A Neurologist's Practical Approach to Cognitive Impairment

The global prevalence of dementia is expected to triple by the year 2050. This impending health care crisis has led to new heights of public awareness and general concern regarding cognitive impairment. Subsequently, clinicians are seeing more and more people presenting with cognitive concerns. It is important that clinicians meet these concerns with a strategy promoting accurate diagnoses. We have diagramed and described a practical approach to cognitive impairment. Through an algorithmic approach, we determine the presence and severity of cognitive impairment, systematically evaluate domains of function, and use this information to determine the next steps in evaluation. We also discuss how to proceed when cognitive impairment is associated with motor abnormalities or rapid progression.

Comics in and of the Moment. The COVID19 pandemic: a graphic narrative.

ABSTRACT FOR GRAPHIC SUBMISSION TO:“COMICS IN AND OF THE MOMENT”. THE COMICS GRIDMónica LalandaBack in March 2020, when it became obvious that we were heading a big global disaster, I created a folder called Coronavirus Graphic Medicine. Since it was a unprecedented health care crisis, I expected a huge amount of art material related directly to the illness, the symptoms, the medical care, tests, treatments…I saw it as a great oportunity to confirm the use of such fabulous communication tool. Everytime I came accross a comic, infographic or cartoon in social media (mostly twitter and Instagram), I’d save it in my folder. I concentrated on work created in spanish but also foreign ones without any text.Within weeks, I was already surprised that the amount of graphic outpour was huge but there was little in terms of “proper” graphic medicine. As I continued to look into it in more detail, analysing all these amazing pieces, I could see that the illness itself was not the main character of the story, the protagonists of the covid-19 crisis were not the patients or the disease. It was clear that there was little contact with the patients, either locked in ther own rooms or in hospitals with no visitors. Covid-19 victims were surprisingly not the real issue. This in itself is very meaningful. .The illustrators also drew a lot about death but little about the dead ones, creamated without witnesses and buried almost in solitute . As the vignettes continued to enter my folder, I could see that somehow they were able to give an amazing narrative of the pandemia, there was hardly any graphic medicine but more of a story about a whole society going through a unique and damaging common experience. A kind of social graphic medicine of some sort. The suffering of a whole society rather than the illness of the individuals.They fitted into various themes that were obviouly catching the artists’ imagination. In my on-going analysis I ended up creating subfolders that allowed me to clasify and study them in a more logical way. These were the issues that gave way to more pieces:- Health care providers as heroes- Health care providers as victims of the system- Coping with the confinement.- The virus itself (anthopromorphism)- Death- “The curve”- Face masks- Timely themes (schools, Halloween, christmas…)- Information for people to avoid illness- vaccinesNow that things have settled, there is a new and different creation with a kind of retrospective eye. Yet again graphic medicine as such is missing. I’ve recently being invited to write the introduction of an anthology of comics about the pandemia where some of the best spanish comic creators have produced their own pieces about covid19. I notice a tendency to search for answers, to look into our society and our communities with some queries, to measure the effect of social inequalities or the importance of belonging, there is a concern about the psicological effect of those deaths that we were not allowed to mourn, the oportunity to value small things that we never noticed before. I almost sense a call to forget the ugly and to rebuild a new society upon the old ashes. It’s surprising the change in tone. Deep pesimism mixed with cheerful expectations.I’d like to create a comic reflecting on the analysis of all those hundreds of cartoons and comics that I’ve been looking at for over a year.My own work during the pandemia has been mostly graphic medicine as such and here is a link to some of it:https://monicalalanda.com/

The health care crisis in Germany due to the general crisis

Over the past 10 years (since 1922) we have had to visit Germany almost every year (with the exception of 1928-1929). In general, we had to spend about 3 years in Germany, and the duration of stay in Germany each year ranged from 2 months to a year; however, in a year's time we had to leave for 4 months to America.

Utilizing the ACCESS Model to Understand Communication With the Ultraorthodox Community in Beit Shemesh During the First Wave of COVID-19

Introduction The coronavirus pandemic has disproportionately negatively affected the ultraorthodox in Israel. Their unique characteristics and slow adoption of preventative health guidelines resulted in a significant increase in morbidity and mortality. To lower these rates, health and government authority figures employed methods to change the ultraorthodox community health behaviors. Methodology This study utilizes the ACCESS model for transcultural nursing to analyze the response by authorities to high infection rates in the large ultraorthodox community in city of Beit Shemesh during the first wave of the outbreak (through early May). Results The authorities employed all model components to varying degrees and found moderate success in changing health behaviors of the ultraorthodox. Discussion Employing the ACCESS model as a response to the health care crisis among the ultraorthodox community in Beit Shemesh led to some success in increased compliance, thus lowering morbidity rates. However, not establishing strong respect and rapport hindered the process.

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude, Practice among Dental Practitioners during Covid-19 Crisis in South Indian Population - A Questionnaire Based Survey

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has thrown the world into a great deal of health care crisis, with over 2 million people affected globally and more than 1,50,000 deaths. Testing is crucial to gauge the extent of transmission with the currently having the lowest ratio of testing in the world. It is of crucial importance that healthcare workers specially dental practitioners should have adequate knowledge, attitude and practice protocol to prevent any transmission to take place. A Questionnaire-based survey was done among 200 dental practitioners in the South Indian region in which 133 dental practitioners responded. The survey was distributed through electronic media (Google forms). The survey data was collected, analyzed and interpreted. The results suggested that about 80% of Dental practitioners have adequate knowledge and attitude towards the different protocols to be followed during the COVID-19 crisis in their dental practice. Still, there was a lack of recommended practice protocol by these practitioners during the pandemic crisis in the South Indian population. The survey shows that dental practitioners have a sound knowledge, attitude, but the practical application during the pandemic crisis was seen to be varied among various dental practitioners.

Health Care Crisis Unabated: A Review of Recent Data on Health Care in the United States

We review recently published studies of U.S. health policy and the nation’s health care system. Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, health inequalities were widening and care was inequitably distributed. Although the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansion improved access to care and timely cancer diagnoses, a large proportion of U.S. residents continued to avoid medical care due to concerns about costs, and access to mental health services remains particularly inadequate. Yet more evidence of private insurers’ profit-driven misbehaviors and of corruption among medical leaders continues to emerge. Misguided incentives and lax regulation encourages nominally nonprofit health care providers to mimic for-profits’ misconduct, and rapacious investors own and control an increasing share of physicians’ practices. Pharmaceutical firms wield outsize political influence and devote far more funds to rewarding investors than to research and development effort. Yet despite vigorous efforts by pharma and other commercial interests to denigrate national health insurance, polls indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increasing support for such reform.