Investigation of social support as a mediator of the relationship between physical and psychological health among hospitalised patients.

Aim: To investigate the self-reported levels of social support from friends and family and from nurses as mediators of the relationship between self-rated physical and psychological condition in hospitalised patients.

Design: Cross-sectional study of adult inpatients at a large tertiary-care hospital in the northeast United States.

Methods: Multiple mediation analysis of survey data.

Original Research: Nurses' Knowledge and Comfort with Assessing Inpatients' Firearm Access and Providing Education on Safe Gun Storage.

Purpose: This study sought to evaluate nurses' knowledge and comfort with assessing inpatients' access to firearms and providing education on firearm safety and storage. Facilitators and barriers to such assessment, as well as best methods for educating nurses and patients on firearm safety and storage, were also explored.

Methods: Nurses from a general medical unit and a psychiatric unit at a large urban hospital were invited to complete a 22-question online survey.

Recognizing Racism in Medicine: A Student-Organized and Community-Engaged Health Professional Conference.

This piece details the evaluation and implementation of a student-led educational intervention designed to train health professionals on the impact of racism in health care and provide tools to mitigate it. In addition, this conference, cosponsored by medical, nursing, and social work training programs, facilitates development of networks of providers with the knowledge and skills to recognize and address racism in health care. The conference included 2 keynote speakers, an interprofessional panel, and 15 workshops.

A mental health needs assessment of children and adolescents in post-conflict Liberia: results from a quantitative key-informant survey.

Between 1989 and 2004, Liberia experienced a devastating civil war that resulted in widespread trauma with almost no mental health infrastructure to help citizens cope. In 2009, the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare collaborated with researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital to conduct a rapid needs assessment survey in Liberia with local key informants ( = 171) to examine the impact of war and post-war events on emotional and behavioral problems of, functional limitations of, and appropriate treatment settings for Liberian youth aged 5-22. War exposure and post-conflict sexual violence, poverty, infectious disease and parental death negatively impacted youth mental health.

Temporal Changes in Ebola Transmission in Sierra Leone and Implications for Control Requirements: a Real-time Modelling Study.

Background: Between August and November 2014, the incidence of Ebola virus disease (EVD) rose dramatically in several districts of Sierra Leone. As a result, the number of cases exceeded the capacity of Ebola holding and treatment centres. During December, additional beds were introduced, and incidence declined in many areas.

Capacity building in global mental health: professional training.

We suggest that the optimal approach to building capacity in global mental health care will require partnerships between professional resources in high-income countries and promising health-related institutions in low- and middle-income countries. The result of these partnerships will be sustainable academic relationships that can educate a new generation of in-country primary care physicians and, eventually, specialized health professionals. Research capabilities will be an essential educational component to inform policy and practice, and to ensure careful outcome measurements of training and of intervention, prevention, and promotion strategies.