GIS for Public Health! New course from the SSPH+!

Did the title of this post leave you wondering? Was your initial reaction “how can GIS be connected to public health?”. Think again! The physical and social environment that surround us play an important role in our wellbeing and -therefore- the geographic concept of place cannot be ignored in public health! GIS provide a standard [...]

Wishful thinking will not do it! The need for tools to implement evidence-informed public health

A while ago, we had posted about a study we published, regarding an online registry fro knowledge translation methods and tools (available for FREE download on pdf and html). We have just published a relevant editorial by one of our Editors, Louise Potvin , discussing this online registry and the need for evidence-based public health. [...]

TV exposure associated with increased sweetened beverage consumption in children irrespective of parental norms.

TV viewing is associated with increased BMI and childhood obesity. Time spent in front of TV or computer screens is also associated with dietary habits such as higher sugar intake or fast food consumption. This relationship, however, could be mediated by social norms in the family. In a study recently published in the International Journal [...]

HIV prevention interventions in China: a systematic review

Health communication strategies are used more and more in prevention interventions for HIV/AIDS. In a recently published systematic review , Zhiwen Xiao , Seth M Noar and Lily Zeng  investigate whether communication strategies have been utilized  in HIV prevention interventions in China. The authors systematically searched the literature up to 2011 and identified 45 relevant [...]

Evaluating the effectiveness of heat warning systems: systematic review

Heatwaves can have a grave impact on human health and life; the 2003 heatwave in Europe, for instance, resulted in more than 70,000 excess deaths. The need to reduce the harm caused by heatwaves has led to various action plans being implemented that could include, for instance, promoting heat protection information through media, opening cooling [...]

International Journal of Public Health: New issue out now!

We are happy to present you with the table of contents of our latest issue! In this issue, eighteen Original Articles, one Review and two Hints and Kinks articles are available for our readers. More specifically, we have a few articles on adolescent health (on health-related behaviour- available for free here; on alcohol here and [...]

Study confirms higher rates of some cardiovascular risk factors in Roma compared with non-Roma.

As we have discussed in a  previous post,  the health of Roma population is reported to be worse compared to the health of non-Roma population. We have just published another study on Roma health in Slovakia, looking into the cardiovascular risk profile of people living in Roma settlements, as compared to the majority population in [...]

Public acceptance of euthanasia: Western vs Eastern Europe

Euthanasia is often a matter of debate in Europe, with some countries like Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg decriminalizing it. The degree of public acceptance has been shown to vary across Europe in a survey of 1999. In this recently published study, researchers from Belgium (Joachim Cohen , Paul Van Landeghem, Nico Carpentier, Luc Deliens) investigate [...]

Barriers in accessing health services and health status in Roma and non-Roma in Slovakia

The health of people of Roma ethnicity, has been shown to be poorer compared to people of non-Roma ethnicity in various studies. Health inequalities are bigger in Central and Eastern Europe and they might be mediated by worse access to health care. In a newly published study in International Journal of Public Health, Slovakian researchers [...]

Migration and geographical inequalities in the Netherlands

Internal migration between deprived and non-deprived areas may influence the health status of the residents of these areas. Because the size and composition of migration flows to and from deprived areas vary with age, the effect of migration on geographical inequalities in health may be different for different age groups. We recently published a study [...]

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