Airborne Environmental Threats to Health & Wellness-An Integrated Overview

Background: The environmental pollution is a growing world problem specifically in developed & developing countries. In these areas G.I.T disorders & diarrheal diseases have replaced by airborne environmental disorders.Methods: Literatures was reviewed on the subject to find out the knowledge regarding Environmental threats of air pollution & its effects on the health of human body. Data and details have been located, selected, extracted and synthesized from different national & international Journals, websites, Proceedings, books, google scholar etc.Result & Conclusion: Changes are taking place in air regularly. Different pollutants are being created from different sources. Indoor air pollution is common among underdeveloped & developing nations. To improve health situation different professional, have to play their roles. Effects of air pollution are sometimes general in nature otherwise may be immediate or delayed. Leading causes of death is cardiovascular diseases like IHD are now being declared as airborne. Emergent airborne diseases are more than 30 like COVID 19 only result in 43.6 lakhs death so far. Toxic & hazardous chemicals are present in air in the form of allergens, neurotoxin, mutagen, carcinogen etc. Air pollutants are carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, Benzene, Ozone, Lead, sulphates, SPM etc. Meteorological effects on health are also related with air including season, atmospheric pressure, heat, cold etc. Indoor air pollutants have also specific health effects.

Place-Specific Corona Dashboards for Health Policy: Design and Application of a ‘Dutchboard’

Since the outbreak of the corona virus in the end of 2019, many worldwide attempts have been made to monitor and control the COVID-19 pandemic. A wealth of empirical data has been collected and used by national health authorities to understand and mitigate the spread and impacts of the corona virus. In various countries this serious health concern has led to the development of corona dashboards monitoring the COVID-19 evolution. The present study aims to design and test an extended corona dashboard, in which—beside up-to-date daily core data on infections, hospital and intensive care admissions, and numbers of deceased people—also the evolution of vaccinations in a country is mapped out. This dashboard system is next extended with time-dependent contextual information on lockdown and policy stringency measures, while disaggregate information on the geographic spread of the COVID-19 disease is provided by means of big data on contact intensity and mobility motives based on detailed Google Mobility data. Finally, this context-specific corona dashboard, named ‘Dutchboard’, is further extended towards the regional and local level so as to allow also for space-specific ‘health checks’ and assessments.

Relation of corona-specific health literacy to use of and trust in information sources during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background COVID-19 has developed into a worldwide pandemic which was accompanied by an «infodemic» consisting of much false and misleading information. To cope with these new challenges, health literacy plays an essential role. The aim of this paper is to present the findings of a trend study in Switzerland on corona-specific health literacy, the use of and trust in information sources during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their relationships. Methods Three online surveys each with approximately 1′020 individuals living in the German-speaking part of Switzerland (age ≥ 18 years) were conducted at different timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic, namely spring, fall and winter 2020. For the assessment of corona-specific health literacy, a specifically developed instrument (HLS-COVID-Q22) was used. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate data analyses have been conducted. Results In general, a majority of the Swiss-German population reported sufficient corona-specific health literacy levels which increased during the pandemic: 54.6% participants in spring, 62.4% in fall and 63.3% in winter 2020 had sufficient corona-specific health literacy. Greatest difficulties concerned the appraisal of health information on the coronavirus. The most used information sources were television (used by 73.3% in spring, 70% in fall and 72.3% in winter) and the internet (used by 64.1, 64.8 and 66.5%). Although health professionals, health authorities and the info-hotline were rarely mentioned as sources for information on the coronavirus, respondents had greatest trust in them. On the other hand, social media were considered as the least trustworthy information sources. Respondents generally reporting more trust in the various information sources, tended to have higher corona-specific health literacy levels. Conclusions Sufficient health literacy is an essential prerequisite for finding, understanding, appraising, and applying health recommendations, particularly in a situation where there is a rapid spread of a huge amount of information. The population should be supported in their capability in appraising the received information and in assessing the trustworthiness of different information sources.

Has the Demand for Fats and Meats in the United States been Affected by the Health Claim on Risk of Coronary Heart Disease Issued by the Food and Drug Administration?

the risk of many chronic illnesses. To encourage greater consumption of healthy foods, some government agencies have begun issuing specific health claims on particular foods and/or ingredients. This study examines the impacts of a specific health claim on the risk of coronary heart disease on the demand for fats and meats in the United States. Results indicate the health claim decreased demand for foods higher in saturated fats and increased demand for foods lower in saturated fats by relatively small but statistically significant amounts. Keywords: health benefits, functional foods, dietary choices, consumer demand

Specific health-related quality of life in Cerebrovascular accident survivors: associated factors

ABSTRACT Objectives: to identify factors associated with specific health-related quality of life in cerebrovascular accident, or stroke, survivors. Methods: cross-sectional study, carried out with 160 cerebrovascular accident survivors. Data were collected using the Barthel Index, Cerebrovascular Accident Specific Quality of Life Scale, and semi-structured instruments for sociodemographic and clinical data, analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: health-related quality of life was associated with work activity (p=0.027), physical activity (p=0.007), functional capacity (p=0.001), presence of caregiver (<0.001), motor alteration (p = 0.001) and rehabilitation (p=0.003). The functionally dependent people were 14.61 times more likely to present low health-related quality of life, and those with motor impairment were 3.07 times more likely. Conclusions: it was evidenced that functional dependence and motor impairment increase the chance of low health-related quality of life in cerebrovascular accident survivors.

Skilful Surfing Online for Anxiety Reduction (SO-FAR) in Pregnancy

The development of the Skilful surfing Online For Anxiety Reduction (SO-FAR) in pregnancy (SO-FAR) mental health (mHealth) application (app) was supported by previous research which modelled the theory of Skilful Surfing. The model informed the app development, with each facet of the model corresponding to a different intervention included in the app. The aim of this chapter was to report the development of an mHealth app to relieve pregnancy-specific health anxiety. App content inclusion was based on previous literature and recommendations for mHealth app inclusions. Overall, the chapter provides the reader with a comprehensive account of the development of the SO-FAR app which may reduce levels of pregnancy-specific HA by encouraging women to become more adept when navigating through online health information, self-aware, and educated and promoting the ability to identify triggers and understand when and why they are experiencing maladaptive cognition and rumination in a self-guided manner.

Healthcare: action research with trans people living on the streets

ABSTRACT Objectives: to analyze the representations of healthcare provided to trans people living on the streets. Methods: ten women (three trans) and three cisgender men participated in this action research. Popular health education groups, focus groups, seminars and interviews were held, the data of which were organized in the software Nvivo®, submitted to content analysis and interpreted in the light of intersectionality theory. Results: healthcare was represented by the technical, relational, structural and citizenship dimensions. The relationship between gender and poverty determines the specific health needs of trans people living on the streets. Final Considerations: the need to expand conceptions and practices on healthcare to meet the specific health needs of trans people living on the streets was evidenced. Nursing, with competence and cultural sensitivity, can contribute to positive health outcomes and, consequently, break with the logic of exclusion, illness and poverty.