Social networking sites offer an important means for increasing the accessibility and enabling new forms of health communication between the public and medical social influencers (MSIs). MSIs have a social presence and are perceived as a credible source of health-related information. A research gap, however, exists in understanding the communication strategies employed by MSIs and the factors driving the public to engage in health communication with MSIs. This study, therefore, developed a new conceptual framework incorporating health communication, dialogic and interpersonal communication by employing quantitative content analysis to examine public engagement with MSI communication on the largest microblogging site in China, Sina Weibo. The analysis yielded insights into how the usefulness of health-related information provided alongside the interactive dialogue and affective practices played an active role in engaging the public. The public sought health-related information primarily to address issues of concern for well-being and a high level of engagement in terms of online shares, likes, and comments was found. The use of multimedia made the site more appealing, resulting in likes while the expression of emotions by MSIs generated likes and comments. The need to connect with other online users and have a sense of community was reflected in engagement through sharing useful MSI posts by the public. By identifying influential MSIs on social networking sites, health information providers such as organizations and the government can raise awareness of health issues to foster a healthy lifestyle and contribute to better living in the community.Experts are typically advised to avoid jargon when communicating with the general public, but previous research has not established whether avoiding jargon is necessary in a crisis. Using the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as a backdrop, this online survey experiment (N = 393) examined the effect of jargon use across three different topics that varied in situational urgency COVID-19 (high urgency), flood risk (low urgency), and federal emergency policy (control). Results revealed that although the use of jargon led to more difficult processing and reduced persuasion for the two less-urgent topics (flood risk, emergency policy), there was no effect of jargon in the COVID-19 condition. Theoretically, these findings suggest that the motivation to process information is an important moderator for crisis communication in particular and science communication in general. Practically, these findings suggest that science communicators, during times of crisis, do not need to “dumb down” their language in the same way they should during non-crises.

Cervical cancer is one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality among women in developing countries including Ethiopia. Unlike other types of cancers, the grave outcomes of cervical cancer could be prevented if detected at its early stage. SP-13786 PREP inhibitor However, in Ethiopia, awareness about the disease and the availability of screening and treatment services is limited. This study aims to determine the role of health education on cervical cancer screening uptake in selected health facilities in Addis Ababa.

Two-pronged clustered randomized controlled trial was conducted in 2018 at eight public health centers that provide cervical cancer screening services using visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Each of the eight health centers were randomly assigned to serve as either an intervention or a control center. A two-pronged clustered randomized controlled trial was conducted in eight public health care centers. All the selected facilities provided cervical cancer screening serviceinto the existing maternal and child health services can help increase cervical cancer screening uptake.

Bacterial meningitis still constitutes an important threat in Africa. In the meningitis belt, a clear seasonal pattern in the incidence of meningococcal disease during the dry season has been previously correlated with several environmental parameters like dust and sand particles as well as the Harmattan winds. In parallel, the evidence of seasonality in meningitis dynamics and its environmental variables remain poorly studied outside the meningitis belt. This study explores several environmental factors associated with meningitis cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), central Africa, outside the meningitis belt area.

Non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis’ tests were used to establish the difference between the different health zones, climate and vegetation types in relation to both the number of cases and attack rates for the period 2000-2018. The relationships between the number of meningitis cases for the different health zones and environmental and socio-economical parameters collected were modeled in the epidemiology of bacterial meningitis epidemics in DRC. This information is important to help improving meningitis control strategies in a large country located outside of the so-called meningitis belt.

In a context of global environmental change, particularly climate change, our findings tend to show that an interplay of different environmental and socio-economic drivers are important to consider in the epidemiology of bacterial meningitis epidemics in DRC. This information is important to help improving meningitis control strategies in a large country located outside of the so-called meningitis belt.

Palliative care is nowadays essential in nursing care, due to the increasing number of patients who require attention in the final stages of their life. Lack of knowledge of and negative attitude palliative care among nurses is one of the most common barriers to quality palliative care. This study, therefore, aimed to assess nurses’ knowledge about palliative care and attitude toward end-of-life care in public hospitals in Wollega zones, Ethiopia.

A multicenter institutional-based cross-sectional study design was employed to collect data from 372 nurses working in public hospitals in Wollega zones from October 02-22, 2019. A self-administered questionnaire with three different parts Demographic characteristics of nurses, the Palliative Care Quiz for Nursing (PCQN), and the Frommelt Attitudes Towards Care of the Dying (FATCOD). SPSS version 21 was used for analysis used for data analysis. The binary logistic regression test was used for analysis at p < 0.05.

Our final sample size was 422 nurses (response rate = 88%).