Interventions to protect and promote health

/0 Comments/in /by

Thomas Frieden is the former Commissioner of New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), under Mayor Bloomberg, and former Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) under President Obama. After you read his article: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1303819, what distinction he makes between government actions to:

1) promote free and open information
2) protect individuals from harm caused by others
3) take societal action to protect and promote health

What do you think of the arguments in favor and opposed to controversial government actions to regulate the behavior of adults and to pursue interventions to protect and promote health?

The provision of percutaneous coronary interventions

/0 Comments/in /by

The provision of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) for patients with the occlusive cardiac vascular disease has been a growing trend since the procedure debuted in the late 1970s. The nursing continuum of care that ushers the patient through the PCI process can have a large impact on short- and long-term clinical outcomes.

How can epidemiology be used to improve outcomes for patients who have undergone Percutaneous Coronary Interventions?

The macro-trends affecting the health workforce

/0 Comments/in /by

Prompted in part by the ideas presented for the technology innovation project, the Human Resources Committee of the Board of Directors has become increasingly concerned about the ability to identify, recruit, and retain the appropriate skill mix for the organization.

The CEO has designated an interdisciplinary team and asked it to prepare an analysis of current trends and their impact on the organization’s human resources in 2025. More specifically, the CEO relays that the Board Chair has expressed concern about workforce shortages in such key areas as nursing, medical technology, and long-term care.

1) Identifies and discusses the macro-trends affecting the health workforce in Washington, DC, the future of the US healthcare system, including such aspects as the overall economy, demographics, personal lifestyles and behaviors, technology (including biotechnology and smartphones), and federal and state government policies. Note that these factors are neither exhaustive nor are they offered as a mandatory framework; your research will identify macro-trends relevant to your findings.

2) Using the above analysis, identify current and projected occupational shortages for your selected region, efforts to address these shortages, and your recommendations for a solution. Be sure to explicitly link each aspect with the specific trends identified in your analysis.

How do the Statistical tests in Clinical practice influence the choice of test used

/0 Comments/in /by

How do the Statistical tests in Clinical practice influence the choice of test used between t-tests, their non-parametric equivalents, and a chi-square? What do all have in common?

Discuss the appropriate use of t-tests and their non-parametric equivalents as well as the chi-square and its derivatives such as the Fisher’s Exact Test within clinical practice.

Non-parametric tests in clinical trials

/0 Comments/in /by

ANOVA (Non-parametric tests in clinical trials) is a comparative analysis group that allows researchers to compare three or more independent variables at a time without increasing the margin of statistical error. The biggest way I could see ANOVAS used is if a researcher is looking for possible disparities in a topic. For example, which ethnicity has the most incidence for hypertension within a geographical area or healthcare facility?

The diagnosis of having hypertension would be an independent variable with two levels (yes/no). The ethnicity groups would be used as our dependent variable with three or more variable levels (Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, Native America etc). In using the ANOVA test (or their non-parametric equivalents) researchers would be able to identify groups that are at risk for disparities and begin to work to intervene.

The effectiveness of the interventions could also be evaluated by ANOVA tests as well, as they can be used in pre-test/post-test study designs as well. ANOVA has been shown to be fairly robust (Kellar & Kline, 2013). Even if the variables do not rigidly adhere to the assumptions required for the test, the results may still be close to the truth (Kellar & Kline, 2013).

 

1. What is the difference between a t-test and an ANOVA?
2. What does “homogeneity of variance” mean in relation to conducting a one-way ANOVA? Why do we want a high p-value for Levene’s test?
3. What is the difference between a Kruskal-Wallis test, a Friedman’s test, and the McNemar’s test? Under what conditions would you use each of these tests? How are these tests all similar? What do they all have in common?

Methods of transmission of infectious diseases

/0 Comments/in /by

Discuss the four methods of transmission of infectious diseases. Relate these methods of transmission to sanitary practices that could be performed to prevent spread. Debate the question of whether children with lice should be allowed to stay in care or school or should be excluded from care or school.

 

Risk association between dietary fat intake and pancreatic cancer

/0 Comments/in /by

A case-control study design was utilized to investigate a possible risk association between dietary fat intake and pancreatic cancer. A group of 235 subjects with pancreatic cancer was identified from a regional tumor registry. Based on previous design considerations, a group of 515 age-matched subjects without pancreatic cancer were identified from a hospital discharge dataset in the same geographic region as the cases. All subjects consented to be interviewed regarding dietary fat consumption, and each was categorized based on current dietary fat intake recommendations as low, moderate, or high consumption. Results from the interview process are summarized below:

Group Pancreatic CA Cases Pancreatic CA Controls

Male / Low Consumption 40 50

Male / Moderate Consumption 55 140

Male / High Consumption 40 65

Female / Low Consumption 30 70

Female / Moderate Consumption 45 70

Female / High Consumption 25 20

A.        Estimate the risk association (Odds Ratio) between the moderate consumption group and the low consumption group for both sexes combined. Do the same calculation for males and females separately. Provide an interpretation of the results.

B.        Estimate the risk association (Odds Ratio) between the high consumption group and the low consumption group for both sexes combined. Do the same calculation for males and females separately. Provide an interpretation of the results.

Nutrition Education and Behavior

/0 Comments/in /by

Another behavior that professionals aim to improve is the nutritional habits of young children. Many studies have evaluated the effectiveness of observational behavior on young children in regard to nutrition habits, such as fruit and vegetable consumption and nutritional literacy. One study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior evaluated the effectiveness of screen-based peer modeling on children’s vegetable consumption. This study enrolled 42 children, aged 3-5 years old, who were asked to watch either a video of a peer eating a vegetable, a video that was non-food related, or no video at all. Researchers then evaluated the child’s vegetable consumption rate of all of the groups. It was found that children who watched the video with vegetables were more likely to eat more grams of vegetables that same day (Stainano et al., 2016). This study shows how public health professionals can use peer observational learning to help promote healthy eating habits in young children.

Do you agree or not and why?

2.As I previously mentioned, media can play a large role in observational learning, negative and positive! A TikTok trend led millions of people to Chole Ting’s fitness channel on Youtube. During quarantine, gyms were closed and people were looking for at-home workouts when Chole Ting started trending on the popular app. People were going crazy about it and encouraging others to try it for themselves. Staying active, especially when gyms are closed, has many benefits and this trend helped public health professionals promote a healthy lifestyle!

Do you agree or not and why?

Describe the nurses’ role and responsibility as health educator

/0 Comments/in /by

Describe the nurses’ role and responsibility as health educators. What strategies besides the use of learning styles can a nurse educator consider when developing tailored individual care plans, or for an educational program in health promotion? When should the behavior be utilized in a care plan or health promotion?

Developmental psychology

/0 Comments/in /by

Developmental psychology is the study of age-related changes in behavior and mental processes, including stages of growth, from conception to death. Development is an ongoing, lifelong process. What stage of human development are you in currently and what are your main challenges/activities? Reflecting on Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, which stage do you find yourself in? How will you successfully resolve the conflict that is the hallmark of that stage? What would you consider the best time of your life? Why?