Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Research Brief: "Secondary Trauma And Military Veteran Caregivers", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This brief is about the stress that occurs for caregivers of veterans due to secondary trauma. In policy and practice, caregivers can continuously monitor themselves for symptoms of secondary trauma, maintain a balance between professional life and personal life, and promote a supportive culture within the caregiver community; policies should acknowledge that secondary trauma stressors do exist for caregivers and should look for ways to reduce the negative effects of secondary trauma stressors. Suggestions for future research include using econometric models to detect relevant factors for risk of developing secondary trauma stressors.

Research Brief: "Military Service And Men’S Health Trajectories In Later Life", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This brief is about the health and age-related changes of wartime male veterans during later years in life as compared to non-veterans and non-wartime veterans. In policy and practice, veterans reaching retirement age, with help from their families, should pay attention to their health in case any conditions arise, and health policies should look at early-life health in addition to later-life health. Suggestions for future research include performing studies over time on younger veterans as they age and clearing up biases within the sampling processes.

A Review Of Baobab (Adansonia Digitata) Products: Effect Of Processing Techniques, Medicinal Properties And Uses, Donatien Kabore, Hagrétou Sawadogo-Lingani, Bréhima Diawara, Clarise Compaoré, Mamoudou H. Dicko Prof., Mogens Jacobsen

Pr. Mamoudou H. DICKO, PhD

A general literature review including the effect of processing techniques, medicinal value and uses of baobab tree is reported in this manuscript. Baobab tree has multi-purpose uses, as it produces food and non-food products such as medicines, fuel, timber, fodder. Every part of the baobab tree is reported to be useful. The seeds, leaves, roots, flowers, fruit pulp and bark of baobab are edible. Baobab leaves are used in the preparation of soup. Seeds are used as a thickening agent in soups, but they can be fermented and used as a flavouring agent or roasted and eaten as snacks. The …

Health Literacy: An Overview Of An Emerging Field, Mary Grace Flaherty

School of Information Student Research Journal

According to the National Adult Literacy Survey, nearly 90 million American adults test below a high school level for literacy skills (Kirsch, Jungeblut, Jenkins & Kolstad, 1993).Because most health materials are written at least at the high school level, this finding has major implications in terms of health care provision in this country (Helitzer, Hollis, Cotner & Oestreicher, 2009). This paper attempts to give an overview of the field of health literacy and includes: a brief background with current definitions; a description of screening and measurement tools; a discussion of aspects of limited literacy; the implications for quality health care; …

Microglial P38Α Mapk Is Critical For Lps-Induced Neuron Degeneration, Through A Mechanism Involving Tnfα, Bin Xing, Adam D. Bachstetter, Linda J. Van Eldik

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The p38α MAPK isoform is a well-established therapeutic target in peripheral inflammatory diseases, but the importance of this kinase in pathological microglial activation and detrimental inflammation in CNS disorders is less well understood. To test the role of the p38α MAPK isoform in microglia-dependent neuron damage, we used primary microglia from wild-type (WT) or p38α MAPK conditional knockout (KO) mice in co-culture with WT cortical neurons, and measured neuron damage after LPS insult.

RESULTS: We found that neurons in co-culture with p38α-deficient microglia were protected against LPS-induced synaptic loss, neurite degeneration, and neuronal death. The involvement of the proinflammatory …

Leaving Home Care: Decision Making, Risk Scenarios & Services Gaps In The Home Care System, Jacey J. Vaughan, Nina M. Silverstein

Nina Silverstein

Home and community-based services (HCBS) enable older and disabled adults to age-in-place in their homes and communities by helping them function independently for as long as possible (Grabowski et al., 2010; Wong & Silverstein, 2011). Previous studies well document that older adults prefer receiving HCBS rather than institutional care at a nursing home (e.g., Walker, 2010; Fox-Grage, Coleman, & Freiman, 2006). Medicaid is a major source of funding for long-term care. Currently, a large proportion of Medicaid funds in most states has been spent on institutional care (National Conference of State Legislatures & AARP, 2009), and older adults and their …

Motherhood And Childbirth Experiences Among Newcomer Women In Canada: A Critical Ethnographic Study, Fatmeh Ahmad Alzoubi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Statement of the Problem: Motherhood and childbirth are very sensitive experiences and have a strong impact on family functioning, social identity, and cohesiveness. Although motherhood and childbirth have been discussed extensively in the scholarly and popular literature, much of this work has been conducted from a North American perspective, with little attention to how motherhood and childbirth are experienced by newcomer women from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds.

Methodology and Theoretical Orientation: A critical ethnographic study using in-depth interviews with 16 newcomer women was utilized to explore newcomer women’s experiences and understandings of motherhood and childbirth in the aftermath of …

Four Distinct Generations Of Workers Makes Leadership Challenging, Joyce K. Kutin

Joyce K Kutin RN, MSN, MOL

The Bureau of Labor Statistics for the year 2000 stated that Baby Boomers (age thirty-six through fifty-four) represented fifty percent of the United States labor force while Generation X (age twenty to thirty-five) represented some thirty-three percent, a significant decline in workforce. This demographic, time bomb indicates the urgency for many organizations in developed countries to prepare for and cope with the imminent retirement of their aging workforce.

Current Research Projects Of The Public Health Pbrn Program, Glen P. Mays

Glen Mays

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Public Health Practice-Based Research Networks Program supports research on the organization, financing, and delivery of public health services using the infrastructure of practice-based networks (PBRNs). A Public Health PBRN brings multiple public health agencies into collaboration with an academic research partner to design and conduct studies in real-world practice settings. The program supports research through several different mechanisms, including (1) large-scale Research Implementation Awards (RIAs) conducted by established networks; (2) Quick-Strike Research Fund (QSRF) awards that support short-term, time-sensitive studies on emerging issues; and (3) supplemental Research Acceleration and Capacity Expansion (RACE) awards designed to …

Alternative Medical Care And Livelihood In Latin America = 拉丁美洲另類醫療與人民生計實踐, Aleida Guevara

South South Forum 南南論壇

No abstract provided.

Reclaiming Fat, Emilie Debaie

Health Policy & Management Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Site-Directed Mutations In The C-Terminal Extension Of Human Αb-Crystallin Affect Chaperone Function And Block Amyloid Fibril Formation, T. M. Treweek, Heath Ecroyd, D. M. Williams, S. Meehan, J. A. Carver, M. J. Walker

Heath Ecroyd

Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease are associated with inappropriate protein deposition and ordered amyloid fibril assembly. Molecular chaperones, including αBcrystallin, play a role in the prevention of protein deposition. A series of site-directed mutants of the human molecular chaperone, αB-crystallin, were constructed which focused on the flexible C-terminal extension of the protein. We investigated the structural role of this region as well as its role in the chaperone function of αB-crystallin under different types of protein aggregation, i.e. disordered amorphous aggregation and ordered amyloid fibril assembly. It was found that mutation of lysine and glutamic acid residues in the C-terminal …

Risk Factors For Driving Cessation Vary By Race And Ethnicity, Elizabeth Dugan, Frank Porell, Chae Man Lee

Frank Porell

Driving is related to our identity and independence as well as allowing us to get needed goods, services, and social opportunities that enrich daily life. Yet with increasing age, the risk for developing threats to medical fitness to drive increases. Driving cessation is related to a long list of negative outcomes, such as: depression, social isolation, diminished access to health care, and diminished quality of life. We investigated risks for driving cessation, paying close attention to racial differences. This study used data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), 1998-2008. The study included N=46, 528 older people (age 65 and …

Risk Factors For Driving Cessation Vary By Race And Ethnicity, Elizabeth Dugan, Frank Porell, Chae Man Lee

Elizabeth Dugan

Driving is related to our identity and independence as well as allowing us to get needed goods, services, and social opportunities that enrich daily life. Yet with increasing age, the risk for developing threats to medical fitness to drive increases. Driving cessation is related to a long list of negative outcomes, such as: depression, social isolation, diminished access to health care, and diminished quality of life. We investigated risks for driving cessation, paying close attention to racial differences. This study used data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), 1998-2008. The study included N=46, 528 older people (age 65 and …

Driving Qi With Research: Findings From Public Health Pbrns, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

Public health agencies are increasingly experimenting with quality improvement (QI) strategies designed to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of their efforts. Does QI work in public health, and if so for whom and under what circumstances? What QI strategies work best for which types of public health process failures, and at what cost? Research underway through the Public Health Practice-Based Research Networks (PBRN) Program is examining these types of questions to build an evidence base for public health QI.

Driving Qi With Research: Findings From Public Health Pbrns, Glen Mays

Glen Mays

Public health agencies are increasingly experimenting with quality improvement (QI) strategies designed to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of their efforts. Does QI work in public health, and if so for whom and under what circumstances? What QI strategies work best for which types of public health process failures, and at what cost? Research underway through the Public Health Practice-Based Research Networks (PBRN) Program is examining these types of questions to build an evidence base for public health QI.

Hallucination Proneness, Schizotypy And Meta-Cognition, John Stirling, Emma Barkus, Shon Lewis

Emma Barkus

Disordered or maladaptive meta-cognitive processing appears to be a prominent feature for some individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. We sought to establish whether healthy individuals distinguished either in terms hallucination proneness (HP) or level of schizotypy could also be differentiated on the sub-scales of the Meta-cognitions Questionnaire (MCQ), or a modified version of it in which items about worry were replaced with items specifically related to thinking. A total of 106 healthy volunteers completed the Oxford and Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences and Launay-Slade hallucination scale, the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire and two versions of the MCQ: the original …

Ecstasy (Mdma) And Its Relationship With Self Report Depression, Anxiety And Schizotypy, Lisa Woods, Emma Barkus

Emma Barkus

Abstract. Aims: The relationship between ecstasy and affective psychological symptoms are still subject to debate. We aimed to examine the relationship between Ecstasy use and self-report depression, anxiety and schizotypy. Design: Data were collected via structured remote self-report questionnaires. Participants: Participants were split into three groups: a control group with no ecstasy use, a light ecstasy user group (<50 >times), and a heavy ecstasy user group (>50 times). Measurements: Amount and patterns of ecstasy use were recorded, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) measured depression and anxiety respectively, and schizotypal traits were measured using the …

Understanding And Using Advanced Statistics, Jeremy Foster, Emma Barkus, Christian Yavorsky

Emma Barkus

The spread of sophisticated computer packages and the machinery on which to run them has meant that procedures which were previously only available to experienced researchers with access to expensive machines and research students can now be carried out in a few seconds by almost every undergraduate. Understanding and Using Advanced Statistics provides the basis for gaining an understanding of what these analytic procedures do, when they should be used, and what the results provided signify. This comprehensive textbook guides students and researchers through the transition from simple statistics to more complex procedures with accessible language and illustration.

Cannabis-Induced Psychosis-Like Experiences Are Associated With High Schizotypy, Emma Barkus, John Stirling, Richard Hopkins, Shon Lewis

Emma Barkus

OBJECTIVE: Recent studies have suggested that cannabis use is a risk factor for developing schizophrenia. We tested the hypothesis that cannabis use increases the likelihood of psychosis-like experiences in non-clinical participants who scored highly on a measure of schizotypy. METHOD: The psychological effects of cannabis were assessed in 137 healthy individuals (76% female, mean age 22 years) using a newly developed questionnaire concerned with subjective experiences of the drug: the Cannabis Experiences Questionnaire. The questionnaire has three subscales: Pleasurable Experiences, Psychosis-Like Experiences and After-Effects. Respondents also completed the brief Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. RESULTS: Cannabis use was reported by 72% of …

Cannabis-Induced Psychotic-Like Experiences Are Predicted By High Schizotypy. Confirmation Of Preliminary Results In A Large Cohort., John Stirling, Emma Barkus, L Nabosi, S Irshad, G Roemer, B Schreudergoidheijt, Shon Lewis

Emma Barkus

Background: Cannabis use has been identified as a possible risk factor for developing schizophrenia. In a previous paper we reported preliminary evidence that cannabis use increases the likelihood of psychosis-like experiences in non-clinical respondents who scored highly on a measure of schizotypy. We now present findings from pooled data from 3 new follow-up studies comprising a sample of 477 respondents, of whom 332 reported using cannabis at least once. Sampling and Methods: As in our previous study, the psychological effects of cannabis were assessed with the Cannabis Experiences Questionnaire, from which 3 subscales can be derived; encompassing pleasurable experiences, psychosis-like …

Suggestibility, Dissociation And Positive Schizotypy, Emma Barkus, John Stirling, John Cavill

Emma Barkus

Abstract. 94 participants, drawn from a parent sample of 1206 individuals who had previously taken part in an assessment of the factor structure of the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (O-LIFE), were designated into groups differentiated in terms of low, moderate or high levels of positive schizotypy. All also completed the dissociative experiences scale (DES) and the Inventory of Suggestibility (IS). Our findings suggest that higher reported levels of dissociative experiences and higher suggestibility both independently predict higher scores of positive schizotypy, although suggestibility appears to be a stronger predictor than dissociation.

Schizotypy And Psychosis-Like Experiences From Recreational Cannabis In A Non-Clinical Sample, Emma Barkus, Shon Lewis

Emma Barkus

Background. The relationship between cannabis use and psychosis is still a matter for debate. Accounting for the individual differences in subjective experiences to recreational cannabis use in the general population may hold some clues to the aetiological relationship between cannabis and psychotic symptoms. We hypothesized that schizotypy would account for the individual differences in subjective experiences after cannabis use but not in patterns of use. Method. In a sample of 532 young people who had used cannabis at least once, we examined the relationship between the Cannabis Experiences Questionnaire (CEQ) and the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). Additionally, we examined the …

Distress And Metacognition In Psychosis Prone Individuals: Comparing High Schizotypes To The At-Risk Mental State, Emma Barkus, John Stirling, Paul French, Anthony Morrison, Richard Bentall, Shon Lewis

Emma Barkus

Both schizotypy and at-risk mental states (ARMS: prodromal states) define individuals at risk for psychotic symptoms. However, the relationship between the 2 is unclear. ARMS individuals are, by definition, help-seeking and therefore at greater risk. We tested whether high schizotypes and ARMS exist along the same continuum by examining maladaptive metacognitions and distress. About 95 healthy volunteers (39% male; mean age, 22.8 years) completed the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire, the Launay-Slade Hallucinations Scale, Metacognitions Questionnaire (MCQ), and the General Health Questionnaire, and 58 help seeking individuals with ARMS status (41% male; mean age, 22.2 years) completed the Metacognitions Questionnaire and General …

Personality And Cannabis Use, Emma Barkus

Emma Barkus

Cannabis is one of the most widely used illegal substances in the world. Its use has been reported to be over-represented in many psychiatric conditions and has frequently been found to predate the onset of psychiatric symptoms. However, cannabis may also have detrimental effects on the general population. Factors that predict the onset of use are receiving increased attention to aid in identifying groups of young people who may be more prone to consume cannabis. Personality traits may be one such factor as they are readily identifiable and offer information that can be used for improved targeting of educational material …

Senior Transportation Abstracts: A Focus On Options, Helen Kerschner, Nina M. Silverstein

Nina Silverstein

This collection of abstracts represents a publication of importance for understanding the needs, challenges, solutions, and/or every day issues related to senior transportation services. While several of the abstracts include information about senior driver safety, the collection’s primary purpose is to present a holistic approach to transportation options for older adults. Such a collection is timely because, although the practice of providing transportation to older adults is not new, research and preparation of practical informational and technical materials related to older adult transportation service needs and service delivery are quite recent.

Assessing Stakeholder Opinions Of Medical Review Of Impaired Drivers And Fitness To Drive: Recommendations For Massachusetts, Nina Silverstein, Kelli Barton

Nina Silverstein

Driving is the main mode of travel for Americans age 65 and older, and although older adults are generally found to be safe drivers, aging often brings about functional limitations and an increase in medications that can impede safe driving and fitness to drive (Rosenbloom, 2003; Kissinger, 2008; Adler & Silverstein, 2008). Effective licensing policies and Medical Advisory Board practices are critical components in identifying medically at-risk drivers and may even have a role in the transition to alternative transportation options; yet, states vary greatly in their approach to licensing and renewal practices and in the utilization, composition, and function …

A Theater-Based Approach To Primary Prevention Of Sexual Behavior For Early Adolescents, Lisa D. Lieberman, Cydelle Berlin, Lori-Ann Palen, Olivia Silber Ashley

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Early adolescence is a crucial period for preventing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. This study evaluated STAR LO, a theater-based intervention designed to affect antecedents of sexual activity among urban early adolescents (N = 1,143). Public elementary/middle schools received the intervention or served as a wait-listed comparison group in a quasi-experimental study. Students completed pretest and posttest questionnaires. Multivariate regression models were used to examine treatment effects. Comparison students showed significantly greater increases in sexual intentions and decreases in pro-abstinence attitudes and intended age of first sex than treatment group adolescents. Comparison girls showed significantly greater increases in …

Midwifery And The Context Of Care: Is It Possible To Be 'Woman Centred'?, Moira Williamson, Lindsey Harrison

Moira Williamson

Title: Midwifery and the context of care: Is it impossible to be ‘woman centred’? Dr Moira Williamson, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong NSW 2522, Australia, ph. +61 2 4221 3381, email: moiraw@uow.edu.au Dr Lindsey Harrison, School of Health Sciences, University of Wollongong Background: Findings from a qualitative study show that the context of care can inhibit midwives’ provision of woman centred care; especially impacted is their ability to provide culturally appropriate care. Aim of the Study: The aims of the study were to gain an understanding of midwives’ concepts of culture and …

Workforce Issues, Skill Mix, Maternity Services And The Enrolled Nurse : A Discussion, Moira Williamson, Avon Strahle

Moira Williamson

New South Wales (NSW) is experiencing a shortage of registered midwives. Currently midwives are being actively recruited for 125 metropolitan and 45 rural positions in area health services across the state. This shortage of registered midwives is occurring not only in NSW but also throughout Australia, and has also been reported internationally (McKenna & Hasson, 2002; Keeney et al. 2005). In an attempt to address the ongoing shortage of registered nurses and midwives the NSW Health Department has proposed that a skill mix of 80% registered nurses or midwives to 20% enrolled nurses be implemented within hospitals. This initiative will …