Social science & medicine
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Social science & medicine · May 2012
Does attachment insecurity affect the outcomes of a multidisciplinary pain management program? The association between attachment insecurity, pain, disability, distress, and the use of opioids.
Cognitive and behavioural treatments have been shown to be effective for the management of chronic pain. However, not all patients succeed at such a treatment. Attachment insecurity has recently been proposed as an individual vulnerability factor that may have a negative impact on pain, disability, psychological distress, and compliance with treatment, resulting in a poorer outcome. ⋯ However, the level of anxiety and depression for insecurely attached patients did not decline below a clinical level post-treatment. The present study suggests that attachment insecurity plays an important role in the context of chronic pain management. With regards to the management of pain related anxiety, depression, and the use of opioids, the current results suggests that practitioners should keep attachment insecurity in mind.
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Social science & medicine · Apr 2012
Graphic warning labels on plain cigarette packs: will they make a difference to adolescents?
Graphic warning labels and plain cigarette packaging are two initiatives developed to increase quit behaviour among smokers. Although a little is known about how adolescents interpret graphic warning labels, very few studies have examined how plain cigarette packaging would affect adolescents' perceptions of cigarette smoking and smoking behaviour. We explored how teens interpret and respond to graphic warning labels and the plain packaging of cigarettes, to assess the potential these strategies may offer in deterring smoking initiation. ⋯ This research offers evidence on how adolescents are appraising and interpreting graphic warning labels, and explores how dominant appraisals may affect the role graphic warning labels play in preventing smoking. Not only would plain cigarette packaging enhance the salience and impact of graphic warning labels, but it would potentially bolster the overall message that cigarette smoking is harmful. In the context of a comprehensive tobacco control programme, graphic warning labels on plain cigarette packaging present an explicit message about the risks (to health and image) associated with cigarette smoking.
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Social science & medicine · Apr 2012
Are recessions really good for your health? Evidence from Canada.
This study investigates the relationship between business cycle fluctuations and health in the Canadian context, given that a procyclical relationship between mortality rates and unemployment rates has already been well established in the U. S. literature. Using a fixed effects model and provincial data over the period 1977-2009, we estimate the effect of unemployment rates on Canadian age and gender specific mortality rates. ⋯ We find that a one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate lowers the predicted mortality rate of individuals in their 30s by nearly 2 percent. In contrast to the U. S. data, we do not find a significant cyclical pattern in the mortality rates of infants and seniors.
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Social science & medicine · Mar 2012
ReviewBeyond welfare reform: reframing undocumented immigrants' entitlement to health care in the United States, a critical review.
This article addresses the main scholarly frames that supported the deservingness of unauthorized immigrants to health benefits in the United States (U. S.) following the passage of the Personal Responsibility Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), known as the Welfare Reform bill, in 1996. Based on a critical literature review, conducted between January 1997 and March 2011, this article begins with an analysis of the public health rhetorics that endorsed immigrants' inclusion into the U. ⋯ First, the "chilling effect," defined as the voluntary withdrawal from health benefits, is examined in light of unauthorized immigrants' internalized feelings of undeservingness. Second, an "injustice" narrative highlights both the contributions and the limitations of a social justice paradigm, which advocated for the restoration of government benefits to elderly immigrants and refugees after the passage of PRWORA. By analyzing the contradictions among all these diverse frames, this paper finally reflects on the conceptual challenges faced by medical anthropology, and the social sciences at large, in advancing health equity and human rights paradigms.
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Social science & medicine · Mar 2012
A 'beautiful death': mortality, death, and holidays in a Mexican municipality.
Several studies have reported increased mortality during holidays. Using a cultural epidemiological, sequential mixed-methods approach, this study explored holiday-related trends using mortality data from Yautepec (Morelos, Mexico) collected between 1986 and 2008 (N=5027 deaths). This analysis found that mortality increased on Christmas Day and All Saints' Day. ⋯ Quantitative and qualitative results provided information about the important effects of holidays, culture, and religious belief on mortality patterns within a Mexican context, and contributed to a better understanding of the relationships among mortality, the nature of death, and holidays. Our results suggest that, in the studied region, death can be interpreted as a "beautiful process". More research is needed to explore this process in other similar contexts and to address topics related to the care and attention given the dying person and the expectation of a good death.