scholarly journals Chronic loneliness: neurocognitive mechanisms and interventions

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitjan Morr ◽  
Xiqin Liu ◽  
Rene Hurlemann ◽  
Benjamin Becker ◽  
Dirk Scheele
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Therapeutic Approaches ◽  
Aging Society ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
Critical Public Health ◽  
Mental And Physical Health

Loneliness has been associated with detrimental effects on mental and physical health and is increasingly recognized as a critical public health issue which may be further exacerbated by societal challenges such as increasing urbanization, an aging society as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. We here review recent findings on the neurocognitive mechanisms and brain alterations that underpin social disconnectedness, therapeutic approaches for chronic loneliness and how these lines of research can be integrated to improve the efficacy of loneliness interventions in healthy individuals and patients with mental disorders.

Associations Between Workplace Violence, Mental Health, and Physical Health among Korean Workers: The Fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey

2021 ◽  
pp. 216507992110238
Author(s):  
Hae Ran Kim
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Shift Work ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Workplace Violence ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Verbal Abuse ◽  
Safety Education ◽  
Mental And Physical Health

Background: Workplace violence (WPV) is a global public health problem and a threat to the health of Korean workers. This study assessed the prevalence and risk factors of WPV and its association with mental and physical health among Korean workers. Methods: Data obtained for 50,205 respondents to the Fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey were utilized for this study. Verbal abuse, threats, physical violence, and sexual harassment were assessed individually and as a composite for “any WPV.” Workers were characterized by education, income, shift work status, access to a health and safety education program, work sector and overall health. Descriptive analyses and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the prevalence of WPV and its association with mental and physical health. Findings: Overall, 5.6% of workers reported experiencing one of four forms of WPV. The prevalence of verbal abuse, threats, physical violence, and sexual harassment were 4.9%, 0.7%, 0.2%, and 1.1%, respectively. Most perpetrators were customers. Prevalence of WPV was associated with lower education level, poor health status, long working hours, shift work, and no experience of health and safety education; 9.0% of service workers experienced violence. Workers who had experienced WPV were more likely to experience anxiety, sleep-related problems, depressive symptoms, back pain, headache/eye strain, and overall fatigue. Conclusions/Applications to Practice: Workplace violence is a serious occupational and public health concern in Korea. These results suggest managing WPV may improve workers’ well-being and that violence-prevention strategies, policies, and regulations should be implemented across most industries.

scholarly journals Insights on carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-92
Author(s):  
Matthew Gavino Donadu ◽  
Stefania Zanetti ◽  
Ádám László Nagy ◽  
Ibrahim Barrak ◽  
Márió Gajdács
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Acinetobacter Baumannii ◽  
Efflux Pump ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Carbapenem Resistant ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Effective Choice ◽  
Phenotypic Methods ◽  
Resistance Rates ◽  
Critical Public Health

Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) is an important nosocomial pathogen, which may be a causative agent in a wide-range of human pathologies. Carbapenems are usually considered the last safe and effective choice of drugs for the treatment of Gram-negative infections. The emergence of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) is a critical public health issue as they leave clinicians with limited therapeutic options. In this study, phenotypic methods were used to characterize sixty-two (n = 62) A. baumannii isolates, which were included based on their suspected non-susceptibility to meropenem. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of meropenem, levofloxacin, gentamicin, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, tigecycline were determined using E-tests, while colistin MICs were determined using broth microdilution. The isolates were subjected to the modified Hodge test (MHT), the modified carbapenem-inactivation method (mCIM) and the imipenem/EDTA combined disk test (CDT). Efflux pump overexpression was studied using agar plates containing phenylalanine-arginine β-naphthylamide (PAβN). Assessment of biofilm-formation was carried out using the crystal violet tube-adherence method. 64.5% of the strains showed meropenem MICs in the resistant range (>8 mg/L), resistance rates were similarly high to the other tested antibiotics. The MHT and mCIM assay were positive in 79.0% and 67.7% of cases, respectively; the presence of an MBL was suggested for 29.0% of isolates. Efflux-pump overexpression was seen in 12.9% of isolates. 54.8% of the isolates were characterized as strong biofilm-producers. Microbiology laboratories have an important role in differentiating the distinct mechanisms by which these pathogens develop the CRAB phenotype, as plasmid-borne carbapenemases are significant from the standpoint of public health microbiology.

Mental disorders as a worldwide public health issue

2012 ◽  
pp. 10-13
Author(s):  
Benedetto Saraceno
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Health Priorities ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Treatment Gap ◽  
Brain Disorder

The twentieth century has witnessed significant improvements in somatic health in most countries. A number of key public health threats have been eradicated or brought under control under the leadership of WHO. Priority was given to communicable diseases in view of their inherent potential to spreading. At the present time, a focus on non-communicable diseases and mental health would now appear as the next natural step in public health priorities. In the case of mental health, this is due to the capacity of mental disorders to proliferate not only as a result of complex and multiple biological, psychological but also social determinants. WHO estimates that at any given time 450 million people suffer from some form of mental or brain disorder, including alcohol and substance use disorders. In other words, one in four of the world’s population suffer from different forms of mental, behavioural, and neurological disorders. This chapter looks at the economic and social costs of mental disorders, global resources for mental health, the treatment gap for mental disorders, and improving mental health care.

Should Child Obesity be an Issue for Child Protective Services? A Call for More Research on this Critical Public Health Issue

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah J. Jones ◽  
Michelle Gonzalez ◽  
Dianne S. Ward ◽  
Amber Vaughn ◽  
Josie Emunah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Child Protective Services ◽  
Child Obesity ◽  
Health Issue ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Protective Services ◽  
Critical Public Health

scholarly journals Exploring the beliefs and perceptions of spending time in nature among U.S. youth

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid N. Zamora ◽  
Marika E. Waselewski ◽  
Abby J. Frank ◽  
Jack R. Nawrocki ◽  
Aspen R. Hanson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Public Health Challenge ◽  
Qualitative Responses ◽  
Mental And Physical Health ◽  
Hispanic White

Abstract Purpose The prevalence of poor mental health continues to rise among youth; however, large-scale interventions to improve mental and physical health remain a public health challenge. Time spent in nature is associated with improved health among youth. This study aimed to assess youth experiences with nature and the self-perceived impact on their mental and physical health among a nationwide sample of US youth. Methods In September 2020, five open-ended questions that aimed to assess perceptions regarding nature were posed to 1174 MyVoice youth, aged 14–24 years. Qualitative responses were analyzed using thematic analysis, and data were summarized using descriptive statistics. Results The mean (SD) age of the 994 respondents (RR = 84.7%) was 18.9 (2.7) years; 47.4% were female, and 57.4% Non-Hispanic White. Among youth, many felt that spending time in nature positively impacted their mental health, with 51.6% mentioning that it made them “feel calm when I am out in nature”; 22.1% said that it relieved stress or “reduces my anxiety,” and 17.1% felt that being in nature positively impacted their physical health and “makes me feel more active and in shape.” However, 7.0% said it negatively impacted their health, such as “It makes me feel isolated.” Most youth (87.8%) want to spend more time in nature, with 22% mentioning barriers (i.e., busy schedules, built environment, and COVID-19) impeding them from doing so. Conclusions Youth in our sample generally report feeling physically and mentally better when spending time in nature and want to spend more time in nature. Public health policies and practices that eliminate barriers and actively support time spent outside may be a feasible and acceptable practice to promote overall well-being among youth.

Conceptualizing the Challenge and Moving to Solutions

2018 ◽  
pp. 237-266
Author(s):  
Alan E. Kazdin
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Grand Challenges ◽  
Substance Use And Abuse

This chapter places the challenge of reducing the burdens of mental illness in broader contexts and progresses from these to concrete recommendations on how to proceed toward next steps. The notions of wicked problems and grand challenges provide two contexts for understanding the challenge. From broad concepts, the chapter moves to means of addressing challenges and making progress in concrete ways to reduce the burdents of mental illness. Illustrations are provided of promising efforts in relation to physical health, mental disorders, and substance use and abuse. The critical role of assessment, especially large-scale surveillance measures from public health, is also discussed.

scholarly journals Legal Protections in Public Accommodations Settings: A Critical Public Health Issue for Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming People

2015 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 484-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
SARI L. REISNER ◽  
JACLYN M. WHITE HUGHTO ◽  
EMILIA E. DUNHAM ◽  
KATHERINE J. HEFLIN ◽  
JESSE BLUE GLASS BEGENYI ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Issue ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Gender Nonconforming ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Critical Public Health

Sensory loss—hearing

2020 ◽  
pp. 355-364
Author(s):  
Adele M Goman ◽  
Frank R Lin
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Epidemiologic Studies ◽  
Sensory Loss ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Major Public Health Issue ◽  
Incident Dementia ◽  
Critical Public Health

Hearing loss is a major public health issue. Hearing loss increases with age and nearly two-thirds of adults over the age of 70 have hearing loss. Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that hearing loss in older adults is strongly and independently associated with accelerated cognitive decline and incident dementia. Hypothesized mechanistic pathways underlying this observed association include the effects of poor hearing and distorted peripheral encoding of sound on cognitive load, brain structure/function, and reduced social engagement. Identifying interventions to reduce cognitive decline is a critical public health priority. Research thus far has suggested that interventions for hearing loss can provide benefits to cognitive functioning although further research is needed to determine whether hearing rehabilitative strategies could affect cognitive decline and the risk of dementia.

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