scholarly journals Color, Caption and Emoji – Using Instagram as a Screening Tool for Depression in Teenagers and Adults

Author(s):  
Alexandra Enciu, MD ◽  

Instagram, the largest growing social network site today, has grown exponentially since its launch in 2010. Mental health challenges, particularly anxiety and major depressive disorder in those aged 16 to 30 have been associated with Instagram’s popularity. Depression is of particular interest to health care providers within the public health sector: it affects 264 million people globally; suicide is the second most common cause of death in 18 to 29-year-olds. This age group also constitutes the main demographic group of Instagram users. A narrative review was conducted on peer-reviewed articles between January 2019-July 2020 to analyze Instagram use and its association with depression, and using it as a tool to diagnose depression. PubMed, EBSCO, NCBI, NIH, and Google Scholar were used to source articles published between 2015-2020. The narrative review focused on four primary papers. The first study looked at the social comparison theory, while the second and third studies used screening questionnaires in conjunction with analyzing an individual’s Instagram content into text-based scores. The fourth study analyzed the content of photos which were posted to give insight into an individual’s status regarding depressive states. Accounting for 18 to 30 year olds’ Instagram usage into how they engaged with content can accurately screen for, and diagnose depression.

2021 ◽  
pp. 104973232110088
Author(s):  
Janine Brown ◽  
Donna Goodridge ◽  
Lilian Thorpe ◽  
Alexander Crizzle

Access to medical assistance in dying (MAID) is influenced by legislation, health care providers (HCPs), the number of patient requests, and the patients’ locations. This research explored the factors that influenced HCPs’ nonparticipation in formal MAID processes and their needs to support this emerging practice area. Using an interpretive description methodology, we interviewed 17 physicians and 18 nurse practitioners who identified as non-participators in formal MAID processes. Nonparticipation was influenced by their (a) previous personal and professional experiences, (b) comfort with death, (c) conceptualization of duty, (d) preferred end-of-life care approaches, (e) faith or spirituality beliefs, (f) self-accountability, (g) consideration of emotional labor, and (h) future emotional impact. They identified a need for clear care pathways and safe passage. Two separate yet overlapping concepts were identified, conscientious objection to and nonparticipation in MAID, and we discussed options to support the social contract of care between HCPs and patients.


Author(s):  
Pablo A. González ◽  
Laura L. Gutiérrez ◽  
Juan Carlos Oyanedel ◽  
Héctor Sánchez-Rodríguez

This article presents an exploratory model to classify public attitudes towards health systems financing and organization. It comprises 5 factors (pay-as-you-use, solidarity, willingness to contribute, mixed financing, and public provision) measured by 17 indicators, selected through Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) applied to a sample of Chilean adults. Based on this model, cluster analysis proposed 2 groups: “Taxes-public” and “Insurance-choice,” representing 47% and 53% of interviewees, respectively. The results show differences between groups concerning the evaluation of both health care providers and insurers. The second cluster tends to evaluate them more harshly, showing less willingness to contribute further, less solidarity, more agreement with the current financing arrangement in terms of the mixture and its insurance (as opposed to purchasing of service based on health problems), and more support for choice of provider. These results highlight the need to consider people’s attitudes in the public discussion of health systems financing.


2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (S3) ◽  
pp. S224-S231
Author(s):  
Lan N. Đoàn ◽  
Stella K. Chong ◽  
Supriya Misra ◽  
Simona C. Kwon ◽  
Stella S. Yi

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the many broken fragments of US health care and social service systems, reinforcing extant health and socioeconomic inequities faced by structurally marginalized immigrant communities. Throughout the pandemic, even during the most critical period of rising cases in different epicenters, immigrants continued to work in high-risk-exposure environments while simultaneously having less access to health care and economic relief and facing discrimination. We describe systemic factors that have adversely affected low-income immigrants, including limiting their work opportunities to essential jobs, living in substandard housing conditions that do not allow for social distancing or space to safely isolate from others in the household, and policies that discourage access to public resources that are available to them or that make resources completely inaccessible. We demonstrate that the current public health infrastructure has not improved health care access or linkages to necessary services, treatments, or culturally competent health care providers, and we provide suggestions for how the Public Health 3.0 framework could advance this. We recommend the following strategies to improve the Public Health 3.0 public health infrastructure and mitigate widening disparities: (1) address the social determinants of health, (2) broaden engagement with stakeholders across multiple sectors, and (3) develop appropriate tools and technologies. (Am J Public Health. 2021;111(S3):S224–S231. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306433 )


Author(s):  
James Bailey

This book presents a detailed critical analysis of a period of significant formal and thematic innovation in Muriel Spark’s literary career. Spanning the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, it identifies formative instances of literary experimentation in texts including The Comforters, The Driver’s Seat and The Public Image, with an emphasis on metafiction and the influence of the nouveau roman. As the first critical study to draw extensively on Spark’s vast archives of correspondence, manuscripts and research, it provides a unique insight into the social contexts and personal concerns that dictated her fiction. Offering a distinctive reappraisal of Spark’s fiction, the book challenges the rigid critical framework that has long been applied to her writing. In doing so, it interrogates how Spark’s literary innovations work to facilitate moments of subversive satire and gendered social critique. As well as presenting nuanced re-readings major works like The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, it draws unprecedented attention to lesser-discussed texts such as her only stage play, Doctors of Philosophy, and early short stories.


2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (03) ◽  
pp. 518-524
Author(s):  
GHULAM SARWAR ◽  
FARIDA MANZUR ◽  
IMTIAZ HAMID

Objectives: (1) To determine the mode of services being rendered and practices done by the health care providers of the study area. (2) To identify various socio-demographic factors about the health care providers. A health care provider provides preventive, curative, rehabilitative and spiritual health services to the community. Health care is being provided by not only the registered and qualified doctors, but also by non-qualified non-registered and inexperienced persons in Pakistan. Methodology: A total of 57 health care providers from the union council 42 area in district Faisalabad were included. A pre-tested questionnaire to know about the services and practices of the individuals was served upon them to collect the relevant data. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Union council 42 area in district Faisalabad. Period: 2008. Results: Out of 57, 30 (52.63%) were males and 27 (47.37%) were females. Most of them, 18 (31.6%) were above 49 years of age. 51 (89.47%) were practicing in the private; whereas, only 2(3.51%) in the public sector. Most of the individuals, 21 (36.8%) were LHW and only 2(3.5%) were doctors or medical assistants; 3(5.3%) were dispensers, 9(15.8%) were hakeems and 7 (12.3%) homeopaths. Most of them, 40(70.2%) were matriculates and 14(24.6%) graduates. Only 20 (35.1%) were having certificates and 11(19.3%) were diploma holders. Further, only 2(11.76%) out of 57 were registered with PM&DC and Punjab Medical Faculty. 30 (52.6%) individuals were rendering curative and only 5 (8.8%) preventive services. None of the health care providers was rendering laboratory, x-ray or ultrasound services. Most of the individuals, 36 (63.2%) were practicing allopathy and 7(12.3%) homeopathy way of treatment. Further, most of the professionals, 45 (78.95%) were not doing any surgery. As regards sterilization, the most 8(66.7%) were practicing boiling of instruments. Most of them 47 (82.45%) were giving injections to the patients, however, using disposable syringes, and 27(57.4%) were disposing of the syringes by cutting the needles to dump. 20 (42.55%) were referring their patients to DHQ Hospital and 47 (82.46%) were keeping the record. Conclusions: Qualified medical professionals were scarce in the locality. However, allopathic system of medicine was being widely practiced. Only LHWs were providing curative services with proper training to deliver first aid services.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  

AbstractA recent settlement between Massachusetts and Partners HealthCare, along with successful antitrust actions by the Federal Trade Commission, may signal the beginning of the end of two decades of consolidation of health care providers. This consolidation has been associated with higher prices resulting from market power, justifying the antitrust actions. However, the appropriate remedy for the health sector is a unique challenge. The proposed settlement appears to lock into place the legacy of the hospital-based delivery model, rather than orchestrating a pathway to a new care delivery models. Clearly, we need a regulatory framework that will introduce innovative alternatives into the market, not enshrine the current costly paradigm.


Dental Update ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-160
Author(s):  
Lakshman Samaranayake ◽  
Sukumaran Anil

COVID-19 Vaccines are currently the talk of the world. The internet is full of memes on COVID-19 vaccines - myths more than truths. In this commentary we further review some of the issues related to the success and failure of COVID-19 vaccines, and the theoretical and practical elements on vaccinations and immunity that the dental health care providers have to be knowledgeable, so as to offer advice and guidance to their team, the patients, as well as the public.


2021 ◽  
pp. 152483992110571
Author(s):  
Behnoosh Momin ◽  
Danielle Nielsen ◽  
Spencer Schaff ◽  
Jennifer L. Mezzo ◽  
Charlene Cariou

Introduction: The Idaho Comprehensive Cancer Control Program (ICCCP) collaborated with the Idaho Immunization Program (IIP) to plan and implement activities to increase knowledge and awareness of liver cancer prevention through tailored hepatitis B immunization messaging to the Idaho community and health care providers. Purpose and Objectives: In this article, we report findings from an evaluation of these activities. Interventions Approach: The two programs implemented liver cancer prevention activities between May 2017 and December 2017; strategies included a social media vaccination awareness campaign and health care provider education. Evaluation Methods: Facebook Insights was used to report, and descriptive statistics were used to analyze, data from the social media campaign. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data collected from a retrospective pre–post survey for the health care provider presentations and paired t-tests were conducted to detect differences between pre- and postexposure. Results: For the social media campaign, ICCCP and IIP posted a total of 32 liver cancer and hepatitis B vaccination posts on their respective Facebook pages, which reached 42,804 unique users. For the health care provider presentations, there was a statistically significant increase in awareness, knowledge, ability, and intention among health care providers. Implications for Public Health: Our evaluation serves as an example of how public health social media can reach consumers and how educating providers can raise awareness on the importance of hepatitis B vaccination as a means of preventing liver cancer.


Author(s):  
Stephanie Moser ◽  
Susanne Elisabeth Bruppacher ◽  
Frederic de Simoni

ICT advances will bring a new generation of ubiquitous applications, opening up new possibilities for the health sector. However, the social impacts of this trend have largely remained unexplored. This study investigates the public representation of future ICT applications in the outpatient health sector in terms of their social acceptance. Mental models of ICT applications were elicited from inhabitants of Berlin, Germany, by means of qualitative interviews. The findings revealed that the interviewees felt ambivalent about anticipated changes; only if ICT use were to be voluntary and restricted to single applications and trustworthy institutions did they expect individual benefits. Concerns about data transmission to unauthorized third parties and widespread technological dissemination forcing compulsory participation led people to feel averse to such technology. Implications for potential implementation of future ICT applications in the outpatient health sector are discussed.


1994 ◽  
Vol 33 (03) ◽  
pp. 299-301
Author(s):  
K. Thornton

Abstract:The social changes, and changes in perceptions of the effectiveness of health care in British Columbia have resulted in a large number of recommendations in the report of the British Columbia Royal Commission on Health Care and Costs. Many of these recommendations have implications for health informatics. The British Columbia Government, in outlining a response, foresees a major change in the emphases of health care, which will involve four major areas of health informatics: network evolution, automation of the patient record, outcome- and other quality-related databases, and consumer health education. These themes are discussed, in the light of the opinions of academics, health care providers, and the health-informatics industry. The themes must be intercalated into the health informatics curriculum, to equip graduates for the challenges of B.C.’s changing health care system.


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