This book presents the health reform experiences over the past three decades of twelve small and medium-sized nations that are not often included in international comparative studies in this field. The major conclusion of the study is that despite many similarities in policy goals, policy challenges and in the menu of policy options for countries that seek to offer universal coverage to their population, the health reforms of the nations in this book did not converge into one direction or model. However, we found several widespread policy experiences that are relevant for others, too.For example, user fees are unpopular everywhere. Governments often try to soften the consequences by exempting large groups of users, thus largely defeating the very purpose of those fees.As a second example, the introduction of new payment modes for medical care — like the shift from fee for service to case-based payment — took much longer than originally expected everywhere, and also failed to deliver their promises of improved transparency or efficiency gains A third example is that proposals are for universal coverage often ignore the challenges of implementing new financing models that elsewhere took decades if not centuries to develop.The conclusions contain both empirical findings and theoretical conclusions of interest to policy-makers and scholars of international comparison. It is accessible for academics, healthcare managers and students as well as a wider audience of readers interested in the changes in healthcare across the world.

This book explores Ireland's Marriage Bar, examining its impact on women's lives and the predominantly feminised nursing profession. Information on the history of nursing and the evolution of the nursing profession tends to focus on critical events or key persons who shaped the profession. What is less known and explored is the women nurses' work experiences or how the world outside the ward affected the nurse and the nursing profession at moments in time. This book takes one of these moments in time, the period of the Marriage Bar, and examines the women nurses' lives and the nursing profession during this period of Ireland's history. It does so by adopting a historical perspective and a lived experience perspective of women who had to negotiate this practice. Fifty years on from the Bar removal, as remnants of this time in Ireland's history remain, legislative and constitutional change are required to right the wrongs of the past.

This timely publication concentrates on the exposure to pesticides by agricultural workers and residential users of pesticides through inhalation and physical contact.

The book discusses more recently discovered risks such as pesticides on indoor carpets and includes new trends in data interpretation.

"Occupational & Residential Exposure Assessment for Pesticides" complements the other title on pesticide exposure in the series - "Pesticide Residues in Drinking Water," by Hamilton/Crossley and is a must for all professionals in the Pesticide Industry as well as academics.

This exciting collection tours virtual reality in both its current therapeutic forms and its potential to transform a wide range of medical and mental health-related fields. Extensive findings track the contributions of VR devices, systems, and methods to accurate assessment, evidence-based and client-centered treatment methods, and-as described in a stimulating discussion of virtual patient technologies-innovative clinical training. Immersive digital technologies are shown enhancing opportunities for patients to react to situations, therapists to process patients' physiological responses, and scientists to have greater control over test conditions and access to results. Expert coverage details leading-edge applications of VR across a broad spectrum of psychological and neurocognitive conditions, including: Treating anxiety disorders and PTSD. Treating developmental and learning disorders, including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Assessment of and rehabilitation from stroke and traumatic brain injuries. Assessment and treatment of substance abuse. Assessment of deviant sexual interests. Treating obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. Augmenting learning skills for blind persons. Readable and relevant, Virtual Reality for Psychological and Neurocognitive Interventions is an essential idea book for neuropsychologists, rehabilitation specialists (including physical, speech, vocational, and occupational therapists), and neurologists. Researchers across the behavioral and social sciences will find it a roadmap toward new and emerging areas of study.

Digestive Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa: Changes and Challenges provides an in-depth examination into the rise of western digestive diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). For those interested in the causes of the major diseases of the 'West', the patterns in Africa have always reflected on the emergence of western diseases and elucidated the pattern of these conditions and their clinical course. Coverage includes the present epidemiology of GI diseases in SSA, the trends that are occurring, and the context of other emerging diseases. Appropriate for researchers, gastroenterologists and internists, this book brings together the latest research in a single, complete volume.

This book critiques the current approach to the self-management of persistent pain. The drive towards self-management of chronic pain is flourishing as healthcare systems struggle to facilitate the care of those with long term health conditions. In this book Karen Rodham argues that albeit an empowering idea, self-management has not yet been fully translated from idea to practice and as such, runs the risk of blaming and shaming the person living with a chronic condition for failing to manage their condition effectively. She contends that the additional stress of this tension may in fact worsen their condition. Drawing from the research evidence as well as her practice experience, she advocates a move away from the terms 'self' and 'management' towards a more collaborative approach. One which takes account of the life-context of the person who is living with persistent pain. This book explores the shortcomings of the tendency to focus on self-management without taking into account life context and considers how we got here and what can be done. It will be a valuable resource to researchers and practitioners, especially in the field of health psychology.

This book provides an up-to-date review of fasciolosis, a disease caused by Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica, including its biology, transmission, epidemiology, host distribution, economic impact, and novel approaches for its diagnosis, treatment and prevention. It first offers a brief overview of the history of the disease, the genetic diversity of the parasite and its distribution, and the ecology of the vector snail, which belongs to the Lymnaeidae/Planorbidae family. It also examines the current strategies and novel approaches for controlling the parasite, diagnosing infections and vaccine development. Importantly, it highlights issues relating to the control of fasciolosis, including drug resistance, lack of effective diagnostics, and the parasite's long-term survival strategies based on regulation and modulation of the host immune system. Lastly, it discusses the novel control snail vectors using bait formulations, and synergetic and phototherapy treatment with chlorophyllin, which does not kill the vector.

This book is a follow up to Social Capital and Health (2008), edited by Kawachi, Subramanian & Kim. Global Perspectives on Social Capital and Health provides a timely update on emerging topics in a fast-growing field, and features contributions from an outstanding international team of scholars, selected from a diverse range of disciplinary backgrounds including: social epidemiology, medical geography, social psychology, social welfare and gerontology, pediatrics, political science, economics, and medical sociology. The book is organized in three parts: Part 1. Emerging directions in social capital research. This section highlights novel directions in social capital research. These include: a) novel settings for conducting research on social capital (workplaces, schools), b) new approaches for causal inference in social capital (instrumental variable analysis, twin fixed effects designs); c) cutting-edge directions for social capital research, including studies of the origins of community social capital, the use of social network analysis to investigate social capital, and novel methods for investigating the link between social capital and crime. Part 2. Social capital and health policy. The three chapters in this section highlight implications of social capital for interventions and health policy. Part 3. Social capital and health in global perspective The four chapters in this section look at research on social capital and health from a global perspective. The authors summarize the empirical studies on social capital and health conducted in each country/region, or each population group; discuss how the concept of social capital "translates" across different cultures; and identify challenges and future directions for research.

This book presents a picture of the advances in the research of theoretical and practical frameworks of wastewater problems and solutions. The book deals with a basic concept and principles of modern biological, chemical and technical approaches to remediate various hazardous pollutants from wastewater. The latest empirical research findings in wastewater treatment are comprehensively discussed. Examples of low-cost technologies are also included.The book is written for professionals, researchers, academics and students wanting to improve their understanding of the strategic role of environmental protection and advanced applied technologies.

This edited collection explores the multiple ways in which ethnography and health emerge and take form through the research process. There is now a plethora of disciplinary engagements with ethnography around the topic of health, including anthropology, sociology, geography, science and technology studies, and in health care professions such as nursing and occupational therapy. This dynamic and evolving landscape means ethnography and health are entangled in new and different ways, providing a timely opportunity to explore what these entanglements do and affect in the social production of knowledge. Rather than discussing the strengths (and limitations) of ethnography for engaging with health, the book asks: what does ethnography enable, make visible and possible for knowing and doing health in contemporary research settings and beyond?

This book is comprised of presentations delivered at the 5th Workshop on Biostatistics and Bioinformatics held in Atlanta on May 5-7, 2017. Featuring twenty-two selected papers from the workshop, this book showcases the most current advances in the field, presenting new methods, theories, and case applications at the frontiers of biostatistics, bioinformatics, and interdisciplinary areas. Biostatistics and bioinformatics have been playing a key role in statistics and other scientific research fields in recent years. The goal of the 5th Workshop on Biostatistics and Bioinformatics was to stimulate research, foster interaction among researchers in field, and offer opportunities for learning and facilitating research collaborations in the era of big data. The resulting volume offers timely insights for researchers, students, and industry practitioners.

This book comprehensively analyzes COVID-19 and its impact as well as the response from the perspectives of humanities and social sciences. This book covers topics ranging from geopolitical relations to regional integration, public health governance and even the evolution of professional practices in the time of COVID-19. It constitutes a precious and timely interdisciplinary reference for anyone aspiring not only to grasp the origins and dynamics of the present challenge, but also to identify future opportunities for further growth and holistic progress for humanity.

Population genomics has revolutionized various disciplines of biology including population, evolutionary, ecological and conservation genetics, plant and animal breeding, human health, medicine and pharmacology by allowing to address novel and long-standing questions with unprecedented power and accuracy. It employs large-scale or genome-wide genetic information and bioinformatics to address various fundamental and applied aspects in biology and related disciplines, and provides a comprehensive genome-wide perspective and new insights that were not possible before. These advances have become possible due to the development of new and low-cost sequencing and genotyping technologies and novel statistical approaches and software, bioinformatics tools, and models. Population genomics is tremendously advancing our understanding the roles of evolutionary processes, such as mutation, genetic drift, gene flow, and natural selection, in shaping up genetic variation at individual loci and across the genome and populations; improving the assessment of population genetic parameters or processes such as adaptive evolution, effective population size, gene flow, admixture, inbreeding and outbreeding depression, demography, and biogeography; resolving evolutionary histories and phylogenetic relationships of extant, ancient and extinct species; understanding the genomic basis of fitness, adaptation, speciation, complex ecological and economically important traits, and disease and insect resistance; facilitating forensics, genetic medicine and pharmacology; delineating conservation genetic units; and understanding the genetic effects of resource management practices, and assisting conservation and sustainable management of genetic resources. This Population Genomics book discusses the concepts, approaches, applications and promises of population genomics in addressing most of the above fundamental and applied crucial aspects in a variety of organisms from microorganisms to humans. The book provides insights into a range of emerging population genomics topics including population epigenomics, landscape genomics, seascape genomics, paleogenomics, ecological and evolutionary genomics, biogeography, demography, speciation, admixture, colonization and invasion, genomic selection, and plant and animal domestication. This book fills a vacuum in the field and is expected to become a primary reference in Population Genomics world-wide.

For BSN and MSN courses in health promotion, and as a supplement to community nursing courses. This book presents a strong, up-to-date foundation for understanding and building the science and practice of health promotion. It has three goals: to introduce the major individual and community models and theories that guide health promotion interventions; to offer evidence-based strategies for effective health promotion in practice settings; and to foster critical thinking about future opportunities for research and more effective interventions. This Sixth Edition is thoroughly updated to reflect the latest research and terminology. New coverage includes: the U.S. Government's Healthy People 2020 Goals; more ecological approaches encompassing families, communities, and nations; new health promotion technologies, and more.

This international edited volume is a rare look at cultural, economic and political forces that contribute to school violence. In light of the devastating events in US schools and the violence towards students and schools world-wide, the war on knowledge development in non/secular education is increasing at an alarming rate. This book offers an international perspective on violence from both K-12 to tertiary levels, parents, administrators-teachers-support staff and research scholars in a desire to understand the contextual issues surrounding violence and its impacts on the field of education. ELWB Scholars and practitioners hail from six continents propose historical to futuristic perspectives linking violence towards education and its inhabitants while framing future strategies to alter multinational fear mongering to the decline of knowledge generation for an informed citizenry.