Journal of Public Health

BackgroundCommunity safety is a key determinant of mental well-being, yet racially and ethnically minoritised communities in the UK often face higher exposure to violence alongside barriers to formal protection and support. In these contexts, informal support networks may play a critical role in shaping how safety is experienced and how distress is managed. Although such networks are widely recognised as protective for mental well-being, there is limited qualitative research examining how they o...

IntroductionNational trends in youth suicide risk may mask significant regional variations within a country. This article attempts to account for spatio-temporal trends through a comparative analysis across South America and Europe. This paper analyzes the spatiotemporal patterns in suicide mortality among young people (10-29 years) in Argentina, Chile, Spain, and Uruguay during the period 1997-2021. MethodsOfficial data from vital statistics and population censuses of the four countries were a...

ObjectiveExplore self-reported racial discrimination in healthcare. MethodsRepresentative population sample, Switzerland, repeated cross-sectional data 2016 to 2024 (N=15,525). ResultsContrary to expectation, respondents from the migration-related population (foreign citizens, foreign born, migration background, first/second generation) report less racial discrimination than members of the majority population. Over time, we see an increase in the non migration-related population reporting (rac...

IntroductionThe wellbeing of university undergraduates is a pressing area of concern, with one in five students reporting serious psychological distress. In previous semesters of a course on mental wellbeing, we asked undergraduates to engage with a standardized wellness program for the general population and provide feedback through weekly surveys and a final reflection paper. Based on these responses, we developed the 30-day, course-embedded Spaces program to more specifically address college ...

Young people are increasingly remaining in the parental home for longer - a trend associated with poorer mental health. There is little evidence on this transition for young people with disability. We used three waves of the Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset, a 5% sample of linked Census records. Two analyses compared transitions between 2011-2016 and 2016-2021 among people 15-34y living with parents at baseline with complete data on disability and housing. The proportion of people no longe...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly positioned as a transformative tool in education and health. Yet empirical evidence on AI readiness in low-and middle-income countries, particularly among youth, remains scarce. This study examined patterns of adoption, equity determinants, and ethical awareness among Ghanaian youth to inform responsible AI integration in education and health systems. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 200 youth aged 18-35 years in Ghana. Descriptive statist...

Nurses represent the largest segment of the United States healthcare workforce and played an instrumental role in the countrys response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, little attention has been given to the contribution of this component of the U.S. medical personnel in the nations ability to face public health crisis. We present a cross-sectional, ecological analysis using cumulative annual reports from different national databases to assess the relationship between registered nurse (RN) density...

BackgroundWorking while sick (presenteeism) with an infectious disease contributes to the spread of infections and is detrimental to productivity. Respiratory illnesses are a common cause of sickness in the working population and understanding the prevalence of presenteeism linked to respiratory illness is therefore important. MethodsWinter Covid Infection Study (WCIS) panel members in work aged 18-64 were surveyed in February - March 2024 and asked about presenteeism in the previous 28 days. M...

BackgroundCancer survivors face substantial psychosocial stress in addition to disease-related challenges, often resulting in mood and anxiety disorders. Psycho-oncological interventions, such as group psychotherapy, are key in addressing these issues. Dog-assisted interventions also have the potential to alleviate psychosocial stress. This study aimed at investigating experienced mechanisms of change of a dog-assisted psycho-oncological group intervention (DAPOGI). MethodsAn exploratory cross-...

BackgroundChildren in contact with childrens social care (CSC) services have high levels of hospital utilisation, but patterns before and after referral remain insufficiently understood. ObjectiveTo evaluate healthcare utilisation two years before and after CSC referral. Participants and settingRetrospective cohort using ECHILD linked health and social care data, including children with a first CSC referral between 2009 and 2018 in England. MethodsWe compared monthly planned and unplanned hos...

ObjectiveTo examine racial and ethnic inequities in wealth and health among New York City adults. MethodsWe conducted the 2024 NYC Racial Wealth and Health Gap Survey using a stratified quota sample of 2,866 adults across 11 racial and ethnic groups. Wealth was measured through self-reported assets and debts, and health through self-reported status and psychological distress. We calculated descriptive statistics across groups and used quantile regression to test for significant differences in a...

In death certificates Entity Axis reflects reported death causes in their original order, and Record Axis reflects standardized re-classifications processed with expert rules. Additionally, while conventional mortality statistics consider a single underlying cause ignoring multiple contributing conditions, weighting schemes may consider all listed causes. We evaluated the impact of re-classification and weighting schemes across all 56,986,831 US death certificates from 2003-2023. ICD-10 codes we...

BackgroundShort-term funding initiatives are often used to stimulate innovation and improve service delivery. They are a main source of funding for voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations. However, reliance on these short-term grants can limit their funded activities and sustainability. In 2023, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) set up the Suicide Prevention Grant Fund (SPGF). This was awarded to VCSEs for a single year to deliver diverse, innovative interve...

Academic institutions privilege norms of continuous productivity and uninterrupted availability, creating conformity pressures that systematically disadvantage those who deviate from an implicit template of the ideal academic. This study explores how doctoral students and faculty in the health sciences perceive the reproduction of social homogeneity. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine participants at a German university hospital. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic anal...

Suicide is one of the worlds leading public health problems, with more than 720,000 deaths annually. Suicide has traditionally been studied from an individual perspective. However, research has increasingly highlighted the influence of community-level factors on suicide risk. This study aimed to (1) analyse the spatial distribution of suicide mortality at the provincial level in Spain (2018-2022); (2) perform stratified analyses by sex and age group; and (3) compare suicide risk across differen...

Work-related stress is a major public health issue affecting workers across various sectors. Individuals experiencing work-related stress are more likely to consume psychoactive substances, primarily alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis, as well as psychoactive medications, which may be used as coping mechanisms. Work-related stress is also associated with adverse outcomes such as burnout, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders. In France, early childhood professionals, including "ATSEMs", "animate...

AimSocial functioning is a crucial aspect of psychosocial adaptation following forced displacement. Yet, it has received far less attention than understanding and addressing mental health problems among refugees and asylum-seekers. This study aimed to extend the ecological model of distress - one of the most widely used frameworks in refugee mental health - to social functioning, and to identify direct and indirect pathways from established conflict- and displacement-related factors to social fu...

IntroductionThe 2025 establishment of Singapores Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) as the countrys national public health agency included creation of a One Health Office (OHO). OHOs establishment supports the pre-existing One Health whole-of-government approach, consisting of multisectoral collaborations via five government agencies spanning human, animal, and environment-related health. Singapores One Health approach includes several unique features designed to stimulate preparedness, preventi...

ObjectivesPeople impacted by the criminal-legal system face significant challenges to securing and sustaining permanent housing. This study was designed to assess housing outcomes of an integrated intervention that offered housing, medical, and behavioral health services to individuals with criminal-legal system involvement. MethodsAfter a baseline needs assessment, participants were linked to services and completed quarterly study visits for up to 12 months. We used descriptive statistics to a...

BackgroundNomophobia, characterised by the dread or anxiety of being without access to a mobile phone, has become an increasing behavioural issue among young adults, especially university students. Excessive reliance on smartphones has been linked to psychological suffering, impaired everyday functioning, and negative academic results. Nonetheless, information about the prevalence and determinants of nomophobia among university students in Bangladesh is scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the p...