Activism in Southwestern Queer and Trans Young Adults After the Marriage Equality Era

This is the author's accepted manuscript, published in Volume 34, Issue 4 of Affilia: Feminist Inquiry in Social Work. Reuse is restricted to non-commercial and no derivative uses.In 2015, marriage equality in the United States was a big win for the gay and lesbian movement. Marriage equality as a primary focus of the movement, however, was not without its critiques, particularly as an issue affecting mostly white, gay, economically secure individuals. Given the history of the movement, it is essential to ask what is next. Young queer and trans people represent the next generation of potential activists and advocates for queer and trans liberation, yet little empirical attention has been paid to their goals for the movement and motivations to be actively involved, particularly among young adults in rural, conservative states. Therefore, this study sought to understand the social, economic, and environmental issues deemed important by queer and trans young adults (aged 18–29), as well as their motivations to get involved in activism efforts. Data came from a mixed-methods program evaluation, which presents a picture of the issues and motivations that led study participants (n = 65) toward activism in one conservative, highly rural, Southwestern state in the United States. The findings of this study are discussed in light of theoretical and empirical literature and then implications for the queer and trans movement, activists, and organizers are offered

Identification of Strengths among Southwestern LGBTQ+ Young Adults

Research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth has predominantly operated within a risk framework, highlighting the risks youth face in their homes, schools, and communities and how these risks are associated with disparate mental health outcomes. This research has been important in establishing the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ youth and the need for interventions to reduce stigma and victimization and promote well-being. However, a predominant focus on risk fails to account for the strengths and resilience of LGBTQ+ youth and positions them as “at-risk” rather than as resilient. This chapter describes a study aiming to redress this gap in the literature by assessing the types of strengths LGBTQ+ young adults identify with and the association between their identified strengths and mental health. First, we provide a summary and critique of the literature on LGBTQ+ youth risks and strengths

Assessing LGBTQ youth cultural competency in direct-care behavioral health workers: Development and validation of a measure.

Direct-care workers can provide an array of service types to children, adolescents, and their families in behavioral health treatment. They may also work in a variety of settings (e.g., group homes, inpatient units/hospitals, residential treatment, treatment foster care, day treatment, in-home treatment, etc.). Direct-care workers typically are involved in the supervision of youth and in the implementation of a treatment plan developed by the youth’s treatment team. For youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) and are receiving behavioral health services, such workers form a critical part of their therapeutic experience. However, little is known about these workers’ competencies related to working with LGBTQ youth. This study begins to fill that gap by developing and testing a measure that assessed LGBTQ cultural competencies related to behavioral health practice with youth and a measure that was relevant to the roles and responsibilities of direct-care (e.g., paraprofessional, front-line) workers. In order for direct-care workers to use LGBTQ cultural competency in their practice, more understanding is needed about their current level of LGBTQ-related cultural competency. The LGBTQ Youth Cultural Competency scale (abbreviated as LGBTQY-CC) provides a means to measure those competencies. An exploratory factor analysis found that the new scale consists of one primary factor which represents knowledge, attitudes, skill, and awareness of LGBTQ cultural competency. Cronbach’s alpha, correlations with other measures for concurrent validity, and correlation with a measure of social desirability all resulted in evidence that the LGBTQY-CC has good validity. Analyses examined how the new measure was related to constructs associated with training and competency in direct-care workers. Multiple regression analyses showed that higher levels of LGBTQ cultural competency (as measured by the LGBTQY-CC) were significantly related to age (younger), political ideology (more liberal), more social contact with LGBTQ individuals, and degree of religious belief about LGBTQ being a sin. A model including these factors explained 60% of the variance in LGBTQY-CC scores. The LGBTQY-CC was created with the long-term goal of creating training interventions for direct-care workers to improve their practice with LGBTQ youth. The measure could be used to assess training participants’ knowledge, attitudes, skills, and awareness and to evaluate the effectiveness of varying types and styles of training programs. Federal and state regulatory bodies have begun to require service providers to identify how they will address disparities faced by LGBTQ individuals, so service providers need to demonstrate how they are improving access to and quality of care for LGBTQ individuals. Therefore, the LGBTQY-CC may provide a means to gather data on efforts made by service providers to improve their behavioral health workforce’s capacity to serve LGBTQ youth

Critical Conversations around Hiring Equity and Anti-Racist Search Processes

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down institutions in March 2020, many academic programs faced budget cuts and hiring freezes (Friga, 2020). The impact of budget cuts most severely impacted HBCU’s and rural colleges (Kelchen et al., 2021). Yet, as the pandemic restrictions eased and some schools found ways to begin hiring again; however, things were different this time. Many schools conducted their searches entirely virtually (Banks et al., 2020). As many social work educators can attest, a switch from in-person to virtual methods presented unique challenges (Paceley et al., 2021). This 4-person panel included a successful job candidate and three members of search committees. The panel shared tips and tricks that helped the searches run smoothly in the virtual environment. Additionally, there was a focus on making the virtual environment as welcoming and attractive as possible. The panel presented perspectives from rural and urban teaching-focused and research-focused institutions ranging in Carnegie Classifications from “R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity” to “Master\u27s College and University”. These perspectives encompassed both PWI and HBCU. Critical conversations around hiring equity and antiracist search processes are an important part of higher education leadership. As social workers, we must act to eliminate racist hiring trends in higher education and bring equity to the front of the table in hiring conversations (Gates et al., 2021). Participants in this panel confronted their own biases related to antiracist search practices and learned new strategies for faculty searches in the landscape of an ongoing pandemic (Fariña et al., 2021)

Sequences related to Chimay rhabdovirus are widely distributed in Ixodes ricinus ticks across England and Wales

Ticks are the main arthropod vector of pathogens to humans and livestock in the British Isles. Despite their role as a vector of disease, many aspects of tick biology, ecology, and microbial association are poorly understood. To address this, we investigated the composition of the microbiome of adult and nymphal Ixodes ricinus ticks. The ticks were collected on a dairy farm in Southwest England and RNA extracted for whole genome sequencing. Sequences were detected from a range of microorganisms, particularly tick-associated viruses, bacteria, and nematodes. A majority of the viruses were attributed to phlebo-like and nairo-like virus groups, demonstrating a high degree of homology with the sequences present in I. ricinus from mainland Europe. A virus sharing a high sequence identity with Chimay rhabdovirus, previously identified in ticks from Belgium, was detected. Further investigations of I. ricinus ticks collected from additional sites in England and Wales also identified Chimay rhabdovirus viral RNA with varying prevalence in all tick populations. This suggests that Chimay rhabdovirus has a wide distribution and highlights the need for an extended exploration of the tick microbiome in the United Kingdom (UK)

Validation of a commercially available indirect assay for SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies using a pseudotyped virus assay

Objectives To assess whether a commercially available CE-IVD, ELISA-based surrogate neutralisation assay (cPass, Genscript) provides a genuine measure of SARS-CoV-2 neutralisation by human sera, and further to establish whether measuring responses against the RBD of S was a diagnostically useful proxy for responses against the whole S protein. Methods Serum samples from 30 patients were assayed for anti-NP responses, for ‘neutralisation’ by the surrogate neutralisation assay and for neutralisation by SARS-CoV-2 S pseudotyped virus assays utilising two target cell lines. Correlation between assays was measured using linear regression. Results The responses observed within the surrogate neutralisation assay demonstrated an extremely strong, highly significant positive correlation with those observed in both pseudotyped virus assays. Conclusions The tested ELISA-based surrogate assay provides an immunologically useful measure of functional immune responses in a much quicker and highly automatable fashion. It also reinforces that detection of anti-RBD neutralising antibodies alone is a powerful measure of the capacity to neutralise viral infection

Albiglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (Harmony Outcomes): a double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled trial

Background: Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists differ in chemical structure, duration of action, and in their effects on clinical outcomes. The cardiovascular effects of once-weekly albiglutide in type 2 diabetes are unknown. We aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of albiglutide in preventing cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke. Methods: We did a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 610 sites across 28 countries. We randomly assigned patients aged 40 years and older with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (at a 1:1 ratio) to groups that either received a subcutaneous injection of albiglutide (30–50 mg, based on glycaemic response and tolerability) or of a matched volume of placebo once a week, in addition to their standard care. Investigators used an interactive voice or web response system to obtain treatment assignment, and patients and all study investigators were masked to their treatment allocation. We hypothesised that albiglutide would be non-inferior to placebo for the primary outcome of the first occurrence of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke, which was assessed in the intention-to-treat population. If non-inferiority was confirmed by an upper limit of the 95% CI for a hazard ratio of less than 1·30, closed testing for superiority was prespecified. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02465515. Findings: Patients were screened between July 1, 2015, and Nov 24, 2016. 10 793 patients were screened and 9463 participants were enrolled and randomly assigned to groups: 4731 patients were assigned to receive albiglutide and 4732 patients to receive placebo. On Nov 8, 2017, it was determined that 611 primary endpoints and a median follow-up of at least 1·5 years had accrued, and participants returned for a final visit and discontinuation from study treatment; the last patient visit was on March 12, 2018. These 9463 patients, the intention-to-treat population, were evaluated for a median duration of 1·6 years and were assessed for the primary outcome. The primary composite outcome occurred in 338 (7%) of 4731 patients at an incidence rate of 4·6 events per 100 person-years in the albiglutide group and in 428 (9%) of 4732 patients at an incidence rate of 5·9 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group (hazard ratio 0·78, 95% CI 0·68–0·90), which indicated that albiglutide was superior to placebo (p<0·0001 for non-inferiority; p=0·0006 for superiority). The incidence of acute pancreatitis (ten patients in the albiglutide group and seven patients in the placebo group), pancreatic cancer (six patients in the albiglutide group and five patients in the placebo group), medullary thyroid carcinoma (zero patients in both groups), and other serious adverse events did not differ between the two groups. There were three (<1%) deaths in the placebo group that were assessed by investigators, who were masked to study drug assignment, to be treatment-related and two (<1%) deaths in the albiglutide group. Interpretation: In patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, albiglutide was superior to placebo with respect to major adverse cardiovascular events. Evidence-based glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists should therefore be considered as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes. Funding: GlaxoSmithKline

Using Facebook As A Tool For Informal Peer Support: A Case Example

The social media site (SMS) Facebook can provide social workers with a method to engage in informal peer support. Scholars to date have mainly focused on SMSs such as Facebook as they pertain to clinical interactions with clients, maintaining professionalism especially among social work students, using them for professional or organizational promotion, and using them as an educational tool. Informal peer groups have been found to be an effective tool to combat burnout in high-stress professions such as social work. The use of a SMS such as Facebook for informal peer support could provide additional benefits to social workers beyond what they would experience from offline contact. This article fills a gap in the literature by describing how a group of practicing social workers use a private Facebook group for peer support, informal consultation, emotional support, and personal social connection. Given the continual high rates of job stress and burnout, social workers should consider new and innovative ways to use SMSs such as Facebook to enhance their self-care efforts

Reduced cortical thickness in World Trade Center responders with cognitive impairment

This study examined cortical thickness (CTX) in World Trade Center (WTC) responders with cognitive impairment (CI)