scholarly journals The memory of an outrageous public health scandal

2021 ◽  
pp. 130-133
Author(s):  
Sally de França Lacerda Rolim ◽  
Claudio Gleidiston Lima da Silva ◽  
Fabian Danilo Unigarro Ramirez ◽  
Raul Cesar Fortaleza Pinheiro ◽  
Juliane dos Anjos de Paula ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Oxygen Depletion ◽  
Northern Region ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
The Social ◽  
Anxiety Levels ◽  
Logistical Problem

Introduction: Manaus is an isolated city, localized in the hearth of the Amazonas rainforest, with two million inhabitants, a big territorial extension, distant from neighbor cities and next to the shores of Negro and Solimões rivers. The access overland is difficult, which obligates the oxygen tanks be transported by river or air.  This created and enormous logistical problem, added to the neglect of the Federal Government with the northern region of the country. Objective: Analyze what are the psychiatric repercussions on the explosion of in the lack of oxygen in Manaus, capital of the Amazonas, Brazil. Methods: Studies were identified using large-circulation international journals. Results: A scandal is happening. This situation is creating a grief community – particular grief became a common and public one – to the memory of an outrageous public health scandal. Therefore, dramatic stories of families of patients and the overwhelmed healthcare professionals shared on the social media and local press brings glimpses of the angst of this chaos. An entire wing of patients died caused by the oxygen depletion. Conclusion: This situation is causing a collective hysteria, taking healthcare workers and families of patients to desperation. Fear appears to be a consequence of the feeling of powerlessness. Anxiety levels are really elevated causing direct side effects to another mental health measures.

scholarly journals The impact of COVID-19 on the care of people living with noncommunicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries: an online survey of physicians and pharmacists in nine countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Bullen ◽  
Jessica McCormack ◽  
Amanda Calder ◽  
Varsha Parag ◽  
Kannan Subramaniam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
World Health ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Abstract Background: The global COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted healthcare worldwide. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where people may have limited access to affordable quality care, the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to have a particularly adverse impact on the health and healthcare of individuals with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). A World Health Organization survey found that disruption of delivery of healthcare for NCDs was more significant in LMICs than in high-income countries. However, the study did not elicit insights into the day-to-day impacts of COVID-19 on healthcare by front-line healthcare workers (FLHCWs). Aim: To gain insights directly from FLHCWs working in countries with a high NCD burden, and thereby identify opportunities to improve the provision of healthcare during the current pandemic and in future healthcare emergencies. Methods: We recruited selected frontline healthcare workers (general practitioners, pharmacists, and other medical specialists) from nine countries to complete an online survey (n = 1347). Survey questions focused on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on clinical practice and NCDs; barriers to clinical care during the pandemic; and innovative responses to the many challenges presented by the pandemic. Findings: The majority of FLHCWs responding to our survey reported that their care of patients had been impacted both adversely and positively by the public health measures imposed. Most FLHCs (95%) reported a deterioration in the mental health of their patients. Conclusions: Continuity of care for NCDs as part of pandemic preparedness is needed so that chronic conditions are not exacerbated by public health measures and the direct impacts of the pandemic.

Public Health and Social Justice: An Argument Against Stigma as a Tool of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Blacksher
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Fair Share ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
The Social ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Agents Of Change ◽  
Shared Humanity

This chapter argues against the use of stigma-inducing measures as tools of public health on grounds of social justice. The value of social justice in public health includes both a distributive demand for a fair share of health and the social determinants thereof and a recognitional demand to be treated as a peer in public life. The use of stigma-inducing measures violates the first demand by thwarting people’s access to important intra- and interpersonal, communal, and institutional resources that confer a health advantage; it violates the second by denying people’s shared humanity and ignoring complex non-dominant identities. The position taken in this chapter does not preclude public health measures that regulate and ban health-harming substances or try to move people toward healthier behaviors. It does require that public health partner with people to identify their communities’ health challenges and opportunities and to treat people as resourceful agents of change.

scholarly journals How to Survey Citizens’ Compliance with COVID-19 Public Health Measures: Evidence from Three Survey Experiments

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-François Daoust ◽  
Richard Nadeau ◽  
Ruth Dassonneville ◽  
Erick Lachapelle ◽  
Éric Bélanger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Choice Making ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
The Social ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
Current Context ◽  
Face Saving ◽  
Answer Choice

Abstract The extent to which citizens comply with newly enacted public health measures such as social distancing or lockdowns strongly affects the propagation of the virus and the number of deaths from COVID-19. It is however very difficult to identify non-compliance through survey research because claiming to follow the rules is socially desirable. Using three survey experiments, we examine the efficacy of different ‘face-saving’ questions that aim to reduce social desirability in the measurement of compliance with public health measures. Our treatments soften the social norm of compliance by way of a short preamble in combination with a guilty-free answer choice making it easier for respondents to admit non-compliance. We find that self-reported non-compliance increases by up to +11 percentage points when making use of a face-saving question. Considering the current context and the importance of measuring non-compliance, we argue that researchers around the world should adopt our most efficient face-saving question.

scholarly journals Smoke gets in your eyes: what is sociological about cigarettes?

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 882-897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donncha Marron
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Cigarette Smoking ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Individual Agency ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Social Divisions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries ◽  
Social Distribution

Contemporary public health approaches increasingly draw attention to the unequal social distribution of cigarette smoking. In contrast, critical accounts emphasize the importance of smokers’ situated agency, the relevance of embodiment and how public health measures against smoking potentially play upon and exacerbate social divisions and inequality. Nevertheless, if the social context of cigarettes is worthy of such attention, and sociology lays a distinct claim to understanding the social, we need to articulate a distinct, positive and systematic claim for smoking as an object of sociological enquiry. This article attempts to address this by situating smoking across three main dimensions of sociological thinking: history and social change; individual agency and experience; and social structures and power. It locates the emergence and development of cigarettes in everyday life within the project of modernity of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It goes on to assess the habituated, temporal and experiential aspects of individual smoking practices in everyday lifeworlds. Finally, it argues that smoking, while distributed in important ways by social class, also works relationally to render and inscribe it.

scholarly journals WILLINGNESS TO WORK AMONGST AUSTRALIAN FRONTLINE HEALTHCARE WORKERS DURING AUSTRALIA’S FIRST WAVE OF COVID-19 COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION: RESULTS OF AN ONLINE SURVEY

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Michella Hill ◽  
Erin Smith ◽  
Brennen Mills
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Community Transmission ◽  
Frontline Healthcare Workers ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Objectives The majority of research investigating healthcare workers’ (HCWs) willingness to work during public health emergencies asks participants to forecast their perceptions based on hypothetical emergencies, rather than in response to actual public health emergencies they have experienced. This research explored frontline HCWs willingness to work during Australia’s first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic among frontline HCWs. Methods Participants (n=580) completed an online questionnaire regarding their willingness to work during the pandemic. Results Forty-two percent of participants reported being less willing to work during the pandemic compared to before. Availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), concern expressed by family members, and viral exposure were significant barriers. One-third of participants disagreed that some level of occupational risk for exposure to infectious disease was acceptable. One-quarter of participants had received communications from their workplace concerning obligations to work during COVID-19. Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Australian frontline HCWs’ willingness to work. Scarcity of PPE and exposure to the virus were the most cited reasons impacting on willingness to work. Appropriate policies and practices should be implemented and communicated efficiently to frontline HCW’s. This research provides insight into the lived experiences of Australian healthcare professionals’ willingness to work during a pandemic.

scholarly journals Physiopunk: Speculative fiction for future therapies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filip Maric ◽  
◽  
Liv Nikolaisen ◽  
Åse Bårdsen ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Sustainability Education ◽  
National Guidelines ◽  
Integrated Education ◽  
The Social ◽  
Physiotherapy Students ◽  
Healthcare Professional Education

In light of today’s deeply connected social and environmental crises, environmental and sustainability education is increasingly being integrated into public health and healthcare professional education around the world (Barna, Maric, Simons, Kumar & Blankestijn, 2020). The Norwegian ‘regulations on national guidelines for physiotherapist education’ clearly support the integration of these topics by stating that ‘in addition to individually oriented work, physiotherapists should contribute to improving public health and the sustainability of society on the group and system-levels…with competencies in interdisciplinary and goal-oriented collaborations within the health- and care-sector and other sectors…to meet societies existing and future needs’ (Forskrift om nasjonal retningslinje for fysioterapeututdanning, 2019, our translation). In a new introductory public health module for our 1st year physiotherapy students at UiT Norges Arktiske Universitet we therefore integrated education about the social and environmental problems of our time and how they interact with health at many levels to inspire students to imagine novel futures for physiotherapy and the role of healthcare professionals in the future.

scholarly journals Consequences of COVID-19 Outbreak in Italy: Medical Responsibilities and Governmental Measures

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanna Ricci ◽  
Graziano Pallotta ◽  
Ascanio Sirignano ◽  
Francesco Amenta ◽  
Giulio Nittari
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Economic Condition ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
Solidarity Fund ◽  
The World ◽  
Compensation Plan ◽  
Regulatory Measures ◽  
The Many

The COVID-19 pandemic has shocked the world causing more victims than the latest global epidemics such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2003, and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012. Italy has been one of the most affected countries, and it had to deal with an already weak economic condition and cuts to public health services due to budgetary requirements from the last decade—something that made the situation even more dramatic. Deaths have exceeded 600.000 worldwide. During the emergency, regulatory measures were taken to counter the situation. This study highlights the main anti-COVID-19 government measures to support doctors and healthcare professionals, and it analyzes how to respond to the many requests complaining about neglectful healthcare professionals during the spread of the infection. For all those healthcare workers who died on duty, a compensation plan is assumed through a solidarity fund. The same solution cannot be granted to all patients, given the difficulty in assessing the responsibility of the doctor not only during an emergency but with insufficient instruments to cope with it as well.

Health Education and the AIDS Epidemic

1989 ◽  
Vol 154 (6) ◽  
pp. 754-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leon Eisenberg
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Educational Programme ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Aids Epidemic ◽  
Ethical Debate ◽  
Limited Success ◽  
The Social

What is known about the biology of AIDS is reviewed, and the social factors which influence disease transmission and public attitudes are considered. After an evaluation of the methods available to control the epidemic, the reasons for the limited success of public health measures thus far undertaken are considered. The ethical debate on public health policy is analysed, and the need for a nationwide educational programme on AIDS is emphasised – one which is responsive to the rights and obligations of citizens in a democratic society.

scholarly journals Anxiety Levels of Healthcare Professionals’ Relatives During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-13
Author(s):  
Giray Kolcu ◽  
Gokmen Ozceylan
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Anxiety Level ◽  
Moderate Correlation ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Anxiety Levels

Aim: Health workers are the most important risk groups in the last century outbreaks. This situation creates anxiety in the relatives of healthcare workers as well as in healthcare workers. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the anxiety levels of the relatives of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 epidemic. Methods: The study was designed as a longitudinal study in quantitative research design. In the study, data were collected regularly every day for 20 days between 20.03.2020-08.04.2020, when the coronavirus pandemic continued, and these data were associated with the data of the Ministry of Health. Results: One thousand one hundres and eighty participants' opinions were collected for the study. In the study process, it was observed that the anxiety level at 20.03.2020 was 8.25±5.36 and it increased to 17.21±17.07 on 08.04.2020. The relationship between the anxiety level of the participants and the total number of cases the total number of deaths were weak. There was a moderate correlation between the number of deaths per day and the number of patients recovering per day. In the study, it was shown that there is a moderate correlation between the anxiety levels and the level of knowledge of the opinion makers. In this upward trend, it has been observed that there are 3 breaking points: 23-24.03.2020, 28-29.03.2020 and 05-06.04.2020. Conclusion: In our study described the first cases of anxiety in the vicinity of 20 health workers in Turkey after the first day (twenty) were found to correlate with increased number of deaths in days. It was observed that anxiety level correlated weakly with the total number of cases / deaths, but moderately with the number of daily deaths / recovered patients in the relatives of the health studies. This situation was interpreted as that although the anxiety of healthcare workers was affected by the process, it was more affected by daily changes. Relatives as well as healthcare professionals also experienced a manageable anxiety during the COVID-19 outbreak. We believe that information and rehabilitation programs should be developed for the relatives of healthcare professionals in order to maintain the resilience / resiliency of healthcare professionals. Keywords: anxiety, coronavirus, pandemics, Family Medicine

scholarly journals The time is now for public health to lead the way on addressing financial strain in Canada

2020 ◽  
Vol 111 (6) ◽  
pp. 984-987
Author(s):  
Nicole M. Glenn ◽  
Candace I. J. Nykiforuk
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Financial Strain ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
The Core ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
The Social ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Underserved Groups

AbstractFinancial strain was an issue for many Canadians long before the arrival of the global novel coronavirus pandemic in early 2020. However, it has worsened in recent months in relation to the pandemic and public health measures put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Members of underserved groups and people who experience poverty are particularly vulnerable to financial strain and its negative health impacts. As public health professionals, we should be concerned. In this commentary, we discuss the concept of financial strain and its health consequences and highlight how existing research in the area is falling short and why. We suggest next steps to guide research and practice related to financial strain such that it reflects the core values of public health, including equity, life course approaches, and the social determinants of health. This commentary is a call to action for public health researchers and practitioners in Canada to take a more prominent role in shaping the agenda on financial strain to support financial well-being for all.

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