Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons^™

Strategies For Encouraging The Abandonment Of Female Genital Cutting In West Africa: Experiences From Senegal, Burkina Faso, And Mali, Nafissatou J. Diop, Ian Askew

Reproductive Health

This article explores efforts to encourage abandonment of female genital cutting (FGC) in Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Mali. The strategy of encouraging traditional practitioners to stop performing FGC is not effective as community-level support for the practice remains high. Training health staff significantly improved healthcare providers' levels of knowledge about FGC and its complications. Consequently, it was recommended that such training be incorporated into preservice medical training. The use of community-based strategies like the Village Education Program (VEP) showed the most promise, as their multifaceted approach addresses knowledge, attitudes, actions, and communal support in an integrated manner. The way forward …

The Psychological Effects Of Exposure To Wartime Trauma In Bosnian Residents And Refugees: Implications For Treatment And Service Provision, Sandina Begic, Theodore Mcdonald

Public Health and Population Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

It has been widely reported that exposure to war-related trauma leads to psychological distress in human beings, and it has been hypothesized that this psychological distress may be compounded when people leave their war-torn countries and begin their lives as refugees in a new country. In this study, we explored whether a systematic relationship existed between the level of traumatic wartime events experienced by Bosnian residents and refugees living in the western United States and their levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression. We also explored whether differences in levels of these mental health problems existed between Bosnian …

A Case Of Health Disparity, Donna Zucker

Donna M. Zucker

Although the incidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in women is only slightly less than in men, women are poorly represented in research trials. As a result, not much is known about them as a subgroup. The specific aims of this article were to report on the problem, study methods, and findings focusing on HCV-positive women's health beliefs, how they identify and understand their health and illness states, and their explanatory models of illness behavior. A pilot study using three focus groups was conducted with women in the community, in recovery, and incarcerated. Two groups emerged: those with and those …

Minimizing The Maxim Model? Interpreting The Sexual Body Rhetoric Of Teenage Moms Through Physical Education, Treena Orchard, J. Halas, J. Stark

Dr. Treena Orchard

No abstract provided.

An Ethnographic Study Of The Social Context Of Migrant Health In The United States, Seth M. Holmes Phd, Md

Seth M. Holmes PhD, MD

Background

Migrant workers in the United States have extremely poor health. This paper aims to identify ways in which the social context of migrant farm workers affects their health and health care.

Methods and Findings

This qualitative study employs participant observation and interviews on farms and in clinics throughout 15 months of migration with a group of indigenous Triqui Mexicans in the western US and Mexico. Study participants include more than 130 farm workers and 30 clinicians. Data are analyzed utilizing grounded theory, accompanied by theories of structural violence, symbolic violence, and the clinical gaze. The study reveals that farm …

Additional Cardiovascular Risk Factors Associated With Excess Weigth In Children And Adolescents. The Belo Horizonte Heart Study, Paulo A. Lotufo

Paulo A Lotufo

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of overweight and obesity with physical activity, blood pressure (BP) and serum lipid profiles. METHODS Epidemiologic investigation of 1,450 students, between the ages of 6 and 18, in the city of Belo Horizonte, MG. Data: weight, height, BP, skinfold thickness, waist circumference, physical activity, total cholesterol (TC), LDL-c, HDL-c, and dietary habits. RESULTS The prevalence rates for overweight and obesity were 8.4% and 3.1%, respectively. In relation to the students in the lower quartile (Q1) of the distribution of subscapular skinfold, the students in the upper quartile (Q4) presented a 3.7 times higher risk (odds …