scholarly journals A look at the first quarantined community in the United States: Response of religious communal organizations and implications for public health during the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L. Weinberger-Litman ◽  
Leib Litman ◽  
Zohn Rosen ◽  
David H. Rosmarin ◽  
Cheskie Rosenzweig
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Jewish Community ◽  
Community Organizations ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Related Information

The current study examined anxiety and distress among members of the first community to be quarantined in the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to being historically significant, the current sample was unusual in that those quarantined were all members of a Modern Orthodox Jewish community and were connected via religious institutions at which exposure may have occurred. We sought to explore the community and religious factors unique to this sample, as they relate to the psychological and public health impact of quarantine. Community organizations were trusted more than any other source of COVID 19-related information, including federal, state, and other government agencies, including the CDC, WHO and media news sources. This was supported qualitatively with open-ended responses in which participants described the range of supports organized by community organizations. These included tangible needs (i.e. food delivery), social support, virtual religious services, and dissemination of COVID-19 related information. The overall levels of distress and anxiety were elevated and directly associated with what was reported to be largely inadequate and inconsistent health related information received from local departments of health. In addition, the majority of participants felt that perception of or concern about future stigma related to a COVID-19 diagnosis or association of COVID-19 with the Jewish community was high and also significantly predicted distress and anxiety. The current study demonstrates the ways in which religious institutions can play a vital role in promoting the well-being of their constituents. During this unprecedented pandemic, public health authorities have an opportunity to form partnerships with religious institutions in the common interests of promoting health, relaying accurate information and supporting the psychosocial needs of community members, as well as protecting communities against stigma and discrimination.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Self-Reported Symptom Tracking Programs in the United States: Framework Synthesis

10.2196/23297 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. e23297
Author(s):  
Tracey Pérez Koehlmoos ◽  
Miranda Lynn Janvrin ◽  
Jessica Korona-Bailey ◽  
Cathaleen Madsen ◽  
Rodney Sturdivant
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Smoking Status ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Common Data Elements ◽  
Local Health Care

Background With the continued spread of COVID-19 in the United States, identifying potential outbreaks before infected individuals cross the clinical threshold is key to allowing public health officials time to ensure local health care institutions are adequately prepared. In response to this need, researchers have developed participatory surveillance technologies that allow individuals to report emerging symptoms daily so that their data can be extrapolated and disseminated to local health care authorities. Objective This study uses a framework synthesis to evaluate existing self-reported symptom tracking programs in the United States for COVID-19 as an early-warning tool for probable clusters of infection. This in turn will inform decision makers and health care planners about these technologies and the usefulness of their information to aid in federal, state, and local efforts to mobilize effective current and future pandemic responses. Methods Programs were identified through keyword searches and snowball sampling, then screened for inclusion. A best fit framework was constructed for all programs that met the inclusion criteria by collating information collected from each into a table for easy comparison. Results We screened 8 programs; 6 were included in our final framework synthesis. We identified multiple common data elements, including demographic information like race, age, gender, and affiliation (all were associated with universities, medical schools, or schools of public health). Dissimilarities included collection of data regarding smoking status, mental well-being, and suspected exposure to COVID-19. Conclusions Several programs currently exist that track COVID-19 symptoms from participants on a semiregular basis. Coordination between symptom tracking program research teams and local and state authorities is currently lacking, presenting an opportunity for collaboration to avoid duplication of efforts and more comprehensive knowledge dissemination.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Self-Reported Symptom Tracking Programs in the United States: Framework Synthesis (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracey Pérez Koehlmoos ◽  
Miranda Lynn Janvrin ◽  
Jessica Korona-Bailey ◽  
Cathaleen Madsen ◽  
Rodney Sturdivant
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Smoking Status ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Common Data Elements ◽  
Local Health Care

BACKGROUND With the continued spread of COVID-19 in the United States, identifying potential outbreaks before infected individuals cross the clinical threshold is key to allowing public health officials time to ensure local health care institutions are adequately prepared. In response to this need, researchers have developed participatory surveillance technologies that allow individuals to report emerging symptoms daily so that their data can be extrapolated and disseminated to local health care authorities. OBJECTIVE This study uses a framework synthesis to evaluate existing self-reported symptom tracking programs in the United States for COVID-19 as an early-warning tool for probable clusters of infection. This in turn will inform decision makers and health care planners about these technologies and the usefulness of their information to aid in federal, state, and local efforts to mobilize effective current and future pandemic responses. METHODS Programs were identified through keyword searches and snowball sampling, then screened for inclusion. A best fit framework was constructed for all programs that met the inclusion criteria by collating information collected from each into a table for easy comparison. RESULTS We screened 8 programs; 6 were included in our final framework synthesis. We identified multiple common data elements, including demographic information like race, age, gender, and affiliation (all were associated with universities, medical schools, or schools of public health). Dissimilarities included collection of data regarding smoking status, mental well-being, and suspected exposure to COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS Several programs currently exist that track COVID-19 symptoms from participants on a semiregular basis. Coordination between symptom tracking program research teams and local and state authorities is currently lacking, presenting an opportunity for collaboration to avoid duplication of efforts and more comprehensive knowledge dissemination.

scholarly journals Age-Standardized Mortality of Persons on Probation, in Jail, or in State Prison and the General Population, 2001-2012

2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (6) ◽  
pp. 660-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Wildeman ◽  
Alyssa W. Goldman ◽  
Emily A. Wang
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Age Distribution ◽  
Correctional Facility ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
State Prison ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Standardized Mortality Ratios

Objectives: The number of adults in the United States being held on probation—persons convicted of crimes and serving their sentence in the community rather than in a correctional facility—approached 4 million at the end of 2016 and continues to grow, yet little is known about the health and well-being of this population. We compared the standardized mortality ratios of persons on probation in the United States with persons in jail, persons in state prison, and the general US population. Methods: We used administrative data from 2001-2012 from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention WONDER database and indirect standardization techniques to compare the mortality rates of persons on probation in 15 states with the mortality rates of persons in jail, persons in state prison, and the general US population. We applied the age-specific mortality rates of 3 populations (general US population, persons in jail, and persons in state prison) to the age distribution of persons on probation to estimate standardized mortality ratios. Results: Persons on probation died at a rate 3.42 times higher than persons in jail, 2.81 times higher than persons in state prison, and 2.10 times higher than the general US population, after standardizing the age distribution of persons on probation relative to the other 3 groups. Conclusions: Public health interventions should target persons on probation, who have received less attention from the public health community than persons serving sentences in jails and prisons.

scholarly journals A Survey of Tick Surveillance and Control Practices in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily M Mader ◽  
Claudia Ganser ◽  
Annie Geiger ◽  
Laura C Harrington ◽  
Janet Foley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Data Communication ◽  
The United States ◽  
Tick Control ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Surveillance Program ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Pathogen Testing ◽  
And Control

Abstract Tickborne diseases are an increasing public health threat in the United States. Prevention and diagnosis of tickborne diseases are improved by access to current and accurate information on where medically important ticks and their associated human and veterinary pathogens are present, their local abundance or prevalence, and when ticks are actively seeking hosts. The true extent of tick and tickborne pathogen expansion is poorly defined, in part because of a lack of nationally standardized tick surveillance. We surveyed 140 vector-borne disease professionals working in state, county, and local public health and vector control agencies to assess their 1) tick surveillance program objectives, 2) pathogen testing methods, 3) tick control practices, 4) data communication strategies, and 5) barriers to program development and operation. Fewer than half of respondents reported that their jurisdiction was engaged in routine, active tick surveillance, but nearly two-thirds reported engaging in passive tick surveillance. Detection of tick presence was the most commonly stated current surveillance objective (76.2%). Most of the programs currently supporting tick pathogen testing were in the Northeast (70.8%), Upper and Central Midwest (64.3%), and the West (71.4%) regions. The most common pathogens screened for were Rickettsia spp. (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) and bacterial and viral agents transmitted by Ixodes (Acari: Ixodidae) ticks. Only 12% of respondents indicated their jurisdiction directly conducts or otherwise financially supports tick control. Responses indicated that their ability to expand the capacity of tick surveillance and control programs was impeded by inconsistent funding, limited infrastructure, guidance on best practices, and institutional capacity to perform these functions.

Online Well-Being Focused Curriculums

2017 ◽  
pp. 1415-1429
Author(s):  
Michelle Lee D'Abundo ◽  
Stephen L. Firsing III ◽  
Cara Lynn Sidman
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Quality Of Life ◽  
United States ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Behavior Change ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Health Related

Education and health are among the most salient issues facing Americans today. The field of public health has moved away from a physical health medical model to a more well-being focused quality-of-life perspective. K-20 curriculums in the United States need to reflect this ideological shift. In this chapter, content-focused curriculums with process-focused health behavior change-oriented learning are proposed as a strategy to promote well-being. Other issues that need to be addressed in the current education system are that the delivery of health-related curriculums is often inconsistent and taught by untrained personnel. Well-being-focused curriculums delivered online can provide consistency to improve the quality of health courses. This innovative approach has the potential to improve educational and health outcomes for K-20 curriculums while addressing public health issues by promoting well-being and quality-of-life for children and adults throughout the United States.

Food Insecurity and Public Health

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Knowles ◽  
Joanna Simmons ◽  
Mariana Chilton
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Child Nutrition ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Assistance Program ◽  
Nutrition Assistance ◽  
The Right

Food insecurity—lack of access to enough food for an active and healthy life—is a major public health issue, affecting the health and well-being of one in seven people in the United States. Food insecurity is related to economic, social, and political conditions, and is beyond the control of a single household. Structural inequalities and discrimination against people of color, LGBTQ people, immigrants, people with disabilities, and women drives disparities in food insecurity. Major policy interventions include raising wages, improving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, various programs of the Child Nutrition Reauthorization, and the Elder Nutrition Program, but these programs are not sufficient to address food insecurity fully. A human rights approach, which recognizes the right to food and promotes increasing civic participation among people from all sectors, offers new possibilities in addressing food insecurity in the United States.

Two Worlds Colliding

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Fiorino
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Compelling Evidence ◽  
Green Growth ◽  
Ecological Politics ◽  
Zero Sum

In recent decades, ecological politics in the United States has been locked in a zero-sum conflict, with ecological goals pitted against economic ones. The result is that ecosystems and public health are increasingly at risk, needed transitions in energy and other systems are delayed, and opportunities for leveraging economic and ecological goals are unrealized. This matters, because economic growth is placing increasing pressures on local, regional, and global ecosystems and resources. Growing and compelling evidence of ecological limits raises not only critical threats to health and the natural environment but undermines the very basis for economic and social well-being. The alternative to an irresponsible strategy of unguided growth or a politically unrealistic and socially risky one of no growth or de-growth is that of green growth. Green growth defines a basis for both a politically realistic framing of ecology–economy issues and a workable policy agenda for change.

Religiously Affiliated Healthcare Institutions

2021 ◽  
pp. 29-43
Author(s):  
Lori Freedman ◽  
Debra Stulberg
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Medical Care ◽  
Moral Distress ◽  
The United States ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Best Interest ◽  
Religiously Affiliated ◽  
United States Healthcare ◽  
To Receive

Religious hospitals represent a large and growing share of the United States healthcare system. As these networks expand their reach, patients may face additional threats to their ability to receive care based on their own values. Physicians practicing in religious institutions—especially in Catholic hospitals—have experienced moral distress when prevented from providing medical care in accordance with the patient’s best interest, and many are surprised by the scope of restrictions under Catholic directives. Patients need accurate information about the care they can expect to receive in religious institutions. However, many lack awareness and knowledge of how to identify religious institutions and services available. This chapter addresses the history, clinical conflicts, bioethical concerns, and empiric literature about reproductive care in US religious healthcare institutions, focusing on Catholic health systems.

scholarly journals How the United States Flunked the COVID-19 Test: Some Observations and Several Lessons

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 568-576
Author(s):  
H. Daniel Xu ◽  
Rashmita Basu
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Health Care Policy ◽  
Intergovernmental Relations ◽  
Human Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Key Issues

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has already caused enormous economic and human life losses in the United States and it is still ravaging the country. In this article, the authors argue that the pandemic has exposed key issues of concern in several areas of the American government system ranging from federalist intergovernmental relations to public health system and to health care policy. These issues of concern include the strained federal-state relations in emergency management, inadequate data collection and data reporting for disease surveillance and control, politicization and diminished role of science and evidence in administrative decision making, and underinvestment in public health programs especially in minority health. Based on their analysis, the authors admonish that it is critically important for the U.S. government to learn from the failed response to the pandemic and offer several recommendations for improving its response to future public health emergencies and research in public administration.

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