Twelve tips for planning and conducting a participatory evaluation.

Participatory evaluation involves a partnership between program evaluators and stakeholders. This paper provides tips for planning and conducting a participatory evaluation of a medical education program. The tips highlight the need to recognize the importance of judgment in participatory evaluation, assess the appropriateness of participatory evaluation for the setting, determine a predominant stream of participatory evaluation, and select stakeholders for participation carefully.

Housing First for older homeless adults with mental illness: a subgroup analysis of the At Home/Chez Soi randomized controlled trial.

Objective: This study compares the effect of Housing First on older (≥50 years old) and younger (18-49 years old) homeless adults with mental illness participating in At Home/Chez Soi, a 24-month multisite randomized controlled trial of Housing First.

Method: At Home/Chez Soi, participants (n = 2148) were randomized to receive rent supplements with intensive case management or assertive community treatment, based on their need level for mental health services, or usual care in their respective communities. A subgroup analysis compared older (n = 470) and younger (n = 1678) homeless participants across baseline characteristics and 24-month outcomes including housing stability (primary outcome), generic and condition-specific quality of life, community functioning, physical and mental health status, mental health symptom severity, psychological community integration, recovery, and substance use (secondary outcomes).

Mass deworming to improve developmental health and wellbeing of children in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Background: Soil-transmitted helminthiasis and schistosomiasis, considered among the neglected tropical diseases by WHO, affect more than a third of the world's population, with varying intensity of infection. We aimed to evaluate the effects of mass deworming for soil-transmitted helminths (with or without deworming for schistosomiasis or co-interventions) on growth, educational achievement, cognition, school attendance, quality of life, and adverse effects in children in endemic helminth areas.

Methods: We searched 11 databases up to Jan 14, 2016, websites and trial registers, contacted authors, and reviewed reference lists.

Demographic Characteristics Associated with Pregnant and Postpartum Youth Referred for Mental Health Services in a Community Outreach Center.

Objective: We aimed to describe demographic characteristics associated with pregnant and postpartum youth and young adults referred for mental health services in the community and to compare this with data drawn from a hospital-based perinatal mental health clinic.

Method: Patients were recruited at a young parents' outreach center (YPOC) in a large urban Canadian city. The patients completed questionnaires at the time of initial assessment.

Morbidity and mortality of women and men with intellectual and developmental disabilities newly initiating antipsychotic drugs.

Background: While up to 45% of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have a comorbid psychiatric disorder, and antipsychotics are commonly prescribed, gender differences in the safety of antipsychotics have rarely been studied in this population.

Aims: To compare men and women with IDD on medical outcomes after antipsychotic initiation.

Method: Our population-based study in Ontario, Canada, compared 1457 women and 1951 men with IDD newly initiating antipsychotic medication on risk for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, venous thromboembolism, myocardial infarction, stroke and death, with up to 4 years of follow-up.

A Longitudinal Study of Predictors of Housing Stability, Housing Quality, and Mental Health Functioning Among Single Homeless Individuals Staying in Emergency Shelters.

The current study examined risk and resilience factors at multiple levels that affect homeless individuals' ability to exit homelessness and achieve housing stability. It also examined the relationship between housing status, housing quality and mental health functioning. The methodology is a longitudinal study of single homeless individuals staying in emergency shelters in a medium-sized Canadian city who were followed for a 2 year period.

Individual, Housing, and Neighborhood Predictors of Psychological Integration Among Vulnerably Housed and Homeless Individuals.

The current longitudinal study evaluated the individual, housing, and neighborhood characteristics predictive of feeling psychologically integrated within one's neighborhood among a population of homeless and vulnerably housed individuals. Participants were recruited at homeless shelters, meal programs, and rooming houses in Ottawa, Canada and participated in three in-person interviews, each approximately 1 year apart. Prospective and cross-sectional predictors of psychological integration at Follow-up 1 and Follow-up 2 were examined.

Outcome Trajectories among Homeless Individuals with Mental Disorders in a Multisite Randomised Controlled Trial of Housing First.

Purpose: Housing First (HF) has been shown to improve housing stability, on average, for formerly homeless adults with mental illness. However, little is known about patterns of change and characteristics that predict different outcome trajectories over time. This article reports on latent trajectories of housing stability among 2140 participants (84% followed 24 months) of a multisite randomised controlled trial of HF.

Tenants with additional needs: when housing first does not solve homelessness.

Background: At Home/Chez-Soi was a 24 month randomized controlled trial of Housing First (HF) conducted in five Canadian cities.

Aims: This article attempts to identify the characteristics of participants who experienced housing instability one year after entering HF.

Methods: Those defined as experiencing housing instability were housed <50% of the last 9 months of the first year, excluding time in institutions, unless they were housed 100% of the past 3 months.

A Multiple-City RCT of Housing First With Assertive Community Treatment for Homeless Canadians With Serious Mental Illness.

Objective: Housing First with assertive community treatment (ACT) is a promising approach to assist people with serious mental illness to exit homelessness. The article presents two-year findings from a multisite trial on the effectiveness of Housing First with ACT.

Methods: The study design was a randomized controlled trial conducted in five Canadian cities.

Further Validation of the Pathways Housing First Fidelity Scale.

Objective: This study examined whether Housing First fidelity ratings correspond to program operation descriptions from administrative data and predict client outcomes.

Methods: A multisite, randomized controlled trial (At Home/Chez Soi) in five Canadian cities included two assessments of 12 programs over two years. Outcomes for 1,158 clients were measured every six months.

Perceptions of private market landlords who rent to tenants of a Housing First program.

The rental of housing units by landlords to participants in Housing First (HF) programs is critical to the success of these programs. Therefore, it is important to understand the experiences of landlords with having these individuals as tenants. The paper presents findings of qualitative interviews with 23 landlords who rented to tenants from a HF program located in a small city and adjoining rural area in eastern Canada and in which approximately 75 % of tenants had been housed for at least six consecutive months at 2 years in the program.

One-year outcomes of a randomized controlled trial of housing first with ACT in five Canadian cities.

Objective: Housing First is a groundbreaking approach to ending chronic homelessness among people with mental illness. This article presents one-year findings from a multisite randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing Housing First with treatment as usual.

Methods: The study was a nonblind, parallel-group RCT conducted in five Canadian cities.

Primary care of adults with developmental disabilities in Ontario.

The health status and healthcare of adults with developmental disabilities have not been well-studied in Ontario, due to the absence of population-based data. To address this deficit, the Health Care Access Research and Developmental Disabilities (H-CARDD) program - a provincial partnership of scientists, policymakers and clinicians - has used existing provincial-level administrative data to provide descriptive information on the health of adults with developmental disabilities and the quality of their primary care relative to other adults. H-CARDD's findings have revealed many gaps in the care of adults with developmental disabilities.

Transitioning into the Community: Outcomes of a Pilot Housing Program for Forensic Patients.

The Transitional Rehabilitation Housing Pilot (TRHP) was designed to transition hospitalized forensic patients to the community. Twenty clients and their clinicians in two Ontario cities completed measures on functioning, substance use, recovery, social support, and quality of life at admission to the program and then every 6 months until 18 months post-admission. Clients also responded to open-ended questions on the impact of the program and living in the community on their recovery.

Healthcare Utilization, Legal Incidents, and Victimization Following Traumatic Brain Injury in Homeless and Vulnerably Housed Individuals: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Objective: To characterize the associations between a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and subsequent healthcare utilization, legal involvement, and victimization.

Setting: Three major Canadian cities.

Participants: A total of 1181 homeless and vulnerably housed adults who were single and 18 years or older.

Government and voluntary sector differences in organizational capacity to do and use evaluation.

Research on evaluation capacity is limited although a recent survey article on integrating evaluation into the organizational culture (Cousins, Goh, Clark, & Lee, 2004) revealed that interest in the topic is increasing. While knowledge about building the capacity to do evaluation has developed considerably, less is understood about building the organizational capacity to use evaluation. This article reports on the results of a pan-Canadian survey of evaluators working in organizations (internal evaluators or organization members with evaluation responsibility) conducted in 2007.

Comparing the housing trajectories of different classes within a diverse homeless population.

The paper presents findings from a longitudinal study identifying different classes of homeless individuals in a mid-size Canadian city based on health-related characteristics and comparing the housing trajectories of these classes 2 years later. Using data collected through in-person interviews with a sample of 329 single persons who have experienced homelessness, the paper presents results of a latent class analysis. Results found four distinct latent classes characterized by different levels of severity of health problems--i.

The relationship of child neglect and physical maltreatment to placement outcomes and behavioral adjustment in children in foster care: a Canadian perspective.

Dramatic increases in child welfare rates in Canada over recent years have been largely driven by an increased reporting of neglect cases (Trocmé, Fallon, MacLaurin, & Neves, 2005). To a large extent, exploring the importance of neglect separate from physical maltreatment has been ignored in the child maltreatment literature. This study examined the differential effects of foster care in the child welfare system with children who presented as either experiencing physical maltreatment or neglect prior to their admission to care.