Current concepts of snail control

Schistosomiasis control was impossible without effective tools. Synthetic molluscicides developed in the 1950s spearheaded community level control. Snail eradication proved impossible but repeated mollusciciding to manage natural snail populations could eliminate transmission. Escalating costs, logistical complexity, its labour-intensive nature and possible environmental effects caused some concern. The arrival of safe, effective, single-dose drugs in the 1970s offered an apparently better alternative but experience revealed the need for repeated treatments to minimise reinfection in programmes relying on drugs alone. Combining treatment with mollusciciding was more successful, but broke down if mollusciciding was withdrawn to save money. The provision of sanitation and safe water to prevent transmission is too expensive in poor rural areas where schistosomiasis is endemic; rendering ineffective public health education linked to primary health care. In the tropics, moreover, children (the key group in maintaining transmission) will always play in water. Large scale destruction of natural snail habitats remains impossibly expensive (although proper design could render many new man-made habitats unsuitable for snails). Neither biological control agents nor plant molluscicides have proved satisfactory alternatives to synthetic molluscicides. Biologists can develop effective strategies for using synthetic molluscicides in different epidemiological situations if only, like drugs, their price can be reduced.

The use and mis-use of some ecological terms and concepts in epidemiology

The article discusses the current use and mis-use of ecological terms and concepts in epidemiological literature, and in special, in works dealing with zoonotic diseases. A selection of examples was taken from papers recently published on the transmission of Chagas' disease by Triatoma sordida. Proper definitions are listed, with the intent of helping non-ecologists to use those terms and concepts correctly.

Stress Perception in Public Organizations: Expanding the Job Demands - Job Resources Model by Including Public Service Motivation

Although stress has been a longstanding issue in organizations and management studies, it has never been studied in relation to Public Service Motivation. This article therefore aims to integrate PSM into the job demands-job resources model of stress in order to determine whether PSM might contribute to stress in public organizations. Drawing upon original data from a questionnaire in a Swiss municipality, this study unsurprisingly shows that "red tape" is an antecedent of stress perception, whereas satisfaction with organizational support, positive feedback, and recognition significantly decrease the level of perceived stress. Astonishingly, the empirical results show that PSM is positively and significantly related to stress perception. By increasing individuals' expectations towards their jobs, PSM might thus contribute to increased pressure on public agents. Ultimately, this article investigates the "dark side" of PSM, which has been neglected by the literature thus far.

Same wording, distinct concepts? Testing differences between expectancies and motives in a mediation model of alcohol outcomes.

Per definition, alcohol expectancies (after alcohol I expect X), and drinking motives (I drink to achieve X) are conceptually distinct constructs. Theorists have argued that motives mediate the association between expectancies and drinking outcomes. Yet, given the use of different instruments, do these constructs remain distinct when assessment items are matched? The present study tested to what extent motives mediated the link between expectancies and alcohol outcomes when identical items were used, first as expectancies and then as motives. A linear structural equation model was estimated based on a national representative sample of 5,779 alcohol-using students in Switzerland (mean age = 15.2 years). The results showed that expectancies explained up to 38% of the variance in motives. Together with motives, they explained up to 48% of the variance in alcohol outcomes (volume, 5+ drinking, and problems). In 10 of 12 outcomes, there was a significant mediated effect that was often higher than the direct expectancy effect. For coping, the expectancy effect was close to zero, indicating the strongest form of mediation. In only one case (conformity and 5+ drinking), there was a direct expectancy effect but no mediation. To conclude, the study demonstrates that motives are distinct from expectancies even when identical items are used. Motives are more proximally related to different alcohol outcomes, often mediating the effects of expectancies. Consequently, the effectiveness of interventions, particularly those aimed at coping drinkers, should be improved through a shift in focus from expectancies to drinking motives.

IPH response to DHSSPS Draft Service Framework for Mental Health and Wellbeing

This is  the IPH response to the Department of Health, Social Services & Public Safety's Draft Framework for Mental Health and Wellbeing

Service Framework for Cardiovascular Health and Wellbeing (2014)

Welcome to the easy access version of the Service Framework for Cardiovascular Health and Wellbeing. åÊ It sets out what you can expect from the Health and Social Care (HSC) services in Northern Ireland if you have a cardiovascular illness or you care for someone who does.

Service Framework for Older People (PDF 1MB)

Easy Access Version

Service Framework for Older People

Easy Access Version

Learning Disability Service Framework (PDF 3MB)

Learning Disability Service Framework - Easy Access Version

Learning Disability Service Framework

Easy Access Version