Impacts of Smoking Ban Policies on Billiard Hall Sales in South Korea Using Objective Sales Information of a Credit Card Company: Quasi-Experimental Study.

BACKGROUND: Smoking ban policies (SBPs) are potent health interventions and offer the potential to influence antismoking behavior. The Korean government completely prohibited smoking in indoor sports facilities, including billiard halls, since the government revised the National Health Promotion Act in December 2017. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the impact of the SBP on the economic outcomes of indoor sports facilities, particularly billiard halls. METHODS: This study used credit card sales data from the largest card company in South Korea. Data are from January 2017 to December 2018. Monthly sales data were examined across 23 administrative neighborhoods in Seoul, the capital city of South Korea. We conducted the interrupted time series model using the fixed effects model and the linear regression with panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE). RESULTS: The sales and transactions of billiard halls were not significantly changed after the introduction of the SBP in the full PCSE models. The R2 of the full PCSE model was 0.967 for sales and 0.981 for transactions. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of the SBP did not result in substantial economic gains or losses in the sales of billiard halls. In addition to existing price-based policies, the enhanced SBP in public-use facilities, such as billiard halls, can have a positive synergistic effect on reducing smoking prevalence and preventing secondhand smoke. Health policy makers can actively expand the application of SBPs and make an effort to enhance social awareness regarding the necessity and benefits of public SBPs for both smokers and the owners of hospitality facilities.

How immigration detention harms children: A conceptual framework to inform policy and practice.

OBJECTIVE: This paper identifies the multiple adversities and trauma experienced by children who are detained after seeking asylum. A conceptual framework identifies the specific impact of immigration detention on the psychosocial development and mental health of refugee children that can inform policy and prevent additional migration-related trauma. METHOD: The paper draws on international evidence about the impact of childhood adversity, challenges faced by all displaced children, and the additional negative consequences of immigration detention. It integrates socioecological, temporal, and relational approaches to identify the pathways through which detention of forcibly displaced children causes preventable harm. The public health and human rights implications are identified. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: The framework draws on Bronfenbrenner's socioecological model and has the child, their development, and experience at the center. Refugee children are exposed to cumulative adversity during displacement, flight, and resettlement. Immigration detention is associated with multiple additional adversities and human rights violations. International and national contexts and the detention environment impact on family functioning and directly on the child's well-being. CONCLUSIONS: Immigration detention is a preventable and profoundly negative reception experience for already vulnerable children. It is unavoidably associated with multiple additional adverse exposures with significant health and public health consequences. The proposed framework demonstrates adversity in each socioecological sphere of the detained child's life and across time. The framework can inform migration, child protection, and public health policy. Advocacy and political action to end this practice are urgently required to prevent further harm. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Firearm Ownership and Support for Political Violence in the United States.

Importance: Little is known about support for and willingness to engage in political violence in the United States. Such violence would likely involve firearms. Objective: To evaluate whether firearm owners' and nonowners' support for political violence differs and whether support among owners varies by type of firearms owned, recency of purchase, and frequency of carrying a loaded firearm in public. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional nationally representative survey study was conducted from May 13 to June 2, 2022, among US adult members of the Ipsos KnowledgePanel, including an oversample of firearm owners. Exposure: Firearm ownership vs nonownership. Main Outcomes and Measures: Main outcomes concern (1) support for political violence, in general and to advance specific political objectives; (2) personal willingness to engage in political violence, by severity of violence and target population; and (3) perceived likelihood of firearm use in political violence. Outcomes are expressed as weighted proportions and adjusted prevalence differences, with P values adjusted for the false-discovery rate and reported as q values. Results: The analytic sample comprised 12 851 respondents: 5820 (45.3%) firearm owners, 6132 (47.7%) nonowners without firearms at home, and 899 (7.0%) nonowners with firearms at home. After weighting, 51.0% (95% CI, 49.9%-52.1%) were female, 8.5% (95% CI, 7.5%-9.5%) Hispanic, 9.1% (95% CI, 8.1%-10.2%) non-Hispanic Black, and 62.6% (95% CI, 61.5%-63.8%) non-Hispanic White; the mean (SD) age was 48.5 (18.0) years. Owners were more likely than nonowners without firearms at home to consider violence usually or always justified to advance at least 1 of 17 specific political objectives (owners: 38.8%; 95% CI, 37.3%-40.4%; nonowners: 29.8%; 95% CI, 28.5%-31.2%; adjusted difference, 6.5 percentage points; 95% CI, 4.5-9.3 percentage points; q < .001) but were not more willing to engage in political violence. Recent purchasers, owners who always or nearly always carry loaded firearms in public, and to a lesser extent, owners of assault-type rifles were more supportive of and willing to engage in political violence than other subgroups of firearm owners. Conclusions and Relevance: In this study of support for political violence in the United States, differences between firearm owners and nonowners without firearms at home were small to moderate when present. Differences were greater among subsets of owners than between owners and nonowners. These findings can guide risk-based prevention efforts.

Racial Disparity in Social Work Professional Licensure Exam Pass Rates: Examining Institutional Characteristics and State Licensure Policy as Predictors.

PURPOSE: The Association of Social Work Boards (2022a) released a report evidencing test-taker demographics as the strongest predictor of professional licensure exam pass-rates. The purpose of this study was to examine statistical predictors of social work professional licensure exam pass rate disparities between first-time Black/African American and White test-takers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study addressed the following research question: To what extent do institutional and state licensure characteristics predict race-based disparities in social work licensure exam pass rates? To answer this question, the authors built a data set in an Excel spreadsheet comprised of institutional and state licensure variables using publicly available and reliable sources. RESULTS: States requiring more clinical supervision hours and imposing higher licensure fees tended to report higher overall pass rates on the ASWB exam. Additionally, a notable correlation was found between states with a higher proportion of Black/African American residents and increased pass rates. Conversely, states that had established a larger number of licensure tiers typically saw lower overall pass rates. Furthermore, it was noted that schools located in the Southern U.S. demonstrated significantly lower ASWB pass rates compared to schools in other regions of the country. DISCUSSION: Recommendations are made regarding future research efforts and professional licensure and regulation standards. CONCLUSION: Pass rate disparities have implications for individual exam-takers and their families; for clients and constituencies; and for social work practice, research, ethics, and education.

Palliative and hegemonic dimensions of conservatism: the mitigating role of institutional trust in shaping attitudes toward migrants and migration policy preferences.

The study explores the links between palliative and hegemonic dimensions of conservatism, attitudes toward migrants and restrictive migration policy preferences. Participants reported on their palliative dimension (social conservatism, traditionalism) and hegemonic dimension (social dominance orientation, collective narcissism) of conservatism, trust in government, attitudes toward migrants, and restrictive migration policy preferences. The results show that both dimensions of conservatism are indirectly linked to more restrictive migration policy preferences through negative attitudes toward migrants. Moreover, the present study indicates that increasing institutional trust may be an effective mechanism mitigating negative attitudes toward migrants for individuals high in the palliative dimension of conservatism.

Impact of OPTN policy 3.7D providing waiting time modification for candidates affected by race-inclusive eGFR calculations: Early results from a single center.

INTRODUCTION: OPTN Policy 3.7D, implemented January 5, 2023, mandates that all kidney transplant programs modify waiting time for candidates affected by race-inclusive eGFR calculations. We report the early impact of this policy change. METHODS: Our transplant program reviewed all listed transplant candidates and identified patients potentially eligible for waiting time modification. Eligible candidates received waiting time modification after submission of supporting evidence to the OPTN. We reviewed the impact on waiting time and transplant activity through October 1, 2023. RESULTS: Forty-six adult patients on our center's active waiting list self-identified as Black/African American. 25 (54.3%) candidates qualified for waiting time modification. A median 451 (321, 1543.5) additional days of waiting time was added for qualifying patients. Of the 25 patients who qualified for waiting time modification, 11 patients received a deceased donor kidney in the early period following waiting time modification, including 5 patients transplanted within 1 month after modification. CONCLUSIONS: Policy 3.7D is one of few national mandates to address specifically structural racism within transplantation. Implementation has yielded near immediate effects with greater than 40% of time-adjusted patients at our center receiving a deceased donor kidney transplant in the initial months after policy enactment. Early assessment demonstrates great potential impact for this policy.

The Political Economy of Digital Health Equity: Structural Analysis.

Digital technologies have produced many innovations in care delivery and enabled continuity of care for many people when in-person care was impossible. However, a growing body of research suggests that digital health can also exacerbate health inequities for those excluded from its benefits for reasons of cost, digital literacy, and structural discrimination related to characteristics such as age, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. In this paper, we draw on a political economy perspective to examine structural barriers to progress in advancing digital health equity at the policy level. Considering the incentive structures and investments of powerful actors in the field, we outline how characteristics of neoliberal capitalism in Western contexts produce and sustain digital health inequities by describing 6 structural challenges to the effort to promote health equity through digital health, as follows: (1) the revenue-first incentives of technology corporations, (2) the influence of venture capital, (3) inequitable access to the internet and digital devices, (4) underinvestment in digital health literacy, (5) uncertainty about future reimbursement of digital health, and (6) justified mistrust of digital health. Building on these important challenges, we propose future immediate and long-term directions for work to support meaningful change for digital health equity.

Determination of nurses' happiness, hope, future expectations, and the factors influencing them: a descriptive study that can guide policy development to prevent nurse migration.

BACKGROUND: The happiness and hopefulness of nurses are not only known that contribute to their emotional well-being but also professional creativity, improve the quality of nursing services and organizational performance. Therefore, knowing which factors affect nurses' mental well-being and future expectations can provide information for nursing workforce planning policies. This study was conducted to determination of Nurses' happiness, hope, and future expectations and the factors influencing them. METHOD: 326 nurses from 52 provinces of Turkey participated in this descriptive study. The data collection instruments included a Demographic Characteristics Form and questions from the Turkish Statistical Institute's Life Satisfaction Survey to assess overall happiness, hope, and expectation levels. The study data was collected using an e-survey prepared through Google Forms in line with the principle of voluntarism. In the study adhered to the EQUATOR checklist for descriptive studies. RESULTS: The average scores for overall happiness, hope, and future expectations among the participating nurses were found to be 2.34 ± 0.98, 2.22 ± 0.95, and 1.26 ± 0.54, respectively. It was determined that the levels of happiness, hope, and future expectations of nurses are influenced by satisfaction with income, income's ability to meet needs, and personal development over the last five years. CONCLUSION: The study concluded that the overall happiness and hope levels of nurses are low, while their future expectations are at a moderate level. Satisfaction with income affects the happiness and hope levels of nurses. Three quarters of the nurses participating in the study want to work abroad. This situation may lead to a need for qualified nurses in the future.

Navigating University Openness in Research Policy Inconsistent with Indigenous Data Sovereignty: A Case Analysis.

Indigenous nations and communities in the United States have rights as sovereign governments to exercise control and ownership over all data and information generated by or from the tribes, tribal members, or tribal resources. Indigenous nations exercise these rights through data ownership policies established in response to unethical research practices in research involving Indigenous communities. Most universities in the U.S. have "openness in research" policies to ensure academic freedom to publish freely, exercised by retaining university control of data. Here, we describe our study of cultural ecosystem services in the St. Louis River estuary region (Nagaajiwanaang in the language Ojibwemowin) in Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin, U.S., an area that includes portions of the 1854 and 1842 Ceded Territories and reservation lands of a local band of Ojibwe (hereafter referred to as "the Band"). In this university-led, Band-supported study, both the university and the Band sought ownership of data collected based on their respective policies, resulting in a research delay of nearly a year. We found that open research policies that do not consider Indigenous sovereignty can hamper collaboration between university researchers and tribal nations, even when there is broad agreement on research goals and objectives. University open research policies that do not explicitly address Indigenous sovereignty fall short of the open research principles they intend to support and should be revised. Formal adoption of principles for ethical research with sovereign tribal governments by universities is needed to improve coordination and trust among university and tribal researchers and members.

The effect of immigration policy reform on mental health in people from minoritised ethnic groups in England: an interrupted time series analysis of longitudinal data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study cohort.

BACKGROUND: In 2012, the UK Government announced a series of immigration policy reforms known as the hostile environment policy, culminating in the Windrush scandal. We aimed to investigate the effect of the hostile environment policy on mental health for people from minoritised ethnic backgrounds. We hypothesised that people from Black Caribbean backgrounds would have worse mental health relative to people from White ethnic backgrounds after the Immigration Act 2014 and the Windrush scandal media coverage in 2017, since they were particularly targeted. METHODS: Using data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, we performed a Bayesian interrupted time series analysis, accounting for fixed effects of confounders (sex, age, urbanicity, relationship status, number of children, education, physical or mental health impairment, housing, deprivation, employment, place of birth, income, and time), and random effects for residual temporal and spatial variation. We measured mental ill health using a widely used, self-administered questionnaire on psychological distress, the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). We compared mean differences (MDs) and 95% credible intervals (CrIs) in mental ill health among people from minoritised ethnic groups (Black Caribbean, Black African, Indian, Bangladeshi, and Pakistani) relative to people of White ethnicity during three time periods: before the Immigration Act 2014, after the Immigration Act 2014, and after the start of the Windrush scandal media coverage in 2017. FINDINGS: We included 58 087 participants with a mean age of 45·0 years (SD 34·6; range 16-106), including 31 168 (53·6%) female and 26 919 (46·3%) male participants. The cohort consisted of individuals from the following ethnic backgrounds: 2519 (4·3%) Black African, 2197 (3·8%) Black Caribbean, 3153 (5·4%) Indian, 1584 (2·7%) Bangladeshi, 2801 (4·8%) Pakistani, and 45 833 (78·9%) White. People from Black Caribbean backgrounds had worse mental health than people of White ethnicity after the Immigration Act 2014 (MD in GHQ-12 score 0·67 [95% CrI 0·06-1·28]) and after the 2017 media coverage (1·28 [0·34-2·21]). For Black Caribbean participants born outside of the UK, mental health worsened after the Immigration Act 2014 (1·25 [0·11-2·38]), and for those born in the UK, mental health worsened after the 2017 media coverage (2·00 [0·84-3·15]). We did not observe effects in other minoritised ethnic groups. INTERPRETATION: Our finding that the hostile environment policy worsened the mental health of people from Black Caribbean backgrounds in the UK suggests that sufficient, appropriate mental health and social welfare support should be provided to those affected. Impact assessments of new policies on minority mental health should be embedded in all policy making. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust.

The contribution of Dutch municipalities to stimulate smoke-free outdoor sports clubs: a qualitative study.

Local governments may play a key role in making outdoor sports clubs smoke free. This study aims to assess the activities, motives, challenges and strategies of Dutch municipalities regarding stimulating outdoor sports clubs to become smoke free. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 policy officers of different municipalities in the Netherlands. The included municipalities varied in terms of region, population size and degree of urbanization. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Municipalities stimulated sports clubs to become smoke free by providing information and support and, to a lesser extent, by using financial incentives. Motives of municipalities varied from facilitating a healthy living environment for youth, responding to denormalization of smoking and aligning with goals formulated in national prevention policy. Policy officers faced several challenges, including limited capacity and funds, a reluctance to interfere with sports clubs and little support within the municipal organization. These challenges were addressed by employing various strategies such as embedding smoke-free sports in a broader preventive policy, setting a good example by creating outdoor smoke-free areas around municipal buildings, and collaborating with stakeholders in the municipality to join forces in realizing smoke-free sports clubs. Municipalities demonstrated evident motivation to contribute to a smoke-free sports environment. Currently, most municipalities fulfil an informative and supportive role, while some municipalities still explore their role and position in relation to supporting sports clubs to become smoke free. Other municipalities have established, according to them, effective strategies.

Examining racial and ethnic heat exposure disparities in New York City (NYC) across different spatial and political scales through geographic effect measure modification.

Structural racism in the United States has resulted in neighborhoods with higher proportions of non-Hispanic Black (Black) or Hispanic/Latine residents having more features that intensify, and less that cool, the local-heat environment. This study identifies areas of New York City (NYC) where racial/ethnic heat exposure disparities are concentrated. We analyzed data from the 2013-2017 American Community Survey, U.S Landsat-8 Analysis Ready Data on summer surface temperatures, and NYC Land Cover Dataset at the census tract-level (n = 2098). Four cross-sectional regression modeling strategies were used to estimate the overall City-wide association, and associations across smaller intra-city areas, between tract-level percent of Black and percent Hispanic/Latine residents and summer day surface temperature, adjusting for altitude, shoreline, and nature-cover: overall NYC linear, borough-specific linear, Community District-specific linear, and geographically weighted regression models. All three linear regressions identified associations between neighborhood racial and ethnic composition and summer day surface temperatures. The geographically weighted regression models, which address the issue of spatial autocorrelation, identified specific locations (such as northwest Bronx, central Brooklyn, and uptown Manhattan) within which racial and ethnic disparities for heat exposures are concentrated. Through examining the overall effects and geographic effect measure modification across spatial scales, the results of this study identify specific geographic areas for intervention to mitigate heat exposure disparities experienced by Black and Hispanic/Latine NYC residents.

Market making and the production of nurses for export: a case study of India-UK health worker migration.

BACKGROUND: High-income countries increasingly look to the international recruitment of health workers to address domestic shortages, especially from low-income and middle-income countries. We adapt conceptual frameworks from migration studies to examine the networked and commercialised nature of the Indian market for nurse migration to the UK. METHODS: We draw on data from 27 expert interviews conducted with migration intermediaries, healthcare providers and policymakers in India and the UK. FINDINGS: India-UK nurse migration occurs within a complex and evolving market encompassing ways to educate, train and recruit nursing candidates. For-profit actors shape the international orientation of nursing curricula, broker on-the-job training and offer language, exam and specialised clinical training. Rather than merely facilitate travel, these brokers produce both generic, emigratory nurses as well as more customised nurses ready to meet specific shortages in the UK. DISCUSSION: The dialectic of producing emigratory and customised nurses is similar to that seen in the Post-Fordist manufacturing model characterised by flexible specialisation and a networked structure. As the commodity in this case are people attempting to improve their position in life, these markets require attention from health policy makers. Nurse production regimes based on international market opportunities are liable to change, subjecting nurses to the risk of having trained for a market that can no longer accommodate them. The commercial nature of activities further entrenches existing socioeconomic inequalities in the Indian nurse force. Negative repercussions for the source healthcare system can be anticipated as highly qualified, specialised nurses leave to work in healthcare systems abroad.

Immigration, policies of integration and healthcare expenditure: A longitudinal analysis of the INHS (2002‒2018).

BACKGROUND: Immigration has become a structural phenomenon in Italy, a country reputed as being 'immigrant-friendly'. The increase in the proportion of immigrants has led to increasing efforts to design and implement health policies throughout the country while controlling public spending. METHOD: Being interested in both the cross-sectional and time series dimensions of analysis, we used a PVAR (Panel Vector Autoregression) model, which combines the VAR technique with panel data models, to estimate the impact of regular immigration on health expenditure. FINDINGS: Our results confirm that an increase in the share of regular immigrants in the total population decreases the amount of aggregate public health expenditure. CONCLUSION: Despite the intense activity by Italian governments on social and health integration policies for immigrants, policymakers may focus more on the implementation of national policies at regional and local levels, on their costs and with a specific focus on undocumented immigrants.

Mental health, ethnicity and the UK armed forces: Historical lessons for research and policy.

BACKGROUND: UK armed forces have recruited from other races and ethnicities at times of crisis. To meet diversity targets, they have also recruited indigenous groups of non-White British heritage. Considered at greater risk of mental health problems generally, these populations are likely to suffer more in combat and in transition to civilian life. Yet, there is little data on how they fare. METHODS: A scoping review was conducted of peer-reviewed studies of psychological illnesses suffered by racial and ethnic minority soldiers from World War One to the present, together with research at the National Archives, Wellcome Trust Archives and the Imperial War Museum for unpublished studies. RESULTS: British commanders and psychiatrists argued that 'martial races' were protected against post-traumatic illnesses because of an innate resilience related to a rural heritage. Consequently, low morale and breakdown were interpreted as malingering to avoid combat. Indian troops received lower levels of psychiatric care than provided for British soldiers delivered with limited cultural understanding. Inferior terms and conditions were offered to Indian soldiers with lesser opportunities for promotion. These practices, established in both World Wars, continued for Gurkha and Commonwealth soldiers recruited to meet manpower and diversity targets. Disproportionate complaints of discrimination may explain why ethnic minority status is a risk factor for mental illness. CONCLUSION: Management patterns laid down during the Imperial era continue to influence current practice for ethnic minority service personnel. Yet, armed forces can play a positive role in fostering diversity and integration to provide protective factors against mental illness.

Trends in dental visits among US adults from 1997 through 2019: Implications for policy reform.

BACKGROUND: Examination of serial cross-sectional national surveys from a representative sample of the population can identify patterns and help support policy development. METHODS: The authors used data from the National Health Interview Survey on US adults reporting a dental visit in the past 12 months to examine trends from 1997 through 2019. Groups analyzed were based on sociodemographic factors including residence in a metropolitan statistical area, race and ethnicity, family income level, and geographic region. RESULTS: Over the 23-year period, the authors found differences for family income level, living in a rural (nonmetropolitan vs metropolitan) area, race and ethnicity, and geographic region (P < .0001). When stratified by family income, racial disparities have diminished. Gaps in dental service use are long-standing for rural nonmetropolitan communities. CONCLUSIONS: Relative to urban locales, rural communities experienced persistent disparities in the use of the oral health care delivery system throughout the 23 years measured. Strategies to create innovative models of care are needed to address oral health needs in underserved rural communities. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Policy is needed to foster a shift toward population health that will incentivize a health care system that reduces financial barriers and enhances health outcomes for adult oral health, especially for rural areas.

The relationship between political ideology and judgements of bias in distributional outcomes.

We examine judgements of bias in distributional outcomes. Such judgements are often based on imbalance in distributional outcomes, namely, the under- or over-representation of a target group relative to some baseline. Using data from 26 studies (N = 14,925), we test how these judgements of bias vary with the target group's characteristics (traditionally dominant or non-dominant) and the observer's political ideology (liberal or conservative). We find that conservatives set a higher threshold for recognizing bias against traditionally non-dominant targets (women, Black people, immigrants), as compared with liberals. Conversely, liberals set a higher threshold for recognizing bias against traditionally dominant targets (men, white people, native-born citizens), as compared with conservatives. However, these relationships between political ideology and judgements of bias diminish when the targets are unknown or ideologically irrelevant. These findings emphasize the context-dependency of bias judgements and underscore the importance of stimulus sampling and appropriate selection of controls.

Extending Driver's Licenses to Undocumented Immigrants: Comparing Perinatal Outcomes Following This Policy Shift.

Research shows that restrictive immigration policies and practices are associated with poor health, but far less is known about the relationship between inclusive immigration policies and health. Using data from the United States natality files, we estimate associations between state laws granting undocumented immigrants access to driver's licenses and perinatal outcomes among 4,047,067 singleton births to Mexican and Central American immigrant birthing people (2008-2021). Fitting multivariable log binomial and linear models, we find that the implementation of a license law is associated with improvements in low birthweight and mean birthweight. Replicating these analyses among U.S.-born non-Hispanic White birthing people, we find no association between the implementation of a license law and birthweight. These findings support the hypothesis that states' extension of legal rights to immigrants improves the health of the next generation.