IH CONNECT

Dear APHA International Health Section members,

It is time again to solicit your nominations for awards to be presented at the next annual APHA convention, hopefully this October 24-28 in San Francisco, CA. The deadline for submission of nominations is May 15, 2020.   This is how we can recognize our colleagues who have made significant contributions to international health and our Section.

We encourage you to think about who in APHA and our Section might merit public recognition through an award. It really doesn’t take a long time to nominate someone. We ask for only a page or so that describes how the nominee meets the award criteria (listed below), plus the C.V. of the proposed awardee. If you have an idea of someone who might merit an award and you desire some feedback, or need to verify whether they are APHA or IH Section members, please contact us at ihsection.awards@gmail.com.

Instructions for submitting nominations are found below. You can also access the award descriptions and criteria, along with the names of past awardees as compiled by IH Historian Ray Martin, on the IH website, https://aphaih.org/ih-section-awards-2/

The IH Section Awards Committee consists of Laura Altobelli, Elvira Beracochea, Paul Freeman, Omar Khan, Ray Martin, Mini Murthy, Henry Perry, Gopal Sankaran, Rose Schneider, Curtiss Swezy, and Sarah Shannon, IH Section Chair ex officio.

Many thanks for your timely nominations! Self-nominations are permitted.

Sincerely,

APHA IH Section Awards Committee

 

American Public Health Association
International Health Section

Annual Awards Guidance

The International Health (IH) Section recognizes each year outstanding individuals who have contributed in an important way to the field of international health and/or to the IH Section. Guidance is provided here on the process and criteria for nominating and selecting the individuals to receive the five major awards:

• Carl Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award,
• Gordon-Wyon Award for Community-Oriented Public Health, Epidemiology, and Practice,
• Mid-Career Award in International Health,
• Distinguished Section Service Award,
• Young Professional Award.

 

Process for award nominations and selection

The Awards Committee of the IH Section is entrusted with the awards process, with collaboration and input from IH Section leadership when needed.

The annual request for nominations for IH Section awards is prepared by the IH Section Awards Committee.   This request is sent out to all IH Section members on multiple virtual platforms managed by the IH Section Communications Committee.

A nomination can be made by submitting to ihsection.awards@gmail.com two items[1]:  (1) a letter of nomination of about one page that specifies the name of the nominee, the title of the award, and how the nominee meets the specific criteria for the award (listed below); and (2) the nominee’s current curriculum vitae.

Nominations are reviewed by the IH Section Awards Committee and a short list of candidates for each award is developed.  The committee then votes on short-listed candidates. The nominee who gets the highest number of votes in the award category is selected to receive the award.

Awardees are honored at the following Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA).

Awards Criteria

Carl TaylorLifetime Achievement Award in International Health

The Carl TaylorLifetime Achievement Award in International Health honors the visionaries and leaders who have shaped or continue to shape the direction of International Health. Carl E. Taylor was the founder of the APHA International Health Section and a pioneer in and global champion of international health in the 20^th century. The evaluation criteria for the Lifetime Achievement Award include: (1) Quality, creativity, and innovativeness of the individual’s contributions to the field of international health; (2) Application of the individual’s work to international health practice (as opposed to primarily theoretical value); (3) The individual’s contributions as a leader, visionary, and role model in international health; and (4) Current membership in APHA, and preferably membership in the IH Section.

Gordon-Wyon Award for Community-Oriented Public Health, Epidemiology, and Practice

The Gordon-Wyon Award for Community-Oriented Public Health, Epidemiology, and Practice recognizes outstanding achievement in international community-oriented public health, epidemiology, and/or practice. This award was established in 2006 by the IH Section. John Gordon and John Wyon were pioneer epidemiologists and mentors in this field, so encouraging and recognizing others in this field is one important way of remembering and honoring them. The evaluation criteria include: (1) Outstanding achievement in international community-oriented public health, epidemiology, and/or practice; (2) Demonstrated creativity in expanding the concepts pertinent to the practice of international community-oriented public health; and (3) Current membership in the APHA IH Section.

Mid-Career Award in International Health

The Mid-Career Award in International Health  recognizes an outstanding mid-career professional in the IH Section. Evaluation criteria include: (1) Demonstrated achievement and commitment to international health promotion and development over a suggested period of seven to 20 years; (2) Demonstrated creativity in expanding the concepts pertinent to the practice of public health with an international focus; and (3) Current membership in the APHA IH Section.

Distinguished Section Service Award

The Distinguished Section Service Award honors outstanding service to the IH Section. The evaluation criteria include: (1) Dedication to the IH Section mission and goals as demonstrated by exceptional contribution to its activities; (2) Serving in IH Section elected positions or chairing its committees with outstanding or unusual effort and achievements; (3) Excellence in team work with peers in the IH Section and the APHA; and (4) Current membership in the APHA IH Section.

Young Professional Award

The International Health Section recognizes the important contribution of young professionals for their leadership, innovation, and demonstrated contribution to international health with its annual Young Professional Award instituted in 2018. The evaluation criteria include: (1) Demonstrated contribution to the field of international health through leadership, innovation, and impactful practice ; (2) Age younger than 35 years at the time of application; and (3) Current membership in the APHA IH Section.

– Updated and approved by the IH Section Awards Committee, April 2020

[1] Please submit files in PDF with filenames showing:  (1) which award, (2) first initial and last name of nominee, and (3) which item {nomination letter or curriculum vitae}.  Example nomination of Mary Smith for the Carl Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award:  carltaylor-msmith-letter.pdf  and carltaylor-msmith-cv.pdf

By Elena Schatell MPH (c) MMS (c) and Dr. Heather F. McClintock PhD MSPH MSW

This is the second part of a IH Blog series, Global Mental Health: Burden, Initiatives and Special Topics.

Part II- Special Topics: Mental Health and COVID-19

The past few months have been an overwhelming time of uncertainty, frustration, fear, sadness and grief. At the end of December 2019, the Chinese city of Wuhan reported a cluster of pneumonia-like cases, and just a few days later, Chinese authorities attributed the outbreak to a novel coronavirus. By the end of January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) formally declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. In a media briefing on March 11, 2020, the WHO Director-General characterized the outbreak as a pandemic. Two weeks later, in a statement to the press, WHO Regional Director for Europe decided to focus his speech on an increasing topic of concern, mental health, stating “at WHO, we consider the consequences of COVID-19 on our mental health and psychological well-being to be very important.” With countries and communities around the world in voluntary and legally-ordered quarantine, and the number of COVID-19 cases continuing to rise, the mental health implications of the pandemic are of paramount importance.  

Published research on the mental health impact of past global pandemics, such as SARS, MERS, and Ebola, give us insight into the immediate and long-term mental health burden that is to come with the COVID-19 pandemic. A study of the immediate impact of the 2003 SARS outbreak in a teaching hospital found that health care workers felt stigmatized, feared contagion and infecting their friends, family, and co-workers. Another study found that healthcare worker survivors had significantly higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression and posttraumatic symptoms one year after the SARS outbreak, compared to non-health care workers. During the SARS outbreak, suicide spiked among elderly Hong Kong residents and in Toronto, longer durations of quarantine were associated with increased prevalanece of PTSD symptoms. The psychological impact of quarantine is well documented in the literature. A recently published review in the Lancet summarized negative psychological effects and stressors. Psychological effects included post-traumatic stress symptoms, confusion, and anger. Stressors identified were frustration, boredom, inadequate supplies, inadequate information, financial loss, and stigma. 

There is emerging evidence from China on the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey conducted in China during the initial phase of the outbreak found that over half of the respondents rated the psychological impact of the outbreak as moderate-to-severe and about a third reported moderate-to-severe anxiety. A subsequent larger, nationwide survey in China found that 35% of respondents reported psychological distress. The effects of social media exposure on mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak was studied in China. This study found a high prevalence of mental health problems, with over 80% of participants reporting frequent exposure to social media.  Higher social media exposure was associated with higher odds of anxiety as well as a combination of depression and anxiety in adjusted models. 

Additional concerning data comes from a Chinese study that focused on the mental health of frontline health care workers. There are numerous factors that put this population at risk for poor mental health. These include the overwhelming workload, non-stop increase in confirmed and suspected cases, rapidly changing protocols, widespread media coverage, depletion of personal protective equipment (PPE), separation from family, and fear of infection. Researchers examined nearly 1,300 healthcare workers in China who were directly involved in the diagnosis, treatment and care of COVID-19 patients. They found that frontline healthcare workers were 50.4% more likely to have depressive symptoms, 44.6% more likely to have anxiety symptoms, 60.8% more likely to experience distress, and three times as likely to have insomnia compared to healthcare workers who were not on the frontline. 

As this pandemic continues additional research will be conducted to understand the burden and impact of mental health issues among community members and healthcare workers. The current evidence indicates that this pandemic is extolling a tremendous burden on mental health and well-being globally. In response to this growing public health need, a multitude of international, national, and local initiatives will or are being implemented. To learn more about some of these initiatives please stay tuned for our next blog post: Part III: Global Mental Health Initiatives and COVID-19.

About the Authors:

Elena Schatell MPH (c) MMS (c)

Elena Schatell is a current student at Arcadia University enrolled in the Dual Master of Public Health/Master of Medical Science in Physician Assistant Program. She aims to promote public health in underserved communities as a future physician assistant. Her current public health interests include access to mental health services, stigma surrounding mental illness, and the relationship between faith and mental health. She has interned at the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) national office in Arlington, Virginia, working closely with the Advocacy and Public Policy team on conducting research on service barriers and state mental health policy. During her time at NAMI, she also authored articles for the Advocate magazine and blog.

Dr. Heather F. McClintock PhD MSPH MSW

Dr. McClintock is an IH Section Member and Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences at Arcadia University. She earned her Master of Science in Public Health from the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. McClintock received her PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania with a focus on health behavior and promotion. Her research broadly focuses on the prevention, treatment, and management of chronic disease and disability globally. Recent research aims to understand and reduce the burden of intimate partner violence in Sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to completing her doctorate she served as a Program Officer at the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants and a Senior Project Manager in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania. At the University of Pennsylvania she led several research initiatives that involved improving patient compliance and access to quality healthcare services including the Spectrum of Depression in Later Life Study and Integrating Management for Depression and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Study.