Utilizing community-based methods, we assessed the behavioral and physical health needs of a Detroit metropolitan Indian health clinic. The project goal was to identify health service needs for urban American Indians/Alaska Natives and develop the infrastructure for culturally competent and integrative behavioral and physical health care. We conducted 38 semi-structured interviews and 12 focus ...

OBJECTIVE This study examines the effect of taking a health risk assessment (HRA) on health care costs, utilization, and member health risks over a 3-year period. METHODS This retrospective cohort study examined changes utilization, costs, and health risks among a random sample of 500 employees completing an HRA compared with a matched group of 500 employees who did not complete an HRA. RES...

BACKGROUND To understand the potential influencing factors on the effectiveness of workplace health promotion interventions and examine whether workplace health culture and physical environment can mediate the relationship between workplace health promotion and intervention effectiveness. METHODS A total of 719 participants from 10 Chinese government agencies were recruited for a prospective ...

BACKGROUND Health impact assessment has been identified internationally as a mechanism to ensure potential health impacts and health equity impacts of proposals are considered before implementation. This paper looks at the impact of three equity focused health impact assessments (EFHIAs) of health service plans on subsequent decision-making and implementation, and then utilises these findings t...

Equity in health and health care in America continues to be a goal unmet. Certain demographic groups in the United States-including racial and ethnic minorities and individuals with lower socioeconomic status-have poorer health outcomes across a wide array of diseases, and have higher all-cause mortality. Yet despite growing understanding of how social-, structural-, and individual-level factor...

BACKGROUND The quality of psychosocial assessment of children in consultations varies widely. One reason for this difference is the variability in effective mental health and communication training at undergraduate and post-qualification levels. In recognition of this problem, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in the United Kingdom have developed the Child in Mind Project that a...

School nurses are an integral though often underserved population within the health care and education professions. To develop an effective outreach program for this group, an academic health sciences library conducted an information needs assessment of public school nurses in Tulsa County, Oklahoma. An online survey collected perceptions regarding information needs and behaviors, and a focus g...

OBJECTIVE To describe the main differences between conducting a rapid health impact assessment (HIA) and an intermediate HIA on foreshore development plans and their feasibility from a health service perspective. METHODS A rapid HIA and an intermediate HIA were undertaken on two foreshore development plans. RESULTS The main differences between the two HIAs were in the identification, assess...

OBJECTIVE To assist in the interpretation of the Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) score changes for individual patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), by determining the minimum size of score change that can confidently be considered to reflect a significant change in disability from the patient's perspective. METHOD HAQ score changes were calculated for 40 clinic patients with...

The Precautionary Principle in its simplest form states: "When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established scientifically". This Principle is the basis for European environmental law, and plays an increasing role in developing environmental health policies as w...