Understanding the Needs and Experiences With Health Services of Gay and Bisexual Men (GBM) Who Engaged in Chemsex During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Quebec, Canada.

Gay and bisexual men (GBM) engaging in chemsex can face various health and well-being-related challenges, the extent of which remains unknown given the limited research in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper examines the pandemic impacts on the health needs of GBM who engaged in chemsex and their experiences with related services. We applied interpretive description to produce knowledge with direct implications for improving practices and policies.

Exploring Indigenous food sovereignty and food environments characteristics through food interventions in Canada: a scoping review.

Indigenous food sovereignty (IFS) has the potential to reconnect Indigenous peoples in Canada to their food systems, reduce health problems and improve food security. Using PRISMA-ScR guidelines to search Medline, Web of Science, Embase and Cabi databases, this review sought to explore the characteristics of IFS promotion and the food environments involved through food and nutrition interventions in Indigenous communities in Canada. Data from 30 relevant studies published between 2004 and 2022 were included, analysed and synthesised using a thematic approach based on key IFS principles and a food environment typology.

Unique Needs and Challenges Experienced by Young People With Stroke: An International Qualitative Analysis.

Background And Objectives: Stroke in young adults has a lifelong impact on activities of daily life, including driving, leisure, and community-based activities; social participation; and reduced productivity. The needs of young people with stroke (YPwS) are likely to vary across different countries, and the development of age-adapted information and interventions is therefore critical in addressing those needs. This study aims to (1) identify the unmet needs of people with stroke aged 18 to 55 years across countries with varied income levels and cultural backgrounds and (2) determine their preferred means to access knowledge and information about stroke in the young.

A call for a coherent One Health strategy for the surveillance of climate-sensitive infectious diseases in the Canadian Arctic and subarctic regions.

Introduction: The increased burden of climate-sensitive infectious diseases (CSIDs) within the circumpolar region, one of the many impacts of climate change, is impacting human, animal and ecosystem health. An integrated One Health approach to surveillance of CSIDs has been promoted by the scientific community as a prerequisite to enhance preparedness and response. Up to now, little is known about how the One Health approach has been implemented in surveillance systems for CSIDs in the Arctic and surrounding regions.

Responding to the ongoing pandemic-related challenges of individuals with brain injury through the perspective of community-service in Canada: A qualitative study.

Objective: To investigate brain injury (BI) associations' perspectives regarding the impacts of the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with BI and BI associations services across Canada.

Methods: This qualitative descriptive study included 26 representatives of Canadian BI associations that participated in six online focus groups to discuss the effects of the second year of the pandemic on clients living with BI and on the provision of community services.

Results: Findings revealed three main themes: 1) ongoing pandemic-related challenges faced by clients living with BI, including worsening mental health and basic needs insecurities, difficulties faced by clients in adhering to safety measures, and ongoing technological issues; 2) ongoing adaptations to accommodate clients' needs, including offering tailored services, ensuring consistent and transparent safety measures, and providing hybrid services; and 3) developing a sustainable 'new normal' aligned with association mandates and resources by expanding networks and building resilience.

Assessment of long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution: An exposure framework.

Background: Exposure to ambient air pollution is associated with morbidity and mortality, making it an important public health concern. Emissions from motorized traffic are a common source of air pollution but evaluating the contribution of traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) emissions to health risks is challenging because it is difficult to disentangle the contribution of individual air pollution sources to exposure contrasts in an epidemiological study.

Objective: This paper describes a new framework to identify whether air pollution differences reflect contrasts in TRAP exposures.

Assessing the Quality of an Online Democratic Deliberation on COVID-19 Pandemic Triage Protocols for Access to Critical Care in an Extreme Pandemic Context: Mixed Methods Study.

Background: Online democratic deliberation (ODD) may foster public engagement in new health strategies by providing opportunities for knowledge exchange between experts, policy makers, and the public. It can favor decision-making by generating new points of view and solutions to existing problems. Deliberation experts recommend gathering feedback from participants to optimize future implementation.

Cognitive rehabilitation in posterior cortical atrophy.

Posterior cortical atrophy is an uncommon type of dementia often caused by Alzheimer's disease and characterised by progressive loss of visuospatial and perceptual abilities. Although there is no curative treatment, patients may benefit from a range of symptom-based techniques and strategies to address visuospatial deficits and apraxia, and to reduce disability. Specific techniques based on visual and tactile cues, adapted and assistive equipment, environmental modifications and skill training may help people with posterior cortical atrophy continue to carry on activities that are important to them.

Association between food security status and dietary patterns in a cohort of first-time food-aid users.

Objective: To examine the associations between food security status and dietary patterns among first-time food-aid users.

Methods: From September 2018 to January 2020, a sample of 1001 newly registered food-aid users from 106 community-based food donation organizations were recruited across urban, rural, and peri-urban areas in four administrative regions of the province of Quebec, Canada. The Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) and the Short Diet Questionnaire (SDQ) were used to assess food security status and food intake, respectively.

Age differences in cannabis-related perceptions, knowledge, and sources of information among adults in the post-legalization era in Quebec, Canada.

Individuals access and perceive information about cannabis differently according to age groups. This study compared differences in beliefs and knowledge regarding cannabis, and exposure to information, advertisement, and prevention messages among emerging (18-24 years old), prime-age (25-44), middle-age (45-64), and old-age adults (65 and over). Participants (n=2,001) completed online questionnaires regarding their sociodemographic characteristics, mental health perception, cannabis use, sources of cannabis information, and exposure to advertisement and prevention messages.

Spatial and spatiotemporal modelling of intra-urban ultrafine particles: A comparison of linear, nonlinear, regularized, and machine learning methods.

Background: Machine learning methods are proposed to improve the predictions of ambient air pollution, yet few studies have compared ultrafine particles (UFP) models across a broad range of statistical and machine learning approaches, and only one compared spatiotemporal models. Most reported marginal differences between methods. This limits our ability to draw conclusions about the best methods to model ambient UFPs.

Towards multi-faceted outcomes of participation-based interventions: mapping the PREP's effects for children and youth with disabilities.

Purpose: Systematically organizing participation effects may guide participation-based research designs in rehabilitation. This perspective paper uses existing evidence on Pathways and Resources for Engagement and Participation (PREP) to showcase the multitude of effects from a single intervention and synthesize the magnitude of these effects.

Methods: An outcome matrix of participation effects comprising three dimensions (intermediate, instrumental, ultimate) and two levels (transient, enduring) was used to systematically map PREP's effects.

Residential proximity to conventional and unconventional wells and exposure to indoor air volatile organic compounds in the Exposures in the Peace River Valley (EXPERIVA) study.

Background: In a previous study located in Northeastern British Columbia (Canada), we observed associations between density and proximity of oil and gas wells and indoor air concentrations of certain volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Whether conventional or unconventional well types and phases of unconventional development contribute to these associations remains unknown.

Objective: To investigate the associations between proximity-based metrics for conventional and unconventional wells and measured indoor air VOC concentrations in the Exposures in the Peace River Valley (EXPERIVA) study samples.

Analysis of head and eye dynamic may explain saccades in dizzy patients with normal VOR gain.

Objective: Compare the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) gain, compensatory saccades and head and eye coordination during head impulses between patients with dizziness but normal VOR gain and healthy controls.

Methods: Video head impulses test (vHIT; ICS impulse, Otometrics, Denmark) was reviewed in 40 participants (20 patients with dizziness; 20 controls). VOR gain, saccades characteristics (frequency of occurrence, amplitude, latency) and time difference between head and eye velocity was compared.

Enhancing Drug-Related Data Exchange: Advanced Technical Support for Interoperability.

This paper describes the technical support services developed to facilitate the usage of the Canadian Drug Ontology (OCRx). These services include a lookup service named PaperRx, which retrieves OCRx drug entities using description logic queries (DLqueries) conducted within OCRx's classified structure. Additionally, the services feature a SPARQL endpoint, an OWL file downloader, and a RESTful Application Programming Interface.

Promoting medication safety for older adults upon hospital discharge: Guiding principles for a medication discharge plan.

Older adults are at risk of adverse drug events during transition of care from hospital to community, thus optimal communication about medications at discharge is essential. Standardization of medication discharge plan (MDP) is lacking. This study aimed to (1) create a standardized MDP for older adults using consensus-based principles, (2) create a short-version MDP and (3) generate a practical guide.

The effect of fluralaner treatment of small mammals on the endemic cycle of Borrelia burgdorferi in a natural environment.

Among approaches aimed at reducing Lyme disease risk in the environment, those targeting reservoirs of Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson are promising because they have the potential to reduce both the density of questing Ixodes scapularis Say (Acari: Ixodidea) ticks and the prevalence of B. burgdorferi in the tick population. In this 4-yr field study, we treated a population of wild small mammals with 2 densities of fluralaner baits and investigated the effect of the treatment on 3 parameters of the endemic cycle of B.

Do machine learning methods improve prediction of ambient air pollutants with high spatial contrast? A systematic review.

Background & Objective: The use of machine learning for air pollution modelling is rapidly increasing. We conducted a systematic review of studies comparing statistical and machine learning models predicting the spatiotemporal variation of ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO), ultrafine particles (UFPs) and black carbon (BC) to determine whether and in which scenarios machine learning generates more accurate predictions.

Methods: Web of Science and Scopus were searched up to June 13, 2024.