Publications by authors named "Joe Strong"

Introduction: The Health Equity Scholars Program (HESP) addresses the critical need for a diverse, culturally competent workforce to study and treat older adults from underrepresented populations (URPs) with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). The HESP offers tailored mentored training in AD/ADRD research concepts, aiming to develop successful independent researchers. It recruits Scholars from underrepresented backgrounds as well as those passionate about AD/ADRD health equity research.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative-4 (ADNI-4) Engagement Core was launched to advance Alzheimer's disease (AD) and AD-related dementia (ADRD) health equity research in underrepresented populations (URPs). We describe our evidence-based, scalable culturally informed, community-engaged research (CI-CER) model and demonstrate its preliminary success in increasing URP enrollment.

Methods: URPs include ethnoculturally minoritized, lower education (≤ 12 years), and rural populations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Black or African American (hereinafter, Black) and Hispanic or Latino/a/x (hereinafter, Latinx) adults are disproportionally affected by Alzheimer disease, but most research studies do not enroll adequate numbers of both of these populations. The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative-3 (ADNI3) launched a diversity taskforce to pilot a multipronged effort to increase the study inclusion of Black and Latinx older adults.

Objective: To describe and evaluate the culturally informed and community-engaged inclusion efforts to increase the screening and enrollment of Black and Latinx older adults in ADNI3.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: The private sector has emerged as a crucial source of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) care in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Quality within the MNCH private sector varies and has not been established systematically. This study systematically reviews findings on private-sector delivery of quality MNCH care in LMICs through the six domains of quality care (QoC) (i.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Rohingya women suffer from inaccessibility to sexual and reproductive health services in Myanmar. After the forcible displacement of the Rohingya from Myanmar to Bangladesh in 2017, pregnancy termination services have been increasingly important and desired, while knowledge gaps and obstacles to access services still exist. The role of community stakeholders is critical as gatekeepers and decision-makers to improve and strengthen pregnancy termination services for women in camps.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Emergency contraceptive pills are an essential and unique post-coital method to avoid a pregnancy, with evidence showing the significant role men can have in procurement and decisions to use. Global Health recommendations specify that emergency contraceptive pills be used sparingly and under specific conditions. This increasingly misaligns with the myriad conceptualisations and rationales among the public for why they choose to use emergency contraceptive pills.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Anti-abortion legislation in the United States exploits misinformation and ignores medical definitions to curtail access to essential healthcare. Little is known about how individuals most likely to need this care define abortion, in general or as distinct from miscarriage, and how this might impact access to, utilization of, and experiences of care. Using mixed-method card sort and vignette data from cognitive interviews (n = 64) and a national online survey (n = 2009), we examined individuals' understandings of pregnancy outcomes including abortion and miscarriage.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: For a person seeking an abortion, the ability to recognize a pregnancy is a critical first step. Pregnancy recognition is complex and shaped by numerous factors. This paper explores the experiences of pregnancy recognition among adolescents in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Zambia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The ability to exercise full sexual and reproductive health and rights is shaped by the contextual environment, meaning that women and pregnant people must navigate patriarchal norms when seeking care. Despite growing evidence that men are able to influence pregnancy outcomes, there remains a paucity of research on how and why men are able to involve themselves in pregnancy and abortion decision-making. This study interrogates the mechanisms that drive men's involvement in pregnancies and abortions in James Town, Ghana.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Men's involvement in abortion is significant, intersecting across the individual, community and macro factors that shape abortion-related care pathways. This scoping review maps the evidence from low- and middle-income countries relating to male involvement, including male abortion providers, in abortion trajectories. Five databases were searched, using search terms, to yield 7493 items published in English between 01.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Experience of care is a pillar of quality care; positive experiences are essential during health care encounters and integral to quality health service delivery. Yet, we lack synthesised knowledge of how private sector delivery of quality care affects experiences of care amongst mothers, newborns, and children. To fill this gap, we conducted a systematic review that examined quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies on the provision of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) care by private providers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Research has found that music-based interventions can decrease behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia or behaviors that challenge (BPSD/BtC). However, how to effectively implement these interventions is unclear. This study synthesizes available evidence regarding implementation strategies and outcomes of music-based interventions for people with dementia at residential long-term care facilities.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Global commitments have established goals of achieving universal sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) access, but critical obstacles remain. Emergency contraception and induced abortion are overlooked in policy and research. Men's roles in the SRHR of others are significant, particularly as obstacles to universal SRHR.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

COVID-19 has compromised and disrupted sexual and reproductive health (SRH) across multiple dimensions: individual-level access, health systems functioning, and at the policy and governance levels. Disruptions to supply chains, lockdown measures and travel restrictions, and overburdened health systems have particularly affected abortion access and service provision. The pandemic, rather than causing new issues, has heightened and exposed existing fractures and fissures within abortion access and provision.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Dementia of any type is incurable and treatment is primarily focused on slowing its progression and managing symptoms, typically accomplished through a combination of medication and lifestyle factors. Social workers are uniquely positioned to suggest new and innovative strategies for improving the quality of life. Technology opens a variety of options, and virtual reality is one of the more recent additions to the available toolkit.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS) is a condition of the visually impaired, in which hallucinations - or, more appropriately, visions - of geometric patterns, people, and objects appear within the visual field. Most people with CBS are older adults, a function of increased likelihood of visual deterioration in later life, but the condition can occur at any age. Diagnostic criteria vary among professions, but generally includes awareness that the visions are not real, the absence of other accompanying sensory hallucinations, and the absence of dementia or other neurological condition.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: This study presents a scoping review of evidence relating to knowledge and experiences of puberty and menstruation among females aged 10-14 years in low- and middle-income countries.

Methods: Forty-four items from 12 countries were identified from a systematic scoping review and screening of 8083 items. Included studies were quality assessed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF