scholarly journals Rapid, collaborative generation and review of COVID-19 pandemic-specific competencies for family medicine residency training

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Wooltorton ◽  
Edward Seale ◽  
Denice Lewis ◽  
Kendall Noel ◽  
Clare Liddy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Quality Improvement Process ◽  
Collaborative Editing ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Competency Based ◽  
Teaching Learning

Background: In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted competency-based medical education in Family Medicine programs across Canada. Faculty and residents identified a need for clear, relevant, and specific competencies to frame teaching, learning, supervision and feedback during the pandemic. Methods: A rapid, iterative, educational quality improvement process was launched. Phase 1 involved experienced educators defining gaps in our program’s existing competency-database, reviewing emerging public health and regulatory guidelines, and drafting competencies. Phase 2 involved translation, member-checking, and anonymous feedback and editing of draft competencies by residents and other educational leaders. Phase 3 involved wider dissemination, collaborative editing and feedback from residents and faculty throughout the department. Results: A total of 44 physicians including residents and faculty from multiple contexts provided detailed feedback, review, and editing of an ultimate list of 33 competencies organized by CanMEDS-FM roles. Broad agreement was obtained that the competencies form reasonable learning outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: These competencies represent learning objectives reflecting the initial educational mindsets of a wide range of teachers and learners experiencing a global pandemic. The project illustrates a novel collaboration across educational portfolios as a rapid educational response to a public health crisis.

scholarly journals ‘Long COVID’ syndrome

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. e241485
Author(s):  
Priyal Taribagil ◽  
Dean Creer ◽  
Hasan Tahir
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Complex Case ◽  
Shortness Of Breath ◽  
Gastrointestinal Dysfunction ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Public Health Crisis ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Poor Memory

SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in a global pandemic and an unprecedented public health crisis. Recent literature suggests the emergence of a novel syndrome known as ‘long COVID’, a term used to describe a diverse set of symptoms that persist after a minimum of 4 weeks from the onset of a diagnosed COVID-19 infection. Common symptoms include persistent breathlessness, fatigue and cough. Other symptoms reported include chest pain, palpitations, neurological and cognitive deficits, rashes, and gastrointestinal dysfunction. We present a complex case of a previously well 28-year-old woman who was diagnosed with COVID-19. After resolution of her acute symptoms, she continued to experience retrosternal discomfort, shortness of breath, poor memory and severe myalgia. Investigations yielded no significant findings. Given no alternative diagnosis, she was diagnosed with ‘long COVID’.

scholarly journals China's Public Health Policies in Response to COVID-19: From an “Authoritarian” Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinghua Gao ◽  
Pengfei Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Crisis Management ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
Authoritarian State ◽  
Public Health Crisis ◽  
Wide Range

Background: China is generally regarded internationally as an “authoritarian” state. Traditional definitions have assigned many negative connotations surrounding the term of authoritarian. We realize that it might not be considered value-neutral in other countries. But authoritarian in the Chinese context emphasizes more on centralized decision making, collectivism, coordinating all activities of the nation, and public support, which is considered a value-neutral term. Therefore, it is adopted in this paper. We would like to clarify this. Authoritarian governance is considered an important mechanism for developing China's economy and solving social problems. The COVID-19 crisis is no exception. Most of the current research on crisis management and government crises focuses on advanced, democratic countries. However, the consequences of crisis management by authoritarian governments have not been fully appreciated. Although prior research has addressed authoritarian initiatives to manage crises in China, authoritarian interventions have rarely been theorized in public health emergencies.Methods: Based on a literature review and theoretical analysis, we use a descriptive and qualitative approach to assess public health policies and mechanisms from an authoritarian perspective in China. In light of the key events and intervention measures of China's government in response to COVID-19, the strategic practices of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to construct, embody, or set political goals through authoritarian intervention in public health crisis management are discussed.Results: China's government responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with a comprehensive authoritarian intervention, notably by establishing a top-down leadership mechanism, implementing a resolute lockdown, rapidly establishing square cabin hospitals, enhancing cooperation between different government departments, mobilizing a wide range of volunteer resources, enforcing the use of health codes, imposing mandatory quarantine on those returning from abroad, and implementing city-wide nucleic acid testing. These measures ensured that China was able to contain the outbreak quickly and reflect on the unique role of the Chinese authoritarian system in responding to public health crises.Conclusions: Our paper contributes to expanding the existing understanding of the relationship between crisis management and authoritarian system. China's response to COVID-19 exemplifies the unique strengths of authoritarian institutions in public health crisis management, which is a helpful and practical tool to further enhance the CPC's political legitimacy. As a socialist model of crisis management with Chinese characteristics, it may offer desirable experiences and lessons for other countries still ravaged by the epidemic.

Disrupting the COVID-19 Misinfodemic With Network Interventions: Network Solutions for Network Problems

2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (3) ◽  
pp. 514-519
Author(s):  
Lindsay E. Young ◽  
Emily Sidnam-Mauch ◽  
Marlon Twyman ◽  
Liyuan Wang ◽  
Jackie Jingyi Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Network Problems ◽  
Social Network Intervention ◽  
Network Intervention

Amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, a highly troublesome influx of viral misinformation threatens to exacerbate the crisis through its deleterious effects on public health outcomes and health behavior decisions. This “misinfodemic” has ignited a surge of ongoing research aimed at characterizing its content, identifying its sources, and documenting its effects. Noticeably absent as of yet is a cogent strategy to disrupt misinformation. We start with the premise that the diffusion and persistence of COVID-19 misinformation are networked phenomena that require network interventions. To this end, we propose five classes of social network intervention to provide a roadmap of opportunities for disrupting misinformation dynamics during a global health crisis. Collectively, these strategies identify five distinct yet interdependent features of information environments that present viable opportunities for interventions.

Strategic Approach to Assess Training Needs Across a Diverse Region

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 28S-34S ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa C. McCormick ◽  
Justine J. Reel ◽  
Melissa Alperin ◽  
Laura M. Lloyd ◽  
Kathleen R. Miner
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Needs Assessment ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Training Needs ◽  
Public Health Workforce ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
Public Health Training ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Competency Based

The mission of the Region IV (R-IV) Public Health Training Center (PHTC), headquartered at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, is to develop and implement programming to train and educate public health professionals in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Region IV. To identify public health workforce development needs, the R-IV PHTC created a systematic process that included the implementation of a variety of strategies, to gain insights from each state within the diverse region. Conducting regular needs assessments is an integral step to ensure trainings are relevant and meet the needs of public health professionals. To this end, the PHTC employed a mixed methods approach to gather information on both competency-based and non–competency-based training needs, as well as training needs within R-IV’s content focus area of infectious disease. In R-IV there is great variability between the structures of the state and local health departments (e.g., some centralized, some decentralized), each of which faces different funding challenges and works with different service delivery models and regulatory authorities. Moreover, states have diverse populations (e.g., races, urban/rural, migrant/refugees, tribal, Appalachian) and face a wide range of public health priority concerns. Health departments were found to be at different stages of readiness to undertake a training needs assessment due to a number of issues, including their stage of pursuing Public Health Accreditation Board accreditation and recent participation in other needs assessment efforts. The R-IV PHTC approach to assessing training needs within this challenging environment is described.

Results and Recommendations From a National Public Health Workforce Development Systems Assessment Conducted in the United States

2020 ◽  
pp. 237337992090764
Author(s):  
Christina R. Welter ◽  
Betty Bekemeier ◽  
Jennifer McKeever
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
Health Workforce ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Workforce ◽  
Public Health Training ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Health Workforce Development

Multiple public health workforce development assessments report individual worker knowledge and skill-based training needs. These assessments do not capture practitioners’ in-depth perceptions of complex public health challenges and whether workforce development approaches address these issues. To address this gap, the Public Health Learning Network—a national coalition of 10 Regional Public Health Training Centers located at United States accredited schools of public health, their partners, and the National Network of Public Health Institutes—conducted a public health workforce development assessment using a two-phased mixed-method design to explore systems-level gaps and opportunities for improving workforce development effectiveness. Phase 1 included a content analysis of major public health workforce development reports and peer-reviewed literature. Phase 2 included primary qualitative data collection of key informant interviews and focus groups via conference call with 43 participants representing 41 public health organizations at the local, state, and national levels. Results included a wide range of challenges with an emphasis on major systems changes, the shift in public health’s role to more effectively build community collective capacity, limited staff capacity and capability, and the need for more flexible and integrated training funding. Public health workforce development approaches recommended to address these challenges included improving pedagogical approaches toward more integrated, multimodal training delivered over time; increasing workforce capacity to address complex challenges such as racism and housing; and facilitating public health workforce development system coordination and alignment. Public Health Learning Network’s workforce assessment also identified opportunities for conceptualizing the definition and delivery of training toward ongoing learning.

scholarly journals National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Van Bavel ◽  
Paulo Boggio
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Global Pandemic

Abstract The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is a devastating global health crisis. Without a vaccine or effective medication, the best hope for mitigating virus transmission is collective behavior change and support for public health interventions (e.g., physical distancing, physical hygiene, and endorsement of health policies). In a large-scale international collaboration (N = 46,650 across 67 countries), we investigated why people adopted public health behaviors and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stages of the pandemic (April-May, 2020). Results revealed that respondents who identified more strongly with their nation consistently reported engagement in public health behaviors and greater support for public health policies. We also found a small effect of political orientation, indicating that left-wing respondents were more likely to report public health behaviors and support for public health measures than right-wing respondents. We discuss the implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing the COVID-19 and future pandemics.

OP92 Non-Opioid Therapy For Pain Management – Health Technology Assessment In A Time Of Crisis

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (S1) ◽  
pp. 34-34
Author(s):  
Janice Mann ◽  
Sohail Mulla ◽  
Sirjana Pant
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Pain Management ◽  
Pain Treatment ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Pharmacological Therapy ◽  
Guideline Recommendation ◽  
Knowledge Mobilization ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Inappropriate Use ◽  
Wide Range

Introduction:North America is facing a public health epidemic – the opioid crisis – part of which is attributed to the inappropriate use of opioids in pain management. As such, the 2017 Canadian Guideline for Opioids for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain recommends optimizing non-opioid pharmacotherapy or non-pharmacological therapy to treat chronic pain, before a trial of opioids. However, the Guideline itself is not designed to provide evidence on the effectiveness of these non-opioid alternatives, leaving a gap for those attempting to put the recommendation into practice.Methods:In collaboration with its partners, including clinicians and policymakers, the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies (CADTH) identified the gaps in evidence, and developed an action plan to bridge the evidence gaps to support the optimization of non-opioid alternatives in pain management.Results:Since the release of the Guideline, CADTH produced over 20 Rapid Response reports that synthesize and appraise evidence on non-opioid alternatives in the management of a wide range of pain, both acute and chronic. Additionally, CADTH has also reviewed evidence on multidisciplinary pain treatment programs, and is developing environmental scan reports on the availability and access to non-pharmacological treatments for pain in Canada, and on drugs for emerging non-opioid pain. Further, CADTH developed knowledge mobilization tools based on the evidence reviews. The evidence reviews and tools are used as a resource by CADTH partners, including the Coalition of Safe and Effective Pain Management and McMaster University National Pain Center.Conclusions:This presentation will discuss the role of HTA and CADTH to fill the gaps in evidence for a crucial clinical practice guideline recommendation in a time of public health crisis, and help put the evidence into action. It will present the evidence synthesized by CADTH on various non-opioid alternatives for pain management, while highlighting the remaining gaps in evidence. Understanding the evidence on non-opioid alternatives will inform clinical and policy decisions and potentially reduce inappropriate use of opioids in pain management.

scholarly journals National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic: Results from 67 nations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Joseph Van Bavel ◽  
Aleksandra Cichocka ◽  
Valerio Capraro ◽  
Hallgeir Sjåstad ◽  
John B. Nezlek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Global Pandemic

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is a devastating global health crisis. Without a vaccine or effective medication, the best hope for mitigating virus transmission is collective behavior change and support for public health interventions (e.g., physical distancing, physical hygiene, and endorsement of health policies). In a large-scale international collaboration (N = 46,450 across 67 countries), we investigated why people adopted public health behaviors and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stages of the pandemic (April-May, 2020). Results revealed that respondents who identified more strongly with their nation consistently reported engagement in public health behaviors and greater support for public health policies. We also found a small effect of political orientation, indicating that left-wing respondents were more likely to report public health behaviors and support for public health measures than right-wing respondents. We discuss the implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing the COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemics.

scholarly journals In Quest of a COVID-19 Vaccine

The Physician ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
K K Aggarwal ◽  
Nirmal Kumar Ganguly
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Viral Vector ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Personal Hygiene ◽  
Effective Vaccine ◽  
High Morbidity ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The World

Covid-19 or Coronavirus disease-2019, caused by the novel Coronavirus (SARS CoV-2), continues to be a major global public health crisis. There is no specific drug for its treatment and no immunity against the virus. Allowing herd immunity to develop naturally would add to the already high morbidity and mortality and it may take many years. But, the speed with which the virus is spreading leaves us with no choice but to have a vaccine, or at least an emergency-use vaccine ready for use, at the earliest. There are frantic efforts across the world to develop a vaccine. Different approaches such as inactivated and attenuated vaccines, viral vector-based vaccines and DNA- and RNA-based vaccines are being studied. Many vaccines have shown promise in preclinical studies; many have completed or are in phase 1 trials. A safe and effective vaccine against Covid-19 is eagerly awaited. But, even when a vaccine is available, public health measures such as personal hygiene, social distancing, will be equally important to reduce disease transmission. In this article, we give a brief overview of the types of vaccines and the various vaccine initiatives around the world.

Jordan’s Public Health and Surveillance Health Policies: During and After COVID-19 (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raeda AlQutob ◽  
Musa Taha Ajlouni ◽  
Mohamed Majed Abu Farraj ◽  
Immanuel Azaad Moonesar
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health System ◽  
Health Financing ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

UNSTRUCTURED In contemporary times, the wave of the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) classified by the World Health Organisation as global pandemic has unravelled systems and processes including health, economic and social. In the case of the Kingdom of Jordan, the COVID-19 crisis illustrated for the need and ability of the policy making institutions and ministries to take many effective policies, initiatives and procedures that were met with marked approval as the opinion polls conducted by government and private institutions showed. The success of these interventions during the crisis calls upon the country’s health system to take advantage of this experience in the next stage of recovery and resilience to develop, maintain its sustainability, as well as the improvement of a number of hubs to assist the Kingdom in facing the challenges resulting from any future health crisis such as epidemics or natural disasters. The viewpoint interventions that are the most paramount given the current situation as public health evidence must inform activities in seven priority health system areas to manage during and after the pandemic includes factors on: (1) governance and management; (2) service delivery and research; (3) human resources; (4) health information systems; (5) technology and medicine; (6) health financing; and (7) citizens, refugees and communities.

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