China 
Africa 
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Knowledge Management and Public Health
Published in Jay Liebowitz, Richard A. Schieber, Joanne D. Andreadis, Knowledge Management in Public Health, 2018
Jay Liebowitz, Richard A. Schieber, Joanne D. Andreadis
In The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century, Tom Friedman identified ten flatteners that leveled the competitive playing fields between industrial and emerging markets throughout the world (2005). The flattening of the global economy and technological advances of the last fifty years have accelerated the globalization of health and in the process created new opportunities and threats for public health (Yach and Bettcher, 1998). Infectious disease always has had the potential to cause pandemics, but because of the globalization of economies, transportation systems, communication, and food supplies, among other influen-cers, the threat of a pandemic may be greater and now extends to other areas of public health, such as chronic disease. Thus, the interconnectedness between disparate geographical locations or societies is leading to health events far away increasingly having a local impact, and vice versa (Fidler, 2001). Examples that demonstrate the flattening global health landscape include the SARS global outbreak of 2003, which spread from Guandong province in China to rapidly infect more than 8,000 people in thirty-seven countries around the world; the spread of HIV; the potential pandemic threat of avian influenza A (H5N1); and international food safety events. Additional examples include the health outcomes of transboundary environmental pollution, tobacco commerce, and standards of occupational health and safety. The flattening of global public health also means we must grapple with and solve more than one public health problem at a time and focus on the interactions and connections among health-related problems. The Syndemics Prevention Network offers a means to assemble information that provides a systems view of public health involving two or more afflictions that synergistically contribute to the burden of disease in a population (Milstein, 2008). Having knowledge management capacity to create the connections between clusters of health-related issues is critical to establishing interventions and policies that account for the relationship and aggregate impact of public health challenges, such as substance abuse, violence, and AIDS.
Food Insecurity, Loneliness, and Social Support among Older Adults
Published in Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 2021
Mecca Burris, Laura Kihlstrom, Karen Serrano Arce, Kim Prendergast, Jessica Dobbins, Emily McGrath, Andrew Renda, Elisa Shannon, Tristan Cordier, Yongjia Song, David Himmelgreen
Food insecurity may also exacerbate social isolation, as older adults may feel embarrassed or ashamed of their hardship. Thus, the connection between food insecurity and social isolation is syndemic and can lead to increased health risks and consequences.10,46 Syndemics theory refers to the intensification and reinforcement of health consequences when two or more poor-health conditions coexist.49,50 Since social isolation not only decreases food access but is also associated with poor mental and physical health, it can lead to reduced food intake due to physical barriers or socioeconomic limitations such as healthcare costs and losing the pleasure of eating. Consequently, food insecurity among older adults leads to poor nutrition and ultimately associates with increased infection rates, extended healing times, greater risk for chronic disease, increased hospital admissions, stress, poor appetite, multimorbidity, and even fatality.9,51,52