Prevalence of mental health conditions and brain fog in people with long COVID: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Long COVID can include impaired cognition ('brain fog'; a term encompassing multiple symptoms) and mental health conditions. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate their prevalence and to explore relevant factors associated with the incidence of impaired cognition and mental health conditions. Searches were conducted in Medline and PsycINFO to cover the start of the pandemic until August 2023. Included studies reported prevalence of mental health conditions and brain fog in adults with long COVID after clinically-diagnosed or PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. 17 studies were included, reporting 41,249 long COVID patients. Across all timepoints (3-24 months), the combined prevalence of mental health conditions and brain fog was 20·4% (95% CI 11·1%-34·4%), being lower among those previously hospitalised than in community-managed patients(19·5 vs 29·7% respectively; p = 0·047). The odds of mental health conditions and brain fog increased over time and when validated instruments were used. Odds of brain fog significantly decreased with increasing vaccination rates (p = ·000). Given the increasing prevalence of mental health conditions and brain fog over time, preventive interventions and treatments are needed. Research is needed to explore underlying mechanisms that could inform further research in development of effective treatments. The reduced risk of brain fog associated with vaccination emphasizes the need for ongoing vaccination programs

Introduction: Sexualities [Gender & Development]

haberdashersThis issue of Gender & Development addresses Sexualities. Sexual health and rights have been prominent in the human rights and women's rights movement for decades. The Platform for Action from the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women highlighted the right of women to have control over and make decisions concerning their own sexuality, including their own sexual and reproductive health (Paras 92, 93 and 94). Since then, the concept of sexual rights has gained broader acceptance; these are the rights of all human beings to have the possibility of pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence (WHO) (2015)

Livelihoods, poverty and the empowerment of women: an Ethiopian case study

This thesis interrogates the livelihoods and empowerment strategies of first and second generation migrant women living in Kechene, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and considers the role of a microfinance intervention in supporting the empowerment of these women. They are from a craftsworking group, described by some as an Ethiopian 'caste'. The thesis starts by conceptualising a model of empowerment which employs both forgotten insights from gender and development scholarship, and recent theoretical work on intersectional identities. Modelling power in this way has important implications for development practice which seeks to support the empowerment of women. In particular, it calls into question the role of awareness-raising training and the existence of ‘false consciousness’ regarding gender inequality. The thesis goes on to consider how development policy and practice has engaged with gender equality concerns, focusing on livelihoods and in particular on the role that microfinance interventions can be expected to play in the ‘economic empowerment’ of individual women entrepreneurs, and the feminist goal of the collective empowerment of women. Women’s empowerment strategies in Kechene occur against a backdrop of acute and worsening economic want, which both loosens social ties with rural areas, and mitigates against women in Kechene establishing strong social networks with each other. Social capital is of key importance in women’s empowerment strategies. Yet weak social networks, together with lack of markets for women's own-account businesses, and membership of relatively stable crafts-based household economies, leads many women to opt not to advance their strategic gender interests. Instead they continue to invest in the traditional social capital of marriage and family. The thesis concludes that to construct the Kechene findings as a failure - of a donor agency to support feminist empowerment, or of women to engage with agendas of empowerment - would be to conflate the two distinct aims of collective empowerment of women as a marginalised group, and individual empowerment of women whose interests are wider than strategic gender interests. The thesis concludes by discussing some of the implications of the model of empowerment advanced within it, for development policy and practice

Fixing women or fixing the world? ‘smart economics’, efficiency approaches, and gender equality in development

This article focuses on the current trend for investing in women and girls as ‘smart economics’, which is a direct descendant of the efficiency approach to women in development (WID) prevalent in the wake of the economic crisis in the 1980s. We highlight the dangers of conflating the empowerment of women as individuals with the feminist goal of removing the structural discrimination which women face as a gendered constituency, and consider the implications for feminists in development if they adopt smart economics-speak and work in coalition with individuals and organisations who have fundamentally different aims. This has attractions in strategic terms, but risks recreating the very problems gender and development seeks to transform. Cet article se concentre sur la tendance actuelle de l'investissement dans les femmes et les filles dans le cadre de l’« économie intelligente » qui tire directement son origine de l'approche d'efficacité pour ce qui est des femmes dans le développement (WID - women in development), approche qui était très courante au lendemain de la crise économique des années 1980. Nous mettons en relief les risques que comporte le fait de relier l'autonomisation des femmes en tant qu'individus et l'objectif féministe d’élimination de la discrimination structurelle à laquelle se heurtent les femmes en tant que groupe constituant représentant un sexe, et nous examinons les implications pour les féministes dans le secteur du développement si elles adoptent un discours d’économie intelligente et travaillent dans le cadre de coalitions avec des personnes et des organisations dotées d'objectifs fondamentalement différents. Cela présente des côtés attrayants en termes stratégiques, mais risque de recréer les problèmes précis que le genre et le développement cherchent à transformer. Este artículo se centra en la tendencia actual de la “economía inteligente”, la cual propone invertir en las mujeres y niñas. Dicha orientación se remonta al enfoque basado en la metodología de la eficiencia aplicada a las “mujeres en el desarrollo” (WID por sus siglas en inglés), que prevaleció tras la crisis económica de los años ochenta. Las autoras advierten sobre el peligro de confundir el empoderamiento de las mujeres como individuos, con el objetivo de las feministas de eliminar la discriminación estructural enfrentada por las mujeres como grupo de género. Asimismo, analizan las implicaciones que, en caso de trabajar en coalición con personas y organizaciones cuyos objetivos son distintos, podría tener el uso del lenguaje de la economía inteligente para las feministas en el desarrollo. Aunque ello representa ventajas en términos estratégicos, si reproduce los mismos problemas que la perspectiva de género y el desarrollo buscan transformar, puede encerrar riesgos

Introduction to Gender and Education

Education plays a key role in the empowerment of girls and women, and the attainment of gender equality in households, communities and wider society. Even before the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights made it official, education has long been recognised as an essential prerequisite to enable people to realise their true potential. Education in itself is a human right, but it also serves as a gateway that allows individuals to access and enjoy other human rights. Education broadens the s perspectives of a girl about the roles that she can play; provides a key space (often the only space) for meeting peers, mentors and role models; and opens new spaces for an empowered girl to act in, reach out to and influence others. Unique to education is the fact that once you have gained it, it cannot be taken away (Moll and Renault, this issue, 33)

Gender and the Sustainable Development Goals

Fil: Esquivel, Valeria Renata. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Institute for Social Development; SuizaFil: Sweetman, Caroline. Gender & Development; Reino Unid

Risk factors for initial appointment non-attendance at Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) services : A retrospective analysis

Background Approximately 1.5 million referrals are made to Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) services annually. However, treatment is received in less than half of cases due to ineligibility or non-attendance. The aim was to explore risk factors for non-attendance at the initial two IAPT appointments following referral. Methods An exploratory, retrospective analysis of referral and attendance data from five IAPT services in the North of England. Participants were 97,020 referrals received 2010–2014. Main outcome was attendance at the first two offered appointments (assessment and initial treatment). Results Based on data from two services, 66% of referrals resulted in assessment attendance. Across all five services 57% of patients who attended for assessment subsequently attended the first treatment appointment. The odds of attending an assessment appointment were more than 3 times higher for self-referrals than for GP referrals (OR 3.46, 95% CI 3.27–3.66, p < 0.001). Factors important to treatment appointment attendance following assessment were the service, referral source, presenting problem, and anxiety severity. Conclusion Initial appointment non-attendance is a consistent problem for IAPT services. Specific factors that may support IAPT services to improve non-attendance rates are identified. IAPT indicators of success should take account of non-attendance at initial appointments