Protocol for the Development and Rapid-Response Deployment of Pandemic Acceptance and Commitment to Empowerment Response (PACER) Training (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Fung ◽  
Jenny JW Liu ◽  
Mandana Vahabi ◽  
Alan Tai-Wai Li ◽  
Mateusz Zurowski ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND During a global pandemic, it is critical to rapidly deploy a psychological intervention to support the mental health and resilience of highly affected individuals and communities. OBJECTIVE This is the impetus behind the development and implementation of the Pandemic Acceptance and Commitment to Empowerment Response (PACER) Training, an online blended-skills building intervention to increase the resilience and wellbeing of participants while promoting their individual and collective empowerment and capacity-building. METHODS Based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and social justice-based Group Empowerment Psychoeducation (GEP), we developed the Acceptance and Commitment to Empowerment (ACE) model to enhance psychological resilience and collective empowerment. PACER program consists of six online interactive self-guided modules complemented by six weekly 90 minutes facilitator-led video-conference group sessions. RESULTS As of August 2021, a total of 325 participants have enrolled in the PACER program. Participants include frontline healthcare providers and Chinese Canadian community members. CONCLUSIONS The PACER program is an innovative intervention program with the potential for increasing psychological resilience and collective empowerment while reducing mental distress during the pandemic.

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Brunner ◽  
Galia Plotkin Amrami

In the aftermath of 9/11, the concept of psychological resilience, which refers to the ability to “bounce back” after adversity, became prominent across the American mental health community. Resilience thinking made its way quickly into the U.S. military, where it sparked the most expensive psychological intervention program in history. This article interweaves four strands of explanation—political, scientific, technological, and cultural—to account for the success of resilience thinking in the U.S. military and beyond. It shows that theories and practices of psychological resilience are not as novel as their proponents make them out to be. However, it also details how the ideal of a post-therapeutic, resilient subject became the cornerstone of a new, post-9/11 social imaginary. This article concludes that the contemporary ascendancy of psychological resilience indicates that rather than allying itself with the therapeutic as it had done previously, post-9/11 neoliberalism has moved toward the post-therapeutic.


BMJ Leader ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. leader-2020-000380
Author(s):  
Onyinyechi F Eke ◽  
Alister Martin ◽  
Hazar Khidir ◽  
Onyeka Otugo ◽  
Andrew Marshall ◽  
...  

In response to an imminent surge in COVID-19 cases, the state of Massachusetts (MA) released its Crisis Standards of Care (CSC) guidelines in April 2020. A small group of Boston healthcare providers, community members, lawyers, ethicists and disability advocates brought to bear our collective strengths to forge a formidable coalition now known as the Massachusetts Coalition for Health Equity, to champion the rights of marginalised groups that would be adversely affected by the implementation of the original MA CSC guidelines. In this coalition, members of marginalised communities were adequately represented, led discussions on the implications of implementing inequitable elements of the CSC guidelines and actively involved in creating an alternative framework. In this article, we discuss the process of building a coalition whose concerted advocacy efforts led to the revision of the MA CSC guidelines.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Po-Lun Fung ◽  
Mandana Vahabi ◽  
Masoomeh Moosapoor ◽  
Abdolreza Akbarian ◽  
Josephine Pui-Hing Wong

BACKGROUND Psychological distress, isolation, feeling of powerlessness, and limited social support are realities faced by temporary migrant live–in caregivers in Canada. Furthermore, they experience multiple barriers in accessing mental health services due to their long work hours, limited knowledge about health resources, precarious employment, and immigration status. OBJECTIVE Women Empowerment - Caregiver Acceptance & Resilience E-Learning (WE2CARE) project is a pilot intervention research project that aims to promote mental well being and resiliency of migrant live-in caregivers. The objectives include exploring the effectiveness of this program in: (1) reducing psychological distress (depression, anxiety, and stress); (2) promoting committed actions of self-care; and (3) building mutual support social networks. Further, participants’ satisfaction with the intervention and their perceived barriers and facilitators to practicing the self-care strategies embedded in WE2CARE will be examined. METHODS Thirty-six live- in caregivers residing in Great Toronto Area (GTA) will be recruited and randomly assigned to intervention and waitlist control groups. The intervention group will receive a 6-week web-based psychosocial intervention that will be based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Standardized self-reported surveys will be administered online pre-, post-, and 6-week post-intervention to assess mental distress (DASS 21), psychological flexibility (AAQ-2), mindfulness (CAMS-R) and Multi-System Model of Resilience (MSMR-I). Two focus groups will be held with a subset of participants to explore their feedback on the utility of the WE2CARE program. RESULTS WE2CARE was funded in January 2019 for a year. The protocol was approved by the research ethics boards of Ryerson University (REB 2019-036) in February 2019, and University of Toronto (RIS37623) in May 2019. Data collection started upon ethics approval and was completed by May 2020. A total of 29 caregivers completed the study and 20 participated in the focus groups. Data analyses are in progress and results will be published in 2021. CONCLUSIONS WE2CARE can be a promising approach in reducing stress, promoting resilience, and providing a virtual space for peer emotional support and collaborative learning among socially isolated and marginalized women. The results of this pilot study will inform the adaptation and utility of online delivery of ACT based psychological intervention in promoting mental health among disadvantaged and vulnerable populations. CLINICALTRIAL None


2001 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 481-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Muris ◽  
Nicole Bogie ◽  
Angelina Hoogsteder

The Resourceful Adolescent Program is an early intervention program designed to enhance psychological resilience in adolescents with emotional problems. Eight adolescents with high anxious and/or depressive symptoms were treated with this 11-session group program. Treatment effects were examined by means of self-report questionnaires of anxiety, depression, and self-efficacy. Pre- and postintervention data showed reductions in anxiety and depression scores and a concomitant increase in adolescents' self-efficacy.


Author(s):  
Cheryl Erwin ◽  
Sheryl Dacso

Abstract A coordinated response to bioterrorism events requires the participation of healthcare providers, governmental agencies, ethicists, and community members. We describe some of the ethical and considerations that should go into planning for these events.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shabina Ariff ◽  
Ikram Maznani ◽  
Maria Bhura ◽  
Zahid Memon ◽  
Tayyaba Arshad ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Low birth weight (LBW) is a common outcome of preterm birth and increases the risk of an infant’s morbidity and mortality. About 20 million infants are born with low birth weight globally. Since a significant number of births in Pakistan take place at home, it is important to focus on the use of Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) (skin-to-skin contact) in communities to prevent neonatal mortality and morbidity. OBJECTIVE We conducted a formative research in order to understand the context of communities and facilities with regards to neonatal care and KMC practice, inform the design and delivery of culturally appropriate platforms to introduce KMC in communities, and develop effective recruitment and retention strategies of KMC, in rural areas of district Dadu, in the Sindh province. METHODS We conducted focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and key informant interviews with families of LBW babies, community members, healthcare providers and hospital administrators to identify barriers, enablers and a knowledge base for KMC interventions. RESULTS Newborn care practices in communities were subpar. Although KMC practices are not commonly practiced in communities and facilities and the method is unknown to many, family members were willing to provide KMC to LBW babies to improve their health outcomes. Community members, hospital administrators and healthcare providers widely accepted the practice for neonatal health and found it feasible and convenient. CONCLUSIONS The KMC as a method of treating low birth weight babies is widely accepted in the community. This formative research provided strategically effective ways for developing effective implementation strategies by identifying common community practices for LBW babies, and barriers and enablers to KMC practice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-53
Author(s):  
Jae Hyun Park ◽  
Leah Rogowski ◽  
Janet H Kim ◽  
Sumayah Al Shami ◽  
Scott E I Howell

Technology has transformed almost every aspect of our lives. Smartphones enable patients to request, receive, and transmit information irrespective of the time and place. The global pandemic has forced healthcare providers to employ technology to aid in ‘flattening the curve. The Novel Coronavirus, which is responsible for COVID-19, is transmitted primarily through person-to-person contact but may also be spread through aerosol generating procedures, so many clinics have severely limited interpersonal interactions. The purpose of this article is to provide helpful information for those orthodontists considering some form of remote practice. Various HIPAA-compliant telecommunication or teledentistry systems that can be used for orthodontic treatment are introduced and discussed. Detailed information about each platform that can potentially be used for orthodontics is provided in Figure 1. The authors do not endorse any of the products listed and the included software is not all inclusive but instead is a glimpse into the options available.


Oncology ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 739-762
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Eid ◽  
Isaac Nahon-Serfaty

The prevalence of breast cancer in Venezuela is particularly alarming, which is attributed to healthcare inequalities, low health literacy, and lagging compliance with prevention methods (i.e., screening and mammography). While the right to health is acknowledged by the Venezuelan constitution, activism beyond governmental confines is required to increase women's breast cancer awareness and decrease mortality rates. Through the development of social support and strategic communicative methods enacted by healthcare providers, it may be possible to empower women with the tools necessary for breast cancer prevention. This paper discusses issues surrounding women's breast cancer, such as awareness of the disease and its risks, self-advocacy, and the roles of activists, healthcare providers, and society. Specifically, it describes a four-year action-oriented research project developed in Venezuela, which was a collaborative work among researchers, practitioners, NGOs, patients, journalists, and policymakers. The outcomes include higher levels of awareness and interest among community members and organizations to learn and seek more information about women's breast cancer, better understandings of the communicated messages, more media coverage and medical consultations, increasing positive patient treatments, expansion of networking of NGOs, as well as a widely supported declaration for a national response against breast cancer in Venezuela.


Author(s):  
S. Upadhyaya ◽  
K. Farahmand ◽  
T. Baker-Demaray

One in three Americans will be diabetic by 2050, and the rate of diabetes is disproportionately high among Native Americans, especially among Native elders age 55 and older. Early identification and prevention strategies have been regarded as the cornerstone of preventative medicine. The objective of the authors’ research was to identify factors related to diabetes and their interactions specifically among Native elders and develop a simple prediction model which can be used by healthcare professionals while interacting with Native elders in remote or rural areas. Data from a survey of 18,078 Native American elders was used in their study. After eliminating outliers using Pearson’s residuals and Cook’s distance, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.7812 for men and 0.7230 for women. The results from the authors’ analysis provide additional perspective on how diabetes affects Native elders thus helping healthcare providers and policy makers when dealing with these community members.


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