Walking distance for vulnerable populations to public health emergency response points of dispensing in New York City

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 519-529
Author(s):  
Kate Whittemore, MPH ◽  
Mustafa Ali, MPH ◽  
Andrew Schroeder, MPA, MA ◽  
Neil M. Vora, MD ◽  
David Starr, MIA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New York ◽  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Walking Distance ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Poverty Level ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Gwr Model ◽  
Medical Countermeasures

During certain public health emergencies, points of dispensing (PODs) may be used to rapidly distribute medical countermeasures such as antibiotics to the general public to prevent disease. Jurisdictions across the country have identified sites for PODs in preparation for such an emergency; in New York City (NYC), the sites are identified based largely on population density. Vulnerable populations, defined for this analysis as persons with income below the federal poverty level, persons with less than a high school diploma, foreign-born persons, persons of color, persons aged ≥65 years, physically disabled persons, and unemployed persons, often experience a wide range of health inequities. In NYC, these populations are often concentrated in certain geographic areas and rely heavily on public transportation. Because public transportation will almost certainly be affected during large-scale public health emergencies that would require the rapid mass dispensing of medical countermeasures, we evaluated walking distances to PODs. We used an ordinary least squares (OLS) model and a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to determine if certain characteristics that increase health inequities in the population are associated with longer distances to the nearest POD relative to the general NYC population. Our OLS model identified shorter walking distances to PODs in neighborhoods with a higher percentage of persons with income below the federal poverty level, higher percentage of foreign-born persons, or higher percentage of persons of color, and identified longer walking distances to PODs in neighborhoods with a higher percentage of persons with less than a high school diploma. Our GWR model confirmed the findings from the OLS model and further illustrated these patterns by certain neighborhoods. Our analysis shows that currently identified locations for PODs in NYC are generally serving vulnerable populations equitably—particularly those defined by race or income status—at least in terms of walking distance.

scholarly journals Identifying and Protecting Vulnerable Populations in Public Health Emergencies: Addressing Gaps in Education and Training

2007 ◽  
Vol 122 (3) ◽  
pp. 422-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha S. Wingate ◽  
Emily C. Perry ◽  
Paul H. Campbell ◽  
Prabu David ◽  
Elizabeth M. Weist
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
And Training

Throughput Times for Adults and Children During Two Drive-Through Influenza Vaccination Clinics

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura L. Banks ◽  
Cameron Crandall ◽  
Luke Esquibel
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Optimum Number ◽  
Throughput Time ◽  
Efficient Manner ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Time Required ◽  
Influenza Vaccinations ◽  
Medical Countermeasures

AbstractObjectivesSuccessful planning for public health emergencies requires knowledge of effective methods for mass distribution of medication and supplies to the public. We measured the time required for the key components of 2 drive-through vaccination clinics and summarized the results as they applied to providing medical countermeasures to large populations of children and adults. We hypothesized that vaccinating children in addition to adults would affect throughput time.MethodsUsing 2 separate drive-through vaccination clinics, we measured elapsed time for vehicle flow and vaccination procedures. We calculated the median length of stay and the time to administer vaccinations based on the number of individual vaccinations given per vehicle, and compared the vehicles in which children (aged 9-18 years) were vaccinated to those in which only adults were vaccinated.ResultsA total of 2174 vaccinations and 1275 vehicles were timed during the 2 clinics. The number of vaccinations and vehicles per hour varied during the course of the day; the maximums were 200 and 361 per hour, respectively. The median throughput time was 5 minutes, and the median vaccination time was 48 seconds. Flow over time varied by the hour, and the optimum number of vaccinations per vehicle to maximize efficiency was between 3 and 4. Our findings showed that the presence of children raised the total number of vaccinations given per vehicle and, therefore, the total vaccination processing time per vehicle. However, the median individual procedure time in the vehicles with children was not significantly increased, indicating no need to calculate increased times for processing children 9 years of age or older during emergency planning.ConclusionsDrive-through clinics can provide a large number of seasonal influenza vaccinations in a relatively efficient manner; provide needed experience for students and practitioners in techniques for mass administration of medical countermeasures; and assist public health and emergency management personnel with disaster planning. Including children older than 9 years does not reduce efficiency. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2013;0:1–7)

scholarly journals US Foreign-Born Workers in the Global Pandemic: Essential and Marginalized

2020 ◽  
pp. 231150242095275
Author(s):  
Donald Kerwin* ◽  
Robert Warren*
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Labor Force ◽  
Homeland Security ◽  
New York State ◽  
National Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Poverty Level ◽  
The Us

This article provides detailed estimates of foreign-born (immigrant) workers in the United States who are employed in “essential critical infrastructure” sectors, as defined by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) (DHS 2020). Building on earlier work by the Center for Migration Studies (CMS), the article offers exhaustive estimates on essential workers on a national level, by state, for large metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), and for smaller communities that heavily rely on immigrant labor. It also reports on these workers by job sector; immigration status; eligibility for tax rebates under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act); and other characteristics. It finds that: Sixty-nine percent of all immigrants in the US labor force and 74 percent of undocumented workers are essential workers, compared to 65 percent of the native-born labor force. Seventy percent of refugees and 78 percent of Black refugees are essential workers. In all but eight US states, the foreign-born share of the essential workforce equals or exceeds that of all foreign-born workers, indicating that immigrant essential workers are disproportionately represented in the labor force. The percentage of undocumented essential workers exceeds that of native-born essential workers by nine percentage points in the 15 states with the largest labor force. In the ten largest MSAs, the percentages of undocumented and naturalized essential workers exceed the percentage of native-born essential workers by 12 and 6 percent, respectively. A total of 6.2 million essential workers are not eligible for relief payments under the CARES Act, as well as large numbers of their 3.8 million US citizen children (younger than age 17), including 1.2 million US citizen children living in households below the poverty level. The foreign-born comprise 33 percent of health care workers in New York State, 32 percent in California, 31 percent in New Jersey, 28 percent in Florida, 25 percent in Nevada and Maryland, 24 percent in Hawaii, 23 percent in Massachusetts, and 19 percent in Texas. Section I of the article describes the central policy paradox for foreign-born workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: that they are “essential” at very high rates, but many lack status and they have been marginalized by US immigration and COVID-19-related policies. Section II sets forth the article’s main findings. Section III outlines major policy recommendations.

Outbreak or Epidemic? How Obama’s Language Choice Transformed the Ebola Outbreak Into an Epidemic

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 669-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anat Gesser-Edelsburg ◽  
Yaffa Shir-Raz ◽  
Oshrat Sassoni Bar-Lev ◽  
James J. James ◽  
Manfred S. Green
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New York ◽  
Media Literacy ◽  
New York Times ◽  
Language Choice ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Social Judgments ◽  
Daily Mail ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Quantitative Content

AbstractObjectiveOur aim was to examine in what terms leading newspapers’ online sites described the current Ebola crisis.MethodsWe employed a quantitative content analysis of terms attributed to Ebola. We found and analyzed 582 articles published between March 23 and September 30, 2014, on the online websites of 3 newspapers: The New York Times, Daily Mail, and Ynet. Our theoretical framework drew from the fields of health communication and emerging infectious disease communication, including such concepts as framing media literacy, risk signatures, and mental models.ResultsWe found that outbreak and epidemic were used interchangeably in the articles. From September 16, 2014, onward, epidemic predominated, corresponding to when President Barack Obama explicitly referred to Ebola as an epidemic. Prior to Obama’s speech, 86.8% of the articles (323) used the term outbreak and only 8.6% (32) used the term epidemic. Subsequently, both terms were used almost the same amount: 53.8% of the articles (113) used the term outbreak and 53.3% (112) used the term epidemic.ConclusionsEffective communication is crucial during public health emergencies such as Ebola, because language framing affects the decision-making process of social judgments and actions. The choice of one term (outbreak) over another (epidemic) can create different conceptualizations of the disease, thereby influencing the risk signature. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:669–673)

scholarly journals The Causes of Susceptibility of the Elderly to COVID-19 Pneumonia Under the Natural State Based on a Behavioural Perspective: A Retrospective Study Taking ,the Early Onset of the Disease in Wuhan,China, as an Example

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Niu ◽  
Yixiao Jiang ◽  
Junbo Zhang ◽  
Yikai Guo ◽  
Zhiqiang Si
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Retrospective Study ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Natural State ◽  
Aged Patients ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
The Social

Abstract In the early epidemic of COVID-19 in Wuhan, the proportion of elderly patients over 60 years was significantly higher than that of other populations. However, with the implementation of strong social control measures, the proportion of which dropped rapidly to the same level as that of middle-aged patients (40-59), which indicated that the elders’ social behavioural pattern may have some connections with the infection. A retrospective study was carried out to investigate the behavioural patterns of different age groups before the social distance control in Wuhan, to find out the relationship between them and the infection under the nature state, and furthermore, to put forward targeted suggestions to enhance the resistance of the elderly to public health emergencies. To carry out the research, social survey, one-way ANOVA and logistic regression models were utilized. The results showed that the elderly had more social activities, more offline shopping, more travels by semi-public transportation, and the factors below had significant impacts on the infection (P<0.05): the level of indoor entertainment, the frequency of going to convenience stores or markets, the frequency of walking, and the level of protection. Besides, suggestions were proposed, including controlling the social distance of the elderly, developing senior-friendly shopping platforms, advocating tailored car travel, etc. This study could provide data and theoretical support for government's regulatory actions, enrich epidemiological theories of transmission routes based on behaviour, and improve the adaptability of the elderly to public health emergencies.

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