The Portal Project

SUMMARY

Palladia, Inc. is a not-for-profit, multi-service agency, located in New York City, serving primarily African-American and Latino communities. Palladia's Portal Project, in collaboration with the evaluation team from Hunter College School of Social Work (HCSSW), participated in the national Women, Co-Occurring Disorders and Violence study. We studied 270 women with co-occurring issues of alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems and mental illness, who had histories of violence, and were high end users of service. Palladia built an integrated system of care and implemented a comprehensive trauma-informed intervention that is designed to put trauma and safety first to assist women in remaining in treatment. Primacy of trauma in the early stages of treatment constitutes a major philosophical shift within the traditional residential drug treatment setting. The focus of the engagement and treatment process is on the role of trauma in the woman's life and its relationship to patterns of AOD abuse and mental illness. Another key feature of the Portal model is the emphasis on normalizing the adaptations which the women have made in response to interpersonal traumatic life events. The women feel less stigmatized and isolated. They are encouraged to see their former coping and adaptive behaviors as strengths rather than maladaptive weaknesses, deficiencies or character flaws. Support for the women in their parenting and family roles and attention to their individual perceptions of culture are also part of the intervention. Portal blends service intervention, policy development, research, and evaluation for effective service delivery. The collaborative work of this project has produced a replicable model that configures specific direct service enhancements and service system improvements, using the active involvement of consumers, practitioners, service providers and policy makers.     

Period 3 gene polymorphism and sleep adaptation to stressful urban environments

This study's objective was to investigate the relationship between a variable‐number tandem‐repeat (VNTR) Period 3 gene (PER3) polymorphism and sleep adaptation to stressful urban environments. Seventy‐five (49 female) African American participants (ages 18–35 years) living in neighbourhoods with high rates of violent crime were selected for the study based on converging criteria for good or poor sleep. Categorization of sleep quality was based on the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), estimates of typical sleep duration and sleep efficiency. Other assessments included the Fear of Sleep Index (FOSI) and City Stress Inventory (CSI). Whole blood DNA was analysed for the 4 and 5 VNTR alleles using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restrictive enzyme digestion. Fifty‐seven per cent of those who were homo‐ or heterozygous for the 4‐repeat allele were poor sleepers versus 25% of those homozygous for the 5‐repeat allele; χ² = 4.17, P = 0.041. In a logistic regression model with all the variables with significant bivariate relationships to sleep quality group, FOSI was the only significant predictor (χ² = 5.68, P = 0.017). FOSI scores were higher among those with the 4‐repeat allele (t = 2.66, P = 0.013). The PER3 4 and 5 VNTR polymorphisms appear to influence sensitivity to the effects of stressful urban environments on sleep. While FOSI was the only variable associated independently with sleep quality category, the candidate vulnerability allele was also associated with greater ‘fear of sleep’.     

Characteristics and Outcomes of Open Globe Trauma in the Urban versus Rural Population: A Single Center Retrospective Review

Purpose: To examine the characteristics and outcomes of open globe injuries sustained by the urban population compared to the rural population. Methods: This is a retrospective chart review of 429 patients presenting to University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Presbyterian Hospital with traumatic open globes from July 2005 to July 2013. Results: Rural patients had a longer time which elapsed from injury to presentation (P = 0.023, average 12.04 hours vs 7.53 hours). There was a higher incidence of patient transfer prior to arrival to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital (P = 0.018), patient follow-up elsewhere (P = 0.049), and patients sustaining intraocular foreign bodies (IOFBs) (P = 0.009). Conclusions: Health care access is a well-known problem in rural areas and using rural-urban commuting area (RUCA) codes can help identify a population for risk factors or potential disparities in care. Rural patients sustained a higher rate of IOFBs; this should heighten the clinicians’ suspicion during the evaluation of an open globe in other rural populations.     

Behavioral Self-Management

While behavioral treatments have been increasingly utilized with older patients, they have almost entirely involved operant, rather than self-management, approaches. In the present paper, differences between operant and self-control behavioral approaches are discussed. A case example is presented of the successful use of a behavioral self-management treatment with an elderly patient with severe agitation. The potential utility of the self-management approach with older patients is discussed.     

Residual Infestation and Recolonization during Urban Triatoma infestans Bug Control Campaign,Peru

Chagas disease vector control campaigns are being conducted in Latin America, but little is known about medium-term or long-term effectiveness of these efforts, especially in urban areas. After analyzing entomologic data for 56,491 households during the treatment phase of a Triatoma infestans bug control campaign in Arequipa, Peru, during 2003–2011, we estimated that 97.1% of residual infestations are attributable to untreated households. Multivariate models for the surveillance phase of the campaign obtained during 2009–2012 confirm that nonparticipation in the initial treatment phase is a major risk factor (odds ratio [OR] 21.5, 95% CI 3.35–138). Infestation during surveillance also increased over time (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.15–2.09 per year). In addition, we observed a negative interaction between nonparticipation and time (OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.53–0.99), suggesting that recolonization by vectors progressively dilutes risk associated with nonparticipation. Although the treatment phase was effective, recolonization in untreated households threatens the long-term success of vector control.     

Strategies to Resist Drug Offers Among Urban American Indian Youth of the Southwest: An Enumeration,Classification, and Analysis by Substance and Offeror

This study explores the drug resistance strategies of urban American Indian adolescents when they encounter people offering them alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana. Data were collected in 2005 from 11 female and 9 male adolescents who self-identified as American Indian and attended two urban middle schools in the southwestern United States. In two focus groups—one at each school site—the youth described their reactions to 25 hypothetical substance offer scenarios drawn from real-life narratives of similar youth. Qualitative analysis of their 552 responses to the scenarios generated 14 categories. Half of the responses were strategies reported most often by nonnative youth (refuse, explain, leave, and avoid). Using ecodevelopmental theory, the responses were analyzed for indications of culturally specific ways of resisting substance offers, such as variation by specific substance and relationship to the person offering. Study limitations are noted along with suggestive implications for future research on culturally appropriate prevention approaches for urban American Indian youth.     

Bypassing proximal health care facilities for acute care: a survey of patients in a Ghanaian Accident and Emergency Centre

Objective To characterise the population that presents to the Accident and Emergency Centre (AEC) at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) and to identify risk factors associated with bypassing proximal care facilities. Methods A structured questionnaire was verbally administered to patients presenting to the AEC over 2 weeks. The questionnaire focused on the use of health care resources and characteristics of current illness or injury. Measures recorded include demographics, socioeconomic status, chief complaint, transportation and mobility, reasons for choosing KATH and health care service utilisation and cost. Results The total rate of bypassing proximal care was 33.9%. On multivariate analysis, factors positively associated with bypassing included age older than 38 years (OR: 2.18, P 0.04) and prior visits to facility (OR 2.88, P 0.01). Bypassers were less likely to be insured (OR 0.31, P 0.01), to be seeking care due to injury (OR 0.42, P 0.03) and to have previously sought care for the problem (OR 0.10, P < 0.001). Conclusions Patients who bypass facilities near them to seek care at an urban AEC in Ghana do so for a combination of reasons including familiarity with the facility, chief complaint and insurance status. Understanding bypassing behaviour is important for guiding health care utilisation policy decisions and streamlining cost‐effective, appropriate access to care for all patients.     

Factors affecting seasonal changes in blood pressure in North India: A population based four-seasons study

ObjectiveThere are no community based, longitudinal, intra individual epidemiological studies on effect of weather and season on blood pressure (BP). We evaluated the effect of season and temperature on prevalence and epidemiology of BP in tropical climate.Methods and resultsIt was a longitudinal cross sectional survey of rural and urban subjects in their native surroundings. BP was measured in four different seasons in same subjects. A total of 978 subjects (452 rural and 521 urban) were included in the current analysis. Demographic characteristics such as age, gender, education, occupational based physical activity and body mass index (BMI) were recorded. Mean BP, both systolic and diastolic were significantly higher in winter season as compared to summer season. Mean difference between winter and summer was 9.01 (95% CI: 7.74–10.28, p < 0.001) in systolic BP and 5.61 (95% CI: 4.75–6.47, p < 0.001) in diastolic BP. This increase in BP was more marked in rural areas and elderly subjects. Prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher during winter (23.72%) than in summer (10.12%).ConclusionBP increases significantly during winter season as compared to summer season. Increase is more marked in rural areas and elderly subjects. Seasonal variation in BP should be taken into account while looking at prevalence of hypertension in epidemiological studies.     

癌症晚期患者丧亲者哀伤反应的质性研究

目的研究癌症晚期患者丧亲者的哀伤反应。方法 2014年6-8月,采用目的性抽样法选取在深圳市人民医院宁养院的15例晚期癌症患者的亲属为研究对象,对其进行深度访谈,采用Colaizzi的7步分析法进行分析、整理并提炼主题。结果癌症晚期患者丧亲个体的哀伤反应主要表现在身体、心理、社会和灵性方面。结论癌症晚期患者丧亲者经历艰难的心理历程,丧子、丧偶和丧亲的哀伤反应存在差异,护理人员应了解丧亲者的需求,帮助丧亲者建立积极的应对方式。