Women and Substance Abuse Problems

Health Issues: Differences exist in the prevalence and physical health impacts of problem substance use among men and women. These differences are also found in the mental health and trauma events related to substance use, barriers to treatment and harm-reduction services and the impact of substance use on pregnancy and parenting. Data from the 2000–2001 Canadian Community Health Survey and Canada's Alcohol and Other Drugs Survey (1994) were used to explore this issue further. Key Findings: While women use alcohol and illicit drugs at lower rates than men, the health impact of their use is significant, and in some cases greater than for men. Women are more likely to use prescribed psychoactive drugs (e.g. pain relievers, sleeping pills, tranquillizers) and most of these drugs have addictive potential and long-term negative consequences on health. Research collected from treatment centres in Canada show high rates of victimization experienced by women, which have implications for both their substance use treatment and improvement in mental health. Data Gaps and Recommendations: Significant gaps exist in our knowledge on the level, type

Preventing HIV transmission among Iranian prisoners: Initial support for providing education on the benefits of harm reduction practices

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Harm reduction is a health-centred approach that seeks to reduce the health and social harms associated with high-risk behaviors, such as illicit drug use. The objective of this study is to determine the association between the beliefs of a group of adult, male prisoners in Iran about the transmission of HIV and their high-risk practices while in prison.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2004. The study population was a random selection of 100 men incarcerated at Rajaei-Shahr prison. The data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. Focus group discussions were held at the prison to guide the design of the questionnaire. The relationship between components of the Health Belief Model (HBM) and prisoners' risky HIV-related behaviors was examined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Calculating Pearson's correlation coefficient, a significant, positive association was found between the benefit component of the HBM and prisoners <it>not </it>engaging in HIV high-risk behaviors.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Educational harm reduction initiatives that promote the effectiveness of strategies designed to reduce the risk of HIV transmission may decrease prisoners' high-risk behaviors. This finding provides initial support for the Iran prison system's current offering of HIV/AIDS harm reduction programming and suggests the need to offer increased education about the effectiveness of HIV prevention practices.</p

Beginning with Our Voices: How the Experiential Stories of First Nations Women Contribute to a National Research Project

The purpose of this paper is to review how the experiential stories of First Nations women contribute to a national research project. The project focuses on how women’s healing is impacted by their views about themselves as - and the stigma associated with being - a drug user, involved in crime and an Aboriginal woman.Our project began with three First Nations women on our research team documenting the role of stigma and self-identity in their personal healing journeys from problematically using drugs and being in conflict with the law. In this paper we discuss how key components of feminist research practices, Aboriginal methodology and community-based research helped us position the women’s experiential stories in authoritative, recognized and celebrated ways in our study. We illustrate how the women’s stories uniquely contributed to the creation of our interview questions and the research project in general. We also discuss how the women personally benefited from writing about and sharing their experiences. Key benefits include the women discovering the impact of the written word, promotion of their healing, personal recognition of their ability to offer hope to women in need, increased self-esteem, and increased appreciation of the importance of sharing their lived experiences with others. Our method of research differs from a conventional western scientific approach to understanding, and as such made important contributions to both the project itself and the women who shared their experiential stories

Recognizing Zooeyia to Promote Companion Animal Welfare in Urban Bangladesh

The One Health concept of zooeyia refers to the benefits of companion animals in human health and is gaining global research attention. This exploratory study aimed to understand contemporary experiences and perceptions of the social benefits and challenges of living with a companion animal in urban Bangladesh. Thirty-five qualitative interviews were conducted with companion animal owners (20), animal sellers (10), and livestock service department officers (5) from two major cities in Bangladesh, Dhaka and Khulna. Thematic analysis found that historically, animals had a utilitarian purpose, such as livestock for food and dogs for security. The role and perceptions of companion animals began to change for some around the turn of the century. Today, companion animal caretakers report social, psychological and physical health benefits from integrating companion animals into their lives. They also report that companion animal ownership can contribute to social problems due to the prevailing stigma against companion animals. This is rooted in the continued utilitarian role attached to companion animals by the majority of the Bangladesh population as well as religious-based non-acceptance. As a result, the Animal Welfare Act (2019) is not well implemented, posing a key concern for companion animal welfare. To tackle this, we propose various ways in which the emerging concept of zooeyia can help promote the welfare of companion animals by challenging the stigma associated with them in Bangladesh

Article Commentary: Researching Prescription Drug Misuse among First Nations in Canada: Starting from a Health Promotion Framework

The intentional misuse of psychotropic drugs is recognized as a significant public health concern in Canada, although there is a lack of empirical research detailing this. Even less research has been documented on the misuse of prescription drugs among First Nations in Canada. In the past, Western biomedical and individual-based approaches to researching Indigenous health have been applied, whereas First Nations’ understandings of health are founded on a holistic view of wellbeing. Recognition of this disjuncture, alongside the protective influence of First Nations traditional culture, is foundational to establishing an empirical understanding of and comprehensive response to prescription drug misuse. We propose health promotion as a framework from which to begin to explore this. Our work with a health promotion framework has conveyed its potential to support the consideration of Western and Indigenous worldviews together in an ‘ethical space’, with illustrations provided. Health promotion also allots for the consideration of Canada's colonial history of knowledge production in public health and supports First Nations’ self-determination. Based on this, we recommend three immediate ways in which a health promotion framework can advance research on prescription drug misuse among First Nations in Canada