Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Feb 2021
Aligning social and health care services: The case of community care connections.
The Community Care Connections (CCC) program aims to align social and healthcare services to improve health outcomes in older adults with complex medical and social needs. This study assessed changes in healthcare utilization before and after CCC program participation. Between June 2016 and March 2019, 1214 adults with complete data who provided informed consent participated in the CCC program. ⋯ ED visits decreased by 37% (Change = -0.140, 95% CI = -0.209, -0.070) for those with hypertension and by 30% (Change = -0.109, 95% CI = -0.199, -0.020) for those with high cholesterol, while observation stays decreased by 46% (Change = -0.118, 95% CI = -0.185, -0.052) for those with diabetes and by 44% (Change = -0.082, 95% CI = -0.150, -0.014) for those with high cholesterol during the post period. Connecting older adults with social services through the healthcare delivery system may lead to decreases in hospitalizations, ED visits, and observation stays. Implementation of cross-sector partnerships that address non-clinical factors that impact the health of older adults may reduce the use of costly healthcare services.
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Preventive medicine · Feb 2021
Factors influencing social distancing to prevent the community spread of COVID-19 among Chinese adults.
The global outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in 2020 has been an international public health threat. Early strong social distancing efforts is needed to stop transmission of the virus. The purpose of the present study is to identify individual and environmental factors related to individuals' compliance with the recommended social distancing, as well as the moderating role of social media in influencing individuals' implementation of social distancing. ⋯ Psychological distress, depressive symptoms, and social media were significant predictors of social distancing after controlling for other individual and environmental factors. Social media moderated the effects of psychological distress on social distancing (OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.94-0.99). Findings from the study indicates that mental health status and social media are influential factors of social distancing, which have significant implications in enhancing the effectiveness of prevention strategies to contain the spread of COVID-19.
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From the individual viewpoint, active aging refers to the ability of older persons, depending on their goals, functional capacity and opportunities, to engage in desired activities. This study investigated the role of health literacy in active aging among persons differing in their number of chronic conditions. Data were collected from 948 individuals, 57% women, aged 75, 80 and 85 in 2017-2018 in the city of Jyväskylä in Central Finland. ⋯ Higher health literacy can enable older persons, including those with multiple chronic conditions, to maintain higher levels of active aging. As more people are projected to live with chronic conditions to older ages, health literacy may help them to cope with illnesses and functional limitations and lead a fulfilling life. These cross-sectional findings lay a foundation for future prospective and experimental studies on health literacy and active aging.
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Preventive medicine · Feb 2021
Investigating the environmental, behavioural, and sociodemographic determinants of attendance at a city-wide public health physical activity intervention: Longitudinal evidence over one year from 185,245 visits.
Understanding the determinants of attendance at public health interventions is critical for effective policy development. Most research focuses on individual-level determinants of attendance, while less is known about environmental-level determinants. Data were obtained from the Leeds Let's Get Active public health intervention in Leeds, England. ⋯ Finally, calendar month was the most important determinant of daily attendance. This longitudinal study highlights the importance of both individual and environmental determinants in predicting various aspects of attendance. It has implications for strategies aiming to increase attendance at public health interventions.
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Preventive medicine · Feb 2021
Low human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake among men living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV): Cross-sectional findings from a clinical cohort.
Men living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are internationally recognized as a priority population for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. Our objective was to explore HPV vaccine uptake among men living with HIV in Ontario, Canada, and investigate differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated men. We used data from a cross-sectional questionnaire administered between 2016 and 2017 among men living with HIV and participating in the Ontario HIV Treatment Network Cohort Study. ⋯ This may be influenced by low HPV awareness, prohibitive cost, and lack of physician recommendation. Several men reporting lower socio-economic status, older men, and heterosexual, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men were missed for vaccination. Primary care and HIV clinics may be ideal locations to increase uptake.