The Health Belief Model And Factors Relating To Potential Use Of A Vaccine For Shigellosis In Kaeng Koi District, Saraburi Province, Thailand

Shigellosis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Approximately, 1.1 million deaths occur a year due to this disease, making it the fourth leading cause of mortality worldwide. This paper explores local interest in and potential use of a vaccine for shigellosis in Thailand where Shigella poses an important public-health concern. Data for this study were collected during June- November 2002 from 522 subjects surveyed using a sociobehavioural questionnaire in Kaeng Koi district in central Thailand. The community demand and likely use of a vaccine were examined in relation to the Health Belief Model, which provides analytical constructs for investigating the multiple issues of local readiness to accept and access a new vaccine. As the key outcome variable, most respondents showed interest in receiving a vaccine against dysentery which they thought would provide useful protection against the disease. However, there was only a moderate number who perceived dysentery as serious and themselves as susceptible to it, although it was perceived to cause some burden to and additional expense for families. Most people identified a number of groups who were thought to be especially vulnerable to dysentery, such as the elderly, pre-school, and school-age children, and poor labourers. Other outcomes of the study included the identification of acceptable and convenient sites for its delivery, such as government health clinics and private clinics, and respected sources for information about the vaccine, such as health clinic personnel and community health volunteers. This information suggests that components of the Health Belief Model may be useful in identifying community acceptance of a vaccine and the means of introducing it. This health information is important for planning and implementing vaccine programmes. Key words: Dysentery, Bacillary; Shigella; Bacterial vaccines; Health Belief Model; Perceptions; Cross-sectional studies; Thailan

An Undergraduate Curriculum in Public Health Benchmarked to the Needs of the Workforce

East Tennessee State University (ETSU) has offered an undergraduate degree in public health for 60 years. Alumni survey data have documented that the majority of the graduates from this program enter the workforce [see accompanying commentary by Wykoff, et al. (1)]. To keep pace with ongoing changes in the workforce, the decision was made to completely review, and, as appropriate, revise and restructure the Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH) curriculum

Almost Everything We Need to Better Serve Children of the Opioid Crisis We Learned in the 80s and 90s

Opioid use disorder impedes dependent parents' abilities to care for their children. In turn, children may languish in unpredictability and persistent chaos. Societal responses to these children are often guided by a belief that unless the drug dependent parent receives treatment, there is little help for the child. While a preponderance of the drug dependence research is adult-centric, a significant body of research demonstrates the importance of not only addressing the immediate well being of the children of drug dependent caregivers but preventing the continuing cycle of drug dependence. The present commentary demonstrates through a brief review of the US history of drug dependence crises and research from the 1980s and 1990s, a range of “tried and true” family, school, and community interventions centered on children. We already know that these children are at high risk of maladjustment and early onset of drug dependence; early intervention is critical; multiple risk factors are likely to occur simultaneously; comprehensive strategies are optimal; and multiple risk-focused strategies are most protective. Where we need now to turn our efforts is on how to effectively implement and disseminate best practices, many of which we learned in the 1980s and 1990s. The greatest opportunity in both changing the nature of the opioid epidemic at scale and influencing rapid translation of existing research findings into policy and practice is not in asking what to do, but in asking how to do the right things well, and quickly

Wide-bandwidth, tunable, multiple-pulse-width optical delays using slow light in cesium vapor

We demonstrate an all-optical delay line in hot cesium vapor that tunably delays 275 ps input pulses up to 6.8 ns and 740 input ps pulses up to 59 ns (group index of approximately 200) with little pulse distortion. The delay is made tunable with a fast reconfiguration time (hundreds of ns) by optically pumping out of the atomic ground states.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Health Workers’ Perceptions on Where and How to Integrate Tobacco Use Cessation Services Into Tuberculosis Treatment; A Qualitative Exploratory Study in Uganda

Background: Tobacco use is associated with exacerbation of tuberculosis (TB) and poor TB treatment outcomes. Integrating tobacco use cessation within TB treatment could improve healing among TB patients. The aim was to explore perceptions of health workers on where and how to integrate tobacco use cessation services into TB treatment programs in Uganda. Methods: Between March and April 2019, nine focus group discussions (FGDs) and eight key informant interviews were conducted among health workers attending to patients with tuberculosis on a routine basis in nine facilities from the central, eastern, northern and western parts of Uganda. These facilities were high volume health centres, general hospitals and referral hospitals. The FGD sessions and interviews were tape recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using content analysis and the Chronic Care Model as a framework. Results: Respondents highlighted that just like TB prevention starts in the community and TB treatment goes beyond health facility stay, integration of tobacco cessation should be started when people are still healthy and extended to those who have been healed as they go back to communities. There was need to coordinate with different organizations like peers, the media and TB treatment supporters. TB patients needed regular follow up and self-management support for both TB and tobacco cessation. Patients needed to be empowered to know their condition and their caretakers needed to be involved. Effective referral between primary health facilities and specialist facilities was needed. Clinical information systems should identify relevant people for proactive care and follow up. In order to achieve effective integration, the health system needed to be strengthened especially health worker training and provision of more space in some of the facilities. Conclusions: Tobacco cessation activities should be provided in a continuum starting in the community before the TB patients get to hospital, during the patients’ interface with hospital treatment and be given in the community after TB patients have been discharged. This requires collaboration between those who carry out health education in communities, the TB treatment supporters and the health workers who treat patients in health facilities

Prescription Drug Abuse Communication: A Qualitative Analysis of Prescriber and Pharmacist Perceptions and Behaviors

Background: Interpersonal communication is inherent in a majority of strategies seeking to engage prescriber and pharmacist health care professionals (HCPs) in the reduction and prevention of prescription drug abuse (PDA). However, research on HCP PDA communication behavioral engagement and factors that influence it is limited. Objectives This study quantitatively examined communication behaviors and trait-level communication metrics, and qualitatively described prescription drug abuse-related communication perceptions and behaviors among primary care prescribers and community pharmacists. Methods: Five focus groups (N = 35) were conducted within the Appalachian Research Network (AppNET), a rural primary care practice-based research network (PBRN) in South Central Appalachia between February and October, 2014. Focus groups were structured around the administration of three previously validated trait-level communication survey instruments, and one instrument developed by the investigators to gauge HCP prescription drug abuse communication engagement and perceived communication importance. Using a grounded theory approach, focus group themes were inductively derived and coded independently by study investigators. Member-checking interviews were conducted to validate derived themes. Results: Respondents\u27 trait-level communication self-perceptions indicated low communication apprehension, high self-perceived communication competence, and average willingness to communicate as compared to instrument specific criteria and norms. Significant variation in HCP communication behavior engagement was noted specific to PDA. Two overarching themes were noted for HCP-patient communication: 1) influencers of HCP communication and prescribing/dispensing behaviors, and 2) communication behaviors. Multiple sub-themes were identified within each theme. Similarities were noted in perceptions and behaviors across both prescribers and pharmacists. Conclusions: Despite the perceived importance of engaging in PDA communication, HCPs reported that prescription drug abuse communication is uncomfortable, variable, multifactorial, and often avoided. The themes that emerged from this analysis support the utility of communication science and health behavior theories to better understand and improve PDA communication behaviors of both prescribers and pharmacists, and thereby improve engagement in PDA prevention and treatment

Estimating substitution elasticities in household production models

Dynamic general equilibrium models that include explicit household production sectors provide a useful framework within which to analyze a variety of macroeconomic issues. However, some implications of these models depend critically on parameters, including the elasticity of substitution between market and home consumption goods, about which there is little information in the literature. Using the PSID, we estimate these parameters for single males, single females, and married couples. At least for single females and married couples, the results indicate a high enough substitution elasticity that including home production will make a significant difference in applied general equilibrium theory.Production (Economic theory)

The Health Belief Model and Factors Relating to Potential Use of a Vaccine for Shigellosis in Kaeng Koi District, Saraburi Province, Thailand

Shigellosis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Approximately, 1.1 million deaths occur a year due to this disease, making it the fourth leading cause of mortality worldwide. This paper explores local interest in and potential use of a vaccine for shigellosis in Thailand where Shigella poses an important public-health concern. Data for this study were collected during June-November 2002 from 522 subjects surveyed using a sociobehavioural questionnaire in Kaeng Koi district in central Thailand. The community demand and likely use of a vaccine were examined in relation to the Health Belief Model, which provides analytical constructs for investigating the multiple issues of local readiness to accept and access a new vaccine. As the key outcome variable, most respondents showed interest in receiving a vaccine against dysentery which they thought would provide useful protection against the disease. However, there was only a moderate number who perceived dysentery as serious and themselves as susceptible to it, although it was perceived to cause some burden to and additional expense for families. Most people identified a number of groups who were thought to be especially vulnerable to dysentery, such as the elderly, pre-school, and school-age children, and poor labourers. Other outcomes of the study included the identification of acceptable and convenient sites for its delivery, such as government health clinics and private clinics, and respected sources for information about the vaccine, such as health clinic personnel and community health volunteers. This information suggests that components of the Health Belief Model may be useful in identifying community acceptance of a vaccine and the means of introducing it. This health information is important for planning and implementing vaccine programmes

Exploring Human/Animal Intersections: Converging Lines of Evidence in Comparative Models of Aging

At a symposium convened on March 8, 2007 by the Institute on Aging at the University of Pennsylvania, researchers from the University’s Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine explored the convergence of aging research emerging from the two schools. Studies in human patients, animal models, and companion animals have revealed different but complementary aspects of the aging process, ranging from fundamental biologic aspects of aging to the treatment of age-related diseases, both experimentally and in clinical practice. Participants concluded that neither animal nor human research alone will provide answers to most questions about the aging process. Instead, an optimal translational research model supports a bidirectional flow of information from animal models to clinical research