Suchergebnisse

Under the Supporting People Programme, low‐level 'floating' support is available to help vulnerable people live independently in their own accommodation. There is a good deal of research to indicate that this sort of support, particularly in social housing, is effective in helping people to sustain their tenancies, and that their well‐being and self‐esteem are improved as a result. However, there is little empirical evidence on the overall health impact of support. As part of a broader evaluation of a floating support service, this longitudinal study used the SF‐36 health questionnaire, complemented by in‐depth interviews, and found evidence of health gain.

Background: The domestic smoke exposure increases the risk of a range of common and serious diseases. Further, association of exposure with chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive lung disease is quite well established in recent researches. This work was carried out to determine the health impact of indoor air pollution in rural hill region of Nepal. Methods: A cross-sectional study on health impact of indoor air pollution to exposed kitchen dwellers and children, was done using random sampling method devised with probability proportion in Malikarjun Village Development Committee, Nepal. This study was conducted in two phases, in first phase. Adult kitchen dwellers were assessed for prevalence of respiratory disorder while in second phase, during three months Acute Respiratory Infection episodes of children below two years were recorded. Results: Eight kinds of respiratory ailments and related symptoms were prevalent in adult respondents of 42 households. Cough phlegm, breathlessness, wheezing, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and bronchial asthma were significantly varied with higher exposure category (P<0.05) and smoking habit (P<0.01). Peak expiratory flow rate PEFR results significantly varied with both smoking habit and exposure level both in male and female (P<0.01). Correlation analysis denoted higher prevalence of diseases and symptoms in smokers (r = 0.464; P<0.01). Acute Respiratory Infection episodes per child was significant in grade I (P<0.01) and grade II (P<0.05) for both exposure level and parental smoking habit. Conclusions: A significant association between exposure of Indoor Air Pollution and prevalence of respiratory disorders and related symptoms in kitchen dwelling adults and children was found. Key words: acute respiratory infection; exposure duration; indoor air pollution; prevalence; respiratory disorder. DOI: 10.3126/jnhrc.v7i2.3009 Journal of Nepal Health Research Council Vol.7(2) Apr 2009 69-75

People with severe disabilities have a higher prevalence of many health conditions when compared with the general population. Examples include gastrointestinal conditions, chronic allergies, epilepsy, and sleep dysregulation, among many other health concerns. Of particular interest in the treatment of challenging behavior is the comorbidity of health conditions and behavioral challenges. Evidence suggests that not only do people with severe disabilities have higher rates of health conditions, but people with severe disabilities and challenging behavior have even higher rates of health concerns. This article reviews the existing evidence linking health conditions and challenging behavior, discusses health disparities in diagnosis and treatment of these comorbidities, and suggests future avenues for discovery and intervention.

Background: An essential characteristic of health impact assessment (HIA) is that it seeks to predict the future consequences of possible decisions for health. These predictions have to be valid, but as yet it is unclear how validity should be defined in HIA. Aims: To examine the philosophical basis for predictions and the relevance of different forms of validity to HIA. Conclusions: HIA is valid if formal validity, plausibility and predictive validity are in order. Both formal validity and plausibility can usually be established, but establishing predictive validity implies outcome evaluation of HIA. This is seldom feasible owing to long time lags, migration, measurement problems, a lack of data and sensitive indicators, and the fact that predictions may influence subsequent events. Predictive validity most often is not attainable in HIA and we have to make do with formal validity and plausibility However, in political science, this is by no means exceptional.

HIA and EA are approaches and processes that support better, healthier, and more sustainable policy development and decisionmaking. When undertaken well, and when valued and applied, they can also help to support better, more informed, transparent and democratic policy development and decision- making processes. However, they are not a panacea; rather, they constitute one important piece of the policy development and decision- making puzzle. Public health practitioners need to increase their knowledge and understanding of EA and HIA. They should improve their links with EA and HIA specialists. They also need to proactively and consistently undertake and commission assessments of health either within EA or as stand alone HIAs. Public health practitioners would also do well to oversee and scrutinize the scope of work for, and the findings of, EAs and HIAs that are commissioned and undertaken by others in the localities in which they work. By doing so, public health practitioners can help to advance the agenda of improving health for all by acting on the upstream determinants of health and bringing together key actors across society.

This book explains the history and basic framework of HIA, and offers a guide to best practices and preferred resources and a comprehensive theoretical and operational framework for practitioners and students. Includes domestic and international case studies.

First paragraph: The Scottish Government recently introduced welcome new laws in 2013 to address environmental crime with on-thespot fines of up to £40,000 and established an environmental crime multi-agency taskforce led by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). International environmental crime, the waste industry and large scale environmental degradation as well as fly tipping have all been examined (Scottish Government, 2013). However, this may simply be the tip of a much larger and very toxic 'rubbish dump' of pollution and just as crime knows no boundaries, neither does pollution.