scholarly journals Mercury Exposure among E-Waste Recycling Workers in Colombia: Perceptions of Safety, Risk, and Access to Health Information

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 9295
Author(s):  
Maria Jensen ◽  
David Andrés Combariza Bayona ◽  
Kam Sripada
Keyword(s):  
Health Risks ◽  
Waste Recycling ◽  
Mercury Exposure ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Fluorescent Lamps ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
Toxic Exposures ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Element Mercury

Exposures to the toxic element mercury (Hg) are exceptionally high among recycling workers globally. Recycling is a growing sector in Colombia, yet workers who directly handle e-waste are often unaware of the risks of exposure to mercury from post-consumer lighting products (e.g., fluorescent lamps). This qualitative study aimed to understand how recycling workers perceive their own risks from mercury exposure and how they find information about these risks, through interviews (n = 35) at the three largest formal recycling facilities in Colombia. Workers’ risk perception was generally disconnected from their likely actual exposure to mercury, instead often seen juxtaposed to co-workers who worked more directly with hazardous waste. Recycling workers, who were predominantly men from lower-income socioeconomic backgrounds, had limited knowledge of health risks due to mercury exposure and were more likely to receive health-related information from informal sources. Over a third of interviewees had searched online for information about occupational health risks of mercury, but these searches were perceived as unsatisfactory due to information being difficult to find, not available in Spanish, or related to mercury exposure via seafood or mining rather than recycling. Workers expressed (over)confidence in personal protective equipment and concern about frequent employee turnover. This study points to weaknesses in environmental health literacy and public health communication around toxic exposures to mercury in the workplace. Stronger regulation and enforcement are needed to prevent toxic exposures and promote worker health equity.

Access to Health-Related Information in a Selected Community in the Gokwe South District, Zimbabwe

Mousaion ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mthokozisi Masumbika Ncube ◽  
Godfrey Tsvuura
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Local Council ◽  
Related Information ◽  
District Council ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
Midlands Province ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Government

The Gokwe South District is among the top districts in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe with several health-related challenges, as indicated by the statistics from the Zimbabwe National Health Profile. The premise of this study was, therefore, to establish mechanisms that could be instituted to ensure access to health-related information for the Gokwe South community members. The study was pragmatic, through an embedded mixed-methods design. Opportunity sampling was used to select 72 community members. Expert sampling was used to select an information officer of the Gokwe Rural District Council and two members of the Zimbabwe Library Association Midlands Branch. Questionnaires were used to collect data from the community members, whereas interviews were used to generate data from the information officer, and the members of the Zimbabwe Library Association Midlands Branch. The study found that the community members faced varied challenges when accessing health-related information, which included digital illiteracy, the lack of health information centres, geographic seclusion of communities, and information format challenges. As a way forward, the study noted the need for the institution of community libraries and health information centres by the government, through the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, in conjunction with the local council. In addition, diverse associations, such as the Zimbabwe Library Association, were recommended to play an active role in offering digital and information literacy programmes to the community members.

Managing Calls to Mauri Ora: Medical Reception in Action

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Fiona Grattan
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Medical Training ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
Health Related

<p>Often a patient’s first contact with their health service is through a medical receptionist. Literature has framed medical receptionists as gate-keepers, and few studies have examined what they actually do when they answer incoming calls by studying recordings of them. The current thesis asks how receptionists managed calls to Mauri Ora, a student health service, to deliver what the callers were asking for. The findings present evidence that receptionists are skilled and supportive in their interactions with patients.  Following discursive psychology and conversation analysis as theoretical and methodological frameworks this thesis examined naturally occurring social interactions to discover how joint understanding and coordinated action was accomplished. Eighteen (N=18) calls between receptionists and patients were recorded, transcribed and examined in detail for what happened in each call and how receptionists worked to deliver what the callers were asking for.  Callers ring with a broad range of different problems. The analysis documents how receptionists showed that they understood what callers wanted, and the ways they worked to progress solutions. The examination of requests for doctors’ appointments were of particular interest because of their very limited availability and the triage process for getting one. By establishing with the caller the conditions under which they could see a doctor, including if it was an urgent problem, receptionists opened the door to the health care being sought. A difficult matter for receptionists is asking for and responding to health-related information because they have no medical training. An additional aspect of the analysis demonstrated that receptionists only asked for medical information as a record for triage referral, and when it had not previously been disclosed.  Far from casting medical receptionists as gate-keepers withholding help, the current thesis demonstrates their orientation towards granting the requests of callers and doing what they can to facilitate access to health care. Practical applications for the training and practice of medical receptionists are considered as well as future research, and the ethical constraints of this kind of work.</p>

Human health risks from mercury exposure from broken compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs)

2012 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 542-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Nance ◽  
J. Patterson ◽  
A. Willis ◽  
N. Foronda ◽  
M. Dourson
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Mercury Exposure ◽  
Human Health Risks ◽  
Fluorescent Lamps ◽  
Compact Fluorescent Lamps

scholarly journals Evaluating Hospital Websites in Kuwait to Improve Consumer Engagement and Access to Health Information: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dari Alhuwail ◽  
Zainab AlMeraj ◽  
Fatima Boujarwah
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Consumer Engagement ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
The State Of Kuwait

BACKGROUND Current advances in information and communication technology have made accessing and obtaining health-related information easier than ever before. Today, many hospital websites use a patient-centric approach to promote engagement and encourage learning for better health-related decision making. However, little is known about the current state of hospital websites in the State of Kuwait. OBJECTIVE This study aims to thoroughly evaluate hospital websites in Kuwait and offer recommendations to improve consumer engagement and access to health information. METHODS This study employs a cross-sectional analytical approach to evalu- ate hospital websites in Kuwait in 2017. The websites of hospitals that provide in-patient services were identified through a structured search. Only active websites that were available in either English or Arabic were considered. The evaluation of the websites involved a combination of automated and expert- based evaluation methods and was performed across four dimensions: Accessibility, usability, presence, and content. RESULTS Nine hospitals met the inclusion criteria. Most of the websites fell short in all four dimensions. None of the websites passed the accessibility guidelines. The usability of websites varied between hospitals. Overall, the majority of hospitals in Kuwait have rudimentary online presences and their websites require careful reassessment with respect to design, content, and user experience. The websites focus primarily on promoting services provided by the hospital rather than engaging and communicating with patients or providing evidence-based information CONCLUSIONS Healthcare organization and website developers should follow best-practices to improve their websites taking into consideration the quality, readability, objectivity, coverage and currency of the information as well as the design of their websites. Hospitals should leverage social media to gain outreach and better engagement with consumers. The websites should be offered in additional languages commonly spoken by people living in Kuwait. Efforts should be made to ensure that health information on hospital websites are evidence-based and checked by healthcare professionals.

scholarly journals An exploratory study of social media users’ engagement with COVID-19 vaccine-related content

F1000Research ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 236
Author(s):  
Md. Sayeed Al-Zaman
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Communication Climate ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Unexplored Area ◽  
Media Platform

Background: Facebook, as the world’s most popular social media platform, has been playing various important roles throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing users to produce and share health-related information that both eases and complicates public health communication. However, the characteristics of vaccine-related Facebook content and users’ reaction to the vaccine issue has been an unexplored area to date. Methods: To fill the previous knowledge-gap, this exploratory study wants to understand the communication climate of Facebook on the COVID-19 vaccine issue, including the nature of dominant content and users’ engagement patterns with them. Therefore, the study analyzes the 10,000 most popular Facebook posts with the highest interactions on the vaccine issue. Results: The results show that Facebook users prioritize more vaccine-related news links (71.22%) over other content. The declining interactions on the issue suggests that interaction growth mainly depends on positive news on the vaccine. Finally, users’ reaction to the vaccine issue is dominantly positive, though they may show a highly negative attitude toward vaccine misinformation. Conclusions: A few limitations and strengths of this study are discussed along with values and implications. This study for the first time analyzes Bangla language-based Facebook content related to the COVID-19 vaccine issue, which is largely overlooked in global academic research.

scholarly journals An exploratory study of social media users’ engagement with COVID-19 vaccine-related content

F1000Research ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 236
Author(s):  
Md. Sayeed Al-Zaman
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Communication Climate ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Unexplored Area ◽  
Media Platform

Background: Facebook, as the world’s most popular social media platform, has been playing various important roles throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing users to produce and share health-related information that both eases and complicates public health communication. However, the characteristics of vaccine-related Facebook content and users’ reaction to the vaccine issue has been an unexplored area to date. Methods: To fill the previous knowledge-gap, this exploratory study wants to understand the communication climate of Facebook on the COVID-19 vaccine issue, including the nature of dominant content and users’ engagement patterns with them. Therefore, the study analyzes the 10,000 most popular Facebook posts with the highest interactions on the vaccine issue. Results: The results show that Facebook users prioritize more vaccine-related news links (71.22%) over other content. The declining interactions on the issue suggests that interaction growth mainly depends on positive news on the vaccine. Finally, users’ reaction to the vaccine issue is dominantly positive, though they may show a highly negative attitude toward vaccine misinformation. Conclusions: A few limitations and strengths of this study are discussed along with values and implications. This study for the first time analyzes Bangla language-based Facebook content related to the COVID-19 vaccine issue, which is largely overlooked in global academic research.

scholarly journals An exploratory study of social media users’ engagement with COVID-19 vaccine-related content

F1000Research ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 236
Author(s):  
Md. Sayeed Al-Zaman
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Communication Climate ◽  
Public Health Communication ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Unexplored Area ◽  
Media Platform

Background: Facebook, as the world’s most popular social media platform, has been playing various important roles throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing users to produce and share health-related information that both eases and complicates public health communication. However, the characteristics of vaccine-related Facebook content and users’ reaction to the vaccine issue has been an unexplored area to date. Methods: To fill the previous knowledge-gap, this exploratory study wants to understand the communication climate of Facebook on the COVID-19 vaccine issue, including the nature of dominant content and users’ engagement patterns with them. Therefore, the study analyzes the 10,000 most popular Facebook posts with the highest interactions on the vaccine issue. Results: The results show that Facebook users prioritize more vaccine-related news links (71.22%) over other content. The declining interactions on the issue suggests that interaction growth mainly depends on positive news on the vaccine. Finally, users’ reaction to the vaccine issue is dominantly positive, though they may show a highly negative attitude toward vaccine misinformation. Conclusions: A few limitations and strengths of this study are discussed along with values and implications. This study for the first time analyzes Bangla language-based Facebook content related to the COVID-19 vaccine issue, which is largely overlooked in global academic research.

Managing Calls to Mauri Ora: Medical Reception in Action

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Fiona Grattan
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Medical Training ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
Health Related

<p>Often a patient’s first contact with their health service is through a medical receptionist. Literature has framed medical receptionists as gate-keepers, and few studies have examined what they actually do when they answer incoming calls by studying recordings of them. The current thesis asks how receptionists managed calls to Mauri Ora, a student health service, to deliver what the callers were asking for. The findings present evidence that receptionists are skilled and supportive in their interactions with patients.  Following discursive psychology and conversation analysis as theoretical and methodological frameworks this thesis examined naturally occurring social interactions to discover how joint understanding and coordinated action was accomplished. Eighteen (N=18) calls between receptionists and patients were recorded, transcribed and examined in detail for what happened in each call and how receptionists worked to deliver what the callers were asking for.  Callers ring with a broad range of different problems. The analysis documents how receptionists showed that they understood what callers wanted, and the ways they worked to progress solutions. The examination of requests for doctors’ appointments were of particular interest because of their very limited availability and the triage process for getting one. By establishing with the caller the conditions under which they could see a doctor, including if it was an urgent problem, receptionists opened the door to the health care being sought. A difficult matter for receptionists is asking for and responding to health-related information because they have no medical training. An additional aspect of the analysis demonstrated that receptionists only asked for medical information as a record for triage referral, and when it had not previously been disclosed.  Far from casting medical receptionists as gate-keepers withholding help, the current thesis demonstrates their orientation towards granting the requests of callers and doing what they can to facilitate access to health care. Practical applications for the training and practice of medical receptionists are considered as well as future research, and the ethical constraints of this kind of work.</p>

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