Public health reports
-
Public health reports · Jan 2004
Comparative StudyAn invisible barrier to integrating HIV primary care with harm reduction services: philosophical clashes between the harm reduction and medical models.
Overall AIDS mortality in the United States has declined in recent years, but declines have not been consistent across all populations. Due to an array of barriers to care, minorities and poor people who are active substance users have not benefited as others have from advances in the treatment of HIV disease. One way to address this problem is to integrate HIV primary care into harm reduction programs that already effectively serve this population. ⋯ Philosophical differences between the medical model and the harm reduction model, which often remain invisible to the parties involved, underlie these difficulties. This article addresses the issue by describing a partnership in the Bronx, NY, between CitiWide Harm Reduction Inc. (CitiWideHR) and the Montefiore Medical Center. It focuses specifically on the sources of philosophical differences between models, and briefly assesses the potential for successful collaborations of this sort.
-
Public health reports · Nov 2003
Correlates of sunburn experiences among U.S. adults: results of the 2000 National Health Interview Survey.
The purpose of this study was to determine the rate of sunburns in the U.S. adult population and the correlates of sunburns. ⋯ Many American adults have one or more sunburns per year. Methods to protect from sun exposure may not be used as needed to prevent sunburn.
-
Public health reports · Jul 2003
Reducing diabetes health disparities through community-based participatory action research: the Chicago Southeast Diabetes Community Action Coalition.
To address disproportionately high rates of diabetes morbidity and mortality in some of Chicago's medically underserved minority neighborhoods, a group of community residents, medical and social service providers, and a local university founded the Chicago Southeast Diabetes Community Action Coalition, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention REACH 2010 Initiative. A community-based participatory action research model guided coalition activities from conceptualization through implementation. Capacity building activities included training on: diabetes, coalition building, research methods, and action planning. ⋯ The participatory process led to increased awareness of the complexities of diabetes in the community and to a state of readiness for social action. Data documented disparities in diabetes. The participatory action research approach (a) encouraged key stakeholders outside of the health care sector to participate (e.g., business sector, church groups); (b) permitted an examination of the sociopolitical context affecting the health of the community; (c) provided an opportunity to focus on preventing the onset of diabetes and its complications; (d) increased understanding of the importance of community research in catalyzing social action aimed at community and systems change and change among change agents.