Preconsult interactive computer-assisted client assessment survey for common mental disorders in a community health centre: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Access disparities for mental health care exist for vulnerable ethnocultural and immigrant groups. Community health centres that serve these groups could be supported further by interactive, computer-based, self-assessments.

Methods: An interactive computer-assisted client assessment survey (iCCAS) tool was developed for preconsult assessment of common mental disorders (using the Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-9], Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item [GAD-7] scale, Primary Care Post-traumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD-PC] screen and CAGE [concern/cut-down, anger, guilt and eye-opener] questionnaire), with point-of-care reports.

Sustaining Housing First After a Successful Research Demonstration Trial: Lessons Learned in a Large Urban Center.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify challenges and facilitators of sustaining a Housing First intervention at the conclusion of a research demonstration project in Toronto.

Methods: This qualitative study included key informant interviews with organizational leaders (N=13) and focus groups with service team members (N=14) and program participants (N=9) of the At Home/Chez Soi Research Demonstration Project. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes related to sustainability of Housing First beyond the demonstration phase.

Incentives and disincentives for treating of depression and anxiety in Ontario Family Health Teams: protocol for a grounded theory study.

Introduction: There is strong consensus that prevention and management of common mental disorders (CMDs) should occur in primary care and evidence suggests that treatment of CMDs in these settings can be effective. New interprofessional team-based models of primary care have emerged that are intended to address problems of quality and access to mental health services, yet many people continue to struggle to access care for CMDs in these settings. Insufficient attention directed towards the incentives and disincentives that influence care for CMDs in primary care, and especially in interprofessional team-based settings, may have resulted in missed opportunities to improve care quality and control healthcare costs.

Burden of common mental disorders in a community health centre sample.

Objective: To examine the rates of common mental disorders (CMDs) such as depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and alcohol use in an urban community health care centre (CHC) serving vulnerable immigrant and ethnoracial communities in order to improve knowledge on the rates of CMDs specific to these groups accessing primary care settings.

Design: English or Spanish, self-administered, tablet-based survey known as the Interactive Computer-Assisted Client Assessment Survey (iCCAS).

Setting: Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services CHC in Toronto, Ont.

Computer-assisted client assessment survey for mental health: patient and health provider perspectives.

Background: The worldwide rise in common mental disorders (CMDs) is posing challenges in the provision of and access to care, particularly for immigrant, refugee and racialized groups from low-income backgrounds. eHealth tools, such as the Interactive Computer-Assisted Client Assessment Survey (iCCAS) may reduce some barriers to access. iCCAS is a tablet-based, touch-screen self-assessment completed by clients while waiting to see their family physician (FP) or nurse practitioner (NP).

A Qualitative Study on Incentives and Disincentives for Care of Common Mental Disorders in Ontario Family Health Teams.

Background: An opportunity to address the needs of patients with common mental disorders (CMDs) resides in primary care. Barriers are restricting availability of treatment for CMDs in primary care. By understanding the incentives that promote and the disincentives that deter treatment for CMDs in a collaborative primary care context, this study aims to help contribute to goals of greater access to mental healthcare.

Omega-6 to Omega-3 Fatty Acid Ratio in Patients with ADHD: A Meta-Analysis.

Objective: Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids have been shown to be deficient in individuals with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder compared to controls (Hawkey & Nigg, 2014). Clinical trials of omega-3 and omega-6 supplements as treatment for ADHD have demonstrated minimal efficacy (Bloch & Qawasmi, 2011; Gillies, Sinn, Lad, Leach, & Ross, 2011; Hawkey & Nigg, 2014; Puri & Martins, 2014; Sonuga-Barke et al., 2013).

Using Evolutionary Theory to Guide Mental Health Research.

Evolutionary approaches to medicine can shed light on the origins and etiology of disease. Such an approach may be especially useful in psychiatry, which frequently addresses conditions with heterogeneous presentation and unknown causes. We review several previous applications of evolutionary theory that highlight the ways in which psychiatric conditions may persist despite and because of natural selection.

Neighborhood settings, types of social capital and depression among immigrants in Toronto.

Purpose: Few studies consider the associations between neighborhood social capital and immigrant's mental health. We examined associations between bonding, bridging and linking social capital and depression among immigrants in Toronto neighborhoods.

Methods: We used data on immigrants from the neighborhood effects on health and well-being (NEHW) study, conducted in 47 randomly selected greater Toronto area neighborhoods (sample = 916), and a study of one low-income, immigrant receiving neighborhood (IRN) (sample = 600).

The mental health impact of bed bug infestations: a scoping review.

Objectives: We conducted a scoping review to identify and summarize the current state of knowledge regarding the mental health effects associated with bed bugs.

Methods: We employed a five-stage scoping review framework, to systematically identify and review eligible articles. Eligibility criteria included a focus on bed bug infestations and reference to mental health impacts.

The influence of motion quality on responses towards video playback stimuli.

Visual motion, a critical cue in communication, can be manipulated and studied using video playback methods. A primary concern for the video playback researcher is the degree to which objects presented on video appear natural to the non-human subject. Here we argue that the quality of motion cues on video, as determined by the video's image presentation rate (IPR), are of particular importance in determining a subject's social response behaviour.

Developing collaborative approaches to international research: Perspectives of new global health researchers.

Within a global context of growing health inequities, the fostering of partnerships and collaborative research have been promoted as playing a critical role in tackling health inequities and health system problems worldwide. Since 2004, the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research (CCGHR) has facilitated annual Summer Institutes for new global health researchers aimed at strengthening global health research competencies and partnerships among participants. We sought to explore CCGHR Summer Institute alumni perspectives on the Summer Institute experience, particularly on the individual research pairings of Canadian and low- and middle-income countries researchers that have characterised the program.

Modelling the social determinants of health and simulating short-term and long-term intervention impacts for the city of Toronto, Canada.

There is a substantial body of evidence highlighting the importance of the social determinants of health in shaping the health of urban populations in Canada. The low socio-economic status of marginalized, disadvantaged, and precarious populations in urban settings has been linked to adverse health outcomes including chronic and infectious disease, negative health behaviours, barriers to accessing health care services, and overall mortality. Given the dynamic complexities and inter-relationships surrounding the underlying drivers of population health outcomes and inequities, it is difficult to assess program and policy intervention tradeoffs, particularly when such interventions are studied with static models.

Tackling inequity through a Photovoice project on the social determinants of health: translating Photovoice evidence to community action.

St. Jamestown is the most densely populated vertical immigrant-receiving urban neighbourhood in Canada. The Photovoice project engaged and empowered immigrant residents of St.

Concept mapping of photovoices: sequencing and integrating methods to understand immigrants' perceptions of neighborhood influences on health.

This inquiry successfully sequenced and integrated 2 participatory research methods: photovoice and concept mapping. In the photovoice phase, immigrant residents shared perceptions and thoughts of their neighborhood through photographs and stories, capturing neighborhood characteristics that influence their health and well-being. In the concept mapping phase, active involvement of immigrant residents was facilitated to systematically organize and build consensus around the wide range of neighborhood factors identified from the photovoice work.