Teaching health-care trainees empathy and homelessness IQ through service learning, reflective practice, and altruistic attribution.

This article describes a novel inter-professional curriculum designed to address the needs of homeless patients in a Midwestern region of the United States which has high rates of poverty. The curriculum is intended for healthcare trainees coming from undergraduate pre-medical programs, nursing, pharmacy, social work, clinical psychology, medical school and post-graduate medical training in family medicine, medicine-pediatrics, and psychiatry. The clinical component is specifically designed to reach destitute patients and the curriculum is structured to reverse commonly held myths about homelessness among the trainees, thereby improving their Homelessness Information Quotient, the ability to more fully understand homelessness. Participants across all disciplines and specialties have shown greater empathy and helper behavior as determined by qualitative measures. Learners have also developed a greater understanding of health-care systems allowing them to more consistently address social determinants of health identified by the authors as their Disparity Information Quotient. This article outlines the process of initiating a homeless service program, a curriculum for addressing common myths about homelessness and the effective use of narrative methods, relational connections, and reflective practice to enable trainees to process their experience and decrease burnout by focusing on the value of altruism and finding meaning in their work.

A survey of mental health services at post-secondary institutions in Alberta.

OBJECTIVES: The relatively high prevalence of mental health problems among students at post-secondary institutions in Canada is well documented; in contrast, less is known about the adequacy of mental health services available to Canadian post-secondary students on campuses. Our study sought to examine the current state of campus mental health initiatives and services in Alberta as well as the extent to which resources identified in mental health literature as being key in mental health problem prevention and promotion appear to be available. METHODS: A 60-question, online survey was sent to staff (primarily front-line workers; n = 45) at Alberta's 26 publicly funded post-secondary institutions. Responses were organized according to small (less than 2000 students), medium (2000 to 10 000 students), and large (10 000 or more students) institutions. RESULTS: All of Alberta's post-secondary institutions were represented in the responses. Mental health initiatives and services are available, to varying extent, at all of Alberta's post-secondary institutions. However, many institutions do not have initiatives and (or) services aimed at identifying students with mental health problems or policies for monitoring their mental health services. Additionally, smaller institutions are less likely to offer certain services (for example, gatekeeper training and campus medical services), compared with larger ones. Finally, a systematic review or an evaluation of services appears to be infrequently conducted. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the need for post-secondary institutions in Alberta, and by extension in Canada, to develop and institute a comprehensive strategy to evaluate and optimize the delivery of mental health initiatives and services.

Control of neonatal spinal networks by nociceptors: a potential role for TRP channel based therapies.

Pediatric spinal cord injury (SCI) often leads to increased nociceptive input resulting in aberrant motor output like tremor and spasticity. Acute plasticity within spinal pain and motor networks following pediatric SCI may result in long-term sensorimotor disabilities. Despite this, pediatric SCI remains poorly understood. Part of the problem lies in the paucity of detailed studies aimed at defining sensorimotor control by nociceptors during development. This review provides an overview of work that highlights afferent control of sensorimotor networks by defined nociceptors in the developing spinal cord. Here, we focus on the well established and widely used neonatal sensorimotor model called sacrocaudal afferent (SCA) pathway. Until recently, the identity of specific subclasses of nociceptive afferents in the SCA pathway controlling developing sensorimotor networks was unknown. We highlight here the use of members of the Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) ion channels and mouse genetics to identify specific subsets of nociceptive afferents in the SCA pathway. In addition, we highlight the use of mouse genetics to map sensorimotor networks during development and potential future applications. A neonatal spinal cord model of central neuropathic pain via a defined set of nociceptors is presented as a probe into potential therapeutic avenues in neonatal SCI. Finally, knowledge translation from neonatal basic research to the pediatric population in the clinic is described. In conclusion, studies in neonatal models may lead to therapeutic strategies and pharmaceuticals for chronic pain and motor dysfunction after SCI during development.