Prescription Drug Abuse and Diversion: Results of a Survey of Physicians & Dentists

To identify the training needs of prescribers for prevention and intervention efforts to address the problem of Unintentional Prescription Drug Poisoning, a web-based survey was created and administered in September, 2010. The survey was publicized to the Dayton area health care providers (largely physicians and dentists) via postcards, Medical and Dental Societies, and list-serves. The survey contained 17 questions and took about 5 minutes to complete. A total of 130 people completed the on-line survey. As seen from the Figure 1, the majority of respondents were physicians, and about 70% were male. More than 80% reported prescribing opioids at their practice. About 10% did not prescribe any controlled substances, and they were excluded from responding to some of the questions, as indicated below

Montgomery County Poisoning Death Review - 2012

In 2012, 162 unintentional drug overdose deaths, the highest number on record, occurred in Montgomery County, Ohio. This finding comes from the Poisoning Death Review (PDR), a process involving the compilation and interpretation of multiple data sets from the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office. The PDR is carried out by faculty and staff at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in collaboration with the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office. The designation of deaths being either unintentional (accident) or intentional (suicide) is made by the Montgomery County Coroner. This is the third year the PDR has been conducted. In 2011, 130 unintentional drug overdose deaths occurred in Montgomery County; 127 in 2010

Interventions to increase free school meal take-up

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to design and implement interventions to increase free school meal (FSM) uptake in pilot schools. This paper describes the interventions, reports on acceptability (as perceived by school working parties) and explores the process of implementing change. Design/methodology/approach: The research consisted of two phases, an exploratory phase followed by an intervention phase. Findings from the latter are presented. Ten pilot schools (five primary and five secondary) in Leeds, England were recruited. Each established a working party, examined current claiming processes and implemented individualised action plans. This paper draws on the final action plans and interviews/focus groups with working parties. Findings: Interventions to improve FSM claiming process, minimise discrimination and maximise awareness were designed. The majority were implemented successfully, the exception being amending anti-bullying policies. Creative ways of delivering interventions were demonstrated. The process of change was effective, critical factors being having individualised action plans that allowed flexibility in implementation, reflecting on current claiming processes, and setting up working parties. Practical implications: Ways of working with schools to increase FSM uptake and more generally improve nutritional policies are suggested. Amending claiming systems in schools is recommended as is greater pupil and parent involvement in nutrition policies. Originality/value: An estimated 300,000 UK children do not take FSMs they are entitled to – with many schools unaware of the issue. This study worked with schools to discover how to address this issue and evaluated the perceived acceptability and feasibility of the approach

Southeast Conference on PBIS Agenda 2019

Conference Agenda. Individual presentation records will be created by request or upon receipt of supporting presentation materials

Interventions for neurocognitive dysfunction

Purpose of review: To evaluate current barriers to HIV cure strategies and interventions for neurocognitive dysfunction with a particular focus on recent advancements over the last three years. Recent findings: Optimal anti-retroviral therapy (ART) poses challenges to minimise neurotoxicity, whilst ensuring blood brain barrier penetration and minimising the risk of cerebrovascular disease. CSF biomarkers, BCL11B and neurofilament light chain may be implicated with a neuroinflammatory cascade leading to cognitive impairment. Diagnostic imaging with diffusion tensor imaging as well as resting-state fMRI show promise in future diagnosis and monitoring of HAND. Summary: The introduction of ART has resulted in a dramatic decline in HIV-associated dementia. Despite this reduction, milder forms of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) are still prevalent and are clinically significant. The central nervous system (CNS) has been recognised as a probable reservoir and sanctuary for HIV, representing a significant barrier to management interventions

Psychological interventions in asthma

Asthma is a multifactorial chronic respiratory disease characterised by recurrent episodes of airway obstruction. The current management of asthma focuses principally on pharmacological treatments, which have a strong evidence base underlying their use. However, in clinical practice, poor symptom control remains a common problem for patients with asthma. Living with asthma has been linked with psychological co-morbidity including anxiety, depression, panic attacks and behavioural factors such as poor adherence and suboptimal self-management. Psychological disorders have a higher-than-expected prevalence in patients with difficult-to-control asthma. As psychological considerations play an important role in the management of people with asthma, it is not surprising that many psychological therapies have been applied in the management of asthma. There are case reports which support their use as an adjunct to pharmacological therapy in selected individuals, and in some clinical trials, benefit is demonstrated, but the evidence is not consistent. When findings are quantitatively synthesised in meta-analyses, no firm conclusions are able to be drawn and no guidelines recommend psychological interventions. These inconsistencies in findings may in part be due to poor study design, the combining of results of studies using different interventions and the diversity of ways patient benefit is assessed. Despite this weak evidence base, the rationale for psychological therapies is plausible, and this therapeutic modality is appealing to both patients and their clinicians as an adjunct to conventional pharmacological treatments. What are urgently required are rigorous evaluations of psychological therapies in asthma, on a par to the quality of pharmaceutical trials. From this evidence base, we can then determine which interventions are beneficial for our patients with asthma management and more specifically which psychological therapy is best suited for each patient