Sound intolerance affects a large part of the population and thus contributes to increased ill health in society. However, the extent to which and in what way sound intolerant is affected is unclear. The ​purpose​ was to contribute to a more qualitative understanding of the impact that sound intolerance can have by mapping and analyzing literature on sound intolerance in a perspective of Empowerment. The ​method​ used was a scoping study. In total, n = 24 studies were reviewed and n = 10 were included for an in-depth qualitative analysis. The results​ show that there are studies that describe that sound intolerance has an impact on Empowerment, but that none of the studies examined have such a pronounced focus. Sound intolerance seems in many respects to be a hidden or unconscious phenomenon and there is reason to work for higher knowledge and awareness to strengthen the sound intolerant's Empowerment. / Ljudintolerans drabbar en stor del av befolkning och bidrar således till ökad ohälsa isamhället. I vilken utsträckning och på vilket sätt ljudintoleranta påverkas är dock oklart.Syftet var att bidra till en mer kvalitativ förståelse för den påverkan ljudintolerans kan hagenom att kartlägga- och analysera litteratur om ljudintolerans i ett perspektiv avEmpowerment. Metoden som användes var en kartläggande litteraturöversikt. Totaltgranskades n=24 studier och n=10 inkluderades för en fördjupad kvalitativ analys.Resultatet visar att det finns studier som beskriver att ljudintolerans har en påverkan påljudintolerantas Empowerment men att inga av de granskade studierna har ett sådant uttalatfokus. Ljudintolerans förefaller i många avseende vara ett dolt eller omedvetet fenomenoch det finns anledning att arbeta för högre kunskap och medvetenhet för att stärkaljudintolerantas Empowerment.

Recent research has shown that climate change had and will likely continue to have impacts on biological processes, including the propagation of infectious and zoonotic diseases. Assessments of local level impacts at the human-wildlife interface are imperative for stakeholders and policy makers, and empirical review of such research is undoubtedly necessary to understand the current state of the field, gaps of knowledge, and to identify future lines of research. In that vein, this thesis focuses on the impacts of climate change on disease at the human-wildlife interface. Specifically, my thesis works to quantify the recent temporal and spatial distribution of empirical research linking climate change with changes in the burden of infectious diseases (Chapter 2). This retrospective scoping of the last five years of empirical research identified if, and to what extent, there are biases in the diseases, species, or geographic areas studied within this scientific field. My study revealed both geographic and topical biases within the scope of recent literature, with an overwhelming emphasis on vector-borne diseases in temperate areas. There was also unequal representation in publication demographics of authors and institutions with most research originating from well developed countries. As a proof-of-concept case study, my thesis provides an empirical assessment of the plausible climatic drivers of a wildlife-disease transmission risk in an understudied region (Chapter 3), which could function to fill some of the identified research gaps in Chapter 2. Therein, my work assessed the impacts of climate variation from the last century on the environmental suitability of the rabies host Desmodus rotundus (common vampire bat) in Latin America. Findings revealed that average and standard deviation of temperature were the most important drivers of D. rotundus geographic distribution according to species' records between 1901 and 2019. Nevertheless, high uncertainty was detected regarding the predictability of D. rotundus environmental suitability across the United States-Mexico border and in the Andes Mountains of Chile. The overall modeling efforts did, however, reveal a northward distributional shift of the rabies reservoir as a likely response to climate change. Together, studies contained in this thesis provide empirical, retrospective evidence that demonstrates the effects of climate change on the increased risk of disease transmission at the human-wildlife interface. / Master of Science / Climate change is understood as the change in global or regional climate patterns, including variations of temperature and humidity factors beyond normal ranges, mostly attributed to increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Climate change is expected to influence many biological systems and presents an imminent threat to almost all organisms and geographic areas across the globe. Previous studies suggest that climate change will increase the burden of infectious diseases, including those originating from wildlife. This thesis aims to assess the availability of empirical evidence supporting the idea of a link between climate change and infectious diseases of wildlife origin. Chapter 2 examines recent scientific literature assessing climate change and infectious disease, and identifies biases in the diseases, species, and geographic areas commonly studied. This study found that literature generally focused on diseases transmitted by arthropods (e.g., insects, arachnids, or crustaceans) in temperate areas. There was little focus on diseases transmitted directly (e.g., via bites) or in non-temperate areas (e.g., tropics). Chapter 3 attempts to address issues detected in Chapter 2 by studying a directly-transmitted infectious disease in the tropics. More specifically, Chapter 3 assessed the impacts of climate variation from the last century on the distribution of the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), which is a known rabies host in Latin America. Chapter 3 revealed that temperature variables were the largest drivers of common vampire bat distribution. Nevertheless, high uncertainty was detected regarding the vampire bat's ability to invade new areas such as the continental United States-Mexico border or the lowlands to the Andes Mountains in Chile. Together, studies contained in this thesis provide support for current and future research on the study of climate change as an amplifier for the risk of infectious diseases.

Cost-of-illness (COI) analysis was the first economic evaluation methodology used in the health field, and it aims to identify and quantify all of the costs incurred due to a particular illness. While cost-of-illness studies attract much interest from healthcare policy makers and public health advocates, inconsistencies in study methodologies and cost inventories have made cost-of-illness estimates difficult to interpret and compare, limiting their usefulness. The purpose of this thesis was to use a scoping review approach to systematically explore cost inventories in the cost of foodborne illness literature, and to investigate the association between study methodologies, component costs, and foodborne illness-related factors to the estimated cost of non-typhoidal Salmonella spp. illness, using studies identified in the scoping review. The results indicated high variability in terms of the depth and breadth of individual and societal level component costs, along with a wide range of data sources being used in the cost of foodborne illness literature. Additionally, the number of direct component cost categories included in an estimate, particularly long-term care costs, and the inclusion of chronic sequelae costs were significantly associated with the cost of non-typhoidal Salmonella spp. illness. Therefore, these may be important factors to consider when initiating a cost of foodborne illness study and when interpreting or comparing existing cost of foodborne illness estimates. The results of this thesis can be used to address issues that are believed to be limiting cost-of-illness studies as decision making tools, and to better understand factors which may impact a cost of foodborne illness estimate. / Scoping review and linear regression analyses in the area of cost of foodborne illness / Canadian Institutes of Health Research/Public Health Agency of Canada (CIHR/PHAC) Applied Public Health Research Chair (awarded to Dr. Jan M. Sargeant)

No description available.

A scoping study of the published literature was used to describe the concept and practice of ecosystem approaches to health (ecohealth) in the context of public health. Analysis of commentaries identified 24 themes, expressed in a mind map showing interconnections between themes, with a table of explanations. Most (27 of 29) primary research articles did not explicitly explain how ecohealth was applied in their research, suggesting a need for some standardization in reporting ecohealth. Additionally, a case study approach was undertaken to identify enablers and impediments of ecohealth and how concepts were integrated into a research project of health and environmental sanitation in Vietnam. The project’s conceptual framework was aligned with ecohealth concepts, but in practice, a variety of challenges were identified. In future, ecohealth research teams should include a self-investigation of their ecohealth process to facilitate a comparison of theory-to-practice; this may serve as a best practice for ecohealth. / Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), Community of Practice in Ecosystem Approaches to Health - Canada (CoPEH-Can)

A scoping study of early childhood research in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries for improved well-being worldwide through collaboration and knowledge transfer / ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Research evidence strongly supports the influence of quality nutrition, cognitive stimulation and nurturing care on the extent that a child reaches full development. Reaching developmental milestones results in positive outcomes for individual health and well-being as well as communal stability and prosperity. Interventions to improve early childhood development are not a recent concept; however, the interaction of one early childhood development outcome on others form a complex, often interdependent, relationship. The complexity of a child's development also includes the child's family, home environment, community and national context. The complex and dynamic setting for implementing early childhood interventions requires more than efficiency or knowledge. It requires patience, cultural competency and a compassion to engage and support a child's family, society and nation. Interventions that are effective in multiple cultures or can be scaled up to a regional or global level are rare and usually focus on one aspect of early childhood development (ECD), like protein intake to prevent stunting. Context does matter, and ECD research is dispersed over vastly different political systems and often focused on specific people groups or subcultures. The scope and intensity of ECD research in the world has not been described and is often unknown to English-speaking researchers who are not personally connected by relationship or literacy to other languages and cultures. PURPOSE: The purpose of this scoping study is to answer the research question: "What is being researched related to early childhood development interventions with children six years old and younger in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries?” A scoping study of published, peer-reviewed literature on interventions in early childhood development in English, Spanish and Portuguese was performed to understand the concepts in research on early childhood development (ECD). The thesis presents interventions in early childhood development and their usage in Mexico, Central and South America in particular and also in Europe and Africa because of the Spanish and Portuguese languages spoken there. The thesis highlights risk factors, assessment tools and interventions from peer-reviewed research providing a scope of ECD interventions for this world area. SEARCH METHODS
: Databases searched were related to global health, health sciences, nursing and allied health, psychology and education. They were Global Health, Embase, Medline with PubMed e-ahead of print, PsycInfo, CINAHL, ERIC, LILACS and IBECS. The search strategy and data collection was guided by the research question to be thorough and methodical. Exclusion criteria were utilized to screen more than seven hundred articles to retrieve eighty-six articles that included the correct populations, relevant countries, ECD interventions and early childhood outcomes. FINDINGS: Macro and micro-context risk factors in early childhood development were highlighted across the literature. They were lower maternal education, informal maternal employment, larger household size, lower wealth index and rural residence. Findings related to child or home-centered interventions revealed varied but some positive outcomes in national programmes in Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Colombia and Portugal. The research across all countries in literature found positive impact on early childhood development from age-dependent nutrition, higher socio-economic status and education in mothers, stimulating parent-child interactions and nurturing home environment. CONCLUSIONS: 
While a scoping study of ECD provides an overview of the work happening and of the relevant key concepts, the eighty-six included studies can hardly be considered representative of all childhood development interventions being implemented or researched. Some state or national governments and non-government organizations implement early childhood interventions without publishing in a peer-reviewed journal. Many more interventions are not evaluated or monitored. Increased collaboration and networking between researchers and countries is needed. Necessary partnerships between educators, researchers and policy-makers based on national strengths across the globe can facilitate better sharing of knowledge and assessment of appropriate interventions for a population's needs. Further monitoring, evaluation and publishing of interventions in this region of the world is required. M.Sc. Thesis - Brandon James Chapman; McMaster University - Global Health / Thesis / Master of Science (MS) / Development during the earliest years of life includes physical, mental and social development. This thesis is a study on the research for early childhood development in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries and describes what is happening with a global health perspective. The thesis discusses how research can impact knowledge and what is done to support and improve development for children, their families and their country.