This book collects the main scientific contributions presented at a NATO Advanced Research Workshop entitled "Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality Requirements in Hospitals" that was held in Milan, Italy, from September 13-16, 1995. The workshop was made possible through the funding support of the NATO Scientific and Environmental Affairs Division and was sponsored and supported in part by the International Centre for Pesticide Safety, the Institute of Occupational Health ofthe University ofMilano, the Politecnico of Milano, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The workshop was held in the frame ofthe program ofthe NATO/CCMS Pilot Study on Indoor Air Quality and in conjunction with the international conference Healthy Buildings'95, whichwas attended by more than 500 delegates. The contents ofthe book are arranged in sixmainsections. The first section deals with the major issues related to indoor air quality in hospitals, that are reviewed from the North-American, Scandinavian, Italian and Russian perspective. The second section discusses the ventilation requirements in hospitals, with particular focus on design and maintenanceofthe ventilation systemsand provisionofclean air to critical areas, such as infectious disease wards, surgicaltheatres, etc. The third section is directed to chemical and biological air pollution in hospitals and collects papers from surveys carried out invarious countries. Airborne allergens in hospitals is the subject of section 4. New problems have arisen for the health care personnel from exposure to allergens and they are illustrated with studies performed in North America and England."

It is estimated that there are 60,000 excess Black American deaths annually compared with White Americans. Not only do Black babies die earlier than White babies, but, in recent years, there are reports that while life expectancy for Whites has improved, for Blacks there has been a leveling off, if not a reduction. These are among the issues detailed in this important guide to the major causes of Black illness and death. Divided into 27 chapters, this handbook provides a mosaic of the conditions, issues, and policies related to Black American health. The more than 40 contributing authors, drawn from institutions across the country, are the premier scholars in their respective fields. The scope and multidisciplinary nature of the handbook makes it invaluable for those concerned with contemporary Black society, clinical medicine, epidemiology, health care administration, medical sociology, nursing, nutrition, public health, social work, and public policy.

This book provides a self-contained presentation of the statistical tools required for evaluating public programs, as advocated by many governments, the World Bank, the European Union, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. After introducing the methodological framework of program evaluation, the first chapters are devoted to the collection, elementary description and multivariate analysis of data as well as the estimation of welfare changes. The book then successively presents the tools of ex-ante methods (financial analysis, budget planning, cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness and multi-criteria evaluation) and ex-post methods (benchmarking, experimental and quasi-experimental evaluation). The step-by-step approach and the systematic use of numerical illustrations equip readers to handle the statistics of program evaluation. It not only offers practitioners from public administrations, consultancy firms and nongovernmental organizations the basic tools and advanced techniques used in program assessment, it is also suitable for executive management training, upper undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as for self-study.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are increasingly recognised as playing a significant role in the health sector in developing countries. This book examines the background to the growth both in the sector and interest in it, the strengths and weaknesses of NGOs and the arguments for and against their use for different aspects of the health sector. It focuses particularly on the relationship between the State and non-governmental organizations and the issues critical to the development of policies towards the sector.

A bold, expert, and actionable map for the re-invention of America’s broken mental health care system.

As director of the National Institute of Mental Health, Dr. Thomas Insel was giving a presentation when the father of a boy with schizophrenia yelled from the back of the room, “Our house is on fire and you’re telling me about the chemistry of the paint! What are you doing to put out the fire?” Dr. Insel knew in his heart that the answer was not nearly enough. The gargantuan American mental health industry was not healing millions who were desperately in need. He left his position atop the mental health research world to investigate all that was broken—and what a better path to mental health might look like.

In the United States, we have treatments that work, but our system fails at every stage to deliver care well. Even before COVID, mental illness was claiming a life every eleven minutes by suicide. Quality of care varies widely, and much of the field lacks accountability. We focus on drug therapies for symptom reduction rather than on plans for long-term recovery. Care is often unaffordable and unavailable, particularly for those who need it most and are homeless or incarcerated. Where was the justice for the millions of Americans suffering from mental illness? Who was helping their families?

But Dr. Insel also found that we do have approaches that work, both in the U.S. and globally. Mental illnesses are medical problems, but he discovers that the cures for the crisis are not just medical, but social. This path to healing, built upon what he calls the three Ps (people, place, and purpose), is more straightforward than we might imagine. Dr. Insel offers a comprehensive plan for our failing system and for families trying to discern the way forward.

The fruit of a lifetime of expertise and a global quest for answers, Healing is a hopeful, actionable account and achievable vision for us all in this time of mental health crisis.

These are indeed exciting times to be a microbiologist. With one of the buzzwords of the past decade-"Biodiversity," and microbes are reveling in the attention as they represent by far most of the biodiversity on Earth. Microbes can thrive in almost any environment where there is an exploitable energy source, and, as a result, the possible existence of microbial life elsewhere in the solar system has stimulated the imaginations of many. Extremophiles have taken center stage in these investigations, and thermophiles have taken on the lead roles. Consequently, in the past decade there has been a surge of interest and research in the Ecology, Biology, and Biotechnology of microorganisms from thermal environments. Many of the foundations of thermophile research were laid in Yellowstone National Park, primarily by the research of Professor Thomas Brock's laboratory in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The upper temperature for life was debated, the first thermophilic archeum discovered (although it was only later shown to be an archeum by ribosomal cataloging), and the extremes of light, temperature, pH on the physiology of microorga nisms were explored. Interest in thermophiles increased steadily in the 1970s, and with the discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents in 1977, thermophilic research began its expo nential explosion. The development of Taq polymerase in the polymerase chain reaction (peR) focused interest on the biotechnological potential of thermophilic microorganisms and on the thermal features in Yellowstone National Park."

Drawing on insights from international organization and securitization theory, the author investigates the World Health Organization and how its approach to global health security has changed and adapted since its creation in 1948. He also examines the organization's prospects for managing global health security now and into the future.

Why medication-assisted treatment, the most effective tool for battling opioid addiction, is significantly underused in the United States. Bronze Winner of the 2021 IPPY Book Award in Health/Medicine/Nutrition, Gold Winner of the 2020 Foreword INDIES Award in Health America's addiction crisis is growing worse. More than 115 Americans die daily from opioid overdoses, with half a million deaths expected in the next decade. Time and again, scientific studies show that medications like Suboxone and methadone are the most reliable and effective treatment, yet more than 60 percent of US addiction treatment centers fail to provide access to them. In The Opioid Fix, Barbara Andraka-Christou highlights both the promise and the underuse of medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Addiction, Andraka-Christou writes, is a chronic medical condition. Why treat it, then, outside of mainstream medicine? Drawing on more than 100 in-depth interviews with people in recovery, their family members, treatment providers, and policy makers, Andraka-Christou reveals a troubling landscape characterized by underregulated treatment centers and unnecessary ideological battles between twelve-step support groups and medication providers. The resistance to MAT-from physicians who won't prescribe it, to drug courts that prohibit it, to politicians who overregulate it-showcases the narrow-mindedness of the system and why it isn't working. Recounting the true stories of people in recovery, this groundbreaking book argues that MAT needs to be available to anyone suffering from opioid addiction. Unlike other books about the opioid crisis, which have largely focused on causal factors like pharmaceutical overprescription and heroin trafficking, this book focuses on people who have already developed an opioid addiction but are struggling to find effective treatment. Validating the experience of hundreds of thousands of Americans, The Opioid Fix sounds a loud call for policy reforms that will help put lifesaving drugs into the hands of those who need them the most.

This forward-thinking reference spotlights an expansive and inclusive community model for youth alcohol prevention as opposed to traditional individual and school-based group approaches. Focusing on a long-term intervention in a Southwestern border town, it documents the development of critical consciousness in an affected community, and emphasizes young people as crucial drivers of change in their environment. The book's Community Readiness Model provides vital context for successful coalition building between youth, families, and community entities (e.g., schools, civic leaders, police) in reducing alcohol risk factors and promoting healthier choices. Given the severity and prevalence of youth alcohol use, this case study offers a viable blueprint for large-scale engagement in prevention. Among the featured topics: Integrating research into prevention strategies using participatory action research. Breaking down silos between community-based organizations: coalition development. Adult perspectives on nurturing youth leadership and coalition participation. Youth perspectives on youth power as the source of community dev elopment. Coalition as conclusion: tips on creating a functioning coalition. Community transformational resilience for adolescent alcohol prevention. Youth-Community Partnerships for Adolescent Alcohol Prevention is both practical and inspiring reading for researchers and other mental health professionals in psychology, social work, and public health who work with adolescents, communities, and civic engagement.

This book examines America's experience with a wide range of quarantine practices over the past 400 years and explores the political, economic, immigration, and public health considerations that have prompted success or failure within the evolving role of public health. The novel strain of coronavirus that emerged in late 2019 and became a worldwide pandemic in 2020 is only one of more than 87 new or emerging pathogens discovered since 1980 that have posed a risk to public health. While many may consider quarantine an antiquated practice, in reality it is often one of the only defenses against new and dangerous communicable diseases. Tracing the United States' quarantine practices through the colonial, postcolonial, and modern eras, Germs at Bay: Politics, Public Health, and American Quarantine provides an eye-opening look at how quarantine has worked despite routine dismissal of its value. This book is for anyone seeking to understand the challenges of controlling the spread of COVID-19 and will help readers internalize the lessons that may be learned from the pandemic. No other title provides the level of primary source data on the United States' long reliance on quarantine practices and the political, social, and economic factors that have influenced them. Offers guidance on quarantine decision-making within the U.S. democratic system Chronicles the evolution of quarantine throughout U.S. history Provides a detailed analysis of tens of thousands of primary-source local, state, and federal quarantine records that have been pieced together to tell America's quarantine story Features illuminating case studies of some of the most important quarantine events in American history

This book examines how the digital revolution has reorganized the model of healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic and argues for a continued paradigm shift to digital healthcare. Katarzyna Kolasa sets the vision of healthcare 5.0 that relieves the burden on limited healthcare resources and creates better health outcomes by switching the focus from treatment to prediction and prevention. She advocates for a patient-centric ecosystem that empowers patients to take control of their health via new knowledge-based technologies such as next-generation sequencing (NGS), nanotechnology, artificial intelligence and digital therapeutics. Highlighting the mindset shift needed to transform healthcare and outlining in detail a futuristic vision of healthcare 5.0, this book will be of interest to academics and professionals of health policy, health economics and digital health.

This multidisciplinary reference explores the concepts and realities of quality of life among cancer survivors in its physical, psychological, cognitive, social, and familial dimensions. Informed by a broad range of fields including genetics, psychiatry, nursing, dentistry, rehabilitation, and ethics, it addresses daily challenges of living for this population, from self-care to cultural concerns and from social interactions to experiences with providers. Family issues of pediatric, young adult, and elder survivors, caregiving parents, and siblings are a major area of concern. And contributors describe interventions for survivors as individuals, in family content, and as part of integrated care across primary and specialty settings. Included among the topics: Play, leisure activities, and cognitive health among older cancer survivors. Genetic mutations in cancer susceptibility genes: a family history of cancer. Cancer patients in a pediatric intensive care unit: a single center experience. The impact of childhood cancer on the quality of life among healthy siblings. When cancer returns: family caregivers and the hospice team. Experiencing cancer services: a story of survival and dissatisfaction. A significant addition to the cancer survivorship literature, Quality of Life Among Cancer Survivors is a practice-building resource for oncology and allied health professionals, health psychologists, and social workers, as well as researchers in these fields.

Offers an in-depth report on advanced statistical tools for public health disease surveillance, which is the result of a prestigious World Health Organisation (WHO) and EU Biomed programme initiative. Traditionally, the role of public health disease surveillance has been to identify and evaluate morbidity and mortality but increasingly, more sophisticated methods are being applied as the authorities extend their studies to include control and prevention of disease. This book brings together leading experts to discuss complex methodologies for the statistical evaluation of disease mapping and risk assessment. It includes a broad variety of statistical techniques and where appropriate, examples are included on topical issues such as the analysis of putative health hazards. For easy reference the text is presented in five distinct sections, each with an introductory review:

* Disease Mapping

* Clustering of Disesase

* Ecological Analysis

* Risk Assessment for Putative Sources of Hazard

* Public Health Applications and Case Studies

Representative of the most pertinent issues within disease surveillance and mapping, this book will provide an accessible overview for statisticians and epidemiologists.

Research on social inequalities has a very long tradition in sociological research, and discussion of the impact of social inequalities on health and health care delivery has long been one of the more important topics covered by medical sociologists. The research presented in this volume varies in its coverage and its approach to issues of social inequality in health and health care delivery. This volume includes both theoretical and quantitative papers, and deals with complex understandings of macro system issues, the impact of the patient and individual factors on health and health care and the impact of the provider and interaction between providers and patients. The first section focuses on macro system issues and includes both theoretical approaches to the topic and quantitative approaches. The second section includes articles with a greater focus on patient characteristics. These articles vary greatly in their coverage, with some focusing on the US as a whole, and others on specific sections of the US or subgroups within the population such as African American women or the elderly. The third section focuses on providers and issues of social inequality and health care delivery. These papers examine issues of gender, race and poverty as examples of sources of inequality in modern societies. In contrast to the second section these papers pay more attention to individual factors and the focus of the chapters is on aspects of health care providers. Research on providers of care is another long, important research tradition within medical sociology. Social Inequalities, Health and Health Care Delivery should be useful reading for medical sociologists and people working in other social science disciplines studying health-related issues. The volume also provides information for health services researchers, policy analysts and public health researchers.

First published in 1925, this book explores public health and its administration. It looks at both local and central health administration and surveys the various departments including The Board of Education and The Home Office. The book discusses motives, principles, and results of reform in the sector and gives a history of public health services. Other chapters include those on public health as a career, poor law and public health administration, and health insurance.

First published in 1927, this book provides a complete study of the beginnings and early development of preventive medicine. It looks at the subject's underlying principles and discusses the prominent writers of the past. Topics cover infection, plague, science and medicine, poverty and preventive medicine and the prevention of cholera, amongst others.

This book presents the application of pulsed electrical discharges in water and water dispersions of metal nanoparticles in medicine (surgery, dentistry, and oncology), biology and ecology. The intensive electrical and shock waves represent a novel technique to destroy viruses and this way to prepare anti-virus vaccines. The method of pulsed electrical discharges in water allows to decontaminate water from almost all known bacteria and spores of fungi being present in human beings. The nanoparticles used are not genotoxic and mutagenic. This book is useful for researchers and graduate students.

This unique multidisciplinary volume examines the dynamics of behavioral change and its maintenance, from the individual to the wider domains of public policy. Coverage traces how change may be achieved, sustained, or derailed, as well as underlying neurobiological, behavioral, and social processes that fuel unhealthy and risky behaviors. Contributors offer a wide range of prevention and intervention strategies for supporting positive health habits from improved food choices to abstinence to compliance with treatment. These mechanisms are then transferred to the societal level in studies of evolving public perception of salient issues such as climate change, gender disparities, and drug policy. Included among the topics: Motivating change in addiction via modulation of the dark side. Changing drug use and other health-related behavior in vulnerable populations. Change and maintaining change in school cafeterias. Understanding social structural barriers and facilitators to behavioral change. Strategic communication research to illuminate and promote public engagement with climate change. A provocative rendering of motivation in its macro and micro dimensions, Change and Maintaining Change will interest researchers, practitioners, and clinicians interested in diverse areas such as smoking and other addictions, improvement and relapse in therapy, development and treatment of anxiety disorders, and social cognition and decision-making.

Since the early 20th century, when HIV began to circulate among humans, blood exposures during healthcare have contributed to the transmission of the virus. Despite all the money and attention directed at HIV/AIDS in the past several decades, these risks have remained. The book asks why, and seeks answers to a number of crucial questions: How much of the worst HIV epidemics are from blood exposures? Why have these risks persisted? And what is to be done? Points To Consider looks to the future and recommends new strategies that people and governments can adopt to ensure that healthcare and cosmetic services do not transmit HIV, and to reliably stop the worst HIV/AIDS epidemics. _______________________________ David Gisselquist has published more than a dozen articles in medical journals on HIV epidemics in Africa and India, with special attention to risks to transmit HIV through health care. He has traveled and worked in Africa and Asia, and has assisted field research on HIV in India and Kenya. He co-edited a collection of country studies on injection practices (Pilot-Testing the WHO Tools to Assess and Evaluate Injection Practices, published by WHO, 2003), and has spoken at WHO and at international AIDS conferences. Dr Gisselquist holds a PhD in economics, with experience in anthropology and rural development. He is an independent consultant

Assisting someone with Alzheimer s disease or another illness that causes dementia is incredibly demanding and stressful for the family. Like many disabling conditions, Alzheimer s disease leads to difficulty or inability to carry out common activities of daily life, and so family members take over a variety of tasks ranging from managing the person s finances to helping with intimate activities such as bathing and dressing.

Key coverage in "Caregiving for Alzheimer s Disease and Related Disorders" includes:

Early diagnosis and family dynamics
Emotional needs of caregivers
Developmentally appropriate long-term care for people with Alzheimer s
Family caregivers as members of the Alzheimer s treatment Team
Legal and ethical issues for caregivers
Faith and spirituality
The economics of caring for individuals with Alzheimer s disease
Cultural, racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic issues of minority caregivers
Advances in Alzheimer s disease research

"Caregiving for Alzheimer s Disease and Related Disorders" offers a wealth of insights and ideas for researchers, practitioners, and graduate students across the caregiving fields, including psychology, social work, public health, geriatrics and gerontology, and medicine as well as public and education policy makers."