The accounts of women navigating pregnancy in a post-conflict setting are characterized by widespread poverty, weak infrastructure, and inadequate health services. With a focus on a remote rural agrarian community in northern Uganda, Global Health and the Village brings the complex local and transnational factors governing women's access to safe maternity care into view. In examining local cultural, social, economic, and health system factors shaping maternity care and birth, Rudrum also analyzes the encounter between ambitious global health goals and the local realities. Interrogating how culture and technical problems are framed in international health interventions, Rudrum reveals that the objectifying and colonizing premises on which interventions are based often result in the negative consequences in local healthcare.

Virtually all fiscal measures influence people's health, through their impacts on behaviour, consumption, income and wealth. A narrow subset of fiscal measures, however, can be more directly aimed at improving health by targeting behaviours and risks that are known to be strongly associated with health outcomes. The purpose of this book is to discuss the subject of these measures, which we define as 'health taxes'. The book aims to enumerate key health taxes of interest, explore their positive and negative effects, and how these effects are influenced by the design of these taxes and the context in which they are applied. We ask how and where they can be implemented. Critically, we build an argument throughout the book for why policymakers across government should care about health taxes.

Implementation of guidelines in the health system is a major undertaking, especially in developing countries. An important constraint in guideline development in developing countries is that the guideline recommendations must suit local conditions and must make use of available resources. This is a challenge because the health systems of developing countries have a high burden of disease and little resources; therefore, guidelines must rely on cost-effective healthcare interventions. The BACIS program study was initiated to address some of these challenges in the dissemination and utilization of maternal health guidelines. The BACIS program was piloted, and the results showed that the BACIS program could assist in improving compliance of nurses with the national maternity care guidelines. This is an impressive finding and step forward for maternal healthcare in developing countries. Developing Maternal Health Decision Support Systems in Developing Countries discusses public health aspects of the design and implementation of clinical decision support systems in developing country contexts. Specifically, it focuses largely on the design and evaluation of the BACIS program in South Africa. This is supplemented with a conversation on the possible future research directions in the BACIS program study along with the outlook for clinical decision support systems in developing country contexts in general. This book is ideal for e-health system designers and implementers, managers and policymakers in the area of e-health in developing countries, personnel from NPOs and donor agencies, government officials, IT consultants, medical professionals, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students who are interested in how decision support systems such as BACIS are being used to improve maternal health in developing countries.

In this issue of Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice, guest editor Dr. David O'Gurek brings his considerable expertise to the topic of Chronic Pain Management. Top experts in the field cover this timely topic in depth, including non-pharmacologic and rehabilitative strategies to address chronic pain and management of chronic pain in patients with substance use disorder. Contains 12 practice-oriented topics including comprehensive evaluation for chronic pain; pharmacologic management of chronic pain; trauma and behavioral health care for patients with chronic pain; the use of medical marijuana for chronic pain; ethical challenges in chronic pain management; and more. Provides in-depth clinical reviews on chronic pain management, offering actionable insights for clinical practice. Presents the latest information on this timely, focused topic under the leadership of experienced editors in the field. Authors synthesize and distill the latest research and practice guidelines to create clinically significant, topic-based reviews.

In this issue of Infectious Disease Clinics of North America, guest editor Dr. Robert P. Smith brings his considerable expertise to the topic of Lyme Disease and the Expanding Spectrum of Associated Tick-Borne Illness. With a primary focus on Lyme disease and its complications, the thorough reviews in this issue will also discuss the epidemiology, clinical presentations, diagnosis, treatment and outcomes of other infections transmitted by the black-legged tick in North America. The complexity of the public narrative of these diseases will also be addressed with an eye toward providing the clinician with a context for response. Contains 14 practice-oriented topics including early Lyme disease: erythema migrans and Its mimics; Lyme arthritis; neurologic Lyme disease: four common fallacies and three diagnostic requirements; persistent symptoms in patients with treated Lyme disease; ID specialists approach to consultation in patients referred for refractory illness attributed to tick-borne disease; and more. Provides in-depth clinical reviews on Lyme disease and the expanding spectrum of associated tick-borne illness, offering actionable insights for clinical practice. Presents the latest information on this timely, focused topic under the leadership of experienced editors in the field. Authors synthesize and distill the latest research and practice guidelines to create clinically significant, topic-based reviews.

This powerful book explains the debilitating effects of social anxiety and the development of the disorder, emphasizing the need for a resolution of this disorder and identifying common but unhelpful coping mechanisms as well as true methods to change and live life unafraid of social situations. It is estimated that some 15 million Americans suffer from social anxiety disorder. For these individuals, parties, sporting events, and even workplaces or public shopping environments evoke anxiety and fear. People who suffer from social anxiety disorder—the most common of all anxiety disorders—fear being scrutinized and judged by others in social or performance situations. They know their fear is unreasonable, but are powerless against the anxiety. This book provides comprehensive coverage of social anxiety disorder by covering its history, explaining the symptoms and root causes, and presenting information on how to make the key changes in thought that can help sufferers find relief and be more comfortable in the modern world. The author uses case histories and dialogue in therapeutic settings to provide a realistic depiction of social anxiety that makes the topic more relevant and understandable to clinicians, students, and friends and family members of sufferers who want to help the socially anxious individual. The emphasis on people's resistance to changing or even examining the basis of their underlying beliefs illustrates the importance of this topic to the overall foundation of social anxiety and the urgency of addressing belief systems in the process of resolution and recovery.

With the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, Central and Eastern European states have had to confront fundamental changes in economic, social, and governmental structures. So far, many of these countries in transition from a command to a market-based system have experienced rapid deterioration of socioeconomic conditions and standards of living. Although there have been successes in some areas, such as greater political and consumer choices, the overall situation has reached crisis proportions, as evidenced by increased unemployment, crime, and family disorganization.

The essays in this collection address significant issues dealing with the frameworks of social justice and equality, policies for families and women, implications for the welfare state, and the impact on health care. As such, the collection is invaluable for all scholars and researchers involved with contemporary Central and Eastern European public policy and social conditions.

Hospital funding plays an important role in strengthening healthcare and medical resources. Utilizing comprehensive costing systems to accommodate clinical and financial data leads to improved patient care both clinically and financially. Clinical Costing Techniques and Analysis in Modern Healthcare Systems provides innovative insights into the connections between statistical information and financial systems within clinical settings. The content within this publication delves into business intelligence, clinical decision making, and electronic health records. It is geared towards medical practitioners and professionals, hospital administrators, and researchers seeking valuable insights centered on clinical variations of healthcare data as well as the role of information systems in linking productivity and performance management.