Social isolation and loneliness are an indication of the number of social supports and the perceived collective quality of those connections. Dr. Mehrete Girmay is a Public Health Analyst based in the U.S. and she remains with the Public Health Insight Podcast to continue our discussion about some of the impacts of social isolation and loneliness on health outcomes, their disproportionate impact on the senior population, and the need for a creative systems-thinking approach that prioritizes equity. 

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Social isolation and loneliness are often used to refer to the same concept, however, in public health research, some important differences exist. Social isolation is more of an objective measure based on the size of one’s social network and the frequency of social interactions. On the other hand, loneliness refers to the subjective discrepancy between one’s desired level of social connection and actual social connection. Dr. Mehrete Girmay joins the Public Health Insight Podcast to discuss the impact of social isolation on population health and their association with premature mortality and chronic diseases.  

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There are many different harm reduction strategies in public health, including wearing seatbelts while in a vehicle or wearing a helmet when riding a bike. Public Health Insight’s Hosts assemble for a captivating discussion on one of the more controversial harm reduction strategies, referred to as Safe Consumption Sites (SCS). In this conversation, we explore the history of SCS, political and ideological opposition to the sites, and its overall societal benefits. The United States is behind many developed countries in terms of implementing legal safe consumption sites, do you think it's time for the U.S to have Safe Consumption Sites?

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Racialized and marginalized populations often disproportionately experience negative health outcomes compared to the broader population; COVID-19 is no exception. Linda Holdbrook joins the Public Health Insight Podcast to continue our conversation on the social determinants of health, with a deeper dive into the role racism plays in population health and how the underlying health disparities have been magnified by the ongoing pandemic.

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The Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) is a central dogma to the field of public health. There are many different definitions of SDOH from reputable organizations, however, in its simplest form, it refers to the social and economic conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age - working as a system to influence the health of populations. Linda Holdbrook joins the Public Health Insight Podcast to discuss some of these SDOH as identified by the World Health Organization and the importance of incorporating these determinants to achieve effective public health practice. As a prelude to our next episode, we ask the question whether racism or racial discrimination, should replace ‘race’ as a social determinant of health. What do you think?

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Abstinence-based messaging and interventions have long been used as the gold standard to deter populations from adopting various types of behaviours that can have detrimental effects on health. However, its limited success in addressing drug addiction and other public health issues has called for a more holistic multi-pronged approach to meet the needs of our modern-day society. Harm reduction is an evidence-based public health strategy that has been implemented to minimize the risk of injury, disease, or death associated with a potentially high-risk or addictive behaviour. Public Health Insight’s Podcast Hosts discuss the underlying principles of harm reduction strategies and the overall weaknesses of stand-alone abstinence-based programs and health promotion campaigns. 

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Systemic racism in institutions such as the healthcare system can amplify already existing racial and ethnic health disparities. For the past decade, cultural competence has been explored as a potential solution to remedy the mistreatment and substandard care often delivered to people of colour, immigrants, and other marginalized populations. Rose Marcelin joins the Public Health Insight Podcast to discuss some of the promising outcomes that may be achieved if cultural competence is integrated into healthcare practice as well as some limitations in scaling up such initiatives. 

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The United States of America’s multi-payer privatized healthcare system is drastically different from Canada’s universal single-payer healthcare system, but why does the U.S spend more on healthcare as a percentage of GDP compared to Canada? Rose Marcelin joins the Public Health Insight Podcast to discuss the nuances of these distinct healthcare systems and the importance of accessibility, affordability, and equality in determining healthcare quality and ultimately population health outcomes.

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Stay tuned next week when we continue our conversation in the next episode on integrating cultural competence in healthcare as an avenue to address health disparities in vulnerable and marginalized populations. 

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Outrage continues in the US and all around the world as a result of George Floyd's death and others at the hands of police brutality, which uncovered how entrenched systemic racism in our society has become, especially anti-black racism... But, what is systemic racism?

In this episode, we explore institutional racism as a social determinant of health and the first steps we need to take.

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Link to Podcast Episode: https://publichealthinsight.buzzsprout.com/1023340/4097753-racism-the-black-experience-and-the-perpetual-fight-for-equality-part-1

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Opioids are a specific class of analgesic drugs that can be found naturally occurring in the opium poppy plant. It has been documented that this drug has been used since the earliest days of civilization to treat severe acute pain and terminally ill patients. Public Health Insight’s public health professionals discuss how overprescribing opioids based on weak evidence and the subsequent efforts to correct these practices in the past created the current opioid epidemic we are now facing in North America. 

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