Public health interventions for increasing physical activity in children, adolescents and adults : an overview of systematic reviews

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: This overview intends to: a) summarise the existing evidence on interventions that aim to increase PA; b) explore whether any effects of the intervention are different within and between populations, and whether these differences form an equity gradient such as an effect that differs according the advantage/disadvantage (e.g. low income and ethnic minorities); c) highlight gaps in the present evidence base that may warrant a Cochrane systematic review to be completed; and c) identify 'up to date' Cochrane reviews. .

The Australian prehospital pandemic risk perception study and an examination of new public health roles in pandemic response for ambulance services

This report is one of a series of products resulting from a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Urgent Research Grant – Pandemic Influenza [No 409973]. The research targeted two key aspects of planning and preparedness for a human influenza pandemic, namely:

Text mining for screening efficiency? Testing within a Cochrane public health review

Background The requirement for dual screening of titles and abstracts to select papers to examine in full text can create a huge workload, not least when the topic is complex and a broad search strategy is required, resulting in a large number of results. An automated system to reduce this burden, while still assuring high accuracy, has the potential to provide huge efficiency savings within the review process. Objectives To undertake a direct comparison of manual screening with a semi‐automated process (priority screening) using a machine classifier. The research is being carried out as part of the current update of a population‐level public health review. Methods Authors have hand selected studies for the review update, in duplicate, using the standard Cochrane Handbook methodology. A retrospective analysis, simulating a quasi‐‘active learning’ process (whereby a classifier is repeatedly trained based on ‘manually’ labelled data) will be completed, using different starting parameters. Tests will be carried out to see how far different training sets, and the size of the training set, affect the classification performance; i.e. what percentage of papers would need to be manually screened to locate 100% of those papers included as a result of the traditional manual method. Results From a search retrieval set of 9555 papers, authors excluded 9494 papers at title/abstract and 52 at full text, leaving 9 papers for inclusion in the review update. The ability of the machine classifier to reduce the percentage of papers that need to be manually screened to identify all the included studies, under different training conditions, will be reported. Conclusions The findings of this study will be presented along with an estimate of any efficiency gains for the author team if the screening process can be semi‐automated using text mining methodology, along with a discussion of the implications for text mining in screening papers within complex health reviews.

Environmental health risk assessment of dioxin in foods and the sustainability of public health interventions at severe dioxin hot spots in Vietnam

This study assessed environmental health risk from dioxin in foods and sustainability of risk reduction programs at two heavily contaminated former military sites in Vietnam. The study involved 1000 household surveys, analysis of food samples and in-depth discussions with residents and officials. The findings indicate that more than 40 years after the war, local residents still experience high exposure to dioxin if they consume local high risk foods. Public health intervention programs were rated moderately to well sustained. Internal migration, and lack of clear, official guidance and sensitivity regarding dioxin issues were the main challenges for sustainability of prevention programs.

A crowning glory: Patent law and public health

Australian patent law reforms are critical to ensuring Australians have access to vital health-care services and technologies and that people in developing countries have access to affordable, life-saving medicines...

The links between public tendencies and the urban design framework of Brisbane’s public squares: Mapping urban design frameworks present in Brisbane public squares and the correlating activities of the Australian public

This research seeks to demonstrate the ways in which urban design factors, individually and in various well-considered arrangements, stimulate and encourage social activities in Brisbane’s public squares through the mapping and analysis of user behaviour. No design factors contribute to public space in isolation, so the combinations of different design factors, contextual and social impacts as well as local climate are considered to be highly influential to the way in which Brisbane’s public engages with public space. It is this local distinctiveness that this research seeks to ascertain. The research firstly pinpoints and consolidates the design factors identified and recommended in existing literature and then maps the identified factors as they are observed at case study sites in Brisbane. This is then set against observational mappings of the site’s corresponding user activities and engagement. These mappings identify a number of patterns of behaviour; pertinently that “activated” areas of social gathering actively draw people in, and the busier a space is, both the frequency and duration of people lingering in the space increases. The study finds that simply providing respite from the urban environment (and/or weather conditions) does not adequately encourage social interaction and that people friendly design factors can instigate social activities which, if coexisting in a public space, can themselves draw in further users of the space. One of the primary conclusions drawn from these observations is that members of the public in Brisbane are both actively and passively social and often seek out locations where “people-watching” and being around other members of the public (both categorised as passive social activities) are facilitated and encouraged. Spaces that provide respite from the urban environment but that do not sufficiently accommodate social connections and activities are less favourable and are often left abandoned despite their comparable tranquillity and available space.

Undergraduate public health students and perceptions of qualitative research: A trajectory of understanding from airy fairy to a valuable tool

Many undergraduate public health students enter introductory qualitative research units with limited or negative perceptions of qualitative research, potentially compromising learning outcomes. Unit teaching, structure and assessment provide opportunities for students to develop positive perceptions of qualitative research. Through a mixed-methods study of undergraduate public health students enrolled in a qualitative research unit, we establish students’ perceptions of qualitative research at the commencement and conclusion of the unit, and determine the critical teaching and learning events which contributed to positive changes in students’ perceptions. This study demonstrates that the structuring of an introductory qualitative research unit around varied opportunities for experiential learning provides a positive introductory learning experience and enables undergraduate public health students to recognise the real-world uses and value of qualitative research.

TPP draft reveals surgical strike on public health

On 13 November, WikiLeaks released a secret draft text of the Intellectual Property Chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The text reveals substantive proposals for expanded protection in respect of copyright, patent, trade mark and trade secrets law, and intellectual property enforcement.

Tobacco's mad men threaten public health

Non-communicable diseases – Matthew Rimmer examines plain packaging as a way to curb tobacco use. Smoking is one of the biggest causes of non-communicable diseases.

Julia Gillard, Big Pharma, patent law and public health

It takes a lot of bravery for governments to stand up to big business. But the Gillard government has shown a lot of guts during its tenure. It stood up to Big Tobacco in the battle over plain packaging of tobacco products and has defended individuals and families affected by asbestos. It took on Big Oil in its Clean Energy Future reforms and stood up to the resource barons with the mining tax. The government is now considering Big Pharma - the pharmaceutical industry and their patents – and has launched several inquiries into patent law and pharmaceutical drugs...

Public Health Psychology: A Conceptual and Practical Framework

Introduction For many years concern for public health has transcended the boundaries of the medical sciences and epidemiology. For the last 50 years or so psychologists have been increasingly active in this field. Recently, psychologists have not only begun to see the need to take action to mould health promoting behaviours in individuals, but have also pointed out the need to join in an effort to develop appropriate social, political, economic and institutional conditions which would help to improve the state of public health. Psychologists have postulated the need to distinguish a new subdiscipline of psychology called public health psychology which, together with other disciplines, would further the realization of this goal. In the following article the historical and international context of health psychology and the changing nature of public health are put forward as having important implications for the establishment of a ‘public health psychology’. These implications are addressed in later sections of the article through the description of conceptual and practical framework of public health psychology in which theory, methods and practice are considered. Many aspects of the conceptual and practical framework of public health psychology have relevance to the health social sciences more generally and forming a basis for interdisciplinary work. The framework of public health psychology, together with the obstacles that need to be overcome, are critically examined within an overall approach that contends it is necessary to increase and improve the contribution of health psychology to public health.

Framing pandemic management: New governance, science or culture?

Management of a pandemic engages multiple sites where previously settled or uncontroversial understandings may be transformed by global and domestic forces. This article examines the iconography of social distancing implicated in the discourses of ‘quarantine’ and ‘risk control’ in public health, and the tension between scientific and popular media readings of the contours of acceptable public health models for managing particular pandemics. The role of culture in shaping and reshaping borders at an operational level is explored as a basis for explaining the apparent paradoxes in the way historic and contemporary pandemics are actually managed, and the different ways particular pandemics are framed. The article argues that a rational-scientific approach to pandemic management is insufficient and that a more nuanced socio-political blend of science, culture and public perceptions offers a more substantial basis for public health policy.