Seen but not understood, responding to emotional distress at the intersection of neurodivergence and learning disability.

People who are neurodivergent and have lived experience of learning disabilities may communicate their distress through behaviours which people around them may interpret as challenging. Distress may be as a result of the trauma of living, learning, working or socialising in unsuitable environments. Some learning disabled, neurodivergent people have had the additional trauma of experiencing physical restraint, chemical restraint and isolation. Practitioners and families supporting them must of necessity be equipped to recognise and respond to their distress appropriately

POLICY AND PROGRAMMATIC OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO NUTRITIOUS FOODS AMONG CHILDREN IN CLEVELAND COUNTY

The social and community context in which an individual lives is an essential social determinant of health (SDoH) that has been shown to have wide-ranging effects on quality of life and health. The social and community context interacts reciprocally with food insecurity (FI), making it essential to address FI. Thousands of children under the age of 18 are impacted by FI in Cleveland County, which has detrimental impacts on this vulnerable population’s social, emotional, and physical well-being. The Cleveland County Commissioners can appropriate funds to create a Meal Express Summer Food Program (MESFP) and establish the Mobile Meals for Children (MMC) program to address childhood FI. The MESFP will deliver federally funded summer meals, while the MMC program will deliver groceries to food-insecure households Both opportunities expand on evidence-based activities that will provide services and support to the community's children who need it most.Master of Public Healt

POLICY AND PROGRAMMATIC OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO NUTRITIOUS FOODS AMONG CHILDREN IN CLEVELAND COUNTY

The social and community context in which an individual lives is an essential social determinant of health (SDoH) that has been shown to have wide-ranging effects on quality of life and health. The social and community context interacts reciprocally with food insecurity (FI), making it essential to address FI. Thousands of children under the age of 18 are impacted by FI in Cleveland County, which has detrimental impacts on this vulnerable population’s social, emotional, and physical well-being. The Cleveland County Commissioners can appropriate funds to create a Meal Express Summer Food Program (MESFP) and establish the Mobile Meals for Children (MMC) program to address childhood FI. The MESFP will deliver federally funded summer meals, while the MMC program will deliver groceries to food-insecure households Both opportunities expand on evidence-based activities that will provide services and support to the community's children who need it most.Master of Public Healt

POLICY AND PROGRAMMATIC OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO NUTRITIOUS FOODS AMONG CHILDREN IN CLEVELAND COUNTY

The social and community context in which an individual lives is an essential social determinant of health (SDoH) that has been shown to have wide-ranging effects on quality of life and health. The social and community context interacts reciprocally with food insecurity (FI), making it essential to address FI. Thousands of children under the age of 18 are impacted by FI in Cleveland County, which has detrimental impacts on this vulnerable population’s social, emotional, and physical well-being. The Cleveland County Commissioners can appropriate funds to create a Meal Express Summer Food Program (MESFP) and establish the Mobile Meals for Children (MMC) program to address childhood FI. The MESFP will deliver federally funded summer meals, while the MMC program will deliver groceries to food-insecure households Both opportunities expand on evidence-based activities that will provide services and support to the community's children who need it most.Master of Public Healt

POLICY AND PROGRAMMATIC OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO NUTRITIOUS FOODS AMONG CHILDREN IN CLEVELAND COUNTY

The social and community context in which an individual lives is an essential social determinant of health (SDoH) that has been shown to have wide-ranging effects on quality of life and health. The social and community context interacts reciprocally with food insecurity (FI), making it essential to address FI. Thousands of children under the age of 18 are impacted by FI in Cleveland County, which has detrimental impacts on this vulnerable population’s social, emotional, and physical well-being. The Cleveland County Commissioners can appropriate funds to create a Meal Express Summer Food Program (MESFP) and establish the Mobile Meals for Children (MMC) program to address childhood FI. The MESFP will deliver federally funded summer meals, while the MMC program will deliver groceries to food-insecure households Both opportunities expand on evidence-based activities that will provide services and support to the community's children who need it most.Master of Public Healt

Rodents of Senegal and their role as intermediate hosts of Hydatigera spp. (Cestoda: Taeniidae)

Hydatigera (Cestoda: Taeniidae) is a recently resurrected genus including species seldom investigated in sub-Saharan Africa. We surveyed wild small mammal populations in the areas of Richard Toll and Lake Guiers, Senegal, with the objective to evaluate their potential role as intermediate hosts of larval taeniid stages (i.e. metacestodes). Based on genetic sequences of a segment of the mitochondrial DNA gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI), we identified Hydatigera parva metacestodes in 19 out of 172 (11.0%) Hubert's multimammate mice (Mastomys huberti) and one out of six (16.7%) gerbils (Taterillus sp.) and Hydatigera taeniaeformis sensu stricto metacestodes in one out of 215 (0.5%) Nile rats (Arvicanthis niloticus). This study reports epidemiological and molecular information on H. parva and H. taeniaeformis in West African rodents, further supporting the phylogeographic hypothesis on the African origin of H. parva. Our findings may indicate significant trophic interactions contributing to the local transmission of Hydatigera spp. and other parasites with similar life-cycle mechanisms. We therefore propose that further field investigations of rodent population dynamics and rodent-borne infectious organisms are necessary to improve our understanding of host–parasite associations driving the transmission risks of rodent parasites in West Africa

Hookworm Infection and Environmental Factors in Mbeya Region, Tanzania: A Cross-sectional, Population-based study.

Hookworm disease is one of the most common infections and cause of a high disease burden in the tropics and subtropics. Remotely sensed ecological data and model-based geostatistics have been used recently to identify areas in need for hookworm control. Cross-sectional interview data and stool samples from 6,375 participants from nine different sites in Mbeya region, south-western Tanzania, were collected as part of a cohort study. Hookworm infection was assessed by microscopy of duplicate Kato-Katz thick smears from one stool sample from each participant. A geographic information system was used to obtain remotely sensed environmental data such as land surface temperature (LST), vegetation cover, rainfall, and elevation, and combine them with hookworm infection data and with socio-demographic and behavioral data. Uni- and multivariable logistic regression was performed on sites separately and on the pooled dataset. Univariable analyses yielded significant associations for all ecological variables. Five ecological variables stayed significant in the final multivariable model: population density (odds ratio (OR) = 0.68; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.63-0.73), mean annual vegetation density (OR = 0.11; 95% CI = 0.06-0.18), mean annual LST during the day (OR = 0.81; 95% CI = 0.75-0.88), mean annual LST during the night (OR = 1.54; 95% CI = 1.44-1.64), and latrine coverage in household surroundings (OR = 1.02; 95% CI = 1.01-1.04). Interaction terms revealed substantial differences in associations of hookworm infection with population density, mean annual enhanced vegetation index, and latrine coverage between the two sites with the highest prevalence of infection. This study supports previous findings that remotely sensed data such as vegetation indices, LST, and elevation are strongly associated with hookworm prevalence. However, the results indicate that the influence of environmental conditions can differ substantially within a relatively small geographic area. The use of large-scale associations as a predictive tool on smaller scales is therefore problematic and should be handled with care