Mitigating the global health threat of violent conflict: a preventive framework

Objective To examine the problem of large-scale violent conflict and the unique preventive role that the global health community can play.Methods We conducted a comprehensive literature review and extrapolated insights from practice-based research and consultation with leaders and grassroot organisations confronting emergent and ongoing large-scale conflict.Results The field of global health has thoroughly investigated the physical and mental health consequences of violent conflict, yet there is a dire need for preventive research and action.Conclusions Global health scholars and practitioners are well-positioned to track early warning signs of violence, construct predictive models of its outbreak, lobby for policy reform to address the structural roots of conflict, and provide mediation and educational support to mitigate emerging conflict.

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Bat Coronaviruses in China

Viruses ◽

10.3390/v11030210 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 210 ◽

Cited By ~ 158

Author(s):

Yi Fan ◽

Kai Zhao ◽

Zheng-Li Shi ◽

Peng Zhou

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Current Knowledge ◽

Disease Outbreaks ◽

Warning Signs ◽

Swine Industry ◽

Transmission Potential ◽

Early Warning Signs ◽

The Impact ◽

Reservoir Hosts ◽

Diarrhea Syndrome

During the past two decades, three zoonotic coronaviruses have been identified as the cause of large-scale disease outbreaks–Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and Swine Acute Diarrhea Syndrome (SADS). SARS and MERS emerged in 2003 and 2012, respectively, and caused a worldwide pandemic that claimed thousands of human lives, while SADS struck the swine industry in 2017. They have common characteristics, such as they are all highly pathogenic to humans or livestock, their agents originated from bats, and two of them originated in China. Thus, it is highly likely that future SARS- or MERS-like coronavirus outbreaks will originate from bats, and there is an increased probability that this will occur in China. Therefore, the investigation of bat coronaviruses becomes an urgent issue for the detection of early warning signs, which in turn minimizes the impact of such future outbreaks in China. The purpose of the review is to summarize the current knowledge on viral diversity, reservoir hosts, and the geographical distributions of bat coronaviruses in China, and eventually we aim to predict virus hotspots and their cross-species transmission potential.

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Overcoming the Paradox of Conflict Prevention

10.1093/oso/9780198805373.003.0003 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Edward Newman ◽

Eamon Aloyo

Keyword(s):

Violence Prevention ◽

Social Economic ◽

Driving Forces ◽

Crisis Response ◽

Warning Signs ◽

Violent Conflict ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Conflict Prevention ◽

Political Factors ◽

Structural Conflict

Progress in conflict prevention depends upon a better understanding of the underlying circumstances that give rise to violent conflict and mass atrocities, and of the warning signs that a crisis is imminent. While a substantial amount of empirical research on the driving forces of conflict exists, its policy implications must be exploited more effectively, so that the enabling conditions for violence can be addressed before it occurs. Violence prevention involves a range of social, economic, and political factors; the chapter highlights challenges—many of them international—relating to deprivation, inequality, governance, and environmental management. Prevention also requires overcoming a number of acute political obstacles embedded within the values and institutions of global governance. The chapter concludes with a range of proposals for structural conflict prevention and crisis response, as well as the prevention of mass atrocities.

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Why Sovereignty Matters Despite Injustice

10.1093/oso/9780198812852.003.0003 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Richard W. Miller

Keyword(s):

International Relations ◽

Large Scale ◽

Political Community ◽

Violent Conflict ◽

Military Interventions ◽

Support Intervention ◽

Spheres Of Influence ◽

Base Of Support ◽

External Intervention ◽

Target Country

This chapter argues for greater reluctance to launch humanitarian military interventions, without appealing to any inherent value in sovereignty or autonomous political community. Instead, it appeals to the likely consequences of such intervention—both within the target country and for international relations. Miller considers four types of candidate for intervention: stable tyrannies, unstable tyrannies, popular secessions, and ongoing large-scale killing and displacement. Only in the last of these should we be disposed to support intervention according to Miller, since the likely consequences that plague the other three types are here less challenging. Stable tyrannies are usually maintained because the regime has engineered a wide base of support among elites. External overthrow thus risks unleashing violent conflict between divided groups. In unstable tyrannies internally-driven regime change is preferable. Finally, in popular secession external intervention can stoke Great Power worries about spheres of influence and inspire military build-up.

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COVID-19 and the calls of humanistic social work: Exploring the developmental-clinical social work concerns of the pandemic

International Social Work ◽

10.1177/00208728211007911 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002087282110079

Author(s):

Robert K Chigangaidze

Keyword(s):

Social Justice ◽

Social Work ◽

Global Health ◽

Technological Innovation ◽

Service Provision ◽

Social Inequalities ◽

Clinical Social Work ◽

Health Community ◽

The Social ◽

The Face

Any health outbreak is beyond the biomedical approach. The COVID-19 pandemic exposes a calamitous need to address social inequalities prevalent in the global health community. Au fait with this, the impetus of this article is to explore the calls of humanistic social work in the face of the pandemic. It calls for the pursuit of social justice during the pandemic and after. It also calls for a holistic service provision, technological innovation and stewardship. Wrapping up, it challenges the global community to rethink their priorities – egotism or altruism. It emphasizes the ultimate way forward of addressing the social inequalities.

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The Sense of Smell and Aging: What We Have Learned From Population Studies

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.2947 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 810-811

Author(s):

Jayant Pinto

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Older Adults ◽

Social Life ◽

Large Scale ◽

Population Studies ◽

Vital Role ◽

Sensory Function ◽

Physical And Mental Health ◽

Sense Of Smell ◽

Health Aging

Abstract Decline of the sense of smell with age causes a marked impact on older adults, markedly reducing quality of life. Olfactory dysfunction impairs nutrition, decreases the ability to experience pleasure, and results in depression, among other burdens. Large-scale population studies have identified impaired olfaction as a key heath indicator that predicts the development of decreased physical and mental health, reduced physical activity, weight loss, mild cognitive impairment and dementia, and mortality itself. These data have been generated via analyses of data from several aging cohorts, including the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP); the Beaver Dam cohort; the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities project; the Rush Memory and Aging Project; the Health, Aging, and Body Composition project; the Washington Heights/Inwood Columbia Aging Project; among others. In this presentation, we will review the close connection between olfaction, health, aging, including discussion of insights from these studies. We will also discuss emerging data from NSHAP on the effects of sensory function on cognition, mental health, and social interaction, which demonstrate that sensory function plays a vital role in the lives of older adults. Part of a symposium sponsored by Sensory Health Interest Group.

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Journey towards best practices in acting on early warning signs in complex projects within a Russian context

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business ◽

10.1108/ijmpb-03-2015-0027 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 828-843 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Gulnara Sharaborova ◽

Derek H.T. Walker ◽

Guinevere Gilbert

Keyword(s):

Early Warning ◽

Point Of View ◽

Warning Signs ◽

Theory And Practice ◽

Doctoral Study ◽

Content Type ◽

Early Warning Signs ◽

Complex Projects ◽

Research Findings ◽

Phd Thesis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary report and reflect on a recently passed PhD thesis (Sharaborova, 2014b) related to project management topics. Design/methodology/approach – This paper focussed on narrative reflection upon the completed doctoral journey. Findings – This paper presents the thesis findings, the research models, the guide in dealing with the early warning signs that developed as a result of this research and the contribution made to theory and practice. Research limitations/implications – Limitations of the research and the perspectives of the further diffusion of the research findings are considered. Originality/value – This TRN is a PhD candidate’s point of view as well as the opinions of the scientific research supervisors about the doctoral study and its outcome. The paper could be useful for novice researchers who wish to conduct their research and did not yet make a decision.

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“Teachers Act Like We’re Robots”: TikTok as a Window Into Youth Experiences of Online Learning During COVID-19

AERA Open ◽

10.1177/2332858421995537 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 233285842199553

Author(s):

Ioana Literat

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Online Learning ◽

Thematic Analysis ◽

Large Scale ◽

Home School ◽

Educational Support ◽

Social Lives ◽

Online Coursework ◽

Youth Experiences ◽

Educational Futures

Social media, and especially popular youth-focused platforms like TikTok, can offer a valuable window into youth experiences, including their perceptions of online learning. Building on a large-scale thematic analysis of 1,930 TikTok videos posted in March-June 2020, this study examines how young people shared their experiences of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings indicate that youth portrayed online coursework as overwhelming and relentless against the traumatic background of the pandemic. They sought support, empathy, and authenticity from teachers, and both received and provided emotional and educational support to peers on the platform. Students’ home contexts emerged as particularly salient, making visible the intersections between young people’s home, school and social lives. By facilitating a grounded, bottom-up understanding of students’ experiences and perceptions—shared in their preferred spaces and modes of expression—this research stresses the need to attend to youth perspectives to craft more equitable and empowering educational futures.

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