Correlates of physical activity in a community sample of older adults in Appalachia

Although much has been learned about the global determinants of physical activity in adults, there has been a lack of specific focus on gender, age, and urban/rural differences. In this church-based community sample of Appalachian adults (N = 1,239), the primary correlates of physical activity included age, gender, obesity, and self-efficacy. Overall, 42% of all participants and 31% of adults age 65 years or older met recommended guidelines for physical activity, which suggests that most participants do not engage in adequate levels of physical activity. Of participants who met physical activity guidelines, the most common modes of moderate and vigorous activity were walking briskly or uphill, heavy housework or gardening, light strength training, and biking. These particular activities that focus on building self-efficacy might be viable targets for intervention among older adults in rural communities.     

Hepatitis C psychoeducation curriculum topics generated by group members

ABSTRACT

Educational programs for hepatitis C (HCV) have been created by professionals. There has not been a focus on whether what clients want to know about HCV differs from what providers want patients to know. This study addresses this gap by examining topics selected by participants in an education/support group model. Data were collected as part of a randomized psychoeducation trial for patients with HCV. Topics were systematically generated by the members uniquely for each group. Topics and rank order for each group were generated and a combined variable was created. Twenty-eight different topics were identified across 12 groups. The total number of topics was 102, averaging 8.5 per group. Topics are divided into three separate conceptual groups, members’ personal relationship to HCV, medical aspects of HCV, and unique concerns. A patient-centered approach that addresses the needs of HCV patients first provides an optimal starting point to discuss HCV disease management.     

Trends in college students’ mental health diagnoses and utilization of services, 2009–2015

Abstract

Objective: To examine changes in diagnoses/treatment for 12 mental health (MH) conditions, previous use of campus MH services, and willingness to seek MH services in the future. Participants: ACHA–NCHA II participants from 2009 to 2015 (n?=?454,029). Methods: Hierarchical binary logistic regression with step 1 controlling for demographics and step 2 considering time. Results: Time was significant except for bipolar disorder, bulimia, and schizophrenia with increases for all conditions except substance abuse. Anxiety (OR?=?1.68), panic attacks (OR?=?1.61), and ADHD (OR?=?1.40) had the highest odd ratios. Use of MH services at current institution (OR?=?1.30) and willingness to utilize services in the future (OR?=?1.37) also increased over time. Conclusions: Based on a national sample, self-reported diagnoses/treatment of several MH conditions are increasing among college students. This examination of a variety of MH issues can aid college health professionals to engage institutional stakeholders regarding the resources needed to support college students’ MH.     

The 15 Year Relay

Clinical Social Work Journal -     

Distribution of Exposure Concentrations and Doses for Constituents of Environmental Tobacco Smoke

The ultimate goal of the research reported in this series of three articles is to derive distributions of doses of selected environmental tobacco smoke (ETS)-related chemicals for nonsmoking workers. This analysis uses data from the 16-City Study collected with personal monitors over the course of one workday in workplaces where smoking occurred. In this article, we describe distributions of ETS chemical concentrations and the characteristics of those distributions (e.g., whether the distribution was log normal for a given constituent) for the workplace exposure. Next, we present population parameters relevant for estimating dose distributions and the methods used for estimating those dose distributions. Finally, we derive distributions of doses of selected ETS-related constituents obtained in the workplace for people in smoking work environments. Estimating dose distributions provided information beyond the usual point estimate of dose and showed that the preponderance of individuals exposed to ETS in the workplace were exposed at the low end of the dose distribution curve. The results of this analysis include estimations of hourly maxima and time-weighted average (TWA) doses of nicotine from workplace exposures to ETS (extrapolated from 1 day to 1 week) and doses derived from modeled lung burdens of ultraviolet-absorbing particulate matter (UVPM) and solanesol resulting from workplace exposures to ETS (extrapolated from 1 day to 1 year).     

Generational Sexualities,Subterranean Traditions,and the Hauntings of the Sexual World: Some Preliminary Remarks

In this article I argue that generation is a relatively neglected concept for thinking about both the social and the sexual, and that symbolic interactionism has much to offer in developing our understanding of this idea. Using both personal experience and the wide‐ranging literature on sexualities, I explore the role of synchronic and diachronic time in organizing both the flow of sexual lives and the hierarchy of age‐sexual orders. The core organizing concepts are those of generational sexualities and subterranean traditions; the approach is seen to provide a further complication to standpoint, queer, and intersectionality theory. The core of the article suggests an array of sensitizing concepts and research areas that might sharpen future analyses. Schematic and exploratory, the article draws from a wide range of examples. Careful the things you say, Careful the tale you tell, Children will listen. Stephen Sondheim, Into the Woods (1986) Reality exists in a present … we look forward with vivid interest to the reconstruction, in the world that will be, of the world that has been for we realize that the world that will be cannot differ from the world that is without rewriting the past to which we now look back. George Herbert Mead, The Philosophy of the Present (1932) Generations are in a constant state of interaction. Karl Mannheim, Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge (1997) How long is a man's life, finally? A thousand days or only one? One week or a few centuries? How long does a man's death last? And what do we mean when we say, “gone forever”? Brian Patten, “So Many Different Lengths of Time,” Selected Poems (2007) To study social life one must confront the ghostly aspects of it. Avery Gordon, Ghostly Matters (1997)