Publications by authors named "J Alexander Watford"

Aims: Although opioid-related harms have reached new heights across North America, the size of the gap in opioid agonist therapy (OAT) delivery for opioid-related health problems is unknown in most jurisdictions. This study sought to characterize the gap in OAT treatment using a cascade of care framework, and determine factors associated with engagement and retention in treatment.

Design: A population-based retrospective cohort study.

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A substantial literature has focused on how ethnic-racial socialization from parents shapes youths' racial identities and the meanings they attach to their own and others' racial group membership. We argue that a critically important source of information to youth about the meaning and significance of race, and therefore a key source of ethnic-racial socialization, resides in youths' exposure to repeated patterns in the relative social experiences, opportunities, roles, and outcomes experienced by two or more racial groups across levels of the ecological environment. Drawing on Seidman's concept of a "social regularity" we propose the concept of a "racial regularity" to name, describe and define pervasive and repeated intergroup patterns that youth observe through their daily transactions across settings.

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Informed by strengths-based perspectives and systems theory of social settings, this mixed-methods study focuses on the experiences of the afterschool workforce employed by a large, urban community-based organization. Through directed content analysis of semi-structured individual and small-group interviews with afterschool instructors (ASI), this study sheds light on the roles, experiences, challenges, and supports of ASIs. Results demonstrate that ASIs navigate multiple roles in the afterschool setting, acknowledge the challenges of youth and families, experience several sources of professional support through the people and resources in afterschool, and articulate long-term professional goals related to their current work.

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Article Synopsis
  • * A study of 218 post-9/11 veterans in New York City identified key factors linked to opioid overdose risk behaviors, including depression, homelessness, mental health treatment history, stress, and pain severity.
  • * Results highlight the need for comprehensive overdose prevention strategies that address not only substance use but also the broader mental health and social issues veterans face in their post-service lives.
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Background: Prior to DIEP flap breast reconstruction, mapping the perforators of the lower abdominal wall using ultrasound, computed tomography angiography (CTA) or magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) reduces the risk of flap failure. This review aimed to investigate the additional potential benefit of a reduction in operating time.

Methods: We systematically searched the literature for studies concerning adult women undergoing DIEP flap breast reconstruction, which directly compared the operating times and adverse outcomes for those with and without preoperative perforator mapping by ultrasound, CTA or MRA.

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