Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2014
Changes in success rates of smoking cessation treatment associated with take up of a national evidencebased training programme.
The English 'stop smoking services' provide behavioural support to some 700,000 smokers annually. Success rates of the services varied considerably before 2010 and had been in slight decline so, to improve performance, a national programme of evidence-based practitioner training was developed to improve knowledge and skills-based competences. This study evaluated whether uptake of the training was associated with improvements in success rates of services. ⋯ English stop smoking services that have greater uptake of a national evidence-based training programme showed greater improvements in success rates.
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2014
Moving toward implementation: the potential for accountable care organizations and private-public partnerships to advance active neighborhood design.
The 2010 Affordable Care Act's (ACA) aims of lowering costs and improving quality of care will renew focus on preventive health strategies. This coincides with a trend in medicine to reconsider population health approaches as part of the standard curriculum. This intersection of new policy and educational climates presents a unique opportunity to reconsider traditional healthcare structures. ⋯ One example is encouraging daily physical activity via built environment interventions and programs, which is recommended by numerous groups. We highlight how nonprofit organizations in Sacramento, California have been able to leverage influence, capital, and policy to encourage design for active living, and how their work is coordinating with public health and healthcare initiatives. In conclusion, we critically examine potential barriers to the success of partnerships between ACOs and community organizations and encourage further exploration and evaluation.
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2014
Routine screening of hospital patients for secondhand tobacco smoke exposure: a feasibility study.
Secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) exposure causes over 40,000 deaths per year, but healthcare systems rarely address this risk factor. In September 2012, Massachusetts General Hospital initiated routine inpatient screening for SHS exposure by adding a question to the nurses' computerized admission assessment form ("Is smoking allowed in your home or car?"). We measured the implementation of this screening question over 1year. ⋯ Routine screening of SHS among hospitalized patients by nurses is feasible. Doing so offers hospitals an opportunity to intervene and to promote smoke-free policies in patients' homes and cars.