Realizing or Relinquishing Rights? Homeless Youth,Their Life on the Streets and Their Knowledge and Experience of Health and Social Services in Hillbrow,South Africa

Poverty and youth unemployment are critical issues in South Africa with homeless persons begging at traffic light intersections in all major cities. Support services represent one way of empowering homeless youth. The study therefore examined the experiences of 10 homeless young adult males in Hillbrow, Johannesburg and whether they were aware of local health and social services. Qualitative interviews revealed that participants experienced poor health, addiction, physical violence, psychological trauma, and public hostility. Despite limited education, they were aware of and utilized local health and social services. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for social work.     

Dental case manager encounters: the association with retention in dental care and treatment plan completion

Little is known about dental case managers as few programs have been scientifically evaluated. The goal of this study was to explore the impact of dental case manager on retention in dental care and completion of treatment plans, while specifically exploring the number of dental case manager encounters. Fourteen programs enrolled people with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in dental care and a longitudinal study between 2007 and 2009. The 758 participants had a total of 2715 encounters with a dental case manager over twelve months: 29% had a single encounter; 21% had two; 27% had 3–4 and; 23% had 5–29 encounters. Adjusting for baseline characteristics, participants receiving more encounters were significantly more likely to complete their Phase 1 treatment plan, be retained in dental care, and experience improvements in overall oral health status. Organizations considering efforts to improve the oral health of vulnerable, hard‐to‐engage populations should consider these findings when planning interventions.     

Working Without a Net: Leukemia and Lymphoma Survivors’ Perspectives on Care Delivery at End-of-Treatment and Beyond

This study explored survivors’ perspectives on care delivery and supportive care needs during reentry. Fifty-one individual interviews were conducted with adult leukemia and lymphoma survivors, 3 to 48 months from treatment cessation. Survivors reported poor continuity of care across the patient–survivor transition, difficulty finding appropriate information/services, lack of preparation, lack of support for survivorship issues, and inadequate or poorly timed follow-up as factors contributing to adjustment difficulties at end of treatment and beyond. Improved care coordination is needed after active treatment, including use of an exit interview and delivery of services that are more congruent and better timed to meet ongoing and emergent survivorship needs.     

CARMIL2-related immunodeficiency manifesting with photosensitivity

We report a case of a newly recognized primary immunodeficiency due to biallelic mutations in CARMIL2 manifesting as an actinic prurigo-like photodermatitis, allergic diathesis and recurrent infections in a child. We present this case to highlight a rare phenotype seen in this T-cell immunodeficiency and provide an overview of other dermatologic manifestations among published reports of this condition.