scholarly journals Raising awareness for dementia risk reduction through a public health campaign: a pre-post study

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. e041211
Author(s):  
Irene Heger ◽  
Sebastian Köhler ◽  
Martin van Boxtel ◽  
Marjolein de Vugt ◽  
KlaasJan Hajema ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Community Participation ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Public Health Campaign ◽  
Health Campaign ◽  
Dementia Risk

ObjectivesEvaluate the effect of a health promotion campaign aimed at increasing awareness about dementia risk reduction in middle-aged community-dwelling individuals in the Netherlands.DesignA 10-month public health campaign using mass media and community participation, supported by eHealth. Population-level difference in awareness before and after the campaign, including variation between demographic groups, was assessed in two independent cross-sectional samples from the same target population.SettingThe public health campaign was launched in the Province of Limburg, the Netherlands, targeting all inhabitants aged 40–75 years old. Three specific districts within the Province were chosen for an additional community participation approach, in which local stakeholders were invited to support the campaign.ResultsNo pre- (n=590) post- (n=602) difference was observed in people agreeing to the statement that dementia risk reduction is possible (X2(1)=1.27, p=0.260). For the individual lifestyle factors, physical activity (7.6% increase (X2(1)=7.48, p=0.006)) and healthy diet (10.5% increase (X2(1)=12.37, p≤0.001)) were identified more often as being protective against dementia after the campaign. Of all risk/protective factors assessed, cognitive activity was identified most often at both preassessment (79.4%) and postassessment (80.4%), but there was no increase in awareness (X2(1)=0.17, p=0.677). Self-reported exposure to the campaign was associated with greater awareness and motivation for behavioural change (X2(1)=6.52, p=0.011). Compared with mass media only, the addition of community participation resulted in better recognition of campaign material and the eHealth platform.ConclusionsThis study was not able to reach a population-level increase of awareness of dementia risk reduction. Two out of the three lifestyle factors that formed the foundation of the campaign were identified more often after the campaign. Those reported having been exposed to the campaign were more aware and more inclined towards behavioural change.

The Island Study Linking Ageing and Neurodegenerative Disease (ISLAND): a Prospective, Online, Public Health Cohort Study Targeting Dementia Risk Reduction (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa Bartlett ◽  
Kathleen Doherty ◽  
Maree Farrow ◽  
Sarang Kim ◽  
Edward Hill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Cohort Study ◽  
Neurodegenerative Disease ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Population Level ◽  
First Year ◽  
Dementia Prevalence ◽  
Dementia Risk ◽  
Health Project ◽  
Health Cohort Study

BACKGROUND Up to 40% of incident dementia is considered attributable to behavioural and lifestyle factors. Given the current lack of medical treatments and the projected increase in dementia prevalence, a focus on prevention through risk reduction is needed. OBJECTIVE The Island Study Linking Ageing and Neurodegenerative Disease (ISLAND) is a long-term prospective, online cohort study with nested interventions. This 10-year public health project aims to increase dementia risk knowledge and promote changes in dementia risk behaviours at individual and population level. METHODS ISLAND participants (target n=10,000) reside in Tasmania, Australia and are aged 50 years or over. Survey data on knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to modifiable dementia risk factors will be modelled longitudinally with intervention engagement indices, cognitive functioning and blood-based biomarkers. RESULTS In the initial 12 months, 6,410 participants provided baseline data and have been provided with a personalised dementia risk profile, and guidelines for reducing risk, across nine behavioural and lifestyle domains. Within this first year over one quarter of the cohort (27%) undertook the Preventing Dementia massive open online course and 12% enrolled in university study via the Campus intervention. CONCLUSIONS Recruitment targets are feasible and efforts are ongoing to achieve a representative sample. Findings will inform future public health dementia risk reduction initiatives, by showing whether, when and how dementia risk can be lowered through interventions delivered in an uncontrolled, real-world context.

scholarly journals Translating mouthwash use for gonorrhoea prevention into a public health campaign: identifying current knowledge and research gaps

Sexual Health ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric P. F. Chow ◽  
Kate Maddaford ◽  
Sabrina Trumpour ◽  
Christopher K. Fairley
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Gay And Bisexual Men ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Bisexual Men ◽  
Public Health Campaign ◽  
Health Campaign ◽  
And Bisexual

The gonorrhoea rate among gay and bisexual men who have sex with men (MSM) has been increasing rapidly in many Western countries. Furthermore, gonorrhoea is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics and only limited options remain for treatment. Recent evidence suggests that the oropharynx may play an important role in gonorrhoea transmission. It is hypothesised that reducing the prevalence of oropharyngeal gonorrhoea will also reduce the population incidence of gonorrhoea. Mouthwash has been proposed as a novel non-antibiotic intervention to prevent oropharyngeal gonorrhoea; hence, reducing the probability of antibiotic resistance developing. However, its efficacy is yet to be confirmed by a randomised controlled trial – the findings of which will be available in 2019. If the trial shows mouthwash is effective in preventing gonorrhoea, this finding could potentially be translated into a public health campaign to increase the mouthwash use in the MSM population. This article summarises the current evidence of the effectiveness of mouthwash against gonorrhoea and discusses the potential literature gaps before implementing the mouthwash intervention at a population level.

scholarly journals The Effect of Religious Conflicts in Northern Nigeria on Public Health Outcomes: A Case Study of Cholera Outbreak

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (30) ◽  
pp. 408
Author(s):  
Adamu Nuhu ◽  
Kabir M. Yusuf
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health System ◽  
Water Shortage ◽  
Medical Intervention ◽  
Water Sources ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Public Health Campaign ◽  
Cholera Outbreak ◽  
Health Campaign ◽  
The North

Violent conflicts, in most cases, pose an unquantifiable challenge to human health and health systems especially in developing countries. Complex humanitarian emergencies as a result of conflicts could severely have negative consequences on public health. Nigeria has faced series of threatening security challenges, but the one caused by the activities of the socalled Islamist sect, the Boko Haram (BH), remains protracted, especially in Borno, a State in the north-eastern part of the country. The resultant outcome is the internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have suffered from many diseases especially cholera, which has continued to ravage these displaced populations. Conflict can contribute to water shortage through the destruction of water sources, such as wells, reservoirs and laid pipes, and its contamination. This is happening on an already weak health system. Though cholera is easily treatable, concerted efforts by government and medical humanitarian agencies are urgently required to ameliorate the situation of the IDPs. An appropriate strategy of control of the transmission of cholera and emergency medical intervention can help alleviate the devastating effects. The management of cholera transmission include the supply of sufficient water sources, adequate sanitation, and a public health campaign to maximize the effects of these measures. One key health system challenge that could limit the effectiveness of the interventions would be the people. This paper focuses on studying the resultant large numbers of IDPs from the BH conflict, discussing cholera outbreak as a specific health issue, and presenting a focused humanitarian intervention to address this health need.

Get a Reproductive Life Plan!

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miranda R. Waggoner
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
First Century ◽  
Expert Interviews ◽  
Public Health Campaign ◽  
Clinical Tool ◽  
Health Campaign ◽  
Professional Literature ◽  
Life Plan ◽  
Pregnancy Care ◽  
Reproductive Life

This chapter details how pre-pregnancy care has been taken up clinically and culturally, especially through the emergence of the “reproductive life plan” as a clinical tool. Drawing on expert interviews and an examination of medical pamphlets, professional literature, public health campaign materials, media depictions of pre-pregnancy care, and popular books, this chapter focuses on the individualized and gendered aspects of contemporary pre-pregnancy health ideas. Specifically, the pre-pregnancy care model is shown to reflect a neoliberal health ethos in which women are held individually responsible for the optimization of reproduction in America in the twenty-first century. This chapter makes the case that as reproductive knowledge and policy were produced, so were medicine, morals, and markets.

scholarly journals Was the First Public Health Campaign Successful?

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Mark Anderson ◽  
Kerwin Kofi Charles ◽  
Claudio Las Heras Olivares ◽  
Daniel I. Rees
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mortality Data ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Campaigns ◽  
Public Health Campaign ◽  
Health Campaign ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
The Us ◽  
Public Health Campaigns ◽  
Municipal Level

The US tuberculosis (TB) movement pioneered many of the strategies of modern public health campaigns. Using newly transcribed mortality data at the municipal level for the period 1900–1917, we explore the effectiveness of public health measures championed by the TB movement, including the establishment of sanatoriums and open-air camps, prohibitions on public spitting and common cups, and requirements that local health officials be notified about TB cases. Our results suggest that these and other anti-TB measures can explain, at most, only a small portion of the overall decline in pulmonary TB mortality observed during the period under study. (JEL H51, I12, I18, N31, N32)

scholarly journals Patterns of Sharps Handling and Disposal Among Insulin-Using Patients With Diabetes Mellitus

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-66
Author(s):  
Jordan M. Montoya ◽  
Bithika M. Thompson ◽  
Mary E. Boyle ◽  
Melinda E. Leighton ◽  
Curtiss B. Cook
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Insulin Pump ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Health Hazard ◽  
Public Health Campaign ◽  
Health Campaign ◽  
Continuous Glucose Monitor ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Patients With Diabetes

Background: The objective of this study was to assess disposal patterns for “sharps” among a cohort of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) receiving insulin therapy. Method: A convenience sample of inpatients and outpatients was surveyed about how they disposed of sharps, how often they reused lancets and needles, and what education they had received about proper disposal. Safe disposal was defined as discarding sharps into a formal sharps or sealable container; otherwise, disposal was categorized as unsafe. Results: Of 150 respondents, 56% were men and 75% were white. The mean (SD) age was 56 (15) years; duration of DM, 20 (13) years; and hemoglobin A1c, 8.1% (2.0%). Half the respondents reused a lancet two or more times, and 21% reused an insulin needle two or more times. Thirty-eight percent of respondents discarded lancets unsafely, and 33% discarded insulin needles unsafely, typically by throwing these items into household trash. Most respondents (75%) discarded insulin pens, vials, cartridges, insulin pump supplies, and continuous glucose monitor sensors into household trash. Most (64%) indicated that they had not received education on safe sharps-disposal practices, and 84% had never visited their municipal website for information on medical waste disposal. Conclusion: Approximately one-third of patients unsafely disposed of sharps. Unsafe disposal could cause millions of sharps to appear in the municipal solid waste stream, thereby posing a substantial public health hazard. Point-of-care patient education is important, but a broader public health campaign may be required.

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