Author: Prasantha De Silva
How to deal with COVID19 vaccine hesitancy
COVID 19 vaccine hesitancy is real. It hurts. With Omicron, vaccine hesitancy has become a major roadblock. The problem has gone viral very much like the COVID19 spread. What is COVID 19 vaccine hesitancy? Vaccine hesitancy refers to situations when someone either refuses or delay getting the CVODI19 vaccines. Vaccine…
The third dose may prevent your hospital admission
A group of Isreal researchers have documented hospital admissions due to COVID-19. They have compared the patients’ vaccine status and found that majority did not have the third dose. Following is the graph from their research paper published on The Lancet, October 29, 2021. Following is the link to the…
COVID-19 can be airborne – Reframe your messages
Evidence is growing that COVID-19 can transmit through the air. Need evidence? Julian W Tang et al.’s BMJ article dissects the evidence. Furthermore, governments are changing their health education messages accordingly. In this video clip, the Canadian government are now promoting adequate ventilation as a method of reducing transmission. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZjTT4nrWu4&t=24s
How “upstream-downstream” metaphor helps us
The upstream-downstream metaphor helps to choose the most cost-effective public health interventions. This post curate peer-reviewed articles of which the main focus is the “upstream-downstream” metaphor. 1. The upstream-downstream metaphor to reduce health inequalities In this article Naoimh, E. McMahon , a big fan of the upstream-downstream story, reviews literature…
Public health “Upstream – downstream parable”
Those who know public health know Irving Zola’s “upstream-downstream” parable. Irving Zola is a medical sociologist. His friend, John McKinlay, describes Zola’s parable in his 2019 article1 titled “A case for re-focusing upstream: The political economy of illness”1. The “Upstream boat” sails this upstream path. Following is the reproduction of…
Nudge it: II – Power of the opt-out default option
Think of a situation that you are automatically enrolled for organ donation when you obtain your vehicle license; however, you have the option to “opt-out”. This is a classic “opt-out” default option. Here, you are being nudged for organ donation. Its counterpart option is “opt-in”. In that situation, the default…
Nudge for behavior change- I: Use the E.A.S.T. tool
The above image is a typical road nudge. It draws road users’ attention to two choices; either go straight or turn. The word, nudge, refers to “prod (a gentle push) someone’s elbow gently to draw attention”. This post dips a toe into its ocean of knowledge base. A brief history…
Swiss Cheese Model for COVID-19
The Swiss Cheese Model for COVID 19 is an excellent mental tool to visualize COVID 19 prevention strategies at the system level, bird’s eye view. First, about the Swiss Cheese Model. As emphasized by James Reason, the model’s creator, it invites us to view human errors as a consequence, not…
Swiss Cheese Model and the Hot Cheese Model
The Swiss Cheese Model and the Hot Cheese Model revolutionize the way we traditionally think of human error. In short, both models force us to move away from “blaming someone” for human error; instead, it pushes us to look at human error as a consequence, not as a cause. In…
The legendary journey of the Ottawa Charter
Above are logos of the global health promotion conferences held in different cities in the world since 1986. Thirty years have passed since its inception in 1986. As its name implies, the first one was launched in Ottawa, Canada. This post sails through to peer back into the Charter’s legendary…
