American journal of preventive medicine
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Poison control centers and clinical toxicologists serve many roles within public health; however, the degree to which these entities collaborate is unknown. ⋯ Poison control centers have expanded their efforts to include outbreak identification, syndromic surveillance, terrorism preparedness, and daily public health responsibilities amenable to poison control center resources. Collaboration in these areas and others should be expanded.
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To date, there has not been clear evidence regarding interventions that are effective in addressing the specific needs of homeless youth. A systematic and comprehensive international review on effective interventions for homeless youth is presented. This study seeks to provide an accurate and complete picture of effective interventions for homeless youth by collecting, summarizing, categorizing, and evaluating quantitative studies (i.e., those that have assessed treatment outcomes). EVIDENCE ACQUISTION: The following databases were searched in 2008: PsycINFO, ERIC, MEDLINE, and Cochrane were searched from 1985 through 2008 using specific key words: interventions and programs, with homeless youth (s), homeless adolescents, street youth (s), runaways and throwaways. In addition, references of key articles were searched by hand. Eleven studies met pre-established inclusion criteria. To determine study quality, a set of operational parameters was formulated to rate each study as either good, fair, or poor. ⋯ More methodologically sound research is needed to determine what specific interventions are beneficial for subgroups of homeless youth. Implications for future research are discussed.
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In December 2002, the medical toxicology sub-board, which consists of representatives from emergency medicine, preventive medicine, and pediatrics, released revised core content for medical toxicology, aiming to better meet the academic challenges imposed by the continually expanding knowledge base of medical toxicology. These challenges included the addition of relatively new areas of interest in medical toxicology, including population health, while simultaneously ensuring that a structural framework existed to accommodate future areas of interest. There is no evidence readily available to assess how well the educational curricula of existing fellowship programs are meeting these needs. ⋯ To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first published report describing such a curriculum redesign. Suggestions and potential resources proposed as enhancements for the public health-associated education of medical toxicology fellows are discussed. The authors also seek to initiate a discussion among programs about how to optimally meet the new challenges developed by the medical toxicology sub-board.
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Healthcare reform plans refer to improved quality, but there is little quantification of potential health benefits of quality care. ⋯ Substantial improvements in population health are achievable through greater use of a small number of preventive services. Healthcare systems should maximize use of these services.