Health Social Programs Research Articles

Digital Public Spaces for Youth Engagement in Informal Settlements

Public participation in all its forms is continually limited amongst the marginalized, especially those living in informal settlements. While the right to participate in decision-making on policy and development projects is enshrined in state laws, the urban poor continue to be excluded from such activities, thereby limiting their democratic rights. Inadequate public spaces are one factor that minimalizes the urban community’s participation in citywide proposals. Besides, other forms of participation, such as digital engagement, do not reach the urban poor due to the limited digital infrastructure in low-income areas of the city. Attempts to conduct participation in informal settlements see only a few people engaged in those worsening existing inequalities in cities. This article proposes a strategy for designing and implementing digital hubs as vital and vibrant public spaces for youth engagement in informal settlements. It looks beyond the hubs as spaces for merely enhancing digital connection but as spaces that integrate interactive and collaborative activities, thus bringing community members to participate in government decision-making processes and engagement with the community agenda. Taking the case of Mathare informal settlement, the article draws inspiration from the government of Kenya’s plan to establish 1450 digital hubs across all wards in the country. The article proposes a hybridity of activities in the proposed hubs to have both physical and digital engagement methods. Besides participation, the hubs would also be used to promote social health and wellbeing programs through digital literacy training, enterprise development, activism, empowerment, and engagement in remote/online tasks.

10.N. Scientific session: Gender and parenthood: short and long-term income, career, and health inequities

Abstract Despite the last decades’ changes in the distribution of household and child-rearing tasks, its main responsibility tends to fall on women. As such, parenting may remain an important determinant of gender inequalities in income, careers, and health and well-being. In 2022, on average, European women’s gross income was 12.7% below men’s. This income gap is, in part, explained by inequalities in full-time employment: in the EU, 31.5% of women with children worked part-time, which contrasts with 20.2% of women without children, with 4.9% of men with children, and 7.2% of men without children. These income and career impacts may occur due to the persistence of some traditional conceptions of the division of paid and nonpaid labor. These conceptions, and the subsequent inequalities in career progression and income, may be reflected in women’s living conditions, work-family conflict, chronic strain, well-being, and health. Yet, it can also be posited that men, experiencing the pressure to remain the main provider in the family and the most recent expectations to comply with childrearing roles, may also see their well-being and health affected. However, countries with higher gender equity have shown better results in life expectancy and healthy life expectancy for women and men. It can be argued that women and men, especially those who have children, benefit from countries with more progressive parental policies, such as longer and more equally divided parental leaves, accessible childcare, or flexible working schemes. It could, thus, be expected that these countries present higher gender equity in paid and nonpaid work division, career progression, and income, with a higher couple balance, and healthier family environments, with health gains for women and men who are parents and their children. This workshop aims to present and open to discussion recent research outcomes on the role of parenthood on income, career, and health inequalities across European countries. It will show results from quantitative and qualitative studies that focus on analyzing these impacts in the short- and long-term. By discussing these results, researchers and public health professionals may grasp parental, labor market, or social policies or health programs to foster gender equality in access to better living conditions and health, especially during and after parenthood. Key messages • Parenthood may widen gender inequities regarding income and career progression, contributing to the gender gap in health and well-being. • By understanding the magnitude of gender inequities and their distribution across countries, public health researchers and professionals may identify policies that effectively address the gender gap.

Community Health Workers’ Targeting of Women For Health and Nutrition Home Visits in Rural Tanzania: A Mixed-Methods Study

BackgroundCommunity health workers (CHWs) are utilized in many health systems to provide education and messaging to families in their catchment areas. However, CHWs responsible for large geographic areas often must make important decisions about whom to visit. Factors that influence these decisions are understudied. ObjectivesThis study assessed coverage and targeting for home visits by CHWs within a large social and behavioral change health program in rural Tanzania. MethodsThis implementation research was a cross-sectional, mixed-methods study. Data collection included a census with households and surveys with females, surveys with CHWs, and interviews with CHWs. Survey data also included the collection of household location data for females and CHWs. Quantitative data were analyzed using linear probability models, and qualitative data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. ResultsOnly 13% of eligible households in our study sites reported receiving a home visit from a CHW. Although CHWs were more likely to reach households with infants, other program priority populations, such as poor and food insecure households, were frequently missed. Global positioning system data showed that distance was 1 of the greatest barriers for CHWs in providing home visits. Qualitative data indicated that although CHWs were motivated and engaged to improve maternal and child health in their communities, they faced challenges in visiting households that were further away or lacked economic resources to improve their health behaviors. CHWs also found it difficult to provide health education during home visits to mothers with no formal schooling. ConclusionsPrograms relying on community volunteers need to set realistic workloads, especially when volunteer CHWs also work full-time in their primary occupations. Implementation could also be strengthened by providing extra support for CHWs so that they can effectively provide services to community members who are more difficult to visit but may be the most in need.

Social health among Iranian medical students during COVID-19 pandemic

Background: It has been experienced that the COVID-19 pandemic affects students’ physical and psychological health as well as their mortality risk; therefore, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to recognize that medical students’ social health is more important than ever before. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on medical students at preclinical and clinical training levels. The population of the study included medical students of the faculty of medicine at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. We used the Raosoft sample size calculator. This study was conducted using an online Standardized questionnaire of "Keyes’s Social Well-being" and a demographic scale in the Persian language from the 5th to 29th of October, 2020. We applied the Mann-Whitney test to compare mean scores concerning gender, marital status, level of education, and residence. P value<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The current study involved 242 female and 118 male medical students with average ages of 22.54 (SD=2.41) and 22.48 (SD=2.36) respectively. The majority of participants (294) were single; more than half of them (204) lived in the dormitory. The participants had an average social health score of 84.21 (SD=8.34), indicated a low level of social health in this study. Moreover, we found that social health score was associated with education level, residence, gender, and marital status (P<0.05). Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to provide medical students with appropriate social health programs to improve their quality of life and increase their achievement.

Социально-психологические программы: «Активное долголетие» и «Антистарение XXI» – оценка эффективности по показателям биопсихологического возраста

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Objective.</strong> Comparative analysis of the effectiveness of socio-psychological programs "Active Longevity" and "Anti-Aging XXI" in terms of their impact on biopsychological age. <br><strong>Background.</strong> Against the background of the growing aging of the population of developed countries, as well as the ongoing pension reform, there is an increasing demand for the development of social programs to increase longevity and improve the health of older age groups. <br><strong>Study design</strong>. For six months, a natural experiment was carried out, in which biopsychological age indicators were assessed in pensioners who participated in the "Active Longevity" and "Anti-Aging XXI" social programs and in the control group. Kruskal-Wallis statistics, Anova analysis of variance, Student's test for connected samples were used. <br><strong>Participants</strong>. Pensioners attached to the site of the Moscow polyclinic: 345 people (272 women (55-70 years old, M = 62,8; SD = 4,45), 73 men (60-70 years old, M = 65,9; SD = 2,99). <br><strong>Measurements</strong>. Tests for measuring biological age according to Voitenko, psychological age according to Abulkhanova-Berezina, expected retirement age. <br><strong>Results</strong>. In the absence of supportive training, there was a natural increase in the biological age of pensioners in the control group (by 2,6 years for women in six months, and 0,2 years for men). Participation in the "Active Longevity" program led to the absence of significant aging, and the selection of personal resources through the "Anti-Aging XXI" program led to a significant decrease in biological age by 0,7 years, and the biological aging index by 1,1 years. <br><strong>Conclusions.</strong> 1) The effectiveness of using social health programs is higher for women than for men. 2) The greatest effect is achieved with a combination of programs. "Antiaging XXI" is used to select resources, and classes take place in the centers of Moscow Longevity.</p>

Barriers to Mental and Social Health Programs in Schools: A Qualitative Study.

Objective: In order to achieve development goals, in addition to providing students with physical health, their mental and social health should be considered as a necessity and priority in development programs. This program, called the Nemad Project in Iran was formally established in 2015. This study aims to explore the challenges of the Nemad project in Iranian schools based on stakeholders' views. Method : The present qualitative study, with a contractual content analysis approach, was conducted on 21 experts in the field of social harm prevention and mental health promotion at the senior, intermediate, and operational levels in educational institutions and schools, Ministry of Health, the Judiciary and the Planning and Budget Organization. These experts also included project technical officers. Participants were selected using snowball and purposeful sampling methods. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed by coding, classification, and extraction of the main themes. Results: Six main themes were derived that included inefficiency in resource management (with subcategories of inadequate facilities and equipment, inadequate human resource management, and information management system deficiencies), weakness in program organization (with subcategories of poor cross-sectoral and weak inter-sectoral subgroups), challenges of laws/regulations/policies (with sub-categories of defective protocols and guidelines and lack of specific task descriptions), barriers and challenges to implementation of policies (with macro and school policy implementation subcategories), structural factors (with subcategories of financial resources allocation problems, inconsistency in managerial levels, and deficiencies in decision-making principles), weaknesses in educational processes (with subcategories of inadequate teacher education, weaknesses in parenting courses, and weaknesses in student education), and ultimately, weaknesses in monitoring and evaluation (with the subcategory of lack of a monitoring and evaluation system). Conclusion: According to experts, implementation of mental and social programs in schools is not in a desirable situation and is faced with certain challenges. To enhance the management of the Nemad project in Iranian schools, it is necessary to compile flowcharts of service delivery and inter-device communication, allocate resources to meet the expectations of each organization, do performance-based budgeting, take a comprehensive look at parental issues, and design a system of monitoring and evaluating the requirements.

Addressing Social Determinants of Mental Health in Pediatrics During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

Addressing Social Determinants of Mental Health in Pediatrics During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

Historical Islamic Fiscal Solutions in Times of Crises and Its Contemporary Equivalences

The COVID-19 crisis led to great pressure on the world governments’ fiscal budgets as governments scrambled to find new ways to finance and expand social protection and health programs. In order to provide for their populace, many Islamic countries had to pursue loans from international institutions. These loans have been observed to be followed by a phase of austerity that affects the access of the populace to health and education services. In this paper, the researchers seek to put forward a number of fiscal policies to finance the fiscal needs of the countries inside the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) by utilizing countries’ own internal resources. By surveying the fiscal tools used by past Islamic empires during the times of plague and famine, we find that past Islamic empires used different policies that shared a distinctive characteristic, this characteristic is the voluntary and mandatory just redistribution of resources. Based on this concept, the researchers recommend the redistribution of the community resources through the early payment of zakat, extrabudgetary funds, wealth tax and the utilization of excess bank reserves.

Children with diabetes and the social world: problems and opportunities (social health and educational program “Diabetes. Dances. Children”)

Diabetes mellitus (DM) in children has an impact on the social world of the child, changing his environment and his own role. A comprehensive approach to the treatment of diabetes in childhood involves taking into account the characteristics of a growing organism, analyzing socio-psychological factors and individual personality traits. The article analyzes the significant social spheres in which a child's relationships are built: family, non-family environment (peers and other children, educators, teachers, doctors). Special attention is paid to the negative impact of the Internet and social networks on the formation of opinions and attitudes of a child with diabetes and his parents to doctors and treatment. One of the tasks of DM therapy is to create a social situation that will contribute to the formation of personal qualities in a child that are necessary for managing the disease and maintaining psychological well-being. The tools for implementing this direction are both traditional diabetes schools and promising types of programs with the creation of groups of children involved in active joint activities: artistic, sports, dance, intellectual, etc. As an example of an innovative approach to teaching, adaptation and inclusion of children with diabetes in society, the social health and educational program “Diabetes. Dances. Children”, which has been implemented since 2020 in Moscow. The program is attended by 15 children and adolescents with diabetes (5-15 years), diabetes experience from 2 months to 10 years. The features of the program consist in the adaptation of dance and physical activities to the glycemic indices of children in dynamics; participation in the program of children, their family environment and friends; accompanying endocrinologists and clinical psychologists; conducting seminars for children and parents as part of an educational marathon; participation of children in dance competitions and festivals, video filming and various creative events.

An Overview of SARS-CoV-2 and Technologies for Detection and Ongoing Treatments: A Human Safety Initiative

A new class of coronavirus, known as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been discovered, which is responsible for the occurrence of the disease, COVID-19. A comparative study with SARS, MERS and other human viruses was conductedand concluded that SARS-CoV-2 spread more rapidly due to increased globalization and adaptation of the virus in every environment. According to recent WHO reports, by 16 May 2021, the current outbreak of COVID-19 had affected over 174,054,314 people and killed more than 3,744,116 people in more than 222 countries acrossthe world. Finding a solution against the deadly COVID-19 has become an enormous challenge for researchers and virologists. A ring vaccination trial, which recruits subjects connected to a known case either socially or geographically, is a solution to evaluate vaccine efficacy and control the spread of the disease simultaneously, although its implementation is challenging. This review aims to summarize the noteworthy features of the world-intimidating SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic along with its evaluation, problems and challenges in the treatment strategies, clinical efficiency and detection methods proposed so far. This paper describes the impact of the lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on social, economic, health, and National Health Programs in India; possible ways to control the disease are also discussed.

Modern Approaches to Examination of Andrological and Sexological Patients During Covid-pandemia

Rapid increase in the overall incidence of pathologies of the reproductive and genitourinary systems in the conditions of a covid epidemic is predictable and requires certain medical and social steps (the formation of a preventive direction of treatment, the restoration of dispensary observation measures, the introduction of social health programs, the ability of citizens to receive qualified and timely specialized medical care etc.). The global spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has led to a restriction in the provision of specialized urological care at the time of lockdown, which also negatively affected the dynamic examination of patients, due to a decrease in scheduled examinations. Remotely provided medical recommendations are not always correct due to the lack of the possibility of direct examination of the patient by a doctor. Significant assistance in the classification of patient complaints with the indicated clinical groups of symptoms is provided by questionnaires using generally recognized questionnaires, which must be used when interviewing each patient to establish a clinical syndrome, and it is possible to get a general idea of the state of human health only through a comprehensive analysis of the questionnaire data. The diagnosis by a doctor is established according to the anamnesis in 50% of cases, on the basis of clinical observation – in 30% and according to laboratory data – in 20%. The first remote contact of such patients with a doctor should include a detailed questioning of complaints, a review of the medical history, a review of his own medical, sometimes auto photographic, materials. Such men should always be examined on a second visit. In conditions of remote examination with lockdown, all the above examinations of patients with androgen deficiency are difficult to carry out, therefore, a less short diagnostic protocol can be applied, which will include the data: 1) ultrasound scan of the thyroid gland, abdominal organs, retroperitoneal space, small pelvis, scrotum; 2) data from clinical and laboratory tests. It is mandatory to provide medical information about the somatic and mental (psychological) state of the patient. Andrological patients usually do not have emergency conditions, but diagnostics, especially prescribing treatment, is a painstaking and individually directed process, therefore remote medical procedures are not the best option and require direct contact between the doctor and the patient.

Enhancing The Inherent Coping Mechanism of Teachers in The Course of Health and Security Crisis

There is a limited number of studies on why people, specifically teachers, can immediately cope with health and security crisis, and continue to live their lives as normally as those who have not experienced such events in their lives, hence, the necessity to conduct this study. It explored the factors that influenced their coping mechanisms through exploratory sequential mixed method, involving respondents from seven schools district of Zamboanga Sibugay Division and from one school district of Lanao del Sur. The qualitative data gathered from 10 respondents through face-to-face interview and focused group discussion arrived at the factors that influenced the inherent coping mechanisms, namely: family, faith, profession, alliance, self-reliance, and service. The quantitative data gathered from 131 respondents through a researcher-made survey instrument were subjected to Pearson coefficient of correlation, t-test, weighted mean, and stepwise regression. It is concluded that faith, family, alliance, and profession wield a significant influence in the coping mechanisms of the respondents. Experience, and training were also found to have a differentiating performance in coping from health and security crisis; and that success in coping from catastrophic situations depends greatly on these factors. This study further proposed a model which can be used as basis in designing mental, spiritual, emotional, and social health programs to enhance the inherent coping mechanisms of teachers.

Effect of a social skills program on the improvement of the organizational climate of educational institutions for schools

The article set out to determine the effect of a social skills program on improving the organizational climate of the professors and administrative workers of the Germán Tejada Vela educational institution in Moyobamba. The research was quantitative, quasi-experythmental design, experimental type; the population consisted of 180 teaching and administrative workers; the sample was 90. The social health program was developed through workshops with the experimental group and a questionnaire was applied about the organizational climate as a pretest and post-test to both groups. The results were processed by the SPSS version 20.0 statistical program; analysis of the results, itis concluded that the effect of the implementation of a social skills programme on the improvement of the organizational climate of the teaching and administrative workers of that institution is positive and significant.

Linking Technology to Address the Social and Medical Determinants of Health for Safe Medicines Use.

ObjectivesBoth social and medical factors can negatively affect health outcomes, especially in vulnerable populations. To address these 2 types of factors in a postdischarge population, 2 nonprofit organizations collaborated to combine their novel decision support programs and address the question: Could combined programs have greater potential for improved health outcomes?MethodsHomeMeds, a social health program in which trained social services staff make home visits to vulnerable clients, was combined with MedSafety Scan, a medical health, clinical decision support tool. Data captured in the home visits were entered into the HomeMeds and MedSafety Scan programs to detect those patients at the greatest risk of adverse health outcomes because of medications.ResultsPatients (n = 108; mean age, 77 years; multiple comorbidities and LACE+ (length of stay, acuity, comorbidities, emergency department visits [hospital index]; score >29) received a postdischarge home visit by trained social services staff. The number of drugs reported as being taken was 10.4 ± 5.1 (range, 1–26), which was less than prescribed at discharge in 62% of patients (range, 1–8). Both programs detected a serious risk of medication-induced harm, mostly from different causes such as drug-drug interactions or for use not recommended in the elderly.ConclusionsCombined analysis of data from 2 novel decision support programs yielded complementary findings that together address both medical and social determinants of health. These have the potential to reduce medication-induced harm, costly rehospitalization, and/or emergency department visits and support the further evaluation of this combined approach in other vulnerable populations such as the seriously mentally ill, frail, those confined to home, opioid dependent, or otherwise impaired.

HIV Mobile Clinic as a Part of the Comprehensive Social and Public Health Program in the Malindi Coastal Area

The Unshurikian Center is one of the classical examples of a social and health related joint venture suitable for sub-Saharan Africa focused on social work with poor families; support of children from low income families to visit school; outpatient services for basic diseases in the coastal area; and HIV Outreach Program running for 12 years.

Smoking Behavior and Moral Identity in Malaysian Youth: Is Gender a Moderator or a Predictor?

The role of gender in psychosocial development and health outcome is undeniable. This study aims to investigate the role of gender in two conditions, whether it as a moderator to the link between moral identity (internalization and symbolization) and smoking behavior; or if it is a single predictor or a co-predictor with moral identity in predicting smoking behavior. To examine this, 388 youths (61% female) who met the inclusion criteria participated in this online cross-sectional study. Participants were asked to rate their emotional responses ranging from unpleasant to pleasant whilst viewing images of smoking behavior. Participants were also instructed to provide their socio-demographic information and fill in the Moral Identity Scale. Gender had no moderation effect on the link between moral identity (symbolization and internalization) and smoking behavior, instead, gender (whether alone or in combination with internalization) was shown to directly predict smoking behavior. The implications for social health interventions and programs are highlighted by the findings.

Implementasi Program Mini-Seminar Bahasa Inggris Bidang Kesehatan Untuk Program Studi Kesehatan Masyarakat Undikma Mataram

The implementation of Mini-Seminar of English language for health at social health major of UNDIKMA Mataram aims to improve students’ English language knowledge, capability in Social Health Program of Undikma, especially English for social health both theoretically and practically. This program involved the students of social health in Undikma Mataram. The presenters or the mentors of this program were the English lecturers, and the students majoring in social health who are still active as students as the participants. The program took place in Mandalika University of Education (UNDIKMA), Mataram. The program implemented the method included planning, acting, observing in which through giving the material presentation focusing on some materials such as; English for health, eight parts of speech, modal auxiliaries, mini conversation practice realizing the materials given. The result of the implemented program revealed the high enthusiasm and interest to participate actively within the process of the program given start from the first till the end. The students also gained the increase improvement regarding the capability of using English language expression for social health, vocabulary items, and self-confident. The students also expected the same program may be re-conducted since they showed a high appreciation to the program given in terms of presentation, and guiding within the practice, so that they can enrich and improve their English language communication skill especially English for social health.

Spirituality and quality of life in older adults: a path analysis model

BackgroundStudy older adults’ quality of life is becoming increasingly important in the assessment, quality improvement and allocation of health and social care service. The purpose of this study was to enhance knowledge on the relationship between modifiable (psychological variables) and non-modifiable variables (sociodemographic), and quality of life in elderly, regarding psychological and social variables in Portuguese context.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study, including 604 older adults from general community. 63.6% of the sample was composed by female gender with a mean age of 71.6(SD = 4.81). Participants completed the following instruments: Barthel Index to assess functionality; Satisfaction with Social Support Scale to assess social support; The Spiritual and Religious Attitudes in Dealing with Illness to assess spirituality and Short Form Health Survey 36, to assess mental and physical quality of life.ResultsA path analysis model was performed where the presence of a chronic disease, age and functionality has a direct effect on physical quality of life and spirituality had a direct effect on mental quality of life. Social support mediated the relationship between functionality and mental quality of life, and in turn, functionality mediated the relationship between age and physical quality of life.ConclusionsResults reinforce the effect of age and chronic disease as non-modifiable variables as well as functionality, spirituality and satisfaction with social support as modifiable variables, in the quality of life of older people. Social support, health and education programs in the community should be promoted in order to improve quality of life in this population. Strategies to promote functionality and enhance the social support network, especially in the elder with chronic illness, should be a priority.

Social Health Security Program in Nepal: Opportunities and Challenges

The study aims to assess the opportunities and challenges of the health insurance program carried out by Health Insurance Board as a social insurance program by Government of Nepal. Data have been collected through in-depth interview with 21 persons including the social health insurance policyholders, and non-policyholders who are inhabitants of Rantanagar Municipality- 6, and Bharatapur Metropolitan City- 10 of Chitwan district. Besides, experts in insurance and senior managers of insurance companies were also interviewed. It has followed the interpretive-naturalistic approach with the method of interviewing. As per the opinion of respondents HIP is effective in cost reduction of rich, and access to health service for poor. In government hospitals policyholders suffer from prolonging waiting, lack of facilities and experts and in private hospitals there is undue expenditure and discrimination in expert service. Even though the objective of the social health program is established social justice, cash-payer and insurance-payers are discriminated; corroborating the nature of neoliberal society. There are still uninsured persons because of ignorance, lack of premium, and distrust of HI service. The study suggests that HI service should be delivered through non-profit hospitals, the highest quality without discrimination of cashpayer and insurance-payer, and prolonged waiting.

Responsabilidad social empresarial como productora de ventajas competitivas

Currently, a new company is claimed that includes the principles of sustainability and results in its actions, generating satisfaction for all stakeholders. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) seeks to create a balance between economic benefits and social welfare directly impacting various operational levels. This analysis concludes that companies must stop viewing CSR as an additional cost, since they can obtain sustainable competitive advantages by developing proactive strategies, based on the possession of certain resources and capabilities, because they can innovate to be socially responsible , increase their productivity and expand their markets in search of new growth opportunities using as a competitive strategy various social responsibility programs that include the participation of their own employees and that these programs are for the benefit of society in general, such as afforestation campaigns , assistance or prevention programs for various social health programs, promotion of youth entrepreneurship, technology products, national and international travel, etc.