Interdependence between health and peace: a call for a new paradigm

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 1590-1600
Author(s):  
Izzeldin Abuelaish ◽  
Michael S Goodstadt ◽  
Rim Mouhaffel
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Program ◽  
Public Health Program ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
The Individual

Abstract Health and peace, and their relationships to disease/conflict/violence, are complex and multifaceted interrelated terms. Scholars have proposed a variety of definitions for health and peace. The conceptualizations of health and peace share many fundamental elements, including in their social, psychological (emotional and mental) and spiritual dimensions. We argue that health and peace are inter-dependent in a fundamental causal fashion. Health is always positively or negatively affected by conflict; peace can be directly or indirectly fostered through public health program and policy initiatives. Evidence shows that public health professionals and academics have frequently failed to recognize the inter-dependence of health and peace when conceptualizing, and addressing, issues related to health and peace. In contrast, the present article argues in support of a new paradigm for addressing public health issues related to health and peace; such a paradigm is based on the premise that health and peace are inextricably linked, requiring that they be addressed in an integrated, inter-dependent, fashion. Finally, we emphasize that fostering health and peace requires identifying and promoting positive socio-ecological influences on health, rather than limiting our focus to health deficits and obstacles at the individual or community levels.

scholarly journals The Michigan BioTrust for Health: Using Dried Bloodspots for Research to Benefit the Community While Respecting the Individual

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (S1) ◽  
pp. 98-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Chrysler ◽  
Harry McGee ◽  
Janice Bach ◽  
Ed Goldman ◽  
Peter D. Jacobson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Filter Paper ◽  
Health Program ◽  
The State ◽  
Public Health Laboratory ◽  
Public Health Program ◽  
Personal Use ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Blood Spot

The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) stores almost 4 million dried blood spot specimens (DBS) in the Michigan Neonatal Biobank. DBS are collected from newborns under a mandatory public health program to screen for serious conditions. At 24 to 36 hours of age, a few drops of blood are taken from the baby’s heel and placed on a filter paper card. The card is sent to the state public health laboratory for testing. After testing, MDCH retains the spots indefinitely for the personal use of the patient and also, pursuant to a 2000 law, for possible research.

The Cepa Project: A New Model for Community-Based Program Planning

1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Buchanan ◽  
Edna Apostol ◽  
Dalila Balfour ◽  
Carmen Claudio ◽  
Joani Marinoff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Puerto Ricans ◽  
Program Planning ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Community Based ◽  
New Model ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
Successes And Challenges ◽  
Basic Philosophy

The article describes a new model of community-based program planning developed by the Centro de Educacion, Prevencion y Accion (CEPA) project, an HIV prevention program for Puerto Ricans located in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Based on models of critical thinking, empowerment and participatory education, the basic philosophy of the CEPA project is to narrow the gap between program developers and program recipients to the greatest extent possible. The article discusses the successes and challenges encountered in approaching this ideal. The article concludes with recommendations for public health professionals considering the use of community-based approaches to address public health issues.

scholarly journals Book review: Sulkunen, P., Babor, T., Cisneros Örnberg, J., Egerer, M., Hellman, M., Livingstone, C., Marionneau, V., Nikkinen, J., Orford, J., Room, R. & Rossow, I. (2019). Setting Limits: Gambling, Sciences and Public Policy.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-176
Author(s):  
Sébastien Berret
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Comprehensive Review ◽  
International Group ◽  
Public Health Professionals

This article is a book review of Setting Limits: Gambling, Sciences and Public Policy (Sulkunen et al., 2019). This policy-oriented book, authored by an international group of experts, is intended for public health professionals and policymakers, and provides a comprehensive review of research on worldwide gambling trends, addiction and related public health issues.  

Poverty and Health Disparities: What Can Public Health Professionals Do?

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Price ◽  
Jagdish Khubchandani ◽  
Fern J. Webb
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Public Health Practice ◽  
Premature Mortality ◽  
Health Risk Behaviors ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
Health Promotion Programs

More than a tenth of the U.S. population (13% = 41 million people) is currently living in poverty. In this population, the socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental conditions have detrimental health effects such as higher rates of chronic diseases, communicable illnesses, health risk behaviors, and premature mortality. People living in poverty are also deprived of social, psychological, and political power, leading to continuation of worsening health and chronic deprivation over generations. The health of individuals living in poverty poses greater challenges from policy, practice, and research standpoints. Public health professionals are poised uniquely to be advocates for the marginalized, be the resource persons for health education, implement health promotion programs, and conduct research to understand health effects of poverty and design tailored and targeted public health interventions. In this article, we summarize the opportunities for public health practice with individuals living in poverty.

Public Health and the Virtues of Responsibility, Compassion and Humility

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Nihlén Fahlquist
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Medical Care ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
The People ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract In contrast to medical care, which is focused on the individual patient, public health is focused on collective health. This article argues that, in order to better protect the individual, discussions of public health would benefit from incorporating the insights of virtue ethics. There are three reasons to for this. First, the collective focus may cause neglect of the effects of public health policy on the interests and rights of individuals and minorities. Second, whereas the one-on-one encounters in medical care facilitate a compassionate and caring attitude, public health involves a distance between professionals and the public. Therefore, public health professionals must use imagination and care to evaluate the effects of policies on individuals. Third, the relationship between public health professionals and the people who are affected by the policies they design is characterized by power asymmetry, demanding a high level of responsibility from those who wield them. Against this background, it is argued that public health professionals should develop the virtues of responsibility, compassion and humility. The examples provided, i.e. breastfeeding information and vaccination policy, illustrate the importance of these virtues, which needed for normative as well as instrumental reasons, i.e. as a way to restore trust.

scholarly journals Engaging a wider public health workforce: bringing public health into architecture education

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
R Marsh ◽  
P Pilkington ◽  
E Marco ◽  
L Rice
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Health Workforce ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Public Health Workforce ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
Public Health Training ◽  
Health Promoting ◽  
Health Concepts

Abstract Background Current public health challenges necessitate the closer working of public health with built environment professionals. Despite growing evidence of benefits, there remains little progress in practice. Architects can play a key role in ensuring urban and building design is health promoting, however there is no requirement to teach health by architectural accreditation bodies across Europe. Objectives In the United Kingdom in 2010, the Public Health Practitioner in Residence programme (PHPiR) was established to address this situation. Public health professionals are embedded within the Faculty of Environment and Technology at the University of the West of England, and contribute to research, pedagogic programme development, teaching and mentoring. The aim was to embed public health concepts and issues into architecture training, to empower the profession as part of the wider workforce, to improve health and wellbeing when designing buildings and places. The PHPiR was evaluated using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. Data was collected (questionnaires, focus group, semi-structured interviews, programme documentation) on a Masters of Architecture cohort (N = 34) at intervals from 2011-2019 to see if the PHPiR has long lasting effects as students enter practice. Results Public health concepts including; inequalities, life course approach, and social capital, became embedded into the architecture curriculum. Projects produced had increased reference to wider health promoting issues and participants thinking shifted from the building itself to who would use the building, suggesting the intervention achieved its aims. Conclusions The PHPiR offers a novel approach for built environment professions to better understand public health issues and the relevance to their chosen fields. This model could be applied to other courses and replicated in educational institutions and public health training programmes across Europe. Key messages The PHPiR influenced the architecture curriculum, improved architects understanding and public health issues and concepts, and empowered them to create more health promoting environments. Embedding public health professionals into training for other disciplines may be an effective, sustainable method for increasing the wider public health workforce.

scholarly journals Defining Clinical Public Health

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. E71-76
Author(s):  
Bernard Choi ◽  
Barry Pakes ◽  
Rose Bilotta ◽  
Kathryn Graham ◽  
Neeru Gupta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Multidisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
Common Definition ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
Negative Perceptions ◽  
The University

Purpose: To solve complex health issues, an innovative and multidisciplinary framework is necessary. The Clinical Public Health (CPH) Division was established at the University of Toronto (UofT), Canada to foster inte-gration of primary care, preventive medicine and public health in education, practice and research. To better understand how the construct of CPH might be applied, we surveyed clinicians, researchers and public health professionals affiliated with the CPH Division to assess their understanding of the CPH concept and its utility in fostering broad collaboration. Methods: A two-wave anonymous survey of the active faculty of the CPH Division, UofT was conducted across Canada. Wave 1 participants (n = 187; 2016) were asked to define CPH, while Wave 2 participants (n = 192; 2017) were provided a synthesis of Wave 1 results and asked to rank each definition. Both waves were asked about the need for a common definition, and to comment on CPH. Results: Response rates for the first and second waves were 25% and 22%, respectively. Of the six definitions of CPH from Wave 1, “the intersection of clinical practice and public health,” was most highly ranked by Wave 2 participants. Positive perceptions of CPH included multidisciplinary collaboration, new fields and insights, forward thinking and innovation. Negative perceptions included CPH being a confusing term, too narrow in scope or too clinical. Conclusion: The concept of Clinical Public Health can foster multidisciplinary collaboration to address com-plex health issues because it provides a useful framework for bringing together key disciplines and diverse professional specialties.

Oral health diseases among the older people: a general health perspective

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Older People ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
General Health ◽  
Oral Health Care ◽  
Oral Diseases ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
The Relationship

Background: The relationship between oral health and general health is gaining interest in geriatric research; however, a lack of studies dealing with this issue from a general perspective makes it somewhat inaccessible to non-clinical public health professionals. Purpose: The purpose of this review is to describe the relationship between oral health and general health of the elderly on the basis of literature review, and to give non-clinical medical professionals and public health professionals an overview of this discipline. Methods: This study was based on an in-depth review of the literature pertaining to the relationship between oral health and general health among the older people. The tools commonly used to evaluate dental health and the academic researches of male elderly people were also reviewed. And future research directions were summarized. Results: Dental caries, periodontal disease, edentulism, and xerostomia are common oral diseases among the older people. Dental caries and periodontal diseases are the leading causes of missing teeth and edentulism. Xerostomia, similar to dry mouth, is another common oral health disease in the older people. No clear correlation exists between the subjective feeling of dryness and an objective decrease of saliva. Rather, both conditions can be explained by changes in saliva. The General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) and the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) are the main assessment tools used to examine oral health and quality of life in the older people. The GOHAI tends to be more sensitive to objective values pertaining to oral function. In addition, oral health studies in male elderly people are population-based cohort or cross-sectional studies, involving masticatory function, oral prevention, frailty problems, cardiovascular disease risk, and cognitive status. Conclusion: It is possible to reduce the incidence of certain oral diseases, even among individuals who take oral health care seriously. Oral health care should be based on the viewpoint of comprehensive treatment, including adequate nutrition, good life and psychology, and correct oral health care methods. In the future, researchers could combine the results of meta-analysis with the clinical experience of doctors to provide a more in-depth and broader discussion on oral health research topics concerning the older people.

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