American journal of preventive medicine
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Considering the joint association of neighborhood socioeconomic environment and individual-level health behaviors with health outcomes may help officials design effective disease prevention strategies. This study evaluates the joint influences of neighborhood socioeconomic environment and individual health behaviors on mortality in a cohort primarily comprising people with low individual-level SES. ⋯ Disadvantaged neighborhood socioeconomic environments are associated with increased mortality in a cohort of individuals of low SES. Positive individual-level health behaviors may help negate the adverse effect of disadvantage on mortality.
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The U. S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issues evidence-based screening and prevention recommendations, and key to this task is dissemination and implementation of these recommendations. ⋯ This includes engagement with and input from topic experts, primary care and federal partners, and the public to help shape the development of the recommendations. It also includes engagement of partners to disseminate USPSTF recommendations to help ensure that the primary care workforce remains up-to-date on USPSTF recommendations. This paper outlines the approaches used by the USPSTF to both solicit input (e.g., public comment periods), as well as to facilitate dissemination of its recommendations to help improve the health of all Americans (e.g., web-based and mobile application tools, journal publications, and annual reports to Congress).
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Effective February 2017, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development published a rule requiring each public housing agency to implement a smoke-free policy within 18 months. This study assessed the prevalence and determinants of favorability toward smoke-free public housing among U.S. adults. ⋯ Most U.S. adults favor prohibiting smoking in public housing. These data can inform the implementation and sustainment of smoke-free policies to reduce the public health burden of tobacco smoking in public housing.
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The U.S. spends more than any other country on health care, yet Americans have lower life expectancy than people in most industrialized countries. Recent studies suggest that lower expenditures on social policies in the U.S. may contribute to less-favorable trends in life expectancy. This study tests the hypothesis that greater social spending will be positively associated with life expectancy across the countries of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development and that the magnitude of these associations will outweigh those between government healthcare spending and life expectancy. ⋯ The U.S. life expectancy lag could be considerably smaller if U.S. expenditures on education and incapacity programs were comparable with those in other high-income countries.
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Serving as the center of community-engaged health programs, local health departments can play a critical role in promoting community mental health. The objectives of this study were to explore the association between local health department activities and (1) preventable hospitalizations for individuals with mental disorders, and (2) associated racial disparities in preventable hospitalizations. ⋯ Improving care coordination and integration are essential to meeting the growing demands for healthcare access, while controlling costs and improving quality of service delivery. These results suggest that it will be effective to engage local health departments in the integrated behavioral health system.