Utilization of Preventative Health Services by Nevadans with Disabilities

Health disparities are differences in access to health care, quality of health care and health outcomes observed between population-specific groups of people (Health Resources and Services Administration, 2000). Previous research has found that people with disabilities experience unequal access to preventative health care services. The purpose of this study was to conduct a secondary data analysis using data from the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to determine differences in utilization of preventative health services between adults with and without disabilities in Nevada. Nevadans with disabilities were significantly more likely to have access to health insurance and to have seen a physician in the past year. Nevadans with disabilities were significantly more likely to engage in some preventative services (pneumonia and flu vaccination) and less likely to engage in other preventative services (pap in the past three years and dental cleaning in the past year). This may be the result of some preventative services being easily administered to patients whether they have disabilities or not (immunizations) while other preventative services are more difficult to administer to those with disabilities. Public health interventions are needed to address the unique needs of Nevadans with disabilities to ensure equal access to all recommended preventative health care services

Evaluating The Impact Of Preventative Health Services On Improving General Well-Being

Individuals in the United States suffer from an unnecessarily high rate of preventable chronic disease. One reason for this may be the nation\u27s focus on tertiary care rather than preventive care. Health is multi-dimensional and should therefore be approached in an integrative manner. The current study proposes an integrative and preventative approach to health care services that utilizes Rath and Harter\u27s (2010) five dimensions of well-being. We measured the impact of preventative health services in addition to tertiary care services on the general well-being of individuals over a two-month period of time. We found that those receiving preventative care in addition to tertiary care improved faster than those receiving only tertiary care over a two-month period of time. We conclude that our model of health care in the United States should include services that integrate all components of well-being rather than focusing on disease

Alternative Cash Transfer Delivery Mechanisms: Impacts on Routine Preventative Health Clinic Visits in Burkina Faso

We conducted a unique randomized experiment to estimate the impact of alternative cash transfer delivery mechanisms on household demand for routine preventative health services in rural Burkina Faso. The two-year pilot program randomly distributed cash transfers that were either conditional or unconditional and were given to either mothers or fathers. Families under the conditional cash transfer schemes were required to obtain quarterly child growth monitoring at local health clinics for all children under 60 months old. There were no such requirements under the unconditional programs. Compared with control group households, we find that conditional cash transfers significantly increase the number of preventative health care visits during the previous year, while unconditional cash transfers do not have such an impact. For the conditional cash transfers, transfers given to mothers or fathers showed similar magnitude beneficial impacts on increasing routine visits.

Lakeview Pantry Client Survey: Identifying Client Barriers and Needs

Lakeview Pantry on Chicago's north side is one of the largest pantries in the city. Like other organizations around the city, state, and nation that provide the basic necessity of food to hungry people, Lakeview Pantry continues to experience a greatly increased need for its food services.In light of this, Lakeview Pantry set out to explore the larger systems-level issues that push its clients to seek out the pantry in the first place. With the assistance of the Social IMPACT Research Center, Lakeview Pantry conducted a survey of 426 clients in November and December 2012.The survey helped Lakeview Pantry answer key questions -- what are the characteristics and experiences of their clients, and what challenges drive their need for services? The results of this client survey clearly illustrate that hunger and the need for food assistance are symptomatic of larger social problems: unemployment, underemployment, low education levels, unaffordable housing, income inadequacy, physical and mental health problems. As Lakeview Pantry uses IMPACT's survey findings to be data-informed and plan its future, they are now considering opportunities to not only continue to successfully help meet people's basic needs, but also engage in advocacy work to help move clients out of poverty and ensure that new people don't ever become hungry in the first place

Ethnicity, Immigration and Cancer Screening: Evidence for Canadian Women

Introduction: Canada's annual immigrant intake is increasingly composed of visible minorities, with 59% of immigrants arriving in 1996-01 coming from Asia. However, only a small number of studies have used population health surveys to examine Canadian women's use of cancer screening. We use recent population health surveys to analyze immigrant and native-born women's use of Pap smears, breast exams, breast self-exams, and mammograms. Methods: We study women aged 21-65 drawn from the National Population Health Survey and Canadian Community Health Surveys that together yield a sample size of 105,000 observations. Results: We find that for most forms of cancer screening, recent immigrants have markedly lower utilization rates, but these rates slowly increase with years in Canada. However, there is wide variation in rates of cancer screening by ethnicity. Screening rates for white immigrants approach Canadian-born women's utilization rates after 15-20 years in Canada, but screening rates for immigrants from Asia remain significantly below native-born Canadian levels. Discussion: Health authorities need to tailor their message about the importance of these forms of cancer screening to reflect the perceptions and beliefs of particular minority groups if the objective of universal use of preventative cancer screening is to be achieved.immigrants, ethnic groups, cancer, screening, acculturation

Victorian Women's Trust, Annual Report 2009/2010

We are an independent advocate for women and grant maker dedicated to improving the status of women and girls. We are now among the world's oldest women's funds, and pride ourselves on a thirty-year tradition of progressive philanthropy, strategically targeted to maximise our impact across the range of issues we seek to address - violence against women and girls, gendered discrimination and disadvantage, the quest for due recognition of the value of women's paid and unpaid work, and towards equal representation in the decision making processes that shape our lives

Quality Improvement for Well Child Care

Presented to the Faculty of University of Alaska Anchorage in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCEThe American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Bright Futures (BF) guidelines for well child care were designed to provide quality pediatric care. Adherence to AAP-BF guidelines improves: screenings, identification of developmental delay, immunization rates, and early identification of children with special healthcare needs. The current guideline set is comprehensive and includes thirty one well child exams, thirty three universal screening exams and one hundred seventeen selective screening exams. Many providers have difficulty meeting all guideline requirements and are at risk of committing Medicaid fraud if a well exam is coded and requirements are not met. The goal of this quality improvement project was to design open source and adaptable templates for each pediatric age group to improve provider adherence to the BF guidelines. A Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) quality improvement model was used to implement the project. Templates were created for ages twelve months to eighteen years and disseminated to a pilot clinic in Anchorage, Alaska. The providers were given pre-implementation and postimplementation surveys to determine the efficacy and usefulness of the templates. Templates were determined to be useful and efficient means in providing Bright Futures focused well child care. The templates are in the process of being disseminated on a large scale to assist other providers in meeting BF guideline requirements.Title Page / Table of Contents / List of Tables / List of Appendices / Abstract / Introduction / Background / Clinical Significance / Current Clinical Practice / Research Question / Literature Review / Framework: Evidence Based Practice Model/ Ethical Considerations and Institutional Review Board / Methods / Implementation Barriers / Findings / Discussion / Disseminatio

A Tailored Wellness Intervention for College Students Using Internet-Based Technology: A Pilot Study

The purpose of this study was to develop and pilot a theory-based, computer-tailored feedback system for healthy behaviors for college students at a large, public university, aiming to enhance student wellness. A total of 1300 college students were contacted. Sixty–two students completed the eight week intervention. The participants were randomly assigned into two groups and received the survey three times, consistently receiving normative or personalized feedback. The participating sample was generally healthy and mainly comprised of freshman, Caucasian, and normal weight individuals. Repeated-measure ANOVAs were run and small significant interactions were found between the type of feedback received and some of the dependent variables. This study showed potential benefits of this intervention which can help institutions in supplying preventive services as a part of the transition to university life. Suggestions are provided for delivering preventative health services related to unhealthy diet, drinking habits, or inactive lifestyle

Irregular no. 30; March 1970

In this issue: 1. Florence Nightingale and the Community - some notes from "The First International Domiciliary Congress on Nursing" held in Melbourne in February 1970; 2. A Correction from Cr. Paul Ritter 3. A Comment from the Dandenongs 4. Carlton Isn't As Cute As Captain Cook's Cottage 5. People's Urban Renewal Laboratory (P. U. R. L.) article featured in RMIT's magazine "Archetype" 6. Full Turn of the "Federal Aid" Wheel 7. Sources for Housing Commission Controvers

Paediatric preventative health care use by immigrants in Hong Kong: a pilot study

BACKGROUND: Over 14,000 children arrived in Hong Kong from Mainland China last year to join their recently immigrated parents. The aims of this pilot study were to explore immigrant parents' knowledge and perceptions of the accessibility of paediatric preventative health care services. METHOD: A descriptive survey was administered to parents. Participants (N=27) were grouped by their child's point of entry into the health care system. RESULTS: Most participants lacked knowledge about well-child care and health education. Participants whose children lived in Hong Kong for longer than one year used services for well-child care significantly more than those with shorter stays (χ2=4.50; p=0.03). The major barrier in accessing services was lack of knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: Although a preliminary study, the results suggest a population-based study is needed because lack of familiarity with available services was a reoccurring finding. A more comprehensive assessment of the learning needs of this population is needed so effective ways of familiarizing new immigrants and tracking these children can be developed.published_or_final_versio