The ethics of publication in public health

Publication in peer-reviewed journals is a key part of advancement in science and a vital part of development of the scientific basis for public health practice. The process of publication should promote rigorous standards of high quality ethical research and the wide dissemination of their findings. When considering the issues arising from publication in public health, relevant frameworks include those from the field of publication ethics, public health practice and epidemiological research.The consequences of poor, or frankly fraudulent science, can have a substantial adverse impact both on health, and on the use of resources, and public credibility because of the population based nature of public health interventions. Professional and scientific journals therefore have a critical role in promoting and preserving the highest possible ethical and professional standards to advance the field of public health practice.I present here a personal view of some of these ethical issues, predominantly from the perspective of an experienced editor, but also to some extent that of reviewers and of course, the authors

Developing the public health workforce: Training and recognizing specialists in public health from backgrounds other than medicine: Experience in the UK

© 2018 The Author(s). Background: There is increasing recognition that improving health and tackling inequalities requires a strong public health workforce capable of delivering key public health functions across systems. The World Health Organization in Europe has identified securing the delivery of the Essential Public Health Operations and strengthening public health capacities within this as a priority. It is acknowledged that current public health capacities and arrangements of public health services vary considerably across the World Health Organization in European Region, and investment in multidisciplinary workforce with new skills is essential if public health services are to be delivered. Case presentation: This paper describes the current situation in the UK where there are nationally funded multidisciplinary programmes for training senior public health specialists. Uniquely, the UK provides public health registration for multidisciplinary as well as medical public health specialists. Conclusion: The transition from a predominantly medical to a multidisciplinary public health specialist workforce over a relatively short timescale is unprecedented globally and was the product of a sustained period of grass roots activism aligned with national policy innovation. the UK experience might provide a model for other countries seeking to develop public health specialist workforce capacity in line with the Essential Public Health Operations

Interventions aimed at the prevention of childhood injuries in the indigenous populations in Canada, Australia and New Zealand in the last 20 years: A systematic review

© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Globally, Indigenous children are found to be at a significantly higher risk of injury compared to non-Indigenous children. It has been suggested that mainstream injury prevention strategies are ineffective within Indigenous communities. The aim of this review is to identify existing interventions aimed at preventing injury in Indigenous children in the hope that it guides future strategies. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no prior systematic reviews exist looking at interventions specifically aimed at preventing injury in Indigenous child populations in the three chosen countries. Electronic databases were systematically searched for relevant childhood interventions aimed at the prevention of injuries in Indigenous populations based in Canada, Australia and New Zealand from 1996 to 2016. A manual search of the reference lists of relevant articles and a manual search of relevant websites were also completed. After 191 records were screened, six interventions were identified meeting the criteria for inclusion. Eligible papers underwent a quality appraisal using adapted assessment checklists and key informationwas extracted. Findings were then synthesized using a narrative approach. The interventions mainly promoted child safety through activities focusing on education and awareness. Only three of the six studies measured changes in injury hospitalization rates, all but one evaluation reporting a significant decrease. Studies which measured awareness all demonstrated positive changes. Results suggest that interventions delivered in a culturally appropriate manner acted as a main success factor. Barriers identified as hindering intervention success included lack of cohesion within the intervention due to staff turnover and lack of experienced staff with Indigenous knowledge. This review revealed a limited amount of evaluated interventions for the prevention of Indigenous childhood injuries. Conclusive evidence of the effectiveness of existing interventions is lacking due to the predominantly small-scale evaluations of pilot interventions. Future research is needed to provide more rigorous evidence of the mechanisms driving the successful implementation, delivery and uptake of such strategies tailored to Indigenous children

Building capacity to use and undertake applied health research: establishing a training programme for the health workforce in the West of England

ObjectivesIncreasing research capacity is important for health services as part of improving the conduct of high quality research which addresses the needs of patients and the public. It is a core function of the 13 Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRCs) established in England between 2008 and 2013. This paper reports on the development of an innovative capacity building programme in CLAHRC West over an 18-month period (May 2015-December 2016). It aims to disseminate the learning from the initiative and share our experience with other CLAHRCs.Study DesignThe study design was an evaluation of a training programme to build research capacity.MethodsWe carried out a training needs assessment among local stakeholders and scoped existing provision of research-related training. This informed the development of a programme of free short courses which were targeted at health and social care professionals including those working in local authorities and the voluntary sector. We aimed to engage professionals working at all levels in these organisations and to promote interprofessional education, in order to build a research culture. We engaged a variety of educators to provide a range of one-day courses at an introductory level which were accessible to practitioners.ResultsDuring the first 18 months of the training programme we delivered 31 courses and trained 350 participants. Attendees came from secondary care (20%), voluntary sector (18%) and local authorities (18%). Professionals working in the mental health sector comprised 11% and commissioning 6%. Less well represented were primary care (3%) and community care (4%). The largest professional group was public health, followed by medical, nursing and allied health professionals in approximately equal proportions. Courses were evaluated on a scale of 1 (poor) to 4 (excellent) with the mean being 3.6 (range 3.3-4.0).ConclusionsThe training programme has been highly successful with many courses over-subscribed and all courses being well evaluated by participants. It has met the needs of local professionals for brief, applied training in research, as well as attracting those from other parts of the UK, suggesting the courses are both appropriate and helping to fill a gap in provision. We are building on this work to further engage audiences working in areas such as the wider determinants of health and commissioning, as well as primary and community sectors. CLAHRCs are uniquely placed to drive a culture change in the use, understanding and application of research across the healthcare community

Intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of ultrasonographic measurements of acromiongreater tuberosity distance in patients with post-stroke hemiplegia

© 2015 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Glenohumeral subluxation (GHS) is reported in up to 81% of patients with stroke. Ultrasonographic measurements of GHS by measuring the acromion-greater tuberosity (AGT) have been found to be reliable for experienced raters. Objectives:The primary aim was to assess the intra-rater reliability of measurements of AGT distance in people with stroke following a short course of rater training. A secondary aim was to compare the inter-rater reliability of these measurements between novice and experienced raters. Methods:Patients with stroke (n=16; 5 men, 11 women; 74±10years) with 1-sided weakness who gave informed consent were recruited. Ultrasonographic measurements were recorded at the bedside by two physiotherapists with patients seated upright in a hospital chair. Reliability was assessed by intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) and the standard error of measurements (SEM). Minimum detectable change (MDC90) scores were used to estimate the magnitude of change that is likely to exceed measurement error. Results:Mean±SD AGT distances on the affected and unaffected sides for rater 1 were 2.2±0.7 and 1.7±0.4cm, respectively. Corresponding values for rater 2 were 2.5±0.6 and 2.0±0.4cm. Intra-class correlation coefficient values for the affected and unaffected shoulders for rater 1 were 0.96 and 0.91, respectively. Corresponding values for rater 2 were 0.95 and 0.90.SEM and MDC90 for both affected and unaffected shoulders were ≤0.2cm. Inter-rater reliability coefficients were 0.86 (affected) and 0.76 (unaffected) shoulders. Conclusion:Ultrasonographic measurement of AGT distance demonstrates excellent intra-rater reliability for a novice rater. Inter-rater reliability of ultrasonographic measurement of AGT also demonstrates good reliability between novice and experienced raters

The health of Travellers in the South West region: A review of data sources and a strategy for change

This report reviews available data on Travellers' health and highlights the difficulties in making accurate assessments of the health of the travelling population and the comparative poverty of research on the health experience of Travellers

La atención y la satisfacción del cliente en la discoteca Magno, en la ciudad de Chiclayo, 2016

Hoy en día las empresas de entretenimiento que quieran mejorar su rentabilidad y crecer cada día más y ser mejores que sus competidores, tienen que mejorar sus productos y servicios, ofrecer mayor calidad, en definitiva, satisfacer las necesidades del cliente, de este modo captarlos y mantenerlos, ya que es una oportunidad para crecer rápidamente a través del “boca a boca”. Es dentro de este contexto, que el objetivo de esta investigación fue conocer el nivel de satisfacción del cliente, en la Discoteca Magno S.A.C a través del método o modelo SERVPERF. El enfoque fue cuantitativo y la investigación fue tipo de descriptiva. La población estuvo conformada, por 6600 personas que asistieron los fines de semana (viernes y sábados) a la referida Discoteca. Este es el número de clientes mensuales, al aplicar la fórmula se obtuvo un total de 363 personas encuestadas. En este trabajo se utilizó como instrumento de recolección de datos, el cuestionario de ítem cerrado, basándose en las preguntas planteadas por el método SERVPERF, para su posterior análisis, se utilizaron los programas microsoft word, microsoft excel 2016 y IBM SPSS Statistics 25. Se comprobó que el nivel de satisfacción en la calidad de servicio al cliente, en la Discoteca Mango fue satisfactorio.Tesi

Screening for congenital cytomegalovirus in North Carolina

The authors are full-time graduate students in UNC’s Doctor of Audiology (AuD) program. They are conducting this investigation in conjunction with their participation as audiology trainees in the North Carolina LEND Program (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities). The findings reported here are part of an ongoing investigation and represent current work in progress