College students’ knowledge about Sickle Cell Disease

ABSTRACT

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a serious health problem affecting millions around the world. Key to prevention is knowledge about the disease and the reproductive implications. This study explored college students’ knowledge about SCD. Participants included 416 college students at a North Texas campus between October and December 2014. A cross-sectional survey design using an 18-question survey was used. Although most participants had heard of SCD, 21% had never heard of the disease. Furthermore, participants lacked knowledge regarding the differences between the disease and carrier status, prevalence, reproductive implications, prevention, and testing. Findings showed that couples had more knowledge about SCD compared to singles and there were no significant differences between those with children and those without indicating a need for education before they start dating. Most participants had not undergone SCD carrier screening and had no interest in screening. The Universal Prevention approach would be a suitable approach and should be utilized in improving knowledge about SCD.     

Cultural integration through shared learning among resettled Bhutanese women

ABSTRACT

The multidimensional needs of recently resettled refugees have been well documented and range from elevated rates of mental illness and health care challenges to difficulties accessing resources due to language and literacy barriers. These factors are largely responsible for the challenges resettled refugees face in acquiring and maintaining stable employment. It is possible that achieving financial stability through steady employment and purposeful money management may alleviate some stressors associated with the resettlement process, though research in this area that is specific to refugees is in its infancy. What is clear, however, is that a traditional approach to mental health treatment (i.e., therapy in a traditional office setting) may lack effectiveness because of the lack of attention to extraneous stressors such as poverty, transportation, and language and literacy challenges that impact resettled refugees. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively assess the impact of a group-based financial education course and social enterprise on the self-reported mental health (i.e., post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression, anxiety, and somatization) of Bhutanese refugee women resettled in the United States. The study also sought to evaluate the acceptability and overall satisfaction with various components of the intervention. This qualitative study was a follow-up to a larger quantitative study that included 65 Bhutanese women who were resettled to the southwestern United States by a large resettlement agency. The results of this study offer insights into the lived experiences of Bhutanese refugees in the United States, particularly related to cultural integration bolstered by group-based education and shared learning opportunities.     

Promoting public health through community engagement: Embracing the journey

ABSTRACT

This case study recounts and analyzes the journey that graduate students, enrolled in an experiential, interdisciplinary health promotions course, took with a diverse, urban, Black, Midwest community. Community members, faculty, and graduate students in social work and public health were fellow travelers on this voyage into uncharted territory. A major goal of the journey was to teach students how to recognize community strengths and to facilitate the community in using those strengths. The learner’s stance is used as the guiding principle for this reflective journey that generated serendipitous benefits and challenges. The article concludes with recommendations for interdisciplinary education and curriculum development.     

Mindfulness in financial literacy

ABSTRACT

Financial education is becoming imperative in a society that has pitfalls for unwary consumers. To ensure effectiveness, educational strategies must take into consideration the readiness of consumers to learn the curriculum. Behavioral economics highlights the obstacles that educators face in promoting financial efficacy. Such obstacles include envy, fear, greed, and other all too familiar human failings. One innovative model, mindfulness, provides insight into the human dynamics of personal financial behaviors. This article ties together financial education, mindfulness techniques, and transtheoretical stages of readiness. The impact of gradually introduced educational tasks is presented with an eye toward clients’ stages of readiness, and mindfulness addresses the emotional burdens of altering a financially profligate lifestyle.     

Acculturation Risk and Protective Factors and Mental Health Symptoms in Immigrant Latino Adolescents

Abstract

The aim of this investigation was to map factors that predicted internalizing, externalizing, social, and total behavioral problems in immigrant Latino adolescents. Interviews were conducted with 100 foreign-born Latino adolescents. Multiple regression analyses revealed two risk factors, perceived discrimination and parent-adolescent conflict, which were significant predictors of adolescent internalizing, externalizing, and total problems. Interaction terms indicated that adolescents who were highly involved in Latino culture and who experienced high parent-adolescent conflict were at risk for internalizing problems. Familism was a protective factor associated with lower levels of internalizing and total problems. However, the effect of familism was mediated by parent-adolescent conflict.     

Filling a critical gap: measuring work policies that affect families globally

Work is a central element in most people's lives, and its adequacy and value cannot be measured by simple figures showing how many people have gained or lost jobs. Current measures of decent work are more comprehensive in terms of what matters to individuals, but deficient in their coverage of work policies that matter to families. In this article, we argue the importance and feasibility of measuring policies and laws that shape work quality, and in particular those that shape how work affects families on a global basis. We make the case that this policy area is especially critical under changing social conditions, and propose a manageable and feasible set of indicators permitting an assessment of the extent to which national labor policies facilitate the ability of working adults to meet the requirements of their jobs as well as the needs of their families. Methods are described and findings mapped for all UN countries in key areas including maternal leave, paternal leave, leave to care for children's health, leave to care for adult family members, and leave to meet other family needs.     

Comorbid mood and adjustment disorders among pathological gamblers seeking treatment in Hong Kong

Research findings on comorbidity and pathological gambling are non–existent in Chinese communities. The objectives of this study were to: (a) determine the prevalence of comorbid mood and adjustment disorders among pathological gamblers seeking treatment in Hong Kong; (b) compare demographic profiles and clinical features in pathological gamblers with and without comorbid mood and adjustment disorders; and (c) explore the association and temporal relationship between pathological gambling and comorbid mood and adjustment disorders. Assessment instruments included demographic data, BSI, SCID-I, ASI and LIFE-RIFT. Results showed that about two-thirds (63.7%; n = 128) of 201 participants reported lifetime comorbid psychiatric disorders. Most common comorbid disorders were mood disorders (29.4%; n = 59) and adjustment disorders (20.9%; n = 42). Pathological gamblers with comorbid mood or adjustment disorders showed more severe levels of psychopathology, impairment in psychosocial functioning and gambling problems. This study is important because it is the first scientific comorbidity study among pathological gamblers in a Chinese context.     

The role of acculturative stress and cultural backgrounds in migrants with pathological gambling

The objective of the present study was to differentiate specific migration-related factors that can account for an increased vulnerability to pathological gambling (PG) among migrants in Germany. One hundred and six gamblers (61 migrants, 45 Germans) with varying degrees of gambling problems participated in the study. We analysed (1) differences between migrants and Germans regarding gambling patterns, severity of gambling problems, motivation and craving; influence of (2) acculturative stress; (3) acceptance and popularity of gambling in the culture of origin on gambling problems; (4) differences between migrants and Germans regarding family gambling and peer gambling; and (5) differences in religiosity and its influence on gambling problems. Results suggest no differences between migrants and Germans regarding gambling patterns and the severity of gambling problems. However, findings indicate that migrants have higher motivation and craving to gamble. Findings further suggest that acculturative stress is associated with more severe gambling problems. In contrast, acceptance and popularity of gambling in the country of origin was not a significant predictor of gambling problems. At the same time, family gambling and peer gambling was significantly more prevalent among migrants, constituting an additional risk factor in the present sample. On the other hand, migrants in the sample benefit more often from a protective influence of religiosity.     

Collaborative Frame Construction in Social Movement Campaigns: Bisphenol-A (BPA) and Scientist–Activist Mobilization

Previous research has explored the definitional features of the processes of scientific expert activism but has been less clear regarding the dynamics of this scientific activism. This paper addresses these gaps in understanding by using an exploration of the state-based efforts and mobilizations to regulate the chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA) to identify and analyze the dynamics of interactions between scientists and activists as they collaborate in pursuit of movement objectives. Drawing primarily from interview data and participant observation, I explore how scientific experts—through collaboration and work with activists—impact the processes of movement framing, and how, in turn, the collaborative dissemination of these frames may contribute to movement goals. I argue that the relationships and coordination that developed between BPA scientists and activists resulted in a collaboratively crafted set of frames that were both scientifically rigorous and highly resonant to a public audience.     

Breaking free from siloes: intersectionality as a collective action frame to address toxic exposures and reproductive health

ABSTRACT

There has been increasing interest in collaborative approaches between the environmental justice (EJ) and reproductive justice (RJ) movements to address the higher burden of toxic exposures and associated reproductive health outcomes in vulnerable communities. This study examined the collective action frames (CAFs) of advocates at the EJ/RJ nexus. CAFs highlight how advocates identify problems and solutions, and motivate action. The use of intersectionality was identified as a main CAF used in three key ways: breaking free from identity-based, issue-based, and movement-based siloes. First, interviewees described breaking free from identity-based siloes by identifying risks of toxic exposures that result from intersecting social locations (e.g. gender, race/ethnicity, income, immigration status) and by equally prioritizing multiple aspects of their identities as they engage in advocacy. Second, they described breaking free from issue-based siloes by developing multi-issue agendas that address a complex web of interrelated problems impacting health. Third, they described breaking free from movement-based siloes by developing cross-movement collaborations to address issues of mutual concern. Among multiple reasons given for cross-movement collaborations, advocates perceived them as valuable in order to disrupt social, political, and economic power imbalances that shape environmental reproductive health inequities, as well as other health and social inequities. Based on these findings, we suggest that intersectionality is a master frame, and thus may be useful to advocates in other social movements addressing intersectional issues. Understanding an intersectionality frame can help to inform advocacy approaches to promote health and health equity, particularly those focused on policies and structural drivers of health.