Diet is one modifiable risk factor for hypertension. The low-sodium DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) eating plan has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. However, there is a lack of available health information on the economic feasibility and cultural acceptability of DASH for low-income African American (AA) populations who are at the most risk for hypertension. An integrative review was conducted to summarize empirical literature on the economic feasibility and cultural acceptability of the DASH plan for low-income AAs using these databases: PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL Complete, AGRICOLA, Web of Science Core Collection, ProQuest’s Dissertations, Theses Citation Index, and Google Scholar. Study elements from articles in the final analysis were extracted. Eleven (11) published works met the study’s inclusion criteria. Major themes were the availability and access of healthy foods, economic impact of obtaining healthy foods, material resources for cooking, food literacy, and the cultural acceptability of the DASH plan. These findings suggest that cost and cultural familiarity inhibit low-income AAs from benefiting from the DASH plan. Additional research is needed to develop and pilot test low-cost, culturally sensitive DASH eating plans for low-income AAs.
Summary: Community‐based policy, systems, and environmental interventions have the potential to reduce modifiable risk factors for obesity early in life. The purpose of this scoping review was to characterize the breadth, generalizability, and methodological quality of community‐based diet and obesity‐related policy, system, and environmental interventions during the first 1000 days of life, from pregnancy to 24 months of age. Eight databases were searched, and 83 studies (122 references) were included. Data were extracted for breadth (intervention characteristics), generalizability (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance), and study quality (Downs and Black Checklist). Systems and environmental approaches were common (> 80%), relative to policy approaches (39%). The majority (60–69%) occurred in the prenatal period and early infancy (0–3 months), assessed breastfeeding or child growth/obesity (53% for both), and included people with lower income (80%) or racial and/or ethnic minority groups (63%). Many interventions reported positive outcomes (i.e., in the expected direction) for child diet, breastfeeding, and feeding practices (> 62%). Few reported intervention maintenance or spanned the full 1000 days. Most studies were classified as good (32%) or fair (56%) methodological quality. The interventions mainly addressed pregnancy and early infancy. Rigorous and representative investigation is needed to improve intervention reach, sustainability, and application in toddlerhood.
OBJECTIVES: Patients who survive critical illness navigate arduous and disparate recovery pathways that include referrals and participation in community-based rehabilitation services. Examining rehabilitation pathways during recovery is crucial to understanding the relationship on patient-centered outcomes. Furthermore, an understanding of social determinants of health (SDOH) in relation to outcomes and rehabilitation use will help ensure equitable access for future care. Therefore, there is a need to define and understand patient care pathways, specifically rehabilitation after discharge, through a SDOH lens after surviving a critical illness to improve long-term outcomes. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate), the CINAHL, and the Physiotherapy Evidence Database. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: A systematic review of the literature was completed examining literature from inception to March 2024. Articles were included if post-hospital rehabilitation utilization was reported in adult patients who survived critical illness. Discharge disposition was examined as a proxy for rehabilitation pathways. Patients were grouped by patient diagnosis for grouped analysis and reporting of data. Two independent researchers reviewed manuscripts for inclusion and data were extracted by one reviewer using Covidence. Both reviewers used the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale to assess risk of bias. DATA SYNTHESIS: Of 72 articles included, only four articles reported detailed rehabilitation utilization. The majority of the studies included were cohort studies (91.7%) with most articles using a retrospective design (56.9%). The most common patient population was acute respiratory diagnoses (51.4%). Most patients were discharged directly home from the hospital (75.4%). Race/ethnicity was the most frequently reported SDOH (43.1%) followed by insurance status (13.9%) and education (13.9%). CONCLUSIONS: The small number of articles describing rehabilitative utilization allows for limited understanding of rehabilitation pathways following critical illness. The reporting of detailed rehabilitation utilization and SDOH are limited in the literature but may play a vital role in the recovery and outcomes of survivors of critical illness.
9 May 2025 in American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
Researchers from a variety of fields engage in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) to explore questions originating from their teaching and learning environments and disseminate the results of their research. Public health is one such field with a growing presence within the SoTL community. Given this, a structured narrative review of public health SoTL was conducted within nine peer-reviewed SoTL journals via an overlapping search technique that utilized both handsearching and the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) database. After removing duplicates and articles that did not meet the criteria for inclusion, 19 identified articles were categorized by discipline, scope, purpose, methods, research question type, and number of research questions addressed. Although the authors acknowledge limitations to this search, it provides a broad review of the current general public health SoTL landscape within SOTL journals and identifies opportunities for researchers to address topical gaps in the literature.