Monthly Archives: August 2019

Villains or victims? The role of maternity staff in decreasing or enhancing respectful care

Afghanistan has one of the highest rates in the world of maternal mortality despite nearly two decades of effort to train more skilled providers and make maternity care more accessible. One contributing factor to this may be the quality and respectfulness of care provided. In this blog post, the authors of a newly published qualitative study in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth discuss the contributions of healthcare providers to respectful maternity care and positive outcomes in light of narratives that depict them as either the ‘villains’ or the ‘victims’ of the system.

Developing World Medicine

Evidence-based messages promote public understanding of the neurotoxic effects of air pollution

airpollution

Fossil fuel use has been linked a range of negative health outcomes, including harmful effects to our brains and cognitive functions. A study published in BMC Public Health investigated the use of key messages in raising awareness of these issues. This blog, written by the authors of the study, discusses the research and the impact this has for future health policies and public engagement.

Health

Why it’s Good News the Suicide Scene from 13 Reasons Why got Deleted

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Evidence suggests that the media can influence suicide contagion through sensational and irresponsible reporting. Thus, a published study in BMC Public Health examined how the Canadian media covered the controversial Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. In this blog post, the authors discuss their findings in the context of wider research about media and suicide contagion, highlighting why Netflix’s decision to delete the graphic suicide scene was the right move.

Health

Thrivership: a new model to support victims of abuse to move beyond surviving to thriving

How do women who have experienced domestic violence and abuse move on from the trauma? What is the difference between being a victim and a survivor and what does it mean to progress from either of these to thriving? In this blog post, the authors of a new study in BMC Women’s Health provide women’s perspectives on the ‘thrivership’ model and put them in the context of how the public health system can better support these women.

Health

Q&A on Paratuberculosis in livestock: insights to a neglected disease and experts’ recommendations

Sheep Norway

A study recently published in BMC Veterinary Research, which surveyed 48 countries around the world, has highlighted the crucial need to secure funding and international support for implementing long-term veterinary control programs against paratuberculosis. Tillie Cryer, Editor of the journal, asked author, Emeritus Professor Richard Whittington, more about the disease, how the survey was carried out and the implications of the survey findings.

Biology