Social policies

Objectives. To identify appropriate interventions to prevent injury, we conducted a qualitative study among commercial shrimp fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico. Methods. Using qualitative and participatory research methods, including interviews, photovoice, and workplace observations in southeast Texas and the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, we examined the social‒structural dimensions that contribute to physical and psychological injury. Results. We found that multiple layers of vulnerability and danger exist among shrimpers with interacting themes: (1) recognizing risk, (2) precarious employment, and (3) psychological distress...

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a vigorous public health discussion has arisen over indoor air quality and ventilation. In popular press articles, bestselling books, and the US Environmental Protection Agency's recently announced Clean Air in Buildings Challenge, scholars and policy experts have claimed that improved ventilation systems can lead to better productivity and performance. By reevaluating those claims in light of the history of public health in Great Britain and the United States, we found that better ventilation has frequently been proposed as a cost-effective and nonintrusive means of improving health in institutions experiencing structural and environmental public health problems...

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 disrupted access to bereavement support. The objective of this study was to identify the bereavement supports used by Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic, perceived helpfulness of supports used, prevalence and areas of unmet support need, and characteristics of those with unmet support needs. METHODS: A convenience sample of bereaved adults completed an online questionnaire (April 2021-April 2022) about their bereavement experiences including support use and perceived helpfulness, unmet support needs and mental health...

INTRODUCTION: Illicit drug use is a significant public health problem. Studies have shown a high prevalence of cocaine and cannabis use in transgender women (TGW). OBJECTIVE: To describe the consumption patterns of cannabis and cocaine/crack use and variables associated with their use in TGW in Central Brazil. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on TGW in Goiás, Brazil. Participants were recruited using a respondent-driven sampling method and were interviewed face-to-face about cannabis and crack-cocaine and the variables associated with them...

Amidst the misinformation climate about trans people and their health care that dominates policy and social discourse, autonomy-based rationales for gender-affirming care for trans and nonbinary youth are being called into question. In this commentary, which responds to "What Is the Aim of Pediatric 'Gender-Affirming' Care?," by Moti Gorin, we contextualize the virulent ideas circulating in misinformation campaigns that have become weaponized for unprecedented legal interference into standard health care. We conclude that the current legal justifications for upending gender-affirming care gloss over how this health care field meets conventional evidentiary standards and aligns protocols with most other fields of medicine...

BACKGROUND: Data on predictors of poor hemodynamic presentation and rehospitalizations following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) are limited. We evaluate the association between neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES) on echocardiographic presentation and post-TAVR readmission at a high-volume institution. METHODS: All patients undergoing TAVR at a single institution between 2012 and 2022 were included. Patient addresses, baseline variables including Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) preoperative risk of mortality and frailty, and post-procedural outcomes were extracted from electronic health records...

BACKGROUND: Deaths of people with intellectual disabilities are often unplanned for and poorly managed. Little is known about how to involve people with intellectual disabilities in end-of-life care planning. AIM: To explore the perspectives of people with intellectual disabilities, families, health and social care professionals and policy makers on end-of-life care planning within intellectual disability services. DESIGN: A total of 11 focus groups and 1 semi-structured interview were analysed using qualitative framework and matrix analysis...

Alcohol is a favorite psychoactive substance of Canadians. It is also a leading risk factor for death and disability, playing a causal role in a broad spectrum of health and social issues. Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity is a collaborative, integrative review of the scientific literature. This paper describes the epidemiology of alcohol use and current state of alcohol policy in Canada, best practices in policy identified by the third edition of Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity , and the implications for the development of effective alcohol policy in Canada...

Life satisfaction has been determined as a cognitive indicator of subjective wellbeing, a term that acquires vital relevance during adolescence as a protective factor against numerous psychological, mental and social disorders. Therefore, the objectives of this study are: (1) to evaluate differences in life satisfaction as a function of gender and school environment in Spanish children and adolescents; and (2) examine the possible associations between life satisfaction and age and/or body mass index (BMI) of the student body...

BACKGROUND: Sports development and promotion of physical activities (PA) through various sports in rural schools of South Africa (SA) is essential to optimise growth and wellbeing of children. There is a paucity of research specific to rural areas, and this is implicated on the lack of resources, effective programmes as well as resources to promote structured PAs and sports. OBJECTIVES: To explore sports development facilitators and barriers in rural schools. METHOD: We conducted an exploratory qualitative study and recruited Life Orientation (LO) teachers and school principals...

Understanding public emotion on social media about community wellness is crucial for enhancing health awareness and guiding policy-making. In order to more fully mine the deep contextual semantical information of short texts and further enhance the effectiveness of emotion prediction in social media, we propose the Deep Parallel Contextual Analysis Framework (DPCAF) in the community wellness domain, specifically addressing the challenges of limited text length and available semantical features in social media text...

Studying the mechanisms by which climate change interacted with human societies during the historical period can provide historical insights and cultural roots for climate policy building in the region. In this study, we constructed Stability-Robustness-Resilience Model (SSR model) and used the TOPSIS method (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) and the entropy weight method to assess the change processes of robustness, resilience, and stability of Ming's society in response to climate threats...

Sports, with their various social manifestations, exhibit racist structures and incidents. Physical education (PE) has the potential to serve as an environment to combat racism, but it can also perpetuate and (re)produce racist attitudes and behaviors. This study aimed to conduct a systematic review of national (German) and international literature concerning racism and anti-racism within the context of PE specifically from a students' perspective. The research methodology followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standard and encompassed a four-step process: (1) searching 11 electronic databases using 70 keyword combinations in both German and English; (2) selecting studies based on five predetermined inclusion criteria; (3) evaluating the quality of selected studies using established appraisal tools; and (4) conducting descriptive and template analyses...

BACKGROUND: Self-efficacy is a popular psychological concept that refers to an individual's perception or belief in his ability to perform specific actions. This study aimed to assess the predictive value of self-efficacy, measured using the Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Disease 6-Item Scale (SEM6S) questionnaire, for diabetes management and overall well-being in patients with diabetes. SUBJECT AND METHODS: An anonymous online cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the self-efficacy of diabetic patients in the Asser region of Saudi Arabia...

This article emphasized the urgency of promoting LGBTQ+ mental health in the Philippines, a nation known for its friendly attitude toward LGBTQ+ individuals. Despite this, a significant portion of the population maintains negative attitudes, fostering persistent stigmatization and discrimination against gay men and lesbians. These adverse social conditions, coupled with the absence of comprehensive LGBTQ+ rights protection, exacerbate mental health disparities among LGBTQ+ individuals. Recognizing the pivotal role of educational institutions, this article explores the integration of an elective course, "LGBT+ Mental Health," within an applied behavioral science program...

Local perspectives provide different insights into disaster planning and response as compared to those of experts. Eliciting them, however, can be challenging, particularly for marginalised groups whose viewpoints have historically been excluded from planning processes. Fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) provides a semi-quantitative approach to representing the collective understanding or 'mental models' of diverse individuals and communities. This study involved 23 FCM interviews across three neighbourhoods of Saint Martin to comprehend: (i) how individuals' mental models of Hurricane Irma (2017) differ based on their context; (ii) how aligned mental models are with policy and planning documents; and (iii) the implications for the inclusiveness and representativeness of disaster response policies...

In recent years we have gained insight into the impact of minimum unit pricing (MUP)-a legal floor price below which a given volume of alcohol cannot be sold-on population-level reductions in alcohol sales, consumption and harm. However, several questions remain unanswered including how individual-level purchasing changes impact the local economy (e.g., balance between on-licence and off-licence outlets), lead to long-term population-level trends (e.g., youth drinking) and social harms (e.g., violence). Agent-based modelling captures heterogeneity, emergence, feedback loops and adaptive and dynamic features, which provides an opportunity to understand the nuanced effects of MUP...

BACKGROUND: Mandates provide a relatively cost-effective strategy to increase vaccinate rates. Since 2014, five Australian states have implemented No Jab No Play (NJPlay) policies that require children to be fully immunised to attend early childhood education and childcare services. In Western Australia, where this study was conducted, NJNPlay legislation was enacted in 2019. While most Australian families support vaccine mandates, there are a range of complexities and unintended consequences for some families...

BACKGROUND: Out-of-pocket (OOP) payment is one of many countries' main financing options for health care. High OOP payments push them into financial catastrophe and the resultant impoverishment. The infrastructure, society, culture, economic condition, political structure, and every element of the physical and social environment influence the intensity of financial catastrophes in health expenditure. Hence, the incidence of Catastrophic Health Expenditure (CHE) must be studied more intensively, specifically from regional aspects...

BACKGROUND: This study aims to evaluate healthcare systems and pandemic responses in relation to marginalized and vulnerable groups, identify populations requiring urgent care, and assess the differential impacts on their health during the pandemic. METHODS: Data were collected by the Asia-Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (APO)-National University of Singapore and APO-International Health Policy Program consortium members: Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, and Singapore...