Catálogo de publicaciones - revistas

<jats:p> Given its origins in high-income countries, the field of physical activity and public health research and promotion has broadly followed a choice-based model. However, a substantial amount of the physical activity occurring routinely in many settings, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), is the result of economic necessity and is not due to true, free choices. We propose the “necessity- versus choice-based physical activity models” framework as a conceptual tool to ground physical activity and public health research and promotion efforts in LMICs, helping ensurethat these efforts are relevant, ethical, responsive, and respectful to local contexts. Identifying ways to ensure that LMIC populations can maintain high levels of active transport while increasing opportunities for active leisure must be prioritized. To promote equity, physical activity research, programs, and policies in LMICs must focus on improving the conditions under which necessity-driven physical activity occurs for a vast majority of the population. </jats:p>

<jats:p> Extreme weather events are expected to increase due to climate change, which could pose an additional burden of morbidity and mortality. In recent decades, drought severity has increased in several regions around the world, affecting health by increasing the risk of water-, food-, and vector-borne diseases, malnutrition, cardiovascular and respiratory illness, mental health disorders, and mortality. Drought frequency and severity are expected to worsen across large regions as a result of a decrease in precipitation and an increase in temperature and atmospheric evaporative demand, posing a pressing challenge for public health. Variation in impacts among countries and communities is due to multiple factors, such as aging, socioeconomic status, access to health care, and gender, affecting population resilience. Integrative proactive action plans focused on risk management are required, and resources should be transferred to developing countries to reduce their vulnerability and risk. </jats:p>

<jats:p> Housing quality is essential for population health and broader well-being. The World Health Organization Housing and health guidelines highlight interventions that protect occupants from cold and hot temperatures, injuries, and other hazards. The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the importance of ventilation standards. Housing standards are unevenly developed, implemented, and monitored globally, despite robust research demonstrating that retrofitting existing houses and constructing high-quality new ones can reduce respiratory, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases. Indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities, and people with low incomes face cumulative disadvantages that are exacerbated by poor-quality housing. These can be partially ameliorated by community-based programs to improve housing quality, particularly for children and older people, who are hospitalized more often for housing-related illnesses. There is renewed interest among policy makers and researchers in the health and well-being of people in public and subsidized housing, who are disproportionately disadvantaged by avoidable housing-related diseases and injuries. Improving the overall quality of new and existing housing and neighborhoods has multiple cobenefits, including reducing carbon emissions. </jats:p>

<jats:p> Climate change is a threat multiplier, exacerbating underlying vulnerabilities, worsening human health, and disrupting health systems’ abilities to deliver high-quality continuous care. This review synthesizes the evidence of what the health care sector can do to adapt to a changing climate while reducing its own climate impact, identifies barriers to change, and makes recommendations to achieve sustainable, resilient health care systems. </jats:p>

<jats:p> The implementation of primary and secondary preventive strategies is based on the evidence generated by cancer epidemiology, where the identification of risk factors and the description of their prevalence are fundamental to derive estimates on the burden of cancer from different etiologies, typically expressed as the population attributable fraction, which corresponds to the proportion of a cancer that may be prevented by controlling a given risk factor. However, even when cancer finds its etiology in modifiable factors, its prevention through the control of those factors is not always feasible, or it remains suboptimal despite the possibility of reducing the burden. We reviewed selected associations between modifiable risk factors and cancer, including tobacco smoking, occupational exposures, infections, air pollution, alcohol, and diet and obesity, and illustrated examples of both successes and failures in cancer control, underlying how current understanding of the avoidable causes of cancer is incomplete. </jats:p>

<jats:p> Heat is a dangerous hazard that causes acute heat illness, chronic disease exacerbations, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and a range of injuries. Risks are highest during extreme heat events (EHEs), which challenge the capacity of health systems and other critical infrastructure. EHEs are becoming more frequent and severe, and climate change is driving an increasing proportion of heat-related mortality, necessitating more investment in health protection. Climate-resilient health systems are better positioned for EHEs, and EHE preparedness is a form of disaster risk reduction. Preparedness activities commonly take the form of heat action plans (HAPs), with many examples at various administrative scales. HAP activities can be divided into primary prevention, most important in the pre-event phase; secondary prevention, key to risk reduction early in an EHE;and tertiary prevention, important later in the event phase. After-action reports and other postevent evaluation activities are central to adaptive management of this climate-sensitive hazard. </jats:p>

<jats:p> Between the 2009 Great Recession and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the US state and local governmental public health workforce lost 40,000 jobs. Tens of thousands of workers also left during the pandemic and continue to leave. As governmental health departments are now receiving multimillion-dollar, temporary federal investments to replenish their workforce, this review synthesizes the evidence regarding major challenges that preceded the pandemic and remain now. These include the lack of the field's ability to readily enumerate and define the governmental public health workforce as well as challenges with the recruitment and retention of public health workers. This review finds that many workforce-related challenges identified more than 20 years ago persist in the field today. Thus, it is critical that we look back to be able to then move forward to successfully rebuild the workforce and assure adequate capacity to protect the public's health and respond to public health emergencies. </jats:p>

<jats:p> The academic health department (AHD) is a partnership between an academic institution and a governmental health agency. These partnerships are meant to provide mutual benefits that include opportunities for student field placements and internships, practice-informed curriculum, and practice-based research. The term academic health department dates back only to 2000, although there are several examples of academic–practice partnerships prior to that date. In addition to AHDs that have been established over the past two decades, other forms of academic–practice engagement provide similar mutual benefits, such as prevention research centers and public health training centers. Current research on AHDs explores how these partnerships matter regarding the outputs, outcomes, and impacts of the units that comprise them. This review also considers the most recent perspectives on how AHDs have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and how they might advance public health's efforts to address structural racism and promote health equity. </jats:p>

<jats:p> Community health workers (CHWs) have worked in a variety of settings in the United States for more than 70 years and are increasingly recognized as an essential health workforce. CHWs share life experience with the people they serve and have firsthand knowledge of the causes and impacts of health inequity. They provide a critical link between marginalized communities and health care and public health services. Several studies have demonstrated that CHWs can improve the management of chronic conditions, increase access to preventive care, improve patients’ experience of care, and reduce health care costs. CHWs can also advance health equity by addressing social needs and advocating for systems and policy change. This review provides a history of CHW integration with health care in the United States; describes evidence of the impact of CHW programs on population health, experience, costs of care, and health equity; and identifies considerations for CHW program expansion. </jats:p>

<jats:p> This article reviews the evidence on the impacts of paid family and medical leave (PFML) policies on workers’ health, family well-being, and employer outcomes. While an extensive body of research demonstrates the mostly beneficial effects of PFML taken by new parents on infant, child, and parental health, less is known about its impact on employees who need leave to care for older children, adult family members, or elderly relatives. The evidence on employers is similarly limited but indicates that PFML does not impose major burdens on them. Taken together, the evidence suggests that PFML policies are likely to have important short- and long-term benefits for population health, without generating large costs for employers. At thesame time, further research is needed to understand the effects of different policy parameters (e.g., wage replacement rate and leave duration) and of other types of leave beyond parental leave. </jats:p>