An assessment of federal alcohol policies in Canada and priority recommendations: Results from the 3rd Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation Project.

Objective: To systematically assess the Canadian federal government's current alcohol policies in relation to public health best practices.

Methods: The 2022 Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation (CAPE) Project assessed federal alcohol policies across 10 domains. Policy domains were weighted according to evidence for their relative impact, including effectiveness and scope.

Identifying strategies to support implementation of interprofessional primary care teams in Nova Scotia: Results of a survey and knowledge sharing event.

Background: Interprofessional primary care teams (IPCTs) work together to enhance care. Despite evidence on the benefits of IPCTs, implementation remains challenging. This research aims to 1) identify and prioritize barriers and enablers, and 2) co-develop team-level strategies to support IPCT implementation in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Risk-Taking, Social Support, and Belongingness Contribute to the Risk for Cannabis Use Frequency in University Students.

: Cannabis use and misuse is known to be associated with a variety of negative health, academic, and work-related outcomes; therefore, it is important to study the factors that contribute to or moderate its use. : The aim of this study was to determine whether risky behavior, belongingness and social support as clustering variables play a role in cannabis use frequency. : In a university student sample, participant data on risky behavior, belongingness and social support were used to generate vulnerability profiles through cluster analysis (low vulnerability with low risk, low vulnerability with high belonging, moderate vulnerability, and high vulnerability).

Promoting lifestyle changes in patients with prediabetes from African-Caribbean backgrounds in the United Kingdom.

Objectives: Diabetes is a non-communicable disease where the patient's glucose level in the blood is too high. Diabetes is prevalent among ethnic minority groups in the United Kingdom (UK). Type 2 diabetes is a major cause of premature mortality in England.

The Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada: Opportunities and Recommendations for Modernization.

Context: The 2008 Public Health Agency of Canada's (PHAC's) "Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada" (the "Canadian core competencies") outline the skills, attitudes, and knowledge essential for the practice of public health. The core competencies represent an important part of public health practice, workforce development, and education in Canada and internationally. However, the core competencies are considered outdated and are facing calls for review, expansion, and revision.

Hazardous Drinking Mediates the Relation Between Externalizing Personality and Reduced Adherence to COVID-19 Public Health Guidelines in University Students.

Using a multigroup path analysis, we examined if hazardous alcohol use mediated the relations between elevated externalizing personality traits (i.e., impulsivity or sensation seeking) and reduced adherence to COVID-19 public health guidelines.

Bis[2,6-bis-(1-benzimidazol-2-yl)pyridine]ruthenium(II) bis(hexa-fluorido-phosphate) diethyl ether tris-olvate.

The title compound, [Ru(CHN)](PF)·3CHO, was obtained from the reaction of Ru(bimpy)Cl [bimpy is 2,6-bis-(1-benzimidazol-2-yl)pyridine] and bimpy in refluxing ethanol followed by recrystallization from diethyl ether/aceto-nitrile. At 125 K the complex has ortho-rhom-bic (2) symmetry. It is remarkable that the structure is almost centrosymmetric.

Characteristics Associated with Relationship-Centred and Task-Focused Mealtime Practices in Older Adult Care Settings.

To assess care home and staff characteristics associated with task-focused (TF) and relationship-centred care (RCC) mealtime practices prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff working in Canadian and American care homes were invited to complete a 23-item online survey assessing their perceptions of mealtime care, with one item assessing 26 potential care practices from the Mealtime Relational Care Checklist (relationship-centred = 15; task-focused = 11) reported to occur in the home prior to the pandemic. Multivariate linear regression evaluated staff and care home characteristics associated with mealtime practices.

Land2Lab Project: Reflections on Learning about Mi'kmaw Foodways.

Land2Lab is an evolving community-based intergenerational program that brings together Elders and youth on the land and in the kitchen and lab to share and celebrate Mi'kmaw foodways. Rooted in an -Two Eyed Seeing (E-TES) perspective, which acknowledges both Indigenous and Western ways of knowing, the project to date has featured seasonal food workshops, involvement in a children's summer math camp, a food safety training workshop for teens, and the development of an online toolkit. The project was guided by the Mi'kmaw principle of , which reinforces respect for Mother Earth and stewardship of the land, water, and air for subsequent generations.

Intrinsic functional connectivity strength of SuperAgers in the default mode and salience networks: Insights from ADNI.

There exists a group of older individuals who appear to be resistant to age-related memory decline. These "SuperAgers" have been shown to demonstrate preservation of cortical thickness and functional connectivity strength across the cortex which positively correlates with memory performance. Over the last decade, roughly 30 articles have been published regarding SuperAgers; however, to our knowledge, no replications of these studies have been published.

Factorial validity and gender invariance of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) in student-athletes.

Background/purpose: Depressive symptoms are prevalent in student-athletes. Evidence for the factorial validity of measures assessing depressive symptoms in student-athletes is presently absent from the literature. This study examined the best fitting factorial structure and invariance across sexes of the PHQ-9.

Towards equitable representation in long-term residential care: widening the circle to ensure "essential voices" in research teams.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed long-standing inequities in Canada's long-term residential care (LTRC) sector with life-threatening consequences. People from marginalized groups are overrepresented among those who live in, and work in LTRC facilities, yet their voices are generally silenced in LTRC research. Concerns about these silenced voices have sparked debate around ways to change LTRC policy to better address long-standing inequities and enhance the conditions that foster dignity for those who live and work in LTRC.

Patient perspectives on the vital primary care role of community pharmacists in Nova Scotia, Canada: qualitative findings from the PUPPY Study.

Objectives: Community pharmacists play an important role in primary care access and delivery for all patients, including patients with a family physician or nurse practitioner ("attached") and patients without a family physician or nurse practitioner ("unattached"). During the COVID-19 pandemic, community pharmacists were accessible care providers for unattached patients and patients who had difficulty accessing their usual primary care providers ("semi-attached"). Before and during the pandemic, pharmacist services expanded in several Canadian provinces.

Development of Research Core Competencies for Academic Practice Among Health Professionals: A Mixed-Methods Approach.

Background And Objectives: Of the 4 pillars of academic practice for nursing and allied health, research has been the least developed and no standard competency framework exists that is embedded in health professional scopes of practice. The objective of this article is to report on the preliminary development and pilot-testing of research and academic scholarship core competencies for nonphysician health professionals working within a large urban academic health sciences center.

Methods: We conducted an internal and external environmental scan and multiphase consultation process to develop research and academic core competencies for health professionals working within an interprofessional setting.

The evolution of vaccine hesitancy through the COVID-19 pandemic: A semi-structured interview study on booster and bivalent doses.

We sought in-depth understanding on the evolution of factors influencing COVID-19 booster dose and bivalent vaccine hesitancy in a longitudinal semi-structured interview-based qualitative study. Serial interviews were conducted between July 25th and September 1, 2022 (Phase I: univalent booster dose availability), and between November 21, 2022 and January 11, 2023 (Phase II: bivalent vaccine availability). Adults (≥18 years) in Canada who had received an initial primary series and had not received a COVID-19 booster dose were eligible for Phase I, and subsequently invited to participate in Phase II.

Counting what counts: assessing quality of life and its social determinants among nursing home residents with dementia.

Background: Maximizing quality of life (QoL) is a major goal of care for people with dementia in nursing homes (NHs). Social determinants are critical for residents' QoL. However, similar to the United States and other countries, most Canadian NHs routinely monitor and publicly report quality of care, but not resident QoL and its social determinants.

Changing Roles and Responsibilities of Dietitians from Diverse Settings During the First Three Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Nova Scotia.

To explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Nova Scotian dietitian's roles, responsibilities, and professional development needs. We conducted a province-wide, online, exploratory survey with registered dietitians during the initial waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Differences were explored with descriptive statistics by work sector (hospital/acute care; primary health/community or public health (PH); long-term care [LTC]; other [e.

High peak drinking levels mediate the relation between impulsive personality and injury risk in emerging adults.

Background: Alcohol-induced injury is one of the leading causes of preventable morbidity and mortality. We investigated the relationship between impulsive personality and physical injury (e.g.

Unlocking the Benefits of Gender Diversity: How an Ecological-Belonging Intervention Enhances Performance in Science Classrooms.

Gender diversity signals inclusivity, but meta-analyses suggest that it does not boost individual or group performance. This research examined whether a social-psychological intervention can unlock the benefits of gender diversity on college physics students' social and academic outcomes. Analyses of 124 introductory physics classrooms at a large research institution in the eastern United States ( = 3,605) indicated that in classrooms doing "business as usual," cross-gender collaboration was infrequent, there was a substantial gender gap in physics classroom belonging, and classroom gender diversity had no effect on performance.

Co-designing action-oriented mental health conversations between care providers and ageing Canadians in the community: a participatory mixed-methods study protocol.

Introduction: The mental health of ageing Canadians is a growing concern, particularly post-pandemic. Older adults face systemic ageism and mental health stigma as pervasive barriers to seeking needed mental health support, care and treatment within health and social care systems. These barriers are exacerbated when service providers focus on physical healthcare needs or lack the skills and confidence to talk about and/or address mental health during routine visits.

Attitudes Toward Cisgender Women's Participation in Sex Work: Opportunity for Agency or Harmful Exchange?

Despite the stigmatization of sex work in society, little empirical research has examined attitudes toward sex work, especially its modern incarnations (e.g., sugar relationships, webcamming).

A Brief Tool to Screen Patients for Precarious Employment: A Validation Study.

Purpose: Precarious employment, defined by temporary contracts, unstable employment, or job insecurity, is increasingly common and is associated with inconsistent access to benefits, lower income, and greater exposure to physical and psycholosocial hazards. Clinicians can benefit from a simple approach to screen for precarious employment to improve their understanding of a patient's social context, help with diagnoses, and inform treatment plans and intersectional interventions. Our objective was to validate a screening tool for precarious employment.

Examining How Postpartum Videoconferencing Support Sessions Can Facilitate Connections between Parents: A Poststructural and Sociomaterial Analysis.

Postpartum support for new parents can normalize experiences, increase confidence, and lead to positive health outcomes. While in-person gatherings may be the preferred choice, not all parents can or want to join parenting groups in person. Online asynchronous chat spaces for parents have increased over the past 10 years, especially during the COVID pandemic, when "online" became the norm.