Heart work: Indigenous doulas responding to challenges of western systems and revitalizing Indigenous birthing care in Canada

Background In Canada, there has been a significant increase in the training of Indigenous doulas, who provide continuous, culturally appropriate support to Indigenous birthing people during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. The purpose of our project was to interview Indigenous doulas across Canada in order to document how they worked through the logistics of providing doula care and to discern their main challenges and innovations. Population/setting Our paper analyzes interviews conducted with members of five Indigenous doula collectives across Canada, from the provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of the five Indigenous doula collectives across Canada in 2020 as part of the project, “She Walks With Me: Supporting Urban Indigenous Expectant Mothers Through Culturally Based Doulas.” Interview transcripts were approved by participants and subsequently coded by the entire research team to identify key themes. Results Our paper examines two themes that emerged in interviews: the main challenges Indigenous doulas describe confronting when working within western systems, and how they navigate and overcome these obstacles. Specifically, interview participants described tensions with the biomedical approach to maternal healthcare and conflicts with the practice of Indigenous infant apprehension. In response to these challenges, Indigenous doulas are working to develop Indigenous-specific doula training curricula, engaging in collective problem-solving, and advocating for the reformation of a grant program in order to fund more Indigenous doulas. Conclusions Both the biomedical model of maternal healthcare and the crisis of Indigenous infant apprehension renders Canadian hospitals unsafe and uncomfortable spaces for many Indigenous birthing people and their families. Indigenous doulas are continually navigating these challenges and creatively and concertedly working towards the revitalization of Indigenous birthing care. Indigenous doula care is critical to counter systemic, colonial barriers and issues that disproportionately impact Indigenous families, as well as recentering birth as the foundation of Indigenous sovereignty and community health.

Scientific evidence of the homeopathic epistemological model

Homeopathy is based on principles and a system of knowledge different from the ones supporting the conventional biomedical model: this epistemological conflict is the underlying reason explaining why it is so difficult to accept by present-day scientific reason. To legitimize homeopathy according to the standards of the latter, research must confirm the validity of its basic assumptions: principle of therapeutic similitude, trials of medicines on healthy individuals, individualized prescriptions and use of high dilutions. Correspondingly, basic research must supply experimental data and models to substantiate these principles of homeopathy, whilst clinical trials aim at confirming the efficacy and effectiveness of homeopathy in the treatment of disease. This article discusses the epistemological model of homeopathy relating its basic assumptions with data resulting from different fields of modern experimental research and supporting its therapeutic use on the outcomes of available clinical trials. In this regard, the principle of individualization of treatment is the sine qua non condition to make therapeutic similitude operative and consequently for homeopathic treatment to exhibit clinical efficacy and effectiveness.

Contesting Representations of Refugee‑Background Women (and Men) as ‘Needy’ and ‘Problematic’ in Healthcare Literature in Aotearoa New Zealand: Advancing the Case for a Capability‑Driven Model

<p>This research analyses how power operates discursively within the western biomedical model as it pertains to the representations and treatment of refugee‑background women (and men) in Aotearoa New Zealand. It carefully investigates the tendency of current biomedical discourse to typecast women (and men) with refugee backgrounds as having considerable health needs, which predicates the (over‑) representation of them as exclusively ‘problematic’ and ‘needy’ throughout refugee and healthcare related literature. It also considers other ways in which the western biomedical model may be inappropriate and inadequate for refugee‑background communities. This thesis takes its starting position from some of the concerns regarding health outcomes raised in a meeting with three representatives of various refugee‑background communities in Wellington in 2011, and by the recent ChangeMakers Refugee Forum (CRF) (2011) report, “barriers to achieving good health outcomes in refugee‑background communities”. In light of these concerns (and subsequent recommendations), this research aims to introduce alternative narratives in the effort to improve health outcomes, as well as constitute a more fair and just discourse. The mentation of the thesis is heavily inspired by postdevelopment theory and its potential for more enabling and effective ways of ‘doing’ development. I draw on this theoretical frame to explore how an asset‑based approach to maternal healthcare services in Aotearoa New Zealand for refugee‑background women may be a vehicle to help us negotiate the politics of representation and generate better health outcomes for refugee‑background communitiescomes for refugee‑background communities.</p>

Contesting Representations of Refugee‑Background Women (and Men) as ‘Needy’ and ‘Problematic’ in Healthcare Literature in Aotearoa New Zealand: Advancing the Case for a Capability‑Driven Model

<p>This research analyses how power operates discursively within the western biomedical model as it pertains to the representations and treatment of refugee‑background women (and men) in Aotearoa New Zealand. It carefully investigates the tendency of current biomedical discourse to typecast women (and men) with refugee backgrounds as having considerable health needs, which predicates the (over‑) representation of them as exclusively ‘problematic’ and ‘needy’ throughout refugee and healthcare related literature. It also considers other ways in which the western biomedical model may be inappropriate and inadequate for refugee‑background communities. This thesis takes its starting position from some of the concerns regarding health outcomes raised in a meeting with three representatives of various refugee‑background communities in Wellington in 2011, and by the recent ChangeMakers Refugee Forum (CRF) (2011) report, “barriers to achieving good health outcomes in refugee‑background communities”. In light of these concerns (and subsequent recommendations), this research aims to introduce alternative narratives in the effort to improve health outcomes, as well as constitute a more fair and just discourse. The mentation of the thesis is heavily inspired by postdevelopment theory and its potential for more enabling and effective ways of ‘doing’ development. I draw on this theoretical frame to explore how an asset‑based approach to maternal healthcare services in Aotearoa New Zealand for refugee‑background women may be a vehicle to help us negotiate the politics of representation and generate better health outcomes for refugee‑background communitiescomes for refugee‑background communities.</p>

Influenza A H1N1 Induced Disturbance of the Respiratory and Fecal Microbiome of German Landrace Pigs – a Multi-Omics Characterization

Here, we used swine as a biomedical model to elucidate the impact of influenza A H1N1 infection on structure and function of the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract microbiome by employing a multi-omics analytical approach. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the temporal development of the porcine microbiome and to provide insights into the functional capacity of the gastrointestinal microbiome during influenza A virus infection.

In Service of the Society? Medical Associations as Agents of Social Change—Implication for Health Policy and Education in Israel

This study aims to explore what medical associations in Israel do to promote public health, what values underpin their activities, and how their actions can be interpreted. For this purpose, an analysis of both individual and organizational levels was applied in an effort to yield a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between society and the medical profession. In-depth interviews with senior physicians were conducted, combined with a review of policy and public initiatives of medical associations between 2008 and 2018. The findings of this study reveal that medical associations engage in a range of social and policy initiatives designed to promote public health, but, at the same time, they tend to construct socially related health issues as medical problems in a manner that fits their sectorial agendas. This may reflect organized medicine’s efforts to extend its dominance over society through the application of the biomedical model to social issues. It is necessary to integrate biosocial training with medical education to ensure that future physicians are equipped with the skills needed to implement social medicine.

CRISPR Toolbox for Genome Editing in Dictyostelium

The development of new techniques to create gene knockouts and knock-ins is essential for successful investigation of gene functions and elucidation of the causes of diseases and their associated fundamental cellular processes. In the biomedical model organism Dictyostelium discoideum, the methodology for gene targeting with homologous recombination to generate mutants is well-established. Recently, we have applied CRISPR/Cas9-mediated approaches in Dictyostelium, allowing the rapid generation of mutants by transiently expressing sgRNA and Cas9 using an all-in-one vector. CRISPR/Cas9 techniques not only provide an alternative to homologous recombination-based gene knockouts but also enable the creation of mutants that were technically unfeasible previously. Herein, we provide a detailed protocol for the CRISPR/Cas9-based method in Dictyostelium. We also describe new tools, including double knockouts using a single CRISPR vector, drug-inducible knockouts, and gene knockdown using CRISPR interference (CRISPRi). We demonstrate the use of these tools for some candidate genes. Our data indicate that more suitable mutants can be rapidly generated using CRISPR/Cas9-based techniques to study gene function in Dictyostelium.

OCCUPATION-BASED INTERVENTION IN STROKE REHABILITATION: PERSPECTIVES OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY PRACTITIONERS

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The occupation-based intervention has shown effective recovery in overall disability of stroke survivors, yet the concept is unexplored among Pakistani occupational therapists. Therefore, this study is aimed to explore their perception regarding occupation-based intervention in stroke rehabilitation. METHODOLOGY A self-administered questionnaire designed in Google Docs was distributed online via email and social media applications to record participants’ responses regarding occupation-based approaches in post-stroke rehabilitation. RESULTS A total number of 150 occupational therapists were enrolled in the study comprised 135 females and 15 males from 18 to 44 years of age. It was revealed that 53.3% therapists had taken an average of 45 minutes of clinical practice sessions on occupation-based intervention, 64.7 % believed to be well trained in the occupation-based approach. Moreover, 69.3% stated that their professional practice in post-stroke rehabilitation is generally based on the biomedical model, yet 39.3% of therapists have no clarity of this concept. CONCLUSION It was concluded that most occupational therapists understand the concept of occupation-based intervention. However, only a few were trained and implementing the approach in stroke rehabilitation, while the rest were found to have insufficient knowledge regarding this practice.