Integrated disease management

Integrated disease management in organic farming combines the use of various measures. The usefulness of certain measures depends on the specific crop-pathogen combination. In many crops, preventative measures can control diseases without the need of plant protection products. However, for certain disease problems, preventative measures are not sufficient. For example, organic apple production strongly depends on the multiple use plant protection products

Assessing chronic disease management in European health systems. Concepts and approaches

This book comprises two volumes and builds on the findings of the DISMEVAL project (Developing and validating DISease Management EVALuation methods for European health care systems), funded under the European Union’s (EU) Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) (Agreement no. 223277). DISMEVAL was a three-year European collaborative project conducted between 2009 and 2011. It contributed to developing new research methods and generating the evidence base to inform decision-making in the field of chronic disease management evaluation (www.dismeval.eu). In this book, we report on the findings of the project’s first phase, capturing the diverse range of contexts in which new approaches to chronic care are being implemented and evaluating the outcomes of these initiatives using an explicit comparative approach and a unified assessment framework. In this first volume, we describe the range of approaches to chronic care adopted in 12 European countries. By reflecting on the facilitators and barriers to implementation, we aim to provide policy-makers and practitioners with a portfolio of options to advance chronic care approaches in a given policy context. In volume II (available online at http://www.euro.who.int/en/about-us/ partners/observatory/studies), we present detailed overviews of each of the 12 countries reviewed for this work and which informed the overview presented in the first volume of the book

Assessing chronic disease management in European health systems. Country reports

Many countries are exploring innovative approaches to redesign delivery systems to provide appropriate support to people with long-standing health problems. Central to these efforts to enhance chronic care are approaches that seek to better bridge the boundaries between professions, providers and institutions, but, as this study clearly demonstrates, countries have adopted differing strategies to design and implement such approaches. This book systematically examines experiences of 12 countries in Europe, using an explicit comparative approach and a unified framework for assessment to better understand the diverse range of contexts in which new approaches to chronic care are being implemented, and to evaluate the outcomes of these initiatives. The study focuses in on the content of these new models, which are frequently applied from different disciplinary and professional perspectives and associated with different goals and does so through analyzing approaches to self-management support, service delivery design and decision-support strategies, financing, availability and access. Significantly, it also illustrates the challenges faced by individual patients as they pass through the system. This book complements the earlier published study Assessing Chronic Disease Management in European Health Systems; it builds on the findings of the DISMEVAL project (Developing and validating DISease Management EVALuation methods for European health care systems), led by RAND Europe and funded under the European Union’s (EU) Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) (Agreement no. 223277)

Disease management in soilless culture systems

EU legislation, laid down in the Water Framework Directive, demands to minimize emissions of nitrogen, phosphate and crop protection products to achieve an excellent chemical and ecological quality in 2015. The aim is to force growers to a better water and disease management. Supply water of excellent chemical quality will have to be recirculated as long as possible, for which adequate disinfection equipment have to be used. Several sources of water are used as supply water. Rainwater is chemically best, followed by reverse osmosis water. However, the latter is rather expensive. Tap water and surface water often have a too high salinity, while well water may vary dramatically from place to place. Rainwater and surface water are potential risk factors for importing soil-borne pathogens. Disinfection of the recirculating nutrient solution can be done adequately by heat treatment and UV radiation. Membrane filtration performs well, but is mostly too costly. Chemical treatments as sodium hypochlorite, chlorine dioxide and copper silver ionization may partly solve the pathogen problem, but introduce a potential accumulation of other elements in closed systems. Hydrogen peroxide, chlorine dioxide and sodium hypochlorite perform better to clean pipe work instead of soil-borne pathogens

COSS Network submission to Inquiry into chronic disease prevention and management in primary health care

Chronic disease causes nine out of ten Australian deaths, according to this report. Chronic disease in Australia Chronic diseases in Australia are significant contributors to illness, disability and premature death. Chronic disease causes nine out of ten Australian deaths. Heart disease, cancer, lung disease and diabetes account for three quarters of all of these deaths. In 2007-08 one in 50 people reported having four or more chronic health conditions. This proportion increased with age, with eight per cent of people aged 65 or older reporting four or more chronic health conditions. It is anticipated that the rate of chronic disease in the community will continue to grow, and the health system will struggle to cope. The World Health Organization has called chronic conditions ‘the health care challenge of this century’ Chronic diseases are often long term. As a result, they pose significant challenges for the health care system. People with chronic disease use health services including hospitals, primary and community health, regularly and often over a long period of time. For example, heart disease was the main cause in about one in every 16 hospital admissions and played a secondary role in one in ten admission. Kidney disease and the need for dialysis in particular, accounted for between one in seven to eight hospital admissions. &nbsp

Honey: Antimicrobial actions and role in disease management

The ancient treatment of dressing infected wounds with honey is rapidly becoming re-established in professional medicine, especially where wounds are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This is because of the demonstrated sensitivity of such bacteria to the antibacterial activity of honey, which is not influenced by whether or not strains are resistant to antibiotics. Honey has been found to have a very broad spectrum of activity, but its potency of antibacterial activity can vary greatly. In most honeys the antibacterial activity is due to enzymatically produced hydrogen peroxide and thus the potency of its antibacterial activity can be decreased by catalase present in an open wound. Manuka honey has an antibacterial component derived from the plant source. Manuka honey with a quality-assured level of antibacterial activity is being used by companies marketing honey products for wound care that are registered with the medical regulatory authorities in various countries. Such honey can be diluted IO-fold or more and still completely inhibit the usual wound-infecting species. There is a large amount of clinical evidence for the effectiveness of honey in clearing infection in wounds, and some clinical evidence of its effectiveness in treating other infections. Although the antibacterial potency of honey is insufficient to allow its use systemically, there are various clinical applications besides wound care in which it is used topically or where it does not get excessively diluted, such as for treatment of gastritis, enteritis, gingivitis, ophthalmological infections and bronchial infections. In most of these applications the anti-inflammatory activity of honey is of additional benefit in decreasing the inflammation resulting from infection. Additional clinical research is needed to provide better evidence of the effectiveness of honey in these therapeutic applications of honey

Digital technologies and chronic disease management

Raises awareness of the potential benefits of using digital technologies for improving practice efficiencies and patient health outcomes. Background Digital technologies will become a major part of our healthcare system, with particular impact in primary care. However, many healthcare professionals are not sufficiently informed of the digital technologies available today and how they and their patients can gain substantial benefit from adoption of these technologies. Objective To raise awareness of the potential benefits of using digital technologies for improving practice efficiencies and patient health outcomes. Discussion Implementing best practice care for patients with chronic and complex conditions is one of the greatest challenges facing gen-eral practice and other primary care providers. It has been suggested that digital technologies could assist by decreasing the administrative burden of care delivery, improving quality of care, increasing practice efficiencies and better supporting patient self-management. In this paper, we consider some areas in the management of chronic and long-term conditions where digital and mobile health solutions can make a difference today

Connecting Gender, Race, Class, and Immigration Status to Disease Management

Objective: Chronic diseases are the leading causes of death in the United States. Chronic disease management occurs within all aspects of an individual’s life, including the workplace. Though the social constructs of gender, race, class, and immigration status within the workplace have been considered, their connection to disease management among workers has been less explicitly explored. Using a sample of immigrant hotel housekeepers, we explored the connections between these four social constructs and hypertension management. Methods: This qualitative research study was guided by critical ethnography methodology. Twenty-seven hotel room cleaners and four housemen were recruited (N = 31) and invited to discuss their experiences with hypertension and hypertension management within the context of their work environments. Results: Being a woman worker within the hotel industry was perceived to negatively influence participants’ experience with hypertension and hypertension management. In contrast, being a woman played a protective role outside the workplace. Being an immigrant played both a positive and a negative role in hypertension and its management. Being black and from a low socioeconomic class had only adverse influences on participants’ experience with hypertension and its management. Conclusion: Being a woman, black, lower class, and an immigrant simultaneously contribute to immigrant hotel housekeepers’ health and their ability to effectively manage their hypertension. The connection between these four constructs (gender, race, class, and immigration status) and disease management must be considered during care provision. Hotel employers and policy stakeholders need to consider those constructs and how they impact workers’ well-being. More studies are needed to identify what mitigates the associations between the intersectionality of these constructs and immigrant workers’ health and disease management within their work environment. Keywords: Gender, Race, Class, Immigration, Disease Management, Hospitalit