Public Health

Giving from the heart

by Melanie Mader

Newspaper Article

Aging population, dearth of organ donors spurs post-doc’s research Aging population, dearth of organ donors spurs post-doc’s research

The Laws of the Heart

by Melanie Mader

Newspaper Article

McGill Research Group on Health and Law member Mélanie Mader wants to have a frank discussion about organ donation and... more McGill Research Group on Health and Law member Mélanie Mader wants to have a frank discussion about organ donation and she has an unusual suggestion for how to go about doing so.

L'Etat doit renoncer à sa neutralité

by Melanie Mader

Newspaper Article

Si la médecine de transplantation avait davantage d’organes à disposition, elle pourrait sauver de nombreuses vies. La... more Si la médecine de transplantation avait davantage d’organes à disposition, elle pourrait sauver de nombreuses vies. La juriste Mélanie Mader exige l’introduction d’incitations étatiques afin d’augmenter le nombre de donneurs.

Latent variable modeling of disability in people aged 65 or more

by Paolo Eusebi

Montanari GE, Ranalli MG and Eusebi P
Statistical Methods & Applications 20 (1), 49-63, DOI:10.1007/s10260-010-0148-6

STRENGTHENING COLLABORATIONS FOR WATER-RELATED RISK COMMUNICATIONS

by Lisa Ragain

Health Reform in Slovenia: From a Regional Success Story to Scolding by EU

by Tanja Ahlin

A mini-statement on health reform in Slovenia prepared as part of the annual meeting (Montreal, 2011) of the Critical Anthropology of Global Health (CAGH) Interest Group, AAA.

Social Ecological Constraints to Park Use in Communities with Quality Access

by Deepti Adlakha

Study urges new incentives for organ donors

by Melanie Mader

Newspaper Article

A Swiss researcher has called for financial perks to counter a persistent shortage of organ donations in Switzerland. A Swiss researcher has called for financial perks to counter a persistent shortage of organ donations in Switzerland.

Systems Theory Approach to the Health Care Organization on National Level

by Ryszard Stocki

Bielecki & Stocki

National health care systems have been found ineffective in most countries. The subsystems of the health care systems... more National health care systems have been found ineffective in most countries. The subsystems of the health care systems are not autonomous and as such cannot be competitive in the market. A participative health care system with empowered patients as customers and hospitals as providers is proposed. The consequences for both further modeling and implementation of such systems are discussed.

Le don d’organes au carrefour des logiques de don, de marché et de l’Etat solidaire: un compte rendu

by Melanie Mader

Swisstransplant News, September 2011(13), p. 10-13.

Récompenser un acte généreux et solidaire ou la responsabilité de l’Etat pour assurer la disponibilité des organes

by Melanie Mader

Swisstransplant News, September 2010(9), p. 6-7.

Une neutralité qui n'a plus de raison d'être

by Melanie Mader

Bioethica Forum, 2010(2), p. 34-36.

Organspende zwischen Unentgeltlichkeit und Belohnungsmodellen

by Melanie Mader

Revue suisse de droit de la santé, 2011, p. 125-146.

Die Transplantationsmedizin hat sich zu einem sehr erfolgreichen medizinischen Fachgebiet entwickelt. Durch den... more Die Transplantationsmedizin hat sich zu einem sehr erfolgreichen medizinischen Fachgebiet entwickelt. Durch den Organmangel wird dieser Erfolg jedoch eingeschränkt. Der Beitrag definiert den Organmangel als Problem der öffentlichen Gesundheit und untersucht auf dieser Grundlage die Frage, welche staatlichen Fördermittel die Verfügbarkeit von Organen erhöhen könnten. Nach einer Betrachtung des Status quo der Organtransplantation präsentiert der Beitrag die Idee einer Public Policy zur Förderung der Organspende. Im Rahmen einer solchen Public Policy kann der Staat Anreizinstrumente in der Form von Belohnungsmodellen einsetzen. Der Beitrag untersucht verschiedene Modelle und beantwortet die Frage, welche rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen dabei berücksichtigt werden müssen.

La promotion du don d’organes au-delà de l’information: les modèles pécuniaires et non pécuniaires entre éthique et droit

by Melanie Mader

In: Alexandre Flückiger (Ed.), Emouvoir et persuader pour promouvoir le don d’organes? L’efficacité entre éthique et droit, Geneva 2010, p. 151-205.

Young women speak: Why we seek health care and what we need from our providers.

by Dionne Stephens

Thomas, T. L., & Stephens, D. P. (2009). Young women speak: Why we seek health care and what we need from our providers. Journal of the Florida Medical Association, 108, 18- 26.

Despite widespread condom distribution and health education, sexually transmitted infections (STI s) in young adult... more Despite widespread condom distribution and health education, sexually transmitted infections (STI s) in young adult women are on the increase. In an attempt to address these increasing rates of STIs, improve patient-provider interactions, increase access to
sexual and reproductive health information and quality health services for young adult women, investigators from nursing and psychology collaborated on a joint research project. The purpose of this study was to describe sexual risk taking, access to sexual and reproductive health information and quality health services, and interactions with health care providers in a culturally diverse group of young adult women. This study also examined the impact of socio-cultural beliefs and values that surround sexual risk taking through the use of sexual scripting and the influence of these results on subsequent health seeking behavior. The result of this work provides valuable information for health care providers, as it allows them to understand how racial/ethnic minority women view themselves as sexual beings, and how the sexual behaviors they exhibit are manifestations of culturally unique values and beliefs
about female sexuality.

Active Living in the Trucking Sector - Environmental Barriers and Health Promotion Strategies

by Mona Shattell

Apostolopoulos, Y., Shattell, M., Sönmez, S., Strack, R., Haldeman, L., & Jones, V. (2012, February). Active living in the trucking sector: Environmental barriers and health promotion strategies. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 9(2), 259-269.

Background: As one of the most underserved segments of the U.S. labor force, truck drivers have been associated with a... more Background: As one of the most underserved segments of the U.S. labor force, truck drivers have been associated with a series of morbid conditions intimately linked to their occupational milieux, their mostly unhealthful nutritional intake and sedentary lifestyles, and their resulting excess weight-gain. Methods: This paper reports data from a baseline assessment of 25 trucking work settings located around interstate highways I-40 and I-85 in North Carolina. It examines how the environmental attributes of these work settings influence the physical and recreational activity behaviors of truckers, compares findings with those from other occupational environments, and brings to the fore a new health promotion paradigm for trucking worksites. Results: Findings support growing empirical and anecdotal evidence that trucking work settings remain not only active-living deserts, but overall unhealthful places. A scan of physical, social, and information environments within trucking worksites as well as physical environments of surrounding communities reveal only meager opportunities for physical and recreational activity for truckers. Conclusion: This paper places the highly underserved population of truckers firmly within the discourse of worksite health promotion, and calls for comprehensive multistakeholder wellness strategies that address a multitude of risk factors linked to the occupational context.

Health Professionals' Beliefs about ANPHA Objectives and Industry Representation on the Advisory Council

by Julia Anwar McHenry

Co-authored with R J Donovan & G Jalleh

European complaint mechanisms vary widely

by Ira Allen

Doctors crossing borders: Europe's new reality

by Ira Allen

Publication Visibility of Sensitive Public Health Data: When Scientists Bury their Results

by David Rier

Science and Engineering Ethics 10:597-613; 2004

What happens when the scientific tradition of openness clashes with potential societal risks?  The work of... more What happens when the scientific tradition of openness clashes with potential societal risks?  The work of American toxic-exposure epidemiologists can attract media coverage and lead the public to change health practices, initiate lawsuits, or take other steps a study’s authors might consider unwarranted.  This paper, reporting data from 61 semi-structured interviews with U.S. toxic-exposure epidemiologists, examines whether such possibilities shaped epidemiologists’ selection of journals for potentially-sensitive papers.  Respondents manifested strong support for the norm of scientific openness, but a significant minority had or would/might, given the right circumstances, publish sensitive data in less-visible journals, so as to prevent unwanted media or public attention.  Often, even those advocating such limited “burial” upheld openness, claiming that less-visible publication allowed them to avoid totally withholding the data from publication.  However, 15% of the sample had or would, for the most sensitive types of data, withhold publication altogether.  Rather than respondents explaining their actions in terms of an expected split between “pure science” and “social advocacy” models, even those publishing in the more-visible journals often described their actions in terms of their “responsibility”.  Several practical limitations (particularly involving broader access to scientific literature via the Internet) of the strategy of burial are discussed, and some recommendations are offered for scientists, the media, and the public.

KEYWORDS:  Publication; scientist; responsibility; ethics; epidemiology