Future Directions for Violence Against Women and Reproductive Health: Science,Prevention, and Action

Despite the recognition that violence may be associated with serious consequences for women's reproductive health, the understanding of the relationship between the two remains limited, as does our understanding of the most effective role for reproductive health care providers and services. This paper briefly summarizes the history of the nexus of public health, health care, and violence against women in the United States. In addition, we present some considerations for future directions for research, health care practice, and policy that will advance the understanding of the complex relationship between violence and reproductive health.     

Adoption,Reach, Implementation,and Maintenance of a Behavioral and Mental Health Assessment in Primary Care

PURPOSE

Guidelines recommend screening patients for unhealthy behaviors and mental health concerns. Health risk assessments can systematically identify patient needs and trigger care. This study seeks to evaluate whether primary care practices can routinely implement such assessments into routine care.

METHODS

As part of a cluster-randomized pragmatic trial, 9 diverse primary care practices implemented My Own Health Report (MOHR)—an electronic or paper-based health behavior and mental health assessment and feedback system paired with counseling and goal setting. We observed how practices integrated MOHR into their workflows, what additional practice staff time it required, and what percentage of patients completed a MOHR assessment (Reach).

RESULTS

Most practices approached (60%) agreed to adopt MOHR. How they implemented MOHR depended on practice resources, informatics capacity, and patient characteristics. Three practices mailed patients invitations to complete MOHR on the Web, 1 called patients and completed MOHR over the telephone, 1 had patients complete MOHR on paper in the office, and 4 had staff help patients complete MOHR on the Web in the office. Overall, 3,591 patients were approached and 1,782 completed MOHR (Reach = 49.6%). Reach varied by implementation strategy with higher reach when MOHR was completed by staff than by patients (71.2% vs 30.2%, P <.001). No practices were able to sustain the complete MOHR assessment without adaptations after study completion. Fielding MOHR increased staff and clinician time an average of 28 minutes per visit.

CONCLUSIONS

Primary care practices can implement health behavior and mental health assessments, but counseling patients effectively requires effort. Practices will need more support to implement and sustain assessments.     

Schools, health literacy and public health: possibilities and challenges

Health literacy is a concept that can be widely embraced by schools. Schools throughout the world contribute to the achievement of public health goals in conjunction with their educational commitments. In this paper, the interface between a school's core business of education and public health goals is identified, and examples provided in the area of nutrition demonstrating how these links can operate at school level. The structure and function of the health promoting school is described and the author proposes that there is a very close connection between the health promoting school and the enabling factors necessary in achieving health literacy. Major findings in the literature that provide evidence of good practices in school health education and promotion initiatives are described. Also, those factors that make schools effective and which facilitate learning for students are identified. There is a substantial overlap between the successful components of a health promoting school and effective schools. This enables schools to potentially achieve all three levels of health literacy, including level 3-critical health literacy. However, there are three challenges that must be addressed to enable schools to achieve this level: the traditional structure and function of schools, teachers practices and skills, and time and resources. Strategies are proposed to address all three areas and to reduce the impediments to achieving the goals of health literacy and public health using the school as a setting.     

货币时间当量、潜在卫生资金与卫生事业大发展

我国由政府组织筹集的潜在卫生资金数量巨大,潜在卫生资金具有随时失去、不可存储,指向未来、可以计划,外部转化、等同货币等特点。将潜在卫生资金转化为卫生资金,可解决卫生事业大发展问题,对此,需要坚持政府主导、市场运作、银行参与、保医密接、供需同补等原则。     

Promoting healthy vision in students: progress and challenges in policy, programs, and research

Background:  An estimated 1 in 5 American children has a vision problem. Children living in poor urban environments have twice the normal rate of vision problems. Uncorrected vision problems can worsen over time and result in permanent vision loss. Early detection and treatment of vision problems is therefore essential in optimizing children's health and development. Federal-, state-, and school-based prevention efforts continue to evolve to identify and serve children with vision problems.
Methods:  Review of current literature on (1) major vision problems among children, (2) unique problems faced by low-income children with poor vision, and (3) the rise in health policy and program efforts to support the goal of healthy vision for each child. The preliminary relationship established between vision and academic performance is also discussed.
Results:  Low-income children have a disproportionate amount of vision problems and face several barriers to acquiring vision care. Varied actions among states include legislation requiring screening and follow-up before entry into elementary school.
Conclusions:  States and schools can take concrete steps to increase the number of children identified and treated for vision problems. Health policy and programs should also address common barriers to children receiving and wearing their glasses at home and in the classroom. Further research is necessary to assess the relationship between children's vision and educational outcomes. To the extent that vision is associated with academic success, policies and programs can be shaped to address the achievement gap that exists among our nation's youth and to support the goal of healthy vision for each child.     

对基本医疗服务和特需医疗服务界定的探讨

健康是人类生存和发展的基本要素,享有卫生保健是每一个公民的权利。为了保证医疗服务的公平性,在推行“特需医疗服务”政策时,必须首先对基本医疗服务和特需医疗服务加以界定。指出,基本医疗服务和特需医疗服务的界定,不能背离医学宗旨,应正确理解卫生事业的性质。在运作中要加强管理,根据当地卫生资源配置情况,使特需医疗服务限定在一定时间和空间中进行。     

Pursuing equity: contact with primary care and specialist clinicians by demographics, insurance, and health status

PURPOSE Long-term shifts in specialty choice and health workforce policy have raised concern about the future of primary care in the United States. The objective of this study was to examine current use of primary and specialty care across the US population for policy-relevant subgroups, such as disadvantaged populations and persons with chronic illness.METHODS Data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey from 2004 were analyzed using a probability sample patients or other participants from the noninstitutionalized US population in 2004 (N = 34,403). The main and secondary outcome measures were the estimates of the proportion of Americans who accessed different types of primary care and specialty physicians and midlevel practitioners, as well as the fraction of ambulatory visits accounted for by the different clinician types. Data were disaggregated by income, health insurance status, race/ethnicity, rural or urban residence, and presence of 5 common chronic diseases.RESULTS Family physicians were the most common clinician type accessed by adults, seniors, and reproductive-age women, and they were second to pediatricians for children. Disadvantaged adults with 3 markers of disadvantage (poverty, disadvantaged minority, uninsured) received 45.6% (95% CI, 40.4%–50.7%) of their ambulatory visits from family physicians vs 30.5% (95% CI, 30.0%–32.1%) for adults with no markers. For children with 3 vs 0 markers of disadvantage, the proportion of visits from family physicians roughly doubled from 16.5% (95% CI, 14.4%–18.6%) to 30.1% (95% CI, 18.8%–41.2%). Family physicians constitute the only clinician group that does not show income disparities in access. Multivariate analyses show that patterns of access to family physicians and nurse-practitioners are more equitable than for other clinician types.CONCLUSIONS: Primary care clinicians, especially family physicians, deliver a disproportionate share of ambulatory care to disadvantaged populations. A diminished primary care workforce will leave considerable gaps in US health care equity. Health care workforce policy should reflect this important population-level function of primary care.     

The Conceptual and Empirical Link Between Health Behaviors,Self Reported Health,and the Use of Home Health Care in Later Life

ABSTRACT

The primary qualification for Medicare's home health care benefit is being homebound, typically by a chronic disability. Disability and functional ability in late-life are heavily influenced by the long-term practice of health behaviors. One of the goals of Healthy People 2000 is to increase the years of healthy life which are measured, in part, by self reported health status. This compression of morbidity would, in effect, reduce the need for long term care. This paper examines three conceptual models linking health behaviors to self reported health in a unique sample of older adults who have chosen to participate in a corporate sponsored wellness program. It is hoped that these findings will encourage further research on formulating empirical pathways from health behaviors to reduced need for home health care.     

Acculturation, parent-child acculturation differential, and chronic disease risk factors in a Mexican-American population

Acculturation is typically defined in terms of individual responses to a dominant culture. In the present study, we examined the effects of different levels of acculturation among family members. Specifically, we looked at the health and risk behavior in Mexican-American children as related to a variety of psychosocial predictors, especially the differences in orientation toward Mexican- and Anglo-American cultures between them and their parents. Mother and child pairs (n = 106) noted their orientation toward both Anglo and Mexican cultures. Childrens dietary and sedentary behaviors, tobacco and alcohol use (and susceptibility to use), and depressive symptoms were also measured. Males were more likely to be sedentary and consume higher levels of total fat and saturated fat, whereas girls reported higher levels of depression. Anglo-oriented youth consumed lower levels of calories from fat but also more alcohol than did their Mexican-oriented counterparts. The latter was particularly the case among those children who were relatively more Anglo oriented than were their parents. Parent–child acculturation differential in terms of the differences in Mexican orientation, in comparison, predicted susceptibility to tobacco use. However, the sum of the absolute values of these two differences predicted only lifetime alcohol use, and in a counter-intuitive direction. This familial measure of acculturation shows some promise, but additional formative research is needed to operationalize this construct.     

上海市卢湾区三种行业农民工健康相关知信行调查

目的了解上海市卢湾区不同行业农民工的健康知识、信念、行为（KAP）以及影响农民工健康状况的主要因素，为今后开展有针对性的健康服务提供依据．方法采用统一的“上海市农民工健康需求调查问卷”对调查对象进行现场调查，现场发放调查问卷、现场填写、现场回收的方法，除必要的解释外，调查员不给予任何提示。结果调查对象慢性病知识的知晓率较低，传染病和食品卫生知识的知晓率较高，仪有41．9％的调查对象测量过血压，30．4％的调查对象参加过健康教育活动，健康相关KAP的综合评价结果表明，餐饮服务业农民工的健康状况最好，建筑工地农民工次之，农贸市场农民工最差。结论农民工的健康知识相甘缺乏，大部分人对自己的健康状况不太关注，存在较多的不良行为，经济收入、环境污染、食品卫生和工作压力等成为影响农民工健康的主要因素。