Canadian Journal of Public Health-revue Canadienne De Sante Publique 

About: Canadian Journal of Public Health-revue Canadienne De Sante Publique is an academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Public health & Population. It has an ISSN identifier of 0008-4263. Over the lifetime, 6114 publications have been published receiving 102489 citations. The journal is also known as: Revue canadienne de santé publique & CJPH.

Measuring balance in the elderly: validation of an instrument

Abstract: This study assessed the validity of the Balance Scale by examining: how Scale scores related to clinical judgements and self-perceptions of balance, laboratory measures of postural sway and external criteria reflecting balancing ability; if scores could predict falls in the elderly; and how they related to motor and functional performance in stroke patients. Elderly residents (N = 113) were assessed for functional performance and balance regularly over a nine-month period. Occurrence of falls was monitored for a year. Acute stroke patients (N = 70) were periodically rated for functional independence, motor performance and balance for over three months. Thirty-one elderly subjects were assessed by clinical and laboratory indicators reflecting balancing ability. The Scale correlated moderately with caregiver ratings, self-ratings and laboratory measures of sway. Differences in mean Scale scores were consistent with the use of mobility aids by elderly residents and differentiated stroke patients by location of follow-up. Balance scores predicted the occurrence of multiple falls among elderly residents and were strongly correlated with functional and motor performance in stroke patients.

The embodiment of inequity: health disparities in aboriginal Canada.

Abstract: Health disparities are, first and foremost, those indicators of a relative disproportionate burden of disease on a particular population. Health inequities point to the underlying causes of the disparities, many if not most of which sit largely outside of the typically constituted domain of “health”. The literature reviewed for this synthesis document indicates that time and again health disparities are directly and indirectly associated with social, economic, cultural and political inequities; the end result of which is a disproportionate burden of ill health and social suffering upon the Aboriginal populations of Canada. In analyses of health disparities, it is as important to navigate the interstices between the person and the wider social and historical contexts as it is to pay attention to the individual effects of inequity. Research and policy must address the contemporary realities of Aboriginal health and well-being, including the individual and community-based effects of health disparities and the direct and indirect sources of those disparities.