Public Health Implications Sample Clauses

Public Health Implications. This is in keeping with the following priority health outcomes of the City’s Public Health Plan 2020-2025: Increased mental health and wellbeing

Public Health Implications. Infant mortality remains a very important public health concern and indicator of the overall health of a society. While the United States is at the forefront of many medical advances and public health initiatives, the infant mortality rate still reflects a need to improve the screening and treatment of pregnant women, especially in the case of multifetal pregnancies (1). A major hindrance to advances in this area is a lack of understanding of fetal development and the causes of the most important determinant of neonatal outcomes, which is preterm birth. A multitude of maternal factors seem to contribute to preterm birth, low birth weight, and adverse neonatal outcomes, so it is imperative that ample research is dedicated to parsing through the many possible risk factors that are contributing to the high infant mortality rate. Another factor to consider is the implication of the increasing use of assisted reproductive technology (ART). ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al (2003) examined trends in the use of ART and its’ effect on multiple pregnancies, and suggest that the use of ART is becoming an increasingly important cause of multiple pregnancy. Because the use of the technologies is on the rise, twins could become an increasingly common, so it is imperative to continue to explore the unique risks faced by these infants and their mothers. This study was designed to contribute to the ongoing research into causes of infant mortality. Because multifetal pregnancies have a significantly increased risk of adverse neonatal outcomes (2-4), the study was unique to twins and considered the specific risks involved that multifetal pregnancy poses on maternal health and ability to maintain a safe pregnancy. Birth weight discordant twins have an even great risk of poor outcomes. ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al (1999) found that severely weight discordant twins were more like to have adverse perinatal outcomes, even after controlling for gestational age and weight of each individual twin (39). While infant mortality is a clear and easily measured poor pregnancy outcome, it is important to consider other negative consequences of birth weight discordance. Babson et al (1973) carried out a study to test the long-term outcomes of birth weight discordant twins, and found that members of weight discordant sets showed significant differences in height, weight, head circumference, and significant differences in intelligence based on standardized intelligence measures compared with members of non-discordant sets. O...

Public Health Implications. Recognizing women’s collective efficacy in addressing sanitation issues could possibly help build the community’s trust in women’s capabilities and provide successful examples of women-led sanitation initiatives. Our findings showed how trust in women’s leadership predisposed some women’s participation in engaging with sanitation initiatives and collective action. Therefore, maintaining and strengthening the trust among female community members and highlighting women-led groups’ achievements in the sanitation space should be prioritized in WASH programming. • WASH programming that aims to improve household and community-level sanitation experiences must address gendered family dynamics and socio-cultural norms. Interventions must recognize women’s expertise in large and small sanitation-related issues such as latrine construction, repairing tiles, latrine placement, or purchasing cleaning goods. Additionally, highlighting successful women-led sanitation initiatives and actively seeking female household members’ opinions on sanitation-related decisions can work toward addressing preconceptions of women’s capabilities. This actively requires an equitable approach so that women’s views on effective methods of increasing female sanitation-related involvement are considered while also ensuring interventions do not add an unnecessary burden to women’s existing responsibilities. • There is a need for gender-sensitive WASH programming to not solely focus on female community members but also work with male community members to ensure they recognize the power dynamics and social norms that determine women’s sanitation experiences. Our findings revealed that some women found it difficult to express their opinions comfortably in public settings where male community members were present, mainly when discussing personal hygiene and sanitation-related experiences; some of this difficulty was attributed to past experiences where women’s concerns were not respectfully received in these community spaces. Similar to ▇▇▇▇▇ et al.’s suggestion, interventions that encourage male and female community members to discuss their opinions both separately and subsequently together can possibly help address the discomfort without completely segregating them during sanitation discussions (▇▇▇▇▇ et al., 2017). • Our findings noted that local leaders were more likely to support women’s leadership when they were well-known and their qualifications were established. However, when gendered s...

Public Health Implications. 4.4.1 Improved access to and consumption of fruits and vegetables

Public Health Implications. This study contributes to the growing body of literature about SRH and women with SMI. Participants answered questions on their level of participation and perceptions of providing SRH care to women living with SMI. Answers to these questions will help to provide context to SRH care in mental health outpatient settings. • Getting psychiatrists involved in SRH may encourage a reduction in stigma surrounding discussions of sex and participation in STI screening. One participant described some of the residents she supervised did not ask patients key SRH questions and that she believed they were uncomfortable discussing sex with patients. In addition, she noted that differences in training via residency programs may contribute to the provisions of SRH care by residents because they may have more experiences with women with SMI because they have completed specific rotations. • This study sheds light on the critical role attending psychiatrist can play on training the resident psychiatrist to provide and connect patients with critical SRH services. The findings show that psychiatrists benefit from attendings modeling behavior, providing evidence for training attendings to include SRH services in their practice. • This research may increase the attention paid to SRH services for women with SMI. The findings indicate that psychiatrists feel a general discomfort with discussing sex with their female patients. Given that women with SMI are less likely to receive critical preventive services, are more likely to suffer from sexually transmitted infections, and mental health care often functions as the main point of access to the health care system, psychiatrists should be better equipped to handle the SRH needs of their patients. These findings shed light on this gap in care. • This research may contribute to a “cultural shift” amongst medical professionals in understanding the importance of SRH care. Several psychiatrists did not feel responsible for the SRH care of their patients, and believe that other subspecialties should provide that care. However, research shows that mental health providers may be the only point of access for patients with SMI (▇▇ ▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇, et al., 2011). • Findings from this study can inform future trainings for medical students, residents, and the content for continuing medical education courses by defining gaps in knowledge and understanding some psychiatrists’ perceptions of SRH care. Several participants reported concerns over inadequate...

Public Health Implications. With the rapid increase in the numbers of international travelers and with possibly harmful consequences of infectious diseases crossing borders, regions, and continents, can potentially pose a public health threat. An example was seen in 2009; an influenza virus was detected in Mexico, causing illness among the population. Within two months the case of the influenza virus had spread to North America and other countries (Coltar, 2012). This shows how infectious diseases can quickly spread leading to an outbreak or epidemic which can pose a global threat. “Not only are international travelers changing, so are the infections that they acquire” (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, 2010). Moreover, returning from an international trip with an infectious disease not only affect relatives and friends but anyone in contact with the victim, thereby affecting the community at large. The further public health concern is the emergence of new illnesses (non-infectious health problem) or complications of pre-existing illness while traveling such as exacerbations of cardiovascular conditions (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇. ▇. et al., 2009) or immunosuppressive conditions. To be Proactive, Prepared and Protected are prophylactic travel health measures which are critical to both travelers and public health (CDC, 2011). An article on travel health prevention said it is vital for all travelers to have their travel medical kit while embarking on their journey and the medical kit should contain all necessary medications and prevention products; vital medical documents in order to prevent or reduce travel-related illness while abroad. (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, 2017). The travel medical kits should contain essential items such as antibiotics, antidiarrheal, antimalarial, antipyretics, dressing materials, antiseptics, insect repellants, sunscreens; it varies with according to destination and health requirement. Obtaining medical insurance is also essential in case of health emergencies during the trip. It is not just the increasing travel to developing economies. There are significant knowledge gaps in our understanding of health problems as a result of travel to developing countries. Health problems may also be influenced by individual risk perception, knowledge, attitude, destination, the reason for travel, etc. Moreover, returning from abroad with an infectious disease might affect relatives, people with close contacts, or the broader community. Applying appropriate guidance on prophylactic travel health measures during pre-tr...

Public Health Implications. This study found that the vaccinations given at birth (BCG and hepatitis B) were more likely to have higher rates of children who were fully vaccinated. Mothers who gave birth at hospitals around qualified personnel typically have higher rates of vaccination for hepatitis B (Hu et al., 2018). • BCG and hepatitis B are the same vaccines that have the highest rate of compliance or vaccines received within one month of the recommended schedule. • While all of the vaccinations had at least 60% of children who were fully vaccinated, yellow fever and seasonal influenza rates are low when compared to recent vaccine coverage data from ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ (▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇). • Seasonal influenza and yellow fever also had the lowest rates of compliance. Providers should make sure to emphasize the importance of receiving all childhood vaccinations. • Excluding the single-dose yellow fever immunization, vaccines with single doses had higher compliance than those with multiple doses like polio and the pentavalent vaccine • Vaccine delays were most common among both influenza doses and the booster shot of Polio. • Children under 5 have a higher chance of contracting influenza or influenza- related diseases from visits to hospitals or other outpatient facilities, so it is crucial to find a way to increase vaccination uptake for influenza (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al., 2020). • It is important to consider that all parents regardless of their child’s vaccination status (fully/partially/not vaccinated) believe they are doing what is necessary to protect their children (▇▇▇▇▇ & ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, 2015). Messaging to increase immunization coverage should incorporate perceptions caregiver protection into their messaging. • Providers must find a way to increase vaccine coverage for their patients through interventions such as reminder systems and home visits to patients missing doses of vaccines (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, 2008; Oyo-Ita, 2016). • While no significant associations were found between the socio-economic demographics collected from caregivers, larger studies should explore these relationships in further detail. ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇. ▇., & ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇. ▇. (2012). Timeliness of childhood vaccinations in 31 low and middle-income countries. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 66(7), e14. doi:10.1136/▇▇▇▇.2010.124651 ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇. ▇., ▇▇▇▇▇, ▇. ▇., & ▇▇▇▇▇, ▇. ▇. (2017). Hepatitis B vaccine birth dose coverage correlates worldwide with rates of institutional deliveries and skilled attendance at birth. Vaccine, 35(33), 4...

Public Health Implications. The findings from this systematic review can inform interventions that aim to combat stigma around reproductive health services, status, and experiences. As a result, more individuals will seek and have access to quality, patient-centered reproductive health care if effective interventions of this type were developed and implemented. Furthermore, addressing the role that moral values play in the decisions of healthcare providers and how those values contribute to reproductive stigma can also inform future stigma reduction programs and help patients feel more comfortable with their reproductive health care decisions. Finally, this research addresses the religious, cultural, and moral norms that drive and facilitate stigmatized attitudes towards reproductive health. As suggested by the Health Stigma and Discrimination Framework (▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al., 2019), challenging stigma on the driver and facilitator level can prevent manifestations of stigma on the institutional level, such as preventing policies and laws restricting and criminalizing access to reproductive health services.

Public Health Implications. Maternal health services access and availability is a significant global, regional, and local public health issue. In many resource-poor countries like Kenya, provision of services for to women’s health remains a challenge that needs to be addressed by stakeholders, particularly those within the Kenyan health and health policy sector. Many studies like (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, M., ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, V.R., ▇▇▇▇▇, ▇.▇. ▇▇ al., 2020) and (▇▇▇▇▇ et al., 2010) described the undeniable need to address maternal health services in Kenya. These articles also highlighted the structural determinants which continues to influence the state of maternal health service accessibility for pregnant women in Kenya. Therefore, this thesis focused on investigating whether access to certain services was associated with their place of residence. This thesis, which relied heavily on the Demographic and Health Survey completed in Kenya in 2014, highlighted the trends associated with the three mentioned dependent variables with the predictor variable ‘place of residence’ for women residing in Nairobi and Eastern Kenya who were pregnant five years before the completion of the survey. The results show the influence of women’s place of residence on the level of service accessible to them during pregnancy. It further showed how other social determinants like levels of education, birth order, and marital status can further dictate how much of these maternal health services are attainable for women in Nairobi and Eastern Kenya. Based on these findings, it is undeniable to ignore how maternal health services access can vary regionally and how this may impact pregnancy outcomes for women in more remote areas. Therefore, it is imperative for policy makers and stakeholders to firstly collaborate on, evaluate, and monitor the health impact of this scenario to understand how to create the best approach that is going to serve women in rural/remote communities. These interventions ought to be cost-effective for the policy makers and made to be affordable for the community. The goal of this initiative should consider the Kenya SDG goal to reduce maternal mortality rates and incorporate maternal health recommendations from the WHO on the appropriate number of certain services women are required to receive to help meet the Kenya SDG goal. Furthermore, this initiative should also consider and address the current and ongoing inequitable health gap, including social determinants directly tied to poor health outcomes, to all...