Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2024
Emotional barriers pose the greatest threat to cervical cancer screening for young adult women in the United Kingdom.
Low cervical screening coverage rate is the root-cause of cervical cancer mortality in the United Kingdom (UK), with 99 % of deaths being considered preventable. Research has consistently categorised reasons for non-attendance into emotional, practical, and cognitive barriers. Despite this, public health interventions have been unable to improve coverage rates. We propose a lifespan perspective is needed, to enable targeted interventions at appropriate milestones (i.e., common life events) during a woman's life. We start this lifespan perspective by investigating the perceived barriers young women report, who have and have not yet been invited to their first cervical screen (i.e., a common life event). ⋯ Emotional barriers pose the greatest threat to cervical screening attendance in young adult women. Interventions should start at school to encourage cervical screening to be viewed as routine healthcare. Future research should continue a lifespan perspective, indexed to common life events.
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2024
Impact of perceived neighborhood social cohesion on vaccination intentions in the post-pandemic era.
To examine the relationship between perceived neighborhood social cohesion (NSC) and intentions to obtain seasonal influenza and COVID-19 vaccines among US adults post COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ In a post-pandemic era, higher trust-related and relational, perceived NSC (vaccine-dependent), greater access to healthcare, higher perceived risk of infection, and greater trust in doctors were related to higher influenza and COVID-19 vaccination intentions, while higher value-based NSC was related to lower COVID-19 vaccination intentions among US adults. Thus, specific aspects of NSC, healthcare access barriers, misinformation on infection risk, and medical mistrust may influence an individual's willingness and ultimate decision to become vaccinated.
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This study examined the association between ikigai (a Japanese concept akin to purpose in life or a rationale for existence) and use of preventive healthcare services. ⋯ Higher ikigai is associated with preventive health measures, independent of key covariates. These findings are consistent with the literature on ikigai and better health-related outcomes and subjective well-being. Ikigai may help point to new ways to counter the low use of preventive services in Germany.