Saint Louis University

About: Saint Louis University is a education organization based out in St Louis, Missouri, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 18927 authors who have published 34895 publications receiving 1267475 citations. The organization is also known as: SLU & St. Louis University.

Public health program capacity for sustainability: a new framework

Abstract: Public health programs can only deliver benefits if they are able to sustain activities over time. There is a broad literature on program sustainability in public health, but it is fragmented and there is a lack of consensus on core constructs. The purpose of this paper is to present a new conceptual framework for program sustainability in public health. This developmental study uses a comprehensive literature review, input from an expert panel, and the results of concept-mapping to identify the core domains of a conceptual framework for public health program capacity for sustainability. The concept-mapping process included three types of participants (scientists, funders, and practitioners) from several public health areas (e.g., tobacco control, heart disease and stroke, physical activity and nutrition, and injury prevention). The literature review identified 85 relevant studies focusing on program sustainability in public health. Most of the papers described empirical studies of prevention-oriented programs aimed at the community level. The concept-mapping process identified nine core domains that affect a program’s capacity for sustainability: Political Support, Funding Stability, Partnerships, Organizational Capacity, Program Evaluation, Program Adaptation, Communications, Public Health Impacts, and Strategic Planning. Concept-mapping participants further identified 93 items across these domains that have strong face validity—89% of the individual items composing the framework had specific support in the sustainability literature. The sustainability framework presented here suggests that a number of selected factors may be related to a program’s ability to sustain its activities and benefits over time. These factors have been discussed in the literature, but this framework synthesizes and combines the factors and suggests how they may be interrelated with one another. The framework presents domains for public health decision makers to consider when developing and implementing prevention and intervention programs. The sustainability framework will be useful for public health decision makers, program managers, program evaluators, and dissemination and implementation researchers.

Management of agitation and aggression associated with Alzheimer disease

Abstract: Agitation and aggression are frequently occurring and distressing behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). These symptoms are disturbing for individuals with Alzheimer disease, commonly confer risk to the patient and others, and present a major management challenge for clinicians. The most widely prescribed pharmacological treatments for these symptoms-atypical antipsychotics-have a modest but significant beneficial effect in the short-term treatment (over 6-12 weeks) of aggression but limited benefits in longer term therapy. Benefits are less well established for other symptoms of agitation. In addition, concerns are growing over the potential for serious adverse outcomes with these treatments, including stroke and death. A detailed consideration of other pharmacological and nonpharmacological approaches to agitation and aggression in patients with Alzheimer disease is, therefore, imperative. This article reviews the increasing evidence in support of psychological interventions or alternative therapies (such as aromatherapy) as a first-line management strategy for agitation, as well as the potential pharmacological alternatives to atypical antipsychotics-preliminary evidence for memantine, carbamazepine, and citalopram is encouraging.