The purpose of this research was to determine the relevance of the media in the prevention, education and contextual management of COVID-19. Methodology: descriptive non-experimental transectional research. An international survey validated by experts was applied, surveying 1082 people during a month. The countries with the highest participation…

The mass media has an important role in informing the general public about emerging health risks. Content-based studies of risk communication in the media have revealed a tendency to exaggerate risks or simplify science, but linguistic studies in this area are still scarce. This paper outlines a corpus based investigation of media reporting on the…

Dating violence is a serious public health problem. In recent years, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other entities have made funding available to community based agencies for dating violence prevention. Practitioners who are tasked with developing dating violence prevention strategies should pay particular attention to…

Racial/ethnic disparities in HIV infection, with minority groups typically having higher rates of infection, are a formidable public health challenge. In the United States, among both men and women who inject drugs, HIV infection rates are elevated among Hispanics and non-Hispanic Blacks. A meta-analysis of international research concluded that…

This article describes how the CS2day (Cease Smoking Today) initiative positioned continuing education (CE) in the intersection between medicine and public health. The authors suggest that most CE activities address the medical challenges that clinicians confront, often to the neglect of the public health issues that are key risk factors for the…

Problem/Condition: Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of developmental disabilities characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication and by restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior. Symptoms typically are apparent before age 3 years. The complex nature of these disorders, coupled with a lack of…

America has a serious weight problem. Two-thirds of adults and nearly one-fifth of children in the United States are overweight, placing them at greater risk for heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases including cancer and arthritis. Furthermore, obesity and its related health problems are placing a major strain on the U.S. health care…

Context: Appalachia has been characterized by its poverty, a factor associated with tuberculosis, yet little is known about the disease in this region. Purpose: To determine whether Appalachian tuberculosis risk factors, trends, and rates differ from the rest of the United States. Methods: Analysis of tuberculosis cases reported to the Centers for…

Context: Alcohol consumption is a major public health problem nationally, but little research has investigated drinking patterns by rurality of residence. Purpose: To describe the prevalence of abstinence, alcohol use disorders, and risky drinking in rural, suburban, and urban areas of the United States. Methods: Analyses of the 2001-2002 National…

Screening for suicidality, as called for by the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, is a major public health concern. As a place where adolescents spend a considerable amount of their waking hours, school is an important venue for screening adolescents for suicidal behaviors and providing preventive education and risk management.…

This study examined the prevalence of selected clinical preventive health services, health status indicators, health risk behaviors, and health-promoting behaviors among adults aged 18 to 24 years in the general U.S. population. The study analyzed data from the 2003 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Nearly 30% of young adults lacked…

Children and adolescents, up to approximately age 20, are more susceptible than adults to potential health risks from chemicals and environmental hazards. Hazardous chemicals can interrupt or alter the normal development of a child's body, leading to lasting damage. Since children are smaller than adults, similar levels of exposure to toxic…

"Biological invasions" are now recognized as the cause of significant ecological and economic damage. They also raise a series of less visible social issues. Management of invasive species is often a political process raising questions such as who decides which organisms are to be managed, and who benefits or is affected by different…

This instructor's guide is a tool to help instructors promote the concepts of safe mercury and chemical management in schools. It contains three types of materials: (1) Guidance for the instructor/facilitator on conducting the training course (Section I); (2) A copy of all presentations with talking points as appropriate (Section II); and (3)…