Evaluating Patient-Defined Priorities for Female Patients with Bladder Cancer.

Background: Although bladder cancer is much more common in men than in women, female patients with bladder cancer present with more locally advanced tumors and have worse disease-specific outcomes than male patients, even after controlling for biological differences. There is a paucity of research regarding the optimal approach to caring for female patients with bladder cancer in ways that maximize patient satisfaction, preferences, and values.

Objective: We sought to explore patient-defined priorities and areas in need of improvement for female patients with bladder cancer from the patient perspective.

Fatal endocarditis in a patient with transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

species may translocate from the gastrointestinal tract into systemic circulation from ingested probiotics or commensal flora. Their pathogenic potential is still debated. endocarditis is a rare entity with only around 120 cases reported in the literature.

The intersection of women's sexual pleasure and injection drug use.

There is a dearth of literature concerning the sexual behaviors of women who inject drugs. The existing literature emphasizes the violence, trauma, and social disadvantage experienced by these women and obscures any sense of agency or sexual pleasure. This omission imperils our ability to develop effective interventions for women, ignores the true context of their sexual and injection practices, and presumes women to be free of agency and thus at the will of external social, environmental, and economic factors.

Evaluation of the Substance Abuse Research and Education Training (SARET) program: Stimulating health professional students to pursue careers in substance use research.

Background: We developed and implemented the Substance Abuse Research Education and Training (SARET) program for medical, dental, nursing, and social work students to address the dearth of health professionals pursuing research and careers in substance use disorders (SUD). SARET has 2 main components: (1) a novel online curriculum addressing core SUD research topics, to reach a large number of students; (2) a mentored summer research experience for in-depth exposure.

Methods: Modules were integrated into the curricula of the lead institution, and of 5 external schools.

Project SARET: An interprofessional education (IPE) lens examines substance use disorders research education for health professional students.

The NIDA funded Substance Abuse Education, Research and Training (SARET) Program addresses the compelling need for health professionals prepared to engage in substance use disorders (SUD) research. The goal of this interprofessional project, structured by an Executive Committee of co-investigators from the disciplines of medicine, nursing, social work and dentistry, is to increase the skills of students from each discipline for interprofessional research collaboration and early career-development opportunities in SUD research. The development of web-based modules, interprofessional seminars and a model mentorship program were designed as well, for dissemination and evaluation by other health professional schools.

Integration and Evaluation of Substance Abuse Research Education Training (SARET) into a Master of Social Work program.

Background: The Substance Abuse Research and Education Training (SARET) program is funded by the National Institutes of Drug Abuse in 2006 as a novel approach to spark interest in substance abuse research among medical, dental, nursing, and social work graduate students through a Web-based curriculum and research mentorships. This report presents the initial integration of the intervention in a Master of Social Work (MSW) program, the components of the program, and the mixed-methods evaluation of its effect on students' attitudes towards substance abuse research and treatment.

Methods: SARET comprises 2 main components: stipend-supported research mentorships and a Web-based module series, consisting of 6 interactive, multimedia modules addressing core SA research topics, delivered via course curricula and in the research mentorships.

HIV and smoking: associated risks and prevention strategies.

High rates of smoking among persons living with HIV (PLWH) may reduce the effectiveness of HIV treatment and contribute to significant morbidity and mortality. Factors associated with smoking in PLWH include mental health comorbidity, alcohol and drug use, health-related quality of life, smoking among social networks and supports, and lack of access to care. PLWH smokers are at a higher risk of numerous HIV-associated infections and non-HIV related morbidity, including a decreased response to antiretroviral treatment, impaired immune functioning, reduced cognitive functioning, decreased lung functioning, and cardiovascular disease.

Women's injection drug practices in their own words: a qualitative study.

Background: There are significant gender differences in injection drug practices and relative risks involved for women who inject drug compared with men. This qualitative study aims to explore the social, contextual, and behavioral dimensions of injecting practices among women who inject drugs.

Methods: Participants were selected by purposive venue-based sampling from a syringe exchange program in 2012-2013.

Relationship between menopause symptoms and HIV risk among midlife women in methadone treatment: a pilot study.

This pilot study explores somatic, psychological, and urogenital menopause symptoms associated with HIV drug and sexual risk among midlife women with substance abuse histories in methadone maintenance treatment. The Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) assessed menopause symptoms and severity. The Risk Behavior Assessment assessed demographic characteristics, drug, and sexual risk behaviors.

A few thoughts on evidence in social work.

Social work practitioners must act every working day in the face of uncertainty. This uncertainty arises in part because knowledge is often difficult to locate or sometimes lacking regarding: the systems context the population being served; the particular client system; the set of problems the client system is experiencing; as well as the various interventions that could be selected. It seems reasonable to explore ways to reduce the experience of uncertainty, and narrow, if not eliminate, the knowledge gaps that arise in such situations.

Implementation of an evidence-based modified therapeutic community: staff and resident perspectives.

The widespread successful implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) into community substance abuse settings require a thorough understanding of practitioner and client attitudes toward these approaches. This paper presents the first that we know of a qualitative study that explores staff and resident experience of the change process of a therapeutic community to an evidence-based modified therapeutic community for homeless individuals with co-occurring substance abuse and mental illness disorders. The sample consists of 20 participants; 10 staff and 10 residents.

Women and addiction: the importance of gender issues in substance abuse research.

Substance use was considered to be primarily a male problem, and many substance abuse studies are conducted with a predominance of male participants. However, recent substance abuse research indicates significant gender differences in the substance-related epidemiology, social factors and characteristics, biological responses, progressions to dependence, medical consequences, co-occurring psychiatric disorders, and barriers to treatment entry, retention, and completion. The epidemiology of women's drug use presents challenges separate from those raised by men's drug use.

Menopause symptom attribution among midlife women in methadone treatment.

This article describes menopause symptom attributions among 135 midlife methadone-maintained women between the ages of 40 and 55 years. A cross-sectional survey collected sample characteristics and a 14-item menopause symptom checklist. Following the checklist respondents were questioned regarding perceived symptom causality.

A model-guided process evaluation: Office-based prescribing and pharmacy dispensing of methadone.

This article presents an exemplar of a model-guided process evaluation that specifies the treatment model, assesses its implementation, monitors the fidelity of the model throughout the project, assesses model exposure and absorption, and helps understand the program's intermediate effects (proximal outcomes) as well as final effects (distal outcomes). The New Mexico study on office-based prescribing and community pharmacy dispensing of methadone is a research demonstration project that phases a small group of female methadone maintenance patients out of methadone clinics and into a program where they will obtain their scheduled doses of methadone at pharmacies that work in collaboration with physicians and a social worker.The patient's methadone treatment will in this way become part of their overall health care.

Exploring the prevalence of menopause symptoms in midlife women in methadone maintenance treatment.

Menopause is a natural process that occurs in women's lives as part of normal aging. Many women go through the menopausal transition with few or no symptoms, while some have significant or even disabling symptoms. The purpose of this paper is to describe the menopausal symptom experience of 135 urban methadone-maintained midlife women between the ages of 40 and 55 years.

Office-based methadone prescribing: acceptance by inner-city practitioners in New York.

In the US, methadone maintenance is restricted by federal and state regulations to large specialized clinics that serve fewer than 20% of the heroin-dependent population. In Europe, Canada, and Australia, primary health care providers already are utilized widely as methadone prescribers. In preparation for a limited study of office-based methadone treatment in New York City, 71 providers from 11 sites were surveyed about their willingness to prescribe methadone in their office-based practices.