Gambia’s longtime dictator isn’t going anywhere any time soon

Jeffrey Smith and Alexander Noyes look at how failed coup attempts in the Gambia are leading to a more repressive regime in the West African country

South-Eastern provider knowledge gaps in rabies education, management, and treatment

Abstract: Background. In the United States, when an individual is bitten by an animal there are many levels of care they may seek, including seeing their primary care provider, an urgent care provider, or by going to an emergency room. In any of these settings, it is not unlikely that they may be treated by an advanced practice practitioner (APP). Due to rabies being nearly 100% fatal once symptoms have manifested, it is important to understand the knowledge that APPs have concerning rabies. Methods. A survey was conducted from April 2022 to August 2022 which evaluated APPs knowledge of rabies treatment and management. Seventy-four APPs were surveyed; sixteen were from the south-east (SE). Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the survey results. Results. Three-quarters of the SE participants reported that their preceptors did not discuss rabies with them (75%) and two-thirds did not feel as though their education prepared them to handle rabies cases (63%). Participants had difficulties correctly identifying animals that are likely to carry rabies and bodily fluids that are likely to transmit rabies. Less than half of the SE participants were able to correctly identify the proper vaccination schedule (47%), proper site to administer immunoglobulin (13%), and time until a rabid animal dies (33%). Participants also had difficulties identifying low-risk countries when traveling and high-risk occupations, and many also reported that they do not discuss rabies with patients who are traveling or work in high-risk occupations. Conclusion. While deaths associated with rabies in the United States may be low, it is imperative that APPs have a strong understanding of rabies to ensure that patients are properly treated. Public health professionals in Georgia need to take a stance of strong initial and continuing education that properly prepares medical professionals to manage and educate patients on rabies so that the health of Georgians is protected

Governance Processes and Change Within Organizational Participants of Multi‐sectoral Community Health Care Alliances: The Mediating Role of Vision, Mission, Strategy Agreement and Perceived Alliance Value

Multi‐sectoral community health care alliances are organizations that bring together individuals and organizations from different industry sectors to work collaboratively on improving the health and health care in local communities. Long‐term success and sustainability of alliances are dependent on their ability to galvanize participants to take action within their ‘home’ organizations and institutionalize the vision, goals, and programs within participating organizations and the broader community. The purpose of this study was to investigate two mechanisms by which alliance leadership and management processes may promote such changes within organizations participating in alliances. The findings of the study suggest that, despite modest levels of change undertaken by participating organizations, more positive perceptions of alliance leadership, decision making, and conflict management were associated with a greater likelihood of participating organizations making changes as a result of their participation in the alliance, in part by promoting greater vision, mission, and strategy agreement and higher levels of perceived value. Leadership processes had a stronger relationship with change within participating organizations than decision‐making style and conflict management processes. Open‐ended responses by participants indicated that participating organizations most often incorporated new measures or goals into their existing portfolio of strategic plans and activities in response to alliance participation.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116987/1/ajcp9618.pd

Consequences of Organizational Change in U.S. Hospitals

Organizational change has become commonplace among U.S. hospitals. Empirical investigations of the consequences of organizational change, however, are relatively scarce, and findings of existing studies are inconsistent. In this article, the authors review the rationale and performance implications of hospital organizational change in three areas: (1) the development of new multi-institutional arrangements, (2) change in traditional ownership and management configurations, and (3) diversification in organizational products/services and consolidation of organizational scale. Empirical research on hospital change published between 1980 and 1999 in the health services research, social science, and business literatures is reviewed to highlight the potential pitfalls that hospitals may encounter in their effort to remain viable. The article also summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of current hospital change research and provides specific suggestions for future research in this area.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68386/2/10.1177_107755879905600301.pd

Eosinophilic esophagitis: search for non-invasive techniques for long-term monitoring

Comment on: Unsedated transnasal esophagoscopy for monitoring therapy in pediatric eosinophilic esophagitis. [Gastrointest Endosc. 2016

The Challenges of Capacity Building in the Aligning Forces for Quality Alliances

Summarizes the challenges and trade-offs in infrastructure and governance as well as stakeholder relations and participation, such as inclusive versus efficient decision making, in an alliance to coordinate regional healthcare improvement activities

Five minutes with Jeffrey C. Alexander: “Southern European countries are not just experiencing an economic crisis, but also an identity crisis”

Is there a ‘dark side’ to European modernity? As part of our ‘Thinkers on Europe’ series, EUROPP’s editors Stuart A Brown and Chris Gilson spoke to Jeffrey C. Alexander about his views on modernity, the European integration process, and the importance of cultural and political symbols to European democracy