scholarly journals Operationalizing a routine wastewater monitoring laboratory for SARS-CoV-2

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rose S Kantor ◽  
Hannah D Greenwald ◽  
Lauren C Kennedy ◽  
Adrian Hinkle ◽  
Sasha Harris-Lovett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Public Health Decision ◽  
Laboratory Capacity ◽  
Public Health Monitoring ◽  
Routine Monitoring ◽  
Health Decision ◽  
Control Procedures ◽  
Complete Data Analysis ◽  
The University

Wastewater-based testing for SARS-CoV-2 is a novel tool for public health monitoring, but additional laboratory capacity is needed to provide routine monitoring at all locations where it has the potential to be useful. Few standardization practices for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater analysis currently exist, and quality assurance/quality control procedures may vary across laboratories. Alongside counterparts at many academic institutions, we built out a laboratory for routine monitoring of wastewater at the University of California, Berkeley. Here, we detail our group's establishment of a wastewater testing laboratory including standard operating procedures, laboratory buildout and workflow, and a quality assurance plan. We present a complete data analysis pipeline and quality scoring framework and discuss the data reporting process. We hope that this information will aid others at research institutions, public health departments, and wastewater agencies in developing programs to support wastewater monitoring for public health decision-making.

Persons with Disabilities and Public Health Ethics

2019 ◽  
pp. 218-231
Author(s):  
Monika Mitra ◽  
Linda Long-Bellil ◽  
Robyn Powell
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Policy ◽  
Public Health Policy ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Public Health Decision ◽  
Health Decision ◽  
Health Policy And Practice

This chapter draws on medical, social, and legal perspectives to identify and highlight ethical issues pertaining to the treatment, representation, and inclusion of persons with disabilities in public health policy and practice. A brief history of disability in the United States is provided as a context for examining the key ethical issues related to public health policy and practice. Conceptual frameworks and approaches to disability are then described and applied. The chapter then discusses the imperativeness of expanding access to public health programs by persons with disabilities, the need to address implicit and structural biases, and the importance of including persons with disabilities in public health decision-making.

scholarly journals The NCCMT’s dynamic model for evidence-informed public health

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
E Clark ◽  
S Neil-Sztramko ◽  
M Dobbins
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Research Evidence ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Local Data ◽  
Public Health Decision ◽  
Health Decision Making ◽  
Political Preferences ◽  
Health Decision ◽  
Structured Approach

Abstract Issue It is well accepted that public health decision makers should use the best available research evidence in their decision-making process. However, research evidence alone is insufficient to inform public health decision making. Description of the problem As new challenges to public health emerge, there can be a paucity of high quality research evidence to inform decisions on new topics. Public health decision makers must combine various sources of evidence with their public health expertise to make evidence-informed decisions. The National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools (NCCMT) has developed a model which combines research evidence with other critical sources of evidence that can help guide decision makers in evidence-informed decision making. Results The NCCMT's model for evidence-informed public health combines findings from research evidence with local data and context, community and political preferences and actions and evidence on available resources. The model has been widely used across Canada and worldwide, and has been integrated into many public health organizations' decision-making processes. The model is also used for teaching an evidence-informed public health approach in Masters of Public Health programs around the globe. The model provides a structured approach to integrating evidence from several critical sources into public health decision making. Use of the model helps ensure that important research, contextual and preference information is sought and incorporated. Lessons Next steps for the model include development of a tool to facilitate synthesis of evidence across all four domains. Although Indigenous knowledges are relevant for public health decision making and should be considered as part of a complete assessment the current model does not capture Indigenous knowledges. Key messages Decision making in public health requires integrating the best available evidence, including research findings, local data and context, community and political preferences and available resources. The NCCMT’s model for evidence-informed public health provides a structured approach to integrating evidence from several critical sources into public health decision making.

scholarly journals Contributions in the field of Public Health for decision-making in health

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luiz Antônio Tavares Neves
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Motor Development ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Human Growth ◽  
Public Health Decision ◽  
Health Decision Making ◽  
Scientific World ◽  
Health Decision ◽  
Human Growth And Development

  Brazil has made a wide development and contribution in the field of Public Health. These contributions have maximized public health decision-making, which is a factor of great importance for the maintenance of health of a given population, either in the prevention of disease, as is the case of immunizations or with actions in Health Promotion, improving the quality of life of the affected population. Thus, the Journal of Human Growth and Development has contributed enormously to the dissemination of knowledge, not only in Brazil but also in the world making a major effort with its publications in English which is the preferred language of the modern scientific world. It was evidenced the importance of research in the investigation of better ways to obtain the public health of a given community, bringing discussion of themes that involve aspects of human growth and development such as nutritional aspects, sexuality, motor development, covering situations and diseases as obesity, cerebral palsy, dyslexia and violence. The Journal of Human Growth and Development has maintained the tradition of approaching the different aspects that involve clinical practice for people and for Public Health. 

PP130 Nudging In Public Health: Accountability For Practical Wisdom

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. 133-134
Author(s):  
Michal Stanak
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Decision Maker ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Practical Wisdom ◽  
Health Gain ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Public Health Decision ◽  
Moral Principles ◽  
Health Decision ◽  
Public Scrutiny

INTRODUCTION:Nudging is the application of behavioural sciences aimed at influencing behaviour in a non-prescriptive way. It is a tool of public health decision makers to produce health gain. Just like decisions in the field of Health Technology Assessment (HTA), nudging decisions are inevitably value laden. The current European Network for HTA (EUnetHTA) approach to evaluate ethical aspects encompasses mainly utilitarian and principlistic approaches. The aim of this project is to incorporate the virtue ethics approach in public health decision-making processes based on the example of nudging.METHODS:The narrative analysis of nudging is based on a systematic literature search conducted from 28 October to 13 November 2015 in the following databases: Medline via Ovid, Embase, and TRIP Database. A total of sixty-two articles were listed as relevant as a result of searches and, in addition, twenty-five more articles were found through hand searching.RESULTS:Regardless of the potential issues related to nudging (manipulation or coercion), nudging is considered cost-effective and inevitable because of the malleability of human psychology for example, alcoholic drinks served in smaller glasses nudge people to drink less alcohol.No policy intervention, nudging or HTA, is value neutral and hence it requires an ethical evaluation. It takes traits of character, virtues, to discern which principle to apply in what circumstances and phronesis, practical wisdom, is the key virtue of a decision maker. Phronesis is not a moral judgement deduced from principles, but it is context specific, bottom-up, action orientated, and framed through dialogues. It focuses on the agent, the decision maker, who, via the use public scrutiny, should be held accountable for phronetic decisions made.CONCLUSIONS:Nudging is a cost-effective tool that can improve the populations health in a non-prescriptive way. Transparent reporting open to public scrutiny is necessary for the sake of evaluating whether the decisions made were phronetic for it takes traits of character, virtues, to decide between competing moral principles.

Public Health Decision Making and Risk Perception

2010 ◽  
pp. 729-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie S. Downs ◽  
Wändi Bruine de Bruin ◽  
Baruch Fischhoff ◽  
Elizabeth A. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Public Health Decision ◽  
Health Decision Making ◽  
Health Decision

scholarly journals A collaborative multiyear, multimodel assessment of seasonal influenza forecasting in the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (8) ◽  
pp. 3146-3154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas G. Reich ◽  
Logan C. Brooks ◽  
Spencer J. Fox ◽  
Sasikiran Kandula ◽  
Craig J. McGowan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Forecast Accuracy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Public Health Decision ◽  
Health Decision Making ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Health Decision

Influenza infects an estimated 9–35 million individuals each year in the United States and is a contributing cause for between 12,000 and 56,000 deaths annually. Seasonal outbreaks of influenza are common in temperate regions of the world, with highest incidence typically occurring in colder and drier months of the year. Real-time forecasts of influenza transmission can inform public health response to outbreaks. We present the results of a multiinstitution collaborative effort to standardize the collection and evaluation of forecasting models for influenza in the United States for the 2010/2011 through 2016/2017 influenza seasons. For these seven seasons, we assembled weekly real-time forecasts of seven targets of public health interest from 22 different models. We compared forecast accuracy of each model relative to a historical baseline seasonal average. Across all regions of the United States, over half of the models showed consistently better performance than the historical baseline when forecasting incidence of influenza-like illness 1 wk, 2 wk, and 3 wk ahead of available data and when forecasting the timing and magnitude of the seasonal peak. In some regions, delays in data reporting were strongly and negatively associated with forecast accuracy. More timely reporting and an improved overall accessibility to novel and traditional data sources are needed to improve forecasting accuracy and its integration with real-time public health decision making.

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