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When real-estate prices were skyrocketing in the 1990s and 2000s, the idea of stashing away three to sixth months worth of income in cash seemed wasteful to many investors. As a result, people started relying on their...

[...]people started relying on their home-equity line of credit and credit cards to pay for emergency expenses.

[...]people started relying on their home-equity line of credit and credit cards to pay for emergency expenses.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, aka NIOSH, is the federal government agency responsible for certifying respirators. According to OSHA respiratory protection standards, half-mask respirator with OV cartridges typically provides adequate protection against exposures to lower levels (no more than 10 times the permissible exposure limits established by OSHA) of organic vapors, such as those present when working with many oil-based paints, stains, strippers, and solvents. Curtis Chambers is a board-certified safety professional (CSP) with a Master of Science degree in Occupational Safety and Health, as well as 38 years of experience in the field.

IntroductionThe Covid-19 pandemic severely disrupted healthcare services. In March 2020, the government announced the ‘Everyone In’ initiative to support everyone rough sleeping or in accommodation where they could not self-isolate, into safe, emergency accommodation. This presented an opportunity to offer treatment to a vulnerable cohort of individuals, known to be living with hepatitis C, who had previously not engaged with services to access treatment.MethodsFrom April to July 2020, the UHCW hepatitis team, in collaboration with members of the community drug and alcohol service, Change, Grow, Live (CGL), developed a virtual care pathway for service users known to be living with hepatitis C. Patients with a positive Hepatitis C RNA test, either by dried blood spot test or historic venous bloods were identified from CGL records. Service users were given mobile phones by CGL; patients were informed of their appointment by text and encouraged to keep their phones on. If necessary, multiple attempts at contact were made. Following an initial virtual assessment by the hepatitis CNS, treatment decisions were made at a remotely held hepatitis C MDT. Where genotypes were known, directly acting anti-viral agents (DAAs) were offered in accordance with the NHSE run rate card; others were offered pan-genotypic medication, with the prior agreement of the Operational Delivery Network (ODN) hub.Individuals who were previously rough sleeping or in accommodation where they could not self-isolate were provided with safe emergency accommodation through the ‘Everyone In’ government directive. Medication was delivered directly to the patients via a homecare delivery service.Regular contact and supportive texts from outreach workers and the hepatitis nurse encouraged compliance with medication. Upon relaxation of lock-down restrictions, patients were offered full physical examination and fibroscan, with referral into hepatology services if cirrhosis identified.Results26 CGL service users were identified as living with hepatitis C, of which 14 had previously failed to engage with our service. Between April 2020 and July 2020, we contacted all 26 patients for assessment and all 26 were commenced on DAAs. 3 patients were lost to follow up but 22/26 (85%) have had a confirmed sustained virological response (SVR).Once community clinics were reinstated, all patients were offered the opportunity for full clinical assessment with fibroscan. 9/26 (35%) patients attended for fibroscan and 2 were found to have evidence of cirrhosis. Both of these patients have subsequently engaged with hepatology follow up.ConclusionsWith many services suspended for COVID-19, the Everyone In initiative afforded an opportunity to prioritise the hepatitis treatment of a vulnerable cohort of individuals. We have demonstrated a successful new pathway using telemedicine and home delivery of DAAs and shown that this can achieve high SVR rates in a population known to engage poorly with treatment services.

Background Economic insecurity during pregnancy is a critical social determinant of maternal and infant health. Traditional public assistance programs often fail to meet the needs of marginalized communities, particularly Black and Pacific Islander (Pasifika) pregnant women and people. Guaranteed income (GI)–unconditional cash transfers for specific populations–has emerged as a potential solution, but little is known about the experiences of participants accessing perinatal GI programs. The current study describes the implementation and acceptability of the San Francisco Abundant Birth Project (ABP), the first perinatal GI pilot program in the U.S. ABP provided $1,000 per month for up to 14 months to 151 Black and Pasifika pregnant individuals in San Francisco, CA, between 2021 and 2024. Methods We conducted a mixed-methods participatory evaluation with a subset of program participants (116 survey and 21 interview participants), and asked about program satisfaction, trust, and experience. Community researchers co-led the study design, data collection, and analysis. Results Participants reported being very satisfied (95.7%) with ABP and felt very respected by the staff (95.7%). A majority (77.5%) trusted ABP to act in their best interest, compared to 9.0% who trusted the government to do the same. While some participants initially doubted that the funds from ABP were unconditional, trust grew over time. Qualitative findings emphasized the importance of ABP’s community-centered design and culturally aligned staff in building trust. Conclusion Findings highlight the value of community-rooted GI programs in fostering trust, dignity, and reimagined models of pregnancy support.

Everyone who speaks of the terrible events of Sept. 11 in terms of proving that they've been right all along --- \"blah blah blah . . . guns,\" \"blah blah blah . . . prayer in schools,\" \"blah blah . . . let's all get xenophobic\" --- dishonors the heroes who have given their time and even their lives to rebuild this country and is a blight on our newfound unity and strength. It's called taking advantage, and it's wrong. Thousands of people died in the disaster, and if there is any deeper meaning or purpose, it is most certainly to bring us together, not to further anyone's political agenda.

Consumers obtain information about foodborne illness prevention from many sources, including television media. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a variety of cooking shows with celebrity chefs to understand their modeling of food safety behaviors. Cooking shows (100 episodes) were watched from 24 celebrity chefs preparing meat dishes. A tabulation of food safety behaviors was made for each show using a checklist. Proper modeling of food safety behaviors was limited, with many incidences of errors. For example, although all chefs washed their hands at the beginning of cooking at least one dish, 88% did not wash (or were not shown washing) their hands after handling uncooked meat. This was compounded with many chefs who added food with their hands (79%) or ate while cooking (50%). Other poor behaviors included not using a thermometer (75%), using the same cutting board to prepare ready-to-eat items and uncooked meat (25%), and other hygiene issues such as touching hair (21%) or licking fingers (21%). This study suggests that there is a need for improvement in demonstrated and communicated food safety behaviors among professional chefs. It also suggests that public health professionals must work to mitigate the impact of poorly modeled behaviors.

Previous research has shown that many consumers do not follow recommended food safety practices for cooking poultry and eggs, which can lead to exposure to Salmonella and Campylobacter. Past research has been done primarily through surveys and interviews, rather than observations. The objective of this project was to determine through observations whether consumers follow food safety guidelines. Consumers (n = 101) divided among three locations (Manhattan, KS; Kansas City, MO area; and Nashville, TN) were observed as they prepared a baked whole chicken breast, a pan-fried ground turkey patty, a fried egg, and scrambled eggs. The end point temperature for the cooked products was taken (outside the view of consumers) within 30 s after the consumers indicated they were finished cooking. Thermometer use while cooking was low, although marginally higher than that of some previous studies: only 37% of consumers used a thermometer for chicken breasts and only 22% for turkey patties. No one used a thermometer for fried or scrambled eggs. Only 77% of the chicken and 69% of the turkey was cooked to a safe temperature (165°F [74°C]), and 77% of scrambled and 49% of fried eggs reached a safe temperature (160°F [71°C]). Safe hand washing was noted in only 40% of respondents after handling the chicken breast and 44% after handling the ground turkey patty. This value decreased to 15% after handling raw eggs for fried eggs and to 17% for scrambled eggs. These results show that there is a high prevalence of unsafe behaviors (undercooking and poor hand washing technique) when cooking poultry and eggs and a great need for improvement in consumer behavior with poultry and eggs.