Community analysis for health planning: strategies for primary care practitioners

Primary care practitioners have an important role in planning for the health of individuals and selected target populations. Community analysis and needs assessment are the first steps in health planning. Community analysis involves identifying health issues within a community; gathering data about the community, the target group, and the health concern; analyzing data; and assessing community needs. Community needs assessment involves identifying both existing and potential health problems as well as health promotion needs. By using appropriate skills in carrying out needs assessments, primary care practitioners become active contributors in planning for the health of individuals, groups, and the nation as a whole. This article provides strategies for identifying, analyzing, and evaluating the health needs of a community.     

Major causes of death and hospitalization in Canadian seniors

The case management approach is described for children with nonorganic failure to thrive in the pediatric tertiary care setting. An advanced practice nurse facilitated the organization of a planning committee, the construction of a care path, and the evaluation of the case management model. A 4-day care path is presented to show staff nursing functions in the nurse case manager role. Special issues are discussed for developing care paths for organic-based failure to thrive where parent reports can help guide health care interventions.     

Family planning: an essential component of prenatal care

This nation's traditional approach to improving maternal and infant health has been prenatal care. But evidence is mounting that additional progress in reducing maternal and infant morbidity and mortality will depend, at least in part, on the care that a woman receives before she conceives. The studies reviewed in this paper indicate that increasing the interval between deliveries and preventing or delaying pregnancies among women at high risk could lower the rate of low birthweight (LBW). Since reducing the rate of unintended pregnancies would also reduce the number of pregnancies in women at high risk of LBW because of race, age, late or no prenatal care, and unhealthy behaviors, the prevention of unintended pregnancies would also reduce LBW. Unfortunately, prenatal care, as experienced by many women, devotes little attention to these family planning issues. Many women do not realize the importance of family planning to their own health and that of their children. Prenatal care providers should include instruction about the importance of pregnancy planning and encourage women to continue receiving health care between pregnancies. If the health of women and infants is to be improved, society must be willing to provide health services to women of reproductive age even when they are not pregnant.     

Developing a formal educational program for case managers: one Canadian experience

This article describes a proposed model for a case management certificate program in Canada. It provides information on the Canadian context within which case management is being developed, and information on the proposed program model. Targeted to case managers, the program is to be offered by a university continuing education division. The article describes the developmental process, students' learning objectives, course content areas, university certificate requirements, and program structure and organization. Further the program model is discussed with reference to flexibility and responsiveness to individual student and employer needs.     

Potential adverse outcomes of psychotropic and narcotic drug use in Canadian seniors

Infants who ingest high amounts of fluoride can be at risk of dental fluorosis. The authors analyzed the fluoride concentration of 238 commercially available infant foods. Fluoride concentrations ranged from 0.01 to 8.38 micrograms of fluoride per gram, with the highest fluoride concentrations found in infant foods containing chicken. Infant foods, especially those containing chicken, should be considered when determining total fluoride intake.     

Strategic planning for postacute care

The author examines workable approaches and benefits of using strategic planning to prepare for future postacute care.     

Improving educational preparation for transcultural health care

There is increasing evidence that the health care needs of people from black and ethnic minority groups in England are not being met. A growing number of initiatives are being undertaken to remedy the situation. Many of them are focused on health care delivery at local and national levels. However, unless the preparation of health care professionals in the area of multi-cultural health care is appropriate and effective, a great deal of corrective action will continue to have to be taken. Despite 1997 having been the European Year Against Racism, it is still necessary to consider what educational preparation should be like. The article draws on identified inadequacies in health care provision as well as examples of initiatives taken to improve care provision. The author identifies deficiencies in educational preparation and proposes a range of actions to be taken. The article is focused on nursing, midwifery and health visiting education in England, but is deemed to be relevant to all health care professionals not only in Europe but other continents, as they become increasingly international and multi-ethnic.     

Child care research: A case for Canadian national standards.

Research on child care is reviewed with respect to the effects of (1) licensing/regulation and (2) teacher education on the provision of high quality care for young children and developmental outcomes. A model is proposed indicating direct and indirect links between licensing and regulation, teacher education, the quality of child care, and child development outcomes. Discussion focuses on critical differences in American and Canadian demographics and attitudes toward social assistance and how this influences interpretation of research findings. Using the Canadian context as a framework, recommendations are made for national standards regarding (1) licensing and regulation of child care and (2) teacher education. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Community psychology in the Canadian psychological family.

Reviews the status of community psychology in the history of psychology in Canada, emphasizing the early precedents of applied mental health and community interventions. Findings are presented from inquiries into undergraduate and graduate training in community psychology in Canada. After assessing current problems in the subdiscipline, the author makes recommendations for future directions and discusses the potential usefulness of community psychology to professional psychology in meeting the challenges of public mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Eugene J. Keefe Memorial Lecture. The Canadian health care system: an overview

Canada has 21 years of experience with a national health care insurance program. This lecture describes the program, its evolution, financing, and attitudes and perceptions of the consumer, the provider (physicians and hospitals), and the funding agencies (governments). Comparisons, where appropriate, with the system in the United States are incorporated.     

Preparing Canadian physicians for health care of older adults

Two experiments were performed in order to study the effects of lesions of the rostral thalamic reticular nucleus (Rt) on two-way active avoidance. Male Wistar rats were subjected to either a bilateral electrolytical lesion of the rostral Rt or to control procedures. After recovery, all rats were trained in either a distributed (five training sessions, ten trials each; experiment I) or a massed (a single 30-trials session; experiment II) two-way, active-avoidance task. The level of long-term retention of the task was assessed 10 days later. Lesioned rats showed an overall higher performance than control rats both in experiment I (with lesions affecting the rostral Rt and small portions of some adjacent nuclei) and in experiment II (with lesions almost restricted to the rostral Rt). In contrast, detrimental effects on other tasks have been reported in the literature. Although it cannot be ruled out that those differences might be due to methodological factors, they also might be indicative of an action of rostral Rt lesions on certain mechanisms (either indirectly or directly related to information processing) that could be differentially required depending on the kind of learning task. The latter possibility is discussed in terms of the role played by this nucleus as a modulator of thalamocortical transmission, attentional mechanisms and cortical arousal.