An Examination of Gender-neutral and Gender-responsive Characteristics on Program Participation among Female State Prisoners

Prisons remain one of the social service agencies of last resort for women. Female prisoners are often disproportionately women of color, who are survivors of physical and/or sexual abuse as children and adults, with significant substance abuse problems, mental health problems, and low attainment of educational, vocational, and employment success, and with fragmented family histories including intergenerational involvement with the criminal justice system. However, understanding how these gendered characteristics are associated with prison program participation remains unclear as there is a lack of emphasis on the factors that help explain prisoners’ patterns of participation in prison programs. Understanding factors that are associated with participation in prison programs is important as some programs have been associated with recidivism reduction. This dissertation examined the characteristics associated with prison program participation among female prisoners. It used codified interview data from state inmates in the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities. Hierarchical logistic regressions were used to evaluate the odds that a female prisoner had participated in a prison program given her pattern of response to questions about her demographics, static (unchanging) and dynamic (malleable) criminogenic characteristics, gender-responsive characteristics, and intergenerational characteristics. Hierarchical logistic regressions were performed on participation on seven types of prison programs (religious, visitation, vocational/educational, self-help, prerelease, drug and alcohol, mental health). This study found that for females’ participation in prison programs, 7% of the change in variance for religious program participation, 8% of the change in variance for visitation program participation, 22% of the change in variance for vocational/ educational program participation, 12.5% of the change in variance for self-help program participation, 14% of the change in variance for prerelease program participation, 8% of the change in variance for drug and alcohol program participation, and 22% of the change in variance for mental health program participation was explained when factoring in a set of characteristics among the female prisoners. These effect sizes offer meaningful discussion on the significance of gender-responsivity, the importance of strength-orientation, and the tailoring of programs within the prison to account for the heightened needs often presented by female prisoners

'It gives you a reason to be in this world': the interdependency of communities, environments and social justice for quality of life in older people

Research regarding quality of life among older people has predominantly focused on functional elements experienced at individual or dyadic level despite the complex interplay of factors that contribute to quality of life. Perspectives which explore interdependencies within communities and the intersecting environments in which older people exercise agency have seen less study. They do, however, play an important role in influencing quality of life as experienced by older people across community settings. Qualitative data from a co-produced study of dimensions influencing quality of life in older people was subjected to secondary analysis using a critical human ecological approach. Findings demonstrate the importance of community interdependencies in supporting individual quality of life, the expression of active agency to foster quality of life within and across communities, and the importance of state infrastructures and service provision within these interdependencies. This article argues for a movement beyond functional conceptualisations of quality of life towards the inclusion of perspectives regarding communal wellbeing, alongside the role differing types of community play in influencing quality of life. Through developing conceptions of quality of life in social relations and community cohesion, in particular how quality of life is influenced by perceptions of solidarity and social justice including across generations, assessing quality of life at community level will assist in driving cultural change in policy making and practice

Whole body cardiovascular MRI for the comparison of atherosclerotic burden and cardiac remodelling in healthy South Asian and European adults

Objective: To determine the feasibility of using wholebody cardiovascular MRI (WB-CVMR) to compare South Asians (SAs)-a population known to have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) but paradoxically lower prevalence of peripheral arterial disease-and Western Europeans (WEs). Methods: 19 SAs and 38 age-, gender- and body mass index-matched WEs were recruited. All were aged 40 years and over, free from CVD and with a 10-year risk of CV

A Scalable System for Production of Functional Pancreatic Progenitors from Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Development of a human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-based therapy for type 1 diabetes will require the translation of proof-of-principle concepts into a scalable, controlled, and regulated cell manufacturing process. We have previously demonstrated that hESC can be directed to differentiate into pancreatic progenitors that mature into functional glucose-responsive, insulin-secreting cells in vivo. In this study we describe hESC expansion and banking methods and a suspension-based differentiation system, which together underpin an integrated scalable manufacturing process for producing pancreatic progenitors. This system has been optimized for the CyT49 cell line. Accordingly, qualified large-scale single-cell master and working cGMP cell banks of CyT49 have been generated to provide a virtually unlimited starting resource for manufacturing. Upon thaw from these banks, we expanded CyT49 for two weeks in an adherent culture format that achieves 50–100 fold expansion per week. Undifferentiated CyT49 were then aggregated into clusters in dynamic rotational suspension culture, followed by differentiation en masse for two weeks with a four-stage protocol. Numerous scaled differentiation runs generated reproducible and defined population compositions highly enriched for pancreatic cell lineages, as shown by examining mRNA expression at each stage of differentiation and flow cytometry of the final population. Islet-like tissue containing glucose-responsive, insulin-secreting cells was generated upon implantation into mice. By four- to five-months post-engraftment, mature neo-pancreatic tissue was sufficient to protect against streptozotocin (STZ)-induced hyperglycemia. In summary, we have developed a tractable manufacturing process for the generation of functional pancreatic progenitors from hESC on a scale amenable to clinical entry

Knowing versus understanding: adjusting the contextual lens in safety science

Preparing for the unknown safety threat requires new ways of studying safety in today’s highly complex and dynamic environment. Qualitative inquiry offers advantages to expand the contextual lens in safety science by broadening understanding of the environment and conditions people negotiate in normal day-to-day operations. Through the narrative accounts of those with first-hand experience qualitative researchers seek to narrow the gap between work-as-done and work-as-imagined. It is through their individual experience, when analyzed collectively, that a greater context emerges. To aid in determining which research method is best for investigating safety phenomenon, this paper offers an overview of the philosophical underpinnings of qualitative research as well as recent examples from aviation, maritime, and mining

Telehealth Protocol to Prevent Readmission Among High-Risk Patients With Congestive Heart Failure

Background. Congestive heart failure (CHF) is the leading cause of hospital readmissions. We aimed to assess adherence to and effectiveness of a telehealth protocol designed to prevent hospital admissions for CHF. Methods. We recruited a random sample of 50 patients with CHF (mean age 61). We developed a telehealth platform allowing for daily real-time reporting of health status and video conferencing. We defined adherence as the percentage of days on which the patient completed the intervention. To assess efficacy, we compared admission and readmission rates between the 6-month intervention period and the prior 6 months. Primary outcomes were admissions and readmissions due to CHF, and secondary outcomes were admissions and readmissions due to all causes. Results. Forty-eight (96%) patients completed the protocol. About half (46%) were at high risk for readmission based on standardized measures. Median 120-day adherence was 96% (interquartile range=92-98%), and adherence did not significantly differ across sex, race, age, living situation, depression, cognitive ability, or risk for readmission. CHF-specific admissions were 53% lower during the intervention period compared with the control period (7 vs. 15, P=.007), and CHF-specific readmissions were 83% lower (1 vs. 6, P=.01). When comparing the intervention and control periods, all-cause admissions and readmissions were 25% and 57% lower (P=.01 and P=.006, respectively). Conclusion. Adherence to this telehealth protocol was excellent and consistent, even among high-risk patients. The protocol was associated with a significant decrease in CHF-related and all-cause admissions and readmissions. Future research should test the protocol using a more rigorous randomized design

Assessing Knowledge Regarding Managing Congestive Health Failure Symptoms: Differences in Patient and Professional Scores

Objective: To assess whether patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) and health coaches agree about patient knowledge of health-enhancing practices related to CHF after ongoing telehealth coaching. Methods: Forty patients with CHF and eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid were recruited from a regional managed care organization for this pilot study. Telecoaching sessions via a health insurance portability and accountability act(HIPAA)-compliant tablet-based platform focused on educational information designed to improve patient self-care. Social workers administered the 13-item Member Confidence Measure at baseline and at 30 and 180 days into the intervention. Patients and social workers provided separate ratings. Results: As expected at baseline, patient and coach scores differed, with patients reporting higher perceived knowledge scores ( P < .01). Contrary to expectation, patient and coach scores did not converge at 30 and 180 days. Patient scores continued to increase at 30 and 180 days, while coaches’ scores increased at 30 days, but not at 180 days. Conclusion: Overall, patients continued to overrate their understanding about CHF. A telecoaching platform provides an opportunity to enhance patient’s knowledge of their chronic disease and for patients to sustain that knowledge over time. Practice Implications: Addressing a patient’s misperception of their knowledge to manage a chronic disease is critical for enhancing well-being. Coaches’ scores did increase at 30 days suggesting that telecoaching is effective, but more monitoring may be required to ensure that these gains persist over time