Implementation of Diabetes Prevention in Health Care Organizations: Best Practice Recommendations

Approximately 1 in 3 American adults has prediabetes, a condition characterized by blood glucose levels that are above normal, not in the type 2 diabetes ranges, and that increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Evidence-based treatments can be used to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in adults with prediabetes. The American Medical Association (AMA) has collaborated with health care organizations across the country to build sustainable diabetes prevention strategies. In 2017, the AMA formed the Diabetes Prevention Best Practices Workgroup (DPBP) with representatives from 6 health care organizations actively implementing diabetes prevention. Each organization had a unique strategy, but all included the National Diabetes Prevention Program lifestyle change program as a core evidence-based intervention. DPBP established the goal of disseminating best practices to guide other health care organizations in implementing diabetes prevention and identifying and managing patients with prediabetes. Workgroup members recognized similarities in some of their basic steps and considerations and synthesized their practices to develop best practice recommendations for 3 strategy maturity phases. Recommendations for each maturity phase are classified into 6 categories: (1) organizational support; (2) workforce and funding; (3) promotion and dissemination; (4) clinical integration and support; (5) evaluation and outcomes; (6) and program. As the burden of chronic disease grows, prevention must be prioritized and integrated into health care. These maturity phases and best practice recommendations can be used by any health care organization committed to diabetes prevention. Further research is suggested to assess the impact and adoption of diabetes prevention best practices

Diabetes Prevention: Your Role as a Healthcare Professional (July 15, 2020)

The Philadelphia Diabetes Prevention Collaborative invites you to learn about the latest in screening, testing and how to easily refer your patients to a National Diabetes Prevention (DPP) lifestyle change program within the greater Philadelphia five-county area. Featuring Health Promotion Council of Southeastern Pennsylvania, the American Medical Association, and the Center for Urban Health and College of Population Health at Jefferso

Search for gravitational-lensing signatures in the full third observing run of the LIGO-Virgo network

Gravitational lensing by massive objects along the line of sight to the source causes distortions of gravitational wave-signals; such distortions may reveal information about fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. In this work, we have extended the search for lensing signatures to all binary black hole events from the third observing run of the LIGO--Virgo network. We search for repeated signals from strong lensing by 1) performing targeted searches for subthreshold signals, 2) calculating the degree of overlap amongst the intrinsic parameters and sky location of pairs of signals, 3) comparing the similarities of the spectrograms amongst pairs of signals, and 4) performing dual-signal Bayesian analysis that takes into account selection effects and astrophysical knowledge. We also search for distortions to the gravitational waveform caused by 1) frequency-independent phase shifts in strongly lensed images, and 2) frequency-dependent modulation of the amplitude and phase due to point masses. None of these searches yields significant evidence for lensing. Finally, we use the non-detection of gravitational-wave lensing to constrain the lensing rate based on the latest merger-rate estimates and the fraction of dark matter composed of compact objects

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

From Illegality to Accepted Reality: Analysing the Impact of the I.C.J.\u27s Advisory Opinion on The Wall in Palestine

In this article, the author examines the history, controversy and present status of the Wall or Security fence being built by Israel in the occupied territories of Palestine. The article analyses the judgements of the International Court of Justice, the Israeli High Court, as well as developments in various international arenas, to conclude that in spite of repeated declarations of the illegality of the Wall in international law, its contruction continues unabated. Besides the lack of legal reasoning given by the I.C.J. in its advisory opinion whic has contributed to this situation, the article conlcudes that the grave human rights violations caused by the Wall are not just being tolerated but perhaps even being acquiesced to by the international community today

Published research studies conducted amongst Indian medical undergraduate students: Bibliometric Analysis

Objective: Evaluation of published original research conducted amongst Indian medical undergraduate students. Methodology: A systematic review was undertaken using keywords “MBBS students” or “medical students” or “health students” or “university students” and “India” through search engines, PUBMED and Google scholar. Considering feasibility, time frame of published original research article was restricted to one-year only i.e. 2016. Research domain, research design, author and other bibliometric details of research manuscript were captured using check-list and analysis carried out using descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 99 suitable original research articles were identified under certain criteria and considered in present analysis. With regard to thematic research domain, highest, 29 (29.2%) articles were related to teaching and learning process followed by 13 (13.1%) to mental health (depression, anxiety, sleep, spirituality) of students; 07 (7.0%) were based on physical fitness/ exercise/yoga; and substance abuse (6.0%) amongst medical students etc. Nearly, 86 (86.8%) of articles were cross-sectional descriptive based studies while 13 (13.1%) had intervention based research design. A total of 34 (34.3%) research articles could be labeled as “KAP” (knowledge, attitude and practice) survey. Department wise detail of corresponding author was largely dominated by faculty from pre and para-clinical departments. Highest was community medicine in (35.3%) articles, pharmacology (23.2%), physiology (17.1%), microbiology (6.0%), and biochemistry (4.0%) etc. The studies covered an average sample size of 188.8 MBBS students (20-360, range); 57.5% of research article covered students from only one professional year. However, in 42 (42.4%) articles there was no further mention of gender based sample information. Out of all the references used in research articles, only 57.3% were of recent (2005-2015) origin while the rest were from older time-frame. Conclusion: A systematic evaluation of published original research articles conducted upon MBBS undergraduate students studying in Indian medical colleges was undertaken, probably first of its kind in India. In conclusion, diverse topics of research have been conducted by the teaching faculties and this study provides the over-view of the sam

Philadelphia Makes Diabetes Prevention a Priority: Introducing the Philadelphia Diabetes Prevention Collaborative

With the support of the AMA and CDC, JCPH established the Philadelphia Diabetes Prevention Collaborative (PDPC), a group of local and national stakeholders working to design multi-pronged public health efforts to prevent Type 2 Diabetes in the greater Philadelphia region. Learn more about prediabetes, the National Diabetes Prevention (DPP) program, and our regional efforts