American journal of preventive medicine
-
As part of setting the stage for this supplement to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, a life-course perspective is presented to assist in understanding the importance of cancer prevention for adults in midlife, a period roughly spanning 20 years between ages 45 and 64 years. Drawing on disciplinary perspectives from the social sciences and public health, several life-course themes are delineated in this article: how specific life transitions present unique opportunities for interventions to inform policy and practice that can improve population health outcomes; how interventions can be focused on those at particular life stages or on the entire life course; and how the onset and progression of chronic conditions such as cancer are dependent on a complex interplay of critical and sensitive periods, and trajectory and accumulation processes. ⋯ Specifically, cancer-related risks and care networks are examined, with examples of public health strategies that can be applied to cancer prevention and control. As a conclusion, select methodologic issues and next steps for advancing research and practice are identified.
-
Infant mortality rates (IMRs) are disproportionally high in the U.S. South; however, the proximate contributors that could inform regional action remain unclear. ⋯ To reduce excess Southern infant mortality, comprehensive strategies addressing SUID and preterm birth prevention for both non-Hispanic black and white births are needed, with state-level findings used to tailor state-specific efforts.
-
Although having a greater number of neighborhood parks may be associated with greater overall physical activity in children, information is lacking about the extent to which children actually use parks for physical activity. ⋯ Although children's use of neighborhood parks was generally low, it increased substantially when parks were closer to children's homes and had greater vegetation density.
-
Crowdsourcing is an online, distributed, problem-solving, and production model that uses the collective intelligence of networked communities for specific purposes. Although its use has benefited many sectors of society, it has yet to be fully realized as a method for improving public health. This paper defines the core components of crowdsourcing and proposes a framework for understanding the potential utility of crowdsourcing in the domain of public health. Four discrete crowdsourcing approaches are described (knowledge discovery and management; distributed human intelligence tasking; broadcast search; and peer-vetted creative production types) and a number of potential applications for crowdsourcing for public health science and practice are enumerated.
-
Observational Study
Sedentary behavior and mortality in older women: the Women's Health Initiative.
Although epidemiologic studies have shown associations between sedentary behavior and mortality, few have focused on older women with adequate minority representation and few have controlled for both physical activity and functional status. ⋯ There was a linear relationship between greater amounts of sedentary time and mortality risk after controlling for multiple potential confounders.