Current and Preferred Housing of Psychiatric Consumers/Survivors

As part of a participatory action research project, we surveyed 300 psychiatric consumers/survivors from southwestern Ontario regarding their housing preferences and housing satisfaction. We found that, while 79% of the sample preferred independent living, 76% were living in some other type of setting (e.g., temporary shelter, supportive housing, sheltered care). Those living in temporary shelters reported the lowest levels of housing satisfaction, and those who were living in the type of housing that they preferred had the highest levels of housing satisfaction. This information is being used by stakeholder groups involved in the project to help build the capacity of the community to provide the types of housing that are preferred by consumers/survivors

The Growth Mindset in Nursing Education

Introduction: The growth mindset model has been linked with academic success in disciplines outside of nursing. Growth mindset learners are more likely to believe that intelligence is malleable, remain engaged in learning, persist through challenges, remediate, and have greater academic success. This study examined whether growth mindset nursing students were more engaged in their curriculum, were more persistent (gritty), and their perceptions of belonging in nursing school as opposed to fixed mindset peers. Methods: 102 students from a national database responded to a web-based survey. Results suggested that growth mindset learners were grittier and expressed higher levels of belonging than their fixed mindset colleagues. Implications include a need to consider the integration of the growth mindset model into nursing education

Post-Graduation Service and Civic Outcomes for High Financial Need Students of a Multi-Campus, Co-Curricular Service-Learning College Program

High financial need Bonner scholarship alumni, who had been engaged in four years of cocurricular service and reflection experiences, were surveyed six years after graduation. Survey questions drawn from UCLA's Life After College Survey allowed comparison with three national groups. All Bonner service-learning program graduates were still doing community service six years after graduation compared to approximately two-thirds of each comparison group. Alumni were more also likely than comparison groups to be civically engaged, particularly in activities requiring dialogue. The importance of sustained dialogue across boundaries of perceived difference is discussed

Impact of a Postcollege Service-Learning Year: From Self to Social Justice

Recent college graduates in the United States are increasingly pursuing a year of service in programs such as Teach for America, AmeriCorps, and Volunteers Exploring Vocation. A cohort of 689 volunteers participating in 18 Volunteers Exploring Vocation programs across the nation was surveyed both at the beginning and end of their year of service. Principal component analysis was used to analyze the two surveys. Repeated measures captured volunteers’ motivations for entering the programs and opportunities important to them upon exiting programs. Upon entering, program participants were motivated by opportunities for discovery about themselves in relation to community and for exploring spirituality and careers, but were not anticipating friendships and social life as central to their volunteer year. Important to volunteers at the end of the year were opportunities to express compassion, to gain skills while working for social justice, and to explore careers in the context of friendships and social life. Consideration of these findings may increase the number of emerging young adult professionals who find meaning and purpose in their careers as agents for social justice on behalf of communities in need

Long-term prevalence and predictors of prolonged grief disorder amongst bereaved cancer caregivers: A cohort study

Context: The short-term impact of prolonged grief disorder (PGD) following bereavement is well documented. The longer term sequelae of PGD however are poorly understood, possibly unrecognized, and may be incorrectly attributed to other mental health disorders and hence undertreated. Objectives: The aims of this study were to prospectively evaluate the prevalence of PGD three years post bereavement and to examine the predictors of long-term PGD in a population-based cohort of bereaved cancer caregivers. Methods: A cohort of primary family caregivers of patients admitted to one of three palliative care services in Melbourne, Australia, participated in the study (n = 301). Sociodemographic, mental health, and bereavement-related data were collected from the caregiver upon the patient\u27s admission to palliative care (T1). Further data addressing circumstances around the death and psychological health were collected at six (T2, n = 167), 13 (T3, n = 143), and 37 months (T4, n = 85) after bereavement. Results: At T4, 5% and 14% of bereaved caregivers met criteria for PGD and subthreshold PGD, respectively. Applying the total PGD score at T4, linear regression analysis found preloss anticipatory grief measured at T1 and self-reported coping measured at T2 were highly statistically significant predictors (both p \u3c 0.0001) of PGD in the longer term. Conclusion: For almost 20% of caregivers, the symptoms of PGD appear to persist at least three years post bereavement. These findings support the importance of screening caregivers upon the patient\u27s admission to palliative care and at six months after bereavement to ascertain their current mental health. Ideally, caregivers at risk of developing PGD can be identified and treated before PGD becomes entrenched

Genetic characterization of clinical and environmental Vibrio parahaemolyticus from the Northeast USA reveals emerging resident and non-indigenous pathogen lineages

Gastric infections caused by the environmentally transmitted pathogen, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, have increased over the last two decades, including in many parts of the United States (US). However, until recently, infections linked to shellfish from the cool northeastern US waters were rare. Cases have risen in the Northeast, consistent with changes in local V. parahaemolyticus populations toward greater abundance or a shift in constituent pathogens. We examined 94 clinical isolates from a period of increasing disease in the region and compared them to 200 environmental counterparts to identify resident and non-indigenous lineages and to gain insight into the emergence of pathogenic types. Genotyping and multi-locus sequence analysis (MLSA) of clinical isolates collected from 2010 to 2013 in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine revealed their polyphyletic nature. Although 80% of the clinical isolates harbored the trh hemolysin either alone or with tdh, and were urease positive, 14% harbored neither hemolysin exposing a limitation for these traits in pathogen detection. Resident sequence type (ST) 631 strains caused seven infections, and show a relatively recent history of recombination with other clinical and environmental lineages present in the region. ST34 and ST674 strains were each linked to a single infection and these strain types were also identified from the environment as isolates harboring hemolysin genes. Forty-two ST36 isolates were identified from the clinical collection, consistent with reports that this strain type caused a rise in regional infections starting in 2012. Whole-genome phylogenies that included three ST36 outbreak isolates traced to at least two local sources demonstrated that the US Atlantic coastal population of this strain type was indeed derived from the Pacific population. This study lays the foundation for understanding dynamics within natural populations associated with emergence and invasion of pathogenic strain types in the region