Introduction: Vulnerably housed individuals access emergency departments (EDs) more frequently than the general population. Despite Canada's universal public health care system, vulnerably housed persons face structural barriers to care and experience discrimination from healthcare providers. This study examines how vulnerably housed persons perceive their experience of care in the ED and Urgent Care Center (UCC) in Kingston, Ontario and aims to develop strategies for improving care for this group.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Canada's immigrants and refugees have often settled in large Canadian cities, but this is changing with rising costs of living and rural settlement initiatives. However, little consideration is made regarding systemic changes needed to accommodate this distribution, particularly in healthcare in medium-sized cities or smaller communities. For most Canadians, primary care is an entry point into the healthcare system but immigrants and refugees face unique barriers to accessing care compared to the general Canadian population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is a collaborative research approach that equally engages researchers and community stakeholders throughout all steps of the research process to facilitate social change and increase research relevance. Community advisory boards (CABs) are a CBPR tool in which individuals with lived experience and community organisations are integrated into the research process and ensure the work aligns with community priorities. We seek to (1) explore the best practices for the recruitment and engagement of people with lived experiences on CABs and (2) identify the scope of literature on minimising power dynamics between organisations and community members with lived experience who work on CABs together.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe widespread availability and use of vaccines have tremendously reduced morbidity and deaths related to infectious diseases globally. However, in hill-tribe communities in Northern Thailand, vaccination rates remain low, and there is limited literature on parental perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs about vaccination for children under five years of age. We conducted a qualitative study employing semi-structured interviews to understand parents' perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs about vaccinations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Family financial stress and parenting behaviours are each associated with child behaviours. We sought to explore the association between parent financial stress and child socioemotional and behavioural difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic and examine parenting behaviour, including overreactive and lax parenting approaches, as a potential mediator to this relationship.
Methods: Cross-sectional sample of parent and child data pairings in Ontario, Canada between April and November of 2020.
Background: The years people spend attending university or college are often filled with transition and life change. Younger students often move into their adult identity by working through challenges and encountering new social experiences. These transitions and stresses have been impacted significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to dramatic change in the post-secondary experience, particularly in the pandemic's early months when colleges and universities were closed to in person teaching.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The COVID-19 pandemic has had broad impacts on individuals, families and communities which will continue to require multidimensional responses from service providers, program developers, and policy makers.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to use Life Course theory to understand and imagine public health and policy responses to the multiple and varied impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on different groups.
Methods: "The Cost of COVID-19" was a research study carried out in Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington counties in South Eastern Ontario, Canada, between June and December 2020.
Introduction: Ethnic minority elderly (EME) people are recognized as a vulnerable group who have higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) than the majority of the population. The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility, acceptability, and effect of the HOME model (Home intervention; Online monitoring; Multidisciplinary approach; and Equity and education) specifically for enhancing self-management activities, glycemic control, and satisfaction of EME with T2DM in rural areas in Thailand.
Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, a single group used a pre-test and post-test, which were conducted as a pilot study to examine the effect of the HOME model.
Context: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated countermeasures have had broad implications across society which will have implications for physical and mental health for years to come. Understanding these experiences through the lens of life course constructs may help communities, service providers including family doctors, and governments to recognize and respond more effectively to the lasting impacts.
Objective: To use life course theory to explore the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated countermeasures on child and family mental, social, and emotional well-being.
Background: There is limited and inconsistent literature examining the relationship between food worry and mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined the association between food worry and mental health among community dwelling Canadian adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: Adults age 16 years and older completed an anonymous online questionnaire between April 1, 2020 and November 30 2020.
Healthcare (Basel)
February 2022
Frontline rural physicians in Canada are vulnerable to the psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic considering their high pre-pandemic burnout rates as compared to their urban counterparts. This study aims to understand the psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural family physicians engaged in full-time primary care practice in Ontario and the stressors behind any identified challenges. Recruitment combined purposive, convenience, and snowball sampling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aims to understand the experiences of street-involved individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic regarding substance use patterns and service access. With the collision of the COVID-19 pandemic and Canadian opioid epidemic came an increase in opioid related overdoses and increased barriers in accessing essential services since March 2020. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in June and July 2021, with 30 street-involved individuals in Kingston, Ontario.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
February 2022
We aimed to assess the association between community belonging, spirituality, and mental health outcomes among Indigenous Peoples during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional observational study used online survey distribution and targeted outreach to the local Indigenous community to collect a convenience sample between 23 April 2020 and 20 November 2020. The surveys included demographic information, self-reported symptoms of depression (PHQ-2) and anxiety (GAD-2), and measures of the sense of community belonging and the importance of spirituality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Sexual violence is a term describing sexual acts where consent is not freely given. Registered nurses employed as sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) provide care to address the medical and legal needs of victims/survivors of sexual violence. Trauma-informed care (TIC) is an approach recommended when caring for individuals who have experienced trauma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aims to understand the experiences of families of children with special healthcare needs in rural areas in Thailand. Grounded theory (GT) was employed to understand families' experiences when caring for children with special healthcare needs (CSHCN) in rural areas. Forty-three family members from thirty-four families with CSHCN participated in in-depth interviews.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF: It is well-documented that single mothers in sub-Saharan Africa face unique psychosocial challenges which can lead to child health and developmental disadvantages, often impacting life trajectories for both the mother and child. Years of instability, conflict, and widespread poor governance within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have resulted in magnified challenges for parents, making it more difficult to provide supportive and effective parenting. To address gaps in knowledge regarding the specific challenges experienced and adaptations made among single mothers raising children in contexts of adversity, the present study aimed to investigate the phenomenon of single mother parenting in the DRC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF: Countermeasures introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic produced an environment that placed some children at increased risk of maltreatment at the same time as there were decreased opportunities for identifying and reporting abuse. Unfortunately, coordinated government responses to address child protection since the start of the pandemic have been limited in Canada. As an exploratory study to examine the potential academic evidence base and location of expertise that could have been used to inform COVID-19 pandemic response, we undertook a review of child maltreatment research across three prominent Canadian professional journals in social work, medicine and public health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF: The term 'last mile' has been used across disciplines to refer to populations who are farthest away, most difficult to reach, or last to benefit from a program or service. However, last mile research lacks a shared understanding around its conceptualization.: This project used a concept mapping process to answer the questions: what is last mile research in global health and, how can it be used to make positive change for health equity in the last mile?: Between July and December 2019, a five-stage concept mapping exercise was undertaken using online concept mapping software and an in-person consensus meeting.
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