Outdoor Recreationists’ Perceptions of Risk, Agency Trust, and Visitor Capacities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Rice ◽  
Timothy Mateer ◽  
Peter Newman ◽  
Ben Lawhon ◽  
Nathan Reigner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Outdoor Recreation ◽  
Public Lands ◽  
The United States ◽  
Individual Risk ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
Community Risk

For nearly a century in the United States, visitor capacities have served as a means of preserving resources and the visitor experience on public lands. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in increased interest in implementing visitor capacities that could potentially limit use on public lands, suggesting a need to understand public support for their use in a timely manner. Risk and trust have been used in previous research concerning support for natural resource and outdoor recreation decision-making. Research in this realm includes investigation at the intersection of outdoor recreation and public health, specific to chronic wasting disease. Following this previous research, this study utilizes the constructs of risk and trust to examine support for visitor capacities that could potentially limit use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this theory-driven research relies on the cultural theory of risk and social trust theory. Using structural equation modeling and a sample of avid outdoor enthusiasts, we examine how well 1) perceived individual risk, 2) perceived community risk, 3) trust in public health agencies, and 4) trust in public land agencies predict support for visitor capacities that could potentially limit use. An email-distributed online survey was available for 48 hours beginning on April 30, 2020—during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Measurement of perceived risk and trust followed previous research relating to outdoor recreation and public health. Results indicate that outdoor enthusiasts are concerned about their individual and community health and reported higher levels of trust in data coming directly from public health agencies as opposed to state or federal land management agencies. Additionally, perceived individual risk and perceived community risk were significant predictors of support for visitor capacities. These findings can be used to improve the effectiveness of messaging intended to connect perceived risk to the management of parks and protected areas, thus providing credibility to management actions implemented during the pandemic. Additional implications from this research include the need for additional research examining support for management actions that could potentially limit use on public lands, the multidimensionality of trust in outdoor recreation, and individual risk in frontcountry outdoor recreation settings.

scholarly journals International Perspectives on COVID-19 Communication Ecologies: Public Health Agencies’ Online Communication in Italy, Sweden, and the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 000276422199283
Author(s):  
Serena Tagliacozzo ◽  
Frederike Albrecht ◽  
N. Emel Ganapati
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
The United States ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Communication Ecology ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
National Public Health

Communicating during a crisis can be challenging for public agencies as their communication ecology becomes increasingly complex while the need for fast and reliable public communication remains high. Using the lens of communication ecology, this study examines the online communication of national public health agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, Sweden, and the United States. Based on content analysis of Twitter data ( n = 856) and agency press releases ( n = 95), this article investigates two main questions: (1) How, and to what extent, did national public health agencies coordinate their online communication with other agencies and organizations? (2) How was online communication from the agencies diversified in terms of targeting specific organizations and social groups? Our findings indicate that public health agencies relied heavily on internal scientific expertise and predominately coordinated their communication efforts with national government agencies. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that agencies in each country differed in how they diversify information; however, all agencies provided tailored information to at least some organizations and social groups. Across the three countries, information tailored for several vulnerable groups (e.g., pregnant women, people with disabilities, immigrants, and homeless populations) was largely absent, which may contribute to negative consequences for these groups.

Case Studies and Caveats

2019 ◽  
pp. 83-101
Author(s):  
Jonathan H. Marks
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Framing Effects ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
Systemic Effects ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
Food And Beverage

This chapter outlines several partnership case studies involving the food and beverage sector, especially soda companies. These case studies are drawn from the United States, Britain, and India. The analysis highlights certain problematic features—for example, use of corporate logos, trademarks, and color schemes that are likely to promote consumption of products that are exacerbating obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). But, more fundamentally, the analysis ties the case studies to the broader systemic effects discussed in the preceding chapters. These include framing effects, agenda distortion, and impacts on the integrity of and trust in public health agencies.

A System-Level Intervention to Encourage Collaboration Between Juvenile Justice and Public Health Agencies to Promote HIV/STI Testing

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine S. Elkington ◽  
Anne Spaulding ◽  
Sheena Gardner ◽  
Danica Knight ◽  
Steven Belenko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Health Agency ◽  
The United States ◽  
Practice Change ◽  
System Level ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Treatment Services ◽  
Sti Testing ◽  
Health Agencies

Justice-involved youth are at high risk for HIV and STIs, and justice agencies are uniquely poised to offer HIV/STI testing. However, testing in these settings is not routine and represents a missed opportunity. This study describes a system-level implementation intervention designed to increase access to HIV/STI testing through juvenile justice (JJ) and public health agency collaboration across six counties in six states in the United States. Local change teams, active facilitation, and training were utilized to facilitate agency partnerships and development of HIV/STI practice change protocols. Five counties established health and JJ partnerships and four counties successfully implemented their protocols. Sites with HIV/STI education and testing protocols behaviorally screened 98.5% of youth and tested 41.2% of those youth; 0% were HIV+ and 43.2% had an STI. The intervention provides a feasible, scalable solution, through promoting partnerships between JJ and health agencies, to link youth to testing and treatment services.

A public health outbreak management framework applied to surges in opioid overdoses

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kieran Moore, MD, CCFP (EM), FCFP, MPH, DTM&H, FRCPC ◽  
Maximilien Boulet, BSc ◽  
Julia Lew, BSc ◽  
Nicholas Papadomanolakis-Pakis, BSocSc, MPA
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Opioid Overdose ◽  
Prescription Opioids ◽  
Outbreak Management ◽  
Management Framework ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
Related Mortality

Objective: Over the past decade, Canada and the United States have been facing an epidemic of harms from prescription opioids. More recently, opioid-naïve individuals have been exposed to illicit opioids through adulterated combination products. This has resulted in sudden surges of opioid-related mortality. A proactive public health solution is needed to prevent further death. We propose examining these surges in opioid overdoses as outbreaks and investigating them in a similar way to an outbreak of an infectious disease. An epidemiologic investigation model for opioid overdose outbreaks, that could be modified by other public health agencies,is discussed.

scholarly journals Phylogenomic Pipeline Validation for Foodborne Pathogen Disease Surveillance

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth E. Timme ◽  
Errol Strain ◽  
Joseph D. Baugher ◽  
Steven Davis ◽  
Narjol Gonzalez-Escalona ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Foodborne Pathogen ◽  
The United States ◽  
Strain Identification ◽  
Outbreak Response ◽  
Entire Genome ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Regulatory Decision ◽  
Health Agencies

ABSTRACT Foodborne pathogen surveillance in the United States is transitioning from strain identification using restriction digest technology (pulsed-field gel electrophoresis [PFGE]) to shotgun sequencing of the entire genome (whole-genome sequencing [WGS]). WGS requires a new suite of analysis tools, some of which have long histories in academia but are new to the field of public health and regulatory decision making. Although the general workflow is fairly standard for collecting and analyzing WGS data for disease surveillance, there are a number of differences in how the data are collected and analyzed across public health agencies, both nationally and internationally. This impedes collaborative public health efforts, so national and international efforts are underway to enable direct comparison of these different analysis methods. Ultimately, the harmonization efforts will allow the (mutually trusted and understood) production and analysis of WGS data by labs and agencies worldwide, thus improving outbreak response capabilities globally. This review provides a historical perspective on the use of WGS for pathogen tracking and summarizes the efforts underway to ensure the major steps in phylogenomic pipelines used for pathogen disease surveillance can be readily validated. The tools for doing this will ensure that the results produced are sound, reproducible, and comparable across different analytic approaches.

scholarly journals Initial epidemiological findings in the European Union following the declaration of pandemic alert level 5 due to influenza A (H1N1)

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
ECDC Technical Emergency Team
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
International Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Influenza A H1n1 ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
Health Event ◽  
Health Regulations

The recent detection of a novel influenza A(H1N1) virus has led to the first WHO declaration of a Public Health Event of International Concern under the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005). Here we review the early epidemiological findings of confirmed cases in Mexico, the United States, Canada and EU/EFTA countries. Strengthened surveillance and continued, transparent communication across public health agencies globally will be necessary in coming months.

Organizing for Black Lives and Funding COVID-19 Relief: Community Responses to Systemic Racism and Imagining Public Health 4.0

2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (S3) ◽  
pp. S201-S203
Author(s):  
Nolan Kline ◽  
Marco Antonio Quiroga
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Health Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Structural Racism ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Root Cause ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
Community Based Organization

Structural racism is a root cause of poor health in the United States and underlies COVID-19–related disparities for Black and Latinx populations. We describe how one community-based organization responded to structural racism and COVID-19 in Florida. Informed by the literature on how public health practice changed from emphasizing prevention (Public Health 1.0) to collaboration between governmental and public health agencies (Public Health 2.0) and examining social determinants of health (Public Health 3.0), we call for a politically engaged Public Health 4.0. (Am J Public Health. 2021;111(S3):S201–S203. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306408 )

Developing a Concept of Operations Template to Guide Collaborative Disaster Research Response Between Academic Public Health and Public Health Agencies

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Amber S. Khan ◽  
Rachel Wittenauer ◽  
Resham Patel ◽  
Janet Baseman ◽  
Aubrey Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Disaster Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
Response And Recovery ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Public Health Practitioners ◽  
Concept Of Operations

Abstract Research conducted in the context of a disaster or public health emergency is essential to improve knowledge about its short- and long-term health consequences, as well as the implementation and effectiveness of response and recovery strategies. Integrated approaches to conducting Disaster Research Response (DR2) can answer scientific questions, while also providing attendant value for operational response and recovery. Here, we propose a Concept of Operations (CONOPS) template to guide the collaborative development and implementation of DR2 among academic public health and public health agencies, informed by previous literature, semi-structured interviews with disaster researchers from academic public health across the United States, and discussion groups with public health practitioners. The proposed CONOPS outlines actionable strategies to address DR2 issues before, during, and after disasters for public health scholars and practitioners who seek to operationalize or enhance their DR2 programs. Additional financial and human resources will be necessary to promote widespread implementation of collaborative DR2 programs.

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