scholarly journals Community Health and Public Health Nurses: Case Study in Times of COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 11149
Author(s):  
Carmen Cunha ◽  
Adriana Henriques ◽  
Andreia Costa
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Flow Model ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Health Centers ◽  
Epidemiological Surveillance ◽  
The Common ◽  
Group Empowerment

The COVID-19 pandemic has given more relevance to identifying the common and specific competencies of specialized nurses in community health and public health, presenting and characterizing their interventions, relations with health indicators in the population, identifying factors that facilitate their performance, and their respective regulations. A qualitative case study was undertaken with 31 nurses from a group of health centers and data collection by interviews, direct observation, and documents analysis. The flow model and an interpretive matrix, with two strategies and two techniques, was used for the analysis and discussion. The majority of participants were female, who were aware of and familiar with the specific and defined competencies, which they put into practice. They recognize their activities as important and feel happy where they are and doing what they do. They have good a knowledge of the regulations that concern them. They consider themselves well prepared and available to intervene in many dimensions, such as epidemiological surveillance, management, and group empowerment, contributing to good health indexes and health sustainability. Expected changes are related to their potential contributions to advance the nursing profession, which this pandemic has highlighted.

Epidemiological surveillance and performance assessment: the two roles of health indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-203
Author(s):  
Nathan Genicot
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Performance Assessment ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Epidemiological Surveillance ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The One ◽  
Massive Development

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to the massive development and use of health indicators. Drawing on the history of international public health and of the management of infectious disease, this paper attempts to show that the normative power acquired by metrics during the pandemic can be understood in light of two rationales: epidemiological surveillance and performance assessment. On the one hand, indicators are established to evaluate and rank countries’ responses to the outbreak; on the other, the evolution of indicators has a direct influence on the content of public health policies. Although quantitative data are an absolute necessity for coping with such disasters, it is critical to bear in mind the inherent partiality and precarity of the information provided by health indicators. Given the growing importance of normative quantitative devices during the pandemic, and assuming that their influence is unlikely to decrease in the future, they call for close scrutiny.

Keeping the Focus on Public Health: The Struggles of a Tobacco Prevention Task Force

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 771-788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacquie A. Shillis ◽  
Beverly A. Hall ◽  
Gail G. Sneden ◽  
Nell H. Gottlieb
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Tobacco Prevention ◽  
Policy Success ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
The Common ◽  
And Control ◽  
Future Program ◽  
Product Sets

This case study examines a nonlegislative task force as it struggled to reach internal consensus despite external-political constraints. The study highlights the convergence of politics and science, revealing complex issues likely to be confronted by advocates and public health officials. Three themes capture participants’experiences: context, sizing up the opportunities and constraints; task force process, tacit strategy to operate outside the political context and play the science card; and aftermath, a glass half full. The task force took advantage of ambiguous parameters, crafting a comprehensive statewide plan to reduce tobacco use and breaking out of the common public health paradigm of allowing budget considerations to drive program design. These internal victories could not sustain a policy success in the legislature. However, the group’s product sets science-based standards for future program development, and the task force’s process provides valuable insights into other states developing tobacco prevention and control policies.

scholarly journals Building Community-Based Surge Capacity through a Public Health and Academic Collaboration: The Role of Community Health Centers

2006 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard K. Koh ◽  
Amie C. Shei ◽  
Janette Bataringaya ◽  
Jon Burstein ◽  
Paul D. Biddinger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Centers ◽  
Health Centers ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Surge Capacity ◽  
Academic Collaboration ◽  
Building Community

scholarly journals An online health status report to support public health in Belgium

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Scohy ◽  
B Devleesschauwer ◽  
F Renard
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
International Comparisons ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Warning Signal ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Socioeconomic Disparities ◽  
Status Report ◽  
Country Level

Abstract Issue Monitoring population health is crucial for policymakers. In Belgium, health monitoring only existed at regional level, with no integrated view at country level. Policy/tool The Health Status Report (HSR) project developed a tool for centralizing key health indicators. The HSR aims to support policymakers in multiple ways: as a ’warning signal’, by contributing to the planning of health policies, and as an assessment tool for those policies. Rather than being exhaustive, the HSR selects key indicators to highlight important needs. These indicators have been identified through literature and consultations with experts and stakeholders. Topics include life and health expectancies, mortality, morbidity, and lifestyles, with an important focus on socioeconomic inequalities. Good results and health gaps are underlined with international comparisons, trend analyses, and comparisons with reference values. By disaggregating the data by sex, age, geographic level or socio-economic level, specific health needs are identified. Results The main outcome of the project is a continuously updated website: www.healthybelgium.be. The report highlighted that, although the Belgian health status is rather good, there is room for improvement: for some indicators Belgium lags behind other European countries; regional disparities remain important, with most indicators revealing a better health status in Flanders than in Brussels and Wallonia. Socioeconomic disparities also remain very important, and for some indicators even tend to worsen. Comparing the Belgian health status to that of the EU-15 results in more severe conclusions than in international reports. Conclusions We developed a new tool to support public health policy in Belgium through benchmarking and trend and disparity analyses of several health indicators. The tool will be expanded in the next years, integrating for instance the results of the Belgian national burden of disease study. Key messages We developed an online health status monitoring tool to inform policymakers. The rather good health status hides important regional and socioeconomic disparities in Belgium.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document