Perceptions of cervical screening uptake amongst South Asian women in Ontario, Canada: a concept mapping study.

Background: Regular cervical screening can significantly reduce the onset and prevalence of cervical cancer. In Ontario, Canada, South Asian women have the lowest rates of cervical cancer screening among major ethnic groups in the province.

Methods: Using an innovative and participant-driven method called Concept Mapping (CM), we set out to understand how the lives and experiences of South Asian women living in Ontario shape their decisions around getting screened for cervical cancer.

Science tells us that portable air filters reduce infection risk. It's time for public health authorities to make this clear.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian public health advisors and politicians have shared mixed messages about the utility of portable air filters (PAFs) for mitigating the transmission of airborne infectious diseases. Some public health advisors and decision-makers have also suggested that PAFs are cumbersome or require expert advice. We take this opportunity to review evidence and address myths about PAFs.

A Systematic Review of Evaluated Labor Market Initiatives Addressing Precarious Employment: Findings and Public Health Implications.

Precarious employment (PE) is a major determinant of population health and contributor to health and social inequities. The purpose of this article is to synthesize and critically appraise available evidence on labor market initiatives addressing PE identified through a systematic review. Of the 21 initiatives reviewed, grouped into four categories-labor market policies, legislation, and reforms; union strategies; apprenticeships and other youth programs; social protection programs-10 showed consistently positive outcomes and 11 a combination of negative, mixed, or inconclusive outcomes.

Things Latinas need to plan for safety: A dual-site concept mapping study.

Background: Latina women in the United States experience intimate partner violence (IPV) at high rates, but evidence suggests Latinas seek help for IPV at lower rates than other communities. Safety planning is an approach that provides those experiencing IPV with concrete actions to increase their safety and referrals to formal services. While safety planning is shown to reduce future incidences of violence, little is known about the safety planning priorities of Latinas.

Investigating inconsistencies regarding health equity in select World Health Organization texts: a critical discourse analysis of health promotion, social determinants of health, and urban health texts, 2008-2016.

Background: Scholarly critiques have demonstrated that the World Health Organization (WHO) approaches the concept of health equity inconsistently. For example, inconsistencies center around measuring health inequity across individuals versus groups; in approaches and goals sought in striving for health equity; and whether considerations around health equity prioritize socioeconomic status or also consider other social determinants of health. However, the significance of these contrasting approaches has yet to be assessed empirically.

Health promotion, the social determinants of health, and urban health: what does a critical discourse analysis of World Health Organization texts reveal about health equity?

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) has focused on health equity as part of its mandate and broader agenda-consider for example, the "health for all" slogan. However, a recent scoping review determined that there are no studies that investigate the WHO's approach to health equity. Therefore, this study is the first such empirical analysis examining discourses of health equity in WHO texts concerning health promotion, the social determinants of health, and urban health.

Addressing Underscreening for Cervical Cancer among South Asian Women: Using Concept Mapping to Compare Service Provider and Service User Perspectives of Cervical Screening in Ontario, Canada.

Cervical cancer is largely preventable through screening and treatment of cervical lesions. In the province of Ontario, South Asian women have some of the lowest rates of screening. The roles of service providers-those in healthcare and community services-and their interactions with screen-eligible people can greatly impact the uptake of screening.

Does receipt of social housing impact mental health? Results of a quasi-experimental study in the Greater Toronto Area.

Affordable housing is commonly described as an important determinant of health, but there are relatively few intervention studies of the effects of housing on health. In this paper, we describe the results of a quasi-experimental, longitudinal study investigating the impacts of receiving social housing among a cohort of 502 people on waitlists for social housing in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada. Specifically, we sought to determine if adults who received housing were more likely than a control group to show improvements in depression, psychological distress, and self-rated mental health 6, 12 and 18 months after moving to housing.

What is the Role of Minimum Wages in Addressing Precarious Employment in the Informal and Formal Sectors? Findings from a Systematic Review.

This article presents synthesized evidence from 16 studies examining initiatives with potential to mitigate workers' exposure to precarious employment through the adoption of minimum wage policies. All studies were set in low-income countries and focused on both formal and informal workers. A systematic review of evaluated initiatives addressing precarious employment identified the evidence.

Emergency Knowledge Translation, COVID-19 and indoor air: evaluating a virtual ventilation and filtration consultation program for community spaces in Ontario.

Background: An October, 2021 review of Public Health Ontario's COVID-19 guidance for congregate settings such as shelters and long-term care homes demonstrated that this guidance did not include references to ventilation or filtration. In April 2022, an interdisciplinary team with expertise in indoor air quality (IAQ), engineering, epidemiology, community programming and knowledge translation launched a virtual ventilation and filtration consultation program for community spaces in Toronto, Ontario. The program gives people working in community spaces direct access to IAQ experts through 25-min online appointments.

Precarious work on the rise.

Precarious employment (PE) is non-standard employment with uncertain and unstable contract duration, low wages, and limited labour protections and rights. Research has associated PE with workers' poor mental health and well-being; however, this association has been studied primarily using quantitative methods. This qualitative study seeks to examine the mechanisms between PE and mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada.

The mental health of staff at violence against women organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from a mixed-methods study of service providers in Canada's largest city.

Objectives: Staff at violence against women (VAW) organizations provide essential services for survivors of violence. The increase in VAW during the COVID-19 pandemic placed additional pressures on VAW staff. We investigated the impacts of the pandemic on the mental health of VAW staff in the Greater Toronto Area to inform recommendations for policy and practice.

Important and Feasible Actions to Address Cervical Screening Participation amongst South Asian Women in Ontario: A Concept Mapping Study with Service Users and Service Providers.

Regular cervical screening can largely prevent the development of cervical cancer and innovative methods are needed to better engage people in screening. In Ontario, Canada, South Asian women have some of the lowest rates of screening in the province. In this study, we used concept mapping to engage two stakeholder groups-South Asian service users and service providers-to identify and prioritize points of intervention to encourage the uptake of cervical screening.

Females and Housing First: An analysis of 18-month outcomes in a randomized controlled trial.

The main objective of this research was to qualitatively examine the impacts of Housing First (HF) specifically on those participants who identified themselves as female in response to question asking what their gender was. The data analyzed are from a larger, muti-site, randomized controlled trial. χ analysis was used to compare the life changes (coded as positive, neutral, or negative) experienced by 64 females (42 HF and 22 TAU).

Working Conditions, Worker Rights, and Managerial Domination During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Assessing Their Toll on Precariously Employed Workers and Family Well-Being.

Precarious Employment (PE) is characterized by job, income, and benefit insecurities. Studies surrounding PE and well-being have been predominantly quantitative, leaving a gap in rich descriptions of employment experiences. We recruited a sample of 40 adults aged 25-55 who were involved in PE during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic or lost employment due to the pandemic.

Cannabis legalization and hospitalizations in Alberta: Interrupted time series analysis by age and sex.

Objectives: Recent research has focused on the effects of legalization on cannabis-related emergency department visits, but the considerable healthcare costs of cannabis-related hospitalizations merit attention. We will examine the association between recreational cannabis legalization and cannabis-related hospitalizations.

Methods: A cohort of 3,493,864 adults from Alberta was examined (October 2015-May 2021) over three periods: pre-legalization, post-legalization of flowers and herbs (phase one), and post-legalization of edibles, extracts, and topicals (phase two).

Supporting Women Exit Sex Work: A Contribution Analysis of the Exit Doors Here Integrated Care Program in Toronto, Canada.

Introduction: Exiting sex work is a complex process which can be facilitated by integrated action on health and its social determinants such as housing and employment. Few programs offer such coordinated support, and even fewer have been evaluated. We assessed if and how Exit Doors Here, a program anchored in the Critical Time Intervention (CTI) model, facilitated women's progress towards their goals, and exit from sex work.

Impact of the minimum wage increase on intimate partner violence (IPV): a quasi-experimental study in South Korea.

Background: Poverty is associated with intimate partner violence (IPV), but whether exogenous increases in wage could reduce IPV among low-income women is still unclear. We examined whether the 2018 minimum wage hike led to a reduction in IPV risk among women.

Methods: Using the 2015-2019 Korean Welfare Panel Study, we employed a difference-in-differences (DID) approach to assess the effect of the minimum wage hike on IPV.

Equity Promoting Integrated Care: Definition and Future Development.

Over the last three decades, integrated care has emerged as an important health system strategy to improve population health while addressing the unique needs of structurally marginalised communities. However, less attention has been given to the role of integrated care in addressing issues related to inequities in health and health care. In this commentary we introduce the concept of Equity Promoting Integrated Care (EPIC) that situates integrated care in a social justice context to frame the actions necessary to center equity as a priority for integrated care.

Syndemic Factors and Lifetime Bidirectional Intimate Partner Violence Among Gay, Bisexual, and Other Sexual Minority Men.

Bidirectional intimate partner violence (IPV), the reporting of both IPV victimization and perpetration, is likely the most common form of violence among gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority men (GBM) and is thought to be part of a larger syndemic of stressors. This purpose of this study was to examine associations between syndemic factors and lifetime bidirectional IPV among GBM in three Canadian cities to inform future interventions. Data from GBM ( = 2449) were used to fit three logistic regression models with lifetime bidirectional IPV as the outcome and four syndemic factors (i.

Health Equity Cannot Be Sought Without the Consideration of Racism In Equity-Focused Urban Health Initiatives.

Given that racism is present worldwide, we believe it is imperative to address racism in the pursuit of health equity in cities. Despite the strengths of global urban health efforts in improving health equity, these initiatives can be furthered by explicitly considering systemic racism. Because racism is a major contributor to health issues, utilizing critical race theory (CRT) and taking an anti-racist perspective can help key players understand how racial health differences are initiated and sustained, which will subsequently inform solutions in seeking to address urban health inequities.

Disparities in cannabis-related emergency department visits across depressed and non-depressed individuals and the impact of recreational cannabis policy in Ontario, Canada.

Background: Recreational cannabis policies are being considered in many jurisdictions internationally. Given that cannabis use is more prevalent among people with depression, legalisation may lead to more adverse events in this population. Cannabis legalisation in Canada included the legalisation of flower and herbs (phase 1) in October 2018, and the deregulation of cannabis edibles one year later (phase 2).

Neighborhood Income Mobility and Risk of Neonatal and Maternal Morbidity.

Importance: Residing in a low-income neighborhood is generally associated with worse pregnancy outcomes. It is not known if moving from a low- to higher-income area between 2 pregnancies alters the risk of adverse birth outcomes in the subsequent birth compared with women who remain in low-income areas for both births.

Objective: To compare the risk of adverse maternal and newborn outcomes among women who achieved upward area-level income mobility vs those who did not.

Experiences of insecurity among non-standard workers across different welfare states: A qualitative cross-country study.

In recent decades, economic crises and political reforms focused on employment flexibilization have increased the use of non-standard employment (NSE). National political and economic contexts determine how employers interact with labour and how the state interacts with labour markets and manages social welfare policies. These factors influence the prevalence of NSE and the level of employment insecurity it creates, but the extent to which a country's policy context mitigates the health influences of NSE is unclear.