American journal of preventive medicine
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The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated longstanding housing precarity. This study measures the public support for policies designed to increase housing stability and gauges whether support levels are associated with views about the role of evictions in COVID-19 transmission and the existence of racial inequities in the housing market. ⋯ Support for housing stability policies was strong among U.S. adults, particularly among those who agreed that preventing evictions slowed COVID-19 transmission and among those who acknowledged racial inequities in the housing market. Raising public awareness of the connections among unstable housing, infectious disease transmission, and racial inequity could broaden the support for policies to keep people in their homes through the pandemic.
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Previous research has found COVID-19 cases to be disproportionately prevalent among U.S. prisoners. Similar to prisoners, prison staff experience ventilation and social distancing hazards and may have limited access to testing, paid sick leave, personal protective equipment, and other workplace protections. Yet, systematic case surveillance among prison staff remains unexplored. The objective of this study is to document the trends in COVID-19 cases among U.S. correctional staff relative to those among prisoners and the U.S. ⋯ Prison staff experienced substantially higher COVID-19 case prevalence than the U.S. population overall. Across prison staff and resident populations, cases were rapidly rising in November 2020, indicating poor outbreak containment within the prison environment. An Emergency Temporary Standard, issued by federal and state Occupational Safety and Health Administrations, and priority vaccination are urgently needed to reduce COVID-19 occupational risk. Reduced occupational transmission of COVID-19 will benefit workers, incarcerated people, and community members alike.
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Dentists are a common source of opioid exposure. This study investigates the association between initial dental opioid prescription characteristics and subsequent persistent use and examines the rate of opioid overdose after initiation. ⋯ Among people who initiated a dentist-prescribed opioid, 1 in 23 experienced persistent use, and persistence was associated with the characteristics of the prescription. Prescribing lower doses, prescribing for shorter durations, and avoiding long-acting formulations may be an opportunity to lessen the risk of persistent opioid use.
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Although evidence indicates that Black gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority men experience vast psychological and behavioral health inequities, most research has focused on individual rather than structural drivers of these inequities. This study examines the associations between structural racism and anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer policies and the psychological and behavioral health of Black and White sexual minority men. ⋯ Results highlight the intersectional nature of structural oppression and suggest that racist and anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer policies must be repealed to rectify health inequities facing Black sexual minority men.
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There has been a decade-long federal commitment to prevent and end homelessness among U.S. military veterans. Substantial progress has been made; so, a question that stakeholders ask is: Is veteran homelessness still a problem? ⋯ There is a continued need to dedicate resources to address veteran homelessness across sociodemographic groups, and these data serve as a benchmark before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.