American journal of preventive medicine
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Population mental health surveillance is an important challenge limited by resource constraints, long time lags in data collection, and stigma. One promising approach to bridge similar gaps elsewhere has been the use of passively generated digital data. ⋯ Information seeking on Google across all major mental illnesses and/or problems followed seasonal patterns similar to those found for seasonal affective disorder. These are the first data published on patterns of seasonality in information seeking encompassing all the major mental illnesses, notable also because they likely would have gone undetected using traditional surveillance.
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The affordability of alcoholic beverages, determined by the relationship of prices to incomes, may be an important factor in relation to heavy drinking, but little is known about how affordability has changed over time. ⋯ Alcoholic beverages sold for off-premises consumption are more affordable today than at any time in the past 60 years; dramatic increases in affordability occurred particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. Declines in real prices are a major component of this change. Increases in alcoholic beverage tax rates and/or implementing minimum prices, together with indexing these to inflation could be used to mitigate further declines in real prices.
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Smokers may react to cigarette excise tax increases by engaging in price-minimization strategies (i.e., finding ways to reduce the cost of cigarette smoking) rather than by quitting or reducing their cigarette use, thereby reducing the public health benefits of such tax increases. ⋯ Cigarette price-minimization strategies are practiced widely among current smokers, and resulting price reductions are relatively large. Policies that decrease opportunities to effectively apply cigarette price-minimization strategies would increase the public health gains of cigarette excise tax increases.
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Given the prevalence of obesity and associated chronic conditions among U.S. adults, wellness benefits are an increasingly popular approach to promoting weight loss. ⋯ In this sample of overweight adults, a large proportion endorsed the value of weight loss-related benefits offered by health plans. However, only about one third were willing to pay extra for them, and half disagreed with the notion that health plans should charge more to obese individuals. Given evidence of their effectiveness, wellness benefits should be offered to all individuals.
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Quality improvement (QI) is increasingly recognized as an important strategy to improve healthcare services and health outcomes, including reducing health disparities. However, there is a paucity of evidence documenting the value of QI to public health agencies and services. ⋯ The application of QI combined with a summative and developmental evaluation supported refinement of the QI approach and documented the potential for QI to improve population health outcomes and improve public health agency culture.