Disaggregating diabetes

Interest in disaggregating diabetes into numerous subtypes is growing as patients and providers recognize the limitations of standard diabetes typologies. As anthropologists, we draw attention to how ‘subtyping’ may reduce stigma derived from the connection between obesity and ‘type 2 diabetes’. We highlight the complexities that drive diabetes and argue that an exclusive or dominant focus on diet and obesity obfuscates other underlying risks. Yet, we warn that subtyping may promote unnecessary pharmaceuticalization, especially for other subtypes of diabetes that may be associated with stress and inflammation. We call upon providers to continue to closely attend to patients’ lived experiences. While we recognize the shortcomings of the existing classificatory scheme, patients’ outcomes and prognoses are often more closely connected to the social and medical support they receive than to the underlying metabolic classification

Holding the Line And Then Crossing It

We presented a performance-paper in 5 voices that gently challenged how power is held in higher education arts institutions. Playfully exploring with the metaphor of the line, and using string telephones, we staged a 5-way conversation, made up of speculative questions and silences. We considered what a radically gentle learning environment might look like, all the time interrogating the real connotations of the word ‘gentle’, and how it might sit alongside terms like discomfort, tradition, privilege and opacity. How can listening happen in a way that matters? Drawing on thinking about response-ability (Haraway 2008, 2016, Stengers 2014), care (Puig de la Bellacasa 2017, Baan Hofman 2023), complaints (Ahmed 2021), engaged pedagogy (hooks 2003), and the current social justice work of Tema Okun, as well as our own institutional experiences, we offered fabulations of alternative spaces for art-making, sharing and educating. We asked, how might a Higher Education Institution which prioritises listening, slow work and transparency fit within today’s society? More importantly, how might educators and learners, communities and publics, who experience being listened to and who have been allowed to co-imagine their futures, then begin to shape and reconfigure society more broadly

Paramedic student accuracy at ECG interpretation

It is critical for patients that paramedics are able to correctly interpret and identify ECG rhythms. Management and treatment of several heart related conditions is dependent on the paramedics ability to recognize rhythms.Quantitative analysis study will be undertaken to examine students ECG interpretation abilities

2018 Research & Innovation Day Program

A one day showcase of applied research, social innovation, scholarship projects and activities.https://first.fanshawec.ca/cri_cripublications/1005/thumbnail.jp

BHPR research: qualitative1. Complex reasoning determines patients' perception of outcome following foot surgery in rheumatoid arhtritis

Background: Foot surgery is common in patients with RA but research into surgical outcomes is limited and conceptually flawed as current outcome measures lack face validity: to date no one has asked patients what is important to them. This study aimed to determine which factors are important to patients when evaluating the success of foot surgery in RA Methods: Semi structured interviews of RA patients who had undergone foot surgery were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted to explore issues that were important to patients. Results: 11 RA patients (9 ♂, mean age 59, dis dur = 22yrs, mean of 3 yrs post op) with mixed experiences of foot surgery were interviewed. Patients interpreted outcome in respect to a multitude of factors, frequently positive change in one aspect contrasted with negative opinions about another. Overall, four major themes emerged. Function: Functional ability & participation in valued activities were very important to patients. Walking ability was a key concern but patients interpreted levels of activity in light of other aspects of their disease, reflecting on change in functional ability more than overall level. Positive feelings of improved mobility were often moderated by negative self perception ("I mean, I still walk like a waddling duck”). Appearance: Appearance was important to almost all patients but perhaps the most complex theme of all. Physical appearance, foot shape, and footwear were closely interlinked, yet patients saw these as distinct separate concepts. Patients need to legitimize these feelings was clear and they frequently entered into a defensive repertoire ("it's not cosmetic surgery; it's something that's more important than that, you know?”). Clinician opinion: Surgeons' post operative evaluation of the procedure was very influential. The impact of this appraisal continued to affect patients' lasting impression irrespective of how the outcome compared to their initial goals ("when he'd done it ... he said that hasn't worked as good as he'd wanted to ... but the pain has gone”). Pain: Whilst pain was important to almost all patients, it appeared to be less important than the other themes. Pain was predominately raised when it influenced other themes, such as function; many still felt the need to legitimize their foot pain in order for health professionals to take it seriously ("in the end I went to my GP because it had happened a few times and I went to an orthopaedic surgeon who was quite dismissive of it, it was like what are you complaining about”). Conclusions: Patients interpret the outcome of foot surgery using a multitude of interrelated factors, particularly functional ability, appearance and surgeons' appraisal of the procedure. While pain was often noted, this appeared less important than other factors in the overall outcome of the surgery. Future research into foot surgery should incorporate the complexity of how patients determine their outcome Disclosure statement: All authors have declared no conflicts of interes

COVID-19 Attitudes and Vaccine Hesitancy among an Agricultural Community in Southwest Guatemala: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Despite offering free-of-charge COVID-19 vaccines starting July 2021, Guatemala has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Latin America. From 28 September 2021 to 11 April 2022, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of community members, adapting a CDC questionnaire to evaluate COVID-19 vaccine access and hesitancy. Of 233 participants ≥ 12 years, 127 (55%) received ≥1 dose of COVID-19 and 4 (2%) reported prior COVID-19 illness. Persons ≥ 12 years old who were unvaccinated (n = 106) were more likely to be female (73% vs. 41%, p p n = 127). Among those ≥18 years, the main reported motivation for vaccination among vaccinated participants was to protect the health of family/friends (101/117, 86%); on the other hand, 40 (55%) unvaccinated persons reported little/no confidence in public health institutions recommending COVID-19 vaccination. Community- and/or home-based vaccination programs, including vaccination of families through the workplace, may better reach female homemakers and reduce inequities and hesitancy

High SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence and Rapid Neutralizing Antibody Decline among Agricultural Workers in Rural Guatemala, June 2020–March 2021

Essential agricultural workers work under occupational conditions that may increase the risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure and transmission. Data from an agricultural worker cohort in Guatemala, and anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid IgG (anti-N IgG) testing were used to estimate past infections and analyze risk factors associated with seropositivity at enrollment and association with SARS-CoV-2 infection. The stability of neutralizing antibody (NAb) responses were assessed in a subset of participants. The adjusted relative risk (aRR) for seroprevalence at enrollment was estimated accounting for correlations within worksites. At enrollment, 616 (46.2%) of 1334 (93.2%) participants had anti-N IgG results indicating prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. A cough ≤ 10 days prior to enrollment (aRR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.13–1.46) and working as a packer (aRR = 2.00, 95% CI: 1.67–2.38) or packing manager within the plants (aRR = 1.82, 95% CI: 1.36–2.43) were associated with increased risk of seropositivity. COVID-19 incidence density among seronegative workers was 2.3/100 Person-Years (P-Y), higher than seropositive workers (0.4/100 P-Y). Most workers with follow-up NAb testing (65/77, 84%) exhibited a 95% average decrease in NAb titers in <6 months. While participants seropositive at baseline were less likely to experience a symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection during follow-up, NAb titers rapidly waned, underscoring the need for multipronged COVID-19 prevention strategies in the workplace, including vaccination