Examining the Association Between Public Health Accreditation and COVID-19 Outcomes.

Objective: To examine the association between local health department (LHD) accreditation and COVID-19 community outcomes, including rates of adult vaccination, hospitalization, and death.

Design: We examined county level rates of adult vaccination, hospitalization, and death by LHD accreditation status over the course of the COVID pandemic. Additional independent variables included time period, COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index (CCVI), state public health governance structure, and state policy environment.

Challenges and Supports for Implementing Health Equity During National Accreditation Among Small Local Health Departments in the United States.

Objective: This article focuses on supports and challenges to health equity that small local health departments (LHDs) experienced while working toward national reaccreditation or Pathways Recognition with the Public Health Accreditation Board's Standards & Measures Version 2022 (PHAB S&M v2022).

Design: The study team conducted 22 qualitative interview sessions with members of health department leadership teams.

Setting: In the spring of 2024, participants from 4 small LHDs in the western and midwestern regions of the United States participated in individual remote interview sessions.

The association of HDL-cholesterol levels with incident major adverse cardiovascular events and mortality in 0.6 million individuals with type 2 diabetes: a population-based retrospective cohort study.

Background: High levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) are previously considered protective against cardiovascular diseases (CVD), but recent studies suggest an increased risk of adverse events at very high HDL-C levels in the general population. It remains to be elucidated such a relationship in diabetes, a condition with high cardiovascular risks. We examined the association of HDL-C levels with the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and mortality in type 2 diabetes.

"I Want to Tell You Something, but Not Here": Governmental Inspection teams' Challenges in Identifying Mistreatment in Nursing Homes.

This study explores the challenges faced by the Ministry of Health's inspection teams in identifying mistreatment within Israeli nursing homes. Four focus groups with 19 multidisciplinary inspectors revealed two main themes. First, the interaction between nursing home management, staff, and inspectors ranged from denial and concealment of mistreatment to cooperation in reporting it.