Publications by authors named "Janet A Parsons"

Article Synopsis
  • Type 1 diabetes (T1D) requires continuous blood glucose monitoring and insulin management, making self-management a critical part of everyday life for patients.
  • The study involved six focus groups with 24 adult participants in Ontario to gather insights on important outcome measures for developing a virtual self-management education and support trial.
  • Key findings revealed six themes related to T1D management, including adapting to needs, personalized health indicators, technology use, trust in healthcare providers, benefits of peer support, and thoughts on virtual care during and after COVID-19.
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Background: The transition from pediatric to adult care is a vulnerable time for young people living with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Bridging the Gap (BTG) is an audit-and-feedback (AF) intervention aimed at improving both transitions-in-care processes and diabetes management in the year following transition. As part of BTG, we conducted a qualitative process evaluation to understand: (a) what was implemented and how; and (b) the contextual factors (micro-, meso- and macro-) that affected implementation, outcomes and study processes.

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Article Synopsis
  • The COVID-19 pandemic worsened existing inequalities, especially for people experiencing homelessness (PEH), highlighting the need for effective housing policies as a health defense.
  • Service providers in Nova Scotia faced challenges in implementing outbreak control measures but developed innovative solutions like pop-up shelters and dedicated phone lines to assist PEH.
  • The study emphasizes the necessity for adaptable and specific policies to better support service providers and PEH during health crises, particularly in rural areas with unique challenges.
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HIV stigma remains a barrier to good health and understanding how social support may reduce the negative impact of stigma on health may help with designing stigma interventions. This study aims to understand how different types of social support may moderate or change the nature of the relationship between stigma and mental health. We recruited 327 participants to complete the People Living with HIV Stigma Index at baseline (t) between August 2018 and September 2019 and at follow-up (t) between February 2021 and October 2021.

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Determinants of health are important drivers of health states, yet there is little work examining their role in the relationship between HIV stigma and health. This study uses moderation analysis to examine how determinants of health affect the relationship between enacted, internalized, and anticipated stigma and mental health. Quantitative data was collected on 337 participants in Ontario, Canada at baseline (t) between August 2018 and September 2019 and at follow-up (t) between February 2021 and October 2021.

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Objectives: Parents' decisions to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 are complex and often informed by discussions with primary care physicians. However, little is known about physicians' perspectives on COVID-19 vaccinations for children or their experiences counselling parents in their decision-making. We explored physicians' experiences providing COVID-19 vaccination recommendations to parents and their reflections on the contextual factors that shaped these experiences.

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Background: The fit between an intervention and its local context may affect its implementation and effectiveness. Researchers have stated that both fidelity (the degree to which an intervention is delivered, enacted, and received as intended) and adaptation to the local context are necessary for high-quality implementation. This study describes the implementation of an audit and feedback (AF)-based intervention to improve transition to type 1 diabetes adult care, at five sites, in terms of adaptation and fidelity.

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Objective: To examine factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination (time to vaccination and vaccination status) among healthy young children participating in primary healthcare.

Methods: A cohort study was conducted between November 2021 and September 2022 through the TARGet Kids! primary care research network in Toronto, Canada. Sociodemographic information, child and parent health characteristics, parental vaccine beliefs and child COVID-19 vaccine uptake were collected through parent-reported questionnaires.

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Introduction: Opioid overdose epidemic is a public health crisis that is impacting communities around the world. Overdose education and naloxone distribution programs equip and train lay people to respond in the event of an overdose. We aimed to understand factors to consider for the design of naloxone distribution programs in point-of-care settings from the point of view of community stakeholders.

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Introduction: Placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) disorder is a life-threatening condition that may result in serious maternal complications, including mortality. The placenta which is pathologically adherent to the uterine wall, places individuals at high risk of major haemorrhage during the third stage of labour. Current research reports on PAS disorder outcomes have highly variable levels of information, which is therefore difficult for investigators to aggregate to inform practice.

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Levels of HIV stigma remain high, however there is a limited understanding around how different types of stigma interact to impact health. This study uses data from two time points to examine how enacted and internalized stigma lead to worse health through anticipated stigma as a mediator. We recruited 341 participants in Ontario, Canada to complete the HIV Stigma Index survey at baseline (t) from September 2018 to August 2019 and follow up (t) approximately two years later.

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Background: Uptake of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine for children aged 5-11 years has been lower than anticipated in Canada. Although research has explored parental intentions toward SARS-CoV-2 vaccination for children, parental decisions regarding vaccinations have not been studied in-depth. We sought to explore reasons why parents chose to vaccinate or not vaccinate their children against SARS-CoV-2 to better understand their decisions.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the challenges and motivations individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) face when seeking care for knee osteoarthritis (OA), which is often overlooked in this population.
  • Using semi-structured interviews with 18 participants in Ontario, researchers identified key barriers such as lack of OA knowledge, joint pain affecting physical activity, and insufficient healthcare guidance.
  • Positive influences included strong social support, accountability from others, and the perceived benefits of treatment, leading to a plan for implementing behavioral change techniques to improve OA care for those with T2DM.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how healthcare providers view the challenges and supports in diagnosing and treating knee osteoarthritis (OA) in patients with Type 2 diabetes (T2DM), highlighting the issue of underdiagnosis and undertreatment.
  • The research involved semi-structured interviews with 18 healthcare professionals (family physicians, endocrinologists, diabetes educators) and applied the Theoretical Domains Framework to understand the factors influencing their behaviors.
  • Key barriers identified include a lack of prioritization for joint pain treatment, insufficient resources like physiotherapy, and a perceived lack of knowledge and authority regarding OA management among endocrinologists and diabetes educators.
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Objectives: Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and knee osteoarthritis (OA) commonly co-occur and epidemiologic studies suggest concomitant symptomatic knee OA increases the risk of T2DM complications. We sought to explore the experiences and perspectives of individuals' living with both symptomatic knee OA and T2DM, with a focus on the impact of OA on T2DM management and daily life.

Design: We conducted qualitative semistructured telephone interviews with persons living with T2DM and knee OA.

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Introduction: Overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) programmes equip and train people who are likely to witness an opioid overdose to respond with effective first aid interventions. Despite OEND expansion across North America, overdose rates are increasing, raising questions about how to improve OEND programmes. We conducted an iterative series of codesign stakeholder workshops to develop a prototype for take-home naloxone (THN)-kit (i.

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Equity-Mobilizing Partnerships in Community (EMPaCT) is a novel approach to patient engagement that centres diverse lived experiences and promotes equity-oriented and inclusive partnerships. As an independent community table, EMPaCT is made up primarily of patients/diverse members of community. Researchers and other decision makers come to this table with their projects to learn how to make their project more inclusive and equitable.

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Background: Screening for lung cancer with low dose CT can facilitate the detection of early-stage lung cancers that are amenable to treatment, reducing mortality related to lung cancer. Individuals are considered eligible for lung cancer screening if they meet specific high-risk criteria, such as age and smoking history. Population groups that are at highest risk of lung cancer, and therefore, the target of lung cancer screening interventions, are also the least likely to participate in lung cancer screening.

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Article Synopsis
  • The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted racialized and low-income communities in Canada, revealing existing social and economic disparities.
  • Current public policies fail to adequately meet the needs of diverse populations, highlighting a gap in representation and participation in decision-making processes.
  • There is an urgent need for affirmative action to enhance diversity in patient partnerships, ensuring that marginalized groups are included in research and policy-making to improve healthcare access and equity.
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Background: Experiences of HIV stigma remain prevalent across Canada, causing significant stress and negatively affecting the health and wellbeing of people living with HIV. While studies have consistently demonstrated that stigma negatively impacts health, there has been limited research on the mechanisms behind these effects. This study aims to identify which dimensions of stigma have significant relationships with self-rated health and examine the mechanisms by which those types of stigma impact self-rated health.

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Background: A common sequela of brachial plexus birth injury (BPBI) is an elbow flexion contracture. Youth with BPBI and their families face rehabilitation or surgical decisions that ideally entail careful deliberation of the risks and benefits of treatment within the context of the child's and family's functional and appearance-related goals.

Objective: To develop a patient decision aid (PtDA) following International Patient Decision Aid Standards to help these youth and their families make treatment decisions.

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Objective: The objective of this study is to elucidate the decision-making experiences of youth with brachial plexus birth injuries who face preference-sensitive decisions regarding treatment options for a persistent elbow contracture.

Methods: Transcripts, research-created drawings, and field notes from in-depth interviews with 5 young adults and 14 youth-parent dyads, and 15 participant observation sessions of families and clinicians in the clinic setting were deductively and inductively coded and thematically analyzed.

Results: Youth's shared decision making was influenced by relational processes with their clinicians and parents.

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Introduction: Whereas it is widely recognized that emerging adulthood can be a difficult time in the life of an individual living with type 1 diabetes, relatively little is known about the experiences of their parents or guardians. These individuals once shouldered much of the burden for their child's diabetes 'self'-management, yet their contribution is often overlooked by the adult healthcare system. Here, we set out to gain an understanding of the perspectives of parents of emerging adults living with type 1 diabetes.

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Background: Minimal qualitative data exist on the experiences of cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors or costimulatory antibodies. Understanding the day to day experiences of patients being treated with immune checkpoint modulators, and how these relate to their health-related quality of life, can inform future research and lead to better clinical decision-making and care. We report here the first in depth qualitative study to consider patients' diverse and complex experiences with immune checkpoint modulators, with a focus on side effects and how these impact daily life.

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Purpose: To explore how the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, a rehabilitation framework, can provide a holistic understanding of stigma experiences of three women living with human immunodeficiency virus in Lusaka, Zambia.

Methods: A secondary analysis of three cases by drawing on interview transcripts collected as part of a larger longitudinal study with eighteen women living with the virus. The interview tool used the rehabilitation framework to ask questions about the impact of the virus on the body, daily activities, social participation and the future.

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