Complex care needs of patients with late-stage HIV disease: a retrospective study.

This retrospective chart review provides a profile of an emerging population of vulnerable HIV patients with complex comorbidities. Data were abstracted from all 83 patients admitted in 2008 to Casey House, a community-based hospital dedicated to supportive and palliative care for persons with HIV in Toronto, Canada. We describe patient characteristics, including medical and psychiatric conditions, and use a Venn diagram and case study to illustrate the frequency and reality of co-occurring conditions that contribute to the complexity of patients' health and health care needs.

Statement of retraction. Complex care needs of patients with late-stage HIV disease: a retrospective study.

This retrospective chart review provides a profile of an emerging population of vulnerable HIV patients with complex comorbidities. Data were abstracted from all 87 patients admitted in 2008 to Casey House, a community-based hospital dedicated to supportive and palliative care for persons with HIV in Toronto, Canada. We describe patient characteristics, including medical and psychiatric conditions, and use a Venn diagram and case study to illustrate the frequency and reality of co-occurring conditions that contribute to the complexity of patients’ health and health care needs.

Causes of Death in HIV Patients and the Evolution of an AIDS Hospice: 1988-2008.

This paper reports on the transformation that has occurred in the care of people living with HIV/AIDS in a Toronto Hospice. Casey House opened in the pre-HAART era to care exclusively for people with HIV/AIDS, an incurable disease. At the time, all patients were admitted for palliative care and all deaths were due to AIDS-defining conditions.

Rethinking measurement of neighborhood in the context of health research.

Systematic social observations have been gaining increasing recognition in neighborhood and health research as a way of measuring neighborhood attributes hypothesized to affect residents' well-being. Despite the growing popularity of this methodology, there has not been a critical discussion of potential shortcomings of this approach. This paper reviews some of the challenges and limitations in the systematic social observations methodology.

Examining methodological details of neighbourhood observations and the relationship to health: a literature review.

Neighbourhood research has been growing steadily over the past two decades across the social sciences, and, in particular in the area of public health. Despite this increase, there is currently no consensus on which measure and data source researchers should use to assess neighbourhood attributes. In the past, researchers have relied on census data and household surveys to assess neighbourhood conditions, but in recent years, neighbourhood observations have become a popular alternative method for characterizing neighbourhood environments.

Community-based services for homeless adults experiencing concurrent mental health and substance use disorders: a realist approach to synthesizing evidence.

Consultations with community-based service providers in Toronto identified a lack of strong research evidence about successful community-based interventions that address the needs of homeless clients experiencing concurrent mental health and substance use disorders. We undertook a collaborative research effort between academic-based and community-based partners to conduct a systematic evidence synthesis drawing heavily from Pawson's realist review methodology to focus on both whether programs are successful and why and how they lead to improved outcomes. We examined scholarly and nonscholarly literature to explore program approaches and program elements that lead to improvements in mental health and substance use disorders among homeless individuals with concurrent disorders (CD).

Neighborhood stressors, perceived neighborhood quality, and child mental health in New York City.

This paper examines the relationship between neighborhood stressors, stressors related to parenting, children's evaluations of neighborhood quality, and child depression. One hundred and twenty-six young adolescents in three disadvantaged New York City neighborhoods completed surveys on neighborhood quality and child depression and the children's parents provided information on their mental health and parenting practices. Neighborhood stressors were measured through observations by outside raters.

Decreasing psychiatric symptoms by increasing choice in services for adults with histories of homelessness.

Despite the increase in consumer-driven interventions for homeless and mentally ill individuals, there is little evidence that these programs enhance psychological outcomes. This study followed 197 homeless and mentally ill adults who were randomized into one of two conditions: a consumer-driven "Housing First" program or "treatment as usual" requiring psychiatric treatment and sobriety before housing. Proportion of time homeless, perceived choice, mastery, and psychiatric symptoms were measured at six time points.