Ready4Work In Brief: Update on Outcomes; Reentry May Be Critical for States, Cities

This issue of P/PV In Brief provides updated data from the Ready4Work prisoner reentry initiative, with a focus on the prison crisis occurring in many cities and states. While much more research is needed to understand the true, long-term impact of prisoner reentry initiatives, outcomes from Ready4Work were extremely promising in terms of education, employment and program retention, with recidivism rates among Ready4Work participants 34 to 50 percent below the national average.Funded by the US Department of Labor and the Annie E. Casey and Ford foundations, Ready4Work was a three-year national demonstration project designed to address the needs of the growing ex-prisoner population and to test the capacity of community- and faith-based organizations to meet those needs. Ready4Work programs provided employment services, case management and mentoring in 11 adult sites around the country (data from seven juvenile sites are being analyzed separately)

"So That Nothing May Be Lost": Genderdiversity and the Divine Image

This essay explores the Biblical roots of gender, and offers a wider more inclusive understanding of God and God’s activity in creation

Illuminating Solutions: The Youth Violence Reduction Partnership

Over the last decade, P/PV has undertaken several studies of the Philadelphia-based Youth Violence Reduction Partnership (YVRP), an intensive collaboration that targets young people deemed at highest risk of being involved in a homicide. YVRP provides young probationers with enhanced supervision and support, with the goal of keeping them out of trouble and putting them on a path toward productive adulthood

Disparities in Medicare beneficiaries’ receiving medication synchronization

Background Medication synchronization (med-sync) aligns patients’ monthly or quarterly chronic medications to a predetermined single pickup date at a community pharmacy. The study objective was to examine med-sync enrollment disparities based on Medicare beneficiaries’ predisposing, enabling, and need characteristics. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study using a Medicare dataset of beneficiaries receiving medications from pharmacies that self-identified as providing med-sync. Medicare beneficiaries who were continuously enrolled in fee-for-service medical and pharmacy benefits during the study period (2014–2016) were included. Study cohorts (med-sync and non–med-sync patients) were defined, and bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. Andersen’s Health Services Utilization Model guided our inclusion of predisposing, enabling, and need characteristics to examine for association with med-sync enrollment. Results A total of 170,180 beneficiaries were included, of which 13,193 comprised the med-sync cohort and 156,987 comprised the non–med-sync cohort. Bivariate logistic regression analysis revealed statistically significant differences (P \u3c 0.05) in cohorts based on age, geographic region, type of residence, number of unique chronic medications, comorbidities, outpatient visits, and inpatient hospitalizations. Beneficiaries had higher odds of being enrolled in med-sync with increasing age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.003 [95% CI 1.001–1.005]) and if they resided in the Northeast (AOR 1.094 [95% CI 1.018–1.175]), South (AOR 1.109 [95% CI 1.035–1.188]), and West (AOR 1.113 [95% CI 1.020–1.215]) than those in the Midwest. Beneficiaries residing in nonmetro areas had lower odds of enrollment (AOR 0.914 [95% CI 0.863–0.969]) than those in metro areas. Beneficiaries with previous fewer inpatient hospitalizations (AOR 0.945 [95% CI 0.914–0.977]) were more likely to be enrolled, and those with more outpatient visits (AOR 1.003 [95% CI 1.001–1.004]) were more likely to be enrolled. Those taking a higher number of oral chronic medications (AOR 1.005 [95% CI 1.002–1.008]) had greater odds of enrollment in med-sync. Conclusions Med-sync program expansion opportunities exist to address potential enrollment disparities based on age, geographic region, metropolitan area, and prior health utilization. Further studies are needed to develop and examine strategies among pharmacies to improve med-sync enrollment outreach to these subgroups of patients

A feasibility study to improve practice nurses’ competence and confidence in providing care for mothers and infants

Postnatal care is best provided in primary health care settings, yet Practice Nurses (PNs) lack relevant training and report difficulty in providing postnatal care.To evaluate the feasibility of a pilot educational intervention in improving PN competence and confidence to care for mothers and infants in the first postnatal year.A feasibility study.PNs were recruited from selected general practices Queensland, Australia to undertake the pilot educational intervention that included a pre-intervention survey, two-day education program, program evaluation and completion of a practice journal.Thirteen PNs from three general practices participated, with 31% completing all study components. Evaluation of the intervention was positive and all participants reported increased confidence and competence in providing postnatal care. Following detailed consideration of feasibility (process, resource, management and scientific assessment) we propose that changes to intervention delivery and data collection should be incorporated into a larger trial

Methylation-Controlled J Protein Promotes c-Jun Degradation To Prevent ABCB1 Transporter Expression▿ †

Methylation-controlled J protein (MCJ) is a newly identified member of the DnaJ family of cochaperones. Hypermethylation-mediated transcriptional silencing of the MCJ gene has been associated with increased chemotherapeutic resistance in ovarian cancer. However, the biology and function of MCJ remain unknown. Here we show that MCJ is a type II transmembrane cochaperone localized in the Golgi network and present only in vertebrates. MCJ is expressed in drug-sensitive breast cancer cells but not in multidrug-resistant cells. The inhibition of MCJ expression increases resistance to specific drugs by inducing expression of the ABCB1 drug transporter that prevents intracellular drug accumulation. The induction of ABCB1 gene expression is mediated by increased levels of c-Jun due to an impaired degradation of this transcription factor in the absence of MCJ. Thus, MCJ is required in these cells to prevent c-Jun-mediated expression of ABCB1 and maintain drug response