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We reviewed the authorship characteristics, editorial processing, and final fate of 126 papers dealing with data from countries other than the United States and Canada and submitted to the American Journal of Public Health in 1989. The acceptance rate of these international health papers was 22%, similar to that of all papers (25%). Authors from developed countries had higher acceptance rates than authors from developing countries, but the highest acceptance rate (36%) was for international health papers with joint authorship from both developed and developing countries. Of 83 rejected papers, 72% were published in other journals. Of these, 45% were published in journals covered by Index Medicus, a figure similar to that for all papers rejected by the Journal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: International and migrant students face specific challenges which may impact their mental health, well-being and academic outcomes, and these may be gendered experiences. The purpose of this scoping review was to map the literature on the challenges, coping responses and supportive interventions for international and migrant students in academic nursing programs in major host countries, with a gender lens. Methods: We searched 10 databases to identify literature reporting on the challenges, coping responses and/or supportive interventions for international and migrant nursing students in college or university programs in Canada, the United-States, Australia, New Zealand or a European country. We included peer-reviewed research (any design), discussion papers and literature reviews. English, French and Spanish publications were considered and no time restrictions were applied. Drawing from existing frameworks, we critically assessed each paper and extracted information with a gender lens. Results: One hundred fourteen publications were included. Overall the literature mostly focused on international students, and among migrants, migration history/status and length of time in country were not considered with regards to challenges, coping or interventions. Females and males, respectively, were included in 69 and 59% of studies with student participants, while those students who identify as other genders/sexual orientations were not named or identified in any of the research. Several papers suggest that foreign-born nursing students face challenges associated with different cultural roles, norms and expectations for men and women. Other challenges included perceived discrimination due to wearing a hijab and being a 'foreign-born male nurse', and in general nursing being viewed as a feminine, low-status profession. Only two strategies, accessing support from family and other student mothers, used by women to cope with challenges, were identified. Supportive interventions considering gender were limited; these included matching students with support services' personnel by sex, involving male family members in admission and orientation processes, and using patient simulation as a method to prepare students for care-provision of patients of the opposite-sex. Conclusion: Future work in nursing higher education, especially regarding supportive interventions, needs to address the intersections of gender, gender identity/sexual orientation and foreign-born status, and also consider the complexity of migrant students' contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study involved a scoping review to explore factors influencing dental hygienist demand and supply in high-income countries. Methods: A six-stage scoping review was conducted with separate search strategies tailored to four databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, Google Scholar, and Google) plus a targeted scan of dental hygienist organization websites. This yielded 2,117 unique citations, leading to 148 articles included in the review. Results: Nearly half of the articles (47%) focused on the United States, with 11% on Canada. Most articles (91%) were in English, alongside 13 in Korean and one in French. Journal articles comprised 62% of the publications, followed by reports/working papers (11%) and websites (11%). Other types included conference abstracts, policy briefs, and presentation slides. Content-wise, 47% were original research, with analysis articles (14%), commentaries (11%), and reviews (8%) also present. The articles were coded into three main categories: workforce characteristics/projections, factor-specific analyses, and workforce opportunities. The articles on workforce characteristics covered demographic, geographic, and employment aspects of dental hygienists, along with projections for supply and demand using simulation modelling and geospatial analyses. Factor-specific articles investigated the (1) working environment, (2) policy/regulatory/training environment, (3) job/career satisfaction and related human resource issues, and (4) scope of practice. The third key category of articles highlighted opportunities for expanding the workforce through alternative models in different sectors/settings (e.g., public health, primary care, long-term care, hospitals, mobile outreach, and non-clinical roles including research, education and leadership) and for a range of vulnerable or underserved populations (e.g., geriatric and pediatric populations, persons with disabilities, those living in rural/remote areas, Indigenous peoples, and incarcerated people). Conclusions: This review provides a comprehensive documentation of the current state of the dental hygienist workforce, compiling factors affecting demand and supply, and highlighting opportunities for the dental hygienist workforce in Canada and other high-income countries. The findings offer a foundation for future research, highlighting the need for more focused and rigorous reviews and underscoring the necessity of high-quality studies to verify the effectiveness of various interventions and policies. This is crucial to address dental hygienist workforce challenges and ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of oral health care delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to perform a bibliometric analysis centered on recent advancements in injury prevention for female athletes. Methods: The study employed Excel, VOSviewer, and the bibliometric R-package tools to analyze and evaluate relevant records obtained from the Web of Science (WOS) database, using a reliable search methodology. Results: From the WOS database, a collection of 10 560 scientific records was acquired using specific keywords, covering the period between 2010 and 2023. These records were subjected to content analysis, revealing the prevalent themes in this research area. Noteworthy topics included risk, risk factors, prevention, women, exercise, physical activity, epidemiology, injuries, performance, injury, strength, and health. The investigation also indicated that the journals "American journal of sports medicine" and "journal of athletic training" demonstrated the highest level of activity in this field. Regarding research productivity, developed countries, such as the United States and Canada stood out as the most prolific contributors. Moreover, the study recognized Gregory D Myer as the most active author in this area. Conclusion: The convergence of injury prevention in female athletes continues to be a subject of significant research attention. This study highlights that the bulk of the literature on this subject originates from researchers in developed countries. However, it is crucial to recognize that a substantial segment of the global population, particularly in developing nations, lacks sufficient representation in research related to early life psychology concerning exercise and physical activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An environmental health professional performs numerous job functions that have an impact on everyone's health and lifestyle. Their work is to prevent death and illness from environmentally related disease and injury. Moreover, the quality and safety of their air, food, water, and the infrastructure that supports vital environmental health services are one of the indicators separated many developed countries from undeveloped countries. This paper, environmental health professional in developed countries including the United State of America, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia were discussed. It was revealed that the Registration of Environmental Health Specialist/Sanitarians is a process that certifies the applicant has been found by the certifying body of each state/country to meet the qualifications to protect environmental health. The result of these reviews indicates that competencies of Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) of all selected developed countries are focused on facility and system inspections and compliance and enforcement of environmental health laws. Moreover, risk assessment and management, investigation, monitor and control, and promoting environmental and public health awareness are appeared in some countries. Thus, the experiences in selected developed countries for certification of Environmental Health Specialist or sanitarian could be used as a guideline for environmental health professional development in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study objective: To examine the Canadian origins of the Lalonde Report and its impact on British and American health promotion activities. Design: A brief history of the development of key Canadian documents and their use by politicians and public health activists in the United Kingdom and United States. Setting: This paper focuses on the impact of the Canadian model on Canada, the United Kingdom and United States. Main results: This paper argues that internal political and economic forces are as important as international trends in determining healthcare policy initiatives. Conclusions: In the 1970s all the English-speaking developed nations were facing deficits as curative costs rose. Adopting health promotion policies permitted them to shift responsibility back to local governments and individuals while limiting their expenditures. Health and community activists, however, used this concept to broaden their focus to include the social, economic and political determinants of health and thus reinvented public health discourse and practice for the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importation of rescue dogs has become an increasingly common occurrence in recent years, often involving industrialized countries as the ultimate destination. However, international dog rescue activities have attracted considerable criticism from the veterinary community and the public due to the associated zoonotic disease and public health risks, as well as the potential poor behaviour of international rescue dogs. The Government of Canada has also recently placed a temporary suspension on all commercial dog imports from non-rabies free countries due to the growing concerns of the zoonotic disease risks. To understand the perspectives and experiences of stakeholders involved in dog import activities in Canada, we interviewed nine members in leadership positions of Canadian-based international dog rescue organizations. Thematic analysis of interview dialogue yielded three themes: 1) Motive, which described the reason behind participants' involvement in international dog rescue; 2) Challenge, which described the major difficulties faced in participants' dog rescue work; 3) Duty, which described participants' beliefs on responsible dog rescue practices. Members of international dog rescue organizations described being driven by strong desires to provide animal and humanitarian aid. However, local dog rescue efforts were constrained by logistical and societal barriers unique to the Canadian context. Additionally, the current study revealed both similarities and differences in occupational experiences between international dog rescue organizations and other animal care professions. Specifically, difficulties with the emotional burden associated with caregiving professions was also present within dog rescue work. However, international dog rescue members also experienced additional challenges due to the stigma surrounding international dog rescue operations. Further research on attitudes held by other stakeholders involved in dog import activities, as well as members of Canadian communities needing dog rescue aid may provide meaningful inputs on how to better support and facilitate local and international dog rescue efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Racism in the healthcare system has become a burgeoning focus in health policy-making and research. Existing research has shown both interpersonal and structural forms of racism limiting access to quality healthcare for racialised healthcare users. Nevertheless, little is known about the specifics of racism in the inpatient sector, specifically hospitals and rehabilitation facilities. The aim of this scoping review is therefore to map the evidence on racial discrimination experienced by people receiving treatment in inpatient settings (hospitals and rehabilitation facilities) or their caregivers in high-income countries, focusing specifically on whether intersectional axes of discrimination have been taken into account when describing these experiences. Methods: Based on the conceptual framework developed by Arksey and O'Malley, this scoping review surveyed existing research on racism and racial discrimination in inpatient care in high-income countries published between 2013 and 2023. The software Rayyan was used to support the screening process while MAXQDA was used for thematic coding. Results: Forty-seven articles were included in this review. Specifics of the inpatient sector included different hospitalisation, admission and referral rates within and across hospitals; the threat of racial discrimination from other healthcare users; and the spatial segregation of healthcare users according to ethnic, religious or racialised criteria. While most articles described some interactions between race and other social categories in the sample composition, the framework of intersectionality was rarely considered explicitly during analysis. Discussion: While the USA continue to predominate in discussions, other high-income countries including Canada, Australia and the UK also examine racism in their own healthcare systems. Absent from the literature are studies from a wider range of European countries as well as of racialised and disadvantaged groups other than refugees or recent immigrants. Research in this area would also benefit from an engagement with approaches to intersectionality in public health to produce a more nuanced understanding of the interactions of racism with other axes of discrimination. As inpatient care exhibits a range of specific structures, future research and policy-making ought to consider these specifics to develop targeted interventions, including training for non-clinical staff and robust, transparent and accessible complaint procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Community health workers (CHWs) have been deployed to provide health-related services to their fellow community members and to guide them through often complex health systems. They help address concerns about how marginalized populations in many countries experience health inequities that are due, in part, to lack of appropriate primary health care services, possibly resulting in inappropriate use of higher-cost health services or facilities. This paper reviews studies on CHW interventions in a number of high-income countries, including Canada, to identify research gaps on CHW roles., Methods: A scoping review using 68 sources of interventions involving CHWs was undertaken. The five-step Arksey and O'Malley model guided this review with the aim of summarizing research findings and identifying research gaps in the existing literature on CHWs in Canada (23 sources). A standardized extraction tool was employed to synthesize the literature., Synthesis: We found that CHWs provide a wide range of health-related services but in a manner that, in Canada, is unrecognized and unregulated. In highincome countries, CHW interventions have contributed to health-related issues in communities and demonstrated potential to both reduce health inequity in marginalized populations and reduce the cost of medical services., Conclusion: CHWs are an under-recognized, and therefore underutilized, public health workforce, which has a promising capacity to reduce health inequities in marginalized populations in Canada. There is growing support to suggest that CHW roles need to be better integrated within the broader health and social services systems to enable their full potential to be realized.

Background: Drowning is a significant public health issue, with females accounting for one third of global drowning deaths. The rate of female drowning has not decreased within high-income countries and presentations to hospital have increased. This scoping review aimed to explore adult female unintentional drowning, including risk factors, clinical treatment and outcomes of females hospitalised for drowning.Methods: A systematic search of the literature following the PRISMA-ScR framework was undertaken. The databases OVID MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, OVID Emcare, Web of Science, Informit and Scopus were accessed. Study locations of focus were Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Studies from January 2003 to April 2019 were included. The quality of evidence of included studies was assessed using GRADE guidelines.Results: The final search results included 14 studies from Australia (n = 4), Canada (n = 1), New Zealand (n = 1), United States (n = 6), United Kingdom (n = 1), and one study reporting data from both Australia and United States. Nine studies reported risk factors for female drowning including age, with the proportion of female drowning incidence increasing with age. Although females are now engaging in risk-taking behaviours associated with drowning that are similar to males, such as consuming alcohol and swimming in unsafe locations, their exposure to risky situations and ways they assess risk, differ. Females are more likely to drown from accidental entry into water, such as in a vehicle during a flood or fall into water. This review found no evidence on the clinical treatment provided to females in hospital after a drowning incident, and only a small number of studies reported the clinical outcomes of females, with inconsistent results (some studies reported better and some no difference in clinical outcomes among females).Conclusion: Adult females are a group vulnerable to drowning, that have lacked attention. There was no single study found which focused solely on female drowning. There is a need for further research to explore female risk factors, the clinical treatment and outcomes of females hospitalised for drowning. This will not only save the lives of females, but also contribute to an overall reduction in drowning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canadian reports have recommended that health as a human right must be Canada's overarching global commitment and that the primacy of human rights should be prioritized over other elements of international law including international trade and investment law as it applies to access to pharmaceuticals. This paper uses a series of case reports to examine Canada's commitment to this goal. Specifically it examines cases where improved access has been in conflict with increased intellectual property rights. The 6 cases are: Canada's position when 39 pharmaceutical companies took South Africa to court in 1998 over its legislation to allow parallel importation of patented medicines and to regulate the price of medications; the stance that Canada took in the negotiations around the Doha Declaration in 2001; the passage of Canada's Access to Medicines Regime in 2004 and subsequent attempts to amend the legislation in 2011 and 2012; Canada's involvement in the final declaration at the United Nations High-Level meeting on non-communicable diseases in 2012; Canada's views about the terms in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement as expressed in 2009; and Canada's 2013 position on the extension of the exemption for least developed countries from having to comply with the terms of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement. In the first case Canada was neutral but in the remaining 5 cases Canada prioritized intellectual property rights over access. This position is consistent with how Canada has acted around domestic issues involving intellectual property rights for pharmaceutical products. Canada has supported strengthened rights despite the fact that their touted benefits have not been realized either domestically or in developing countries. As a result Canada has failed in its humanitarian duty to protect the human right to health in the form of safe and low cost medicines for the people in developing countries.

We summarized the findings of several studies of ours to compare the quantity and quality of published research from around the world for the years 1995 to 2003. We evaluated the number of articles published and their mean journal impact factor. We also studied the research productivity of various areas adjusted for gross domestic product (GDP) and population. We found that Western Europe leads the world in published research on infectious diseases-microbiology (82,342 articles [38.8%]) and in cardiopulmonary medicine (67,783 articles [39.5%]), whereas the United States ranks first in the fields of preventive medicine, public health and epidemiology both in quantity (23,918 articles [49.1%]) and quality of published papers. However, after adjustments for GDP, Canada ranked first, with the United States and Oceania following closely behind. All of the developing regions had only small research contributions in all of the biomedical fields examined.

Background: An international comparison study of women's occupational health issues was carried out in 2000 for the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore. The study was funded by the Canadian International Development Agency's Southeast Asia Gender Equity Program., Aim: The objective was to compare the issues, risk factors, social determinants, and challenges in women's occupational health, according to the status of economic development as defined by the World Bank., Method: Data were collected through 27 key informant interviews of high-ranking government officials and senior researchers, self-administered questionnaires on country or regional statistics and 16 courtesy calls., Results: Results indicated that women's occupational health problems common in these countries or regions included women's long hours of work (double workday), shift work and a caring role for family and friends. Problems reported in developing countries but not developed countries included poor access to training and protective equipment, and insufficient legislation to protect women's rights. Problems reported in developed countries but not in developing countries included obesity, smoking and not including women in health research., Conclusion: This paper provides insights into the changing environment in the workplace, such as increasing participation of women in the paid workforce and changes in gender differences due to the changing country economy, for improving women's occupational health.

Background: It is widely acknowledged that there is a global divide on health care and health research known as the 10/90 divide., Methods: A retrospective survey of articles published in the BMJ, Lancet, NEJM, Annals of Internal Medicine & JAMA in a calendar year to examine the contribution of the developing world to medical literature. We categorized countries into four regions: UK, USA, Other Euro-American countries (OEAC) and (RoW). OEAC were European countries other than the UK but including Australia, New Zealand and Canada. RoW comprised all other countries., Results: The average contribution of the RoW to the research literature in the five journals was 6.5%. In the two British journals 7.6% of the articles were from the RoW; in the three American journals 4.8% of articles were from RoW. The highest proportion of papers from the RoW was in the Lancet (12%). An analysis of the authorship of 151 articles from RoW showed that 104 (68.9%) involved authorship with developed countries in Europe or North America. There were 15 original papers in these journals with data from RoW but without any authors from RoW., Conclusions: There is a marked under-representation of countries in high-impact general medical journals. The ethical implications of this inequity and ways of reducing it are discussed.

The study of recent fertility trends in the West has been dominated by examinations of Europe. A better perspective on twentieth-century fertility movements can be gained by giving an equal emphasis to trends in the 'Offshoots' (USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand). This paper focuses on the periods of rapid fertility decline and to a greater extent on the intervening periods of near-equilibrium. It is suggested that the 'late twentieth century compromise' is more stable than is suggested by reports on its internal strains, and that only massive government intervention could raise fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since reports about CIA-funded LSD studies came out in the 1970s, psychedelic drugs have invoked images of unethical experimentation and "mad scientists" in the public imagination. Even now, as the stigma surrounding psychedelics diminishes in the 21st century, the figure of the "mad scientist" continues to occupy a space in what Ido Hartogsohn calls the "collective set and setting," the larger framework of cultural understandings that shape how individuals experience psychedelic drugs. Scientists and humanities scholars who study these drugs have responded to this issue by drawing boundaries between those who used psychedelics carefully and those who used them ignorantly. Yet these boundaries were not always so clear in the past. Drawing on historical examples of LSD's use as a correctional tool in Canada, I show how enthusiasm about the drug's potential led several experienced and knowledgeable psychedelic therapists to use it on vulnerable populations in diverse institutional settings, such as correctional facilities. These examples reveal how the institutional context of modern industrial societies shaped the application of psychedelic therapy in the past and suggest that today's therapists need to carefully consider how this broader context impacts their work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents abstracts taken from several papers related to Canadian population studies. One paper discusses the present demographic situation of Quebec and the industrialized countries, by focusing on a few major themes. Another paper analyzes natality, linguistic mobility, endogamy and inter- provincial migration. In this paper, the author takes into account the impact of the main demographic trends in the world on the future of the French language in North America. He concludes that, in order to ensure this future, one should look to the Swiss example, that is, one should promote the interests of the minorities. Yet another paper states that socio-political climate and the dissemination of demographic results interact very closely over language matters in Quebec. In association with this paper, an examination of the decline of the French-speaking population in North America casts some doubt on the thesis of the linguistic polarization of Canada. An overview of the factors which determine the future size and linguistic composition of Quebec's population shows that French Quebec has arrived at an extremely critical turning point.

Introduction: Health systems in developed nations are striving to improve care experiences and quality. A common care quality issue is delayed hospital discharge, known in Canada as Alternate Level of Care (ALC). An ALC designation is given when a patient's treatment is complete but his/her next point of care (e.g. long-term care, assisted living, care at home) is unavailable. While ALC patients occupy hospital beds, care and activation usually decreases or even ceases, exacerbating their already heightened risk of functional decline, falls, and hospital-related adverse events. ALC is also a systems issue: hospital beds are unavailable to incoming patients, causing emergency service backlogs, cancelled surgeries and delays. ALC also impacts patients and their family caregivers who fill these care gaps; however, little is known about personal care experiences, particularly among family caregivers. Methods: Interviews were conducted with 30 caregivers across three health regions in Ontario, Canada with varying geographies, community resources and population characteristics. Interviews focused on caregivers' experiences of caring for loved ones who were designated ALC. Qualitative descriptive analysis was used to identify core themes. Results: Core themes included: patient over person (patients no longer had medical needs but still required personal care); uncertain, confusing processes (steps in care were unclear); inconsistent quality of care delivery (between providers); caregivers addressing gaps in the system (caregivers provided support to patients while in hospital); and personalization of long-term care (caregivers wanted patients to be in a place that felt homelike, stimulating and in close proximity to them). Discussion: Caregivers' roles continue while patients are hospitalized. ALC patients' physical and social needs are often neglected by the hospital, putting patients and caregivers at risk of additional decline. Caregivers strive to fill care gaps but factors related to geographic location, understanding of the health system and comfort in advocating shape their ability to do so. Conclusion (w/key findings): Caregivers play a critical, and often overlooked, role in meeting the care needs of patients during care transitions. An ALC designation creates additional uncertainty during an already vulnerable time. Ironically, patient and caregiver needs are ongoing but care within the hospital is considered 'complete'. The caregiver experience provides insight on health care system gaps, the importance of caregiver involvement within care teams and a need for tailored caregiver engagement strategies. Lessons learned: ALC is an issue that requires a collective response from health and social care systems (including acute and intermediate care hospitals, long-term care, homecare and primary care) with better engagement of caregivers, who oversee patient care within and beyond the hospital walls. Limitations: This paper shares caregiver perspectives only. An analysis of the experiences of other stakeholders, including patients, providers, managers and decision-makers is required in order to act on the identified needs of caregivers. Suggestions for future research: Future research by this team will engage patients and caregivers to co-design strategies to address delayed hospital discharge. The team will explore the experiences of providers and decision-makers and collect input on the implementation barriers and facilitators of such co-designed strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Perceived financial security impacts physical, mental, and social health and overall wellbeing at community and population levels. Public health action on this dynamic is even more critical now that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated financial strain and reduced financial wellbeing. Yet, public health literature on this topic is limited. Initiatives targeting financial strain and financial wellbeing and their deterministic effects on equity in health and living conditions are missing. Our research-practice collaborative project addresses this gap in knowledge and intervention through an action-oriented public health framework for initiatives targeting financial strain and wellbeing. Methods: The Framework was developed using a multi-step methodology that involved review of theoretical and empirical evidence alongside input from a panel of experts from Australia and Canada. In an integrated knowledge translation approach, academics (n = 14) and a diverse group of experts from government and non-profit sectors (n = 22) were engaged throughout the project via workshops, one-on-one dialogues, and questionnaires. Results: The validated Framework provides organizations and governments with guidance for the design, implementation, and assessment of diverse financial wellbeing- and financial strain-related initiatives. It presents 17 priority actionable areas (i.e., entry points for action) likely to have long-lasting, positive effects on people's financial circumstances, contributing to improved financial wellbeing and health. The 17 entry points relate to five domains: Government (All Levels), Organizational & Political Culture, Socioeconomic & Political Context, Social & Cultural Circumstances, and Life Circumstances. Conclusions: The Framework reveals the intersectionality of root causes and consequences of financial strain and poor financial wellbeing, while also reinforcing the need for tailored actions to promote socioeconomic and health equity for all people. The dynamic, systemic interplay of the entry points illustrated in the Framework suggest opportunities for multi-sectoral, collaborative action across government and organizations towards systems change and the prevention of unintended negative impacts of initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced massive procedural backlogs in many parts of the developed world, with a disproportionate impact on the elderly. Whereas it is well-known that such a backlog would cause undue morbidity and mortality in thousands of patients, it is still unclear how jurisdictions plan on catching up on their missed surgeries and screening tests. In this comparative review therefore, we examine existing literature to quantify the backlog and thereafter summarize the solutions that have been proposed to clear it. Searches were performed on Google, Google Scholar, PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE®, and Ovid Embase® to identify literature from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. We report our findings with a focus on three representative types of procedures including cataract surgery, colorectal screening, and hip and knee replacement surgery. Common themes of potential solutions included leveraging more advanced technology, ensuring preventative care, training an appropriate allied health workforce, and innovating in the operating room to improve efficiency and surgical capacity. Although no single solution emerges to be universally applicable, a combination of proposed solutions can be considered after an individualized assessment of the hospital or clinic context, the type of surgery required, and the availability of equipment, facility, and staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A woman and girl centred, rights-based approach to health care is critical to achieving sexual and reproductive health. However, women with female genital mutilation in high-income countries have been found to receive sub-optimal care. This study examined documents guiding clinicians in health and community service settings in English-speaking high-income countries to identify approaches to ensure quality women and girl-centred care for those with or at risk of female genital mutilation. Method: We undertook a scoping review using the integrative model of patient-centredness to identify principles, enablers, and activities to facilitate woman and girl-centred care interactions. We developed an inclusion criterion to identify documents such as guidance statements and tools and technical guidelines, procedural documents and clinical practice guidelines. We searched the databases and websites of health professional associations, ministries of health, hospitals, national, state and local government and non-government organisations working in female genital mutilation in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, The United States, New Zealand, and Australia. The Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation tool was used to appraise screened documents. Findings: One-hundred and twenty-four documents were included in this scoping review; 88 were developed in the United Kingdom, 20 in Australia, nine in the United States, three in Canada, two in New Zealand and two in Ireland. The focus of documents from the United Kingdom on multi-professional safeguarding (62), while those retrieved from Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the US focused on clinical practice. Twelve percent of the included documents contained references to all principles of patient-centred care, and only one document spoke to all principles, enablers and activities. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the need to improve the female genital mutilation-related guidance provided to professionals to care for and protect women and girls. Professionals need to involve women and girls with or at risk of female genital mutilation in the co-design of guidelines and tools and evaluation of them and the co-production of health care. Plain Language Summary: High-quality health care for women and girls should be provided by health workers who are respectful and caring. Health workers should also work with others as a team and help women and girls make their own decisions about their health care. This approach is called patient-centred care. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a cultural practice associated with poor health outcomes. Women who have experienced FGM have not always received quality health care. We studied the guidance and tools to help health workers provide care to women and girls with or at risk of FGM. This study aimed to understand how health workers are supported to provide woman and girl-centred health care in these documents. We searched for these documents on the websites of health professional associations, government health departments and organisations working in FGM in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, The United States, New Zealand, and Australia. The documents were analysed using a tool that described all the important areas needed to provide patient-centred health care. Of the 124 documents, we found that only 12% contained information about all aspects of patient-centred care. Only one document had details about all the areas that are part of patient-centred care. This study shows that we need to improve the FGM-related guidance provided to health workers to care for and protect women and girls. There is a need for health workers to involve women and girls with or at risk of FGM in designing guidelines and tools and evaluating them to these documents best fit their needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herpes zoster (HZ) is a neurocutaneous disease that causes significant morbidity worldwide. The disease is caused by the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), which leads to the development of a painful, vesicular rash and can cause complications such as post-herpetic neuralgia and vision loss. Globally, the incidence of HZ is increasing, and it incurs billions in cost annually to the healthcare system and to society through loss of productivity. With the advent of effective vaccines such as the live attenuated vaccine, Zostavax®, in 2006, and more recently the adjuvant recombinant subunit vaccine, Shingrix®, in 2017, HZ has become a preventable disease. However, access to the vaccines remains mostly limited to countries with developed economies, such as the United States and Canada. Even among countries with developed economies that license the vaccine, few have implemented HZ vaccination into their national immunization schedules due to cost-effectiveness considerations. In this review, we discuss the currently available HZ vaccines, landscape of HZ vaccine guidelines, and economic burden of disease in countries with developed and developing economies, as well as barriers and considerations in HZ vaccine access on a global scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an analysis of two cases of new infrastructure consolidation in industrial areas. The first involves the restructuring of industrial infrastructure in intraurban areas of Montreal in Quebec, Canada, carried out as a part of the technological upgrading process characteristic of transitions from industrial to knowledge-based societies. Local planning processes were identified that took into account the contribution of all social actors to a sustainable production model. The second case focuses on the consolidation of industrial infrastructure in Yumbo, Valle Department, Colombia, and suggests local strategies to ensure future territorial sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There exists a disconnection between evolving policies in the policy arenas of mental health, housing, and income support in Canada. One of the complexities associated with analysing the intersection of these policies is that federal, provincial, and municipal level policies are involved. Canada is one of the few developed countries without a national mental health policy and because of the federal policy reforms of the 1970s, the provincial governments now oversee the process of deinstitutionalization from the hospital to the community level. During this same period the availability of affordable housing has decreased as responsibility for social housing has been transfered from the federal government to the provincial and/or municipal levels of government. Canada also stands alone in terms of being a developed nation without national housing policy instead what is considered "affordable" housing is partially dependant upon individuals' personal economic resources. As well, over the past decade rates of income supports have also been reduced. Psychiatric survivors have long been identified as being at risk for homelessness, with the disconnection existing between housing, income and mental health policies and the lack of a national policy in any of these policies areas further contributing to this risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of rapid technological and economic expansion throughout the world, society is confronted with new requirements. For the success of the medical practice, even with the rapid changes in technology and the medical field, practitioners involved in the use of patients' information are obliged to continue to behave ethically This paper reviews the ethical challenges raised in the use of patients' information for medical and other purposes. It also discusses the values underlining the ethical issues and their importance in the use of patients' information in the doctor and patient context The issues surrounding the use of patients' information such as secrecy and confidentiality are raised and potential problems in the area, policy issues which must be addressed by those concerned with the confidentiality and secrecy of health information and the germane legal issues are also discussed. Moreover, this is a review of the current status of the health care information ethics with particular reference to the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia and developing countries. Finally, it concludes that the emerging field of health care information ethics will require careful thought and insights from an international collection of ethicists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking the diversity and the convergence of demographic transitions into consideration, it is hypothesized that population aging that occurs in developed countries and developing countries will reflect diversity, but will also show some convergence. In order to test this hypothesis, the present study compares the population aging experiences of China (1971-2050) and Canada (1911-2050) and places them within the context of the demographic transition. In this paper we learn how, as population ages, these two countries will, through two distinct pathways, arrive at similar age structures by the middle of the 21st century. Both the diversity and the convergence of population aging are shown in this comparative study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Where data exist, measures of average happiness in industrialized countries typically show little or no upward trend over time, despite substantial growth in real per capita incomes. This paper examines the existing Canadian data to see if they support this generalization. The Canadian data have some overall positive trend. Some simple regressions suggest that per capita real incomes are positively associated with happiness, while unemployment and inflation appear to be negatively associated with happiness, a result also found in recent studies of Western Europe and the United States. Controlling for these variables, a negative time trend emerges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use Canadian data from 1970 to 1994 to examine the substitution that can occur between social insurance programs that support disabled persons. We obtain our estimates using an instrumental variable estimator. We find that workers' compensation program policy variables have significant effects on the growth of the Canada/Quebec Pension Plan disability program. Similarly, most of the estimates on the welfare program policy variables also indicate a significant impact on the C/QPP disability program. We conclude the paper by discussing the implications of our estimates for disability policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Religion in the United States is exceptionally vibrant compared to that in other industrialized nations. This research seeks to shed light on this anomaly by comparing measures of religiosity in the U.S. with those of its closest industrialized neighbor, Canada. The comparison demonstrates the effect of America's culture-religion in increasing levels of religiosity through social "convention." I argue that religious beliefs and practices are based more on "conviction in Canada, where cultural supports for religion are minimal. Although levels of religiosity are lower in Canada by nearly all measures, comparisons of the pervasiveness and interconnectedness of religious beliefs and practices in the two countries suggest that the differences may be related to culture-religion. Results show that those who rarely attend church in America have higher levels of orthodox religious belief and practice than Canadians who rarely attend. In addition, correlations between measures of commitment are weaker in the United States than in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Studies in Population is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Public Policy is the property of University of Toronto Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Esophageal cancer can be subdivided into two main histological subtypes with significant variability in their etiology and epidemiology. The incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma (AC) is increasing across the developed countries, whereas the incidence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is declining. Several risk factors have been identified in the pathogenesis of each subtype, however, their epidemiologic characteristics and distribution throughout Canada remain poorly understood. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of demographic data across Canada from 1992 to 2010 using two independent population‐based cancer registries. The incidence of esophageal cancer, for each subtype, was examined at the levels of provinces/territories, cities, and postal codes. Results: A total of 19 790 patients were diagnosed with esophageal cancer in Canada between 1992 and 2010; 74% were males. The average national incidence rate was 33.5 cases per million individuals per year. Incidence of esophageal AC increased over time, with notable high‐incidence rates on the Vancouver Island, the coasts of the Great Lakes, and the coasts of the Northumberland Strait in the Maritimes. The overall incidence of esophageal SCC has decreased. However, high incidence of esophageal SCC was detected in the Vancouver city, rural eastern Québec, and in the Maritimes. We also report clustering for each subtype using postal codes, which sheds light onto new avenues of research for potential environmental etiologies. Conclusions: This study, for the first time, provides a detailed analysis on the burden of esophageal cancer in Canada, revealing important geographic clustering trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the Austrian health care system using the ecology of care model. Our secondary aim was to compare data from Austria with those available from other countries. Design: 3508 interviews employing a 30-item questionnaire related to the utilization of the health care system including demographic factors were conducted. Participants were chosen by a Random Digital Dialing procedure. Further, a literature review of studies of other countries use of the ecology of care model was conducted. Main outcome measures: Austria has one of the highest utilization of health care services in any of the assessed categories. The comparison with the literature review shows that Austria has the highest utilization of specialists working in the outpatient sector as well as the highest hospitalization rates. Taiwan and Korea have comparable utilization patterns. Canada, Sweden, and Norway are countries with lower utilization patterns, and the U.S. and Japan are intermediate. Conclusion: In Austria and similarly organized countries, high utilization of all health care services can be observed, in particular, the utilization of specialists and hospitalizations. The over-utilization of all levels of health care in Austria may be due to the lack of a clear demarcation line between the primary and secondary levels of care, and the presence of universal health coverage, which also allows for unrestricted and undirected access to all levels of care. Previous studies have shown that comparable countries lack the health benefits of a strong primary care system with its coordination function. In Austria and similarly organized countries, there appears to be high utilization of health care in general, as well as with particular utilization of specialists and hospitalizations. The high utilization of all levels of care in Austria may be the result of competition, lack of a clear demarcation line between the primary and secondary level of care, and the presence of universal health coverage. Pathways between primary and secondary care should be strengthened as previous studies have shown that comparable countries lack the health benefits of strong primary care and its function for health care coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides information about the book "The tax system in industrialized countries," edited by Ken Messere. Eleven papers in the book examine tax developments between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s in ten industrialized countries, addressing what has changed and what has remained the same, as well as the nature and likelihood of tax reforms in these countries over the next few years. Papers present an overview of developments in the ten countries and the individual country studies for Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Using the latest wave of the Canadian Ethnic Diversity Survey, I investigate whether religious identity and religious intensity associate with the degree to which people trust others, controlling for a wide range of characteristics. The analysis shows that Canadian Roman Catholics are appreciably less trusting than mainline Protestants, and religious nones are situated in between these two groups. With regard to religious intensity, I find that higher commitment negatively correlates with trust in unknown others for Roman Catholics. The reverse is true for Protestants. Results also show stark cross-denominational variations within Protestantism, as two highly committed denominations of Mennonite and Pentecostal are found to be the most and the least trusting religious groups in Canada. No non-Christian religious minority is found statistically significantly less trusting than Canadian Roman Catholics. Considering particularized trust in one's neighbours and co-workers yields comparable conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the mean package size and manufacturer-recommended serving size of sweet beverages available in four high-income countries: Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand.Design: Cross-sectional surveys.Setting: The two largest supermarket chains of each country in 2012/2013.Subjects: Individual pack size (IPS) drinks (n 891) and bulk pack size (BPS) drinks (n 1904).Results: For all IPS drinks, the mean package size was larger than the mean serving size (mean (sd)=412 (157) ml and 359 (159) ml, respectively). The mean (sd) package size of IPS drinks was significantly different for all countries (range: Australia=370 (149) ml to New Zealand=484 (191) ml; P<0·01). The mean (sd) package size of Dutch BPS drinks (1313 (323) ml) was significantly smaller compared with the other countries (New Zealand=1481 (595) ml, Australia=1542 (595) ml, Canada=1550 (434) ml; P<0·01). The mean (sd) serving size of BPS drinks was significantly different across all countries (range: Netherlands=216 (30) ml to Canada=248 (31) ml; P<0·00). New Zealand had the largest package and serving sizes of the countries assessed. In all countries, a large number of different serving sizes were used to provide information on the amount appropriate to consume in one sitting.Conclusions: At this point there is substantial inconsistency in package sizes and manufacturer-recommended serving sizes of sweet beverages within and between four high-income countries, especially for IPS drinks. As consumers do factor serving size into their judgements of healthiness of a product, serving size regulations, preferably set by governments and global health organisations, would provide consistency and assist individuals in making healthier food choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the past fifteen years there has been a wave of closures of small maternity services in Canada and other developed nations which results in the need for rural parturient women to travel to access care. The purpose of our study is to systematically document newborn and maternal outcomes as they relate to distance to travel to access the nearest maternity services with Cesarean section capabililty. Methods: Study population is all women carrying a singleton pregnancy beyond 20 weeks and delivering between April 1, 2000 and March 31, 2004 and residing outside of the core urban areas of British Columbia. Maternal and newborn data was linked to specific geographic catchments by the B.C. Perinatal Health Program. Catchments were stratified by distance to nearest maternity service with Cesarean section capabililty if greater than 1 hour travel time or level of local service. Hierarchical logistic regression was used to test predictors of adverse newborn and maternal outcomes. Results: 49,402 cases of women and newborns resident in rural catchments were included. Adjusted odds ratios for perinatal mortality for newborns from catchments greater than 4 hours from services was 3.17 (95% CI 1.45-6.95). Newborns from catchments 2 to 4 hours, and 1 to 2 hours from services generated rates of 179 and 100 NICU 3 days per thousand births respectively compared to 42 days for newborns from catchments served by specialists. Conclusions: Distance matters: rural parturient women who have to travel to access maternity services have increased rates of adverse perinatal outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We offer an alternative to the conventional measure of government redistribution that seeks to address problems of second-order effects whereby income guarantees arising from public pensions make it less necessary for people to save for their retirement, rendering the 'pregovernment' counterfactual to the observed postgovernment distribution unrealistic. We use household-level data from the Luxembourg Income Study to calculate an alternative measure of government redistribution that includes public-sector pensions in 'pregovernment' income alongside private-sector pensions, on the assumption that each represents a claim on future income. Employing the alternative method described in the article results in lower values for redistribution than the conventional measure. We suggest that our alternative method be used in addition to the conventional method in cross-national research, in an effort to achieve a more complete understanding of government redistribution in the developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Health-adjusted life expectancy is a summary measure of population health that combines mortality and morbidity data into a single index. This article profiles differences in health-adjusted life expectancy across income categories for a representative sample of the Canadian population. Data and methods Mortality data were obtained from the 1991-2001 Canadian census mortality follow-up study, which linked a 15% sample of the 1991 adult non-institutional population with 11 years of death records from the Canadian Mortality Data Base. Information on morbidity was obtained from the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 instrument on the 2000/2001 Canadian Community Health Survey. The Sullivan method was used to compute health-adjusted life expectancy for national deciles of population ranked by income. Main results For both sexes, and with few exceptions, a nearly linear gradient across income deciles emerged for health-adjusted life expectancy at age 25. Compared with people in higher-income deciles, those in lower-income deciles had fewer years of health-adjusted life expectancy. These disparities were substantially larger than those revealed by life expectancy alone. Interpretation These findings highlight the generally worse health-related quality of life of lower-income groups. The results demonstrate that assessments of socio-economic disparities in health should include the effects of both mortality and morbidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author of a recent book inferred that the slowed decline in US vehicle fatality rates in the 1990 s relative to other industrialized countries resulted from too much emphasis on vehicle factors. He claimed that Canada had the same vehicle mix but a lower fatality rate. Actually, US death rates by make and model applied to Canadian vehicle sales indicates that Canada's death rate would be the same as the US if Canada had the same vehicle mix and annual miles driven. The US had much greater growth in sales of large SUVs and pickup trucks that are heavier and stiffer than passenger cars, contributing to excess deaths of other road users in collisions. They are also more unstable, contributing to excess deaths of their occupants in rollovers. Lack of policy regarding these vehicle characteristics is the primary reason for the attenuated decline in vehicular fatality rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the contribution made by sociologists and economists to the study of the changing structure of income inequality in Canada and the U.S. Argument of sociologists Barry Bluestone and Bennett Harrison (1982) on the wage distribution generated by the technical division of labor characteristic of mature industrial societies; Relationship of the changes in the structure of income inequality with observable changes in class structure; Role of unions and bargaining systems in the studies of wage structures.