The annual Janet Doe Lecture was established in 1966 to honor Janet Doe, emerita librarian of the New York Academy of Medicine. The lecture focuses on either the history or philosophy of health sciences librarianship. This lecture addresses three fundamental values of the field, highlighting basic beliefs of the profession that are at risk: privacy, intellectual property rights, and access to quality information. It calls upon readers to make the everyday choices required to keep the value system of health sciences librarianship in place. Robert Frost's poignant poem "The Road Not Taken" provides the metaphor for examining choices in an information economy. (+info)
Exposure of adolescent girls to cigar images in women's magazines, 1992-1998.
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OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the exposure of adolescent girls to cigar images in women's magazines from 1992 to 1998. METHODS: Data were obtained from the 5 women's magazines with the highest readership of adolescent girls. RESULTS: We found a significant upward trend in cigar images portrayed in women's magazines and a significant increase in the portrayal of women cigar smokers over the period observed. Cigar images were less likely than cigarette images to promote tobacco or nontobacco products. Among advertisements, nearly all those that featured cigars promoted nontobacco products; advertisements featuring cigarettes overwhelmingly promoted tobacco products. CONCLUSIONS: Between 1992 and 1998, adolescent readers of women's magazines were increasingly exposed to images of cigars. (+info)
The influence of geopolitical change on the well-being of a population: the Berlin Wall.
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OBJECTIVES: Social cohesion is recognized as a fundamental condition for healthy populations, but social cohesion itself arises from political unity. The history of the Berlin Wall provides a unique opportunity to examine the effects of partition on social cohesion and, by inference, on health. METHODS: This ethnographic study consisted of examination of the territory formerly occupied by the Wall, formal and informal interviews with Berlin residents, and collection of cultural documents related to the Wall. Transcripts, field notes, and documents were examined by means of a keyword-in-context analysis. RESULTS: The separation of Berlin into 2 parts was a traumatic experience for the city's residents. After partition, East and West Germany had divergent social, cultural, and political experiences and gradually grew apart. CONCLUSIONS: The demolition of the Wall--the symbol and the instrument of partition--makes possible but does not ensure the reintegration of 2 populations that were separated for 40 years. The evolution of a new common culture might be accelerated by active attempts at cultural and social exchange. (+info)
Long-term illness and psychosomatic complaints in children aged 2-17 years in the five Nordic countries. Comparison between 1984 and 1996.
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BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to investigate changes in psychosomatic complaints (PSC) and long-term illness (LTI) and the association between parents' socioeconomic conditions and children's complaints in the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). METHODS: The cross-sectional study covered a representative sample of children, aged 2-17 years in each country, altogether 10,219 in 1984 and 10,317 in 1996. The data were collected by mailed questionnaires. The relationship between LTI, PSC and parents' education, income, satisfaction with economy and family situation was analysed using descriptive statistics and logistics regression. RESULTS: LTI and PSC in children have increased in all age groups between 1984 and 1996. The prevalence of LTI was higher among boys than girls, whereas the prevalence of PSC was higher among girls. In both years, the prevalence was higher in low-income, low-educated, one-parent families. The general tendency is the same in all countries, although there are some minor differences. The differences in 1984 remained unchanged in 1996 except for LTI that increased in low-educated families for Nordic children as a whole. CONCLUSION: Socially and economically vulnerable families seem to run the greatest risk of having children with LTI and PSC, although the data do not permit a strict causal relationship to be drawn. Also, families with high formal education, solid economy and general satisfaction with their situation seem to be able to offer their children sheltered and stimulating conditions for growth and development, even in times of economic recession. (+info)
Root shock: the consequences of African American dispossession.
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Urban renewal was one of several processes that contributed to deurbanization of American cities in the second half of the 20th century. Urban renewal was an important federal policy that affected thousands of communities in hundreds of cities. Urban renewal was to achieve "clearance" of "blight" and "slum" areas so that they could be rebuilt for new uses other than housing the poor. Urban renewal programs fell disproportionately on African American communities, leading to the slogan "Urban renewal is Negro removal." The short-term consequences were dire, including loss of money, loss of social organization, and psychological trauma. The long-term consequences flow from the social paralysis of dispossession, most important, a collapse of political action. This has important implications for the well-being of African Americans. It also raises important questions about the strength and quality of American democracy. (+info)
Living with osteoarthritis: patient expenditures, health status, and social impact.
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OBJECTIVE: To determine "out-of-pocket" expenditures related to osteoarthritis (OA) and to explore whether demographic details, health status scores (Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form [SF-36] and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index [WOMAC]), or perception of social effect were expenditure determinants. METHODS: A prospective cohort study of community-dwelling subjects with OA completed 4 consecutive 3-month cost diaries. In addition, subjects completed the SF-36 and WOMAC at baseline and at 12 months. Social impact at baseline was collected. Four groups categorized by age and sex were compared. Patients undergoing joint replacement were excluded. RESULTS: Differences in health status were defined more by age than by sex, especially for physical function. The costs to the patients were high, particularly for women, who spent more on medications and special equipment. Women also reported receiving more assistance from family and friends. Higher disease-related expenditures were associated with greater pain levels, poorer social function and mental health, and longer duration of disease. Significant independent predictors of total patient expenditures related to OA were being female and having joint stiffness. CONCLUSION: Despite having heavily subsidized health care and access to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, out-of-pocket costs for patients with OA in Australia are considerable. Higher expenditures for patients with OA are related to more advanced disease, especially for women. (+info)
Doing community-driven research: a description of Seattle Partners for Healthy Communities.
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Seattle Partners, an Urban Research Center (URC) funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is a partnership of community agency representatives, community activists, public health professionals, academics, and health care providers whose mission is to improve the health of urban Seattle, Washington, communities by conducting community-based participatory research. This article describes the development and characteristics of Seattle Partners. Using primarily qualitative methods, including periodic in-depth interviews, evaluators identified the components necessary for Seattle Partners to maintain a collaborative and establish a research center driven by community interests. Seattle Partners is run by an unrestricted and inclusive board that has spent 5 years developing both an operating structure and various research interventions. Operating under Community Collaboration Principles, the board identified social determinants of health as the priority area in which to work. Collaboration, "small and concrete" accomplishments, skilled individuals, and funder support directly influence the success of the center. Decision making, project selection, and board composition have all been challenges to work through. Learning how to do and sustain the work are lessons being learned as Seattle Partners matures. (+info)
Introducing Health Workers for Change: from transformation theory to health systems in developing countries.
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This introductory paper provides the theoretical basis behind the Health Workers for Change methodology, and the role of interactive, participatory learning approaches in promoting social change. The methodology has its origins in Latin America and Kenya, where participatory research methods have been used widely to raise social consciousness and promote change. The paper discusses the resistance of health institutions to participatory ways of learning and the reasons why this occurs. It also presents the logic for the subsequent papers in this special issue and provides a summary of their respective contributions. (+info)