Bøger af Mbuso Mabuza

Making sure that people are involved and central to their care is now recognised as a key component of developing high quality healthcare. Adopting person-centred care as "business as usual" requires fundamental changes to how services are delivered and to roles - not only those of health care professionals, but of patients too - and the relationships between patients, health care professionals and teams.Countless occasions over the last few years have reminded me again and again that there is much more to health than vital signs, laboratory tests, or medications. As physicians, we need to remove administrative obstacles and allow our patients' wish to take an active role in their own care. Navigating between an individual's need to fight a life-threatening illness and the desire to remain intellectually acute is one of medicine's greatest challenges. Bedridden as our patients may be, some reveal a zest for life. They are compelled by something much deeper than the pursuit of the perfect physical condition, which many of us erroneously equate with health. They operate out of courage and that indefatigable need to persevere to fulfil one's purpose no matter what the challenge.Truly, to grasp the deepest meaning of health, it is necessary to broaden its definition beyond the physical. Optimal health requires an integration of physical, mental, spiritual, social and environmental wellbeing.Consistent with the personalisation agenda, health and social care services give people control over, and responsibility for their own health and wellbeing working in partnership with health and social care professionals. They put people at the centre of the planning process, and recognise that they are best placed to understand their own needs and how to meet them.In recent years there has been a return to natural remedies, putting to the test the ancient curative traditions. Many have received the backing of science. Today, although there is evidence of the usefulness of natural remedies, people continue to search for confirmation, and we will share the most relevant of these findings.There is growing recognition about the linkages between working conditions, health, and productivity. At industry and institutional level, the importance of health is often played down. It is increasingly important to gain a critical understanding of the psychological, social and organisational aspects of the dynamic relationship between work and health.It is important for health policy to recognise the importance of self-care, especially where it intersects with health systems and health professionals. Given the potential to enhance health and wellbeing, self-care is an important component of people-centred care. A people-centred framing emphasises psychological, empowerment, and self-fulfilment needs, placing less emphasis on technical activities and instead looking at self-care in terms of capacities, building on a person's "health assets," both as a condition for and a product of the practice of self-care.Health needs to be recognised as an ongoing process of self-discovery, manifesting as positive influence on the world around us. It is a means to living a successful and satisfying life. Individual efforts are necessary but insufficient for optimal health. We need to create approaches and systems in economics, environment, politics, and in the delivery of medical care that elicit and sustain individual strategies.True quality of life is holistic. It is not possible to have a happy existence by only caring for one or two aspects of the human dimensions. All are part of the same fabric, and balanced health is only possible when all are cared for.

Connected health also known as technology-enabled care (TEC) is the collective term for telecare, telehealth, telemedicine, mHealth, digital health and eHealth services. Connected health involves the convergence of health technology, digital media and mobile devices. It enables patients, carers and healthcare professionals (HCPs) to access data and information more easily and improve the quality and outcomes of both health and social care.Smart systems and infrastructures rely on mobile and pervasive technologies to offer end-users with portable and context-sensitive services that range from social networking, mobile commerce, to smart and connected health care. Considering service-driven computing for smart systems, the future of smart healthcare is hyper-connected, highly pervasive, and personalised. Mobile and pervasive technologies for mobile health (mHealth) and ubiquitous health (uHealth) systems provide a wide range of wellness and fitness applications as well as clinical and medical systems.Mobile health or mHealth is a component of e-health (electronic health), and a medical and public health practice supported by mobile technology such as mobile devices and medical apps. Mobile health is poised to play a larger role in engaging patients in self-care as smartphone ownership is rising globally. Mobile health is a promising venue for reaching youth in general and may be particularly important for educating and addressing sensitive topics. Barriers such as privacy concerns and lack of integration into the electronic health record have limited the impact of apps, but mHealth has enormous potential to reshape healthcare delivery in the future.Telemedicine may be considered as a component of virtual healthcare, since it involves the diagnosing and treatment of a patient, remotely. However, telemedicine specifically refers to the medicinal aspect of healthcare, whereby the clinician could use live audio-visuals and instant real-time messages to diagnose and treat a patient, remotely. Most people have unknowingly practised telemedicine when either seeking or giving medical advice over the telephone.Nowadays, the nomenclature of telemedicine is created newly as "u-Health" in which ubiquitous technology is using to connect provider and patients in ubiquity. Technological system of u-Health will be easily established by convergence among ubiquitous and biometric technology, and mobile telecommunication infrastructure. However, the crucial point of the adoption and success of telemedicine in even ubiquity environments needs enough to tightly harmonise with the mainstream medicine.TEC is capable of providing cost-effective solutions at a time when the demands on health and social care services continue to increase due to many countries' (especially high-income countries) growing and ageing population, the rising cost of advanced medical treatments, and severely constrained health and social care budgets. Indeed, wide scale adoption of TEC will be essential for sustaining the future health and social system.The major areas of technical challenges in implementing TEC call for a focus on areas in need of change. mHealth appears to be testing the ability of our governments to confront the profound changes that mobile health technologies create. It is expected that interoperable global mHealth can produce meaningful improvement in the health of populations worldwide. Funding solutions are a necessary precursor to expanding mHealth and telemedicine to global delivery, and must be addressed in all planning, whether strategic or operational.

With the present emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, computational "machine learning" techniques for training and generalisation from data, and cutting-edge statistical techniques, will play a significant role in analysing multidimensional datasets generated by the new technologies of systems medicine. This progressively but rapidly leads to a "new taxonomy," generating new approaches for disease diagnosis, therapy, and clinical decisions, promising more individualised treatments and improved outcomes for patients. Indeed, if this approach becomes efficient in clinical practice, it provides a real paradigm change in health care, from reactive to proactive medicine.Precision medicine will allow big data patterns to emerge and algorithms to be developed, which, in turn, will allow more predictive and precise decisions about one's health to be made. Considering the rapid scientific advances in genomics and the vast adaptation of wearable technology and other quantified self-applications, it is likely only a matter of time before this data will play a larger and more integrated role in public healthcare services.Precision medicine, sometimes called personalised medicine, is an emerging technological advancement which aims to personalise prevention and treatment according to the genetic, environmental, and lifestyle variability of individual persons or a specific group of people with commonalities, as opposed to the 'one-glove-fits-all' approach which has less consideration for the uniqueness of the individual person or specific group of people with commonalities such as similar genetic changes in a tumour. Perhaps, the clearest utility of precision medicine approaches thus far has emerged from efforts to improve disease diagnosis with the promise of better treatment. This perspective emerged as a critique of medical practices characterised as employing reductionist and oversimplified methods of disease categorisation.Treatment is not the only aim of precision medicine, but prevention is also important as genetic testing for people with a family history of a certain illness such as diabetes mellitus, could also receive tailored preventive measures before those people even get sick. As such, precision or personalised medicine is driven not only by individual health data, but also by the availability of reference medical knowledge and evidence, that is, precision or personalised medicine is linking knowledge with individual health data for decision support.The current evolution of personalised medicine is happening at a fast pace, whereby it goes beyond therapeutics selection for a patient but into the realm of drug discovery, planning and delivery of care, and engagement between consumers and companies focusing on the improvement of healthcare. Such rapid evolution of personalised medicine is largely driven by advances in diagnostics, digitalisation, data and analytics operating across a broad scope.Nonetheless, precision or personalised medicine can be considered as the cornerstone of modern medicine. With so many hospital admissions being attributed to a 'one-size-fits-all' prescribing approach and adverse drug reactions being among the leading causes of death globally, not to mention the huge economic implications this creates, a tailored approach for every patient is needed. At the centre of this should be pharmacogenomics with the goal to improve drug safety and efficacy. Furthermore, therapy for each patient should be designed according to their personal characteristics, health status, lifestyle and pharmacogenetic profile. Ultimately, the goal of precision or personalised medicine is to contribute towards preventive, predictive and participatory health systems.

"You are not here to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget that errand." - Woodrow WilsonFrom the core of our being, we need to develop the right attitude toward life. The simple fact that attitude "makes" some while "breaking" others is a significant enough reason for us to explore how it works and how it is cultivated. How a person defines life's events will do more than anything else to determine his or her potential for success in life. You do not have to be gifted or exceptionally bright to employ these truths in your life, but you must be willing.We have to retrain our eyes. The reason is this: whatever we are looking for is what we will see. If you are not looking for what is good, then even what good there is present will be difficult to recognise. One way to cultivate staying power is to change your definition of an event or circumstance. After all, the way in which you define your circumstances will determine, to a large degree, how you will respond to that event.Cultivate a spirit of gratefulness, regardless of your circumstances. Take the time to appreciate. Learn to enjoy the ride called life. There are going to be challenges and mountains to climb on this journey. That is a given. Once you know that mountains and trials will always be there, you will be able to expect them and no longer be surprised by them, which will free you up and enable you to enjoy the ride. You will be pleasantly surprised how a new perspective will help you to develop an attitude that attracts friends, laughter, joy and success!Realise that you can change your future and make a difference but only if you interrupt your present comfort zone. Mine your history for all experiences, not just career. You will see the hurdles you overcame and you will realise your own resilience, strength and gifts that will form your path.Look at your situation now. Are you working but bored? Are you unemployed? Are you depressed? Are you in pain? Be introspective to determine whether you are equipped to follow your dream. Do you need more knowledge, skills, or qualifications? You must have a crystal clear picture of where you want to be. If you can visualise your future, you can get there more easily. There will always be curveballs and you need contingency plans to prevail.The brain is a curious thing. The minute you write something down rather than just listen, the brain knows you are being serious. Write down your objectives, successes, and plan. You can have all the plans and strategies in the world, but if you do not act on them, they will remain a document that does not come to life. That is the magic of waking up, it is the action.Pay the price to build character. The deeper your character, the easier it will be for you to develop an attitude of excellence. In fact, if you wish to experience success and fruitfulness in life, character is a necessary foundation. Without it, you will never survive success. Character does not come cheap. It comes at a price - the price of digging your knees into the carpet, the price of studying, the price of suffering and the price of going through trials and discipline. We must be willing to pay the price.

By changing the way you think, you change the way you run your life.Very few people would turn down a chance to improve the way they think, if they knew how to go about it. When you have the ability to think more effectively, you can make better decisions and become a much more efficient thinker. You will learn new things faster and easier, achieve that potential that has been hiding inside you, and improve all aspects of your life.The only door locked is in your mind. The doors outside are unlocked and your potential is limitless. Yours is to walk through. So, you need to think out of the box. You can change your future by merely changing your attitude. When our mind talks, our attitude listens and responds. Because of this correlation, we have the power to literally "talk" ourselves into or out of success and satisfaction.That all sounds really good to everyone who hears about it, but their first question is always, "How can I improve my thinking ability so that I can take advantage of all of these benefits?" In this book, you will discover that there are many ways to train your brain to think more effectively. You can maximise your brain power and keep your brain agile as well. A more powerful mind can be yours, and you will be enlightened by the process!Our self-imposed belief barrier can affect the way we think because we are conditioned in a certain way. We build scotomas or blind spots to ideas or information that does not match our belief system. Blind spots can stop you from changing or growing. Be aware that what you see is not all there is to see.The main point to remember is once the subconscious mind accepts an idea, it begins to execute it. It is an interesting and subtle truth that the law of the subconscious mind works for good and bad ideas alike. This law, when applied in a negative way, is the cause of failure, frustration and unhappiness. However, when your habitual thinking is harmonious and constructive, you experience perfect health, success and prosperity.Research in neuroscience has shown evidence that the mind can be retrained to be more positive as the mind has the ability to determine how your brain thinks about what happens in your life. What does all this mean? This means that what we think, do or say matters. Be the best you can be and fulfil your life's purpose and potential through maximising your mind and brain power!

There is increasing recognition that efforts to improve global health cannot be achieved without stronger health systems.The myriad of opportunities and challenges that come with rapid technological innovations in the medical and health ecosystem, warrant an urgent need to apply systems engineering techniques and skills to solve issues pertaining to healthcare service quality, patient safety, and healthcare cost, as means to improve healthcare systems performance. Health systems engineering can solve healthcare problems that no one else can.Health systems engineering entails the application of engineering, science, management, and technological innovation to healthcare systems improvement. A successful systems engineering delivery process in healthcare should focus on defining stakeholder needs and required functionality early in the development cycle, documenting requirements, then proceeding with design synthesis and system validation while considering the complete problem. It focuses on understanding the interactions among people (patients, families, clinicians, and other stakeholders), processes (institutional, regulatory, professional ethics, etc.), and technology (medical devices and instrumentation) in the healthcare domain to formulate a systems approach to innovations that lead to improved patient outcomes.The proposed healthcare setting should have the environmental factors desired by patients and family members as expressed by them, suggesting a need for improvements in the healthcare environment. The patient and family must be kept at the centre of the systems approach. There are no technical barriers to enabling that capability, and the payoff in terms of patient and family experience may be substantial.Perhaps, health is too important to be left only to doctors; the healthcare consumer's well-being should be the primary consideration. The ultimate goal is to ensure that quality goals and objectives of the 21st century health system are achieved through accessible, safe, effective, patient-centred, timely, efficient, and equitable health care.There is no doubt that very few healthcare professionals or administrators are equipped to think analytically about health care delivery as a system or to appreciate the relevance of systems engineering tool. Even fewer are equipped to work to apply these tools. With the increasing global burden of disease, and the risk of pandemics such as we have already seen with the COVID-19, there is an urgent need to develop and enhance capacity for the design and application of health systems engineering, in order to build a better healthcare delivery system. A very important issue therefore is for the educators, students and practitioners to develop a sound understanding of what health systems engineering actually means. Accordingly, there is a need for multi-skilled professionals with qualifications in health systems engineering.This book aims to address that need. The book begins with an overview of a systems approach to healthcare. It then discusses health systems including health systems strengthening and the role of knowledge management and leadership, essential health packages, public-private partnerships, healthcare financing, and monitoring performance. Health systems engineering is discussed with a particular focus on engineering better health and care, and on how it can transform the medical and healthcare ecosystem. This book will appeal to professionals and students in medicine and healthcare, global health, public health, health economics, healthcare leadership and management, health systems strengthening and research, healthcare innovations, data analytics and health informatics, systems engineering, sustainable development, public policy, social sciences, and related fields.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a simulation of the process of human intelligence through computers.AI has cemented its status as a powerful technology with the ability to propel a paradigm shift in healthcare and medicine of the 21st century and the future. The insights and values gained from AI and its subset, machine learning, are essential for predicting health outcomes and improving decision-making in healthcare and medicine.AI can offer revolutionary insights into medicine, through data from genetics, proteomics and other life sciences that advance the process of drug discovery and development. Discovering drugs is a crucial first step in the biopharmaceutical value chain. Drug discovery is a long, expensive and often unsuccessful process. The biopharmaceutical industry makes efforts to employ AI to improve drug discovery, reduce research and development costs, reduce the time and cost of early drug discovery, and support predicting potential risks/side effects in late clinical trials that can be useful in avoiding traumatic events in clinical trials.The rapid growth in life sciences and machine learning algorithms has led to enormous statistical access to the growth of AI-based start-ups focused on drug innovation in recent years. The growing need to curb drug discovery costs and reduce time involved in the drug development process, the rising adoption of cloud-based applications and services, and the impending patent expiry of blockbuster drugs are some of the key factors driving the growth of this market.However, shortage of AI workforce and ambiguous regulatory guidelines for medical software and lack of data sets in this field are some of the factors expected to restrain the growth of this market in the coming years.

With the advent of big data analytics and informatics, and its associated technologies, a rapid growth in career opportunities, coupled with continual technological innovation, has led to an increasing need for qualified professionals who are able to analyse big data and manage technology and information in the healthcare industry.This book is designed to help you meet that need by providing you with a detailed overview of topics and to explore areas of interest pertaining to data analytics and informatics in the healthcare and biomedical ecosystem. The main topics covered in this book include: data analytics and healthcare informatics; artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies; biomedical sensors and trackers; digital clinical trials; high-definition medicine; precision medicine; connected health; how data analytics and informatics can transform healthcare; reflections and perspectives for the future. The book will appeal to people who are interested in the ways in which health data and technology can be used to enhance the quality of health care.Healthcare informatics is a multi-disciplinary field suited for innovators, healthcare workers, and non-healthcare professionals, united in the goal of improving the quality of health care. Healthcare informatics involves the acquisition, storage and retrieval of healthcare information and aims to ensure the availability of critical data enable the making of sound policies and programmatic decisions to improve patient care across interactions with the health system.Big Data analytics covers collection, manipulation, and analyses of massive, diverse data sets that contain a variety of data types such as electronic health records (EHRs) to reveal hidden patterns, cryptic correlations, and other intuitions on a Big Data infrastructure Due to its effectiveness, Big Data analytics is widely used in various fields.Biomedical big data analytics is in the initial adoption phase, and many healthcare organisations want to implement big data analytics to obtain its benefits. To succeed, big data analytics in the healthcare and biomedical ecosystem needs to be packaged so it is menu-driven, user-friendly, real-time and transparent.Artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data analytics are seen as novel tools in the planning of health services as well as identifying and monitoring health problems in individuals and populations.Automation's major benefit is that it helps medical personnel in processing large amounts of patient's data, especially when taking into consideration that medical personnel are often overwhelmed by a series of healthcare tasks. There is potential in delivering more targeted, wide-reaching, and cost-efficient healthcare by exploiting current big data trends and technologies.The slow pace of innovation in the healthcare industry reflects challenges that are unique to healthcare in implementing and applying sophisticated big data analytics tools, and this points to the need for federal or government policy to emphasise interoperability of health data and prioritise payment reforms that will encourage providers to develop data analytics capabilities.Salient guidelines and important implications for practitioners and implementers of big data analytics systems that can assist with successful adoption of big data analytics systems in the healthcare system need to be developed. Describing the crucial factors that are required for understanding is important prior to creating a strategy for the acceptance of big data analytics in the healthcare industry, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where the industry requires filling the gap of big data analytics adoption.

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are being increasingly used in healthcare, and especially in patient education. Although these two technologies are very similar, virtual reality engages users by transposing their virtual avatars into an artificial environment for users to interact with, while augmented reality engages users in the real environment by overlaying virtual elements in the real world.VR is already transforming medical education. VR offers distinct benefits for learners, faculty and the health system. It is helping to free learning from the classroom, allowing learners to apply their knowledge to practise and learn from mistakes. It focuses on improving competencies and places the emphasis on autonomous, blended learning, which is expected from the learners of today.Healthcare and medical staff can use virtual environments to train in everything from surgical procedures to diagnosing a patient. VR training curriculums were created in order to allow both training and practising surgeons to a safer operating room experience for their patients. VR can be incorporated into a surgeon's preoperative planning, utilised in unison with artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, to help virtually map a procedure.VR is being incorporated into occupational therapy to help stroke patients recover. VR-based rehabilitation is a proven tool that creates specific scenarios for patients, allowing them to have targeted treatments for their particular recovery level and deficits.Off-shelf virtual reality technology using simple headsets has promise for the prevention and treatment of health conditions, particularly in psychological care. For mental health issues such as dementia, depression and stress management, this technology provides an effective and better solution which enhances patient and creates a positive effect to save the life of the patient.Virtual patients are seen as cost-effective since virtual patients are limiting the effort and expense associated with standardised patient training and can be delivered at low-cost over the internet. There is potential for virtual healthcare to address inequalities in healthcare. It can bridge the gap for marginalised and vulnerable populations living in remote settings by increasing healthcare access for children and families who may otherwise face significant barriers in having their health needs met. The main challenges of developing virtual patents are legal and technical.With augmented reality (AR), there is no created scenario; instead, an actual event is being altered in real-time, which has significantly enhanced robotic surgery. AR can work in parallel with a telemanipulation system in order to optimise the visual field of the operating surgeon. AR is currently being utilised to overlay key anatomic landmarks during live surgery to optimise patient safety.This book presents an account of virtual reality and augmented reality and their impact on the healthcare and medical ecosystem in the context of low-, middle- and high-income countries. The book concludes by providing future perspectives and critical reflections on VR and AR in healthcare and medicine. It also highlights the new computational medical extended reality (XR) concept, which unifies the computer science applications of intelligent reality, medical virtual reality, medical augmented reality and spatial computing for medical training, planning and navigation content creation.The book will be invaluable to healthcare and global health professionals, health managers and programmers, health systems leaders, researchers, lecturers in faculties of health sciences, medical students, students in public health and related fields, healthcare organisations, and policymakers.

We live in an era of the digital health revolution where technological and knowledge breakthroughs greatly enhance the care we deliver to patients. However, our healthcare system still holds many friction points.This book examines cases where Blockchain can be a leverage to address some of healthcare's biggest challenges. Blockchain technology, sometimes considered as the next industrial revolution is rapidly gaining traction in the healthcare industry as one of the most exciting technological developments. It is capable of transforming the healthcare and medical ecosystem with its features, which include decentralisation, anonymity, persistency, transparency, quality, reduced cost and auditability. In particular, blockchain technology presents numerous opportunities for the healthcare industry such as reduced transaction costs, increased transparency for regulatory reporting, efficient healthcare data management and healthcare records universally. This will potentially shift the focus to patients.However, there are still several open challenges such as cross-border sharing of health data where different and often conflicting jurisdictions exist may hinder the benefit of blockchain's data sharing. Another potential problem that is under-researched and needs further investigation is the capability of the blockchain to store and process massive data access transactions in a timely manner.The main problem that needs attention from researchers is how the blockchain will operate in complex and diverse communication systems. There is need for further research on innovative solutions that promote blockchain as a service that allows various parties such as networks, devices, users of the Internet of Things paradigm to access basic coherent blockchain infrastructures.

"Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand. Anyone may gather it and no limit is set." - Mother Teresa of CalcuttaLike what is needed for the practice of any art, the practice of the art of loving needs self-discipline, concentration, and patience. Everyone starts life with high hopes of loving and being loved, knowing and being known, building and being built. This is true not just in a marriage, but also in friendships where there is genuine community, a touching of minds and hearts. But then, for many people, somewhere along the way something goes sour, and more than a few become bewildered, dispirited, defeated, and may be even bitter.The main condition for the achievement of love is the overcoming of one's narcissism. The opposite pole of narcissism is objectivity; it is the faculty to see people and things as they are, objectively, and to be able to separate this objective picture from a picture which is formed by one's desires and fears.Relationships often find their way onto the coaching agenda. That is true, whether you work with individuals or companies. You will get clients who want to have satisfying, fulfilling relationships with other people and are finding it difficult because of conflict with family, partner, friends, or colleagues. Others will be looking for a soul mate, in a relationship that is going through a sticky patch, or getting over one that has failed.Personality predicts how we interact with others, what partners we have, and how happy and lasting our relationships are. At the same time, our experiences in these relationships may affect our personality.It is a myth that if you solve all your problems you will automatically be happy. Your relationship journey is unique. We need to teach couples that they will never solve most of their problems. Conflict is part of a relationship, as long as there is no abusive behaviour.When love lasts, it is not perfect! Love is a journey of continual growth and maturity for all the parties involved. We will hurt others, and others will hurt us. But if you can forgive a fault, love can be restored.Be aware of contempt, criticism, defensiveness, and stonewalling, which are the four main killers of relationships. Persistent contempt (attacking sense of self with intent to insult, or humiliate or discredit, or undermine or hurt or assuming a position of moral superiority) is considered the most destructive of the four killers of relationships. So the key antidote to contempt is expressing your feelings and longings - and expressing them well, creating a path that leads to a culture of appreciation.Evidence shows that both men and women are capable of sustaining intimate partner violence or abusive behaviour by their partners. Mental or emotional abuse, while most common in dating and married relationships, can occur in any relationship including among friends, family members, and co-workers.If you are experiencing any type of abuse, know that you do not deserve to live that way, and reach out for support immediately. Your mental health is a priority for long-term wellbeing!This book discusses the following topics: the art of loving; personality types and love; making the most of your singleness; parenting with emotional intelligence; relationship with parents, in-laws, friends, children, grandchildren, siblings, and other relatives; dealing with challenges in relationships; divorce and its consequences; be aware of abusive behaviour; self-compassion.The book will be of benefit to any person who would like to be empowered about the experience of love in relationship with self and other people.

Health promotion is much more than the absence of disease, and it is also much more than focusing on bringing about behaviour change. It is important to remember that health is a complex issue as it requires collective and organised efforts of multiple stakeholders in society. While this book walks you through health promotion as a new public health concept of preventive action, it also critically reflects on health promotion approaches and methods. It brings into context the different scientific disciplines as enablers and barriers for implementing successful health promoting projects and programmes to improve health and quality of life.Specifically, the intriguing discussions covered in this book are organised in the following chapters: trends and their global impact; the social context of health in today's global societies and the evolution of health promotion as a modern public policy health response; social and societal factors affecting health; theoretical concepts and approaches of health promotion; strategies and methods to work with people: community-oriented approaches applicable to health promotion and empowerment; health public policy; the mass media and health promotion; health needs assessment; programme development and evaluation.This book will be a valuable resource for clinicians, health programmers, policymakers, community leaders, general public, and students in medicine and public health, and related programmes.

This book provides an introduction to epidemiological research and statistical methods covering key concepts and all the main types of epidemiological study. It elicits a critical understanding of the purpose and context of quantitative research including the basis for selecting appropriate research designs from a thorough grounding in the uses and methods of epidemiology; key statistical concepts and techniques needed for the basic analysis of data; critical evaluation of statistical and epidemiological techniques in health research.The book has been designed around a number of core published information dealing with various topics from the United Kingdom, Europe and the low- and middle-income countries. These studies have been chosen to introduce you to a wide range of study methods. The main intriguing aspects of their design provide examples which are used to help you understand the fundamental principles of good research, and to practise these techniques yourself.The topics covered in this book include the following: scientific method and introductory concepts; routine data sources and descriptive epidemiology; surveys; cohort studies; case-control studies; and critical appraisal of research evidence.This book will be an invaluable resource for health professionals, researchers, statisticians, data scientists, health programmers, policymakers, medical students, graduate and postgraduate students in public health and related disciplines.

The aim of this book is to give you a thorough grounding in, and comprehensive overview of the role of public health in the management of disasters, including the requisite preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery relating to these situations.The first principle of the health care profession is to protect life. Disasters threaten both life and health, and the predicament of people impacted by disaster is irreconcilable with the World Health Organization's definition of health. For health professionals, the objective of disaster management is to decrease the avoidable mortality, morbidity, and disability resulting from disaster, as well as any damage to health facilities and systems. It is broadly acknowledged that expertise in health and nutrition has been making a significant contribution to disaster management for the last three decades.Devastating pandemics such as the COVID-19 have taught us the critical importance of effective pandemic preparedness, the strengthening, resilience and sustainability of health systems. The COVID-19 pandemic left not only patients and the general public with unanswered questions, but also healthcare practitioners and political decision-makers.This book will give you a theoretical awareness of the effects of natural and man-made disasters on society, as well as a detailed foundation in the requirements of public health prior to, during, and after occurrence. Specifically, the following topics are covered in this book: introduction to disasters; mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery; disaster risk management and humanitarian assistance; sudden onset natural disasters; biological hazards - epidemics, epizootics and pests; technological and socioeconomic hazards; food shortages and slow onset natural crises; and food relief.A holistic and critical approach to the disaster cycle/disaster-development continuum may provide a better opportunity to address the root cause of vulnerability, but an uncritical strategy may do more harm than good. The concept of vulnerability or vulnerable groups should not inadvertently create the risk of group discrimination but paying attention to the root causes of the dynamism and vulnerability of certain groups could provide us with lasting solutions for disaster management. Recovery, mitigation and preparedness are essential, but planning, leadership and coordination are crucial to ensure that there is effective and sustainable disaster reduction.Climate change has an influence in extreme weather events resulting in disasters, and this needs urgent interventions in the context of disaster management, while also bearing in mind that there are constraints and challenges with regard to addressing the issue of climate change and its influence on disasters.There needs to be prioritisation of psychological consequences for disaster preparedness and response, while at the same time we also need to be cautious of instrumentalising decisions because managing disaster may be complex, multidimensional and individually unique. The health sector can best contribute to mitigation against and preparation for possible future food shortage crises by influencing political decision-making and facilitating multi-stakeholder partnerships to ensure that there is adequate resource allocation and capacity to address the issue of food shortages.The known strategies and frameworks of mitigation against and preparation for future food shortage crises are all important, but we need to be aware that nutritional concerns in low- and middle-income countries are diverse, and the burden of diseases can complicate the whole picture and create a novelty of food shortage. Early warning systems can be more useful if they are linked to and complemented by timely response mechanisms.

"We must be led by those who have mastery of the skills to mobilize, coordinate and direct broad collaborative actions within the complex public health system. These skills need constant refinement and honing" - South West Public Health Leadership Institute.Whatever the system, plan, strategy, intervention, or procedure, the client's well-being should be the primary consideration. This book on efficacy, effectiveness, and efficiency in the management of health systems, aims to convey a critical understanding on the importance of proper management of health systems so that challenges are prevented or identified and solved in real time, and to eliminate steps or processes that do not add value."Efficacy is getting things done or the capacity to produce a desired amount of the desired effect or success in achieving a given goal". "Efficiency is doing things in the most economical way". "Effectiveness is doing the right things, such as setting targets to achieve an overall goal or the effect". In that context, critical perspectives of the usefulness and limitations of modern managerial methods, health systems management and delivery of health services within them, will be presented. The ultimate goal is to ensure that public health goals and objectives are achieved through effective, efficient, equitable, relevant, responsive, resilient, strengthened, and sustainable health systems, for better health for all. The big questions are: How healthy is the healthy system? What needs to be done to strengthen and sustain the health system? When and how is it going to be done? Who will lead and manage, and how? Who are the key stakeholders, and why? How and when are the key stakeholders going to be meaningfully involved? How long would it take for improvement to be visible in the health system? Who will measure, and how?The discussions are a searching and enlightening freshly packaged critical perspectives on the development, design, delivery, strengths and limitations of modern managerial methods, and evaluation of health systems within various international settings. This book will be of value to leaders, managers, policymakers, healthcare professionals, academic staff, students, and any other person who wants to learn more about effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of health systems, organisational health, and strategic leadership. Topics covered in this book include: understanding health systems, comparison of health systems, nature and scope of health management, evaluation of health systems and health systems management, organisation and financing of health systems, organisational and management processes within health systems, strategy and strategic thinking, strategic leadership, implementation theory and practice.

Life is difficult! But you can decide and choose to make life an amazing and worthwhile journey. Every person has a unique journey and purpose in life. Be at peace with where you are along that journey while you simultaneously maintain a healthy sense of urgency to take action every day along the trajectory to get where you want to go. Use your talents to serve and make the most of life. Set your own goals and do not measure yourself against others. Be a game changer and inspire others in the way you think and in the way you live your life, in your relationships, in your calling, in your career, in your business, and in all other spheres of your life. Be yourself, but a better version of yourself. The mental shift can help you towards living your dream. Be the best you can be.The most important lesson is to understand life, not to have a priori judgements about it. If you are alive, you are perfect even in your imperfections. No matter what is going on around you, all that matters is what is going on inside you. Make an investment in yourself by taking care of your health and wellbeing, having interests, a calling, a career, and a self that functions gracefully inside or outside of a relationship. Do not elevate frustrations to the level of catastrophes. Most of them are merely irritations - treat them that way and you will find that even the greyest bad days will take on a rosier hue. Value yourself, embrace challenges with poise, breakdown physical and mental barriers, and look at things with a different perspective. There is a reason why you are where you are. Yours is to understand the reason. Happiness is a choice and a decision, no matter what is going on. Embrace all of life.The purpose of this book is to help you find the way that is right for you. By examining the messages that your upbringing delivered to you, by trying to understand and discover yourself, by trying to comprehend the complexity of your relationships with parents, siblings, relatives, lovers, in-laws, friends, colleagues, clients, business partners and employees, you will, I hope, gain greater insight into who you are. You will see how letting go of negative perceptions of yourself and replacing them with positive ones can create conditions where you can define yourself and do for yourself.This book will be of benefit to people of all walks of life. If this book could touch you, encourage you, inspire you, and challenge you to be the best you can be, awakening you to the realisation that life is now, it would have achieved its purpose. Topics covered in this book include: the art of living; emotional fitness; finding meaning and making the most of life; the wisdom of health and wellbeing; common issues affecting people; journey of self-discovery and self-efficacy; financial empowerment; self-compassion; building your self-esteem and self-confidence; thought person re-engineering; empowering ideas to enable positive change; self-improvement; improving the way you think; the relationship road; when the healing is not happening; peace above the storm; pearls of happiness; and blueprint of the new and better you.