BACKGROUND Challenges abound for healthcare providers engaged in initiatives directed toward disadvantaged populations, with financial constraints representing one of the most prominent hardships. Society's less fortunate typically lack the means to pay for healthcare services and even when they are covered by government health insurance programs, reimbursement shortcomings often occur, placing...

This article provides an overview of the role of the emergency department (ED) in the care of homeless and disadvantaged populations. It suggests that organized emergency medicine can have a significant impact on total community health by maintaining a universal "safety net" for the delivery of integrated health and human services. The epidemiology of social deprivation among ED patients is exa...

BACKGROUND Preventative medicine has become increasingly important in efforts to reduce the burden of chronic disease in industrialised countries. However, interventions that fail to recruit socio-economically representative samples may widen existing health inequalities. This paper explores the barriers and facilitators to engaging a socio-economically disadvantaged (SED) population in primary...

This review presents data on end-stage renal disease (ESRD) due to diabetes (ESRD-DM) from populations of several racial/ethnic groups and regions; it also identifies factors that may explain differences in risk of ESRD-DM among these groups. Diabetes is a major cause of ESRD in several developed countries, including the United States, England, and Australia. However, in these countries, the in...

Public health is intimately related to social justice, which is why practice and research in the field seek to improve the social determinants of health. Despite the best intentions of those working in public health, however, some policies and practices inadvertently further disadvantage pre-existing marginalized populations. In this paper, we provide a diagnosis of possible reasons why this ph...

This study aims to examine the prevalence of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in homes among socially-disadvantaged populations in Poland, along with the prevalence and correlates of voluntary implementation of smoke-free home rules. Data concerning 1617 respondents from a cross-sectional study completed in the Piotrkowski District were used, which was part of the "Reducing Social ...

The recent expansion of virtual exchange (VE) in lieu the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing advance technology has resulted considerably larger numbers VE participants for those certain areas contexts, yet not all would-be have been so fortunate. In some regions various challenges implementation disadvantaged populations terms underrepresentation marginalization global networks. To illuminate such ...

BACKGROUND The three-year pre-medical programme 'Becoming a Physician' focuses on different aspects of medical professionalism. Objectives are to increase awareness and sensitivity to disadvantaged populations, and practise sensitive effective communication skills. METHODS The curriculum includes: (1) Visits to treatment centres for people with special needs, mental illnesses, substance abuse...