Public Health Commons^™

Update - March 2005, Loma Linda University Center For Christian Bioethics

Update

In this issue:

-- Review and Critique of Statements on Abuse and Family Violence
-- Seventh-day Adventist Statements on Women's Issues
-- Response to "A Statement on Women's Issues"
-- Seventh-day Adventist Statements on Abuse, A Statement on Abuse and Family Violence
-- Seventh-day Adventist Statements on Abuse, A Statement on Family Violence
-- Seventh-day Adventist Statements on Abuse, Statements on Child Sexual Abuse
-- Editorial

Motivated Breast Cancer Screening Behavior And Its Cultural Antecedents, Patricia M. Flynn

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Discrepancies in breast cancer screening behavior exist among various ethnic groups in the United States (Jacobs & Lauderdale, 2001), with Latino American women reporting particularly low screening rates in comparison to Anglo American women (ACS, 2002). Research indicates that behavior is in part influenced by aspects of culture and relevant psychological processes (Betancourt & Lopez, 1993; Betancourt & Fuentes, 2001). This study was designed to investigate the relations among cultural values, attributions regarding the causes for not screening, related emotions, expectancy that screening leads to early detection and value incentive of early detection as determinants of breast cancer screening intention …

Ethnic Identity And Body Ideal In Adolescent Girls, Erin E. Ramirez

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Adolescence is a period characterized by physical growth and maturation (Cobb, 1995). This normal biological process moves most American girls away from the thin ideal body shape that is dominant within the United States. Ethnic differences in ideal body size have in fact been found in several studies; but they have been shown based on ethnic group membership, not ethnic identification. The specific relationship of ethnic identity and body ideal for Mexican American, African American, and Anglo American adolescent females has not been clearly defined; Lopez, Blix, and Blix (1995) have hinted at the role of ethnic identification (through the …

Scope Of Services Offered By Critical Access Hospitals: Results Of The 2004 National Cah Survey, David Hartley Phd, Mha, Stephenie L. Loux Ms

Rural Hospitals (Flex Program)

No abstract provided.

Smoke-Free Laws And Indoor Air Pollution In Lexington And Louisville, Ellen J. Hahn, Kiyoung Lee, Chizimuzo T.C. Okoli, Adewale Troutman, Robert W. Powell

Nursing Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Managed Mental Health Care: Findings From The Literature, 1990–2005, D. Richard Mauery, Lissette Vaquerano, Rachel Sethi, Joanne Jee, Lisa Chimento

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Mainecare And Its Role In Maine’S Healthcare System, Paul Saucier

Disability & Aging

No abstract provided.

Content Analysis Of Drug Offenders' Sketches On The Draw-An-Event Test For Risky Sexual Situations, Alan W. Stacy, Susan L. Ames, Barbara C. Leigh, Brian R. Houska, Julia Andsager

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Objectives: To evaluate the utility of the Draw-an-Event Test for risky sexual situations (DET-RS), a nonverbal memory-based assessment tool used for productions of spontaneous content associated with risky sex. Methods: Traditional holistic coding analysis of 298 drug offenders' content productions. Results: Content analyses of DET-RS sketches provided increased understanding of substance use and other context preceding risky sexual situations with different types of sex partners. None of the sketches including drugs depleted condoms, only one of the sketches with alcohol included a condom, and only 2 sketches mentioned sexually transmitted diseases. Conclusions: The DET-RS is a useful research tool for …

The Effects Of Ppa And Nicotine Gum On Cessation Rates And Post Cessation Weight Gain In Women., Theodore Cooper, R. Klesges, M. Debon, S. Zbikowski, K. Johnson, L. Clemens

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Community-Based Participatory Research: Defining Community Stakeholders, Laurene M. Tumiel-Berhalter, Robert Watkins, Carlos J. Crespo

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Community-based participatory research requires the participation of community stakeholders to inform the process. The West Side Community Asthma Project, a community-based participatory research program to study the effects of the environment on asthma conducted in Buffalo, N. Y, identified a stakeholders group of community leaders and activists. Creative strategies have been implemented to reach out to other community residents to invite them to participate in the participatory process.

The Effects Of Childhood Obesity On Self-Esteem, Heather L. Paxton

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Obesity is a growing health problem affecting children in the United States. The prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically over the past 10 years across virtually all populations and age groups. Recent data suggest that 15 percent of U.S. children are severely overweight or obese (National Center for Health Statistics, 2002) . Obese children are at risk for significant health problems, but also face many psychological and social consequences, including low self-esteem. Children who are obese face an increased risk of emotional problems lasting well into adulthood. Factors such as peer rejection, weight-related teasing, and internalized social standards play a …

Ethical Approaches To Gathering Information From Children And Adolescents In International Settings: Guidelines And Resources, Katie D. Schenk, Jan Williamson

HIV and AIDS

This publication provides practical guidance to help program managers and researchers understand and uphold ethical standards when planning and implementing information-gathering activities among children and adolescents, and promotes discussion of ethical issues among people of different backgrounds and training who gather information for different purposes. The publication, which is divided into three parts, is intended to be helpful to anyone who plans, manages, implements, analyzes, or funds any program or research activity that requires gathering information from children and adolescents, including monitoring and evaluation. Part 1 presents key issues that must be considered from the earliest stages of planning and …

The Effects Of Ppa And Nicotine Gum On Cessation Rates And Post Cessation Weight Gain In Women., Theodore Cooper, R. Klesges, M. Debon, S. Zbikowski, K. Johnson, L. Clemens

Departmental Papers (Psych)

No abstract provided.

Reducing The Transmission Of Hiv And Sexually Transmitted Infections In A Mining Community: Findings From The Carletonville Mothusimpilo Intervention Project: 1998 To 2001, Lewis Ndhlovu, Catherine Searle, Johannes Van Dam, Yodwa Mzaidume, Bareng Rasego, Solly Moema

HIV and AIDS

The Horizons program, in collaboration with the Center for Scientific and Industrial Research, the South African Institute for Medical Research, and the London School of Economics, conducted an intervention study in the mining town of Carletonville, South Africa to examine the social determinants of the HIV epidemic, and to assess the impact of a targeted program of HIV and STI prevention and service delivery. The project did not reduce STI prevalence or HIV prevalence, as changing sexual behavior is far more complex than educating individuals about HIV. The report recommends interventions to support behavioral change education, STI treatment, the role …

Programming For Hiv Prevention In South African Schools: A Report On Program Implementation, Priscilla Reddy, Shegs James, Ann P. Mccauley

HIV and AIDS

An evaluation study conducted in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, provides important insights into whether learners who participated in a fact-based, interactive course had more knowledge about HIV risks, prevention, and care practices; more positive attitudes toward prevention practices and people living with HIV and AIDS; and a higher prevalence of reported safe behaviors than comparable learners who did not participate in the course. Results show that the Life Skills Grade 9 Curriculum had a positive impact of students’ knowledge of HIV/AIDS, attitudes about abstinence, and intention to use condoms. There was, however, no evidence of increased adoption of such protective …

A Descriptive Study Of Ethical Procedures That Maintain Cultural Security When Conducting Health Research With Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander School Children In Western Australia, Dionne Paki

Theses : Honours

Cultural security is the maintenance of values and beliefs and the celebration of diversity unique to different cultures. This honours thesis developed a proposed framework to guide collaborative ethics procedures that demonstrate the Aboriginal values relevant to health research for use in Western Australia (WA). These values of reciprocity, respect, equality, responsibility, survival and protection, and spirit and integrity have been identified in the National Health and Medical Research Council's Values and Ethics: Guidelines for Ethical Conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research. Ethical procedures for maintaining cultural security when conducting health research among Aboriginal people throughout Australia …

Female Genital Cutting Among The Somali Of Kenya And Management Of Its Complications, Guyo W. Jaldesa, Ian Askew, Carolyne Njue, Monica Wanjiru

Reproductive Health

The Somali community living in Kenya (and in their native Somalia) has practiced the severest form of female genital cutting (FGC)—infibulation—for centuries. To understand the context within which the practice takes place, and how its complications are managed, the Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program undertook a diagnostic study that confirmed that FGC is a deeply rooted and widely supported cultural practice. Several closely related reasons are used to sustain the practice: religious obligation, family honor, and virginity as a prerequisite for marriage; an aesthetic preference for infibulated genitalia was also mentioned. The study also found that the health …

Technical Assistance And Training For Procosi Operations Research Program, Bolivia, Fernando Gonzales Salguero, Ricardo Vernon

Reproductive Health

In September 1999, PROCOSI, a Bolivian network of 24 nongovernmental organizations that provide health services, invited the Population Council Frontiers in Reproductive Health (FRONTIERS) program to provide technical assistance for designing and conducting operations research aimed at increasing the quality and impact of their reproductive health programs. In collaboration with PROCOSI, FRONTIERS conducted four training workshops on design of operations research projects, qualitative research methods, utilization and dissemination of research results, and preparing research reports. Technical assistance on other topics, such as developing research instruments, creating databases, and using EpiInfo for transcribing and analyzing data was provided on-site to each …

Enquêtes D'Acceptation De Paiment Destinées À Déterminer Les Prix Des Produits Et Services Dans Le Domaine De La Santé De La Reproduction : Manuel De L'Utilisateur, Karen G. Fleischman Foreit, James R. Foreit

Reproductive Health

Les enquêtes d’acceptation de paiement (willingness to pay—WTP) permettent aux directeurs de programmes de simuler les changements intervenant dans la demande en raison des prix sans les modifier réellement, ce qui leur donne un moyen de prendre des décisions relatives à la détermination des prix sur la base d’informations empiriques. Le présent document décrit une méthode d’enquête simple qui donne une estimation de l’acceptation de paiement par les clients pour les biens et services, ce qui permet aux directeurs de prendre des décisions rationnelles dans ce domaine. Il présente les avantages et les précautions à prendre lors d’une enquête WTP. …

Understanding The Hiv/Sti Risks And Prevention Needs Of Men Who Have Sex With Men In Nairobi, Kenya, Washington Onyango-Ouma, Harriet Birungi, Scott Geibel

HIV and AIDS

Despite increasing awareness of the role men who have sex with men (MSM) can play in the dynamics of HIV transmission in Africa, research on MSM in Kenya has been limited. In response to this gap, researchers from the Institute of African Studies at the University of Nairobi and the Horizons and FRONTIERS programs of the Population Council undertook a study of MSM in Nairobi. The overall goals of the study were to understand the extent to which MSM are at risk of HIV and other STIs, identify the factors associated with risk behaviors, and identify MSM sexual health needs …

Trends In The Timing Of First Marriage Among Men And Women In The Developing World, Barbara Mensch, Susheela Singh, John B. Casterline

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The timing of first union merits investigation not only because of the close temporal link between marriage and the onset of childbearing, but also because the age when men and women marry has implications for the organization of family life and for gender relations within society. This paper begins by reviewing the contributions of various social science disciplines to an understanding of the timing of marriage. Using current status data from 73 countries provided by the United Nations Population Division and retrospective data from 52 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 1990 and 2001, we then examine recent trends in …

The Causes Of Stalling Fertility Transitions, John Bongaarts

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

An examination of fertility trends in countries with multiple DHS surveys found that in the 1990s fertility stalled in mid-transition in seven countries: Bangladesh, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Kenya, Peru, and Turkey. An analysis of trends in the determinants of fertility revealed a systematic pattern of leveling off or near leveling in a number of determinants, including contraceptive use, the demand for contraception, and wanted fertility. Findings suggest no major deterioration in contraceptive access during the stall, but levels of unmet need and unwanted fertility are relatively high and improvements in access to family planning methods would therefore be desirable. …

Building Assets For Safe, Productive Lives: A Report On A Workshop On Adolescent Girls' Livelihoods, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

For the 1.5 billion adolescents currently living in developing countries (325 million of them living on less than US$1 a day), the transition to becoming economically productive is particularly pivotal. Girls face numerous challenges in making this transition successfully, since in many settings females have less access than males to critical resources such as secondary school education, credit, land, training, and technology, and their labor is often unrecognized and unremunerated. A growing number of organizations and institutions have been using a livelihoods approach (which centers around the capabilities, assets, and activities required for gaining a means of living) to reach …

Trends In The Timing Of First Marriage Among Men And Women In The Developing World [Arabic], Barbara Mensch, Susheela Singh, John B. Casterline

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The timing of first union merits investigation not only because of the close temporal link between marriage and the onset of childbearing, but also because the age when men and women marry has implications for the organization of family life and for gender relations within society. This paper begins by reviewing the contributions of various social science disciplines to an understanding of the timing of marriage. Using current status data from 73 countries provided by the United Nations Population Division and retrospective data from 52 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 1990 and 2001, we then examine recent trends in …

Accelerating Reproductive And Child Health Program Development: The Navrongo Initiative In Ghana, James F. Phillips, Ayaga A. Bawah, Fred N. Binka

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Successive global health and development agendas have been embraced by African governments—Alma Ata in 1978, the Bamako Initiative in 1987, the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, and more recently the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—only to be followed by widespread implementation failure. This paper presents an approach to program development in Ghana that is using research to accelerate policy implementation. Originally launched in 1994 as a participatory pilot project of the Navrongo Health Research Centre, a controlled experimental study was initiated in 1996 to assess the fertility and child-survival impact of alternative community health and family planning service …

The Effect Of Community Nurses And Health Volunteers On Child Mortality: The Navrongo Community Health And Family Planning Project, Brian Wells Pence, Philomena Nyarko, James F. Phillips, Cornelius Debpuur

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This report presents the child mortality impact of a trial of primary health-care service-delivery strategies in rural Ghana. After adjustment for sociodemographic factors, under-five mortality in areas with village-based community-nurse services fell by 16 percent during the five years of program implementation compared with mortality before the intervention. Reductions were observed in infant (6 percent), early child (20 percent), and late child (41 percent) mortality. Community involvement and training of a local health volunteer were associated with an 11 percent increase in mortality, primarily driven by a 124 percent increase in early child mortality. Areas with both nurses and volunteers …

Poverty And Children's Schooling In Urban And Rural Senegal [Arabic], Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper presents findings of an investigation into the effects of living standards and relative poverty on children’s schooling in urban and rural areas of Senegal. To measure living standards, we apply a multiple-indicator, multiple-cause (MIMIC) factor-analytic model to a set of proxy variables collected in the 2000 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey and extract an estimate of the relative standard of living for each household. Using this estimate, we find that in Senegal’s urban areas, living standards exert substantial influence on three measures of schooling: Whether a child has ever attended school; whether he or she has completed at least …

Active Life Expectancy And Functional Limitations Among Older Cambodians: Results From A 2004 Survey, Zachary Zimmer

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This study’s aims are to: (1) determine the prevalence of functional limitations among older adults in Cambodia using activities of daily living (ADLs); (2) compare limitation prevalence with other countries in the region; (3) estimate active life expectancy; (4) examine standard correlates of functional status and assess whether they are associated with limitation in expected ways. Elderly Cambodians appear more likely to report limitations than their counterparts in neighboring countries. A contribution of the analysis is the examination of a basic measure of health among a population that until recently has been isolated from the rest of the world.

Population And Sustainability, Geoffrey Mcnicoll

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Sustainability refers to the preservation of human-valued natural capital—the resources that provide environmental services—at a level sufficient to assure the well-being of future generations. This Population Council working paper assess the effects on the total and per capita availability of those services. The degradation of environmental services—exemplified by the overuse of aquifers or (at a global level) of the atmospheric carbon sink—is a significant threat to sustainable development, one that is often exacerbated by population growth. The critical management issue in such cases is the design of effective governing institutions to restrain service demand and safeguard supply. Uncertainties arising from …

Education Of Adult Children And Mortality Of Their Elderly Parents In Taiwan, Zachary Zimmer, Linda G. Martin, Mary Beth Ofstedal, Yi-Li Chuang

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Research shows an older adult’s education is strongly associated with mortality. But in societies such as Taiwan, where families are highly integrated, the education of family members may be linked to survival. Such may be the case in settings where there are large gaps in levels of education across generations and high levels of resource transfers between family members. This Population Council study employs 14 years of longitudinal data from Taiwan to examine the combined effects of education of older adults and their adult children on mortality outcomes of older adults. Results indicate that educational levels of both parent and …