Gender differences in police encounters among persons with and without serious mental illness.

Objective: This study examined the rates, patterns, and types of police contacts among men and women with and without serious mental illness.

Methods: Data on type of contact, type and number of offenses, dispositions, and repeat offenses were extracted from an administrative database of all police encounters in a midsized Canadian city over a six-year period (N=767,365).

Results: Men and women with serious mental illness represented, respectively, .

Interhospital transfer of critically ill patients: demographic and outcomes comparison with nontransferred intensive care unit patients.

Purpose: We examined the association between access to intensive care services and mortality in a cohort of critically ill patients.

Materials And Methods: We conducted an observational study involving 6298 consecutive admissions to the intensive care units (ICUs) of a tertiary care hospital. Data including demographics, admission source, and outcomes were collected on all patients.

Mental health triage in the ER: a qualitative study.

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: The London Health Sciences Centre found that its emergency room (ER) mental health services were affected by people presenting with problems that did not require psychiatric intervention. Consequently, a second triage using a crisis worker (CW) was introduced in the ER to identify those persons with mental illness (PMI) who presented for social stressors related to housing, finances and legal issues. A qualitative, process evaluation study was conducted to capture experiences and perceptions of the new triage and CW.

Pretrial court diversion of people with mental illness.

Court diversion is a method of administering justice compassionately for persons with mental illness (PMI). Evidence-based practices of this intervention were identified by reviewing the existing literature. Findings suggest that: (a) formal case finding procedures are important for the early identification of mentally ill offenders in need of services, (b) stable housing enhances the possibility that the divertee will remain in regular contact with her or his treatment provider, and (c) active case management improves compliance and reduces the likelihood of recidivism.

Sampling bias in an international internet survey of diversion programs in the criminal justice system.

Despite advances in the storage and retrieval of information within health care systems, health researchers conducting surveys for evaluations still face technical barriers that may lead to sampling bias. The authors describe their experience in administering a Web-based, international survey to English-speaking countries. Identifying the sample was a multistage effort involving (a) searching for published e-mail addresses, (b) conducting Web searches for publicly funded agencies, and (c) performing literature searches, personal contacts, and extensive Internet searches for individuals.

Pre-arrest diversion of people with mental illness: Literature review and international survey.

Mental health diversion is a process where alternatives to criminal sanctions are made available to persons with mental illness (PMI) who have come into contact with the law. One form of mental health diversion is pre-arrest, in which the police use their discretion in laying charges. Concomitant with the growth of pre-arrest diversion programs is a growing body of research devoted to the phenomenon.

Process and outcome evaluation of an emergency department intervention for persons with mental health concerns using a population health approach.

Purpose: To evaluate an emergency department's use of a mental health triage and mental health crisis counsellor for persons presenting with mental health concerns.

Method: Mixed method (qualitative and quantitative), multiple measures.

Results: Significant pre- and post-intervention reductions for wait time, security incidents and hospital admissions were found.

Telenursing and patients' recovery from bypass surgery.

Aim: This paper reports the qualitative findings of qualitative interviews conducted as part of a study assessing the effectiveness of structured, postdischarge, telephone intervention for patients and their partners recovering from bypass surgery. The data reported here describe the postoperative recovery experiences of a small sample of patients (n = 10) and the intervention role of the specialist nurse delivering the intervention.

Background: Reduced length of hospital stay for bypass patients means that there are fewer opportunities to provide necessary information and respond to patient concerns in hospital, and much of the process of wound healing and regaining functioning that would once have taken place in hospital now takes place at home and place additional burdens on patients and their caregivers.

Design of an algorithm to identify persons with mental illness in a police administrative database.

North American police maintain a database to track events and information related to their involvement with the public that contain a series of electronic caution/dependency flags attached to an individual's name for internal communication. To identify persons with mental illness in a police administrative database, an algorithm was developed that was composed of (a) caution/dependency flags, (b) addresses, and (c) key search words indicative of mental illness. Based on the level of confidence of the algorithm, persons with mental illness (PMI) were then assigned to one of three categories: Definite, Probable and Possible PMI.

Rates of claims for cumulative trauma disorder of the upper extremity in Ontario workers during 1997.

Surveillance of work-related cumulative trauma disorder of the upper extremity (CTDUE) requires valid and reliable claim extraction strategies and should examine for confounding and interaction. This research estimated crude and specific rates of CTDUE claims in Ontario workers during 1997 while acknowledging misclassification and testing for confounding and interaction. Lower and upper limit event estimates were obtained by means of an algorithm applied to the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (OWSIB) database and were combined with "at-risk" estimates obtained from the Canadian Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Integrating knowledge generation with knowledge diffusion and utilization: a case study analysis of the Consortium for Applied Research and Evaluation in Mental Health.

Objective: Knowledge diffusion and utilization (KDU) have become a key focus in the health research community because of the limited success to date of research findings to inform health policies, programs and services. Yet, evidence indicates that successful KDU is often predicated on the early involvement of potential knowledge users in the conceptualization and conduct of the research and on the development of a "partnership culture". This study describes the integration of KDU theory with practice via a case study analysis of the Consortium for Applied Research and Evaluation in Mental Health (CAREMH).

Identifying cumulative trauma disorders of the upper extremity in workers' compensation databases.

Background: Impeding the use of workers' compensation databases for surveillance of cumulative trauma disorder of the upper extremity (CTDUE) is the lack of valid and reliable extraction strategies.

Methods: Using the Z795-96 Coding of Work Injury or Disease Information standard, an algorithm was developed to classify claims as definite, possible, or non-CTDUE. Reliability was assessed with standardized claim reviews.

Work-related cumulative trauma disorders of the upper extremity: navigating the epidemiologic literature.

Background: Cumulative trauma disorder of the upper extremity (CTDUE) is an umbrella term used to describe disorders resulting from repeated use of the upper extremity over time rather than a specific incident. The primary purpose of this article is to summarize the literature regarding the rate of work-related CTDUE, while drawing attention to the various factors contributing to the wide range of reported findings.

Methods: The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health and Medline databases were searched for articles focusing on etiology or rates of occurrence of work-related CTDUE and their findings were summarized.

Randomized controlled trial of a telephone intervention by nurses to provide information and support to patients and their partners after elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery: effects of anxiety.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of an information and support telephone intervention for reducing anxiety in patients who have undergone coronary artery bypass graft surgery and their partners.

Design: The study is a randomized controlled trial. Intervention began at discharge; 6 telephone calls were made to patients and partners over 7 weeks.

Estimating the population at risk for Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board-covered injuries or diseases.

Difficulty in quantifying the population at risk for a work-related injury or disease limits the usefulness of workers' compensation data for surveillance. This article presents a method of obtaining estimates of the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (OWSIB)- covered workforce using the Canadian Labour Force Survey (LFS). The method involves extracting that class of worker most likely to be insured by the OWSIB and using actual hours worked to estimate full-time equivalents at risk.