The myths of emergency medical care access in the managed care era.
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In this paper, we examine the perception that emergency care is unusually expensive. We discuss the myths that have fueled the ineffective and sometimes deleterious efforts to limit access to emergency care. We demonstrate the reasons why these efforts are seriously flawed and propose alternate strategies that aim to improve outcomes, including cooperative ventures between hospitals and managed care organizations. We challenge managed care organizations and healthcare providers to collaborate and lead the drive to improve the cost and clinical effectiveness of emergency care. (+info)
Utilizing traditional storytelling to promote wellness in American Indian communities.
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Utilizing storytelling to transmit educational messages is a traditional pedagogical method practiced by many American Indian tribes. American Indian stories are effective because they present essential ideas and values in a simple, entertaining form. Different story characters show positive and negative behaviors. The stories illustrate consequences of behaviors and invite listeners to come to their own conclusions after personal reflection. Because stories have been passed down through tribal communities for generations, listeners also have the opportunity to reconnect and identify with past tribal realities. This article reports on a research intervention that is unique in promoting health and wellness through the use of storytelling. The project utilized stories to help motivate tribal members to once more adopt healthy, traditional life-styles and practices. The authors present and discuss the stories selected, techniques used in their telling, the preparation and setting for the storytelling, and the involvement and interaction of the group. (+info)
Opioid "mythstakes": opioid analgesics--current clinical and regulatory perspectives.
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Barriers to appropriate prescribing of opioids include the deficit in educating medical students in core curricula. Other barriers include physicians' lack of knowledge of pain management, failure to educate their patients or include them in treatment options, and failure to take adequate medical histories and obtain records of their patients' previous treatment. In addition, physicians often lack the ability to distinguish the patient who is suffering pain from the addict. Patients, too, may fear that opioid therapy may cause addiction. This article provides an overview of guidelines and federal regulations for prescribing opioids, along with some caveats, in the hope that physicians and patients alike will appreciate that pain management is an integral part of treatment. And, that treatment is aimed at decreasing or eradicating pain and maintaining patients' function to the greatest possible degree while monitoring and treating side effects. (+info)
Uncovering myths and transforming realities among low-SES African-American men: implications for reducing prostate cancer disparities.
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PURPOSE: Prostate cancer provides the most dramatic evidence of cancer disparities based on race and ethnicity among U.S. men. African-American men still hold a commanding lead in both prostate cancer incidence and mortality, particularly among those of low socioeconomic status (SES) and the medically underserved. Therefore, the need for early intervention persists. The purpose of this exploratory pilot study was to: a) assess the knowledge of a cohort of low-SES African-American men regarding prostate health/prostate cancer, and b) uncover myths/misinformation as barriers to prostate health decisions and behaviors. PROCEDURES: Asymptomatic African-American men participated in focus groups to candidly discuss: a) health concerns, b) prostate health, c) prostate cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment, and d) factors influencing prostate health decisions/behaviors. FINDINGS: Participants revealed sociocultural and psychological barriers: myths and lack of accurate/adequate knowledge about prostate health and cancer, fear, denial and apathy. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest factors that may explain the reluctance and limited participation in prostate health and prostate cancer services among medically underserved, socioeconomically disadvantaged, African-American men. Lack of knowledge, which affects all barriers to care, is amenable to change. Therefore, improvements in prostate cancer outcomes are achievable through culturally and linguistically appropriate health education tailored to their specific needs. (+info)
The dirty dozen: 12 myths that undermine tobacco control.
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Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. The health risks of smoking are well documented, as is the effectiveness of clinical and public health interventions to prevent and reduce smoking. However, many myths about smoking either encourage people to begin or continue smoking or deter them from quitting. Some myths stem from a misapplied understanding of what might seem to be common sense; others are deliberately promulgated by the tobacco industry to induce people--especially children--to start smoking and to keep them smoking as adults. These myths undermine tobacco control. However, comprehensive tobacco control programs that include anti-smoking public education campaigns can effectively counter these myths and prevent illness and premature death. (+info)
Human liver proteome project: plan, progress, and perspectives.
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The Human Liver Proteome Project is the first initiative of the human proteome project for human organs/tissues and aims at writing a modern Prometheus myth. Its global scientific objectives are to reveal the "solar system" of the human liver proteome, expression profiles, modification profiles, a protein linkage (protein-protein interaction) map, and a proteome localization map, and to define an ORFeome, physiome, and pathome. Since it was first proposed in April 2002, the Human Liver Proteome Project has attracted more than 100 laboratories from all over the world. In the ensuing 3 years, we set up a management infrastructure, identified reference laboratories, confirmed standard operating procedures, initiated international research collaborations, and finally achieved the first set of expression profile data. (+info)
Sexually transmitted infections--ten common myths.
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BACKGROUND The management of sexually transmitted infections serves as a good example of how medical practitioners should offer continuous and 'whole person' care to patients and their contacts. OBJECTIVE: This article discusses 10 myths commonly held by patients with sexually transmitted infections consulting their general practitioners. DISCUSSION: We stress the importance of risk assessment, patient education, pre- and post-test counselling, assessment of associated diseases, contact tracing, and modification of health related behaviour in managing patients with sexually transmitted infections. (+info)
Sex determination in mythology and history.
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The history of ideas on how the sexes became divided spans at least three thousand years. The biblical account of the origin of Eve, and the opinions of the philosophers of classical Greece, have unexpected bearings on present-day ideas. The scientific study of sex determination can be said to have begun in the 17th century with the discovery of spermatozoa, but the origin and function of the "spermatic animalcules" eluded investigators until 1841. The mammalian egg was discovered in 1827, and in the last quarter of the century fertilization was observed. The view current at that time, that sex determination was under environmental control, gave way to the idea of chromosomal determination in the first quarter of the 20th century. The study of human and other mammalian chromosomes during the third quarter of the century, and the discovery of sex-chromosome abnormalities, emphasized the importance of the Y chromosome for male sex determination. The last quarter of the century witnessed a hunt for the "testis-determining" gene, thought to be responsible for the differentiation of Sertoli cells, and culminating in the isolation of SRY (Sry in the mouse). However, an increasing number of additional genes and growth factors were found to be required for the establishment of male sex. During the same period evidence emerged that male development was accompanied by enhanced growth, both of gonads and whole embryos. An unexpected finding was the demonstration of temperature-dependent sex determination in reptiles. With the advent of the 21st century, it was shown that Sry induces cell proliferation in fetal mouse gonads, and it has been suggested that male sex differentiation in mammals requires a higher metabolic rate. These insights could lead to a better understanding and improved treatment of abnormalities of sexual development. (+info)