Racialized and Immigrant Status and the Pursuit of Living Donor Kidney Transplant - a Canadian Cohort Study.

Introduction: Both immigrant and racialized status may be associated with the pursuit of living donor kidney transplant (LDKT). Methods: This study was a secondary analysis of a convenience cross-sectional sample of patients with kidney failure in Toronto, obtained from our "Comprehensive Psychosocial Research Data System" research database. The exposures included racialized, immigrant, and combined immigrant and racialized status (White nonimmigrant, racialized nonimmigrant, White immigrant and racialized immigrant). Outcomes include the following: (i) having spoken about LDKT with others, (ii) having a potential living donor (LD) identified, (iii) having allowed others to share the need for LDKT, (iv) having directly asked a potential donor to be tested, and (v) accept a hypothetical LDKT offer. We assessed the association between exposure and outcomes using univariable, and multivariable binary or multinominal logistic regression (reference: White or White nonimmigrant participants). Results: Of the 498 participants, 281 (56%) were immigrants; 142 (28%) were African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB); 123 (25%) were Asian; and 233 (47%) were White. Compared to White nonimmigrants, racialized immigrants (relative risk ratio [RRR]: 2.98; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.76-5.03) and racialized nonimmigrants (RRR: 2.84; 95% CI: 1.22-6.65) were more likely not to have spoken about LDKT with others (vs. having spoken or planning to do so). Both racialized immigrant (odds ratio [OR]: 4.07; 95% CI: 2.50-6.34), racialized nonimmigrants (OR: 2.68; 95% CI: 1.31-5.51) and White immigrants (OR: 2.68; 95% CI: 1.43-5.05) were more likely not to have a potential LD identified. Conclusion: Both racialized and immigrant status are associated with less readiness to pursue LDKT. Supporting patients to communicate their need for LDKT may improve equitable access to LDKT.

Anti-Black Medical Gaslighting in Healthcare: Experiences of Black Women in Canada.

BACKGROUND: Stereotype about Black people contribute to nurses and healthcare providers gaslighting and dismissing of their health concerns. Despite the popularity of the term medical gaslighting in mainstream literature, few studies have explored the experiences of Black women during pregnancy and childbirth. PURPOSE: This paper aims to provide an in-depth insight into Black women's experiences of anti-Black medical gaslighting when accessing care during pregnancy and childbirth. METHODS: Utilizing qualitative methods, we conducted 24 semi-structured interviews with Black women in the Greater Toronto Area. We used thematic analysis to ground the data analysis and to generate insight into Black women's experiences. RESULTS: Three overarching themes: 1) Not Being Understood: Privileging of Medical Knowledge Contributing to the Downplaying of Health Concerns, 2) Not Being Believed: Stereotypes Contributing to Dismissive Healthcare Encounters and 3) Listen to Us: Turning off the Cycle of Medical Gaslighting. These themes highlight ways anti-Black medical gaslighting manifests in Black women's healthcare encounters to create differential access to treatment and care. CONCLUSIONS: Anti-Black medical gaslighting contributes to differential access to treatment and care. Improving equitable access to treatment and care must involve addressing structural and epistemic biases in healthcare and fostering a culture of listening to humanize the experience of illness.

"There is nothing to protect us from dying": Black women's perceived sense of safety accessing pregnancy and intrapartum care.

Pregnancy and childbirth have become a dangerous journey for Black women as harrowing stories of death and near-death experiences resonate within Black communities. While the causes of pregnancy-related morbidity and mortality are well documented, little is known about how Black Canadian women feel protected from undesirable maternal health outcomes when accessing and receiving pregnancy and intrapartum care. This critical qualitative inquiry sheds light on Black women's perceived sense of safety in accessing pregnancy and intrapartum care. Twenty-four in-depth interviews were conducted with Black women who were pregnant or had given birth. Five interconnected themes were generated through thematic analysis: (1) There is a lot of prejudice towards us, (2) We are treated as sick bodies, (3) There is a lot of stereotypes towards us, (4) Our care is lacking in quality, and (5) We feel unsafe in the healthcare system. These themes highlight the perils faced by Black women accessing pregnancy and intrapartum care. The right to safe motherhood and equitable care for Black women should be a national priority in Canada to avert a looming crisis.

Anti-Black racism: Gaining insight into the experiences of Black nurses in Canada.

The call to address anti-Black racism in workplaces resonates across several organizations and institutions in Canada. But specifically, the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic shed further light on how health inequities negatively impact the Black community. After conducting a literature review of the experiences of Black nurses in Canada, a deeper understanding of their plight was gained. In healthcare, the findings from the Black Nurses' Task Force report conclude that anti-Black racist practices are pervasive in nursing, and there remains a paucity of research in this area. This study builds off the report by exploring how Black nurses experience anti-Black racism while working in Canada's healthcare system. Inspired by critical race theory and Black feminist thought, an exploratory qualitative research study was conducted, using semistructured interviews to gather data. The study concludes that Black nurses experience anti-Black racism within the workplace, and it manifests itself through some of the attitudes of colleagues, patients, and nurses in leadership roles. Despite policies and statements that were in place to protect them, anti-Black racism continues to occur systematically. The findings point to the need for change in the overall workplace culture, which includes a fair representation of Black nurses in leadership roles, further research to identify best practices for tackling anti-Black racism within Canada's healthcare system, and mandatory training on anti-Black racism for healthcare leaders, educators, and service providers.

Knowledge About Renal Transplantation Among African, Caribbean, and Black Canadian Patients With Advanced Kidney Failure.

Introduction: Variable transplant-related knowledge may contribute to inequitable access to living donor kidney transplant (LDKT). We compared transplant-related knowledge between African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) versus White Canadian patients with kidney failure using the Knowledge Assessment of Renal Transplantation (KART) questionnaire. Methods: This was a cross-sectional cohort study. Data were collected from a cross-sectional convenience sample of adults with kidney failure in Toronto. Participants also answered an exploratory question about their distrust in the kidney allocation system. Clinical characteristics were abstracted from medical records. The potential contribution of distrust to differences in transplant knowledge was assessed in mediation analysis. Results: Among 577 participants (mean [SD] age 57 [14] years, 63% male), 25% were ACB, and 43% were White Canadians. 45% of ACB versus 26% of White participants scored in the lowest tertile of the KART score. The relative risk ratio to be in the lowest tertile for ACB compared to White participants was 2.22 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.11, 4.43) after multivariable adjustment. About half of the difference in the knowledge score between ACB versus White patients was mediated by distrust in the kidney allocation system. Conclusion: Participants with kidney failure from ACB communities have less transplant-related knowledge compared to White participants. Distrust is potentially contributing to this difference.

Obstetric racism and perceived quality of maternity care in Canada: Voices of Black women.

BACKGROUND: Obstetric racism in healthcare encounters impact on access to quality maternal healthcare for Black childbearing women yet remains underexplored in Canada. Understanding the experiences of Black Canadian women is critical to inform policy and create targeted interventions to address obstetric racism and advanced maternal health equity. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of obstetric racism and its influence on perceived quality of maternity care among Black women in Toronto, Canada. DESIGN: Qualitative research was conducted using a critical qualitative inquiry approach. METHODS: We conducted a semi-structured interviews with 24 Black women who were pregnant and/or have given birth in the last 3 years. The interviews explored their experiences seeking care during pregnancy/childbirth and perceived quality of care. RESULTS: Two themes were generated through the process of thematic analysis: (1) Manifestations and Impacts of Obstetric Racism and (2) Strategies for Addressing Obstetric Racism. Narratives of being dismissed, objectified, dehumanized, trauma and paternalism were reflected in the accounts of the participants. These experiences undermined the quality of care, hindered therapeutic relationships and contributed to mistrust. CONCLUSION: Black women understood the nature and impact of obstetric racism as it relates to the quality of maternal health care, their safety, and well-being. Participants recommended the need for anti-Black racism training specific to caring of Black childbearing women and increasing Black healthcare provider representation in perinatal settings as strategies to address obstetric racism. Investment in Black maternal health research is urgently needed to generate meaningful evidence to inform policy and interventions to advanced maternal health equity.

Registered Practical Nurses' Experiences of the Moral Habitability of Long-Term Care Environments during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a deleterious impact on the lives of nurses who work in long-term care; however, the moral conditions of their work have been largely unexamined. The purpose of this qualitative study, therefore, was to explore registered practical nurses' (RPNs) experiences of the moral habitability of long-term care environments in Ontario, Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. Four themes were identified: (1) Striving to meet responsibilities in a failed system; (2) bearing the moral and emotional weight of residents' isolation and dying in a context of strict public health measures; (3) knowing the realities of the work, yet failing to be heard, recognized, or supported by management; and (4) struggling to find a means of preservation for themselves and the profession. Attention to the moral habitability of RPNs' work environments is necessary to achieve a high-quality, ethically attuned, and sustainable nursing workforce in long-term care.

Exploring barriers to living donor kidney transplant for African, Caribbean and Black communities in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario: a qualitative study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Living donor (LD) kidney transplant (KT) is the best treatment option for many patients with kidney failure as it improves quality of life and survival compared with dialysis and deceased donor KT. Unfortunately, LDKT is underused, especially among groups marginalised by race and ethnicity. African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) patients are 60%-70% less likely to receive LDKT in Canada compared with white patients. Research from the USA and the UK suggests that mistrust, cultural and generational norms, access, and affordability may contribute to inequities. To date, no Canadian studies have explored the beliefs and behaviours related to LDKT in ACB communities. Research approaches that use a critical, community-based approach can help illuminate broader structural factors that may shape individual beliefs and behaviours. In this qualitative study, we will investigate barriers to accessing LDKT in ACB communities in the Greater Toronto Area, to enhance our understanding of the perspectives and experiences of ACB community members, both with and without lived experience of chronic kidney disease (CKD). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Hospital-based and community-based recruitment strategies will be used to recruit participants for focus groups and individual interviews. Participants will include self-identified ACB individuals with and without experiences of CKD and nephrology professionals. Collaboration with ACB community partners will facilitate a community-based research approach. Data will be analysed using reflexive thematic analysis and critical race theory. Findings will be revised based on feedback from ACB community partners. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has been approved by the University Health Network Research Ethics Board UHN REB file #15-9775. Study findings will contribute to the codevelopment of culturally safe and responsive educational materials to raise awareness about CKD and its treatments and to improve equitable access to high-quality kidney care, including LDKT, for ACB patients.

HIV-Response Intergenerational Participation Intervention Among Black Men in Ontario, Canada: Protocol for a Pilot Intervention Study.

BACKGROUND: Black men and their communities are more affected by HIV. Although they constitute less than 5% of the Ontarian population, they accounted for 26% of new HIV diagnoses in 2015, nearly half of which (48.6%) were attributed to heterosexual contact. HIV stigma and discrimination reinforce African, Caribbean, and Black men's HIV vulnerability by creating unsafe environments that deter them from testing and disclosure, resulting in isolation, depression, delayed diagnosis and linkage to treatment and care, and poor health outcomes. In response to these challenges, intergenerational strategies were identified from previous community-based participatory studies as best practices to reduce HIV vulnerabilities and promote resilience among heterosexual Black men and communities. The proposed intervention is premised on this recommendation of intergenerational intervention. OBJECTIVE: The overarching objective is to engage heterosexual Black men and communities in cocreating a community centered, culturally safe intergenerational intervention to reduce HIV vulnerabilities and related health disparities. METHODS: We will engage 12 diverse community stakeholders in Ontario, inclusive of heterosexual Black men, in 8 weekly sessions to evaluate existing evidence of effective HIV health literacy interventions, identify essential and relevant aspects, and work collaboratively to co-design the HIV-Response Intergenerational Participation (HIP) intervention for use with Black men and communities. Next, we will recruit 24 self-identified heterosexual Black men aged 18-29, 29-49, and ≥50 years. We will pilot and evaluate the HIP intervention with 24 heterosexual Black men from these 3 age groups (split as 2 events: a total of 12 participants in person in Toronto and 12 participants on the web in Windsor, London, and Ottawa). We will use the data obtained along with questionnaires from validated scales and focus groups to evaluate the effectiveness of HIP. The data will include HIV knowledge, perceived stigma toward people living with HIV, acceptance and uptake of HIV testing, preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), and condom use. We will also collect data related to perceptions about system-level factors such as discrimination, socially misconstrued masculine identity, etc. Quantitative analysis will essentially be a univariate descriptive analysis. We will use thematic analysis to highlight the results of the focus group discussions. Finally, we will disseminate the evaluation results and engage researchers, leaders, Black men, and communities to expand the project team and scale up the intervention in Ontario and across Canada. RESULTS: Implementation commences by May 2023, and by September 2023, we should have produced, among others, an evidence-informed HIP intervention that can be adapted for use by heterosexual Black men and communities beyond Ontario. CONCLUSIONS: The pilot intervention will strengthen critical health literacy and build resilience against HIV through intergenerational dialogue among heterosexual Black men of all ages. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/48829.

'No other alternative than to compromise': Experiences of midwives/nurses providing care in the context of scarce resources.

Midwives and nurses play a critical role in safeguarding the lives of women in resource-constrained African countries. Working within the context of scarce resources may undermine their moral agency and hinder their ability to care. The purpose of this paper is to understand the influence of resource scarcity on midwifery and nursing care and practice. A critical ethnography was conducted in the obstetric department of three tertiary-level facilities in Ghana. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 30 midwives and nurses and semistructured interviews, field notes and documentary materials were used to generate in-depth understanding. Ethical approval was granted from Canada and Ghana and written, and ongoing informed consent was obtained from the participants. Five conceptual themes depicting the impact of scarce resources on midwifery and nursing care were discovered: compromised care, constrained care, dehumanized care, missed care and disengaged care. Improving the maternal health of women and averting avoidable maternal morbidity and mortality require governments and institutions to invest in health infrastructure that will support the delivery of ethical and safe midwifery care for women in their most vulnerable period.

An examination of the moral habitability of resource-constrained obstetrical settings.

BACKGROUND: While there have been studies exploring moral habitability and its impact on the work environments of nurses in Western countries, little is known about the moral habitability of the work environments of nurses and midwives in resource-constrained settings. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research was to examine the moral habitability of the work environment of nurses and midwives in Ghana and its influence on their moral agency using the philosophical works of Margaret Urban Walker. RESEARCH DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: A critical moral ethnography was conducted through the analysis of interviews with 30 nurses and midwives, along with observation, and documentary materials. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: After receiving ethics approval, signed informed consent was obtained from participants before data collection. RESULTS: Five themes were identified: (1) holding onto the values, identities, and responsibilities of being a midwife/nurse; (2) scarcity of resources as limiting capacity to meet caring responsibilities; (3) gender and socio-economic inequities shaping the moral-social context of practice; (4) working with incoherent moral understandings and damaged identities in the context of inter- and intra-professional relationships; and (5) surviving through adversity with renewed commitment and courage. DISCUSSION: The nurses and midwives were found to work in an environment that was morally uninhabitable and dominated by the scarcity of resources, overwhelming and incoherent moral responsibilities, oppressive conditions, and workplace violence. These situations constrained their moral agency and provoked suffering and distress. The nurses and midwives negotiated their practice and navigated through morally uninhabitable work environment by holding onto their moral values and commitments to childbearing women. CONCLUSION: Creating morally habitable workplaces through the provision of adequate resources and instituting interprofessional practice guidelines and workplace violence prevention policies may promote safe and ethical nursing and midwifery practice.

Childhood obesity in urban Ghana: evidence from a cross-sectional survey of in-school children aged 5-16 years.

BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern in many low-income urban settings; but its determinants are not clear. The purpose of this study is to assess the prevalence of childhood obesity and associated factors among in-school children aged 5-16 years in a Metropolitan district of Ghana. METHODS: A cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted among a sample of 285 in-school children aged 5-16 years. Pre-tested questionnaires and anthropometric data collection methods were used to collect data. Descriptive, bivariate, binary and multivariate logistic regression statistical techniques were used to analyse data. RESULTS: Some 46.9% (42.2% for males and 51.7% for females) of the children were overweight. Of this, 21.2% were obese (BMI falls above 95th percentile). Childhood obesity was higher in private school (26.8%) than public school (21.4%), and among girls (27.2%) than boys (19%). Factors that increased obesity risks included being aged 11-16 as against 5-10 years (aOR = 6.07; 95%CI = 1.17-31.45; p = 0.025), having a father whose highest education is 'secondary' (aOR =2.97; 95% CI = 1.09-8.08; p = 0.032), or 'tertiary' (aOR = 3.46; 95% CI = 1.27-9.42; p = 0.015), and consumption of fizzy drinks most days of the week (aOR = 2.84; 95% CI = 1.24-6.52; p = 0.014). Factors that lowered obesity risks included engaging in sport at least 3times per week (aOR = 0.56; 95% CI = 0.33-0.96; p = 0.034), and sleeping for more than 8 h per day (aOR = 0.38; 95% CI = 0.19-0.79; p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: Higher parental (father) educational attainment and frequent consumption of fizzy drinks per week may increase obesity risks among in-school children aged 5-16 years in the Metropolitan district of Ghana. However, regular exercise (playing sport at least 3 times per week) and having 8 or more hours of sleep per day could lower obesity risks in the same population. Age and sex-appropriate community and school-based interventions are needed to promote healthy diet selection and consumption, physical activity and healthy life styles among in-school children.