An initiative to improve mental health practice in primary care in Caribbean countries.

Objectives: The aim of this initiative was to assess whether a novel training program - Understanding Stigma and Strengthening Cognitive Behavioral Interpersonal Skills - could improve primary health care providers' confidence in the quality of mental health care they provide in the Caribbean setting by using the Plan-Do-Study-Act rapid cycle for learning improvement.

Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study of the impact of this training program. The training was refined during three cycles: first, the relevance of the program for practice improvement in the Caribbean was assessed.

Parenting Pain Away: Development and usability testing of an educational website about infant procedural pain management.

All newborns undergo minor painful procedures (e.g., injections).

Remote cognitive and behavioral assessment: Report of the Alzheimer Society of Canada Task Force on dementia care best practices for COVID-19.

Introduction: Despite the urgent need for remote neurobehavioral assessment of individuals with cognitive impairment, guidance is lacking. Our goal is to provide a multi-dimensional framework for remotely assessing cognitive, functional, behavioral, and physical aspects of people with cognitive impairment, along with ethical and technical considerations.

Methods: Literature review on remote cognitive assessment and multidisciplinary expert opinion from behavioral neurologists, neuropsychiatrists, neuropsychologists, and geriatricians was integrated under the auspices of the Alzheimer Society of Canada Task Force on Dementia Care Best Practices for COVID-19.

Investigation of the Val158Met variant association with age of onset of psychosis, adjusting for cannabis use.

Objective: rs4680 (Val158Met) genotype moderates the effect of cannabis on the age of onset of psychosis (AoP). We investigated the association between rs4680 and AoP, after adjusting for relevant covariates, in a Canadian Caucasian sample.

Methods: One hundred and sixty-nine subjects with psychosis were recruited.

Expert Canadian consensus suggestions on the rational, clinical use of ziprasidone in the treatment of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders.

Many atypical antipsychotic medications are becoming available for clinical use. Ziprasidone is a recent addition to this group and is expected to become available for clinical use in Canada in 2005. Ziprasidone has some significant differences compared with other atypicals currently available in Canada.