Should I trust or should I go? How people perceive and assess the quality of science communication to avoid fake news.

This paper investigates how citizens of five European countries (Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, and Spain) enquire about scientific issues, how they rate scientific information on climate change and vaccines in terms of quantity and quality, and their strategies for overcoming perceived defects. We conducted a public consultation involving almost 500 citizens and addressed controversial science-related topics. Discussions were qualitatively content analyzed. The public consultations revealed the prevalence of traditional media as a source of scientific information, and the results presented a general perception of inadequate, imprecise, and insufficient scientific communication. Finally, we show how traditional media are still the most frequently used channels and that personal criteria prevail in the evaluation of the reliability of information sources. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11135-022-01569-5.

Strengthening home and community-based care through Medicaid waivers.

States are increasingly using the Medicaid 1915c waiver program to provide community-based long-term care (LTC). We examined state predictors of waiver utilization and expenditures for waivers serving both older and working-age individuals. State level data for the period 1992 to 2001 were used to estimate random effects panel models. States with increased community-based care (e.g., home health agencies) and decreased nursing home bed capacity were positively associated with state per capita rates of use, expenditures, and the share of Medicaid LTC dollars supporting 1915c waivers. States appeared to substitute Medicare for Medicaid services for individuals eligible for both. State per capita income was positively related to each measure. State policies that facilitate decreased institutional and increased community- based capacity appear essential to state efforts to expand access to community-based services. Federal policies that address state resource issues may also spur growth in community-based LTC, which, in most states, continues to be limited.

Variation by disability in state predictors of Medicaid 1915c waiver use and expenditures.

PURPOSE: States are increasingly using the Medicaid 1915c waiver program to provide community-based long-term care. A substantially greater share of long-term-care dollars supports community-based care for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, relative to older and working-age persons with primarily physical disabilities. DESIGN AND METHODS: We used state-level data for the period from 1992 to 2001 to estimate fixed-effects panel models. We compared state predictors of waiver utilization and expenditures for waivers serving both older and working-age individuals (O/WAIs) relative to waivers serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs). RESULTS: We found community-based-care capacity to predict use and expenditures for both target groups. Although regulation of institutional supply was positively related to expenditure measures for IDDs, it was not related to use or expenditures for O/WAIs. Demand variables (e.g., the size of a state's African American population) predicted use and expenditures for IDD waivers, but they were less consistent for O/WAI waivers. State resources were a robust predictor of use and expenditures for both groups. IMPLICATIONS: Increased community-based-care capacity appears to be an important factor in efforts to expand the availability of Medicaid community-based care. Federal policies that address state resource issues may also spur growth in community-based long-term care.

Predictability of Vibrio cholerae in Chesapeake Bay.

Vibrio cholerae is autochthonous to natural waters and can pose a health risk when it is consumed via untreated water or contaminated shellfish. The correlation between the occurrence of V. cholerae in Chesapeake Bay and environmental factors was investigated over a 3-year period. Water and plankton samples were collected monthly from five shore sampling sites in northern Chesapeake Bay (January 1998 to February 2000) and from research cruise stations on a north-south transect (summers of 1999 and 2000). Enrichment was used to detect culturable V. cholerae, and 21.1% (n = 427) of the samples were positive. As determined by serology tests, the isolates, did not belong to serogroup O1 or O139 associated with cholera epidemics. A direct fluorescent-antibody assay was used to detect V. cholerae O1, and 23.8% (n = 412) of the samples were positive. V. cholerae was more frequently detected during the warmer months and in northern Chesapeake Bay, where the salinity is lower. Statistical models successfully predicted the presence of V. cholerae as a function of water temperature and salinity. Temperatures above 19 degrees C and salinities between 2 and 14 ppt yielded at least a fourfold increase in the number of detectable V. cholerae. The results suggest that salinity variation in Chesapeake Bay or other parameters associated with Susquehanna River inflow contribute to the variability in the occurrence of V. cholerae and that salinity is a useful indicator. Under scenarios of global climate change, increased climate variability, accompanied by higher stream flow rates and warmer temperatures, could favor conditions that increase the occurrence of V. cholerae in Chesapeake Bay.