Journal of evaluation in clinical practice
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Review Historical Article
Herd immunity to endemic diseases: Historical concepts and implications for public health policy.
"Herd immunity" became a contested term during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the term "herd immunity" is often used to refer to thresholds at which some diseases can be eliminated (e.g., due to mass vaccination), the term has multiple referents. Different concepts of herd immunity have been relevant throughout the history of immunology and infectious disease epidemiology. For some diseases, herd immunity plays a role in the development of an endemic equilibrium, rather than elimination via threshold effects. ⋯ Informed by the history of infectious disease epidemiology, we argue that understanding the concept in this way will help us manage both SARS-CoV-2 and hundreds of other seasonal respiratory pathogens with which we live but which have been disrupted due to sustained public health measures/non-pharmaceutical interventions targeting SARS-CoV-2.
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The shift toward virtual academic detailing (AD) was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ AD groups across North America have shifted to virtual outreach and delivery strategies. This trend toward virtual AD may aid outreach to vulnerable rural communities, improving health equity. More research is needed on the effectiveness of virtual AD and its future implications.
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Body image undergoes significant changes during pregnancy, marking a pivotal phase in a woman's life. ⋯ It was determined that pregnant women experience physical and psychological changes related to body image during pregnancy.
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Only half of newly implemented evidence-based practices are sustained. Though poor sustainment can lead to negative consequences for clinical teams, organizations and patients, the causal explanations of sustainment are largely unknown. ⋯ Implementation teams can draw from this programme theory to improve the sustainment of outcomes measures while researchers could continue to refine the theory. Continued investigation of sustainability, including diverse and continuous sustainability outcomes, is needed to understand how to maintain improvements in quality of care and patient outcomes.