Globalization and Health
Công bố khoa học tiêu biểu
* Dữ liệu chỉ mang tính chất tham khảo
Sắp xếp:
A qualitative exploration of the experiences of community health animation on malaria control in rural Malawi
Globalization and Health - Tập 16 - Trang 1-10 - 2020
While great strides have been achieved in fighting malaria through the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) strategy, the recent world malaria report shows an increase in malaria-related deaths compared to previous years. Malaria control tools are efficacious and effective in preventing the disease; however, the human behaviour aspect of the intervention strategies is weak due to heavy reliance on positive human health behaviour. The challenge lies in adoption of control interventions by the target population which, to an extent, may include access to prevention and treatment tools. We present a qualitative assessment of the use of the Health Animator (HA) model for Information, Education and Communication (IEC) to improve adoption and use of malaria control by promoting positive health behaviours. We conducted 3 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and 23 individual in-depth interviews (IDIs) with HAs. Each FGD consisted of 8 participants. Data was analysed using QSR International NVivo 10 software. There are four main themes emerging regarding HA experiences. The perceptions include; collaborative work experience, personal motivation and growth, community participation with health animation and challenges with implementation. Results suggest that HAs were pleased with the training as they gained new information regarding malaria, which affected their use of malaria control interventions within their families. Knowledge was well assimilated from the trainings and influenced personal growth in becoming a community leader. Support from the leadership within the village and the health system was important in legitimising the main messages. The community responded positively to the workshops valued the information imparted. The voluntary nature of the work in a poverty-stricken community affected sustainability. There is need to empower communities with strategies within their reach. Functioning traditional social support structures are a crucial element in sustainability. Voluntarism is also key for sustainability, especially for rural and remote communities with limited sources of income.
Evolution of the major alcohol companies key global policy vehicle through the prism of tax records 2011–19Abstract
Background
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Globalization and Health -
Important insights have been generated into the nature of the activities of the International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP). Its successor, the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD) is less well understood. This study aims to rectify evidence limitations on the political activities of the alcohol industry at the global level.
Internal Revenue Service filings were examined for ICAP and IARD each year between 2011 and 2019. Data were triangulated with other sources to establish what could be gleaned on the internal workings of these organisations.
The stated purposes of ICAP and IARD are near identical. The main declared activities were similar for both organisations and comprised public affairs/policy, corporate social responsibility, science/research and communications. Both organisations work extensively with external actors and it has become possible more recently to identify the main contractors supplying services to IARD.
This study sheds light on the political activities of the alcohol industry at the global level. It suggests that the evolution of ICAP into IARD has not been accompanied by shifts in the organisation and activities of the collaborative efforts of the major alcohol companies.
Alcohol and global health research and policy agendas should give careful attention to the sophisticated nature of industry political activities.
The personal value of being part of a Tropical Health Education Trust (THET) links programme to develop a palliative care degree programme in Sub Saharan Africa: a descriptive study of the views of volunteer UK health care professionals
Globalization and Health - Tập 11 Số 1 - Trang 1-6 - 2015
There is a global need to expand palliative care services to reach the increasing number requiring end of life care. In developing countries where the incidences of cancer are rising there is an urgent need to develop the palliative care workforce. This paper reports on a UK Department for international development (DFID) initiative funded through the Tropical Health Education Trust (THET) where palliative care staff, both clinical and academic, volunteered to help to develop, support and deliver a degree in palliative care in sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of the study was to explore the personal impact on the health care professionals of being part of this initiative. An evaluation approach using a confidential electronic survey containing quantitative and qualitative questions was distributed to all 17 volunteers on the programme, three months after completion of the first cohort. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and content thematic analysis. Ethical review deemed the study to be service evaluation. 82 % (14) responded and several themes emerged from the data including the positive impact on teaching and educational skills; clinical practice and finally personal development. Using a score of 1–10 (1-no impact, 10 maximum impact) ‘Lifestyle choices - life work balance’ (rating 7.83) had the most impact. This approach to supporting the development of palliative care in Sub-Saharan Africa through skill sharing in supporting the delivery of a degree programme in palliative care was successful in terms of delivery of the degree programme, material development and mentorship of local staff. Additionally, this study shows it provided a range of positive impacts on the volunteer health care professionals from the UK. Professional impacts including increased management skills, and being better prepared to undertake a senior role. However it is the personal impact including lifestyle choices which the volunteers reported as the highest impact. Interestingly, several of the faculty have joined other volunteer programmes to continue to support the international development of palliative care.
Democratic South Africa at 25 – a conceptual framework and narrative review of the social and structural determinants of adolescent health
Globalization and Health - Tập 17 - Trang 1-11 - 2021
Twenty-five years into South Africa’s constitutional democracy provides an opportunity to take stock of the social and structural determinants of adolescent health. Those born in democratic South Africa, commonly known as the ‘Born Frees’, are perceived to be able to realise equal rights and opportunities, yet many factors constrain their lives. In bringing together approaches to understanding context in health policy and systems research and the social determinants of health, the paper develops a conceptual framework to guide the narrative review examining the key contextual social and structural determinants of adolescent health in South Africa. Illustrative examples drawing from 65 papers from public health and the social sciences describe and link these determinants across micro, meso and macro levels of society, their global determinants, and their intersections with compounding axes of power and inequality. At a micro level individual adolescent sexual and gender identities are expressed through multiple and evolving forms, while they experience growing autonomy and agency, they do so within a broader context characterised by regressive social norms, gender inequality and other intersecting power relationships. At the meso level, organisational and sectoral determinants shape adolescents health and rights, both in being supportive, but they also replicate the biases and inequalities that characterise South African society. In addition, the macro level national and global determinants, such as the structural colonial and apartheid legacies, shape adolescents' health. Despite constitutional and other legislative rights, these determinants and compound economic, geographic, gender and other intersecting inequalities. A key finding is that current experiences and health of adolescents is shaped by past social and structural determinants and power relations, with apartheid inequalities still echoing in the lives of the adolescents, 25 years into democracy. More research and work is needed to provide insights into determinants of adolescent health beyond just the micro level, but also at the interrelated and dynamic meso and macro levels, nested in global determinants. The findings raise critical considerations and implications for understanding the social and structural determinants in the South African context and what this means for adolescent health in the SDG era.
#Public Health #Development Economics #Social Policy #Quality of Life Research #Epidemiology #Health Services Research
‘Manage and mitigate punitive regulatory measures, enhance the corporate image, influence public policy’: industry efforts to shape understanding of tobacco-attributable deforestation
Globalization and Health - Tập 12 - Trang 1-12 - 2016
Deforestation due to tobacco farming began to raise concerns in the mid 1970s. Over the next 40 years, tobacco growing increased significantly and shifted markedly to low- and middle-income countries. The percentage of deforestation caused by tobacco farming reached 4 % globally by the early 2000s, although substantially higher in countries such as China (18 %), Zimbabwe (20 %), Malawi (26 %) and Bangladesh (>30 %). Transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) have argued that tobacco-attributable deforestation is not a serious problem, and that the industry has addressed the issue through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. After reviewing the existing scholarly literature on tobacco and deforestation, we analysed industry sources of public information to understand how the industry framed deforestation, its key causes, and policy responses. To analyse industry strategies between the 1970s and early 2000s to shape understanding of deforestation caused by tobacco farming and curing, the Truth Tobacco Documents Library was systematically searched. The above sources were compiled and triangulated, thematically and chronologically, to derive a narrative of how the industry has framed the problem of, and solutions to, tobacco-attributable deforestation. The industry sought to undermine responses to tobacco-attributable deforestation by emphasising the economic benefits of production in LMICs, blaming alternative causes, and claiming successful forestation efforts. To support these tactics, the industry lobbied at the national and international levels, commissioned research, and colluded through front groups. There was a lack of effective action to address tobacco-attributable deforestation, and indeed an escalation of the problem, during this period. The findings suggest the need for independent data on the varied environmental impacts of the tobacco industry, awareness of how the industry seeks to work with environmental researchers and groups to further its interests, and increased scrutiny of tobacco industry efforts to influence environmental policy.
Psychosocial job characteristics, wealth, and culture: differential effects on mental health in the UK and Thailand
Globalization and Health - Tập 11 - Trang 1-8 - 2015
Most research on the influence of psychosocial job characteristics on health status has been conducted within affluent Western economies. This research addresses the same topic in a middle-income Southeast Asian country, enabling comparison with a Western benchmark. We analysed and compared the Health Survey for England conducted in 2010 and the Thai Cohort Study data at 2005 baseline for workers aged 35–45 years. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess relationships between psychosocial job characteristics and health, measured as Adjusted Odd Ratios (AOR), controlling for potential covariates in final analyses. In both UK and Thai working adults, psychological distress was associated with job insecurity (AOR 2.58 and 2.32, respectively), inadequate coping with job demands (AOR 2.57 and 2.42), and low support by employers (AOR 1.93 and 1.84). Job autonomy was associated with psychological distress in the UK samples (AOR 2.61) but no relationship was found among Thais after adjusting for covariates (AOR 0.99). Low job security, inability to cope with job demands, and low employer support were associated with psychological distress both among Thai and UK workers. Job autonomy was an important part of a healthy work environment in Western cultures, but not in Thailand. This finding could reflect cultural differences with Thais less troubled by individualistic expression at work. Our study also highlights the implications for relevant workplace laws and regulations to minimise the adverse job effects. These public health strategies would promote mental health and wellbeing in the population.
Implementing a connected health intervention for remote patient monitoring in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan: explaining ‘the what’ and ‘the how’
Globalization and Health - Tập 15 - Trang 1-7 - 2019
Recent developments in connected health technology provide an opportunity to remotely monitor and provide health care to the patient needing long-term medical care. However, information about how any connected health interventions should be implemented for remote patient monitoring, and how patients should be educated and enabled for active participation in treatment is still not available to a sufficient degree. In this paper, we discussed what the components of a connected health intervention, entitled Remotely Accessible Health Care at Home (RAHAH), are, and how this intervention has been implemented in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The aim of this intervention is to remotely monitor, treat and educate patients needing long-term medical care. The description of the intervention is presented based on the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist for the transparent, comprehensive and explicit reporting. We believe, successful implementation of RAHAH would be crucial to monitor and manage growing chronic care populations more effectively and efficiently in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
An analysis of the potential for achieving the fourth millennium development goal in SSA with domestic resources
Globalization and Health - Tập 11 Số 1 - Trang 1-9 - 2015
The importance of good health is reflected in the fact that more than half of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are aimed at improving health status. Goal 4 (MDG4) aims to reduce child mortality. The progress indicator for goal 4 is the under-five mortality rate (U5M), with a targeted reduction of two thirds by 2015 from 1990 levels. This paper seeks to compare the time (in years) Sub Saharan African (SSA) countries will take to reach their MDG4 target at the current rate of decline, and the time it could have taken to reach their target if domestic resources had not been lost through illicit financial flows, corruption and servicing of debt since 2000. We estimate the amount by which the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita would increase (in percentage terms) if losses of resource through illicit financial flows, corruption and debt servicing, were reduced. Using the income elasticity of U5M, a metric which reports the percentage change in U5M for a one percent change in GDP per capita, we estimate the potential gains in the annual reduction of the under-five mortality if these resource losses were reduced. At the current rate of reduction in U5M, nine countries out of this sample of 36 SSA countries (25%) will achieve their MDG4 target by 2015. In the absence of the leakages (IFF, corruption and debt service) 30 out of 36 (83%) would reach their MDG4 target by 2015 and all except one country, Zimbabwe would have achieved their MDG4 by 2017 (97%). In view of the uncertainty of the legitimacy of African debts we have also provided results where we excluded debt repayment from our analysis. Most countries would have met MDG4 target by curtailing these outflows. In order to release latent resources in SSA for development, action will be needed both by African countries and internationally. We consider that stemming these outflows, and thereby reducing the need for aid, can be achieved with a more transparent global financial system.
A longitudinal study of mental health before and during COVID-19 lockdown in the French populationAbstract
Background
Methods
Results
Conclusions
Globalization and Health - Tập 17 Số 1 - 2021
The impact of general population lockdown implemented in the face of the COVID-19 epidemic needs to be evaluated. We describe here a longitudinal study on the mental health of adults in France.
We did a secondary analysis of a web-based cohort, initially set up to study home and leisure injuries, in order to measure the consequences of the national lockdown implemented in France from 17 March 2020 to 11 May 2020, and to assess potential vulnerability and resilience factors. Eligible participants were invited to answer an online questionnaire designed to assess their living conditions and health during lockdown. Comparisons were done with answers provided 4.8 years earlier on average.
On 15th April 2020, we sent email invitations to 9598 participants recruited between November 2014 and December 2019 and 1237 volunteers took part in the study by completing the online questionnaire. The proportion of those with anxiety symptoms markedly increased from 17.3 to 20.1%. The average self-rated level of mental health decreased from 7.77 to 7.58. Women, the elderly and the youngest appeared to be more vulnerable. A small living space (less than 30 m2) was associated with an increase in depression symptoms (PHQ-9 score), and poorer self-rated physical health at recruitment was associated with an increase in anxiety symptoms (GAD-7 score). On the contrary, the average self-rated level of physical health markedly increased from 7.44 to 7.94 between recruitment and lockdown, and the proportion of those who reported a level of 9 or 10 jumped from 25.7% at recruitment to 43.1% during lockdown.
Mental health deteriorated during lockdown in France during the 2020 COVID-19 crisis. Overall, self-rated physical health improved but those who experienced a worse physical health were more likely to report anxiety symptoms.
Understanding the corporate political activity of the ultra - processed food industry in East Asia: a Philippines case study
Globalization and Health - Tập 19 - Trang 1-16 - 2023
Evidence is mounting that the ultra - processed food industry seeks to influence food and nutrition policies in ways that support market growth and protect against regulatory threats, often at the expense of public health. However, few studies have explored how this occurs in lower - middle income countries. We aimed to explore if and how the ultra - processed food industry seeks to influence food- and nutrition - related policy processes in the Philippines, a lower - middle income country in East Asia. Semi - structured key informant interviews were conducted with ten representatives from the Philippines government and non - government organisations closely involved with nutrition policy making in the Philippines. Interview schedules and data analysis were guided by the policy dystopia model, which we used to identify the instrumental and discursive strategies used by corporate actors to influence policy outcomes. Informants were of the view that ultra - processed food companies in the Philippines sought to delay, prevent, water - down and circumvent implementation of globally recommended food and nutrition policies by engaging in a range of strategies. Discursive strategies included various tactics in which globally recommended policies were framed as being ineffective or highlighting potential unintended negative impacts. Instrumental strategies included: directly engaging with policymakers; promoting policies, such as industry - led codes and practices, as substitutes for mandatory regulations; presenting evidence and data that industry has generated themselves; and offering gifts and financial incentives to government individuals and agencies. In the Philippines, the ultra - processed food industry engaged in overt activities designed to influence food and nutrition policy processes in their favour. A range of measures to minimise industry influence on policy processes should be introduced, to ensure that implemented food and nutrition policies align with best practice recommendations.
Tổng số: 829
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 10