Ethics instruction at schools of public health in the United States. Association of Schools of Public Health Education Committee.
OBJECTIVES: A survey of US schools of public health was undertaken in 1996 and 1997 to obtain a general picture of public health ethics curricula. METHODS: An explanatory letter with a list of questions for discussion was sent to the deans of the accredited US schools of public health. The deans were asked that at least 1 individual at their school who "is most knowledgeable about ethics curricula" review the list of questions and complete an ethics survey contact form. RESULTS: Ethics instruction was required for all students at only 1 (4%) of the 24 schools surveyed, while 7 schools required ethics instruction for some students. Two of the schools had no ethics courses. Ethics instruction was required for all MPH students at 9 (38%) of the schools and for all doctoral students at 4 (17%) of the schools. Most of the schools (19 of 24, or 79%) offered short courses, seminar series, or invited lectures on ethical topics, and 23 (96%) included lectures on ethics topics in other courses such as health law. CONCLUSIONS: Training programs at US schools of public health vary greatly in how much attention is given to ethics instruction. Model curricula in public health ethics should be developed to help fill this gap. (+info)
Some trends in schools of public health.
Some of the recent changes in the schools of public health include: an increasing number of schools and of graduates; a decrease in both the awarding of the MPH degree as compared with other masters degrees, and the DrPH degree as compared with the PhD; a trend toward lengthening the time for achieving the MPH degree; an increase in part-time study for graduate degrees; institution of undergraduate programs and external masters degree programs; a thrust toward greater continuing education activities; and a broadened base for the student population in terms of the heterogeneity of professional backgrounds and prior experience, a wider age range with more younger students, more women students, fewer foreign students, and an increase in minority representation. (+info)
Public health training in Europe. Development of European masters degrees in public health.
BACKGROUND: Changing political and economic relations in Europe mean that there are new challenges for public health and public health training. There have been several attempts to develop training at the master's level in public health which is focused on meeting the new needs. These have failed due to being too inflexible to allow participation by schools of public health. METHODS: A project funded by the European Union involving public health trainers has developed a new approach which allows participating schools to retain their national differences and work within local rules and traditions, but which aims to introduce the European dimension into public health training. This paper reports the conclusions of this project. CONCLUSIONS: A network of schools wishing to develop European Master's degrees is being established and other schools offering good quality programmes will be able to join. (+info)
Public health training in Albania: long way toward a school of public health.
AIM: To assess the needs for a school of public health in Albania, where health system has been going through difficult periods of transition after the collapse of the communist regime and its "Soviet" health system in 1991. METHOD: Review of the past and current state of public health training, as well as the evolution of the main institutions involved in public health training in Albania, in view of the recent attempts undertaken to establish a school of public health. RESULTS: Up to early 1990s, public health training in Albania involved mostly physicians and was based to a great extent on sanitary engineering approach. In the mid 1990s, the activities of the Department of Public Health of the Faculty of Medicine in Tirana focused on development of comprehensive public health training program. The aim of the current 2-year training program is to train public health specialists in a new fashion, in line with current international trends in the "new" public health. However, the size and the background of the faculty of the Department of Public Health (8 members, 7 physicians) is too limited and medically oriented. Since 1969, the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (later National Institute of Public Health) has been providing short-term (1-3 months) courses for hygienists, chemists, and microbiologists working at the district level. CONCLUSION: Only the establishment of a school of public health capable to train specialists according to international standards can meet the health needs of Albania. (+info)
High rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are sustained in communities by a relatively small group of people, referred to as the core of transmission. Definitions of the core vary but inevitably include people who are socially marginalized and who distrust people in authority, such as public health practitioners and university researchers. Having an effect on a marginalized group usually depends on effective collaboration with people they trust. Researchers from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health developed a trust-based collaboration with community members of a rural county in North Carolina to implement an STD prevention program that, in turn, relied on trust in local social networks. As part of the STD prevention demonstration project, the research team established a community resource group made up of local African Americans who helped design, implement, and evaluate the intervention. The group identified 21 women to whom others in the community turned for advice on sex and STDs. These women were trained as lay health advisors to disseminate information and skills for preventing STDs among their social networks. Through face-to-face structured interviews before and after the intervention, the authors measured improvements in STD treatment and prevention behaviors. The proportion of people practicing each of the targeted behaviors improved during the evaluation period. In addition to disseminating information through their own social networks, the lay health advisors demonstrated new skills and a desire to interact with local care providers to influence the provision of care for STDs for low-income African Americans in this county. Each participant in the collaboration played a role in establishing or building upon trust with others. These trusting relationships were critical for empowering a marginalized group at high risk for STDs. (+info)
A collaborative program between a school of public health and a local health department to increase HIV testing of pregnant women.
OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates the effectiveness of a continuing medical education (CME) program that sought to increase HIV testing of women attending maternity clinics of the City of Houston Department of Health and Human Services (HDHHS). The CME program consisted of 14 training sessions given in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2000. Educational objectives included increasing patient knowledge of HIV perinatal testing, increasing patient appreciation of the importance of HIV testing, and developing staff skills in educating and counseling women to accept HIV testing during pregnancy. METHODS: The CME program was based on assessment of clinician learning needs and an algorithm of the testing process, both jointly developed by faculty from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health and HDHHS personnel. The algorithm was also used to assess the care delivered. The CME was evaluated by examining changes in the percentage of women tested in the maternity clinics. RESULTS: In 1995, the year before the education program, 5.7% of women seen in the maternity clinics were tested for HIV. After the program began, testing rates rose to 64.2% in 1996, 65.5% in 1997, and 43.3% in 1998. Given the decline in testing in 1998, additional CME sessions were conducted in 1999-2000. The rate of testing rose to 62.3% in 1999 and 76.5% in 2000. CONCLUSION: Cooperative planning between university and health department personnel can create CME programs that alter provider behaviors and service delivery patterns to increase HIV testing. Outcomes need to be regularly monitored, however, to determine the need for maintenance or performance reinforcement. (+info)
Is a general women's health promotion program as effective as an HIV-intensive prevention program in reducing HIV risk among Hispanic women?
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess whether participants in an HIV-intensive prevention program and participants in a general women's health promotion program reported greater HIV risk-reduction than participants in a wait-list control group immediately following program participation and at three-month follow-up. METHODS: The authors studied 162 Hispanic women ages 18 to 35 years, most of them immigrants. Three-fourths of the sample (74%) reported earning less than $800 a month, 29% did not have a high school degree, and 90% had children. Data were gathered through surveys at baseline, at intervention completion, and at three-month follow-up. Information was collected on sociodemographics, HIV risk factors, and risk behaviors. Crude and adjusted (for demographics and dose) logistic regression analyses were used to assess program effects on participants' risk reduction. RESULTS: Crude logistic regression analyses reveal that both programs resulted in increased condom use at post-test and follow-up. Only participants in the HIV-intensive prevention program reported increased safer sex negotiation at post-test and follow-up, however, and only participants in the women's health promotion program reported increased HIV testing at post-test. CONCLUSION: Both interventions increased condom use. The HIV-intensive prevention program appeared to be more effective in promoting safer sex negotiation, and the women's health promotion program appeared more effective in promoting HIV testing. The findings suggest that both approaches may be viable ways to package HIV prevention for short-term behavior change in this population. (+info)
Low-income minority women at risk for cervical cancer: a process to improve adherence to follow-up recommendations.
OBJECTIVE: The Houston Department of Health and Human Services (HDHHS) has a centralized process for notifying and setting up follow-up appointments for women with abnormal Pap smears who are clients of HDHHS health centers. Faculty and a student from the University of Texas School of Public Health and HDHHS personnel jointly conducted a study to evaluate the process and performance of the system. METHODS: The study examined two subpopulations: women with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance or low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (ASCUS/LGSIL) and women with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions or atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance (HGSIL/AGCUS). A retrospective study was conducted of data on women attending eight HDHHS clinics during the period from February 1996 through August 2000. Records of 1,216 women referred for evaluation of abnormal Pap smears were reviewed. Process effectiveness was measured by the number of successful contacts made and the number of appointments set up. Performance was measured by compliance with referral appointments. Predictors included race/ethnicity, age, co-existence of a sexually transmitted disease, number of prior referrals, type of patient visit, and health center attended. RESULTS: HDHHS staff successfully notified 95.6% of women with ASCUS/LGSIL and 97.9% of women with HGSIL/AGCUS. Using performance criteria as outcome measures, high-risk women requiring targeted interventions were identified. Overall, 84.2% of women scheduled appointments. Among those with ASCUS/LGSIL, women identified as African American were 53% less likely to accept an appointment and 45% less likely to show up for the appointment than those identified as Hispanic or "other." Age and type of patient visit appeared to be significantly associated with patient compliance behavior. CONCLUSION: The study describes the effectiveness of a centralized patient follow-up process for women at risk for cervical cancer. (+info)