ABSTRACT
As President Biden's administration works towards a 'fair and humane' immigration overhaul, it becomes critical to examine the implications of immigration policies/laws under the Trump administration on the well-being of undocumented residents to inform equitable reformations. We investigate challenges faced by undocumented Latinx immigrants in accessing health care services in the sociopolitical climate under the Trump administration. This study, which follows a similar study among frontline service providers, presents key findings from 23 in-depth interviews with Latinx individuals. Understanding their experiences is necessary to advance access to health-promoting services and uphold the human right to health. Our study participants' narratives document multiple barriers to health care services, many notably exacerbated by increasingly restrictive immigration policies/laws and heightened punitive interior enforcement practices under the Trump administration. As the nation awaits equitable immigration reform, health care organizations should immediately incorporate, amplify, or alter programs/practices to facilitate access among their undocumented clients. Focused organizational changes have the potential to reduce unmet health needs, minimize financial burdens for families, and curtail potential public health threats, the latter a particularly imperative goal within the current COVID-19 pandemic. We also distill conclusions drawn from our interviews with clients and their convergence with and divergence from conclusions drawn from our related research with providers. While providers recognize the negative impact of sociopolitical factors on their clients' access to health care services, client experiences illuminate potential gaps in their understanding. Bridging understanding between providers and clients can improve access, utilization, and retention in health care services.Copyright © 2022 The Authors
ABSTRACT
The profession of pharmacist involves a continuous effort to combat diseases and preserve social health in various urban and rural communities. Pharmacists are exposed to a variety of risk factors while performing their professional activity. The COVID-19 pandemic period introduced an additional risk among occupational risk factors. The aim of the study is to identify occupational risk factors among pharmacists and the health problems they face at work. The study also seeks to propose some recommendations for risk prophylaxis and to facilitate the activity in conditions of good professional practice and to minimize exposure to occupational risk factors. The proposed questionnaire aims to highlight the level of health and habits, lifestyle practices and perceptions of the typology of healthy living in this professional group. The application of the questionnaire can also be the sign for the transition point from the state of health to the pathological status. The correlation of professional and non-professional factors led to the profiling of relationships between all risk factors induced by the specific of the profession and theorizing a set of prophylactic or curative intervention measures. Compliance with a physical activity program and a lifestyle according with the standards of relevant domestic and international bodies will increase the quality of life of these specialists as well as the quality of professional acts in the service of public health.Copyright © 2023, Romanian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
At the end of 2019, an outbreak of a new coronavirus began in the city of Wuhan (Hubei Province) in the People's Republic of China. The outbreak turned into a pandemic. In the shortest possible time, national and international manufacturers developed preventive COVID-19 vaccines, and the population was vaccinated. During pandemics, accelerated approval of vaccines is an important factor that shortens the time to market with the aim of mass vaccination. The experience of rapidly developing and introducing vaccines into routine practice is not only important for managing the current pandemic, but also valuable in case of extremely likely future ones. The aim of this study was to analyse the main issues associated with assessing the safety and efficacy of vaccines for COVID-19 prevention during their registration and widespread use amid the pandemic and ongoing SARS-CoV-2 evolution. The vaccines for COVID-19 prevention were developed and introduced into healthcare practice very rapidly and under the circumstances of the pandemic, and the use of these vaccines has surfaced a number of concerns requiring further research. The most important issues identified in the performed analysis include, but are not limited to the need for accelerated assessment of the safety and immunogenicity of new vaccines;the lack of immune correlates of protection against SARS-CoV-2;the waning of antibody immunity over time, motivating the need to determine revaccination and post-recovery vaccination timelines;and the emergence of mutant SARS-CoV-2 variants. One of noteworthy aspects is the need to develop recommendations for updating the strain composition of registered COVID-19 vaccines. According to the conclusions, the level of herd immunity, including vaccine-induced protection, plays a certain role in virus evolution during the pandemic. If COVID-19 becomes seasonal, which is a probable scenario, regular revaccination can be essential.Copyright © 2023 Safety and Risk of Pharmacotherapy. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
At the end of 2019, an outbreak of a new coronavirus began in the city of Wuhan (Hubei Province) in the People's Republic of China. The outbreak turned into a pandemic. In the shortest possible time, national and international manufacturers developed preventive COVID-19 vaccines, and the population was vaccinated. During pandemics, accelerated approval of vaccines is an important factor that shortens the time to market with the aim of mass vaccination. The experience of rapidly developing and introducing vaccines into routine practice is not only important for managing the current pandemic, but also valuable in case of extremely likely future ones. The aim of this study was to analyse the main issues associated with assessing the safety and efficacy of vaccines for COVID-19 prevention during their registration and widespread use amid the pandemic and ongoing SARS-CoV-2 evolution. The vaccines for COVID-19 prevention were developed and introduced into healthcare practice very rapidly and under the circumstances of the pandemic, and the use of these vaccines has surfaced a number of concerns requiring further research. The most important issues identified in the performed analysis include, but are not limited to the need for accelerated assessment of the safety and immunogenicity of new vaccines;the lack of immune correlates of protection against SARS-CoV-2;the waning of antibody immunity over time, motivating the need to determine revaccination and post-recovery vaccination timelines;and the emergence of mutant SARS-CoV-2 variants. One of noteworthy aspects is the need to develop recommendations for updating the strain composition of registered COVID-19 vaccines. According to the conclusions, the level of herd immunity, including vaccine-induced protection, plays a certain role in virus evolution during the pandemic. If COVID-19 becomes seasonal, which is a probable scenario, regular revaccination can be essential.
ABSTRACT
Background: Pregnant women is one of the most group who are at high risk for COVID-19 infection. To protect them should keep them away from exposure for infection and enhance their knowledge and practice about self-protective measures towards COVID-19 pandemic. Aim(s): The study aimed to assess knowledge and practice of pregnant women regarding prevention of COVID-19. Subjects & Method: A descriptive study design was performed on 195 pregnant women in the antenatal clinic of Zagazig University Hospital using purposive sampling. Data were collected using three tools: an interview questionnaire, the pregnant women's knowledge questionnaire regarding COVID-19 and Pregnant women's practice questionnaire of self-protective measures in relation to prevention COVID-19. Result(s): mean age of pregnant women was 33.74+/-6.51 years old. About 63.7% of the studied pregnant women had adequate level of knowledge about COVID-19. Additionally, 58.6% of the studied pregnant women had satisfactory performed of self-protective measure against COVID-19. Furthermore, there was highly statistically significant difference of studied pregnant women regarding both total mean score of knowledge and practice (P= 0.000**). Conclusion(s): most of the studied pregnant women had adequate level of knowledge about COVID-19 as well as had satisfactory performed of self-protective measure against COVID-19 this supported the study's aims. Furthermore, there was highly statistically significant difference of studied pregnant women regarding both total mean score of knowledge and practice (P= 0.000**). Recommendations: Incorporates the educational program within outpatient clinics, providing a printed copy of the educational brochure in outpatient clinics for other pregnant women and their relatives. Also, antenatal heath care should have a plan to communicate online with pregnant women to manage such these crisis situations. Copyright © 2022, Anka Publishers. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Telemental health care can be defined as the delivery of mental health care services at distance, by using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental illnesses, as well as for research and education in the field of clinical psychiatry. While telemental health care practice was long established in many countries, its development proceeded with some variability worldwide. Over the past months, however, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has abruptly spread telemental health care practice worldwide, mostly to ensure the provision of care and assistance to psychiatric patients in spite of the governmental social contact restrictions. Although the process of rapid implementation has often happened at different rates and with different quality standards, across the various countries and sites, a global increase of the use of digital technologies has been reported. On the other hand, such recent events have also sparked a real paradigm shift in mental health care, significantly expanding the scope of e-mental health, given the recent availability of newer tools of digital psychiatry. In more detail, the use of mobile phones applications, of social media, of immersive reality and of chatbots is now driving psychiatry towards envisioning a more hybrid form of psychiatric practice, which holds the potential to finally overcome the traditional gap between the unmet needs of psychiatric patients and the relative lack of services and resources in mental health care. Here, the research evidence and the most compelling implementation issues in digital psychiatry will be reviewed.
ABSTRACT
By the middle of 2021, the official global number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients was close to 230 million, but the number accounting for asymptomatic patients was much higher. Consequences and rehabilitation after COVID-19 are of particular interest and raise many controversial and unresolved issues. On May 18, 2021, the Eurasian Association of Therapists organized an international panel of experts to analyze challenges associated with the post-COVID-19 period. This panel aimed to develop approaches to identify gaps in the discussed issues. This interdisciplinary team of leading experts reviewed the current literature and presented their data to formulate practical guidance on management of patients after COVID-19. The panel of experts also presented recommendations on how to implement the gained knowledge into health care practices. Copyright © 2021, Silicea-Poligraf. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The transfer of research evidence into practice has been historically slow, and requires an integration of many elements, including quality evidence, supportive physical and intellectual environments, and facilitation, as discussed at the NNEdPro Sixth International Summit on Nutrition and Health. Examples of applying clinical research into practice focused on the use of group consultations (also known as group clinics or shared medical appointments) to support behaviour change, the role of dietary micronutrients during the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential of Precision Nutrition. An emerging area from early implementation evidence includes group consultations, also known as shared medical appointments, as discussed by Dr Fallows. Group consultations have been shown to improve clinical outcomes for some patient groups (e.g., HbA1c, lipids, BMI), as well as improve self-care and health education, and patient and clinician satisfaction. These groups have been piloted throughout the UK both face-to-face and virtually, with initial findings suggesting they are feasible and acceptable to patients and clinicians. Further work is needed to assess whether these could be cost-effective when scaled-up in National Health Service UK primary care. During the COVID- 19 pandemic, there has been increasing emphasis on the central role of nutrition in health, including the role of dietary micronutrients, as discussed by Dr Van Dael and Shane McAuliffe. Nutrition plays an important role in immunity, yet the nutritional status of the most vulnerable population groups is likely to deteriorate further due to the health and socio-economic impacts of the novel coronavirus. Thus, implementation of this evidence into health care practice is key. Precision Nutrition, defined as an 'approach that uses information on individual characteristics to develop targeted nutrition advice, products or services', offers an exciting opportunity to further individualise dietary advice for behaviour change, as discussed by Dr Kohlmeier and Dr Hernandez. Precision nutrition is underpinned by the recognition that individuals differ in many important ways due to identifiable molecular traits and can be utilised to determine personalised weight loss interventions based on genetic variants. Use of implementation science is in line with one of the six cross-cutting pillars of the Nutrition Decade: Aligned health systems for universal coverage of nutrition actions. Dr Bell, an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian in Australia, provided an overview of key implementation science models and frameworks. Implementation frameworks such as the Action Research Framework, the Knowledge to Action Cycle, and the Spread and Sustain Framework, are underpinned by knowledge creation, effective education, and culture change. Dr Bell then highlighted how theoretical frameworks have provided guidance for the implementation of real world, complex nutrition interventions, including the Systematised Interdisciplinary Program for Implementation and Evaluation (SIMPLE) in Australia, and the More-2-Eat program in Canada.
ABSTRACT
In France, teleconsultation and, more broadly, telemedicine have been encouraged for several years to respond to health issues. However, these practices have experienced difficulties in their development, mainly because caregivers are concerned that the carer-patient relationship might be altered. The COVID-19 health crisis led caregivers to experiment with these tools abruptly, in order to maintain the continuity of healthcare. Caregivers from the diabetes department of the University Hospital of Besançon (France) and patients who benefited from teleconsultation share the lessons learned from this experience, which most of them experienced positively, without altering the care relationship. This forced experimentation allowed the advantages and the limits of this practice to be revealed. It seems that in diabetology–endocrinology, teleconsultation provides an interesting opportunity, not to replace the physical consultation, but to offer a complementary solution, facilitating the follow-up of those patients who want it. Nevertheless, integrating quality teleconsultation into healthcare practices in the long-term requires certain conditions in terms of equipment, organization, coordination, training, and vigilance regarding the digital divide.