Over the past 60 years, the world has seen gradual and hard-won progress in reducing child mortality and improving the lives of opportunities of children. Some of this is attributable to medical science, much of it to simple but effective public health measures. Even though 24,000 children continue to die each day from preventable causes, this represents a dramatic improvement, and progress continues to be made. Climate change threatens to undo all of this progress, and wipe out the gains of decades. The threat of rising sea levels, the potential loss of productive farmland and the potential threat to water supplies are all profound concerns, and threaten the well-being of children and communities around the world. This book examines the connection between climate action and the future of childrens' health.

Throughout the years, health research has focused mostly on urban and inner city subjects for various reasons. That focus has made our understanding of the health aspects of rural populations around the world less than adequate. In the past decade, more attention has been paid to rural areas and their health related problems than ever before. However, it is still much less than what is done in urban centres. The fact that most universities and academic research centres are primarily located in urban areas has contributed to this result. This is even more prevalent, when addressing child and adolescent health issues, despite the fact that in many areas of the world, rural health statistics regarding children and adolescents are more grim than those of urban areas. Adolescent morbidity and mortality world-wide continues to be the result of risk taking behaviours and is mostly preventable. Accidents, homicide, suicide, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse and eating disorders are leading the way. In order to improve this situation, much work needs to be done to address the health care needs of rural populations while taking into account cultural, ethnic and geographic differences. This present book on "Child Rural Health -- International Aspects" edited by Erica Bell and Joav Merrick, two prominent authors and scientists, is dedicated to the health aspects of rural populations. This book addresses rural health care issues affecting people from childhood to geriatric age. It also provides unique aspects from various regions of the world.

Individuals working in health research want to be able to use their findings to influence health policy. However, frequently, research evidence remains detached from practice, and there is a divide between research and policy.
Research for Health Policy is an introduction to the emerging genre of applied research for policy decision-making, offering new research methods that go far beyond the traditional classical experimental techniques and standard qualitative methods. This highly practical and practice-based book is relevant to researchers in different disciplines and countries, and it will equip the reader with the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to deliver policy-relevant research in the government, not-for-profit, and private sectors.
As a book that helps its reader to develop the blend of strategic people skills, methodological inventiveness, research entrepreneurship, creative design, and policy writing know-how that is critical to delivering useful research evidence for policy, Research for Health Policy is essential reading for anyone doing, studying or teaching health policy advocacy and research. It also has much to offer postgraduate and professional development students and their educators who want to move beyond the common undergraduate focus on policy content areas and policy theory/process, to learn more advanced practical research skills for policy-making.

During her time in tropical Queensland, author Erica Bell frequently sailed around Moreton Bay, and it was during such a journey that she discovered the inspiration for Hilda and the Ship's Doctor. The idea came to her one day when she anchored in a coral gutter just off uninhabited Peel Island after her boat was caught in a storm. She went ashore and came across the ruins of the lazaret, which ultimately led her to unearth the historical facts cleverly infused into this, her debut novel. A story of love, adventure, and innocence lost, Hilda and the Ship's Doctor carries readers into the early twentieth century to follow seventeen-year-old Hilda Kofke on a journey through the South Seas, from Queensland to Melanesia. From Hilda's budding romance with the ship's brooding first mate to the unthinkable things she discovers about her father and the alarming unfolding of her life aboard, the tale seamlessly weaves nonfiction information into a fiction format to explore the textures, scents, and sounds of a dark tropic past riddled by physical maladies and moral disease. This riveting, rich tale is a must read for anyone interested in intricate historical fiction in the tradition of the works of acclaimed authors Charles Frazier, Hannah Kent, and Hilary Mantel.