Cognitive and emotional health risk perceptions among people living in poverty

Many theories of risk perception and health behavior examine cognitive dimensions of risk (i.e., perceived susceptibility or severity) but not emotional dimensions. To address this gap, the authors examined the emotional component of risk perception (as worry) and its relation to cognitive assessments of risk, self-efficacy and response efficacy, and health protective action. Although people in poverty are at high risk for many health conditions, little is known about how concerned they are about these conditions or how their risk perceptions influence health actions. African Americans and Whites with incomes≤$35,000 were surveyed (N=431). Participants reported their worry level for 10 health risks. Among their highest worry risks, they identified the risk they took the most action and the risk they took the least action to prevent. Worry was low or moderate for each health risk and chronic conditions were of the most concern. For high- and low-action risks, response efficacy moderated the relation between cognitive risk perception and health protective action. For low-action risks, decisions to act were affected independently by cognitive and emotional responses. The results support the Risk Perception Attitude Framework and indicate the importance of using cognitive and emotional dimensions of risk in behavior change models.     

Environmental victims: environmental injustice issues that threaten the health of children living in poverty

Children living in poverty are disproportionately at risk from and affected by environmental hazards. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 13 million children in America live in poverty. Thus, not only are millions of children living in poverty but are also living in environments that are hazardous to their health. Impoverished children are more likely to live in environments with heavily polluting industries, hazardous waste sites, contaminated water and soil, in old housing with deteriorating lead-based paint, in areas with limited access to healthy food, and more. Poor children residing in these toxic environments are either at risk or suffer from a myriad of health disparities, such as asthma, cancer, lead poisoning, obesity, and hyperactivity. This unfortunate reality is better known as environmental injustice. Environmental injustice recognizes that economically disadvantaged groups are adversely affected by environmental hazards more than other groups. To remedy this dilemma, environmental justice seeks to address these unfair burdens of environmental health hazards on poor communities. The purpose of this article is to (a) examine the environmental living conditions of children living in poverty, (b) examine the environmental health disparities of children living in poverty, (c) discuss environmental justice legislation, (d) describe government initiatives to improve environmental health, and (e) propose recommendations that executes measures to protect the health of children.     

江苏省农村人群心理卫生调查

目的：了解江苏省农村人群心理卫生状况,为卫生部门制定相应的防治对策提供依据。方法：以总体幸福感量表（GWBS）,焦虑自评量表（SAS）,抑郁自评量表（SDS）对江苏省13个省辖市周边农村70周岁以下共计5420名农村人群进行自评调查。结果：苏南,苏北,苏中地区调查对象的总体幸福感,SAS,SDS有显著差别,性别之间的总体幸福和SDS无显著差别,而在SAS方面存在显著性别差异（P〈0．05）。结论：应采取措施,加大健康教育的力度等来提高农村人群心理健康水平。     

A health monitoring system for elderly people living alone

We have developed a health monitoring system for elderly people living alone. We monitored the in-house movements of eight subjects (average age 81 years) by placing infrared sensors in each room of their homes. Because their movements were unrestricted, monitoring could last longer than other forms of monitoring. Continuous monitoring was performed for 80 months in total. We found that each subject had a specific pattern of movements. We estimated their health condition by comparing the duration of stays in specific rooms, such as the lavatory, with previously recorded data. If after analysis an unusual state was detected, we informed the family of the incident. Final decisions should be made by the family members, not automatically by computer software. For example, after contacting the subject or a neighbour by telephone, family members could call for an ambulance or arrange a visit by a doctor or home help. Thus, this system reduced anxiety for both the elderly subjects living alone and their family members.     

Urban poverty: delivering babies in the slum

Government of India statistics indicate that about 3 million of New Delhi's 11 million people live in slums, while another 3 million people, most fleeing rural poverty, are expected to migrate to the capital by 2000. ASHA Community Health and Development Society is a nongovernmental organization currently working in 23 of India's slums, serving a population of about 150,000 people. The group has pioneered the use of community-based networks in New Delhi to improve health in the poorest communities. While ASHA has a small, full-time staff, most of the daily health care work is conducted by slum volunteers. Ekta Vihar is a slum community of 1800 residents. Community members' primary source of health care are Vimla Rana and Sobha, two illiterate women who reside in the community and are part of a team of community health workers trained by ASHA. Rana and Sobha deliver almost all of the babies born annually in the slum and care for community members when they become ill.     

Income or living standard and health in Germany: different ways of measurement of relative poverty with regard to self-rated health

Objectives  

Current study introduces the living standard concept as an alternative approach of measuring poverty and compares its explanatory power to an income-based poverty measure with regard to subjective health status of the German population.     

Globalization, poverty and women's health: mapping the connections

Poverty and other forms of inequity undermine individual and population health and retard development. Although absolute poverty has reportedly declined in recent years, research suggests that relative poverty or the gap between the rich and poor within and between countries has been exacerbated over this same period. There is growing concern about the feminization of poverty, and the impact globalization is having on this important social problem. Gender inequality persists in all regions, and women and girls continue to be over-represented among the world's poor. This suggests that women are not consistently benefitting from the economic, political and social gains globalization can offer. Instead, it appears that poor women and girls, particularly those living in developing countries, are disproportionately burdened by the costs of these swift changes to the detriment of their personal health and well-being. Immediate action is needed to correct these disparities and ensure that globalization supports both national and international commitments to poverty reduction, and the, promotion of women's health and human rights.     

Discounting future health benefits: the poverty of consistency arguments

In economic evaluation of health care, main stream practice is to discount benefits at the same rate as costs. But main papers in which this practice is advocated have missed a distinction between two quite different evaluation problems: (1) How much does the time of program occurrence matter for value and (2) how much do delays in health benefits from programs implemented at a given time matter? The papers have furthermore focused on logical and arithmetic arguments rather than on real value considerations. These ‘consistency arguments’ are at best trivial, at worst logically flawed. At the end of the day, there is a sensible argument for equal discounting of costs and benefits rooted in microeconomic theory of rational, utility maximising consumers' saving behaviour. But even this argument is problematic, first because the model is not clearly supported by empirical observations of individuals' time preferences for health, second because it relates only to evaluation in terms of overall individual utility. It does not provide grounds for claiming that decision makers with a wider societal perspective, which may include concerns for fair distribution, need to discount health benefits and costs equally. This applies even if health benefits are measured in monetary terms. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Health and poverty: health management by the woman.

The goal this follow-up study was to relate the mother's marital satisfaction to family health status in a low SES. The random sample was made up of 30 families with children under 7 years old: 15 considered as sick (Group A) and 15 as healthy (Group B). Both group had similar demographic characteristics (age of father and mother, persons per family group and age of children) and SES. Results showed that mothers were those mainly in charge of their family groups. Mothers of Group A were significantly less understanding and more dissatisfied than those of Group B (p < .05 and p < .01). Mothers of Group A had significantly more arguments with their partners than those of Group B (p < .006). Health care was learned less from the child's own mother in group A than in B (p < .05). Health was considered by mothers of Group A as something that "must be taken care of" more than by those of Group B p < .01). The behaviours of mothers in choosing one of the health systems was similar in both groups. Dissatisfied mothers were associated more with sick family members during the 6 month follow-up. It is suggested that the satisfaction of the mother is a factor that needs further investigation because health is managed by mothers is the large majority of families.     

Globalization, poverty and health

This paper analyses the relationship between globalization, poverty and health, defining and presenting the main characteristics of contemporary globalization. It also establishes the characteristics of poverty today, both globally and regionally. Reviewing articles and world reports, it presents a set of evidence on the relationships between globalization and poverty, as well as their influence on health. Furthermore, it presents the opportunities offered by globalization, through a series of worldwide initiatives prompted by actions among countries under the aegis of the United Nations in general and the WHO in particular, in addition to intergovernmental alliances and coalitions and other civil society representatives.     

健康扶贫背景下残疾人基本医疗保险与疾病负担分析

目的 通过探讨残疾人这一特殊群体面临的健康贫困问题,以及在健康扶贫脱贫实践中的难点,为残疾人健康扶贫提供科学依据.方法 采用自制问卷一对一调查,通过Excel软件建立数据库,利用SPSS进行相关描述性分析,并进行横向比较.结果 残疾人基本医疗保险参保率较高(93.40％),医保缴费以个人承担为主(70.13％);医保满...