Social science & medicine
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Social science & medicine · Nov 2014
Comparative StudyEffects of comparative claims in prescription drug direct-to-consumer advertising on consumer perceptions and recall.
Although pharmaceutical companies cannot make comparative claims in direct-to-consumer (DTC) ads for prescription drugs without substantial evidence, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration permits some comparisons based on labeled attributes of the drug, such as dosing. ⋯ In video ads, participants who saw an indication comparison had greater benefit recall than participants who saw dosing or mechanism of action comparisons. In addition, visual depictions of the comparison decreased risk recall for video ads. Overall, the results suggest that comparative claims in DTC ads could mislead consumers about a drug's efficacy and risk; therefore, caution should be used when presenting comparative claims in DTC ads.
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Social science & medicine · Nov 2014
On the frontline of eastern Burma's chronic conflict--listening to the voices of local health workers.
Globally, attacks on and interferences with health workers and healthcare delivery, including targeted violence towards providers, attacks on hospitals and delays and denial of health care, represent a serious humanitarian and human rights issue. However, gaps in research about these events persist, limiting the evidence base from which to understand and address the problem. This paper focuses on experiences of local health workers in eastern Burma's chronic conflict, including their strategies for addressing security and ensuring access to vulnerable ethnic communities in the region. ⋯ Data show that innovative security strategies have emerged, including the important role of the community in ensuring securer access to health care. This study underscores health workers' concern for improved data collection to support the rights of health workers to provide health care, and the rights of community members to receive health care in conflict-affected settings. Findings will inform the development of an incident reporting form to improve systematic data collection and documentation of attacks on health in this setting.
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Social science & medicine · Nov 2014
Everyday suffering outside prison walls: a legacy of community justice in post-genocide Rwanda.
Twenty years after the 1994 genocide, Rwanda shows all indications of moving quickly towards socio-economic prosperity. Rwanda's community justice system, Gacaca, was to complement this prosperity by establishing peace and stability through justice, reconciliation and healing. Evaluations of the Gacaca courts' achievements from 2002 to 2012 have had widely differing conclusions. ⋯ Study findings suggest that large scale imprisonment of genocide suspects coupled with Gacaca court proceedings have tainted the suffering of ex-prisoners and women with imprisoned husbands in unique ways, which makes their plight unparalleled in other countries. We argue that the nature and scale of this suffering and the potentially detrimental impact on families and communities require humanitarian action. However, in Rwanda's post-genocide reality, the suffering of these two groups is overwhelmed by that of other vulnerable groups, such as genocide survivors and orphaned children; hence it is rarely acknowledged.
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Social science & medicine · Nov 2014
Medical humanitarianism in the United States: alternative healthcare, spirituality and political advocacy in the case of Our Lady Guadalupe Free Clinic.
Exclusionary practices in dominant market-based systems are recognized as contributing to global health inequities. Undocumented immigrants are particularly vulnerable to unequal access to healthcare. Humanitarian NGOs strive to respond meaningfully to these health inequities among migrants and undocumented immigrants. ⋯ Examining a moment of "crisis" in the Clinic, our study shows that volunteers experience the alliance between spirituality and advocacy with uneasiness. While a spiritual calling may initially motivate volunteers to serve, an embrace of human rights advocacy is important in a sustained effort to provide humanitarian medical care to individuals who fall outside of the political and moral community in the U. S.