Journal articles on the topic 'Vietnamese Public Service'

The Western Region Outreach Service (WROS), a service of the Western Region Health Centre (WRHC), has developed an innovative program and model for service delivery for Vietnamese people with a mental illness, their carers and family members. This model is known as Dung Hop, a family- and community-based model that reflects Vietnamese values and culture. Dung Hop is an eclectic merging of the Psychiatric Disability and Rehabilitation Support Service (PDRSS) principles and the Vietnamese Collectivist Philosophical principles, suggesting a harmonious and balanced way to provide support for clients and their support systems. The written text of this model and some of its applications to the success of the Vietnamese Program can be found at www.wrhc.com.au

The research was conducted to describe Vietnamese-speaking parents' practices in children's oral health care and to identify barriers parents had in accessing child dental services after being notified that their child needed treatment. A qualitative study design was employed, using a stratified purposive sample of five focus groups and three semi-structured interviews. A multidisciplinary team conducted a thematic analysis on the translated transcripts of the focus groups and interview notes. The retention of four traditional patterns of oral care and service use may increase the risk of oral disease among Vietnamese children: traditional oral hygiene practices using salt; delayed introduction of tooth-brushing; not attending a dental clinic for preventive care; and the use of lay remedies, rather than dental care, to cure pain. Language was identified as the major barrier to attending the child dental service, following notification of treatment need. The results suggest that the retention of cultural oral health practices and patterns of service use may increase the risk of oral disease among Vietnamese children. Oral health messages need to provide information in the language spoken at home; messages about dental services and western and traditional practices in oral care.

This study explores the relationship between service quality and patient satisfaction in the context of the public hospitals in Vietnam, an emerging economy in Asia. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this investigation. To test the hypothesized relationships, a large survey data were collected and multiple regression analyses were performed. The results provided empirical evidence for the impact of three dimensions of service quality (‘tangibles’, ‘accessibility to healthcare services’, and ‘attitude and medical ethics’) on patient satisfaction. Discussion of the research findings is presented. Implications for hospital management and policy makers, and future research directions are also provided.

Background: The present paper discusses the impact the traditional Vietnamese culture has on the uptake of mainstream health services for sexual health matters by Vietnamese Australian young women. It is part of a wider qualitative study that explored the factors that shaped the sexual behaviour of Vietnamese Australian young women living in Australia. Methods: A Grounded Theory methodology was used, involving in-depth interviews with 15 Vietnamese Australian young women aged 18 to 25 years who reside in Victoria, Australia. Results: The findings demonstrated that the ethnicity of the general practitioner had a clear impact on the women utilising the health service. They perceived that a Vietnamese doctor would hold the traditional view of sex as held by their parents’ generation. They rationalised that due to cultural mores, optimum sexual health care could only be achieved with a non-Vietnamese health professional. Conclusion: It is evident from the present study that cultural influences can impact on the sexual health of young people from culturally diverse backgrounds and in Australia’s multicultural society, provision of sexual health services must acknowledge the specific needs of ethnically diverse young people.

Private and public social services, including social work centers, are limited to disadvantaged Vietnamese people, such as orphans and people with HIV/AIDS. Buddhism-based organizations (BBOs) have been acknowledged as an avenue to extend social services in Vietnam. This article reviews the social service system and BBOs in Vietnam using secondary data and findings from an empirical study on Buddhist charitable giving. A proposed model linking BBOs to social work centers seeks to improve the efficacy and effectiveness of service delivery.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which the perception of crowding by medical staff and patients impacts patients’ perceived service quality (SQ), overall satisfaction and emotional well-being.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 258 matched pairs of medical staff members and their patients at six public hospitals.FindingsMedical staff-perceived crowding negatively influences patients’ perceived SQ. The perceived SQ then impacts patients’ overall satisfaction and emotional well-being. Patients’ perceived crowding does not significantly impact their perceived SQ but increases the positive emotional well-being of patients.Originality/valueScant research has investigated a matched pair of service providers and their customers. This study concentrates on how individuals’ perceived human crowding and medical staff SQ affect consumers’ emotional well-being. This research leads to the formulation of theoretical and public policy suggestions to improve the quality of interactive services with minimal cost and disruption.

In the current context, the training for cadres and civil servants is crucial to the operations of the civil service system. However, it is influenced by many factors, affecting its effectiveness in practice. This article makes mention of factors affecting the quality of training and retraining for cadres and civil servants, such as policy institution, management, inspection, supervision and curriculum, etc., Therefore, identifying factors affecting the training and retraining is to find suitable solutions, making an important contribution to improve the capacity of cadres and public servants as well as the effectiveness of public service.

There is a paucity of research into the perceptions of elderly Australian ethnic minorities towards public health services related to quality use of medicines. Among the six fastest growing ethnic groups in Australia, the Mandarin-speaking Chinese and Vietnamese constitute the largest elderly populations with poor English skills. This paper investigates the relationships of elderly Chinese and Vietnamese migrants with medicines, general practitioners and pharmacists, and how these relationships influence their awareness and attitudes of the home medicines review (HMR) program. Two semi-structured focus groups were held with a total of 17 HMR-eligible patients who have never received a HMR, one with Chinese and one with Vietnamese respondents, each in the respective community language. Confusion about medications and an intention to have a HMR were pronounced among all participants although none of them had heard of the program before participating in the focus groups. Respondents reported difficulties locating a pharmacist who spoke their native language, which contributed to an increased unmet need for medicine information. The Chinese group additionally complained about a lack of support from their general practitioners in relation to their medicine concerns and was adamant that they would prefer to have a HMR without the involvement of their general practitioner. Our results indicate a distinct HMR need but not use among elderly Chinese and Vietnamese eligible patients with poor English skills. Home medicines review service use and perceived medication problems are likely to improve with an increasing availability of bilingual and culturally sensitive health care providers.

It was not until 2010 that social work was officially recognized as a profession in Vietnam when the government approved a national master blueprint to develop social work. This blueprint identified seven strategic objectives including: creating a foundational labor force, developing laws and policies, and raising awareness about social work. This exploratory study examines the degree to which key stakeholders in Vietnam have shared vision and perceptions about the challenges and solutions necessary to make this ambitious plan for Vietnamese social work succeed. An anonymous survey was conducted with 65 policy makers, educators, service providers, and practitioners. The survey revealed that key stakeholders in held a shared vision about Vietnamese social work, focusing on making it a genuine profession. They identified the top challenges for Vietnamese social work as lack of national policy and regulations, lack of public awareness about the profession, and lack of resources to develop high quality social work education. Key stakeholders considered social work to be an integral function of the government and, as such, depend upon the government to lay the foundation for, provide direction to, and make available the resources necessary for the profession to grow. In other words, there would not be a Vietnamese social work profession outside of and without the Vietnamese government, unlike how the social work profession has developed in many Western countries.

ABSTRACT Scombrotoxin fish poisoning (SFP) is caused by the ingestion of certain fish species with elevated concentrations of histamine due to decomposition. In fall 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was notified of 51 SFP cases including two hospitalizations from 11 states through the FDA consumer complaint system or directly from state partners. A case patient was defined as an individual who experienced a histamine-type reaction after consumption of tuna imported from Vietnam and an illness onset between 14 August and 24 November 2019. A traceback investigation was initiated at 19 points of service to identify a common tuna source. The FDA and state partners collected 34 product samples throughout the distribution chain, including from a case patient's home, points of service, distributors, and the port of entry. Samples were analyzed for histamine by sensory evaluation and/or chemical testing. Case patients reported exposure to tuna imported from Vietnam. The traceback investigation identified two Vietnamese manufacturers as the sources of the tuna. Twenty-nine samples were confirmed as decomposed by sensory evaluation and/or were positive for elevated histamine concentrations by chemical testing. Both Vietnamese companies were placed on an import alert. Seven U.S. companies and one Vietnamese company initiated voluntary recalls. The FDA released public communication naming the U.S. importers to help suppliers and distributors identify the product and effectuate the foreign company's recall. This SFP outbreak investigation highlights the complexities of the federal outbreak response, specifically related to imported food. Cultural considerations regarding imported foods should be addressed during outbreak responses when timing is critical. Collaboration with countries where confidentiality agreements are not in place can limit information sharing and the speed of public health responses. HIGHLIGHTS

AbstractObjectiveStudy findings suggest that refugees are more vulnerable than the general population to mental disorders from disasters. This pilot study explored the nature of Vietnamese refugees’ resilience to a potential natural disaster as a first step toward improving their disaster mental health.MethodsInterviews were conducted with 20 ethnic Vietnamese and Montagnard adult refugees using a semistructured interview guide. Factors in resilience at both individual and family levels were examined.ResultsOur results indicated that these refugees had positive personalities and strong family cohesion. However, although a majority of the participants had experienced natural disasters, they lacked knowledge and specific strategies to cope with these events. The individual participants and their families lacked sufficient information, financial resources, emergency supplies, or social support for a natural disaster.ConclusionsEnhancing refugees’ current strengths in responding to disasters, delivering them tailored emergency training, strengthening relationships between refugee service providers and refugee communities, and advocating for refugees’ socioeconomic capacity building should be considered. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2013;0:1–8)

This study explored Arabic, Chinese, South Asian, and Vietnamese immigrant women’s experiences with a peer health educator program, a public health program that facilitated access to breast health information and mammography screening. Framed within critical social theory, this participatory action research project took place from July 2009 to January 2011. Ten focus groups and 14 individual interviews were conducted with 82 immigrant women 40 years of age and older. Qualitative methods were utilized. Thematic content analysis derived from grounded theory and other qualitative literature was employed to analyze data. Four dominant themes emerged:Breast Cancer Preventionfocused on learning within the program,Social Supportprovided by the peer health educator and other women,Screening Services Access for Womencentered on service provision, andProgram Enhancementsrelated to specific modifications required to meet the needs of immigrant women accessing the program. The findings provide insights into strategies used to promote breast health, mammography screening, and the improvement of public health programming. Perceived barriers that continue to persist are structural barriers, such as the provision of information on breast cancer and screening by family physicians. A future goal is to improve collaborations between public health and primary care to minimize this barrier.

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Stigma has been recognized as a major impediment to accessing mental health care among Vietnamese and Asian Americans (Leong and Lau, 2001; Sadavoy et al., 2004; Wynaden et al., 2005; Fong and Tsuang, 2007). The underutilization of mental health care, and disparities in both access and outcomes have been attributed to a large extent to stigma and cultural characteristics of this population (Wynaden et al., 2005; Jang et al., 2009; Leung et al., 2010; Spencer et al., 2010; Jimenez et al., 2013; Augsberger et al., 2015). People with neurotic or behavioral disorders may be considered “bad” as many Vietnamese people believe it is a consequence of one’s improper behavior in a previous life, for which the person is now being punished (Nguyen, 2003). Mental disorders can also been seen as a sign of weakness, which contributes to ambivalence and avoidance of help-seeking (Fong and Tsuang, 2007). Equally important is the need to protect family reputation; having emotional problems often implies that the person has “bad blood” or is being punished for the sins of his/her ancestors (Herrick and Brown, 1998; Leong and Lau, 2001), which disgraces the entire family (Wynaden et al., 2005). In these cases, public stigma (as opposed to internal stigma) is the primary reason for delays in seeking help (Leong and Lau, 2001). Other research has also highlighted the influences of culture on how a disorder may be labeled in different settings, although the presentation of symptoms might be identical (see Angel and Thoits, 1987). In Vietnamese culture, mental disorders are often labeled điên (literally translated as “madness”). A điên person and his or her family are often severely disgraced; consequently the individuals and their family become reluctant to disclose and seek help for mental health problems for fear of rejection (Sadavoy et al., 2004). Despite the critical role of stigma in accessing mental health care, there has been little work in trying to understand how stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness among Vietnamese Americans manifest themselves and the influences of acculturation on these attitudes. Some previous work indicated a significant level of mental illness stigma among Vietnamese Americans, and experiences of living in the United States might interact with the way stigma manifests among this population (Do et al., 2014). Stigma is a complex construct that warrants a deeper and more nuanced understanding (Castro et al., 2005). Much of the development of stigma-related concepts was based on the classic work by Goffman (1963); he defined stigma as a process by which an individual internalizes stigmatizing characteristics and develops fears and anxiety about being treated differently from others. Public stigma (defined by Corrigan, 2004) includes the general public’s negative beliefs about specific groups, in this case individuals and families with mental illness concerns, that contribute to discrimination. Public stigma toward mental illness acts not only as a major barrier to care, but can also exacerbate anxiety, depression, and adherence to treatment (Link et al., 1999; Sirey et al., 2001; Britt et al., 2008; Keyes et al., 2010). Link and Phelan (2001) conceptualized public stigma through four major components. The first component, labeling, occurs when people distinguish and label human differences that are socially relevant, for example, skin color. In the second component, stereotyping, cultural beliefs link the labeled persons to undesirable characteristics either in the mind or the body of such persons, for example people who are mentally ill are violent. The third component is separating “us” (the normal people) from “them” (the mentally ill) by the public. Finally, labeled persons experience status loss and discrimination, where they are devalued, rejected and excluded. Link and Phelan (2001) emphasized that stigmatization also depends on access to social, economic, and political power that allows these components to unfold. This study aims to answer the following research questions: (1) how does public stigma related to mental illness manifest among Vietnamese Americans? and (2) in what ways does acculturation influence stigma among this population? We investigate how the 4 components of stigma according to Link and Phelan (2001) operationalized and how they depend on the level of acculturation to the host society. Vietnamese Americans is the key ethnic minority group for this study for several reasons. Vietnamese immigration, which did not start in large numbers until the 1970s, has features that allow for a natural laboratory for comparisons of degree of acculturation. Previous research has shown significant intergenerational differences in the level of acculturation and mental health outcomes (e.g., Shapiro et al., 1999; Chung et al., 2000; Ying and Han, 2007). In this study, we used age group as a proxy indicator of acculturation, assuming that those who were born and raised in the United States (the 18–35 year olds) would be more Americanized than those who were born in Vietnam but spent a significant part of their younger years in the United States (the 36–55 year olds), and those who were born and grew up in Vietnam (the 56–75 year olds) would be most traditional Vietnamese. The language used in focus group discussions (FGDs) reflected some of the acculturation, where all FGDs with the youngest groups were done in English, and all FGDs with the oldest groups were done in Vietnamese. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Data were collected through a set of FGDs and key informant interviews (KIIs) with experts to explore the conceptualization and manifestation of mental illness public stigma among Vietnamese Americans in New Orleans. Six FGDs with a total of 51 participants were conducted. Participants were Vietnamese American men and women ages 18–75. Stratification was used to ensure representation in the following age/immigration pattern categories: (1) individuals age 56–75 who were born and grew up in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States after age 35; (2) individuals age 36–55 who were born in Vietnam but spent a significant part of their youth in the United States; and (3) individuals age 18–35 who were born and grew up in the United States. These groups likely represent different levels of acculturation, assuming that people who migrate at a younger age are more likely to assimilate to the host society than those who do at a later age. Separate FGDs were conducted with men and women. Eleven KIIS were conducted with 6 service providers and 5 community and religious leaders. In this analysis, we focused on mental illness public stigma from the FGD participants’ perspectives. FGDs were conducted in either English or Vietnamese, whichever participants felt more comfortable with, using semistructured interview guides. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and translated into English if conducted in Vietnamese. Data coding and analysis was done using NVivo version 11 (QSR International, 2015). The analysis process utilized a Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) approach, a validated and well-established approach to collecting and analyzing qualitative data. CQR involves gathering textual data through semistructured interviews or focus groups, utilizing a data analysis process that fosters multiple perspectives, a consensus process to arrive at judgments about the meaning of data, an auditor to check the work of the research team, and the development of domains, core-ideas, and cross-analysis (Hill et al., 2005). The study was reviewed and approved by Tulane University’s Internal Review Board. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Components of public stigma related to mental illness. The 4 components of public stigma manifest to different extents within the Vietnamese Americans in New Orleans. Labeling was among the strongest stigma components, while the evidence of the other components was mixed. Across groups of participants, Vietnamese Americans agreed that it was a common belief that people with mental disorders were “crazy,” “acting crazy,” or “madness.” “Not normal,” “sad,” and “depressed” were among other words used to describe the mentally ill. However, there were clear differences between younger and older Vietnamese on how they viewed these conditions. The youngest groups of participants tended to recognize the “craziness” and “madness” as a health condition that one would need to seek help for, whereas the oldest groups often stated that these conditions were short term and likely caused by family or economic problems, such as a divorce, or a bankruptcy. The middle-aged groups were somewhere in between. The evidence supporting the second component, stereotyping, was not strong among Vietnamese Americans. Most FGD participants agreed that although those with mental disorders may act differently, they were not distinguishable. In a few extreme cases, mentally ill individuals were described as petty thefts or being violent towards their family members. Similarly to the lack of strong evidence of stereotyping, there was also no evidence of the public separating the mentally ill (“them”) from “us”. It was nearly uniformly reported that they felt sympathetic to those with mental disorders and their family, and that they all recognized that they needed help, although the type of help was perceived differently across groups. The older participants often saw that emotional and financial support was needed to help individuals and families to pass through a temporary phase, whereas younger participants often reported that professional help was necessary. The last component, status loss and discrimination, had mixed evidence. While nearly no participants reported any explicit discriminatory behaviors observed and practiced towards individuals with mental disorders and their families, words like “discrimination” and “stigma” were used in all FGDs to describe direct social consequences of having a mental disorder. Social exclusion was common. Our older participants said: “They see less of you, when they see a flaw in you they don’t talk to you or care about you. That’s one thing the Vietnamese people are bad at, spreading false rumors and discrimination” (Older women FGD). One’s loss of status seemed certain if their or their loved one’s mental health status was disclosed. Shame, embarrassment, and being “frowned upon” were direct consequences of one’s mental health status disclosure and subsequently gossiped about. Anyone with mental disorders was certain to experience this, and virtually everyone in the community would reportedly do this to such a family. “You get frowned upon. In the Vietnamese culture, that’s [a family identified as one with mental health problems] the big no-no right there. When everybody frowns upon your family and your family name, that’s when it becomes a problem” (Young men FGD). This is tied directly to what our participants described as Vietnamese culture, where pride and family reputation were such a high priority that those with mental disorders needed to go to a great extent to protect—“We all know what saving face means” as reported by our young participants. Even among young participants, despite their awareness of mental illness and the need for professional help, the desire to avoid embarrassment and save face was so strong that one would think twice about seeking help. “No, you just don’t want to get embarrassed. I don’t want to go to the damn doctor and be like ‘Oh yeah, my brother got an issue. You can help him?’ Why would I do that? That’s embarrassing to myself…” (Young men FGD). Our middle-aged participants also reported: “If I go to that clinic [mental health or counseling clinic], I am hoping and praying that I won’t bump into somebody that I know from the community” (Middle-aged women FGD). Vietnamese people were also described as being very competitive among themselves, which led to the fact that if a family was known for having any problem, gossips would start and spread quickly wherever they go, and pretty soon, the family would be looked down by the entire community. “I think for Vietnamese people, they don’t help those that are in need. They know of your situation and laugh about it, see less of you, and distant themselves from you” (Older women FGD). Culture and mental illness stigma, much of the described stigma and discrimination expressed, and consequently the reluctance to seek help, was attributed to the lack of awareness of mental health and of mental health disorders. Many study participants across groups also emphasized a belief that Vietnamese Americans were often known for their perseverance and resilience, overcoming wars and natural disasters on their own. Mental disorders were reportedly seen as conditions that individuals and families needed to overcome on their own, rather than asking for help from outsiders. This aspect of Vietnamese culture is intertwined with the need to protect one’s family’s reputation, being passed on from one generation to the next, reinforcing the beliefs that help for mental disorders should come from within oneself and one’s family only. Consequently persons with mental health problems would be “Keeping it to themselves. Holding it in and believing in the power of their friends” (Middle-aged FGD) instead of seeking help. Another dimension of culture that was apparent from FGDs (as well as KIIs) was the mistrust in Western medicine. Not understanding how counseling or medicines work made one worry about approaching service providers or staying in treatment. The habit of Vietnamese people to only go see a doctor if they are sick with physical symptoms was also a hindrance to acknowledging mental illness and seeking care for it. Challenges, including the lack of vocabulary to express mental illness and symptoms, in the Vietnamese language, exaggerated the problem, even among those who had some understanding of mental disorders. It was said in the young men FGD that: “when you classify depression as an illness, no one wants to be sick,… if you call it an illness, no one wants to have that sort of illness, and it’s not an illness that you can physically see…” (Young men FGD). Another young man summarized so well the influence of culture on mental illness stigma: “Us Southeast Asian, like, from my parents specifically has Vietnam War refugees. I think the reason why they don’t talk about it is because it’s a barrier that they have to overcome themselves, right? As refugees, as people who have been through the war… [omitted]They don’t want to believe that they need help, and so the trauma that they carry when they give birth to us is carried on us as well. But due to the language barrier and also the, like, they say with the whole health care, in Vietnam I know that they don’t really believe in Western and Eurocentric medicine. So, from their understanding of how, like from their experience with colonization or French people, and how medicine works, they don’t believe in it” (Young men FGD). One characteristic of the Vietnamese culture that was also often mentioned by our FGD participants (as well as KIIs) was the lack of sharing and openness between generations, even within a family. Grandparents, parents, and children do not usually share and discuss each other’s problems. Parents and grandparents do not talk about problems because they need to appear strong and good in front of their children; children do not talk about problems because they are supposed to do well in all aspects, particularly in school. The competitiveness of Vietnamese and high expectations of younger generations again come into play here and create a vicious cycle. Young people are expected to do well in school, which put pressure on them and may result in mental health problems, yet, they cannot talk about it with their parents because they are not supposed to feel bad about school, and sharing is not encouraged. The Asian model minority myth and the expectations of parents that their children would do well in school and become doctors and lawyers were cited by many as a cause of mental health problems among young people. “Our parents are refugees, they had nothing and our parents want us to achieve this American Dream…. [omitted] It set expectations and images for us…. It was expected for all the Asians to be in the top 10, and for, like a little quick minute I thought I wasn’t going to make it, I was crying” (Yong men FGD). As a result, the mental health problems get worse. “If you’re feeling bad about something, you don’t feel like you can talk about it with anyone else, especially your family, because it is not something that is encouraged to be talked about anyway, so if you are feeling poorly and you don’t feel like you could talk to anybody, I think that just perpetuates the bad feelings” (Middle-aged women FGD). Acculturation and mental illness stigma Acculturation, the degree of assimilation to the host society, has changed some of the understanding of mental illness and stigmatizing attitudes. Differences across generations expressed in different FGDs indicated differences in perceptions towards mental illness that could be attributed to acculturation. For example, the young generation understood that mental illness was a health problem that was prevalent but less recognized in the Vietnamese community, whereas a prominent theme among the older participants was that mental illness was a temporary condition due to psychological stress, that it was a condition that only Caucasians had. Some of the components of public stigma related to mental illness seemed to vary between generations, for example the youngest participants were less likely to put a label on a person with mental health problems, or to stereotype them, compared to the oldest and middle-aged participants. This was attributed to their education, exposure to the media and information, and to them “being more Americanized.” However, there was no evidence that acculturation played an important role in changing the other components of public stigma, including stereotyping, separating, and status loss and discrimination. For example, the need to protect the family reputation was so important that our young participants shared: “If you damage their image, they will disown you before you damage that image” (Young men FGD). Young people, more likely to recognize mental health problems, were also more likely to share within the family and to seek help, but no more likely than their older counterparts to share outside of the family—“maybe you would go to counseling or go to therapy, but you wouldn’t tell people you’re doing that” (Young women FGD). The youngest participants in our study were facing a dilemma, in which they recognized mental health problems and the need for care, yet were still reluctant to seek care or talk about it publicly because of fears of damaging the family reputation and not living up to the parents’ expectations. Many young participants reported that it actually made it very difficult for them to navigate mental health issues between the 2 cultures, despite the awareness of the resources available. “I think it actually makes it harder. Only because you know to your parents and the culture, and your own people, it’s taboo, and it’s something that you don’t talk about. Just knowing that you have the resources to go seek it… You want advice from your family also, but you can’t connect the appointment to your family because you’re afraid to express that to your parents, you know? So I think that plays a big part, and knowing that you are up and coming, but you don’t want to do something to disappoint your family because they are so traditional” (Young men FGD). Some participants felt more comfortable talking about mental health problems, like depression, if it was their friend who experienced it and confided in them, but they would not necessarily felt open if it was their problem. Subtle cultural differences like this are likely overlooked by Western service providers. One older participant summarized it well “They [the young generation] are more Americanized. They are more open to other things [but] I think that mental health is still a barrier.” DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: This study investigated how different components of public stigma related to mental illness manifest among Vietnamese Americans, a major ethnic group in the United States, and how acculturation may influence such stigma. The findings highlighted important components of public stigma, including labeling and status loss, but did not provide strong evidence of the other components within our study population. Strong cultural beliefs underlined the understanding of mental health and mental illness in general, and how people viewed people with mental illness. Several findings have been highlighted in previous studies with Asian immigrants elsewhere; for example, a study from the perspectives of health care providers in Canada found that the unfamiliarity with Western biomedicine and spiritual beliefs and practices of immigrant women interacted with social stigma in preventing immigrants from accessing care (O’Mahony and Donnelly, 2007). Fancher et al. (2010) reported similar findings regarding stigma, traditional beliefs about medicine, and culture among Vietnamese Americans. Acculturation played a role in changing stigmatizing attitudes as evidenced in intergenerational differences. However, being more Americanized did not equate to being more open, having less stigmatizing attitudes, or being more willing to seek care for mental health issues. Consistent with previous studies (Pedersen and Paves, 2014), we still found some level of stigma among young people aged 18–35, although some components were lessened with an increased level of acculturation. There was also a conflict among the younger generation, in which the need for mental health care was recognized but accessing care was no easier for them than for their parent and grandparent generations. The study’s findings are useful to adapt existing instruments to measure stigma to this population. The findings also have important program implications. One, they can be directly translated into basic supports for local primary and behavioral health care providers. Two, they can also be used to guide and inform the development and evaluation of an intervention and an additional study to validate the findings in other immigrant ethnic groups in the United States. Finally, based on results of the study, we can develop a conceptual framework that describes pathways through which social, cultural, and ecological factors can influence stigma and the ways in which stigma acts as a barrier to accessing mental health care among Vietnamese Americans. The guiding framework then can be validated and applied in future programs aimed to improve mental health care utilization among ethnic minorities.

The expectations which both consumers and service providers bring to health care relationships are based on ethnicity and culture, as well as on individual and family characteristics, education and social circumstances. This article looks at the relationship between ethnicity and prevalence of illness; the interplay between ethnicity and social disadvantage; some cultural meanings attributed to illness; and how meanings may affect treatment. Four accounts are given of how two chronic illnesses - asthma and diabetes - may be viewed within the Timorese, Chinese, Turkish and Vietnamese communities.

Objectives. To determine the impact of data disaggregation on the ability to identify health disparities and needs for future research for Filipino, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean adults in California. Methods. Using available data from the 2011–2017 California Health Interview Survey, we conducted bivariate and multivariable analyses to assess disparities in health conditions, outcomes, and service access compared with non-Hispanic Whites for Asians as an overall group and for each individual subgroup. Results. As an aggregate category, Asians appeared healthier than did non-Hispanic Whites on most indicators. However, every Asian subgroup had at least 1 disparity disguised by aggregation. Filipinos had the most disparities, with higher prevalence of fair or poor health, being obese or overweight, and having high blood pressure, diabetes, or asthma compared with non-Hispanic Whites (P < .05) in multivariable analyses. Conclusions. Failure to disaggregate health data for individual Asian subgroups disguises disparities and leads to inaccurate conclusions about needs for interventions and research.

At the implementation level of the national project ‘ Teaching and Learning Foreign Language in the Public-Sector Educational System for the 2008–2020 Period’, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) provided large-scale general English proficiency training for key English teachers and classroom English training for a pilot group of teachers. This research explores in-service teachers’ perceptions of the usefulness of the training and of the changes which occurred in their classrooms as a result of the training. The findings have shown that although in-service teachers across different levels of proficiency appreciate both sets of training, they found classroom English training more relevant and practical to their teaching context. The results of the study also suggest that in contexts with insufficient numbers of qualified foreign language teachers, high proficiency standards for teachers compared with their current level of proficiency, and limited support for in-service teachers to achieve and maintain the required proficiency, classroom English training can be considered as a strategic choice and hence, should be prioritized.

The following article describes the evaluation challenges faced in a cross-cultural substance abuse training program. Non-Southeast Asian instructors designed and taught courses for Cambodian and Vietnamese human service workers over a two-year period. Although cultural considerations were a central focus in the design of the program, instructors underestimated the difficulty of modifying standard questionnaires for use with Southeast Asian participants. As a consequence, the formal evaluation process had limited benefit but several insights were gleaned through alternative evaluation methods.

The manner in which people from non-English speaking background (NESB) communities seek health services in Australia is not well understood. Hence, best practices in immigrant health service delivery are not well articulated. This paper is a report of a study that explored what members of ethnic communities want from ethnic health workers. Interviews and focus group discussions were held with key informants and members of the Cambodian, Greek, Italian, Vietnamese and Chinese communities in Adelaide. The main themes identified from the research data were: the understanding of the role of the ethnic health worker; important attributes of an ethnic health worker; and the length of time an ethnic health worker is needed in a community. Participants reported that ethnic health workers were expected to help out with a broad range of problems, but were needed principally to mediate between clients and the bureaucracy for health and other matters. A client's ability to communicate with the ethnic health worker and to develop a trusting relationship determined how the ethnic health worker was used. Practical matters related to settlement in Australia set the priority for assistance in the early stages of residence. although ongoing language differences created a demand for special assistance even after 20-40 years. Implications for best practice are discussed, and the paper concludes with suggestions for changes to improve how health services are provided.

Reducing the burden of disability is key priority in many countries where the population is aging rapidly. The relationships between disability, health expenditure and economic burden are complex, particularly when disability is recognized as a continuum rather than a dichotomous phenomenon. However, these complex relationships are not adequately addressed in national health policy and management plans in Vietnam. This paper examines the economic consequences of disability across its continuum or levels of severity. Two-part regression models were applied to assess the relationships between disability, health service use and the out-of-pocket expenditure. We found that Vietnamese adults with disabilities had multiple characteristics of vulnerability, e.g., older, less likely to be employed, lower education, and poorer than adults without disabilities. These characteristics are associated with poorer health and higher need of healthcare utilization but, after controlling for these factors, disability still had an independent association with higher health expenditure and greater economic burden at their household (p < 0.05). Our study provides empirical evidence of the economic burden associated across the continuum of disability in Vietnam. Decisive action is critical for protecting persons with disability from medical impoverishment, and such targeted interventions should include those with moderate disability rather than the current focus on severe disability.

The overspread of the novel coronavirus—SARS-CoV-2—over the globe has caused significant damage to manufacturing and service businesses, regardless of whether they are commercial, public, or not-for-profit sectors. While both the short-term and long-term impacts of most companies can be approximately measured or estimated, it is challenging to address the enduring effects of COVID-19 on teaching and learning activities. The target of this research is to investigate students’ manners of studying at home during the school suspension time as a result of COVID-19. Through analyzing original survey data from 420 K6–12 students in Hanoi, Vietnam, this work demonstrates the different learning habits of students with different socioeconomic statuses and occupational aspirations during the disease’s outbreak. In particular, we featured the differences in students’ learning behaviors between private schools and public schools, as well as between students who plan to follow STEM-related careers and those who intend to engage in social science-related careers. The empirical evidence of this study can be used for the consideration of the local government to increase the sustainability of coming policies and regulations to boost students’ self-efficacy, as it will affect 1.4 million students in Hanoi, as well as the larger population of nearly 10 million Vietnamese students. These results can also be the foundation for future investigations on how to elevate students’ learning habits toward Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4)—Quality Education—especially in fanciful situations in which the regular school operation has been disrupted, counting with limited observation and support from teachers and parents.

Although the Asian American population is increasing, Asian American men’s health remains underinvestigated. This study examined the overall pattern of their health and health care usage. Using a nationally representative sample ( N = 998) from the National Latino and Asian American Study (2002-2003), the first comprehensive epidemiological survey, rates of chronic conditions, behavioral health, and mental health service utilization (e.g., general medical, specialty mental health, and any medical services) were computed. The ages ranged from 18 to 95 and the mean age was 41. Of the sample, there were no ethnic subgroup differences in most of the physical and chronic conditions, with the exception of allergies/hay fever, arthritis, asthma, and high blood pressure. Behavioral health problems and substance use varied among Asian American men with more Vietnamese American men reporting that they are current smokers and more Filipino American men reporting having ever used drugs and having higher rates of obesity. Levels of mental health status and health services–seeking behaviors also varied among Asian subgroups. Variations exist among the three subgroups of Asian American men with regard to chronic, behavioral, and mental health issues. The results provide greater understanding of the heterogeneity and relationships among the Asian American subgroups with respect to physical, behavioral, and mental health concerns. Similarities and differences in prevalence rates and use of health services must include examining the social context. Social factors such as immigration status, living environments, lifestyle, culture, and health insurance may help explain the variations among Asian American men.

Around the world, a growing crisis of legitimacy and complex problem solving characterize a sense of change in the state-citizen relationship. In Vietnam, the Doi Moi (renovation) process was carried out by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the Government of Vietnam (GoV). Public institutions engaged at grassroots level by implementing a decree on “Regulation on Democracy Exercise” with the vision of a participatory society to improve the living standard of the Vietnamese people in general in order to enhance public service specifically. This article conceptualizes the concepts of Citizen Participation, Transparency, and Accountability in Vietnam. In the contested debates of the link between citizen participation and the two governance aspects, transparency and accountability, the article realizes the importance of achieving the balance from both sides of practice, as well as strengthen institutions that can reduce inefficiency and have real effectiveness. The fact that Vietnam just embarked on experimenting with policy initiatives encourages stronger citizen participation. Importantly, citizens participate in a number of elections for their delegates to local and national legislatures. One specific characteristic of public participation in Vietnam is that citizens somewhat are limited in participation by the nomination procedures and restriction in institutions. The article as a brief literature review on citizen participation and establishes the linkages between these three concepts. It reviews policy mechanisms for citizen participation and central-local power relationship. It stresses two main findings after performing sufficient empirical evidences. First, it argues that citizen participation can be an engine of good governance in local public institutions in Vietnam. Once policy window provides the population some space for their participation, it assures a widening scale of an efficient governing system. It founds that transparency and accountability of local governments are two outcomes of citizen participation.

Recently renamed ?Listening to Ethnic Communities about Diabetes?, this project was a winner of the 2003 Innovation and Excellence in Primary Health Care Award, Community and Consumer Participation category. The project is also being promoted as a model of best practice in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) community engagement. Listening to Ethnic Communities about Diabetes focused on Type 2 diabetes by developing, piloting and evaluating culturally appropriate primary and secondary prevention health promotion strategies with Maltese, Filipino and Vietnamese communities in the municipality of Brimbank, Victoria. One of the critical success factors for the project was that, while the project was grounded in a health promotion framework, the lead agency did not have a great deal of health expertise. Rather, the focus of its expertise was on relationships with ethnic communities. This allowed for a shift in traditional power structures as the communities were given a real voice and decision-making powers. While the health service providers had the clinical and practical knowledge and expertise in diabetes, it was the involvement of the ethno-specific organisations and ethnic community representatives that enabled the project to develop and pilot models of service provision which had relevance and accessibility to the target community. The project also demonstrated the value in utilising a diverse range of strategies that reflect the cultural practices and preferences of the target communities through being developed and tested in partnership with the communities.

SummaryA demographic survey among a probability sample of 980 married migrant women was carried out in Sydney in 1988. The sample included 507 Lebanese, 250 Turkish and 223 Vietnamese women. The study revealed differences in family formation patterns within and between the three groups and between them and the general population. Family size had declined among all three groups compared with their family of origin, and it was clear that the younger women would not achieve the same family sizes as the older women. Migrant women tended to marry earlier than the general population and to start their families earlier. While they showed a strong preference for their children to marry within their own ethnic and religious group, nearly one-third said it was up to the choice of the individual. Overall, the future family size of younger migrant women is expected to converge towards the Australian norm. Migrant families are in a state of transition between two cultures which needs to be recognised by health and family planning service providers.

With the development of technology, self-service kiosks (kiosks) are increasingly being adopted by service providers such as hotels, restaurants, airports and banks [1, 2]. However, with the increasing search for more efficiency, calculability and control by replacing people with non-human technology, service quality and a sense of hospitality can be adversely impacted [3]. Nevertheless, many seem willing to use kiosks in fast-food restaurants [4], suggesting that these provide considerable value for some segments of the hospitality industry. Consequently, this study [5] explores young people’s customer experiences of and views on using kiosks in McDonald’s restaurants. The study was carried out in Auckland, New Zealand, where interviews were conducted with 16 young people (18 to 24 years old; Gen Z)1 originating from seven countries (2 Indian, 3 Chinese, 2 Korean, 2 Vietnamese, 1 Filipino, 1 Moroccan and 5 New Zealanders). The findings suggest that kiosks provide improved customer satisfaction but can also result in reduced perceptions of hospitableness. The respondents felt that kiosks improved efficiency by eliminating the need to queue to place an order and provided more relaxed time for making their menu selections. Therefore, although using a kiosk did not necessarily speed up the service process, it allowed time for contemplation of choices and less time waiting to be served. The kiosks also provided clear food categories with pictures, simple English language instructions, and generally simple ordering and payment processes. Compared with the amount of information provided at the service counter, the kiosks provided more detailed and clearer information about menus, ingredients, discounts and promotions. Furthermore, when using kiosks, respondents felt a sense of empowerment and control over their ordering process. Kiosks provided the ability to customise meals, discuss menu choices and change orders without feeling as if they were annoying an employee or holding up other customers. This sense of empowerment and control provided relief from the pressure to place quick orders at the service counter or delay other customers. Many respondents were afraid of annoying employees or becoming an annoying customer in public. They cared about the perception of counter staff, while at the same time, they also cared about their personal image in public. The fast-paced restaurant environment and the need to be decisive with their menu selection added to the pressure and stress when purchasing takeaways. Additionally, those who spoke English as a second language faced increased stress while trying to select the right words and communicate with employees in front of others. These pressures increased their fear of public humiliation. Many respondents indicated there was no pressure when using kiosks as the kiosks offered more time and a judgment-free environment for customers. The number of kiosks available and the freedom from employee and other customer expectations had a significant impact on them by releasing them from any pressure to make a quick decision. Reduced pressure also brought enough time for discussion of food choices among friends. Using the self-order kiosk provided respondents with a judgment-free environment away from other customers and busy employees. The time-space provided by kiosks also provided respondents with a sense of safety and privacy in situations where, for example, they were upset or not confident speaking in English. Their emotions (e.g. happy, sad), skills (e.g. level of English language), appearance (e.g. lack of makeup) and eating habits (e.g. food allergy) were kept confidential in comparison to ordering in public at the counter. However, the findings also suggested that the appeal of kiosks is somewhat determined by the lack of useful and caring alternatives. This may suggest that the issue is not whether kiosks are able to do a better job than humans, but rather whether humans (service employees) are sufficiently resourced (e.g. capability and capacity) to provide both efficient and caring interactions. The original research on which this article is based is available here http://hdl.handle.net/10292/11993 Note The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ‘Generation Z’ as the generation of people born in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Corresponding author Qi Yang can be contacted at: kikiyangaut@gmail.com References (1) Considine, E.; Cormican, K. Self-Service Technology Adoption: An Analysis of Customer to Technology Interactions. Procedia Computer Science 2016, 100 (Suppl. C), 103–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2016.09.129 (2) Wei, W.; Torres, E.; Hua, N. Improving Consumer Commitment through the Integration of Self-Service Technologies: A Transcendent Consumer Experience Perspective. International Journal of Hospitality Management 2016, 59 (Suppl. C), 105–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2016.09.004 (3) Ritzer, G. The McDonaldization of Society, 6th ed.; Sage/Pine Forge: Los Angeles, CA, 2011. (4) Herne, S.; Adams, J.; Atkinson, D.; Dash, P.; Jessel, J. Technology, Learning Communities and Young People: The Future Something Project. International Journal of Art & Design Education 2013, 32 (1), 68–82. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1476-8070.2013.01738.x (5) Yang, Q. Young People’s Perspectives on Self-service Technology and Hospitality: A Mcdonald’s Case Study; Master’s Thesis, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10292/11993 (accessed Nov 25, 2019).

Despite the irrefutable evidence of the dangers of bottle feeding and international recommendations for exclusive breastfeeding of young infants, breast milk substitutes are widely used and continue to be promoted. National and international codes to restrict marketing activities of formula companies have had little effect in many countries. Breastfeeding is nearly universally practised in Vietnam, but rarely in accordance with current guidelines for optimal infant outcomes, and infant formula is easily available, especially in large cities, where socio-economic changes linked to transition to a market economy are most visible. Although Vietnam has enacted its own legally binding code, poorly paid health staff remain potential targets for companies wishing to increase sales through inducements. This paper reports findings from a study investigating adherence to the Vietnamese Code and attitudes of a range of health staff to its objectives and provisions in a sample of health facilities. An audit and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from 22 health facilities in Ho Chi Minh City. Results suggest gifts and inducements are commonplace, awareness of the content of the Code is low, and there is considerable resistance to its provisions, based on financial considerations as well as ambivalence about the merits of breastfeeding. Further investigation to determine prevalence of violations, stricter enforcement of the existing Code, and in-service breastfeeding education are recommended to strengthen breastfeeding promotion in Vietnam.

Abstract: This paper is based on anonymised information taken from online blogs created by students in a translation course taught at Auckland University of Technology (AUT University) as part of their assessment. Auckland is the main destination for entry for both new migrants and refugees and is therefore the dominant region for ethnic diversity. At present, the three main interpreting and translation services in the Auckland area cater to the communicative needs of migrants and refugees representing up to 200 different languages. Students taking this course reflect to some degree the range of ethnic and linguistic communities in the greater Auckland area. Over the past years, translation and interpreting classrooms at AUT have included speakers of Chinese languages, as well as Korean, Japanese, Arabic, Farsi and Vietnamese. This type of multilingual and multicultural classroom has required the development of special language-neutral pedagogies. The current paper describes the use of reflective blogs: students were asked to translate a range of texts involving a variety of culture-specific items (Aixelá, 1996; Davies, 2003) and to use the blogs to reflect on issues identified, resources used and reviewer feedback. The material chosen for translation included a range of texts commonly encountered in public service translation settings; the blog method employed may prove to be beneficial to (student) translators working in public service settings.Resumen: Este artículo está basado en información anonimizada extraída de blogs creados por estudiantes en una asignatura de traducción en la universidad Auckland University of Technology (AUT) como parte de su evaluación. Auckland es el centro con más ingreso de emigrantes y refugiados y de esta manera es la región líder en diversidad étnica. Actualmente, los tres servicios principales de traducción e interpretación en Auckland atienden las dificultades comunicativas de emigrantes y refugiados, representando hasta 200 distintos idiomas. Los estudiantes de esta materia reflejan en cierta medida la diversidad de comunidades étnicas y lingüísticas en la región de Auckland. Durante años, por las clases de traducción e interpretación en AUT han pasado estudiantes de habla coreana, japonesa, árabe, persa, vietnamita como también de dialectos chinos. Este tipo de clase multicultural y multilingüe ha requerido el desarrollo de pedagogías especiales en idioma neutro. Este artículo describe el uso de blogs reflexivos: se le pidió a los estudiantes traducir una variedad de textos que incluían distintos elementos específico-culturales (Aixéla 1996; Davies, 2003) y utilizar sus blogs para reflexionar sobre la identificación de problemas, recursos utilizados y comentarios de crítica de revisión. El material elegido incluyó una variedad de textos que pueden ser encontrados comúnmente en contextos de servicio de traducción publica y el método de blog empleado puede ayudar a (estudiantes) traductores que desempeñan su labor en contextos de servicios públicos.

This article is a meta-analysis of literature that discusses receipt of immunizations by VietnameseAmerican children, and receipt of cancer screening services by Vietnamese-American women. The results of the seven articles identified for inclusion in the meta-analysis were collated to determine what factors contribute to the discrepancies between Vietnamese-American children’s relatively high rates of immunizations, and Vietnamese-American women’s significantly low rates of Pap smear receipt. The article concludes that the difference in immunization rates for Vietnamese-American children, and cervical cancer screening rates for Vietnamese-American women, may be due to federally mandated vaccination requirements for all children entering school, and cultural barriers that dissuade women from receiving pap tests. The article suggests that providing outreach, education, and even cervical cancer screenings to Vietnamese-American women at pediatric and public health clinics that they frequent with their children, would provide an opportunity to increase cervical cancer screening rates for VietnameseAmerican women.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether higher levels of transparency, accountability, and participation have a statistically significant association with corruption, and whether corruption is highly correlated with lower public service quality in the context of Vietnam’s transition economy. Design/methodology/approach Using individual-level survey data from Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index, the research employs an ordered probit model to test whether greater transparency, accountability, and participation is associated with lower levels of corruption. Moreover, district-level data are used to test the relationship between corruption and quality of public services particularly in healthcare and primary education. Findings Results show that a higher level of transparency, participation, and accountability is associated with a lower level of corruption, and that corruption is negatively associated with public service quality. Research limitations/implications The use of cross-sectional data does not allow the establishment of causal relationships among variables. Practical implications The research suggests that fostering accountability to citizens and non-state sectors and promotion of genuine participation from these actors are critical for the future anti-corruption agenda. Originality/value In developing countries, whether corruption enhances efficiency of service provision is highly debatable. This research contributes to this debate by suggesting that corruption significantly decreases the quality of public service, and that improving local governance helps reduce corruption.

The transition from a centrally planned economy in the 1980s and the implementation of a series of neoliberal health policy reform measures in 1989 affected the delivery and financing of Vietnam's health care services. More specifically, legalization of private medical practice, liberalization of the pharmaceutical industry, and introduction of user charges at public health facilities have effectively transformed Vietnam's near universal, publicly funded and provided health services into a highly unregulated private-public mix system, with serious consequences for Vietnam's health system. Using Vietnam's most recent household survey data and published facility-based data, this article examines some of the problems faced by Vietnam's health sector, with particular reference to efficiency, access, and equity. The data reveal four important findings: self-treatment is the dominant mode of treatment for both the poor and nonpoor; there is little or no regulation to protect patients from financial abuse by private medical providers, pharmacies, and drug vendors; in the face of a dwindling share of the state health budget in public hospital revenues and low salaries, hospitals increasingly rely on user charges and insurance premiums to finance services, including generous staff bonuses; and health care costs, especially hospital costs, are substantial for many low- and middle-income households.

This paper describes the development of a Decision support system (DSS) for earthquake warning service in Vietnam using Web GIS technology. The system consists of two main components: (1) an on-line database of earthquakes recorded from the national seismic network of Vietnam, and (2) a set of tools for rapid seismic hazard assessment. Using an online earthquake database, the system allows creating a shake map caused by a newly recorded earthquake. In addition, the Web GIS environment allows any user, including non-professional to get useful information about a just-occurred event and the possible impact caused by the earthquake shortly after its occurrence. A fault-source model developed for Vietnam was used as a part of the hazard calculation and mapping procedure. All information and results obtained from the system are automatically included in the earthquake bulletins, which will be disseminated national wide afterward by the Vietnam earthquake information and tsunami warning Center.The shake maps produced by the DSS in terms of both Peak Ground Acceleration and intensity values are rapidly available via the Web and can be used for emergency response, public information, loss estimation, earthquake planning, and post-earthquake engineering and scientific analyses. Application of the online decision support system in earthquake warning service can mitigate the earthquake risk and reduce the losses and damages due to earthquakes in Vietnam in future.ReferencesBoore D.M., Joyner W.B. and Fumal T.E., 1994. Estimation of Response Spectra and Peak Acceleration from Wester North American earthquakes: an interim report, USGS open file report, 94-127, Menlo Park, California, United States Geological Survey.Boore D.M. and Atkinson G.M., 2008. Ground-Motion Prediction Equations for the Average Horizontal Component of PGA, PGV, and 5%-Damped PSA at Spectral Periods between 0.01 s and 10.0 s. Earthquake Spectra, 24(1), 1-341.Bui Van Duan, Nguyen Anh Duong, 2017. The relation between fault movement potential and seismic activity of major faults in Northwestern Vietnam. Vietnam J. Earth Sci., 39, 240-255.Campbell K.W. and Bozorgnia Y., 1994. Near-Source Attenuation of Peak Horizontal Acceleration from Worldwide Accelerograms Recorded from 1957 to 1993, Proceedings, Fifth U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Chicago, Illinois, July 10-14: V(III), 283-292.Campbell K.W. and Bozorgnia Y., 2008. NGA Ground Motion Model for the Geometric Mean Horizontal Component of PGA, PGV, PGD and 5% Damped Linear Elastic Response Spectra for Periods Ranging from 0.01 to 10s. Earthquake Spectra, 24(1), 1-341.Cauzzi C., Edwards B., Fäh D., Clinton J., Wiemer S., Kastli F., Cua G. and Giardini D., 2014. On the customisation of shakemap for optimised use in Switzerland, 2014. Proceedings of the 2nd European Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Seismology, Istanbul, August 25-29, 1-10.Center for International Earth Science Information Network - CIESIN - Columbia University, 2016. Documentation for the Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4). Palisades NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). http://dx.doi.org/10.7927/H4D50JX4 Accessed April 2018.Chiou B.S.-J. and Youngs R.R., 2008. An NGA Model for the Average Horizontal Component of Peak Ground Motion and Response Spectra. Earthquake Spectra, 24(1), 1-341.Cornell, C.A., 1968. Engineering seismic risk analysis. Bull. Seis. Soc. Amer., 58(5), 1583-1606.Der Kiureghian and A. S-H. Ang, 1977. A fault rupture model for seismic risk analysis, Bull. Seim. Soc. Am., 67(4), 233-241.Douglas B.M. and Ryall A., 1977. Seismic risk in linear source regions, with application to the San Adreas fault, Bull. Seis. Soc. Amer., 67, 729-754.Marreiros, C. and Carrilho, F., 2012. The ShakeMap at the Instituto de Meteorologia. The proceedings of the 15th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Lisbon, Portugal September 24-28.Nguyen Le Minh, et al., 2012. The first peak ground motion attenuation relationships for North of Vietnam. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. Doi: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2011.09.012.Nguyen Dinh Xuyen and Tran Thi My Thanh, 1999. To find a formula for computing ground acceleration in strong earthquake in Vietnam, J. Sci. of the Earth, 21, 207-213 (in Vietnamese).Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center, 2008. NGA model for average horizontal component of peak ground motion and response spectra. Earthquake Spectra, 24(1), 1-341.Tran V.H. and Kiyomiya O., 2012. Ground motion attenuation relationship for shallow strike-slip earthquakes in northern Vietnam based on strong motion records from Japan, Vietnam and adjacent regions, Structural Eng./Earthquake Eng., JSCE, 29, 23-39.Toro G.R., Abrahamson N.A. and Schneider J.F., 1997. Engineering Model of Strong Ground Motions from Earthquakes in the Central and Eastern United States, Seismological Research Letters, January/February.Wald D.J., Worden B.C., Quitoriano V. and Pankow K.L., 2006. ShakeMap Manual. Technical manual, users guide, and software guide.Wald D.L., Wald B. Worden and Goltz J., 2003. ShakeMap - a tool for earthquake response. U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 087-03.Wells D.L. and Coppersmith K.J., 1994. New Empirical Relationships Among Magnitude, Rupture Length, Rupture Width, and Surface Displacement, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 84, 974-1002.

Objective: This paper aims to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the mental distress of the Vietnamese students in the USA. We explore different root causes of mental distress among international students who are away from their home country, their loved ones, and being isolated from school and community due to this outbreak. Design: In-depth interviews were conducted to probe the reasons for mental stress during the pandemic and the narrative textual analysis was subsequently performed to analyze the results. This research includes the interviews of 20 Vietnamese students in the USA during the COVID-19 era. Results: The textual analysis showed that the mental distress of these Vietnamese students were caused by limited access to on-campus facilities and activities, limited access to public services including grocery shopping, transportations, clinics, the possibility of being infected, isolated living condition due to the lockdown order, and inability to go back to the home country when wanted. Conclusions: We found that both physical attributes (e.g., living condition, internet difficulty, overwhelmed healthcare system, restricted traveling, lack of personal interaction, limited access to public services) and psychological factors (e.g., anxiety of unfamiliar teaching modality, fear of viral infection, uncertain career aspects, cultural barrier and prejudice) directly led to the mental distress of these students. Moreover, other factors such as turbulent future job markets and potential racism toward Asians in relation with “Chinese virus” may cause the mental distress of these students.

This study evaluated the quality of life of older adults in Vietnam. A survey was conducted on 291 old people at eight public and private nursing homes using cluster sampling. Quality of life was predicted by gender, duration of stay, center activities and community tangible support, and connection with family. Results were consistent across the four subscales of the Quality of Life Index. Quality of life of Vietnamese older adults depends not only on the quality of services provided by the nursing homes but also on family and community connections.

Background: The rapidly growing aging population poses major challenges for health systems in Vietnam. This study was therefore aimed to examine factors influencing the choices of healthcare facilities among older patients in Vietnam, using a national survey on older people. Methods: We applied multinomial logistic regression models based on Andersen’s Behavioral Model with various predisposing factors, enabling factors and healthcare-needs factors associated with different types of healthcare facilities where older patients utilized services. Data: We used data from the Vietnam Aging Survey (VNAS) in 2011. This was the first-ever nationally representative survey on older persons in Vietnam. Results: Among those who used healthcare services, 15.1% visited central hospitals; 23.6% visited provincial hospitals; 28.0% visited district hospitals; 8.8% visited commune heath centres; 18.3% visited private hospitals/clinics; and 6.2% visited other facilities. The results showed that “having to pay cost” and “having sufficient income” were strong predictors for using commune health centres, district hospitals, and private facilities, while “having health insurance” was not a significant predictor for using these facilities. Also, we showed that apart from enabling factors (such as age, gender, educational levels, employment status, living regionand place of residence), predisposing factor (such as health insurance, perceived sufficient income, household wealth and having to pay medical cost) as well as need factors (such as self-rated health and chronic disease) were also associated with the choice of healthcare facilities. Conclusions: Based on the findings, we discussed the implications of the results for organizing healthcare finance and delivery to achieve efficiency and equity for older people in Vietnam.

Infant feeding in traditional (non-White societies) is imbued within beliefs surrounding the human body and food. This article, framed within the liminality theory, demonstrates perspectives of 38 Vietnamese and Myanmarese refugee mothers. Situated within the postmodern methodological framework, innovative methods of in-depth interviewing and drawing were used to gather participant’s subjectivities. As birthing renders the new mother and infant weak, the findings mirror a “liminality to vitality” nurturing continuum, acknowledging the (a) essentialism of bodily breast milk, (b) rituals that strengthen mothers for lactation, (c) lactation-inducing food, and (d) culturally symbolic non-milk food that promote an independence for nourishment other than from the maternal body. Health care professionals are called to value the importance of bodily vitality in birthing and clinical maternal–child health/nutrition spheres so that culturally specific services and consultations are rendered. Our findings also offer a platform to developing models of care for families from Vietnamese and four ethnic Myanmarese communities.

Purpose Mental health literacy (MHL) is key for mental health development, particularly in low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC) where mental health resources are limited. MHL development can be thought of as occurring at two levels: the individual person level (via direct contact, with specifically-targeted individuals), and the public health level (via indirect contact through public media, targeting the general public). Each approach has advantages and disadvantages. Methods The present mixed methods study assessed the status of and best approaches for development of mental health literacy in the Southeast Asian LMIC Vietnam. Because there has been relatively little discussion of MHL development at the public health level, this assessment focused on the public health level, although not exclusively. Because mental health professionals generally have the most in-depth understanding of their mental health system, study participants were 82 Vietnamese mental health professionals who completed a quantitative survey, with 48 participating in focus groups. Results Most of the professionals viewed MHL in Vietnam as low or very low, and that it was difficult or very difficult for the general public to find effective mental health services. Main barriers underlying these problems and more generally for developing MHL in Vietnam identified in the focus groups were: (a) misinformation in the media regarding mental health and mental illness; (b) lack of licensure for non-medical mental health professionals (e.g., psychologists; social workers); (c) lack of interest in mental health from upper-level leadership. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study assessing professionals’ perceptions regarding mental health literacy at both the public health and individual-person levels. Although sampling was restricted to Vietnamese professionals, results may provide initial preliminary guidance for other LMIC considering mental health literacy development at multiple levels.

The lessons learned from Vietnam, a country that the world acclaimed for its management of the fight against COVID-19, could stand out as an example of how to do more with less. The Vietnamese government has acted swiftly at the very early stage of the pandemic with a focus on containment efforts and extensive public health measures, particularly (1) the commitment from the government with a multisectoral approach; (2) a timely, accurate, and transparent risk communication; (3) active surveillance and intensive isolation/quarantine operation, case management with tracing all new arrivals and close contact up to three clusters; and (4) suspension of flights, shutting schools, and all nonessential services.

Background Nurses frequently suffer from workplace violence, but the public is often not fully aware of the situation because many events are not widely reported. Methods This study is an attempt to describe public perceptions of and reactions to reports of incidents of violence against nurses in online newspapers. Articles about such violence in Vietnamese online newspapers published from January to December 2019 as well as readers’ comments on those articles were collected for thematic analysis. Results Nine assaults were reported in 152 articles, and 367 comments were left in the threads. The analysis found four themes: 1) proposing punishment, 2) showing sympathy, 3) being skeptical, and 4) taking gender into account. In particular, the audience called for stricter punishment of the assaulters and showed sympathy for the nurses. However, commenters’ prior experiences with poor nursing services sometimes made them skeptical about the motivations of the attackers. Additionally, commenters saw the violence as a conflict between a man (assaulter) and a woman (assaultee) rather than between a client and a professional nurse. Conclusions In general, the public showed support to nurses. Nurses should take advantage of this support to advocate improved policies and measures to protect themselves from violence at work.

Understanding the predictors of health conditions and exposure to secondhand smoke among children is necessary to determine the severity of the issues and identify effective solutions. Despite the significant prevalence in smoking and child exposure to secondhand smoke, there have been only a few studies focusing on this area in Vietnam, and thus the current study aims to fill in this gap. The questionnaires of 435 children aged between 0 and 6 and their caregivers, who agreed to participate in the research, were collected at the Pediatric Department of Bach Mai hospital, Hanoi, in 2016. Multivariable logistic regression was employed to identify factors associated with perceived health status and exposure to secondhand smoke among children in the last 24 h and the last 7 days from the date of the survey. Our study found that 43% of the respondents had smokers in the family, and 46.4% of children were exposed to passive smoking in the last 7 days. Urban children were most frequently exposed to passive smoking at home and in public, whereas in the rural area, the home and relatives’ houses were the most common places for exposure. Compared to children whose caregivers were farmers, children of non-government workers were more likely to be exposed to passive smoking in the last 7 days. Moreover, children in a family having smoking rules and no smokers were less likely to be exposed to passive smoking in the last 24 h and 7 days than those living in a family allowing smoking and having smokers. In conclusion, our study shows that the government needs to implement better public smoking monitoring and encourage caregivers to implement smoke-free households or smoking rules in their houses.

This issue of the journal commences with an editorial that provides some discussion about the current approaches to Covid and the tensions that exists in that context..... Editorial SettingsCovid-19: A strife of interests for us all and what problem are we attempting to solve? Research Articles Gender Equity in Australian Health Leadership Research Articles Assessing Quality of Healthcare Delivery When Making Choices: National Survey on Health Consumers’ Decision Making Practices Research Articles The Case for a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement between Australia and South Korea Commentary COVID-19 and Working Within Health Care Systems: the future is flexible Review Articles Review of Public Private Partnership in the Health Care in Hong Kong Viewpoint Article Hong Kong’s Growing Need for Palliative Care Services and the Role of the Nursing Profession Commentary Vietnam’s Healthcare System Decentralization: how well does it respond to global health crises such as covid-19 pandemic? Research Articles Publicly Financed Health Insurance Schemes and Horizontal Inequity in Inpatient Service Use in India Research Articles Distress and Quality of Life among Type II Diabetic Patients: Role of physical activity Viewpoint Article Achievements and Challenges of Iran Health System after Islamic Revolution: Structural reforms at the second step Research Articles Strategic Analysis of Community Participation in Primary Health Care in Iran and Presentation of Promotion Strategies Using Internal and External Environment Assessment Techniques Research Articles Utilization of Healthcare Services & Healthcare Expenditure Patterns in the Rural Households of Nepal

Background HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TGW) in Vietnam is high, whereas coverage of effective HIV prevention services has been inadequate. Studies have measured MSM and TGW demand for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services, which led to the design of the first ever PrEP program in Vietnam, Prepped for PrEP (P4P). Methods: In March 2017, PrEP services were offered in Ho Chi Minh City as part of the P4P demonstration project, enabling same-day enrolment in three key population (KP)-led clinics and four public clinics. P4P aimed to assess acceptability and feasibility of PrEP services through calculating the rate of PrEP enrolment over time, and quarterly measures of continuation and adherence over an 18-month period. Results: A total of 1069 MSM and 62 TGW were enrolled in P4P. Average monthly PrEP enrolment among MSM increased five-fold from the first 3 months (March–June 2017) to the last 3 months of active enrolment (March–June 2018), whereas for TGW, no increased trend in PrEP enrolment per quarter was seen. Self-reported PrEP adherence was &gt;90% at all time points among MSM, but varied from 11.1% to 88.9% among TGW. PrEP continuation was calculated at months 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18. For MSM, it was 88.7% at month 3, 68.8% at month 12 and 46.6% at month 18, whereas for TGW, it was 87.1%, 54.8% and 52.8%, respectively. Multivariable regression identified that MSM with lower-than-average income (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.38 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.59–3.54), P = 0.000), aged &gt;30 years (aOR 2.03 (95% CI: 1.30–3.40), P = 0.007) and with an increasing number of sex partners (aOR: 1.06 (1.01–1.11), P = 0.011) had greater odds of remaining on PrEP. For TGW, being aged &gt;30 years was associated with continuing on PrEP (aOR 5.62 (95% CI: 1.05–29.9), P = 0.043). Conclusions: We found PrEP to be highly acceptable among MSM and moderately acceptable among TGW. Continuation rates were relatively high for the first roll-out of PrEP; however, those aged ≤30 years were much more likely to discontinue services. Scaling-up PrEP through differentiated and community-led and engaged PrEP service delivery will be key to effectively increase access and uptake over the next 5 years.

The study aimed to assess willingness to pay for family-based social health insurance and its determining factors among informal workers in Vietnam. A double-bounded dichotomous choice approach was used to elicit the willingness to pay of 391 heads of uninsured households. The study indicates that 48.8% of 391 uninsured households were willing to pay for family-based health insurance. The households were willing to pay about 921.9 thousand Vietnamese dongs per household per year (US$42). The factors that significantly affected willingness to pay were household income, number of uninsured members in a household, and sickness of the household head. The study suggests that a feasible premium for family-based health insurance supported by government subsidy, along with attention to the quality improvements of health services, could be an effective means to increase coverage among the informal sector workers.

AbstractOur research investigates the effects of the 2005 universal health insurance program for children under age 6 in Vietnam on health care utilization, household out-of-pocket (OOP) spending and self-reported health outcomes using data from the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey in 2002–2004–2006–2008. We use difference-in-differences to compare children eligible for the program to older children who are ineligible for the program. Results indicate that the program increased insurance coverage by 250% for children age 0–5 relative to the pre-policy period. We found large increases in both outpatient visits and hospital admissions. Health insurance availability also increased outpatient visits at both public and private facilities, suggesting that public and private health care services are complements. Although health insurance was associated with a decrease in inpatient OOP spending for children aged 3–5, it did not reduce outpatient OOP spending for children in general. Health insurance was associated with modest improvements in self-reported health outcomes. Our research suggests that expanded access to insurance among Vietnamese children improved access to care and health outcomes, though it did not necessarily reduce OOP spending.

Background: Competency of nurses is vital to safe nursing practice as well as essential component to drive quality of nursing services. Competency development is a continuous process of improving knowledge, attitudes and skills, and is influenced by a numerous of factors.Purposes: This study aims to explore factors that influence the development of competencies of nurses working in clinical settings in Vietnam.Methods: A descriptive qualitative research was conducted in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam with a purposive sample of twenty-seven participants including nurses, nurse managers, administrators, nurse teachers, medical doctors, and other health care providers. Data collection was by in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Content analysis was used to analyze the data.Findings: The research participants described numerous of factors that influence the journey of developing nurses’ competencies. The identified factors were relevant to nursing education and training system in Vietnam; working environments of nurses; public image and values of nursing profession; characteristics of nurses themselves; Vietnamese nursing profession; sociocultural-economic and political aspects in Vietnam; and global contexts.Conclusion: The derived knowledge would greatly benefit clinical nurses, administrators, nursing educators, health care services managers, policy makers as well as other relevant health care stakeholders in proposing of solutions to promote nursing education, nursing workplace environments, and the appropriate regulations in order to enhance the nursing competency and quality of nursing services in Vietnam.