Adelaide School of Public Health’s Post

🚨 In our most recent issue, original research investigates the extent to which pediatric health care was interrupted during and as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers examined data from Waves 1 (October–November 2020) and 2 (March–May 2021) of the COVID Experiences Surveys, a national longitudinal survey delivered online or via phone to parents of children ages 5-12 years old using a probability-based sample representative of the U.S. household population. Based on parent report, 16.3% of children ages 5-12 had foregone care, 10.9% had foregone well-child visits, and 30.1% had no well-child visit in more than 1 year. 💡Read the full study here: https://lnkd.in/eavtzV7p 👥 Authors: Sanjana Pampati, MPH; Dr. Nicole Liddon, PhD; Dr. Elizabeth Stuart, PhD; Dr. Lance Waller, PhD; Dr. Jonetta Johnson Mpofu, PhD; Dr. Ben Lopman, PhD; Dr. Susan Hocevar, MD; Dr. Jodie Guest, PhD, MPH; Dr. Jeb Jones, PhD. Affiliations: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service

🌟 New Scale Assesses Long COVID in Children and Teens 🌟 Researchers have unveiled the Post-COVID Symptom Scale for Children/Youth (PCSS-C/Y), a groundbreaking tool designed to evaluate the long-term effects of COVID-19 in young populations. This innovative instrument aims to quantify persistent symptoms and assess their impact on the quality of life among children and adolescents. 📊 Key Highlights: - Comprehensive data collected from over 1,100 participants, including parents, adolescents, and young adults. - Strong validation results showing a consistent factor structure with significant correlations to quality of life metrics. - Potential for clinical utility in monitoring ongoing symptoms and tailoring interventions. The introduction of PCSS-C/Y represents a significant advancement in pediatric healthcare. It empowers clinicians to track long-term consequences effectively while contributing valuable data for public health initiatives. As we continue addressing the challenges posed by Long COVID, tools like PCSS-C/Y are essential for fostering resilience among our younger populations. 👉 Click on the link to learn more about this important development! #ClinicalResearches #HealthcareInnovation #LongCOVID #PediatricHealth #PublicHealth #Publications #YouthWellbeing #MarketAccess #MarketAccessToday

Coinciding with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 2nd Annual Black Maternal Health Summit that I attended today, and commemorating #BlackMaternalHealthWeek, the American Medical Association has released recommendations that federal and state governments can take to improve maternal health outcomes. To bolster federal and state government efforts to advance maternal health, the AMA worked collaboratively over the last year with numerous members of the Federation of Medicine, including relevant specialty societies, state medical associations, and physicians from rural areas. The pursuit of health equity is a pathway towards excellence in our health care system, one that ensures the valuing of human experience and rights. It is one that recognizes that we must do more as institutions to protect individuals and families. The issues surrounding maternal health are deep-seated, multicultural, and systemically ingrained. As such, it will require a holistic approach to ensure that birthing individuals and their children receive the care they need and deserve. These recommendations, if implemented, would have a significant positive impact on maternal health outcomes across the nation, but this is just a small piece of the overall conversation. More to come as we move this critical work forward.

*RESEARCH CORNER* Recent research adds to the large body of evidence of persistent racial disparities in obstetric outcomes. In this study, Black women had twice the rate of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) compared to White women, with higher rates of preterm delivery. The racial disparity in SMM was consistent across all gestational weeks, peaking notably at 22-33 weeks and decreasing at full term. Black women also showed a higher proportion of SMM cases involving blood transfusions and acute renal failure. These findings highlight that Black women face significantly higher SMM risks during preterm gestations despite adjustments for age, medical conditions, and social determinants, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions during these vulnerable periods. https://lnkd.in/gUqjt8Bu

Our latest Editor's Choice study describes the creation and development process evaluation of the Maternal Health Emergency Department Toolkit in Illinois. Kate Craemer, MPH of the University of Illinois Chicago Center for Research on Women and Gender and colleagues explain how the Task Force behind the Toolkit developed its five modules (including novel resources like a Perinatal Triage Algorithm) and the recommendations Task Force members share for other organizations that aim to develop similar products. Read it for free here: https://lnkd.in/eaBrT-jT

📣 New publication in JAL!! 📜 Article: Recruitment Feasibility for a Randomized Controlled Pilot Study of Animal-Assisted Intervention for Hospitalized Older Adults 👩🎓 Authors: Lisa Townsend, Nancy Gee, Erika Friedmann, Megan K. Mueller and Sandra B. Barker 💡 "This study evaluated the feasibility of recruiting hospitalized older adults into a randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing an animal-assisted intervention (AAI) involving visits from therapy dogs with an active control (conversation with a volunteer) and treatment as usual (TU) for addressing health and mental health outcomes. Recruitment occurred on acute care hospital units and a long-term physical rehabilitation facility. Feasibility data included the number of recruitment contacts, recruitment rate, and reasons for non-enrollment. The recruitment pool included 1124 patients; the recruitment rate was 4.8% (n = 54). This study explored the difficulties inherent in recruiting medically ill, hospitalized older adults for an RCT of hospital-based therapy dog visits. We believe this is the first RCT of its kind to evaluate the feasibility of recruiting this population for an animal-assisted intervention. Although the intervention was well received, older adults’ illnesses presented significant barriers to study enrollment. Strategies for improving the recruitment of hospitalized older adults for RCTs are discussed." 🔎 To access full manuscript, please visit: https://lnkd.in/dmuUfjg7

MIREDA is transforming maternal and infant health research in the UK: early success in standardising data👶 The Mother & Infant Research Electronic Data Analysis (MIREDA) partnership's first year has seen significant achievements, including creating a centralised resource that integrates harmonised birth cohort data with local datasets in public health, neonatal health, imaging, primary care, and hospitals. This comprehensive data integration will enable researchers to examine the complex factors influencing maternal and infant health. Read more about MIREDA's success here👉 https://lnkd.in/emDxSGin HDR UK Wales Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) Swansea University Swansea University Medicine, Health and Life Science NCPHWR Wales University of Birmingham King's College London University of Nottingham The University of Edinburgh Sinead Brophy Rebecca Reynolds #maternalhealth #infanthealth

This JAMA Viewpoint, written by the chair of the committee who authored our recent report “Advancing Clinical Research with Pregnant and Lactating Populations”, explores central themes of the report’s recommendations. “As a society, it is time to acknowledge the harm this dearth of information causes and take action to ensure clinical studies involve these populations moving forward.” Access the report here: https://ow.ly/pseW50RhuSc

🗣Read "Maternal satisfaction with group care: a systematic review" that explores how group care affects maternal satisfaction compared to individual care. The results show that mothers tend to be more satisfied with group care. This is because group care combines clinical assessments with discussions about health promotion and opportunities to build a sense of community. Additionally, Action for Mothers and Children (AMC) contributed to this paper, adding valuable insights. 📄🤰🤱

https://lnkd.in/eeP3gmDd "In our section focused on equity, we explicitly called out systemic racism and the importance of social determinants of health. We know we need to address social, structural, and political determinants of health through a reproductive justice framework. Unfortunately, Black women are two to three times more likely than White women to die of pregnancy-related causes. Determinants that contribute to that risk include economic stability, education, healthcare, and housing. All those factors have to be addressed to address the disparities. In addition, for some of the reasons I mentioned—specifically the history of medical surgical experimentation and forced sterilization, there is a distrust of the medical system and medical providers. There needs to be an understanding on the part of the health systems of the history of this medical trauma and the need to address any bias that may be in the system."