using analytic hierarchy process. Results: 28 social determinants of health including “intermediary” and “structural” determinants were extracted out. Regarding positive effects of lake on these determinants, “recreational services” and “traffic” received the highest and the lowest weights with 0.895 and 0.638 respectively among structural determinants and with consideration to “construction” option. Furthermore, among intermediary determinants for “construction” option, sub-criteria of both “physical activity” and “air quality” received the final highest weight (0.889) and “pathogenesis” indicated the lowest weight with 0.617. Moreover, lake demonstrated the highest negative effects on “housing” among “structural” determinants which it takes the highest weight (0.476) in “non-construction” option. Additionally, lake had the highest negative effects on “noise pollution” among “intermediary determinants” and it takes the highest weight (0.467) in “non-construction” option. Conclusion: It has been shown that urban development projects such as green spaces, man-made lakes … have a huge range of effects on community’s health, and having not considered these effects by urban planners and mangers is going to confront urban health with many

NASA Human Health and Performance Center: Open innovation successes and collaborative projects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richard, Elizabeth E.; Davis, Jeffrey R.

2014-11-01

In May 2007, what was then the Space Life Sciences Directorate published the 2007 Space Life Sciences Strategy for Human Space Exploration, setting the course for development and implementation of new business models and significant advances in external collaboration over the next five years. The strategy was updated on the basis of these accomplishments and reissued as the NASA Human Health and Performance Strategy in 2012, and continues to drive new approaches to innovation for the directorate. This short paper describes the successful execution of the strategy, driving organizational change through open innovation efforts and collaborative projects, including efforts of the NASA Human Health and Performance Center (NHHPC).