The Multicultural Quality of Life Index: presentation and validation.

Rationale And Objectives: Quality of life has emerged as a crucial concept for the assessment of health and the planning of health care. Desirable features for the evaluation of quality of life include comprehensiveness, self-ratedness, cultural sensitivity, practicality and psychometric soundness. An attempt to meet these challenges led to the development of a brief multicultural quality of life instrument and to the appraisal of its applicability, reliability and validity.

Use of social and behavioral sciences by public health departments in major cities.

Individual behavior and social contexts are critical determinants of health. We surveyed commissioners or their designees in 22 departments of health serving US cities of at least 500,000 people to examine their use of scientific approaches to influence individual behavior and social contexts. Each department used behavioral or social science in its work, but only four departments were judged to have integrated these approaches throughout their operations, using both centralized and decentralized structures.

Integrating behavioral and social science into a public health agency: a case study of New York City.

In the last century, both the health and life expectancy of Americans improved dramatically. These gains were primarily the result of advances in public health. But the approaches used may not be adequate to achieve the next level of improvements in health.

The effect of lead-based paint hazard remediation on blood lead levels of lead poisoned children in New York City.

Despite the widespread use of lead paint hazard control for children with lead poisoning, few controlled studies that estimate the effect of such control on children's blood lead levels have been published. This retrospective follow-up study examined the effects of lead hazard remediation and its timing on the blood lead levels of lead-poisoned children. From the New York City child blood lead registry, 221 children were selected who had an initial blood lead level of 20-44 micro g/dL between 1 July 1994 and 31 December 1996; were 6 months to 6 years of age; had a report of a follow-up blood lead test between 10 and 14 months after the initial test; had a lead-based paint hazard identified in the primary dwelling unit prior to the 10- to 14-month follow-up blood lead test; had resided or spent time at only one address with an identified lead-based paint hazard; and were not chelated.

Hearing the voice of the community above the din of the city: New York City Turning Point.

The New York City Public Health Partnership came together to guide the Turning Point Initiative and to involve communities in activities related to improving the health of the city's residents. Early decisions of the Partnership led to the convening of community forums, development of borough planning committees, and creation and implementation of a public health agenda--all of which have fostered community input and participation. Four years later, the Partnership continues to build upon lessons learned and explore ways of ensuring that community voice is incorporated into New York City's public health improvement efforts.