Imprisoning Pregnant and Parenting Women: A Focus on Social Justice, Equal Rights, and Equality

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-201
Author(s):  
JaNeen Cross
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Mass Incarceration ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Correctional Facilities ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
Grand Challenges ◽  
Pregnant And Parenting Women

Abstract The mass incarceration of pregnant and parenting women is a serious problem in the United States. African American women and other women of color are most burdened by mass incarceration. This article outlines the problems with health care delivery in correctional facilities. It is argued that correctional facilities are not the place for pregnant and parenting women. A policy focus is needed that takes a public health approach. There are promising alternative policies that integrate a public health approach, improve treatment outcomes for women, and provide an alternative to incarceration. This problem is discussed through the lens of the Grand Challenges for Social Work. Alternative policies and programs are recommended that align with a public health approach and directly target the pathways for imprisonment. This issue requires a call for policy action to challenge the inequality and social justices inherent in this problem. The grand challenges offer a blueprint in which to develop effective policy approaches.

scholarly journals Examining public knowledge, attitudes and perceptions towards palliative care: a mixed method sequential study

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja McIlfatrick ◽  
Paul Slater ◽  
Esther Beck ◽  
Olufikayo Bamidele ◽  
Sharon McCloskey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey

Abstract Background Palliative care is recognised as a public health issue with the need for earlier integration in the wider healthcare system. However, research indicates that it continues to be accessed late in the course of an illness, public understanding of palliative care is limited, and common misconceptions prevail. Strategies to address this are needed in order to reduce barriers to palliative care delivery and improve access. Methods An explanatory sequential mixed methods study, comprising a cross-sectional survey and interviews was undertaken. Sociodemographic characteristics, public awareness, knowledge and perceptions of palliative care were examined and strategies to raise awareness and overcome barriers within a public health framework were identified. Survey data were analysed using SPSS v25 with factor analysis and non-parametric statistics and qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results A total of 1201 participants completed the survey (58.3% female, mean age 61 years) and 25 took part in interviews. A fifth of participants (20.1%) had previously heard about palliative care and had an accurate understanding of the term. Being female, higher educated, married, and older, increased respondents’ levels of awareness. The three most commonly held misconceptions included: Palliative care is exclusively for people who are in the last 6 months of life (55.4% answered incorrectly); A goal of palliative care is to address any psychological issues brought up by serious illness (42.2% answered incorrectly); and a goal of palliative care is to improve a person’s ability to participate in daily activities (39.6% answered incorrectly). Talking about palliative and end of life care was advocated but societal taboos restricted this occurring with exposure limited to personal experience. Conclusions Current knowledge gaps and misconceptions derived from limited ad hoc personal experiences and fear of engaging in taboo conversations may deter people from accessing integrated palliative care services early in a disease trajectory. The results indicate the need for public education programmes that move beyond merely raising awareness but provide key messages within a public health approach, which may change attitudes to palliative care thus ultimately improving end of life outcomes.

scholarly journals Healthy People 2020 Objectives for Violence Prevention and the Role of Nursing

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Simon ◽  
Kimberly Hurvitz
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Violence Prevention ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Youth Violence ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
The United States ◽  
Healthy People ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Prevention Strategies ◽  
Healthy People 2020

Violence, including child maltreatment, youth violence, intimate partner violence, and sexual violence, is a significant public health problem in the United States. A public health approach can help providers understand the health burden from violence, evaluate evidence for prevention strategies, and learn where to turn for information about planning and implementing prevention strategies for this preventable problem. For the past three decades, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has published “Healthy People” objectives for the next decade. The Healthy People 2020 initiative includes 13 measurable objectives related to violence prevention, one of which was selected as a Healthy People 2020 Leading Health Indicator. Progress to achieve these objectives can save thousands of lives, reduce the suffering of victims and their families, and decrease financial cost to the law enforcement and healthcare systems. The role that nurses can and do play in violence prevention is critical and extends beyond just caring for victims to also include preventing violence before it happens. This article summarizes the violence prevention objectives in Healthy People 2020 and the resources for prevention available to support nurses and others as they move prevention efforts forward in communities to stop violence before it starts.

Pornography as a US Public Health Problem

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Emily F. Rothman
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
The United States ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Sexually Explicit Material ◽  
Sexually Transmitted ◽  
Dating Abuse ◽  
Explicit Material ◽  
Sexually Explicit

Pornography is being indicted as a public health crisis in the United States and elsewhere, but the professional public health community is not behind the recent push to address pornography as a public health threat. While pornography may not be contributing directly to mortality or acute morbidity for a substantial percentage of people, it may be influencing other public health problems, such as sexual violence, dating abuse, compulsive behavior, and sexually transmitted infections. However, the evidence to support pornography as a causal factor is mixed, and there are numerous other factors that have more strongly established associations with these outcomes of interest. Throughout history, repressive forces have inflated the charges against sexually explicit material in order to advance a morality-based agenda. Nevertheless, a public health approach and tried public health practices, such as harm reduction and coalition-building, will be instrumental to addressing the emergence of mainstream Internet pornography.

A public health approach for Asian people with problem gambling in foreign countries

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samson Tse ◽  
John Wong ◽  
Hyeeun Kim
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Problem Gambling ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
Asian Populations ◽  
Asian Immigration ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
Asian People

There has been a rapid increase in Asian immigration to English-speaking countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States. Anecdotal accounts and research suggest high levels of participation in gambling by people from Asian countries. Asian problem gambling is seen as being a social rather than an individual problem compounded by difficulties with post-migration adjustment. Contemporary public health perspectives are not limited to the biological and behavioural dimensions, but can also address socioeconomic determinants such as income, employment, poverty, and access to social and healthcare services related to gambling and health. This paper discusses how a public health viewpoint can lead to effective strategies against problem gambling. The five principles proposed in this paper are: (1) acknowledging similarities and differences within Asian populations, (2) ensuring that strategies are evidence-based, (3) treating Asian problem gambling in an acculturation framework, (4) addressing the issue of shame associated with problem gambling among Asian people, and (5) targeting at-risk sub-groups.

scholarly journals Chemical Weapon Functional Exercise—Cincinnati: Observations and Lessons Learned from a “Typical Medium-Sized” City's Response to Simulated Terrorism Utilizing Weapons of Mass Destruction

2003 ◽  
Vol 118 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis J. FitzGerald ◽  
Matthew D. Sztajnkrycer ◽  
Todd J. Crocco
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
The United States ◽  
Weapons Of Mass Destruction ◽  
Chemical Weapon ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Mass Destruction ◽  
Public Health Departments ◽  
Medical Response

In the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks and the subsequent anthrax scare, there is growing concern about the United States' vulnerability to terrorist use of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). As part of ongoing preparation for this terrible reality, many jurisdictions have been conducting simulated terrorist incidents to provide training for the public safety community, hospitals, and public health departments. As an example of this national effort to improve domestic preparedness for such events, a large scale, multi-jurisdictional chemical weapons drill was conducted in Cincinnati, Ohio, on May 20, 2000. This drill depicted the components of the early warning system for hospitals and public health departments, the prehospital medical response to terrorism. Over the course of the exercise, emergency medical services personnel decontaminated, triaged, treated, and transported eighty-five patients. Several important lessons were learned that day that have widespread applicability to health care delivery systems nationwide, especially in the areas of decontamination, triage, on-scene medical care, and victim transportation. As this training exercise helped Cincinnati to prepare for dealing with future large scale WMD incidents, such drills are invaluable preparation for all communities in a world increasingly at risk from terrorist attacks.

Patient-centred supportive and palliative care

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genevieve Thompson ◽  
Carla Ens ◽  
Harvey Chochinov
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Cancer Control ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Low Resource Settings ◽  
The Public ◽  
Low Resource

Chapter 14 expands on the role of palliative care within the framework of cancer control. In addition, the public health approach outlined by the WHO, including appropriate policy, adequate drug availability, education, and palliative care delivery at all levels of health care, will be discussed. Finally, the challenges in adapting these principles into high and low resource settings will be described.

scholarly journals Chagas Disease in the United States: a Public Health Approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caryn Bern ◽  
Louisa A. Messenger ◽  
Jeffrey D. Whitman ◽  
James H. Maguire
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Chagas Disease ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Gastrointestinal Disease ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Diagnostic Test Performance ◽  
Improve Access

SUMMARY Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent of Chagas disease, usually transmitted by triatomine vectors. An estimated 20 to 30% of infected individuals develop potentially lethal cardiac or gastrointestinal disease. Sylvatic transmission cycles exist in the southern United States, involving 11 triatomine vector species and infected mammals such as rodents, opossums, and dogs. Nevertheless, imported chronic T. cruzi infections in migrants from Latin America vastly outnumber locally acquired human cases. Benznidazole is now FDA approved, and clinical and public health efforts are under way by researchers and health departments in a number of states. Making progress will require efforts to improve awareness among providers and patients, data on diagnostic test performance and expanded availability of confirmatory testing, and evidence-based strategies to improve access to appropriate management of Chagas disease in the United States.

Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories and Violent Extremism on the Far Right: a Public Health Approach to Counter-Radicalization

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Bradley Byington
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
The Public ◽  
Societal Benefits ◽  
Violent Extremism ◽  
Conspiracy Thinking

Conspiracy theories, and especially antisemitic conspiracy theories, form a core ideological component of right-wing violent extremism in the United States. This article argues that conspiracy narratives and their psychological antecedents are key to understanding the ideological appeal of right-wing extremist formations such as white supremacist and Christian Identity movements, providing insight into the motivations and behaviors of those individual participants who become sufficiently radicalized to carry out terrorist actions. It is further proposed that standard radicalization models can be enhanced for applications specific to right-wing extremism through an understanding of conspiracy thinking (both antisemitic and otherwise), and that this understanding can assist in addressing the motivated roots of the ideologies that sustain this particular type of violent extremism through a public health approach to counter-radicalization that aims to “inoculate” the public against the cognitive tendencies exemplified in antisemitic con- spiracy theories and in conspiracist culture more generally. The proposed approach would complement existing efforts in a unique way, as it would have the potential not only to improve public security, but also to provide further societal benefits by countering other negative tendencies associated with conspiracy belief (for example, decreased intention to vaccinate). This would provide an exceptional cost versus benefit ratio while supporting existing counter-radicalization programs and leaving them intact.

The Smoking Gap

Pained ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 163-166
Author(s):  
Michael D. Stein ◽  
Sandro Galea
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Smoking Prevalence ◽  
Premature Mortality ◽  
The United States ◽  
High School Education ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Smoking Rate ◽  
American Southeast ◽  
Education Groups ◽  
College Educated

This chapter discusses the smoking gap. Fifty years ago, smoking prevalence for all education groups was clustered at the 40%–45% mark. Five decades later, 6.5% of college-educated individuals continue to smoke, while the prevalence is more than triple that among those with a high school education or less (23.1%). These smokers tend to be disadvantaged socially and economically, and bear the majority of morbidity and premature mortality. As such, in the process of lowering smoking overall, people have created a smoking gap between those who are well-educated and those who are less educated, between those with higher and lower incomes. However, the smoking gap is not restricted only to socioeconomic status. Geography is also at play. “Tobacco Nation”—a swath across the American Southeast where 700 million pounds of tobacco are harvested annually, and rates of smoking remain higher than elsewhere—suggests that policy, culture, and the persistent influence of the tobacco industry in this region has shaped who smokes and who does not in the United States. Other studies have documented the high tobacco retailer density in neighborhoods with larger proportions of African Americans, the ethnic group with the highest smoking prevalence. The chapter then details what people can learn from the smoking gap and the best public health approach to reduce the smoking rate.

Smart Decarceration

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie Pettus
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
American Academy ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Mass Incarceration ◽  
The United States ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Grand Challenges ◽  
The World

After a period of mass incarceration that spanned the 1970s through the 2010s, the United States remains the leading incarcerator in the world. Incarceration rates in the United States outpace those of other countries by several hundred per 100,000. Incarceration rates began to decline slightly in 2009, when there was a loss of fiscal, political, and moral will for mass incarceration policy and practices. First, the onset of smart decarceration approaches, the historical context from which smart decarceration stems, and the societal momentum that led to the conceptualization of smart decarceration are described. Smart decarceration is a lead strategy in social work that has been adopted by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare as one of the 12 Grand Challenges for Social Work for the decade 2015–2025. Finally, an overview of the current status of smart decarceration and details shifts and initiatives to pursue at the intersection of social work and smart decarceration is provided.

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