Social capital,health, health behavior,and utilization of healthcare services among older adults: A conceptual framework

Meeting the health needs of Americans must change as the population continues to live longer. A strategy that considers social well‐being is necessary. One way to improve social well‐being is through increased social capital, which includes networks among individuals and norms of reciprocity and trust between them. Supporting attainment of bonding social capital from close‐knit groups, such as family, and bridging or linking social capital from those who are dissimilar are vital. Research shows there is a relationship among social capital and self‐reported mental and physical health, health behaviors, healthcare utilization, and mortality. Because older adults are often dependent on others for their healthcare needs, it is posited that social capital plays a key role. Nurses can be instrumental in investigating levels of social capital for individuals and determining what type of social support is needed and who in the individual's network will provide that support. When support is absent, the nurse serves as the link between patients and available resources. The purpose of this article is to introduce a conceptual framework that can assist nurses and other healthcare providers to consider social capital in older adults in the context of relationships and the social environments to which they belong.     

Recovery capital: a systematic review of the literature

Background: Recovery from a substance use disorder involves various supports addressing multiple interrelated factors. Recovery capital (RC) is a lens that could help identify distinct areas of assets that could be enhanced and barriers to be addressed in individuals’ recovery processes. The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic review of the literature to map the existing RC research and theoretical evidence base and to provide readers and potential users of the construct areas for further attention.

Methods: Using systematic search methods, a literature search on RC was conducted. Articles were reviewed and relevant data was extracted and synthesized.

Results: Searches resulted in 38 reports representing 35 unique studies. Samples ranged from 4–703 participants (4885 total) and were described as male (M?=?60.9%) and white (M?=?72.1%). Sample age ranged 17.3–70?years (37.2?±?64.61?years). RC has been studied in a range of diverse adult populations and many factors have been studied within its primary domains. Yet, authors are inconsistent in their use and reporting of RC conceptualization and efforts to quantify RC through a scale have not been rewarded with uptake in the research community.

Conclusions: Future researchers should consistently use key RC domains. Measurements of RC largely lack attention to community-level factors and should be further explored. RC should also be explored among specific populations, especially among youth and with particular attention to culture and intersectionality.     

Tax incentives and the demand for private health insurance

We analyze the effect of an individual insurance mandate (Medicare Levy Surcharge) on the demand for private health insurance (PHI) in Australia. With administrative income tax return data, we show that the mandate has several distinct effects on taxpayers’ behavior. First, despite the large tax penalty for not having PHI coverage relative to the cost of the cheapest eligible insurance policy, compliance with mandate is relatively low: the proportion of the population with PHI coverage increases by 6.5 percentage points (15.6%) at the income threshold where the tax penalty starts to apply. This effect is most pronounced for young taxpayers, while the middle aged seem to be least responsive to this specific tax incentive. Second, the discontinuous increase in the average tax rate at the income threshold created by the policy generates a strong incentive for tax avoidance which manifests itself through bunching in the taxable income distribution below the threshold. Finally, after imposing some plausible assumptions, we extrapolate the effect of the policy to other income levels and show that this policy has not had a significant impact on the overall demand for private health insurance in Australia.     

江苏省医药上市公司资本配置效率分析

本文对江苏省医药上市公司资本配置效率进行了实证分析，并将江苏省医药上市公司与浙江省、上海市等长三角地区的医药上市公司进行了比较研究，分析江苏省医药上市公司与其它地区资本配置存在的差异，并在此基础上提出优化企业资本配置效率的建议。     

Social Capital in an Impoverished Minority Neighborhood: Emergence and Effects on Children's Mental Health

PROBLEM:  This study aims to describe and analyze neighborhood effects on children's mental health, focusing on the emergence and effects of Social Capital or informal social control.
METHOD:  Focus groups of Hispanic and African American families raising children in a low-income, minority neighborhood.
FINDINGS:  Parents' alienation from and distrust of public sources of formal social control, such as policemen, prevented the emergence of positive informal social control.
CONCLUSION:  Psychiatric nurses and nurse practitioners must utilize public health and individual therapeutic approaches to prevent and treat children's mental health problems in disorganized, violent neighborhoods.     

Slipped capital femoral epiphysis and its association with endocrine, metabolic and chronic diseases: a systematic review of the literature

Purpose

Puberty, obesity, endocrine and chronic systemic diseases are known to be associated with slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE). The mechanical insufficiency of the physis in SCFE is thought to be the result of an abnormal weakening of the physis. However, the mechanism at the cellular level has not been unravelled up to now.

Methods

To understand the pathophysiology of endocrine and metabolic factors acting on the physis, we performed a systematic review focussing on published studies reporting on hormonal, morphological and cellular abnormalities of the physis in children with SCFE. In addition, we looked for studies of the effects of endocrinopathies on the human physis which can lead to cause SCFE and focussed in detail on hormonal signalling, hormone receptor expression and extracellular matrix (ECM) composition of the physis. We searched in the PubMed, EMBASE.com and The Cochrane Library (via Wiley) databases from inception to 11th September 2012. The search generated a total of 689 references: 382 in PubMed, 232 in EMBASE.com and 75 in The Cochrane Library. After removing duplicate papers, 525 papers remained. Of these, 119 were selected based on titles and abstracts. After excluding 63 papers not related to the human physis, 56 papers were included in this review.

Results

Activation of the gonadal axis and the subsequent augmentation of the activity of the growth hormone–insulin-like growth factor 1 (GH-IGF-1) axis are important for the pubertal growth spurt, as well as for cessation of the physis at the end of puberty. The effects of leptin, thyroid hormone and corticosteroids on linear growth and on the physis are also discussed. Children with chronic diseases suffer from inflammation, acidosis and malnutrition. These consequences of chronic diseases affect the GH-IGF-1 axis, thereby, increasing the risk of the development of SCFE. The risk of SCFE and avascular necrosis in children with chronic renal insufficiency, growth hormone treatment and renal osteodystrophy remains equivocal.

Conclusions

SCFE is most likely the result of a multi-factorial event during adolescence when height and weight increase dramatically and the delicate balance between the various hormonal equilibria can be disturbed. Up to now, there are no screening or diagnostic tests available to predict patients at risk.     

民营医院提高护理质量的途径与措施

在市场经济下,医院管理以经济目标为主,管理方法以行政手段和经济手段为主．容易忽视“人”在医院管理和发展中的意义。现代管理学强调“以人为本”,重视人的需求,注重调动人的积极性和主动性一通过探索民营医院提高护理质量的途径与措施,认为民营医院管理者应适应时代的要求,树立新观念,采用新的管理策略和方法。