Food is a necessity for survival for all people including women and children. In a food-rich nation like the United States, there are factors that militate against the successful access to nutritional food especially for women and children. Empirical evidence shows that one’s state of health is impacted significantly depending on the quality of nutrition that is available and accessible (Campbell, 1991.) The implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids (HHFK) Act which was

While progressing through this week’s reading about Health Promotion, a very important study came to mind. The study, Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH Detroit), sought to use evidence-based approaches which took into consideration more than just the individual factors and disease causation alone (Jacqueline, 2005.) The REACH Detroit study consisted of one hundred and fifty-one (151) adults over the age of 18 living in the Detroit, Michigan area. The stu

Much of the pushback related to vaccine refusal has been due to a lack of parents accessing the right information about vaccines (Dempsey et al., 2006; Nagras 2015). There have been arguments made against mandatory vaccination programs based on the likelihood of a high rate of morbidity and mortality (Javitt et al., 2008) occurring. For instance, unlike the human papilloma virus (HPV), measles is transmitted through droplet infection i.e. coughing and/or sneezing. HPV on the

As an aspiring healthcare professional, the ethical analysis and assessment readings for this week came across as quite insightful. Of particular relevance is the case involving Multiple Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR TB) and how public health officials tried to apply Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) to contain the progression of the condition in kids adopted from a country with high TB prevalence. The stakeholder theory according to Bernheim et al. (2013) is vital in sustai

You make some fascinating points about the harm principle and paternalism. In your submission, there is mention of how public health risks need to be delineated from the economic ramifications that result from inaction of identified risks. Concerning the idea that the health impact of an obese person is borne by that individual alone and that it has no consequence on the rest of society is precisely what is in conflict with the research findings. Over a ten-year period, avail

As you may well know, social determinants of health play a vital role in advancing population health and health equity. The average middle class American over the past few decades has found diminishing income levels for the same amount of work which the 2008 financial crisis did not help with much. For individuals of low socioeconomic status (SES), the ability to afford nutritious food is not an option as readily available to them as those higher up on the socioeconomic ladde

The use of genetic information as anonymized data is incompatible with the principles of public health practice. Active surveillance does not imply neither does it authorize the formulation of preemptive solutions that cater to the whims of sections of various populations. The notion that a selection of genes should result in desired human traits, is questionable from an ethical perspective. The dilemmas that need to be addressed are based on a successful development of the f

Much of the pushback related to vaccine refusal has been due to a lack of parents accessing the right information about vaccines (Dempsey et al., 2006; Nagras 2015). There have been arguments made against mandatory vaccination programs based on the likelihood of a high rate of morbidity and mortality (Javitt et al., 2008) occurring. For instance, unlike the human papilloma virus (HPV), measles is transmitted through droplet infection i.e. coughing and/or sneezing. HPV on the

History has always served as a good reminder of why the institution of safeguards in public health is necessary. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment is a case in point. Whether or not a pre-emptive solution is deemed necessary in a given public health concern, currently remains an issue of strong contention. Even though the marginal utility of health is of paramount concern in certain instances of public health surveillance, there has been some level of concern within the empiri

Community and stakeholder involvement is perhaps the best means to minimize ethical tensions that may inform policy formulation. The reason for such a bold assertion is due to the values of a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) as set forth by the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) and Gothenburg consensus papers (Tannahill & Douglas 2014). The values include a democratic process involving relevant stakeholders, equitable distribution of outcomes, sustainabilit

The personal beliefs exemption (PBE) which is legal in most states has been a problematic issue for public health officials, physicians, and parents alike. The main function of a PBE is to afford parents a legal means to opt out of mandated vaccination programs (Steve 2007). Specifically, PBE recognizes that there may be some parents who for deeply-held philosophical and religious reasons consider vaccination unnecessary. In the city of Tiburon in California, the situation is

Historically, the United States has been inundated with parental rejection of immunization efforts by the government (Hodge & Gostin 2001). Vaccine hesitancy in recent times has been reported in the empirical literature as a problem associated with successful implementation of government funded programs. Parents often get inaccurate information from sources (Dempsey et al. 2006; Scherer et al., 2016) that provide inadequate relevant knowledge (Kimman et al., 2006) about the H

More often than not, when we think about occupational hazards, stress does not feature much but available scientific evidence suggests that stress should be a cause of concern for administrators and employees alike since it affects output. One of the more prominent models that explains stress in the workplace is the Effort-Reward Imbalance model discussed during lecture. The model explains stress in terms of the discrepancy that exists between effort expended in getting work

During the course of reading this week’s material, the Demand-Control (Support) model of Psychosocial Work Environment and Health as well as the adulteration of scientific evidence in the workplace due to corporate greed and placing profits over health (Zoller, 2009) gave me a greater understanding of certain malpractices and consequent avoidable health issues in the workplace. In particular, a book written by Paul Brodeur about the asbestos industry during the 1980s discusse

The chosen population for this assignment reside in a very impoverished area of northeastern Brazil (Bevins, 2016). Some of the places under consideration include but not limited to Recife, Rio Grande do Sul, and Bahia. The inhabitants of Salvador for instance experience severe poverty, have little to no access to health literacy especially in terms of preventing mosquito borne illnesses. It took the recent outbreak of Zika virus for the government to begin sending in materia

Environmental health in a broad sense has to do not only with the relationship that exists between people and their immediate surroundings but perhaps more importantly, the outcome of that relationship for the people. In recent times, the news media has brought to the attention of the general public a serious public health menace emanating from the northeastern regions of Brazil. The epidemic – Zika virus – has had such debilitating consequences that the World Health Organiza

The Quality of Hospice Care for Individuals with Dementia (Albrecht et al., 2013) critique in general was a very good one. The author does a good job identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the article. One of the major components missing from the critique was the total sample size the investigators used. Some data on demographics of the sample size would have been beneficial. The original article failed to give more data about the demographics of the participants. The ab

James A. Dadzie Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis Food is a necessity for survival for all people including women and children. In a food-rich nation like the United States, there are factors that militate against the successful access to nutritional food especially for women and children. Empirical evidence shows that one’s state of health is impacted significantly depending on the quality of nutrition that is available and accessible (Campbell, 199

Socioeconomic Challenges That Impact Public Health In Brazil James A. Dadzie Environmental Science in Public Health Environmental injustice is concerned with inequalities that exist within the physical environment as a direct result of the effects of wider socioeconomic and sociopolitical systemic forces (Pellow 2002.) Waste disposal in Brazil shares some similarities with the history presented by Pellow. For Brazil in general, the situation is slightly different