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Biomedical subjects

D Raphael

Publications and source records attributed to D Raphael.

48 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Government policies as a threat to health: findings from two Toronto community quality of life studies.

Community members, service providers, and elected representatives in two Toronto communities were asked to identify community factors influencing the health of community members. Many of the identified barriers to health related to government policies and actions. Cutbacks in federal transfers to provinces and provincial cutbacks in funding for agencies, reductions in social assistance, ending of new social housing, and other policy changes were seen as negatively impacting the health of the community and its members. These perceptions were remarkably consistent with emerging findings concerning the determinants of health. Implications for public health practice were considered.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMedDate not supplied

How government policy decisions affect seniors' quality of life: findings from a participatory policy study carried out in Toronto, Canada.

Toronto seniors explored how government policy decisions were influencing their health and well-being. In this participatory policy study, emphasis was upon the lay and critical knowledge of highly informed seniors. Focus groups and interviews revealed that all three levels of governments were seen as not listening to seniors' voices. In nine key policy areas identified as influencing seniors' quality of life--hearing seniors' voices, housing, acute illness care, long-term care, income supports, transportation and mobility, promoting healthy lifestyles, access to information, and hearing voices from cultural communities--many concerns were raised. The gap between government rhetoric and government action on seniors' issues merits public health attention.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Frailty: a public health perspective.

Traditionally, frailty has been conceptualized as reflecting an inevitable decline in abilities usually associated with physical aspects of aging. More recent thinking now sees frailty as reflecting an interaction among individual factors and a range of environmental elements. These emerging models, however, continue to consider frailty as a condition that resides within the individual rather than a situation that exists for the individual. We present a new model that defines frailty as occurring when there is diminished ability to carry out the important practical and social activities of daily living. Factors related to the occurrence of frailty are considered, as are the theoretical and practice implications of viewing frailty as a social construction.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The quality of life of seniors living in the community: a conceptualization with implications for public health practice.

Maintaining and improving the quality of life (QOL) of seniors in the community is an increasingly important goal of public health planning and programming. To provide authentic assessments of seniors' quality of life, a partnership of public health workers and university researchers, working closely with seniors in the community, developed the Quality of Life Profile: Seniors Version (QOLPSV). Administration of the QOLPSV to a wide range of North York, Ontario seniors (n = 205) participating in community-based healthful living programs provided evidence of the instrument's psychometric integrity. Additionally, results indicated specific areas of need among seniors, suggesting shifts in emphasis in program delivery. Additional public health applications of a quality of life perspective are outlined.

Aged↗