Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of rapid HIV testing in Canadian Emergency Departments: a mixed methods study.

Objectives: 1 in 7 Canadians with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) do not know their status. Patients at increased risk of HIV routinely access the emergency department (ED), yet few are tested, representing a missed opportunity for diagnosis and linkage-to-care. Rapid HIV testing provides reliable results within the same ED encounter but is not routinely implemented.

Healthcare workers' perspectives on a prescription phone program to meet the health equity needs of patients in the emergency department: a qualitative study.

Objectives: People experiencing homelessness and marginalization face considerable barriers to accessing healthcare services. Increased reliance on technology within healthcare has exacerbated these inequities. We evaluated a hospital-based prescription phone program aimed to reduce digital health inequities and improve access to services among marginalized patients in Emergency Departments.

Care of the Injured Patients at Nursing Stations and during Air Medical Transport.

Introduction: Nursing stations are the only access point into the health care system for some communities and have limited capabilities and resources. We describe characteristics of patients injured in Northern Ontario who present to nursing stations and require transport by air ambulance. Secondary objectives are to compare interventions performed at nursing stations with those performed by flight paramedics and to identify systemic gaps in trauma care.

The ethics and safety of medical student global health electives.

Objective: To explore and characterize the ethical and safety challenges of global health experiences as they affect medical students in order to better prepare trainees to face them.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 Canadian medical trainees who had participated in global health experiences during medical school. Convenience and snowball sampling were utilized.

Women's knowledge in Madagascar: a health needs assessment study.

Nutritional and hygienic practices contribute to high morbidity and mortality rates related to malnutrition in Madagascar. This study, a research effort that brought together charitable organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and university collaborators, investigates women's health knowledge in the Anosy region of Madagascar. The needs assessment sought to characterise women's knowledge and understanding of nutrition and hygiene.

Health and historical levels of freedom.

Background: The link between political freedom and health is unclear. We aimed to determine the association by exploring the relationship of historical and cumulative freedom levels with important health outcomes.

Methods: We obtained countrywide health indicators for life expectancy, infant mortality, maternal mortality ratio, % low birth weight babies, Gini coefficient (a measure of wealth inequality) and various markers of freedom based on political rights and civil liberties.