Alcohol

2021 ◽  
pp. 349-360
Author(s):  
Robin Room
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Alcohol Problems ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Alcohol Production ◽  
International Convention ◽  
Globalizing World ◽  
New Public ◽  
History Of ◽  
Temperance Movements

This chapter begins with a discussion on alcohol, its uses, and its effects, both positive and negative, followed by a review of the recent research on its cumulative effects on health. The history of alcohol as a public health issue is also briefly reviewed. The temperance movements of the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries sought to prohibit alcohol altogether, but by the 1930s the alternative of controlling alcohol sales to limit its adverse effects was the dominant aim. As these controls weakened after the 1950s, a ‘new public health’ approach argued for stronger controls. Although this approach gained ground among researchers from the 1970s onwards, it has often been resisted in the policy process. Seven main strategies to prevent or control alcohol problems are described, and their effectiveness briefly assessed. The chapter concludes with an account of alcohol policy in a globalizing world. An international convention on alcohol control has been called for to counter the influence of trade agreements and the globalization of alcohol production, distribution, and promotion.

scholarly journals Examining public knowledge, attitudes and perceptions towards palliative care: a mixed method sequential study

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja McIlfatrick ◽  
Paul Slater ◽  
Esther Beck ◽  
Olufikayo Bamidele ◽  
Sharon McCloskey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey

Abstract Background Palliative care is recognised as a public health issue with the need for earlier integration in the wider healthcare system. However, research indicates that it continues to be accessed late in the course of an illness, public understanding of palliative care is limited, and common misconceptions prevail. Strategies to address this are needed in order to reduce barriers to palliative care delivery and improve access. Methods An explanatory sequential mixed methods study, comprising a cross-sectional survey and interviews was undertaken. Sociodemographic characteristics, public awareness, knowledge and perceptions of palliative care were examined and strategies to raise awareness and overcome barriers within a public health framework were identified. Survey data were analysed using SPSS v25 with factor analysis and non-parametric statistics and qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results A total of 1201 participants completed the survey (58.3% female, mean age 61 years) and 25 took part in interviews. A fifth of participants (20.1%) had previously heard about palliative care and had an accurate understanding of the term. Being female, higher educated, married, and older, increased respondents’ levels of awareness. The three most commonly held misconceptions included: Palliative care is exclusively for people who are in the last 6 months of life (55.4% answered incorrectly); A goal of palliative care is to address any psychological issues brought up by serious illness (42.2% answered incorrectly); and a goal of palliative care is to improve a person’s ability to participate in daily activities (39.6% answered incorrectly). Talking about palliative and end of life care was advocated but societal taboos restricted this occurring with exposure limited to personal experience. Conclusions Current knowledge gaps and misconceptions derived from limited ad hoc personal experiences and fear of engaging in taboo conversations may deter people from accessing integrated palliative care services early in a disease trajectory. The results indicate the need for public education programmes that move beyond merely raising awareness but provide key messages within a public health approach, which may change attitudes to palliative care thus ultimately improving end of life outcomes.

scholarly journals Medical student education for injury prevention: closing the gap

2020 ◽  
pp. injuryprev-2020-043759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Zosel ◽  
Sara Kohlbeck ◽  
Christopher S Davis ◽  
Linda Meurer ◽  
Stephen Hargarten
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Injury Prevention ◽  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Unintentional Injury ◽  
Medical Student Education ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Main Component ◽  
And Control

IntroductionInjury is a major public health issue in the USA. In 2017, unintentional injury was the leading cause of death for ages 1 through 44. Unfortunately, there is evidence that the sciences of injury prevention and control may not fully and widely integrated into medical school curriculum. This paper describes a novel injury prevention and control summer programme that was implemented in 2002 and is ongoing.MethodsThe main component of the Series includes at least seven injury-related lectures and discussions designed to provoke students’ interest and understanding of injury as a biopsychosocial disease. These lectures are organised in a seminar fashion and are 2–4 hours in duration. Kirkpatrick’s four-part model guides evaluation specific to our four programme objectives. Trainee satisfaction with the programme, knowledge and outcome (specific to career goals) is evaluated using several mixed-methods tools.ResultsA total of 318 students have participated in the Series. Evaluation findings show an increase in knowledge of injury-related concepts as well as an increase in interest in pursuing injury-related research topics in the future.ImplicationsThe Series is a novel and innovative programme that provides training in injury and injury prevention and control-related topics to medical students, as well as undergraduate, graduate and pharmacy students. We hope that by increasing students’ knowledge and understanding of injury prevention and control we are contributing to a physician workforce that understands the importance of a public health approach to injury prevention, that implements public health principles in practice and that advocates for policies and practices that positively impact injury prevention and control to help make our communities healthier and safer.

scholarly journals Intimate Partner Violence on Instagram: Visualizing a Public Health Approach to Prevention

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (2_suppl) ◽  
pp. 90S-96S ◽  
Author(s):  
Kellie E. Carlyle ◽  
Jeanine P. D. Guidry ◽  
Sharyn A. Dougherty ◽  
Candace W. Burton
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Causal Attribution ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Significant Public Health ◽  
Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms like Instagram are often used as venues for discussing relationships, making them ideal channels for promoting healthy relationships and preventing intimate partner violence (IPV). This is particularly relevant for IPV, which has been historically understood as a personal issue and lacked support for consideration as a significant public health issue. To explore a potential platform for IPV prevention, this study examines the ways in which IPV messages on Instagram reflect public health understandings of, and approaches to, prevention and how Instagram users engage with these posts. We analyzed 700 Instagram posts about IPV using the social ecological model as the theoretical framework for conceptualizing framing devices. Posts that mentioned individual causal attribution and individual solution responsibility were both present in the majority of posts and elicited more engagement than posts that did not. Encouragingly, the Instagram sample was more reflective of a range of different types of IPV experiences than previous analyses of traditional media content, possibly indicating that a public health approach to this issue is gaining traction.

scholarly journals Oral cancer in Brazil: a secular history of Public Health Policies

2014 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-164
Author(s):  
Paulo Ricardo Saquete MARTINS FILHO ◽  
Thiago de Santana SANTOS ◽  
Luiz Carlos Ferreira da SILVA ◽  
Marta Rabello PIVA
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Oral Cancer ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Cancer Control ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
History Of Public Health ◽  
Assistance Programs ◽  
Control Programs ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Control

The oral cancer in Brazil is considered an important public health issue. Despite almost a century of combat disease, with oncological assistance programs and prevention campaigns based public policies, the incidence of oral cancer in several regions is still high. The major goal of cancer prevention and control is a reduction in both the incidence of the disease and the associated morbidity and mortality, as well as improved life for cancer patients and their families. Low-income and disadvantage groups are generally more exposed to avoidable risk factors such as tobacco and alcohol consumption. These groups have less access to the health services and education that would empower them to make decisions to protect and improve their own health. Thus, cancer control programs are the most effective instrument to bridge the gap between knowledge and practice and achieve this goal. The authors report some key historical facts concerning the fight against oral cancer in Brazil, in addition to addressing the epidemiological aspects of disease.

scholarly journals Changing the Conversation, Why We Need to Reframe Corruption as a Public Health Issue Comment on "We Need to Talk About Corruption in Health Systems"

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health System ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Policy Dialogue ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Policy Makers

There has been slow progress with finding practical solutions to health systems corruption, a topic that has long languished in policy-makers "too difficult tray." Efforts to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) provide a new imperative for addressing the long-standing problem of corruption in health systems making fighting corruption at all levels and in all its forms a priority. In response, health system corruption should be classified as a risk to public health and addressed by adopting a public health approach. Taking a public health approach to health systems corruption could promote a new paradigm for working on health system anti-corruption efforts. A public health approach could increase the space for policy dialogue about corruption, focus work to address corruption on prevention, help generate and disseminate evidence about effective interventions strategies, and because of its focus on multisectoral action would provide new opportunities for promoting cooperation on anti-corruption work across multiple agencies and sectors. Using a public health approach to tackle health system corruption could help address the current inertia around the topic and create a new positive mindset among policy-makers who would come to see corruption as a manageable public health problem rather than an intractable one.

Community Control and Liquor Licensing: A Public Health Issue in New Zealand

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 743-755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Stewart ◽  
Sally Casswell
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Community Control ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
Community Interest ◽  
Licensed Premises ◽  
Temperance Movements ◽  
Alcohol Related Problems

Community interest in controlling the sale and supply of alcohol and reducing alcohol-related problems has seen a number of responses in New Zealand and elsewhere. These have included the growth of popular temperance movements last century, sometimes accompanied by votes for national or local prohibition. In some regions in New Zealand the local population instituted community-owned licensing trusts to operate licensed premises upon restoring alcohol sales to their districts. Government reviews of licensing law have responded to public dissatisfaction with drinking conditions. A recent substantial review of the sale of liquor in the late 1980s revived public interest in the control of alcohol. Submissions from a public health perspective concentrated on restricting access. The final legislation, however, saw a liberalising of availability and deregulation of the licensing system. Nevertheless, emphasis is given to the control of alcohol-related problems, highlighted in the object of the act. The response of licensing and enforcement agencies to that objective will have important implications for the control of problems in the community.

scholarly journals Alcohol policy and public health

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 402-411
Author(s):  
Jason Luty
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Alcohol Problems ◽  
Alcohol Policy ◽  
Social Aspect ◽  
Education Industry ◽  
Vested Interests ◽  
History Of ◽  
Financial Power ◽  
Effective Public Health

SummaryAlcohol is the most commonly used recreational drug in the world and the third leading cause of preventable death. Alcohol consumption and alcohol problems have increased steadily over the past six decades. Methods likely to reduce alcohol problems (e.g. minimum pricing, restricting licensing hours and increasing the availability of alcohol treatment) tend not to be supported by the drinks industry. Methods favoured by the industry (e.g. public education, industry self-regulation and product warning labelling) are less effective or do not work. The recent history of alcohol policy clearly demonstrates how the financial power of industry can influence governments and undermine effective public health measures, for instance by lobbying, political donations, confusion marketing and creating fnancial vested interests by grants from industry-sponsored 'social aspect organisations'.

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