COVID’s Counterpunch: State Legislative Assaults on PublicHealth Emergency Powers

Amid the most impactful health crisis in over a century, COVID’s “counterpunch” entails aggressive efforts by numerous state legislatures to diminish state and local public health emergency powers. It is an incredulous movement facially supported by a need to appropriately balance economic interests and rights with communal health objectives. At its political core, however, is a “power grab” by legislatures to free their constituents from extensive emergency powers (e.g., social distancing, assembly limits, and business closures). Never mind the fact that these interventions, when used effectively and constitutionally, save lives and reduce morbidity. Public health agents and activists are understandably concerned about diminutions of their express and discretionary emergency powers. Yet affirmative and strategic uses of existing legal remedies examined in this brief commentary may blunt the impact of these legislative proposals

Conceptualizing socially-assistive robots as a digital therapeutic tool in healthcare

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven Digital Health (DH) systems are poised to play a critical role in the future of healthcare. In 2021, $57.2 billion was invested in DH systems around the world, recognizing the promise this concept holds for aiding in delivery and care management. DH systems traditionally include a blend of various technologies, AI, and physiological biomarkers and have shown a potential to provide support for individuals with various health conditions. Digital therapeutics (DTx) is a more specific set of technology-enabled interventions within the broader DH sphere intended to produce a measurable therapeutic effect. DTx tools can empower both patients and healthcare providers, informing the course of treatment through data-driven interventions while collecting data in real-time and potentially reducing the number of patient office visits needed. In particular, socially assistive robots (SARs), as a DTx tool, can be a beneficial asset to DH systems since data gathered from sensors onboard the robot can help identify in-home behaviors, activity patterns, and health status of patients remotely. Furthermore, linking the robotic sensor data to other DH system components, and enabling SAR to function as part of an Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, can create a broader picture of patient health outcomes. The main challenge with DTx, and DH systems in general, is that the sheer volume and limited oversight of different DH systems and DTxs is hindering validation efforts (from technical, clinical, system, and privacy standpoints) and consequently slowing widespread adoption of these treatment tools

Expressions 2004-2006

https://openspace.dmacc.edu/expressions/1022/thumbnail.jp

From design to implementation - The Joint Asia Diabetes Evaluation (JADE) program: A descriptive report of an electronic web-based diabetes management program

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Joint Asia Diabetes Evaluation (JADE) Program is a web-based program incorporating a comprehensive risk engine, care protocols, and clinical decision support to improve ambulatory diabetes care.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The JADE Program uses information technology to facilitate healthcare professionals to create a diabetes registry and to deliver an evidence-based care and education protocol tailored to patients' risk profiles. With written informed consent from participating patients and care providers, all data are anonymized and stored in a databank to establish an Asian Diabetes Database for research and publication purpose.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The JADE electronic portal (e-portal: <url>http://www.jade-adf.org</url>) is implemented as a Java application using the Apache web server, the mySQL database and the Cocoon framework. The JADE e-portal comprises a risk engine which predicts 5-year probability of major clinical events based on parameters collected during an annual comprehensive assessment. Based on this risk stratification, the JADE e-portal recommends a care protocol tailored to these risk levels with decision support triggered by various risk factors. Apart from establishing a registry for quality assurance and data tracking, the JADE e-portal also displays trends of risk factor control at each visit to promote doctor-patient dialogues and to empower both parties to make informed decisions.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The JADE Program is a prototype using information technology to facilitate implementation of a comprehensive care model, as recommended by the International Diabetes Federation. It also enables health care teams to record, manage, track and analyze the clinical course and outcomes of people with diabetes.</p

Pink Tides: Femininity, Dictatorship, and the Rise of the New Latin American Left

During the second half of the twentieth century, military dictatorships came to power throughout Southern Cone Latin America and contributed to the continued patriarchal tradition of the region. A literary and art movement arose after these dictatorships fell, centered on the patterns of re-victimization of the feminine and criticism of the atrocities carried out by the dictatorships. In my honors thesis, I argue that along with the rise of the marea rosada, the New Left in Latin America, we have witnessed a turn in post-dictatorship literature towards a criticism of the society that fostered the dictatorships and that continued the patriarchal traditions of the region. I also argue that the authors and directors of these texts and films advocate that in order to change the patriarchal pattern of society, it is necessary to participate within that society and manipulate the society's discourses to one's own advantage

COVID’s Counterpunch: State Legislative Assaults on PublicHealth Emergency Powers

Amid the most impactful health crisis in over a century, COVID’s “counterpunch” entails aggressive efforts by numerous state legislatures to diminish state and local public health emergency powers. It is an incredulous movement facially supported by a need to appropriately balance economic interests and rights with communal health objectives. At its political core, however, is a “power grab” by legislatures to free their constituents from extensive emergency powers (e.g., social distancing, assembly limits, and business closures). Never mind the fact that these interventions, when used effectively and constitutionally, save lives and reduce morbidity. Public health agents and activists are understandably concerned about diminutions of their express and discretionary emergency powers. Yet affirmative and strategic uses of existing legal remedies examined in this brief commentary may blunt the impact of these legislative proposals

Perspectives of parents on health benefits associated with taekwondo for adolescents and young adults with intellectual and developmental disability

&nbsp;Taekwondo may serve as an important therapeutic programme to promote physical, social, cognitive and emotional health among adolescents and young adults with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD). Little research has explored the value of Taekwondo for health benefits among adolescents and young adults with IDD living in the United States. The purpose of this study was to capture health benefits associated with Taekwondo among adolescents with IDD from the perspectives of parents and observations. Using semi-structured in-depth interviews with eight participants, four salient themes were identified as health benefits that Taekwondo participation provided for their child: (a) emotional benefits, (b) social benefits, (c) cognitive benefits, and (d) physical benefit. The findings of this study indicate that Taekwondo can improve the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive functioning of adolescents and young adults with IDD and may be considered an effective mind-body exercise programme for promoting their health and well-being in these domains. Keywords: Health; Qualitative approach; Taekwondo; Intellectual disability; Developmental disability