Robert J Blendon

..Some of the community-wide problems with SARS might have been avoided with better communication by public health officials and clinicians...

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..Given these results, planning and public engagement will be needed to encourage the public to be prepared...

..This was true for Central/South Americans, Chinese Americans, and Korean Americans on five of seven measures. Many of the differences remained after socioeconomic characteristics and language skills were controlled for...

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..Asked about future strategies to improve quality, executives in all five countries expressed support for making information technology an investment priority...

..These attitudes are likely to create a climate that is supportive of increased health spending and substantial policy changes...

..Findings suggest a demand for CQInfo among African Americans, and support the idea that such information could help ameliorate racial disparities, if efforts also address educational and other related barriers...

..Respondents were concerned about overcrowding, infection, and inability to communicate with family members while in quarantine. Officials will need specific plans to deal with the public's concerns about compulsory quarantine policies...

..Using examples from public opinion surveys during the anthrax attacks of 2001, this article examines the role such surveys can play during a public health crisis...

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..The variety of responses across racial groups demonstrates the importance of examining ethnic subgroups separately rather than combined into a single category...

..With the exception of malpractice reform and reducing federal health spending, health care is not likely to be a top issue for the Bush administration's second term...

..CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest the need for public education about smallpox. These data also point to the importance of a discussion in the medical community about the advisability of vaccination of individual physicians at this time...

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..The critical issue is whether or not there will be public support in the future for raising revenues to pay for major expansions in coverage...

..To advance their agenda, national groups need to convince physicians, in particular, that the current proposals for reducing errors will be very effective...

..Despite perceptions by some that the law is not helping the uninsured, support for it remains high-even for the individual mandate, the law's most controversial feature. There is little interest in repealing this legislation...

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..Messaging and outreach during future pandemics may require customization to increase vaccination among high-risk groups...

..We found that inability to work from home, lack of paid sick leave, and income are associated with working adults' ability to comply and should be major targets for workplace interventions in the event of a serious outbreak...

..The most crucial policy implication of these findings is that a focus on a small population of intensive health system users could have the potential to both control costs and improve care...

..Opposition to removing Schiavo's feeding tube was associated with opposition to abortion. The results suggest that issues involved in cases like Schiavo's are not likely to disappear from the political agenda...

..Although some have suggested that this might have been a successful case of health care rationing, it might not be generalizable to shortages of vaccines for other diseases...

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..We also assessed public support for related public health recommendations...

..This research helps us to understand the messages that the public may be receiving in order to motivate public will to support federal responsibility for reducing racial healthcare inequalities...

..Results suggest that improving access to health care will be a key factor in improving perceptions of government performance...

..The publics in individual countries, with differing cultures and health systems, are likely to respond in different ways as more families have experience with Alzheimer's disease...

..Both national and local systems of population-based information gathering about the public's response to bioterrorist attacks are needed...

..pdf). While some research has examined predictors of public support for tobacco control measures, little research has examined modifiable factors that may influence public attitudes toward tobacco control...

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..However, spouses who experienced extensions were more likely to perceive the Army negatively during deployment. These findings suggest that deployment extensions may exacerbate certain problems and frustrations for Army spouses...

..However, in responding to black voters, candidates will have to be careful not to alienate white voters by proposing health policies that involve sizable increases in taxes or government regulation...

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..In contrast, relatively few citizens reported problems getting needed health care. Low-income U.S. citizens reported more problems getting care than did their counterparts in the other four countries...

..While knowledge about health news varies, individuals who follow health news stories closely are significantly more likely to give the correct answer to knowledge questions about those stories...

..It further assessed whether academic affiliation was associated with physicians' ratings of effectiveness...

..Since that time, health-care in Spain has undergone significant changes, including a decentralization of the system, an increase in spending and a change in the way the system is financed...