Youth-Led Resilience Promotion during Disaster Recovery: A Proposed Framework, Innovative Program, and Lessons Learned

Objective: Disasters, such as a school shooting or a global pandemic, harm psychological health and necessitate recovery. To complement adult-led disaster recovery and traumaspecific approaches, we propose a Youth-Led Resilience Promotion (YLRP) framework focusing on: 1) multi-tiered change, 2) resilience goals, 3) a promotion mindset, 4) youth strengths, 5) prosocial behaviors, and 6) capacity building through partnerships. The YLRP framework guided the development of a YLRP program in the aftermath of the Chardon High School shooting in Chardon, Ohio, which is detailed in a case study. Method: As part of a Community-Academic Partnership, twenty college student trainers delivered a multi-tiered, multicomponent resilience promotion intervention: universal resilience promotion to 1,070 high school students; targeted resilience promotion to 200 student leaders through workshops; and indicated resilience promotion to 30 student leaders through mentoring. Results: Student leaders formed a youth-led, after-school club to advance relational resilience through prosocial strategies. Lessons learned from implementing the YLRP program for six years (2012 – 2017) are provided to guide YLRP program developers and program implementers. Conclusion: A youth-led program equipping youth leaders to engage in prosocial strategies may contribute to the psychological resilience and recovery of students after a school shooting, the COVID-19 pandemic, and other potentially traumatic events

Salivary immunoglobulin A (sIgA) as a biomarker of immune suppression following the combat fitness assessment

SIgA is a potential biomarker for stress. The usual day-to-day and within day variation in sIgA amongst a group of healthy Army reservists was estimated and the acute response of sIgA to moderate intensity exercise (Combat Fitness Assessment) undertaken in both cool-dry and hot-humid conditions was determined. The results indicate that thermal and cardiovascular strain resulting from moderate intensity exercise in hot-humid conditions suppresses sIgA for at least 24 hours post-exercise. Salivary sIgA exhibits a wide biological variation which casts some doubt on its usefulness as a biomarker, however because sIgA has been shown to be sensitive to dietary restriction, alcohol consumption, loss of body mass, fatigue and negative emotions in previous studies and now heat-induced cardiovascular strain, further work is warranted to develop this biomarker

Mortality measurement in transition: proof of principle for standardised multi-country comparisons*

OBJECTIVE To demonstrate the viability and value of comparing cause-specific mortality across four socioeconomically and culturally diverse settings using a completely standardised approach to VA interpretation.METHODS Deaths occurring between 1999 and 2004 in Butajira (Ethiopia), Agincourt (South Africa), FilaBavi (Vietnam) and Purworejo (Indonesia) health and socio-demographic surveillance sites were identified. VA interviews were successfully conducted with the caregivers of the deceased to elicit information on signs and symptoms preceding death. The information gathered was interpreted using the InterVA method to derive population cause-specific mortality fractions for each of the four settings.RESULTS The mortality profiles derived from 4784 deaths using InterVA illustrate the potential of the method to characterise sub-national profiles well. The derived mortality patterns illustrate four populations with plausible, markedly different disease profiles, apparently at different stages of health transition.CONCLUSIONS Given the standardised method of VA interpretation, the observed differences in mortality cannot be because of local differences in assigning cause of death. Standardised, fit-for-purpose methods are needed to measure population health and changes in mortality patterns so that appropriate health policy and programmes can be designed, implemented and evaluated over time and place. The InterVA approach overcomes several longstanding limitations of existing methods and represents a valuable tool for health planners and researchers in resource-poor settings

Designing verbal autopsy studies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Verbal autopsy analyses are widely used for estimating cause-specific mortality rates (CSMR) in the vast majority of the world without high-quality medical death registration. Verbal autopsies -- survey interviews with the caretakers of imminent decedents -- stand in for medical examinations or physical autopsies, which are infeasible or culturally prohibited.</p> <p>Methods and Findings</p> <p>We introduce methods, simulations, and interpretations that can improve the design of automated, data-derived estimates of CSMRs, building on a new approach by King and Lu (2008). Our results generate advice for choosing symptom questions and sample sizes that is easier to satisfy than existing practices. For example, most prior effort has been devoted to searching for symptoms with high sensitivity and specificity, which has rarely if ever succeeded with multiple causes of death. In contrast, our approach makes this search irrelevant because it can produce unbiased estimates even with symptoms that have very low sensitivity and specificity. In addition, the new method is optimized for survey questions caretakers can easily answer rather than questions physicians would ask themselves. We also offer an automated method of weeding out biased symptom questions and advice on how to choose the number of causes of death, symptom questions to ask, and observations to collect, among others.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>With the advice offered here, researchers should be able to design verbal autopsy surveys and conduct analyses with greatly reduced statistical biases and research costs.</p

Community Management of Endemic Scabies in Remote Aboriginal Communities of Northern Australia: Low Treatment Uptake and High Ongoing Acquisition

Like many impoverished areas around the world, Aboriginal communities in Australia experience an unacceptably high burden of scabies, skin infections, and secondary complications. Young children are most at risk. Our study investigated scabies in a remote setting with very high rates of skin disease, a high level of household overcrowding, and limited infrastructure for sanitation and preventive health measures. We assessed uptake of scabies treatment and scabies acquisition following provision of treatment by a community-based skin program. In a household where scabies was present, we found that treatment with topical permethrin cream of all close contacts can significantly reduce a susceptible individual's risk of infection. Our findings also demonstrate the challenges of achieving a high level of treatment participation, with limited permethrin use observed among household contacts. This suggests an urgent need for a more practical treatment option. International efforts to reduce childhood morbidity and mortality have demonstrated the efficacy of numerous child health interventions but have also highlighted the deficits in their delivery and implementation. Experiences like this, where the effectiveness of a coordinated local program delivering an efficacious intervention is hampered by poor treatment uptake and ongoing transmission, are an important and timely message for researchers, program managers, and policy-makers

Youth-Led Analytics: An Interactive AP Psychology Short Course

High school students who are enrolled in AP Psychology and completed the end-of-year AP exam should be able to apply the AP psychology course knowledge to better understand the factors impacting their choices and behavior, more effectively develop and execute a team-based class project, and develop their own psychological studies

Youth-Led Resilience Promotion during Disaster Recovery: A Proposed Framework, Innovative Program, and Lessons Learned

Objective: Disasters, such as a school shooting or a global pandemic, harm psychological health and necessitate recovery. To complement adult-led disaster recovery and trauma-specific approaches, we propose a Youth-Led Resilience Promotion (YLRP) framework focusing on: 1) multi-tiered change, 2) resilience goals, 3) a promotion mindset, 4) youth strengths, 5) prosocial behaviors, and 6) capacity building through partnerships. The YLRP framework guided the development of a YLRP program in the aftermath of the Chardon High School shooting in Chardon, Ohio, which is detailed in a case study. Method: As part of a Community-Academic Partnership, twenty college student trainers delivered a multi-tiered, multicomponent resilience promotion intervention: universal resilience promotion to 1,070 high school students; targeted resilience promotion to 200 student leaders through workshops; and indicated resilience promotion to 30 student leaders through mentoring. Results: Student leaders formed a youth-led, after-school club to advance relational resilience through prosocial strategies. Lessons learned from implementing the YLRP program for six years (2012 – 2017) are provided to guide YLRP program developers and program implementers. Conclusion: A youth-led program equipping youth leaders to engage in prosocial strategies may contribute to the psychological resilience and recovery of students after a school shooting, the COVID-19 pandemic, and other potentially traumatic events