Mixed-methods study of university students' perceptions of COVID-19 and media consumption from March 2020 -April 2022.

Longitudinal mixed-methods research is necessary to understand the changing dynamics of pandemic perceptions, the adoption of health behaviours, and use of media during a public health emergency. During the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, we used a mixed-methods approach to survey young adults attending a large Canadian public university. Six online convenience survey samples were collected (Spring 2020, Summer 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022) (n = 4932) and 110 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Female gender was associated with higher perceptions of severity, susceptibility, and the adoption of new health behaviours. Perceptions of severity and anxiety/fear about contracting COVID-19 after reading/hearing a news report decreased overall over time, while perceptions of susceptibility increased through time overall. Social media was the most used form of media and was the form of media that participants judged to make them feel most anxious/fearful about contracting COVID-19. Those who felt anxious after hearing a COVID-19 news report were 8.43 times more likely to judge COVID-19 as severe and 2.07 times more likely to judge their own susceptibility as high. Interviews revealed perceptions of information overload, passive information intake, and a narrowed geographical focus over time. The decrease in judgements of COVID-19 severity with the accompanying increase in judgements of susceptibility over the first two years of the pandemic demonstrate the dynamics of changing pandemic attitudes. Health communication efforts targeting university students in future major health events need to consider these shifting dynamics and ensure that health information distributed via social media meets the needs of university students.

Drug decriminalization: The importance of policy change for the health and wellbeing of children and youth in Canada.

The criminalization of drug use and possession has demonstrable harms on the health of children and youth, with disproportionate effects on Black people, Indigenous people, people from other racially oppressed communities, and people living in poverty. Drug decriminalization, by separating personal possession and use of drugs from the criminal justice system, allows for a health-based approach to drug policy. Paediatricians are well-positioned to advocate for policies within a decriminalization framework to prioritize the physical and mental health of children and youth.

Understanding emergency placements for Nova Scotian children in foster care.

To cope with a critical lack of foster families, Nova Scotia's Department of Community Services uses rented private facilities staffed by subcontracted companies, known as "places of safety". Similar models are used across the country, with places of safety intended to be used for emergency placements only. The mean length of stay in a place of safety was 255 nights in 2020. Male children are far overrepresented, as are Indigenous children. Despite the increasing use of places of safety, little is known about the impacts of these short-term and unhomelike environments. Previous research on placement disruption shows that placement change and multiple placements impact children's health, mental health, and attachment behaviour. This paper presents data on the use of places of safety in Nova Scotia and synthesizes existing research on placement disruption to present advocacy priorities and directions for further research.

University students' perspectives, planned uptake, and hesitancy regarding the COVID-19 vaccine: A multi-methods study.

PURPOSE: To investigate university students' willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available to them. METHOD: A multi-methods approach was used-online convenience sample surveys and semi-structured interviews-of young adults attending a large Canadian public university. Two survey samples were collected (June 20-July 28, 2020 and September 22-October 17, 2020). Semi-structured interviews were conducted following each survey, interviewing 20 students in each round. RESULTS: In June 77.8% of surveyed students (n = 483) were willing to get the COVID-19 vaccine; in September 79.6% were willing (n = 1269). Multinomial and binary logistic regression analyses found that increasing perception of the severity of COVID-19 predicted the likelihood that a respondent was willing to get the COVID-19 vaccine in both surveys. In the latter survey students who indicated they would be encouraged to get the COVID-19 vaccine if their doctor/pharmacist recommended it were 76 times more likely to be willing to get the vaccine than those who would not be encouraged by medical advice. Interviews revealed concerns about the speed of the vaccine roll out, safety, and efficacy. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of university students intend to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but there are nuanced concerns about efficacy and safety that must be taken into account by public health authorities as the vaccine becomes available to this group. Ensuring that family doctors, pharmacists, and other front-line healthcare workers have consistent and clear information regarding the benefits of vaccination will be critical to encouraging uptake among young adults.

Gendered perceptions of osteoporosis: implications for youth prevention programs.

The presentation of osteoporosis as a woman's disease in prevention information influences how osteoporosis is perceived and how prevention information is internalized and applied. Using the Health Belief Model as a framework, gendered perceptions of osteoporosis were investigated in Canadian young adults to inform the design of prevention programs. A combination of the Osteoporosis Health Belief Scale (OHBS) and semi-structured interviews were used to explore participants' perceptions of osteoporosis severity, susceptibility, and motivation to engage in prevention activities. Sixty multiethnic men and women aged 17-30 years living in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada participated in the study. While the findings from the OHBS indicated that both genders scored high for self-efficacy, the results from the qualitative interviews showed ambivalent attitudes toward prevention behaviors, indicating a disconnect between quantitative and qualitative findings. Perceptions related to severity and susceptibility revealed that while osteoporosis was generally viewed as a woman's disease, perceived individual risk of disease was a negotiation between larger gender constructs of osteoporosis and a variety of risk factors. This study indicates that osteoporosis prevention programs should consider actively acknowledging gendered and youth-based conceptions of osteoporosis in order to increase prevention behaviors in the whole population to reduce future disease.

Modelling Bovine Granuloma Formation In Vitro upon Infection with Mycobacterium Avium Subspecies Paratuberculosis.

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (Map) causes chronic granulomatous disease in cattle and ruminant livestock, causing substantial economic losses. Current vaccines delay clinical signs but cannot train the immune system to fully eradicate latent Map. During latency, Map uses host defenses, cage-like macrophage clusters called granuloma, as incubators for months or years. We used an in vitro model to investigate the early coordination of macrophages into granuloma upon Map infection over ten days. We found that at multiplicities of infection (MOI; Map:macrophages) of 1:2 and below, the macrophages readily form clusters and evolve pro-inflammatory cytokines in keeping with a cell-mediated immune response. At higher MOIs, viability of host macrophages is negatively impacted. At 1:4 MOI, we quantified viable Map in our model and confirmed that intracellular Map reproduced over the first five days of infection. Host cells expressed Type 1-specific cytokines, and Map-infected macrophages displayed reduced motility compared to Map-exposed, uninfected macrophages, suggesting an important role for uninfected macrophages in the early aggregative response. Reported is the first in vitro JD granuloma model capturing Map and macrophage viability, size distribution of resulting clusters, motility of monocyte-derived macrophages, and cytokine response during clustering, allowing quantitative analysis of multiple parameters of the Map-specific granulomatous response.

Osteoporosis knowledge translation for young adults: new directions for prevention programs. / L'application des connaissances sur l'ostéoporose chez les jeunes adultes : nouvelles orientations pour les programmes de prévention.

INTRODUCTION: Osteoporosis prevention is heavily reliant on education programs, which are most effective when tailored to their intended audience. Most osteoporosis prevention education is designed for older adults, making application of these programs to younger adults difficult. Designing programs for young adults requires understanding the information-seeking practices of young adults, so that knowledge about osteoporosis can be effectively translated. METHODS: Individual interviews were conducted with 60 men and women-multiethnic, Canadian young adults-to explore both the sources and types of information they search for when seeking information on nutrition or bone health. RESULTS: The results of this study raised themes related to the sources participants use, to their interests and to ways of engaging young adults. Prevention programs should make use of traditional sources, such as peers, family members and medical professionals, as well as emerging technologies, such as social media. Choice of sources was related to the perceived authority of and trust associated with the source. Messaging should relate to young adult interests, such as fitness and food-topics on which young adults are already seeking information-rather than being embedded within specific osteoporosis awareness materials. Engaging young adults means using relatable messages that are short and encourage small changes. Small gender-based differences were found in the information-seeking interests of participants. Differences related to age were not examined. CONCLUSION: Creating short, action-oriented messages that are designed to encourage small changes in behaviour and are packaged with information that young adults are actively seeking is more likely to result in active engagement in prevention behaviours.

INTRODUCTION: La prévention de l'ostéoporose dépend grandement des programmes d'éducation, qui sont efficaces surtout lorsqu'ils sont adaptés à leurs destinataires. La plupart des programmes d'éducation préventive étant conçus pour les adultes relativement âgés, leur application est plus difficile auprès d'un public adulte plus jeune. Concevoir des programmes à l'intention des jeunes adultes nécessite de tenir compte de leurs pratiques de recherche d'information, de manière à favoriser une application efficace des connaissances sur l'ostéoporose. MÉTHODOLOGIE: Des entrevues individuelles ont été réalisées auprès de 60 hommes et femmes (population multiethnique composée de jeunes adultes canadiens) pour connaître leurs sources d'information et les types de renseignements recherchés en matière de nutrition ou de santé des os. RÉSULTATS: Les résultats de notre étude portent sur les sources utilisées par les participants, leurs champs d'intérêt et les façons de mobiliser les jeunes adultes. Les programmes de prévention devraient exploiter à la fois les sources d'information traditionnelles, telles que les pairs, les membres de la famille et les professionnels de la santé, et les nouvelles technologies, comme les médias sociaux. Le choix des sources s'est révélé motivé par leur autorité perçue et la confiance qui leur était accordée. L'information devrait rejoindre les champs d'intérêt des jeunes adultes et les thèmes sur lesquels ils s'informent déjà, comme le conditionnement physique et l'alimentation, plutôt qu'être intégrée exclusivement à une documentation de sensibilisation sur l'ostéoporose. On peut susciter l'intérêt des jeunes adultes à l'aide de messages courts auxquels ils peuvent s'identifier et qui les encouragent à effectuer de petits changements dans leurs habitudes. Les intérêts en matière d'information variaient légèrement en fonction du sexe des participants. Les différences attribuables à l'âge des participants n'ont pas été examinées. CONCLUSION: La manière la plus susceptible d'encourager les jeunes adultes à adopter des comportements de prévention consiste à créer de courts messages axés sur l'action, visant à les amener à réaliser de petits changements de comportement et contenant des renseignements en lien avec leurs recherches actives.

Comparing measured calcium and vitamin D intakes with perceptions of intake in Canadian young adults: insights for designing osteoporosis prevention education.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the relationship between perceptions of Ca and vitamin D consumption and actual intakes to inform the design of osteoporosis prevention education. DESIGN: An FFQ was used to approximate usual monthly Ca and vitamin D intakes among a group of young Canadians. Qualitative interviews and a food card pile sort activity explored individuals' perceptions of nutrient intakes. The FFQ was used to assess nutrient adequacy for individual participants and the qualitative interviews and pile sort were analysed using thematic content analysis. SETTING: Hamilton, Canada. SUBJECTS: Sixty participants aged 17-30 years, representing varying levels of educational attainment. RESULTS: Seventy-eight per cent of young adults who consumed inadequate vitamin D perceived their intake as adequate, compared with 57 % for Ca. Thematic analysis revealed three major themes that contributed to young adults' understandings of intake: belief their diet was correct, absence of symptoms and confusion over nutrient sources. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of participants perceived themselves as consuming adequate amounts of Ca and vitamin D, when they were actually consuming inadequate amounts according to FFQ findings. These perceptions were related to low engagement in prevention activities. Prevention education must motivate young adults to question the adequacy of their micronutrient intakes and design tailored programmes that are geared to a young adult audience.