Réflexion sur la péréquation financière de psychiatrie en France

For 25 years work has been underway in France for the implementation of an alternative to public financing of health care. In the absence of progress, some regional health agencies are engaged in work related to the reallocation of public finances between psychiatric institutions. We propose a reflection with suggestion on the method proposed by the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Regional Health Agency. Without questioning the need for a reallocation of resources between psychiatric institutions, the method proposed here needs to evolve further to be applied in a legitimate and appropriate manner. There is a kind of urgency for a reallocation of resources between psychiatric institutions in France, but it implies a collective thinking and especially the definition of evaluation procedures for the selected models. These conditions are necessary to guarantee the quality of French psychiatry and equity in access to psychiatric care.     

HIV/AIDS among pastoralists and refugees in north-east Africa: a neglected problem

The eight member states (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda) of the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) have the largest proportions of cross-border mobile pastoralists and refugees in Africa. Although all IGAD countries have had national HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment programmes since the late 1980s, the IGAD Regional HIV & AIDS Partnership Program was (IRAPP) established in 2007 to mitigate the challenges of HIV among neglected pastoral and refugee communities. This article assesses vulnerability of pastoralists and refugee communities to HIV and interventions targeting these groups in the IGAD countries. Outcomes from this study may serve as a baseline for further research and to improve interventions. Published articles were accessed through web searches using PubMed and Google Scholar engines and unpublished documents were collected manually. The search terms were HIV risk behaviour, vulnerability, HIV prevalence and interventions, under the headings pastoralists, refugees, IGAD and north-east Africa for the period 2001–2014. Of the 214 documents reviewed, 78 met the inclusion criteria and were included. Most HIV/AIDS related studies focusing of pastoral communities in IGAD countries were found to be limited in scope and coverage but reveal precarious situations. Sero-prevalence among various pastoral populations ranged from 1% to 21% in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda and from 1% to 5% among refugees in Sudan, Kenya and Uganda. Socioeconomic, cultural, logistic, infrastructure and programmatic factors were found to contribute to continuing vulnerability to HIV. Interventions need to be further contextualised to the needs of those impoverished populations and integrated into national HIV/AIDS programmes. HIV/AIDS remains a major public health concern among the pastoral and refugee communities of IGAD countries. This calls for IGAD to collaborate with national and international partners in designing and implementing more effective prevention and control programmes. Furthermore, interventions must extend beyond the health sector and improve the livelihood of these populations.     

Longitudinal relationships between two self-efficacy types and stress in active older adults in Taichung City,Taiwan

Self-efficacy has recently become a topic of interest in mental health research. We examined the relationships among physical activity (PA) self-efficacy, general self-efficacy, and stress through the longitudinal study design. In the first year (Y1), 322 older adults who lived in Taichung City, Taiwan, participated in our study. Two years later (Y2), 161 of them again responded to the same questionnaire, which included PA self-efficacy, general self-efficacy, and stress scales. The questionnaire data were analyzed through hierarchical regression analysis. We observed that PA self-efficacy was significantly and positively correlated with general self-efficacy and that both were significantly and negatively correlated with stress at Y1 and Y2. Therefore, enhancing PA self-efficacy can be an effective element of programs designed to reduce stress in older adults.     

北京市海淀区居民超重/肥胖流行现状及其影响因素

目的了解北京市海淀区18~79岁常住居民超重/肥胖流行现状及其危险因素,为预防和控制超重/肥胖提供科学依据。方法采用多阶段整群随机抽样的方法,抽取海淀区20个街道18~79岁常住居民6 598人,对超重/肥胖及危险因素等情况进行流行病学调查。结果调查对象超重和肥胖率分别为38.53%和18.84%,标化率分别为34.82%和16.59%。多因素logistic回归分析显示:高年龄组、在婚、饮酒、口味偏咸是超重和肥胖的危险因素,女性、文化程度高中以上是超重和肥胖的保护因素。结论北京海淀区居民超重、肥胖患病形式严峻,需采取综合措施,有针对性的开展干预工作。