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Best Practices that show evidence of effectiveness in improving public health outcomes when implemented in multiple real-life settings, as indicated by achievement of aims consistent with the objectives of the activities.
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Peer Review Study
According to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the percentage of individuals reporting Long COVID symptoms has decreased from 19% in June 2022 to 11% in January 2023 among those who have had COVID-19. While this decline is notable, 15% of all US adults have reported experiencing Long COVID symptoms at some point, with 6% currently affected. Long COVID continues to pose challenges, including limitations in daily activities for 79% of those affected and potential long-term disabilities. Efforts to address Long COVID include research initiatives and public health actions, but its full impact and the reasons behind the decline in reported cases remain subjects of ongoing study and concern.
Emerging Practices that show potential to achieve desirable public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting and produce early results that are consistent with the objectives of the activities and thus indicate effectiveness.
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Other
The article discusses the challenges and frustrations surrounding Long COVID research in the United States. Despite substantial investments and numerous research efforts, progress in understanding and treating Long COVID has been slow and disappointing. Experts and patient advocates have criticized the research community for its focus on disease development rather than direct patient care, duplication of studies, and a lack of clinical trials. The authors propose a new hypothesis that Long COVID may be a form of post-infectious syndrome or chronic fatigue syndrome, suggesting that traditional biomedical research approaches may not yield meaningful results. Instead, they advocate for a shift towards health services research and measures that directly impact patients’ welfare, including prevention, improved prognosis, access to empathetic care, and quality of life issues. They emphasize the need for collaboration between researchers, patients, and advocacy groups to reset the research agenda effectively.
Emerging Practices that show potential to achieve desirable public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting and produce early results that are consistent with the objectives of the activities and thus indicate effectiveness.
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Summary Report/Recommendations
This report recommends that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) adopt new practices for collecting data on sex, gender, and sexual orientation — including collecting gender data by default, and not conflating gender with sex as a biological variable. The report recommends standardized language to be used in survey questions that ask about a respondent’s sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Better measurements will improve data quality, as well as the NIH’s ability to identify LGBTQI+ populations and understand the challenges they face.
Promising Practices that show evidence of effectiveness in improving public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting, as indicated by achievement of aims consistent with the objectives of the activities, and are suitable for adaptation by other communities.
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Peer Review Study
Members of many underserved communities have long seen worse health outcomes, and this has been exacerbated by COVID-19. This article describes certain strategies that health departments, hospitals, universities, service providers, and others have used to engage and partner with members of underserved communities. In Chicago, health departments, hospitals, service providers, and community organizations formed an alliance that met daily to coordinate services for people experiencing homelessness. The Navajo Nation partnered with health departments and hospitals to create a health command center to get aid to people, test and contact trace, and collect funding. An alliance in Albuquerque used community based participatory research (CBPR) to complete strategic planning regarding mitigating COVID-19 among people experiencing homelessness. Other cities also used CBPR or saw grassroots efforts to partner wit health departments to increase aid and funding to communities with the greatest need.
Emerging Practices that show potential to achieve desirable public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting and produce early results that are consistent with the objectives of the activities and thus indicate effectiveness.
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Implementation Guide
This guidebook was designed to increase equity and access in COVID-19 testing and contact tracing in Virginia. The guidelines included a health equity framework, recommendations for working with communities, common barriers to COVID-19 testing faced by the most at-risk populations, and how to identify areas with unmet testing needs. Descriptions of how to determine appropriate interventions for testing, contact tracing, and building trusting community relationships are included.
Promising Practices that show evidence of effectiveness in improving public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting, as indicated by achievement of aims consistent with the objectives of the activities, and are suitable for adaptation by other communities.
RELEASE DATE:
Peer Review Study
The article outlines biomedical, behavioral, and social/structural interventions to improve HIV prevention and treatment in sexual and gender minority Latinx communities. The authors emphasize the need for a combination of these types of interventions in addressing health issues like HIV and COVID-19.
Promising Practices that show evidence of effectiveness in improving public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting, as indicated by achievement of aims consistent with the objectives of the activities, and are suitable for adaptation by other communities.
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Case Study
This article describes the impact of COVID-19-specific adaptations at two sites delivering a federally funded substance use treatment program for people living with or at-risk of HIV in Massachusetts. The success of the adaptations varied based on the site. For example, the transition to telemedicine was successful at the STI clinic, but not the community-based organization. However, the article does identify some adaptations that were successful in each setting, and the authors report process outcomes for these adaptations. The practice strategy this article is focused on is continuity of care for people with substance use disorder who are living with or at-risk of HIV during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Emerging Practices that show potential to achieve desirable public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting and produce early results that are consistent with the objectives of the activities and thus indicate effectiveness.
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Summary Report/Recommendations
This article identifies best practices and recommendations for providing gender-affirming telepsychology treatment to transgender and gender diverse individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The article discusses ethical and clinical issues for optimizing care. The practice strategy this article is focused on is gender-affirming mental health care.
Promising Practices that show evidence of effectiveness in improving public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting, as indicated by achievement of aims consistent with the objectives of the activities, and are suitable for adaptation by other communities.
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White Paper/Brief
The paper outlines the work of the Gender Harmony Project, which has developed a gender-inclusive Health Level Seven International (HL7) logical model: the HL7 Gender Harmony Model. The Gender Harmony Model is a logical model that provides a standardized approach that is both backwards-compatible and an improvement to the meaningful capture of gender identity, recorded sex or recorded gender, sex for clinical use, the name to use, and pronouns that are affirmative and inclusive of gender-marginalized people. The Gender Harmony Project was formed to create more inclusive health information exchange standards to enable a safer, higher-quality, and embracing healthcare experience. The Gender Harmony Model provides the informative guidance for standards for developers to implement a more thorough technical design that improves the narrow binary design used in many legacy clinical systems.
Promising Practices that show evidence of effectiveness in improving public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting, as indicated by achievement of aims consistent with the objectives of the activities, and are suitable for adaptation by other communities.
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Summary Report/Recommendations
To begin bridging the gap in knowledge about COVID-19 risk among sexual minority adults, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention examined disparities between sexual minority and heterosexual adults in the prevalence of underlying conditions with strong or mixed evidence of associations with severe COVID-19-related illness, by using data from the 2017–2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Collecting data on sexual orientation in COVID-19 surveillance and other studies would improve knowledge about disparities in infection and adverse outcomes by sexual orientation, thereby informing more equitable responses to the pandemic.