Public health and preventive medicine Books

Book SynopsisThis book presents national estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics on sexual behaviour, sexual attraction, and sexual identity in the United States; prevalence and timing of oral sex with opposite-sex partners among females and males aged 15-24 years; contraceptive methods women have used in the United States from 1982-2010; current contraceptive use in the United States (2006-2010); and use of emergency contraception among women aged 15-44. These behaviours and characteristics are relevant to birth and pregnancy rates, as well as to the incidence of sexually transmitted infections.

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Book SynopsisA central provision of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires the establishment of exchanges in each state, on-line marketplaces through which eligible individuals and small business employers can compare and select health insurance coverage from participating health plans. Exchanges are to begin enrolment by 1 October 2013, with coverage to commence 1 January 2014. States have some flexibility with respect to exchanges by choosing to establish and operate an exchange themselves (ie: state-based), or by ceding this authority to HHS (ie: federally facilitated). States may also choose to enter into a partnership with HHS whereby HHS establishes the exchange and the state assists with operating various functions. According to HHS, 18 states will establish a state-based exchange, while 25 will have a federally facilitated exchange. Seven states will partner with HHS. This book examines the states'' responsibilities for establishing exchanges, the actions selected states have taken, and the challenges they have encountered.

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Book SynopsisThe pursuit of quality has been a human endeavor since ancient times, which accelerated in the 20th Century in the industry through the vision and contributions of Shewart, Juran and Deming, who created the basis of disruptive innovations in science and technology, and contributed to the advance of industrial leadership in Japan. Quality became an essential component of industry, and has evolved with the emergence of new leaders like Feigenbaum, Crosby and Oakland. Garvin described that quality is measured from multiple perspectives, including manufacturers, payers and consumers. Albeit the practice of medicine has been considered an art beyond the scope of measurement or improvement, efforts to improve the quality of health care have also occurred. In the last three decades, a vibrant movement to improve the quality of health care has sprung up, under the leadership of the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia. This book delivers a comprehensive view, and an inviting approach to integrate its components and the challenges of measurement and innovative strategies of implementation, individual and social support.

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Book SynopsisThe United States continues to face a range of serious threats to its national health security from the deliberate use or accidental release of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) agents, as well as from naturally occurring and emerging infectious diseases, including pandemic influenza. A failure to anticipate these threats -- or the lack of a capacity to effectively respond to them could leave an untold number of Americans dead or permanently disabled. The United States must therefore have the nimble, flexible capability to produce and effectively utilise medical countermeasures in the face of any attack or threat whether known or unknown -- novel or re-emerging -- natural or intentional. In addition, these capabilities must be communicated to the American public both before and during an emergency. The Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) leads all Federal public health and medical response to public health and medical emergencies covered by the National Response Framework. Effectively fulfilling this responsibility and accomplishing these goals necessitates co-ordination of medical countermeasure-related activities occurring across multiple Federal departments. To provide this co-ordination, HHS established the Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE) in July 2006 to co-ordinate Federal efforts to enhance civilian preparedness from a medical countermeasure perspective. The PHEMCE is charged with addressing the needs to produce and make medical countermeasures available to limit potential adverse health impacts on the large and diverse U.S. civilian population. The PHEMCE is working to meet the public health emergency needs of the entire civilian population, including groups that require special medical considerations, such as children and the elderly, as well as for first responders, health personnel, and other critical infrastructure personnel, by taking a "whole of community" approach in planning, response, and recovery efforts.

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Book SynopsisIs positive thinking really so healthy that, as Martin Seligman (2000) and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi passionately thus argued, "we believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise, which achieves a scientific understanding and effective interventions to build thriving individuals, families, and communities"? This optimistic view on positive thinking for health can be contrasted with an opposing view by Barbara Ehrenreich (2009), who "extensively critiqued ''positive psychology''" and showed "how obsessive positive thinking impedes productive action, causes delusional assessments of situations, and people are then blamed for not visualising hard enough and thus ''attracting'' failure even in situations when ''masses of lives were lost''." (WK 2013; R Byrne 2006) Contrary to these opposing views (and other ones as will be discussed in the book), health care (in relation to mental health and physical health in the context of mind and body) are neither possible (or impossible) nor desirable (or undesirable) to the extent that the respective ideologues (on different sides) would like us to believe. Surely, this questioning of the opposing views on health care does not suggest that the study of health care is worthless, or that those fields (related to health care) like medicine, chiropractic, health system, dentistry, health info tech, nursing, psychiatrics, clinical psychology, occupational therapy, pharmacy, allied health, and so on are unimportant. Needless to say, neither of these extreme views is reasonable. Instead, this book offers an alternative (better) way to understand the future of health care, especially in the dialectic relationships between mental health and physical health in the context of mind and body -- while learning from different approaches in the literature but without favouring any one of them (nor integrating them, since they are not necessarily compatible with each other). More specifically, this book offers a new theory (that is, the interconnected theory of health care) to go beyond the existing approaches in a novel way and is organised in four chapters.

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Book SynopsisThe "global village" has resulted in the need to tackle cross-cultural issues in the health field. Especially the southern region of Israel (the Negev), which provides a unique opportunity to study the interaction between medicine and culture. The Negev population is a multicultural society, with Bedouin Arabs comprising almost a fifth of its population. This imposes tremendous challenges to the health establishment in the region and serves as a "cross-cultural laboratory" for educating health professionals in global health issues. Both the traditional Israeli medical school track, as well as the Medical School for International Medicine at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, incorporate studies of cross-cultural issues in various forms and to different degrees. Studies suggest that the exposure of students to international medical experiences increases their cross-cultural sensitivity, knowledge and expertise. In this book, you will find research from this region concerned with various aspects of Bedouin health, which we hope will give you a picture of various health issues from the southern region of Israel.

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Book SynopsisMenthol is widely used in consumer and medicinal products and has long been used in cigarettes, often as a flavour-characterising additive. In medical products, menthol is regulated as a drug with restrictions on allowable doses and use. There are no product standards for menthol when used in cigarettes. In this report, The FDA has undertaken a thorough review of the available science concerning menthol cigarettes. To accomplish this task, FDA weighed the collective body of evidence for the impact of the use of menthol in cigarettes on public health. In reviewing the science of menthol smoking, FDA divided the scientific evidence into the following broad categories: smoke chemistry and non-clinical toxicology; physiology; biomarkers; patterns of use; marketing and consumer perception of risk; initiation and progression to regular use; dependence; cessation and disease risk.

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Book SynopsisIndia or the Republic of India is a large country in South Asia, in fact the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. India is still struggling with malnutrition, high infant mortality rate, diseases such as dengue fever, hepatitis, tuberculosis, malaria and pneumonia with diarrhoeal diseases the primary causes of early childhood mortality. Maternal mortality in rural areas are among the highest in the world. In this book, we have gathered research papers from India published over the past three years in several Nova Science journals and it is our hope that you will find this research of interest and give you a small picture of health issues in modern India.

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Book SynopsisThe Okavango Delta, a globally renowned wetland, is characterised by a mosaic of meandering watercourses, floodplains and islands, and is home to a variety of wildlife and vegetation species. It is a major source of livelihoods for the local communities and also an important attraction for tourism, the second most important economic activity in Botswana after diamonds, contributing 5% to the gross domestic product (GDP). As a globally renowned Ramsar Site and major tourist attraction, the Okavango Delta is a resource of national, regional and international importance. This book examines the results of empirical micro-level studies undertaken in the Okavango Delta and contributes to the formulation of relevant policies for sustainable development in the Okavango Delta.

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Book SynopsisDrug resistance continues to be a major problem in the effective treatment of many diseases. Resistance to chemotherapy, whether intrinsic or extrinsic, is the result of at least three well defined mechanisms: prevention of the interaction of drug with the target, decreased intracellular concentration of the drug due to an increased efflux or a decreased influx, and enzymatic modification or destruction of the drug. With the advancement in technology, the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance have been unravelling at a rapid rate. This book is a timely review of such advances in drug resistance research. The nine chapters of this book, written by a group of clinicians and scientists, elegantly summarises recent advances in our understanding of this important clinical problem with emphasis on cisplatin, fibroblasts, natural compounds, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, prostate cancer and kidney cancer. This book will be an important contribution to science, and an invaluable tool for researchers who are interested in drug resistance.

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Book SynopsisThe term, adolescence, can be traced to the 15th century and is based on Latin etymology; adolescere referring to "growing into maturity." The current term, adolescence, identifies a critical period of human life that allows sufficient maturity for the human being to leave childhood dependency and pass through a dramatic period of immense physiological, psychological, and sociological consequences. The adolescent must accept the failures and successes of childhood with the initiation of puberty and in the end, start his or her adult life as central nervous system maturity occurs. The tremendous peaks of growth and development are only exceeded by those seen in utero and in early childhood. This yearbook is focused on adolescence with a chapter on health aspects in this time period, health risks, bullying and the new issue of internet addiction in adolescence, which we hope you will find of interest.

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Book SynopsisIn this Public Health Yearbook 2013, we will touch upon several public health topics like community capacity building, global health and health promotion. If where we live impacts our health, then we need to start improving the health of communities at the local level. For sustainability purposes, we need to help these communities build their capacity to address the episodic, as well as the persistent, public health issues that affect their health. How do we do that? How do we learn the skills and principles necessary to establish partnerships with our communities? How do we then teach our community partners to continue to improve the health status of their neighbourhoods when the funding expires? How to we conduct health promotion and does it really help and increase health and quality of life? In this Public Health Yearbook 2013 we explore this in greater detail and hopefully will answer some of your questions.

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Book SynopsisThis book includes a collection of chapters which provide a comprehensive review of cutting edge research and offers new evidence on anti-smoking policies and their implications, the health and environmental effects of smoking and the socio-economic and behavioral determinants of smoking. In this edited volume, a number of renowned scholars contribute to this literature with specific emphasis on anti-smoking policies, smoking behaviour, socio-economic determinants and impacts on health. The first section of the book includes chapters on anti-smoking policies and their impacts on smoking prevalence. The second section consists of chapters focusing on the socio-economic and behavioral determinants of smoking with examples drawn from Canada and Japan. The last section includes chapters studying the health and environmental hazards of smoking. This section focuses on the specific health effects of smoking that are not widely examined elsewhere, the role of nicotine in cancer stem cells and the potential harmful effects of ignoring submicron particles in low-tar and nicotine cigarettes. This book has been primarily written for the general public and policy makers. However, it also serves as a reference book for researchers, advanced level undergraduate and graduate students studying the related aspects of smoking. With its focus on public policy, the book would help the policy makers in developing and designing health and public policies aimed at reducing smoking and its harmful effects.

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Book SynopsisObesity is now considered a global epidemic. Central obesity is the state of excess adiposity in the abdominal region. It is associated with increased, cardiovascular or cancer mortality. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has recommended the assessment of central obesity mandatory for diagnosis of metabolic syndrome. Hitherto, there is a huge gap in our understanding of the role of central obesity as a health risk across different populations around the world. There also exist a vast population variation in the relationship between generalized obesity as measured by body mass index and /or percent body fat and the central adiposity measures. For instance, Asian-Indians have a typical phenotype of higher body fat at lower BMI levels compared to their European counterparts. Development and use of region specific standards of measurement of central obesity is in need until a universal agreement is achieved. With this background, the present volume has been organized with some very informative articles from highly reputed scholars, researching on obesity in general and on central obesity, in particular. We have here articles based on empirical data as well some review articles critically examining some theoretical, epidemiological and clinical aspects pertaining to the theme of this volume. Through the 14 chapters of this volume, we have attempted to cover diverse aspects concerning the paradigm of central or abdominal adiposity / obesity within a broader framework of obesity.

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Book SynopsisFrom prolonged duration of a disease, to permanent injury, to death, drug shortages have led to harmful outcomes for patients of all ages. Over the last decade, an increasing number of prescription drugs -- including life-saving and life-sustaining drugs -- have been in short supply, preventing health care providers and patients from accessing medications that are essential for treatment. During shortages, providers -- including hospitals, physicians, and pharmacists -- may have to use medications that could be less effective for treating conditions or carry unwanted side-effects, if alternatives are available at all. The immediate cause of drug shortages can generally be traced to a manufacturer halting or slowing production to address quality problems, triggering a supply disruption. Other manufacturers have a limited ability to respond to supply disruptions due to constrained manufacturing capacity. This book reviews the trends in recent drug shortages and describes what is known about their effect on patients and providers; examines the causes of drug shortages; and evaluates the progress FDA has made in addressing drug shortages.

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Book SynopsisAdolescent dating violence has surfaced as a significant public health issue. As teen dating violence (TDV) incidence has escalated substantially in recent years, a number of research, practice and policy efforts have been championed in response. One critical challenge in effectively addressing teen dating violence relates to the lack of research that directly considers how youth conceptualise teen dating in the first place, apart from specifically aggressive or violent relationships. This book discusses perspectives on relationship and violence in teen dating.

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Book SynopsisThe Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act) became a law on June 22, 2009. It gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate the manufacture, distribution, and marketing of tobacco products to protect public health. This book highlights some of the provisions of the Tobacco Control Act and provides an assessment of FDA efforts to implement the Tobacco Control Act since it was signed into law.

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Book SynopsisIt is often stated that "it takes a village" to improve the health of a population. This proverb implies that it takes the work of many individuals, not necessarily from the same occupation or educational or social background, to achieve this goal. To improve the health of a population, a system comprised of educators, community leaders, public health and health care practitioners, researchers, faith-based leaders, municipal workers, and many others working, in diverse urban and/or rural communities, across the globe towards a common goal via evidence-based practice, policy development, education and health literacy initiatives, or a combination thereof, is required. Interprofessional collaborations can be fruitful endeavors with respect to improving health at a population and/or individual level. However, if we examine these interdisciplinary collaborations from a development standpoint, not every professional is trained to work with professionals from other disciplines. How do we prepare an interprofessional workforce capable of working collaboratively? You will find some of the answers in this book.

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Book SynopsisThe book was developed based on the expertise of four research groups, three of them linked to the Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP): Studies on Hearing; Public Safety Observatory of UNESP; Research and Urban Management Organized Labor Group (GUTO); and Labor, Health and Society linked to the Tuiuti University. The groups mentioned above fit mainly into two major areas, Speech and Social Sciences, with a focus on the following research lines: hearing health and public safety. For this reason, the present work is multidisciplinary and includes current information, of scientific relevance, focused on the theme "firearms". This diversity has allowed the production of chapters that approach the audiological profile of militaries exposed to impact noise during their work activities, as well as the measurement of noise generated by firearms. Another situation that is worth mentioning is the recreational activity on private booth shots (as shooting clubs), where hearing protection is also required. It is also worth noting that the book discusses violence with firearms in contemporary Brazilian society.

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Book SynopsisOne of the most provocative recent findings in modern medicine is that perinatal stress may have a subtle or drastic impact on tissue/organ ontogeny, structure, and function, altering the vulnerability or resiliency to challenges and diseases later in life. A wealth of evidence indicates that stress and adverse environmental milieu during early development is closely associated with increased risks of the genesis of hypertension, coronary artery disease, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, central obesity, hyperlipidemia, and other neurobehavioral, neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric disorders in adulthood. The concept of "Developmental Programming of Health and Disease" or "Foetal Origins of Adult Disease" has been developed to elucidate the links between stress, early development, and risks of disease later in life. Stress is an internal response to stimuli or pressures that challenge or disrupt an organism''s homeostasis in a changing environment. Adverse environmental signals that influence the development cause foetal stress. Such adverse signals can be transmitted from the mother to the foetus, impacting specific vulnerable tissues in their sensitive developmental stage, modulating normal development trajectory, remodelling their structure and function and reprogramming the resiliency or susceptibility to diseases in postnatal life. Such programming may be determined by multiple factors including gestational age, duration and mode of exposure and nature of the stressor, and these processes are tissue/organ specific. Genetic traits, epigenetic modifications and central stress mediators such as dopamine, glucocorticoids, and other transmitters may underpin such phenotypic plasticity. This volume provides broad and up-to-date information in the recent advancement of our knowledge in the basic science of Developmental Programming of Health and Disease. Each Chapter is written by leading experts in the field, providing the highest academic level for readers including basic, clinical, and translational scientists, paediatricians, maternal-foetal medicine specialists, physiologists, environmental biologists, biostatisticians, sociologists, behavioural scientists, health economists, health informatics experts, geneticists, microbiologists, epidemiologists, medical students, university undergraduate students, and graduate students.

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Book SynopsisResearch findings has shown that there are developmental issues and concerns regarding the development of university students in Hong Kong. First, there were behavioural and lifestyle problems of university students, including alcohol consumption, internet addiction, cyber-pornography, irregular sleep patterns, and interpersonal violence. Second, phenomena of mental health problems of university students, such as suicidal ideation, depression, and anxiety problems were observed. Third, some university students showed problems in setting personal goals, low self-confidence and preoccupation with materialistic values. Finally, egocentrism and lack of civic engagement was not uncommon amongst university students. How should we nurture university students? Against this background, a subject entitled "Tomorrow''s Leaders" was developed at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong, China. The term "tomorrow''s leaders" was used because we believe that every student is (and can be) a leader and development of positive youth development attributes is an important step. In this book you will find chapters describing this pilot project to nurture positive development and leadership among Chinese university students in Hong Kong.

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Book SynopsisTeen childbearing is associated with adverse health and social outcomes for teen mothers and their children, although these outcomes often reflect pre-existing social deficits. Compared with women who delay childbearing until their 20s, teen mothers are more likely to drop out of school and have low educational attainment; to face unemployment, poverty, and welfare dependency; to experience more rapid repeat pregnancy; to become single mothers; and to experience divorce, if they marry. Infants of teen mothers are more likely to be premature and experience infant mortality. The children of teenage mothers do less well on indicators of health and social wellbeing than do children of older mothers. This book briefly examines some of the data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics on teenage childbearing, offers potential reasons for high teen pregnancy and birth rates, and provides basic information on federal programs whose purpose is primarily to delay sexual activity among teenagers and to reduce teen pregnancy. It also discusses the decline is state teen birth rates by race and Hispanic origin; birth rates for Unites States'' teenagers; and the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP).

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Book SynopsisThis book identifies a comprehensive set of actions for enhancing health care across the Nation through greater use of systems-engineering principles. Systems engineering, widely used in manufacturing and aviation, is an interdisciplinary approach to analyze, design, manage, and measure a complex system in order to improve its efficiency, reliability, productivity, quality, and safety. It has often produced dramatically positive results in the small number of health-care organizations that have incorporated it into their processes. The book proposes a strategy that involves reforming payment systems; building the Nation''s health-data infrastructure; providing technical assistance to providers; increasing community collaboration; sharing best practices; and training health professionals in systems engineering approaches.

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Book SynopsisThis book represents an actual view on the current trends in the area of respiratory therapy research. The amount of new information in each field of clinical medicine is astonishing and therefore we considered it very important to catch this exciting movement in the form of monograph dedicated to the advances in therapy research of various respiratory diseases. The chapters analyse the therapeutic strategies and perspectives in the management of the most common chronic diseases, especially in childhood. Due to very rapid progress in this area, it is very important that the authors succeed in summarising the most knowledge and data about the available and possible future therapies of bronchial asthma, primary ciliary dyskinesia, chronic and acute cough, and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Aside from clinical chapters, the readers can also find experimental studies analysing the possible therapeutic application of different medications and chest physiotherapy. A very important part of each chapter is the current view on the pathogenesis of particular diseases, in which understanding is crucial for better, targeted therapy and research of novel therapeutic modalities. We hope that this book will find its readers and will help physicians and other interested people to understand the most recent trends in the treatment and management of respiratory diseases.

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Book SynopsisSexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a heterogeneous group of communicable diseases, whose only common element is sharing of sexual route as a mechanism of acquisition. With nearly 450 million cases detected annually, STIs represent a priority health problem worldwide, because of the impact they have on the physical and mental health of people who suffer, as the complications and consequences that can result and their relation to increased transmissibility of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Clinical manifestations, in most cases, involve the genital area and mucous but sometimes, cause systemic affectation. Infection due to Chlamydia trachomatis is already the most frequent STI of global health significance. Its epidemiological interest has increased markedly in recent years because the majority of infections run an asymptomatic course which can lead to serious complications, especially in young women. This book discusses the prevalence, pathogenesis and the prevention of chlamydia.

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Book SynopsisThis book has primarily been aimed at epidemiologists working with empirical data for both human and veterinary diseases. The final paragraph of this preface is probably the most important paragraph of the book, and if epidemiologists or healthcare or veterinary administrators are converted to the concept outlined in the last paragraph, then the book will have served a useful purpose: twenty-five years of epidemiological research culminated in the concept described in this paragraph. This book introduces second generation epidemiological modelling. Second generation modelling uses directly measurable biomodels that do not require estimates for their quantitative values. Biomodels encompass multiple model factors that would otherwise have to be estimated, and as such biomodels are directly correlated with disease prevalence and epidemic duration. This correlation enables biomodels to accurately predict the future course of an epidemic before it unfolds, whilst concurrently directing healthcare administrators where to target manpower and financial resources for optimal disease control. Whereas first generation modelling remains a useful tool for pedagogical or teaching purposes, second generation modelling [in the form of biomodels] allows healthcare administrators to cope with the demands of immediate and rapid disease control during periods of disease epidemics. Biomodels should be developed for important infectious diseases during periods of epidemiological ''peacetime'', when manpower and resources are not held at a premium. Few non-fictional books are read cover-to-cover. To accommodate the selective reader, some of the most important concepts in this volume [such as biofactors, biomodels, subclinical disease and predictive accuracy] are repeated within relevant chapters. National and regional disease contingency planning should incorporate biomodels as useful tools when planning future disease control measures.

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Book SynopsisDue largely to the explosion of information related to molecular medicine, the introduction of new courses and concepts behind professional skill, medical ethics and mechanism of actions of new drugs, the medical curriculum has now become more crowded than ever. This is complicated by the fact that the time to study medicine has become compressed over the past two decades. Thus, if we have to bring 21st century curriculum to the medical students we must be innovative in terms of our approach to design a very compact curriculum in the presence of decreased contact hours to fulfil the need of more integration. The present book highlights the evolution of the medical curriculum and describes a state-of the-art approach that indicates the essential points behind designing a curricular map. Care has been taken to bring a concept that no particular curriculum may fit to the need of a medical school and thus it is necessary to fine tune a system that is ever rolling and dynamic in the context of medical education. The book not only addresses issues behind designing a curriculum for 21st century medical students but emphasises key issues such as integration, evaluation and assessment, students'' feedback and 21st century modalities necessary for clinical and laboratory skill. The book is the first of its kind to address "Health and Disease" through understanding of the medical curriculum and should be very valuable to all medical educationists.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents original research results on the leading edge of occupational therapy. Each article has been carefully selected in an attempt to present substantial research results across a broad spectrum. This book discusses research on culturally responsive attitude development; neurorehabilitation in dementia; new perspectives in occupational therapy; hospitalised children who play do not use sleep as a coping strategy; the interaction between sensory-motor disorders and social participation in persons with an autism spectrum disorder; the development of inquiry methods in mental health occupational therapy.

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Book SynopsisThe Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (generally referred to as the Medicare Modernization Act, or MMA) substantially expanded the federal Medicare program by creating the prescription drug benefit known as Part D. In fiscal year 2013, Medicare Part D covered 39 million people. The federal government spent $59 billion net of premiums on Part D in that year; after accounting for certain payments from states under the program, the net federal cost was $50 billion, which represented 10 percent of net federal spending for Medicare. This book discusses the cost trends and competition issues of Medicare''s Prescription Drug Program.

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Book SynopsisThis book describes biofilms in the context of hygiene in food safety and hospital facilities, starting with bacterial adhesion as an initial step of cell colonization, followed by the growth and maturation of biofilms. The main focus of this book is on biofilm prevention and control. The resistance of bacteria to several antibiotics is a global public health problem, not limited to hospital facilities, but also to other sectors, including the food industry. This raises questions about whether effective cleaning and disinfection reduce the risk of food-borne and hospital-acquired illness. Can the surface characteristics be treated to prevent bacterial adhesion and, consequently, the formation of biofilms? Biofilms are complex communities of bacteria attached the surfaces, with fully developed architecture and highly organized interactions. A better understanding of the biofilm lifecycle, with advanced strategies of physical, chemical and biological actions, would reduce the risk of infection. The question is not whether the preventive and control measures will play a significant role in public health, but rather what the implications of their use will be for hygiene in the food industry and hospital facilities.

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Book SynopsisMedicaid is a joint federal-state program that finances the delivery of primary and acute medical services, as well as LTSS, for a diverse low-income population, including children, pregnant women, adults, individuals with chronic disabling conditions, and people age 65 and older. This book describes the basic elements of Medicaid, focusing on who is eligible, what services are covered, how enrolees share in the cost of care, how the program is financed, and how providers are paid. The book also explains waivers, program integrity activities, and the dual eligible population. In addition, the book describes the following selected issues: the ACA Medicaid expansion, the impact of the ACA health insurance annual fee on Medicaid, and the ACA maintenance of effort (MOE) with respect to Medicaid eligibility.

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Book SynopsisIn 2011, federal spending for prescription drugs by DOD, Medicaid, and Medicare Part D totalled $71.2 billion -- representing about 85 percent of all federal prescription drug expenditures -- for about 114.4 million beneficiaries. Each program reimbursed retail pharmacies for outpatient prescriptions filled at these pharmacies by their beneficiaries. This book compares retail reimbursement prices paid by DOD, Medicaid, and Medicare Part D for a sample of prescription drugs and describes factors affecting these prices. It also discusses approaches to control prescription drug spending in federal programs.

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Book SynopsisCost-effective health preventive services, such as immunisations and screenings, may assist providers in helping patients avoid the onset or worsening of various health conditions. Services are determined to be cost-effective when they improve the benefit (eg: health outcomes) in a less costly way than a given alternative. Some preventive services may also result in cost savings, where the cost of implementing the service is less than the expected future costs to treat a disease or condition. However, some preventive services may not be appropriate for the entire patient population. This book discusses the cost-effective strategies in recent peer-reviewed health care literature, as well as provides available information on federal spending, cost savings, and examines the effectiveness of aligning the use of preventive services with clinical recommendations.

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Book SynopsisNon-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most widely used drugs for the suppression of inflammation and pain. However, the therapeutic uses of NSAIDs are frequently limited by the significant negative side effects including ulceration, most notably in the gastrointestinal tract. This book examines alternative therapies to healing wounds such as negative pressure wound therapy; and the use of honey and biomaterials. The book also examines the implications of involvement of NSAID-activated gene 1 in ulceration and wound healing.

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Book SynopsisThe prevalence of obesity in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations has increased dramatically over the past 30 years. Although AIs are not a homogeneous group, all tribes throughout the U.S. have suffered adverse effects from the high prevalence of obesity. Overall, studies demonstrate that obesity begins early for AI/AN children and also is a significant problem for the adult population. Many chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, and breathing problems are associated with the increasing prevalence of obesity in AIs. The book is organized into four major sections: a literature review that synthesizes research findings pertaining to the prevalence of obesity and examines what is known about the major determinants and consequences of obesity as well as the nature and findings of various types of clinical and community-based interventions; activities of selected federal agencies in the area of obesity and AI/ANs; summary of a site visit to the Gila River Indian Community; and directions for future research.

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Book SynopsisMost U.S. residents want a society in which all persons live long, healthy lives; however, that vision is yet to be realised fully. As two of its primary goals, CDC aims to reduce preventable morbidity and mortality and to eliminate disparities in health between segments of the U.S. population. Health disparities are differences in health outcomes and their determinants between segments of the population, as defined by social, demographic, environmental, and geographic attributes. Health inequalities, which is sometimes used interchangeably with the term health disparities, is more often used in the scientific and economic literature to refer to summary measures of population health associated with individual- or group-specific attributes (eg: income, education, or race/ethnicity). This book consolidates and discusses the most recent national data available on disparities in mortality, morbidity, behavioural risk factors, health-care access, preventive health services, and social determinants of critical health problems in the United States by using selected indicators.

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Book SynopsisUnderstanding the supply, distribution, and educational pipeline of nurses is key to designing programs and policies that will ensure access to care and an effective health care system. This book analyzes data from a variety of sources to present recent trends and the current status of the registered nurse (RN) and licensed practical nurse (LPN) workforces. This book also provides additional information on data and methodology for analysis of the nurse supply, including information on the calculation of standard errors, tests of significance for change over time, and use of the data for rural-urban analysis.

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Book SynopsisArboviruses have become significant causes of public health problems with potential for epidemics and unprecedented spread. Large epidemics have occurred and will continue to occur unless we remain extremely vigilant, respond promptly, and have more to offer than isolation and quarantine. Arboviral diseases include the West Nile virus, Yellow fever and dengue, among others. These viruses have caused wide-spread morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa as well as worldwide. The changing epidemiology of arboviruses, the changing virulence of arboviruses, increased vector population responsible for transmission of diseases, the growing population sizes and rapid urbanization cause changes in equilibrium of vectors and hosts, thus, increasing chances of outbreaks and epidemics. Therefore, a constant watch on the pattern of arboviral diseases through surveillance is inevitable. In this book, we present public health experiences from Zambia.

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Book SynopsisIn this book, we present research on health issues in diverse cultures and especially research around immigrants who came to the United States from diverse backgrounds. Hispanic and Asian Americans make up the fastest growing sector of the United States population and immigrants are often unable to access, seek, or receive health care due to several barriers. Research and also clinical experience have found that recent immigrants who migrate to the United States frequently experience a lack of access, high costs, and difficulty obtaining medical insurance along with barriers such as access to information, cultural or linguistic obstacles, and an inability to understand the healthcare system. Therefore in this book, we have tried to gain a better understanding for the readers of the experiences that immigrants undergo in the healthcare system through several research projects presented herein.

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Book SynopsisJob burnout has been well described and refers to a transformation that occurs in persons exposed to considerable occupational stress, particularly in fields that involve human interaction. It is a pathological syndrome in which overwhelming work demands lead to emotional depletion, maladaptive detachment, and feelings of personal inefficacy. This book discusses risk factors that lead to burnout as well as its impact on performance. This book also discusses the affect sleep deprivation has on academic performance and management.

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Book SynopsisPhysicians are well trained in conventional medicine and most are well acquainted with integrative medicine, which incorporates conventional and alternative medical practices in a complementary manner. However, many patients are less understanding of what integrative medicine is and when it should be used. This book is intended for the untrained person who wants to become more knowledgeable about Integrative Medicine, where the objective is to treat the whole person (mind, body and spirit) and make better informed decisions regarding his or her own medical care. It is an introduction to complimentary, alternative, integrative and even anti-aging and functional medicines tailored to aid the patient''s personal needs and goals for health and wellness. This symbiotic relationship between different disciplines is accomplished simply by putting wellness first in our thinking instead of sickness and disease. Most people only think about health when it''s lost; many times, this is too late! This book helps the reader take wellness and preventive steps to improve his or her health status.

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