scholarly journals Health Promotion Programs to Reduce Noncommunicable Diseases: A Call for Action in Kuwait

Healthcare ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Salman ◽  
Eleni Tolma ◽  
Sungsoo Chun ◽  
Kennedy O. Sigodo ◽  
Adel Al-Hunayan
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Planning Framework ◽  
Health Promotion Programs ◽  
Important Health ◽  
Health Related

Most public health issues in Kuwait are related to unhealthy behaviours. Research shows that behaviours are the result not only exclusively of personal choices but also of myriads of other social and environmental factors. Kuwait is one of the leading countries in obesity and tobacco use in the world. Cardiovascular diseases stemming from complications related to these and other risk factors are important health issues based on their morbidity and mortality implications. These risks are spread across society and affect the old as well as young boys. The serious gaps between Kuwait’s health-related needs and the existing policies to reduce public health risks in Kuwait create a significant obstacle to healthy behaviour change. Kuwait requires adequate laws, policies, regulations, activities, and programs to promote people’s health. The Socio-Ecological Model (SEM) has been used successfully in health promotion in various behavioural settings, including obesity, physical inactivity, and smoking. We propose the use of SEM as a planning framework in building sustainable health promotion programs in Kuwait while paying attention to other concepts such as systems thinking, authentic community participation, community capacity, policy development, public health infrastructure enhancement, health coaching, and equity.

scholarly journals A Failure of Political Communication Not a Failure of Bureaucracy: The Danger of Presidential Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 614-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Hatcher
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Political Polarization ◽  
Medical Procedures ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Incorrect Information

President Trump’s communications during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic violate principles of public health, such as practicing transparency and deferring to medical experts. Moreover, the president’s communications are dangerous and misleading, and his lack of leadership during the crisis limits the nation’s response to the problem, increases political polarization around public health issues of social distancing, and spreads incorrect information about health-related policies and medical procedures. To correct the dangerous path that the nation is on, the administration needs to adopt a more expert-centered approach to the crisis, and President Trump needs to practice compassion, empathy, and transparency in his communications.

scholarly journals Analysis of corporate political activity strategies of the food industry: evidence from France

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (18) ◽  
pp. 3407-3421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Mialon ◽  
Jonathan Mialon
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Different Sources

AbstractObjectiveTo identify the corporate political activity (CPA) of major food industry actors in France.DesignWe followed an approach based on information available in the public domain. Different sources of information, freely accessible to the public, were monitored.Setting/SubjectsData were collected and analysed between March and August 2015. Five actors were selected: ANIA (Association Nationale des Industries Agroalimentaires/National Association of Agribusiness Industries); Coca-Cola; McDonald’s; Nestlé; and Carrefour.ResultsOur analysis shows that the main practices used by Coca-Cola and McDonald’s were the framing of diet and public health issues in ways favourable to the company, and their involvement in the community. ANIA primarily used the ‘information and messaging’ strategy (e.g. by promoting deregulation and shaping the evidence base on diet- and public health-related issues), as well as the ‘policy substitution’ strategy. Nestlé framed diet and public health issues, and shaped the evidence base on diet- and public health-related issues. Carrefour particularly sought involvement in the community.ConclusionsWe found that, in 2015, the food industry in France was using CPA practices that were also used by other industries in the past, such as the tobacco and alcohol industries. Because most, if not all, of these practices proved detrimental to public health when used by the tobacco industry, we propose that the precautionary principle should guide decisions when engaging or interacting with the food industry.

scholarly journals Health Education – Responsibility – Changing Attitude. A New Pedagogical and Methodological Concept of Peer Education

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-74
Author(s):  
Helga Judit Feith ◽  
Ágnes Lukács J. ◽  
Edina Gradvohl ◽  
Rita Füzi ◽  
Sarolta Mészárosné Darvay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Health Education ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Peer Education ◽  
Service Work ◽  
Traditional Teaching ◽  
Traditional Teaching Methods ◽  
Health Promotion Programs ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Health-related attitudes can be modified and supported most effectively at young ages. Young generations require more interpersonal and interactive pedagogical methods in programs engaged in health promotion, as well. The aim of the authors was to get an insight into a relatively novel pedagogical method, called peer education. This multilateral activity is focusing the procedure on attitudes, experience, and motivation of youngsters in connection with health promotion programs and community service work. In this article, the authors describe 1) the theory, origin, and principal influences of peer education compared to traditional teaching methods and 2) the new, efficiency-oriented and science-based methodology of health education program.

scholarly journals Valuing experiential knowledge in health promotion: a new method to build up knowledge in France

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Laurent ◽  
C Ferron ◽  
P Berry ◽  
B Soudier ◽  
B Georgelin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Core Competencies ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Experiential Knowledge ◽  
New Method ◽  
Tobacco Prevention ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Sports Clubs

Abstract Issue Effectiveness analyses of health promotion (HP) interventions (HPI) abound nowadays in France, but few research details how HPI work, nor explains how practitioners can translate conclusive evidence from the literature into action. Furthermore, large amounts of experiential knowledge remain untapped and undervalued. To close these gaps, a national multidisciplinary committee, comprising public officials, academics and practitioners, has worked since 2016 at designing a new method to build up knowledge in HP. CEKHP The method aims at Capitalizing, collecting and circulating Experiential Knowledge in HP (CEKHP). Committee members first investigated methods used in other countries to synthesize and share practical evidence, then drafted and experimented CEKHP in 11 different settings to test its relevance and applicability. Results Key components of CEKHP are: 1/CEKHP consists in in-depth semi-structured interviews and offers a guideline template adjustable for various contexts and multiple public health issues (behaviors, environments, etc.); 2/a trained outsider, mastering 7 core competencies, must conduct CEKHP; 3/CEKHP includes a framework for reporting key mechanisms that influence HPI outcomes. Detailed mechanisms include: context, partnerships, key steps, barriers and levers, ethics, theoretical foundations (intervention models, evidence-based literature, etc.), transferability. A guidebook and a toolkit are published in 2020. CEKHP successfully disseminates within the French HP community. It is currently used as the main data collection tool in a research project investigating health promoting sports clubs (PROCeSS) and in a practice-focused project documenting tobacco prevention (DCAP). Lessons Practitioners benefit from access to knowledge on how HPI work. CEKHP offers new tools to value and disseminate experiential knowledge. Given that policymakers increasingly prioritize funding in France on documented HPI, providing such tools and training is crucial. Key messages CEKHP offers a new method in the French context that has proven fruitful in various settings, for various public health issues, and can be useful to practitioners and researchers alike. Building up experiential knowledge with and for practitioners can be effective at both documenting practices and helping them gain new skills and better understanding of their interventions.

scholarly journals Health Equity Lens Embedded in the Public Health Policies of Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative Document Analysis

SAGE Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824402096277
Author(s):  
Leena Eklund Karlsson ◽  
Anne Leena Ikonen ◽  
Kothar Mohammed Alqahtani ◽  
Pernille Tanggaard Andersen ◽  
Subash Thapa
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Health Equity ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health Related

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), no studies have been documented to analyze the equity aspects of public health policies. The aims of the study were to identify policy documents in the KSA relevant to public health and to explore whether these include an equity approach. Twenty health-related documents were identified from various ministries’ websites and analyzed through directed content analysis. The results showed that the term “equity” was neither defined nor explained in the documents and suggestions on how to tackle health inequities were lacking. None of the suggested measures communicated an explicit focus on promoting health equity or the social gradient. Several upstream, midstream, and downstream measures were suggested to improve justice and public health for the people. The study reveals that there is a need for an in-depth assessment of the policy measures across sectors and their influence on health equity to inform future health policy development and action in the KSA.

scholarly journals Health in the 2018 Italian general election

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Guicciardi ◽  
M Quargnolo ◽  
G Moser ◽  
R D’Avenia ◽  
F Toth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Implementation Strategies ◽  
General Election ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Social Relevance ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
Health Related ◽  
General Elections

Abstract Background General elections represent a peculiar moment in which clear positions on relevant topics are more likely to emerge. Therefore, they may serve as a reference point to monitor policy development and to verify decision makers’ accountability. The aim of this study is to systematically examine the proposals on health issues in the manifestos of the 38 parties running in the 2018 Italian general election, comparing them with the contents shared on social media. Methods All the electoral manifestos published on the websites of each party and of the Italian Ministry of the Interior were collected and independently assessed by four evaluators. A list of 48 health themes grouped into 13 main domains into was then consensually created and used to classify the reported proposals. Parties’ official social media accounts (Facebook and Twitter) were subsequently screened for selected keywords to determine the frequency and the content of health-related posts. Results Thirty out of 38 parties included a specific section on health in their programmes or generally addressed healthcare topics. The most covered themes were health promotion and lifestyles, self-sufficiency of fragile populations, management of private healthcare and health workforce, although implementation strategies varied greatly and only in a few cases it was possible to compare them. On social media, health related posts represented less than 1% of the contents shared by any party during the election campaign. Conclusions In the 2018 Italian election campaign the majority of the parties’ manifestos explicitly addressed health issues but, apart from a few exceptions, significant differences were present in the themes and in the proposed solutions, mostly generic. On social media health was almost neglected. Despite its social relevance, health played a marginal role in the 2018 Italian election campaign.

The Antimicrobial Resistance Crisis: How Neoliberalism Helps Microbes Dodge Our Drugs

2020 ◽  
pp. 002073142094982
Author(s):  
Ilinca A. Dutescu
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Antimicrobial Resistance ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Related Services ◽  
Inappropriate Behaviors ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Important Health ◽  
Health Related

The urgent public health threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has received much attention from the world’s most important health agencies and national governmental organizations. However, despite large investments being allocated to strategizing national and international plans for addressing this public health problem, the incidence of untreatable, antimicrobial-resistant diseases continues to rise in many nations. To avoid returning to a society in which common infections once again become deadly, one must consider the often-ignored root causes driving inappropriate behaviors relating to antimicrobial use, such as the history of antimicrobial drug development, the effects of commodifying health-related services, and the rise in social inequalities. By employing the lens of political economy to analyze the phenomenon of AMR on national and international scales, it is found that the acceptance of neoliberalism as a governing ideology by authorities is hindering our ability to globally combat AMR through the depoliticization of issues that require political intervention to stimulate change. Differences in level of AMR and approaches to pharmaceutical governance between social democratic and liberal welfare states provide validity to this hypothesis.

scholarly journals Building Capacity to Increase Health Promotion Funding to American Indian Communities

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 907-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Pedersen ◽  
Suzanne (Christopher) Held ◽  
Blakely Brown
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
American Indian ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Community Capacity ◽  
Funding Agency ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Application Process ◽  
Funding Agencies ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
Health Promotion Programs

Foundations and government agencies have historically played a critical role in supporting community-based health promotion programs. Increased access to health promotion funding may help address significant health issues existing within American Indian (AI) communities, such as childhood obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Understanding the capacity of AI communities to successfully apply for and receive funding may serve to increase resources for health promotion efforts within AI communities in Montana. This exploratory qualitative study completed 17 semistructured interviews across three AI reservations in the state of Montana. Dimensions of community capacity within the context of the funding application process and partnership with funding agencies were identified, including resources, leadership, community need, networks, and relationship with the funding agency. Dimensions of AI community capacity were then used to suggest capacity-building strategies for improved partnership between AI communities in Montana and the funding agencies.

scholarly journals Arts-based approaches to promoting health in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. e001987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Bunn ◽  
Chisomo Kalinga ◽  
Otiyela Mtema ◽  
Sharifa Abdulla ◽  
Angel Dillip ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Arts And Humanities ◽  
Art Forms ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Hiv Aids

IntroductionArts-based approaches to health promotion have been used widely across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), particularly in public health responses to HIV/AIDS. Such approaches draw on deep-rooted historical traditions of indigenous groups in combination with imported traditions which emerged from colonial engagement. To date, no review has sought to map the locations, health issues, art forms and methods documented by researchers using arts-based approaches in SSA.MethodsUsing scoping review methodology, 11 databases spanning biomedicine, arts and humanities and social sciences were searched. Researchers screened search results for papers using predefined criteria. Papers included in the review were read and summarised using a standardised proforma. Descriptive statistics were produced to characterise the location of the studies, art forms used or discussed, and the health issues addressed, and to determine how best to summarise the literature identified.ResultsSearches identified a total of 59 794 records, which reduced to 119 after screening. We identified literature representing 30 (62.5%) of the 48 countries in the SSA region. The papers covered 16 health issues. The majority (84.9%) focused on HIV/AIDS-related work, with Ebola (5.0%) and malaria (3.3%) also receiving attention. Most studies used a single art form (79.0%), but a significant number deployed multiple forms (21.0%). Theatre-based approaches were most common (43.7%), followed by music and song (22.6%), visual arts (other) (9.2%), storytelling (7.6%) and film (5.0%).ConclusionsArts-based approaches have been widely deployed in health promotion in SSA, particularly in response to HIV/AIDS. Historically and as evidenced by this review, arts-based approaches have provided a platform to facilitate enquiry, achieved significant reach and in some instances supported demonstrable health-related change. Challenges relating to content, power relations and evaluation have been reported. Future research should focus on broadening application to other conditions, such as non-communicable diseases, and on addressing challenges raised in research to date.

scholarly journals Health Risks of Selected Mass Gatherings in the Philippines in 2015 and Implications for Public Health Preparedness

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald P. Law
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
Public Health Preparedness ◽  
Mass Gatherings ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Important Health ◽  
Medical Teams ◽  
Public Health Strategies

Background. Mass gatherings (MG) are events that draw together a large number of people in one or several occasions happening in single or multiple places for a definite period of time. These can lead to different public health risks through exposure to infectious diseases, trauma, and environmental factors. The Philippine Department of Health (DOH) in 2015 participated in special planned events that constituted mass gatherings namely the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, the Black Nazarene procession, and the Papal Visit. Objective. The study aimed to describe the different health risks arising from the three (3) identified mass gathering events in the Philippines in 2015 and relate them to public health preparedness. Methods. This was a descriptive study of the health risks arising from the MG events. Sources of data were reports submitted by deployed medical teams to the Operations Center (Opcen) that closely monitored the MG. Results. The study found infectious causes, trauma, temperature-related conditions, and noncommunicable diseases to be the important categories of health risks in the specified mass gatherings. These validated the common health risk categories observed in previously well-studied mass gatherings. Conclusion. The study highlighted important health risks and factors for consideration in public health preparedness for mass gatherings in terms of appropriate and effective public health strategies that should be established to minimize health risks and reduce health system impacts of mass gatherings.

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