scholarly journals COVID-19 Data Utilization in North Carolina: A Qualitative Analysis (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Rees Patterson ◽  
Sharita R Thomas ◽  
Donna Shaw ◽  
Julie A Hayes ◽  
Christopher R Daley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
North Carolina ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Community Education ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
The State ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Data Governance

BACKGROUND As the world faced the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, SARS-COV-2, medical professionals, technologists, community leaders, and policymakers sought to understand how best to leverage data for public health surveillance, as well as community education. With this complex public health problem, North Carolinians relied on data from state, federal, and global health organizations to increase their understanding of the pandemic and guide decision making. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to describe the role that stakeholders involved in COVID-19-related data played in managing the pandemic in North Carolina. The study investigated the processes used by organizations throughout the state in using, collecting, and reporting COVID-19 data. METHODS The authors used an exploratory qualitative study design to investigate North Carolina’s COVID-19 data collection efforts. To better understand these processes, key informant interviews were conducted with employees from organizations that collected COVID-19 data across the state. The study team developed an interview guide, and interviews were conducted in an open-ended, semi-structured format. Interviews lasted between 30 and 45 minutes and were conducted by data scientists over the online video conferencing platform, Zoom. Data were subsequently analyzed using qualitative data analysis software. RESULTS Results indicated that electronic health records were primary sources of COVID-19 data. Often, data were also used to create dashboards to inform the public or other health professionals, to aid in decision making, or for reporting purposes. Cross-sector collaboration was cited as a major success in the study. Consistency among metrics and data definitions, data collection processes, and contact tracing were cited as challenges. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that, during future outbreaks, organizations across regions could benefit from data centralization and data governance. Data should be publicly accessible and in a user-friendly format. Additionally, established cross-sector collaboration networks are demonstrably beneficial for public health professionals across the state as these established relationships facilitate a rapid response to evolving public health challenges.

Pornography and Human Trafficking

2021 ◽  
pp. 179-186
Author(s):  
Emily F. Rothman
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Health Problem ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Informed Decision Making ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
Definition Of

Human trafficking is an insidious public health problem that may be worsened by the constant demand for new pornography, but sex workers’ rights—including the rights of pornography performers—are not always served by anti-trafficking efforts. This chapter provides a definition of human trafficking, reviews three main arguments about how pornography may influence human trafficking, and encourages public health professionals to value anecdotal information from both sex workers’ rights advocates and human trafficking survivors to move toward better science and evidence-informed decision-making.

Application of Inherent Risk of Contagion (IRC) framework & modelling to aid local Covid-19 response & mitigation: Viewpoint (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmi Zakariah ◽  
Fadzilah bt Kamaluddin ◽  
Choo-Yee Ting ◽  
Hui-Jia Yee ◽  
Shereen Allaham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Vulnerable Population ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Inherent Risk ◽  
Transmission Area ◽  
Current Outbreak ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

UNSTRUCTURED The current outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the novel coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2 has been a major global public health problem threatening many countries and territories. Mathematical modelling is one of the non-pharmaceutical public health measures that plays a crucial role for mitigating the risk and impact of the pandemic. A group of researchers and epidemiologists have developed a machine learning-powered inherent risk of contagion (IRC) analytical framework to georeference the COVID-19 with an operational platform to plan response & execute mitigation activities. This framework dataset provides a coherent picture to track and predict the COVID-19 epidemic post lockdown by piecing together preliminary data on publicly available health statistic metrics alongside the area of reported cases, drivers, vulnerable population, and number of premises that are suspected to become a transmission area between drivers and vulnerable population. The main aim of this new analytical framework is to measure the IRC and provide georeferenced data to protect the health system, aid contact tracing, and prioritise the vulnerable.

scholarly journals Moving Faster than the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Rapid, Digital Transformation of a Public Health System

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (02) ◽  
pp. 229-236
Author(s):  
Clair Sullivan ◽  
Ides Wong ◽  
Emily Adams ◽  
Magid Fahim ◽  
Jon Fraser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health System ◽  
Public Health System ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Programming Approach ◽  
Data Governance ◽  
Application Development ◽  
Containment Strategy

Abstract Background Queensland, Australia has been successful in containing the COVID-19 pandemic. Underpinning that response has been a highly effective virus containment strategy which relies on identification, isolation, and contact tracing of cases. The dramatic emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic rendered traditional paper-based systems for managing contact tracing no longer fit for purpose. A rapid digital transformation of the public health contact tracing system occurred to support this effort. Objectives The objectives of the digital transformation were to shift legacy systems (paper or standalone electronic systems) to a digitally enabled public health system, where data are centered around the consumer rather than isolated databases. The objective of this paper is to outline this case study and detail the lessons learnt to inform and give confidence to others contemplating digitization of public health systems in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This case study is set in Queensland, Australia. Universal health care is available. A multidisciplinary team was established consisting of clinical informaticians, developers, data strategists, and health information managers. An agile “pair-programming” approach was undertaken to application development and extensive change efforts were made to maximize adoption of the new digital workflows. Data governance and flows were changed to support rapid management of the pandemic. Results The digital coronavirus application (DCOVA) is a web-based application that securely captures information about people required to quarantine and creates a multiagency secure database to support a successful containment strategy. Conclusion Most of the literature surrounding digital transformation allows time for significant consultation, which was simply not possible under crisis conditions. Our observation is that staff was willing to adopt new digital systems because the reason for change (the COVID-19 pandemic) was clearly pressing. This case study highlights just how critical a unified purpose, is to successful, rapid digital transformation.

scholarly journals Epidemiological statistics of adolescent suicide during confinement due to the Covid-19 pandemic in Ecuador

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 797-803
Author(s):  
Andres Joaquin Guarnizo Chávez ◽  
Nathaly Alejandra Romero Heredia
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Adolescent Suicide ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
The State ◽  
Suicide Mortality ◽  
Suicide Method ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Psychological Suffering

Introduction: Adolescent suicide is a public health problem that has been neglected due to the pandemic and confinement. Objective: To describe the characteristics of adolescent suicide, during the period of confinement due to pandemic in the year 2020 in Ecuador. Method: An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective study was carried out, with the information from the database of violent deaths of the Ministry of Government, from March 17 to September 13, which lasted through the state of emergency. The analysis was carried out by province, sex, age, suicide method and frequency in days after the event occurred. The suicide mortality rate (per 100,000 inhabitants) was estimated for each province. Results: During confinement due to a state of emergency in 2020 in Ecuador, 97 suicides were registered among adolescents between 10 and 19 years of age. The highest number was estimated in males between 15 and 19 years of age, with the most frequent age being 19. The most frequent day of removal of corpses was on Mondays, and the preferred mode of suicide was by hanging with 81 reported cases. followed by intoxication and poisoning. Conclusions: No increases were found in the suicide mortality rate during the state of emergency in 2020. However, it must be considered that the context of COVID-19 has increased the burden of psychological suffering, which may lead adolescents to think about suicide.

scholarly journals Sickle Cell Anaemia Prevalence among Newborns in the Brazilian Amazon-Savanna Transition Region

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. 1638
Author(s):  
Rayane Cristina Souza ◽  
Pedro Agnel Dias Miranda Neto ◽  
Jessflan Rafael Nascimento Santos ◽  
Sílvio Gomes Monteiro ◽  
Maria Cláudia Gonçalves ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Transition Region ◽  
Sickle Cell ◽  
Sickle Cell Anaemia ◽  
Sickle Cell Trait ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
The State ◽  
Screening Tests ◽  
Distribution Analysis ◽  
Important Public Health Problem

Sickle cell anaemia is one of the most common hemoglobinopathies worldwide and an important public health problem in Brazil. This study evaluated the prevalence of sickle cell anaemia and its traits in newborns from the Amazon-Savanna Transition Region in the state of Maranhão, Brazil. A cross-sectional study was carried out, based on data from neonatal screening tests performed in 2013–2015 in Maranhão. The Hardy-Weinberg theorem was applied to analyse the frequency of expected homozygotes based on HbSS phenotype. A spatial-temporal distribution analysis was performed to delimit the regions with the greatest number of newborn cases with sickle cell anaemia. Of 283,003 newborns, 162 were found to have sickle cell anaemia, while 10,794 had a sickle cell trait, with a prevalence of 0.05% and 3.8%, respectively. The prevalence of expected homozygotes was higher in the North Region and in the state capital of Maranhão. This study may contribute to existing social and public health actions or the creation of new strategies for sickle cell disease in endemic areas in Brazil to improve the quality of life.

scholarly journals Ten years experience with Jorge Lobo's disease in the state of Acre, Amazon region, Brazil

2010 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 273-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
William John Woods ◽  
Andréa de Faria Fernandes Belone ◽  
Léia Borges Carneiro ◽  
Patrícia Sammarco Rosa
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Retrospective Study ◽  
Health Problem ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Amazon Region ◽  
The State ◽  
Notifiable Disease ◽  
Real Situation ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Clinical Records

Jorge Lobo's disease is a cutaneous and subcutaneous mycosis that affects patients in the Amazon region. The number of patients is relatively small, but the real situation of the disease as public health problem is not known, because Jorge Lobo's disease is not a notifiable disease. This study aims to report the clinical evolution in patients affected and to determine the prevalence and areas of occurrence of the disease. A retrospective study was carried out based on the analysis of the clinical records, which included a collection of photographs of patients in the Department of Sanitary Dermatology, in Rio Branco, and patients seen in the interior of the state. In a decade, in Rio Branco, 249 cases of the disease were reported, 30 were females and 219 males. Of these patients, 153 had localized lesions, 94 of them were on one ear, 55 had multifocal lesions and 41 had disseminated lesions. The average time between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis was 19 years. The average age at the time of diagnosis was 53 years, and ages ranged from 14 to 96 years.

scholarly journals The Influence of Public Health Faculty on College and University Plans During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Johnson ◽  
Meredith Cahill ◽  
Sara Choate ◽  
David Roelfs ◽  
Sarah E. Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Ecological Study ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Affiliation ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Fall Semester ◽  
College And University ◽  
Accredited Schools

The purpose of this study was to explore whether the institutional presence of public health expertise within colleges and universities was associated with operational plans for the fall semester of 2020. Using cross-sectional data collected by the College Crisis Initiative of Davidson College, six levels of instructional modalities (ranked from least to most restrictive) were compared between Council on Education of Public Health (CEPH)-accredited and non-CEPH-accredited 4-year institutions. Institutions with CEPH-accredited schools and programs were more likely to select some restrictive teaching modalities: 63.8% more likely to use hybrid/hyflex or more restrictive and 66.9% more likely to be primarily online (with some in person) or more restrictive. However, having CEPH-accredited programs did not push institutions to the most restrictive modalities. COVID-19 cases in county, enrollment, and political affiliation of the state governor were also found to be associated with instructional modality selection. While any ecological study has certain limitations, this study suggests that college and university fall plans may have been influenced by the presence of CEPH-accredited schools and programs of public health, and/or the input of their faculty. The influence of relevant faculty expertise on institutional decision-making can help inform college and university responses to future crises.

scholarly journals 艾滋病防治中的倫理和政策問題

1998 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 7-60
Author(s):  
Ren-Zong QIU
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Hiv Infection ◽  
Infection Rate ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Casual Sex ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Treatment And Prevention ◽  
Hiv Epidemic

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.本文討論了艾滋病在中國大陸傳播引起的倫理和政策問題。作者首先指出在預防控制艾滋病問題上中國正處在十字路口。挨著作者分析了中國會不會成為艾滋病和艾滋病病毒感染的高發國，討論了制訂有效而合乎倫理的艾滋病防治政策的理論預設和價值以及評價政策的倫理學框架，討論了艾滋病治療和預防中的倫理和政策問題。The AIDS/HIV prevention and control in China is at crossroad. At present, there are insufficient grounds for us to say that China will definitely become a country with a high HIV infection rate in the future. However, we have much less sufficient grounds for saying that China will never reach that stage. On the contrary, we have much more reason to say that it is very probable for China to become a country with high HIV infection rate if we leave the current policy unchanged. The reasons are: economic reforms associated with large scale population movements in unprecedented way; proliferation of all sorts of high risk behavior, presence of other STDs which facilitate the spread of HIV; the risk of iatrogenic spread through untested blood transfusion; the "sex revolution" with changes in patterns of sex behaviour and increased casual sex, multiple sex partners among the younger generation; most Chinese still do not know how to protect themselves; and the ethical and legal atmosphere necessary for effectively preventing the HIV epidemic has not been formed.The conventional public health approach is not sufficient to prevent or control an HIV epidemic. When the cases of HIV infection were detected one by one in China, health professionals and programmers believed that they could take a conventional public health approach to cope with HIV epidemic. But they are wrong. HIV infection is an epidemic so special that the conventional public health measures such as testing, reporting, contact tracing, isolation are inadequate or ineffective to control the epidemic. HIV is often spread among those groups who are usually marginalized or stigmatized by society through behaviours both confidential or private.An effective policy of preventing HIV cannot be insensitive to ethical issues. However, many of health professionals and programmers bypassed ethical issues emerged in the prevention of the HIV epidemic. Even some health educators, sexologists and officials believe that "AIDS is the punishment by God" or "AIDS is the punishment for promiscuity". For them suffering AIDS is not morally irrelevant, and thus the ancient conception of disease was revived. But this conception of disease has already proved wrong and harmful to the treatment and prevention of any disease, especially to HIV. The consequence entailed by this conception is that the IIIV positive and AIDS patients were discriminated against and stigmatized. When their positive serological status was disclosed, they were faced with the risk of being expelled from school or fired from working unit, even rejected for admission into hospital, and their tights to confidentiality and privacy were often infringed upon. If all these ethical issues cannot be properly treated, how can those persons in danger or risk get access to information, services, education, counselling and techniques necessary to prevent HIV infection? One Chinese adage says that "You cannot have fish and bear palm both". In the prevention of HIV epidemic we have to have the protection of public health and the safeguarding of individual rights.For controlling HIV epidemic what we need is not a repressive law, but a supportive law to build a supportive environment in treatment and prevention of AIDS/HIV. So the policy and law involving AIDS/ HIV should be reformed.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 19 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.

Population Health Management

2019 ◽  
pp. 281-286
Author(s):  
Mark E. Frisse ◽  
Karl E. Misulis
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Fee For Service ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
Service Models

As systems become more capable of transmitting and aggregating data, new analytic methods promise both a deeper understanding of population needs and new ways of bringing actionable data to the point of care. These techniques will be critical as payment for care migrates from fee-for-service models to episodic and risk-based bundles. The growing integration of data measuring social determinants will help both delivery and public health professionals gain new insights into richer, more meaningful, and more effective means of care. The combination of new data, new analytics, and technologies capable of penetrating to every point of decision-making promise to foster innovative and meaningful approaches to patient care.

scholarly journals Scorpion sting epidemiology in Montes municipality of the State of Sucre, Venezuela: geographic distribution

1996 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo de Sousa ◽  
Stefano Bonoli ◽  
Mercedes Quiroga ◽  
Pedro Parrilla
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Geographic Distribution ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
The State ◽  
Scorpion Sting ◽  
Important Public Health Problem ◽  
Important Public Health ◽  
San Lorenzo ◽  
San Fernando ◽  
Scorpion Stings

Scorpion stings were surveyed in the Montes Municipality of the State of Sucre, Venezuela, aiming to extend the information on these poisonous accidents by characterizing their geographic distribution. From 1980 to 1990, 184 cases of scorpion stings were recorded with an incidence rate of 38.6 cases per 10,000 inhabitants. The locality of San Fernando presented the highest incidence (68.3(0)/000) of poisonous accidents. The highest percentages of severe cases were recorded in the towns of Arenas (27%), San Lorenzo (21%), and Cocollar (19%), which are located at the foot of the Turimiquire Mountains. This region is a dispersion area of scorpions of the Tityus genus. Our results show that this region of the State of Sucre is endemic for scorpion stings which are an important public health problem.

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