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Combination vaccines: practical considerations for public health and private practice.

BACKGROUND: Although the current immunization schedule for children requires as many as four or five injections at a single visit, both parents and health care providers hesitate to administer more than two or three simultaneous injections. Therefore new combination vaccines that include multiple unrelated antigens are needed. METHODS: Individuals from the Immunization Division of the Colorado State Department of Health and pediatricians in private practice in Denver, CO, were interviewed and asked about incorporating new combination vaccines into their practice. RESULTS: At a state health department level the transition to combination vaccines will likely require reprioritizing of public health resources. In addition state health officials are important information resources for public and private providers, as well as for the community. At the level of the private provider combination vaccines hold promise for simplifying the immunization schedule, but successful implementation will require education and guidance on how best to integrate the new combination into practice. CONCLUSIONS: Combination vaccines are the immediate solution to the addition of new childhood vaccines and will alleviate the concern of parents and physicians regarding the trauma related to multiple injections at a single visit.

Colorado↗

Health promotion in adolescents: a review of Pender's health promotion model.

Adolescents have unique health considerations as they transition from parent-managed healthcare to personal responsibility for health behavior. One question to consider is the goodness-of-fit of available theoretical models for explaining and predicting adolescent health-promoting behavior. This integrative review explored Pender's health promotion model in relation to adolescent health. Specifically, this review summarizes the components of Pender's model and the supporting theoretical underpinnings based in the social cognitive theory. Research literature related to the health promotion model and various aspects of teen health is explored. Recommendations for further research and theory development are discussed.

Adolescent↗

Evaluation of a hospital medical library class for NICU nurses.

A library class was designed and offered to new nurses from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Children's Hospital of Michigan between 2003 and 2005. The class was intended to increase their knowledge of quality health information resources and to assist them with their smooth transition to a new health care organization. The goal of the library training class was to develop the nurses' awareness and knowledge of the library services and online resources on the organization Intranet and to improve their skills in finding reliable information related to patient care, patient parent education, and research. An evaluation study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the library class. Although the findings demonstrated strengths of the library class, they also revealed some areas for improvement. The data gathered resulted in a number of recommendations regarding library instruction design and evaluation.

Female↗

The ON TRAC model for transitional care of adolescents.

This article describes the framework and clinical pathway for ON TRAC (Taking Responsibility for Adolescent/Adult Care), a model of transition care for adolescents with chronic health conditions, as applied to pediatric transplant transition. This model was developed in 1998 at Children's and Women's Health Centre of British Columbia; it provides a multidisciplinary approach to developmentally appropriate transition planning and skill building. The model is youth focused and family centered, and includes stages of transition care on the basis of the developmental stages and capabilities of adolescents. Important considerations for healthcare providers, specific tools for use in clinical settings, and case studies illustrate the use of the ON TRAC model in a pediatric transplant clinic. The ultimate goal of transition in the ON TRAC model is for all adolescents to reach their attainable levels of independence, self-sufficiency, and self-worth while transferring safely and securely into adult healthcare services and adulthood.

Adolescent↗

The injustice of unsafe motherhood.

This paper presents an overview of the dimensions of unsafe motherhood, contrasting data from economically developed countries with some from developing countries. It addresses many common factors that shape unsafe motherhood, identifying medical, health system and societal causes, including women's powerlessness over their reproductive lives in particular as a feature of their dependent status in general. Drawing on perceptions of Jonathan Mann, it focuses on public health dimensions of maternity risks, and equates the role of bioethics in conscientious medical care to that of human rights in public health care. The microethics of medical care translate into the macroethics of public health, but the transition compels some compromise of personal autonomy, a key feature of Western bioethics, in favour of societal analysis. Religiously-based morality is seen to have shaped laws that contribute to unsafe motherhood. Now reformed in former colonizing countries of Europe, many such laws remain in effect in countries that emerged from colonial domination. UN conferences have defined the concept of 'reproductive health' as one that supports women's reproductive self-determination, but restrictive abortion laws and practices epitomize the unjust constraints to which many women remain subject, resulting in their unsafe motherhood. Pregnant women can be legally compelled to give the resources of their bodies to the support of others, while fathers are not legally compellable to provide, for instance, bone-marrow or blood donations for their children's survival. Women's unjust legal, political, economic and social powerlessness explains much unsafe motherhood and maternal mortality and morbidity.

Abortion, Legal↗

The global impact of noncommunicable diseases: estimates and projections.

With the aging of populations in developing countries there is both a demographic and an epidemiological transition which affects the impact of chronic degenerative diseases on the health status of the populations. Demographic transition takes place in countries where there are effective programmes of disease control which allow for survival during the early years of childhood and adolescence. This results in an increase in life expectancy which places larger proportions of the population in the age range (60 years and older) in which chronic degenerative diseases become the major determinants of health status. Epidemiological transition in diseases may also be brought about by shifts in social and economic patterns which favour detrimental changes in risk factors for the chronic degenerative diseases. Such changes may include health-related behaviour which augments dietary consumption of fats and alcohol, increases obesity, increases smoking and decreases physical activity. Such changes in risk-factor levels increase the prevalence of chronic degenerative diseases which manifest themselves at later ages, and for which early preventive actions could be cost-effective. In order to illustrate the impact of both demographic and risk-factor effects, analyses are made of the impact of increases in life expectancy on cause-specific mortality in both developing and developed countries. It is shown that there is great similarity in the effect of major noncommunicable diseases on the life expectancy of adults in both developed and developing countries. The major differences are seen to be in the proportions of deaths expected from such diseases as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cirrhosis; but not in the distribution of age at death which is the better measure of disease impact. Demographic analyses, computing indirect estimates of mortality, also demonstrate that there are currently more chronic disease deaths in developing than developed countries and that as expectation of life increases in developing countries the global chronic disease burden will be greatly concentrated in the developing countries. Analyses of risk-factor reduction by feasible intervention strategies, e.g. smoking cessation campaigns, treatment of high blood pressure, using relationships between risk factors and diseases established in longitudinal studies carried out in developed countries, point out that the effect of risk-factor control in long-living populations can be hidden by the dependency of risk factors and various related causes of death, e.g. smoking has an impact on lung cancer, ischaemic heart disease and emphysema, but at different ages.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Actuarial Analysis↗

Cohabiting unions, repartnering and mental health.

BACKGROUND: A considerable body of research has established that transitions out of marriage are generally deleterious for mental health and some have examined transitions out of cohabitation. In this study we depart from these established areas to investigate the effects of poor mental health on the duration and outcome of cohabitations and on the time to, and likelihood of, repartnering after both cohabitation and marriage. METHOD: Samples came from the British Household Panel Survey, 1991--2001. These were: (1) 447 cohabiting spells; (2) 5571 paired person-years during cohabitation; (3) 508 spells after cohabitation; (4) 1197 person-year observations within those spells; (5) 869 spells after marriage; and (6) 2736 person-year observations within those spells. Life tables, log-rank tests, multinomial logit and proportional hazard models were used. Mental health was measured by the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. RESULTS: Poor mental health increased the risk of dissolving a cohabiting union for both men and women. Poor mental health reduced the risk of repartnering after a cohabiting union but had no effect on the risk of repartnering after a marriage. Other factors such as past marital status, age and parental status also had significant effects. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence that poor mental health during a cohabiting union increases the chances of that union dissolving instead of turning into marriage and poorer mental health immediately after a transition out of a cohabiting union is associated with reduced chances of repartnering.

Adolescent↗

Results of treatment one year later: child and adolescent partial hospitalization.

OBJECTIVE: One criticism of academicians is that they evaluate and disseminate outcome studies based more on the value and merit of the research design than on the utility of the findings for improving clinical practice. Increasing pressure on programs to evaluate the effectiveness of behavioral health care is transitioning outcome measurement from the exclusive domain of the researcher toward the clinical/organizational domain. To explore the multiple applications of such clinical outcome data, this article presents the results from a study of 114 patients completing treatment in two child and adolescent partial hospital programs. METHOD: Four areas define the scope of clinical outcome measurement pertinent to partial hospitalization: changes in the patient's clinical status, changes in the patient's level of daily functioning, impact on the utilization of behavioral health services after discharge, and patient/family satisfaction with treatment. Using these four domains, this study compares data assessed at admission and at 1 year postdischarge. RESULTS: Analyses used paired t tests primarily to measure change between admission and 1 year after discharge. Overall, the data show improvement in general functioning that remains evident up to 1 year postdischarge. CONCLUSIONS: Finding positive results in specific areas emphasized therapeutically--such as family functioning and use of community-based mental health resources after discharge, and the parent's attribution of improvement to experiences in treatment--provides justification for relating improvement to the treatment episode.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Quality of life of individuals with heart failure: a randomized trial of the effectiveness of two models of hospital-to-home transition.

BACKGROUND: The growing number of patients with congestive heart failure has increased both the pressure on hospital resources and the need for community management of the condition. Improving hospital-to-home transition for this population is a logical step in responding to current practice guidelines' recommendations for coordination and education. Positive outcomes have been reported from trials evaluating multiple interventions, enhanced hospital discharge, and follow-up through the addition of a case management role. The question remains if similar gains could be achieved working with usual hospital and community nurses. METHODS: A 12-week, prospective, randomized controlled trial was conducted of the effect of transitional care on health-related quality of life (disease-specific and generic measures), rates of readmission, and emergency room use. The nurse-led intervention focused on the transition from hospital-to-home and supportive care for self-management 2 weeks after hospital discharge. RESULTS: At 6 weeks after hospital discharge, the overall Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) score was better among the Transitional Care patients (27.2 +/- 19.1 SD) than among the Usual Care patients (37.5 +/- 20.3 SD; P = 0.002). Similar results were found at 12 weeks postdischarge for the overall MLHFQ and at 6- and 12-weeks postdischarge for the MLHFQ's Physical Dimension and Emotional Dimension subscales. Differences in generic quality life, as assessed by the SF-36 Physical component, Mental Component, and General Health subscales, were not significantly different between the Transition and Usual Care groups. At 12 weeks postdischarge, 31% of the Usual Care patients had been readmitted compared with 23% of the Transitional Care patients (P = 0.26), and 46% of the Usual Care group visited the emergency department compared with 29% in the Transitional Care group (chi2 = 4.86, df 1, P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: There were significant improvements in health-related quality of life (HRQL) associated with Transitional Care and less use of emergency rooms.

Adult↗

Well-being, symptoms and the menopausal transition.

OBJECTIVES: This paper reviews the knowledge accumulated from published population studies of health and ill-health experiences during the menopausal transition. RESULTS: Well-being: mid-aged women are more likely to report positive moods than negative moods. Well-being is not associated with menopausal status but is associated with current health status, psychosocial and lifestyle variables. SYMPTOMS: SYMPTOMS vary greatly across cultures, with North American and European samples reporting higher rates of symptoms than Asian women. The most symptomatic women in the North American samples and Australian studies are those whose menstrual cycles have changed. Vasomotor symptoms increase through the menopausal transition. Other variables such as socio-demographic, health status, stress, premenstrual complaints, attitudes to ageing and menopause, and health behaviors are associated with the occurrence of symptoms. Psychological complaints: There is no increase in the incidence of major depression with the menopause. Negative moods are not associated with the natural menopausal transition. Factors associated with negative moods include surgical menopause, prior depression, health status, menstrual problems, social and family stressors and negative attitudes to menopause. Sexuality: Several studies suggest a decline in sexual functioning associated with menopausal status rather than ageing. Social factors and health status factors are also associated with sexual outcomes. RECOMMENDATIONS: Future research should bring together biomedical and sociological aspects. Positive aspects of health should be assessed as well as troubling symptoms. Longitudinal studies are needed with measures of hormonal change. Promoting positive attitudes to ageing and menopause, health lifestyles and stress reduction can be used as community interventions and as part of individual care.

Adult↗

Market reforms and public incentives: finding a balance in the Republic of Macedonia.

The Republic of Macedonia is undertaking sweeping reforms of its health sector. Funded by a World Bank credit, the reforms seek to improve the efficiency and quality of primary health care (PHC) by significantly strengthening the role of the market in health care provision. On the supply-side, one of the key reform proposals is to implement a capitation payment system for PHC physicians. By placing individual physicians on productivity-based contracts, these reforms will effectively marketize all PHC provision. In addition, the Ministry of Health is considering the sale or concessions of public PHC clinics to private groups, indicating the government's commitment to marketization of health care provision. Macedonia is in a unique position to develop a new role for the private sector in PHC provision. The private provision of outpatient care was legalized soon after independence in 1991; private physicians now account for nearly 10% of all physicians and 22% of PHC physicians. If the reforms are fully realized, all PHC physicians-over 40% of all physicians-will be financially responsible for their clinical practices. This study draws on Macedonia's experience with limited development of private outpatient care starting in 1991 and the reform proposals for PHC, finding a network of policies and procedures throughout the health sector that negatively impact private and public sector provision. An assessment of the effects that this greater policy environment has on private sector provision identifies opportunities to strategically enhance the reforms. With respect to established market economies, the study finds justification for a greater role for government intervention in private health markets in transition economies. In addition to micro-level payment incentives and administrative controls, marketization in Central and Eastern Europe requires an examination of insurance contracting procedures, quality assurance practices, public clinic ownership, referral practices, hospital privileges, and capital investment policies.

Capitalism↗

Multistate worklife expectancies.

This communication reviews the demographic concept of worklife expectancy and draws the epidemiologists' attention to its usefulness in occupational health research and pension policy making. The distinctions between different analytic approaches to the quantification of expected workforce status and mobility are pointed out. A recently developed multivariate large-sample regression method for the analysis of worklife tables is placed into the general context of life tables. Given aggregated data from multiple cross-sectional or longitudinal population surveys, a multistate regression model can be used to estimate consistently marginal probabilities that a person is in a given work-health state or transition probabilities between the states and, thereby, worklife expectancies. The methodology is illustrated through the application to data from Finnish population statistics on employment, disability, retirement, and mortality. The paper closes with a discussion of the methodological issues and empirical findings on pension policy in Finland.

Finland↗

Prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in Singapore: a review of national health promotion programmes.

The epidemiological transition in Singapore from infectious to chronic, non-communicable diseases created different challenges for our public health system. The population-based strategy is adopted in primary prevention, through the promotion of a healthy lifestyle--smoking cessation, physical activity, eating right and managing stress. Complementing this are measures to detect chronic conditions early through screening and optimal treatment of the disease. While improvements were seen in the common risk factors of smoking and physical inactivity, prevalence of measurable risk factors like hypertension increased between 1992 and 1998. In 2000, the Ministry of Health initiated a series of national disease management plans for major disease conditions affecting Singaporeans. This approach uses a comprehensive and systematic approach to integrate the various components, with identification of responsible parties to ensure successful implementation of initiatives. Chronic diseases will remain prevalent as our society rapidly ages. Close monitoring of our initiatives in disease management will provide information on the long-term efficacy of such strategies.

Chronic Disease↗

Channel leadership in health care marketing: a natural role for hospitals.

Health care has entered an era of rapid change. Most observers agree that important long-term changes will fundamentally reshape health care as we know it. To that end, health care providers should consider the benefits of operating vertically integrated marketing system with hospitals as the channel leader. Whether an administered VMS (hospitals have the power to gain compliance) or a corporate VMS (hospitals own successive levels of care providers), integrated channel management holds the promise of cost containment and quality patient care for the future. However, a great deal of integrating work must be done before VMSs will become a practical solution. Research studies are needed on each of the issues just discussed. As marketers, it is time we make a transition from treating health care marketing as a disjointed entity and instead treat it as an industry where all marketing principles are considered including channel management.

Hospital Administration↗

Health related behavioural change in context: young people in transition.

Post-modern theorists have highlighted the impacts of rapid social and economic change in lessening structural constraints, arguing that the concepts of "gender" and "social class" are now less useful in understanding people's life chances and choices. While the epochal nature of such changes has been questioned, increasing levels of individualisation and reflexivity have been widely recognised. Agency is prioritised and structural disembeddedness increasingly assumed: people are held to construct their identities and biographies reflexively from a diverse range of experiences and opportunities. When used in relation to understanding health related behaviours this theorising has led to an increasing focus upon the symbolic significance of consumption (and indeed risk) in defining lifestyles and identities. Here we report on the health related behaviours of 106 young people (15/16 yr) during their transition from school to employment, training or further education. This period is arguably central in the process of creating adult identities and accordingly should involve considerable lifestyle choice, reflexivity and symbolic consumption as identities are formed. By drawing on two rounds of data (semi-structured interviews and structured questionnaires) we consider how smoking and drinking behaviours related to the wider social transitions towards adulthood. We provide a situated account of health related behaviours which acknowledges both subjective experience and social location. We argue that the current challenge is to integrate the different levels of structural constraint and individual agency within the context of current rapid social and economic change and suggest that it is only through empirical investigation which embraces an analysis both at the level of structure and individual experience that the conditions of late modernity can be more thoroughly understood.

Adolescent↗

On the use of laboratory markers as surrogates for clinical endpoints in the evaluation of treatment for HIV infection.

There are strong ethical and practical reasons for hastening decision-making about the efficacy of new treatments for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. One strategy is to use early markers of disease progression, such as CD4+ lymphocyte levels, as surrogates for ultimate clinical endpoints, such as the development of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or death, in the evaluation of new therapies. We used a simple model of transitions among three health states (well; alive but with an adverse marker; and having experienced a definitive clinical endpoint) to examine the extent to which treatment comparisons based on the surrogate endpoint predict ultimate clinical benefits. With parameters chosen to model the treatment of HIV infection, computer simulations of clinical trials demonstrated substantial time savings by use of the surrogate endpoint. However, reliance on the surrogate led to serious overestimates of ultimate clinical benefit if treatment entailed delayed toxicity or had only transient beneficial effects. Likewise, reliance on the surrogate led to serious underestimates of ultimate clinical benefit when the treatment had no effect on the transition from well to the marker state but did reduce the rates of transition from the marker state to the ultimate clinical endpoint and directly from the well state to the ultimate clinical endpoint.

Antiviral Agents↗

Power and opportunity in public health nursing work environments.

Kanter's structural theory of power in organizations provided the conceptual framework for this comparative study on perceptions of power of two levels of nurses working in three public health agencies during a time of program transition. Forty-six public health nurses and 10 nurse managers were surveyed to examine their perceptions of the amount of power existing in their own and their counterparts' jobs. Propositions from Kanter's theory were supported by the data. Both groups rated their work environments to be somewhat low in power, although managers perceived themselves to be significantly more empowered in their work environments than did staff nurses. In addition, staff nurses perceived themselves to have significantly less access to empowerment structures (opportunity, information, support, and resources) than their managers perceived them to have. Staff nurse empowerment was found to be significantly related to perceptions of their immediate managers' power in the organization.

Adult↗