Effect of a Legal Clinic Program Within an Urban Primary Health Care Center on Social Determinants of Health: A Program Evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Individuals living in poverty often visit primary healthcare clinics for health problems stemming from unmet legal needs. We examined the impact of a medical-legal partnership on improving the social determinants of health (SDoH), health-related quality of life, and perceived health status of attendees of a Legal Clinic Program (LCP). METHODS: This was a pre-post program evaluation of a weekly LCP established within an urban primary healthcare clinic to provide free legal consultation. Patients aged 18 years or older were either approached or referred to complete a screening tool to identify potential legal needs. Those identified with potential legal needs were offered an appointment with LCP lawyers who provided legal counsel, referrals, and services. For those who attended the LCP, changes in SDoH and health indicators were collected via a self-reported survey 6 months after they attended the LCP and compared to their baseline scores using paired t-tests, McNemar's test for paired proportions, and the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test for related samples. RESULTS: During the 6-month evaluation period, 31 participants attended the LCP and completed both the baseline and 6-month surveys; 67.8% were female, 64.5% were white, 90.3% were not working full-time, and 61.3% had a household income of $700 to 1800 per month. At follow-up, 25.8% were receiving at least 1 new benefit and there was a statistically significant reduction in food insecurity (35.5% vs 9.7%, P < .05). Also, perceived health status using the visual analog scale (ranges from 0 to 100) significantly improved from 42.5 points (SD = 25.3) at baseline to 56.6 points (SD = 19.6) after 6 months (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The LCP has the potential to improve the health and wellbeing of patients in primary healthcare clinics by addressing unmet legal needs and SDoH.

Sugar-coated survival: N-glycosylation as a unique bearded dragon venom resistance trait within Australian agamid lizards.

In the ongoing evolutionary arms race between predators and prey, adaptive innovations often trigger a reciprocal response. For instance, the emergence of α-neurotoxins in snake venom has driven prey species targeted by these snakes to evolve sophisticated defense mechanisms. This study zeroes in on the particular motifs within the orthosteric sites of post-synaptic nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) that confer resistance to α-neurotoxins, often through structural alterations of nAChR. This research examined Australian agamid lizards, a primary prey group for Australian elapid snakes, which are subject to predatory selection pressures. We previously showed that Pogona vitticeps (Central bearded dragon) was resistant to α-neurotoxic snake venoms through a steric hindrance form resistance evolving within the nAChR orthosteric, specifically through the 187-189NVT motif resulting in the presence of N-glycosylation, with the branching carbohydrate chains impeding the binding by the neurotoxins. This adaptive trait is thought to be a compensatory mechanism for the lizard's limited escape capabilities. Despite the significance of this novel adaptation, the prevalence and evolutionary roots of such venom resistance in Australian agamids have not been thoroughly investigated. To fill this knowledge gap, we undertook a comprehensive sequencing analysis of the nAChR ligand-binding domain across the full taxonomical diversity of Australian agamid species. Our findings reveal that the N-glycosylation resistance mechanism is a trait unique to the Pogona genus and absent in other Australian agamids. This aligns with Pogona's distinctive morphology, which likely increases vulnerability to neurotoxic elapid snakes, thereby increasing selective pressures for resistance. In contrast, biolayer interferometry experiments with death adder (Acanthophis species) venoms did not indicate any resistance-related binding patterns in other agamids, suggesting a lack of similar resistance adaptations, consistent with these lineages either being fast-moving, covered with large defensive spines, or being arboreal. This research not only uncovers a novel α-neurotoxin resistance mechanism in Australian agamids but also highlights the complex dynamics of the predator-prey chemical arms race. It provides a deeper understanding of how evolutionary pressures shape the interactions between venomous snakes and their prey.

Pilot evaluation of the Fiscal Mapping Process for sustainable financing of evidence-based youth mental health treatments: A comparative case study analysis.

Background: Sustained delivery of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) is essential to addressing the public health impacts of youth mental health problems, but is complicated by the limited and fragmented funding available to youth mental health service agencies. Supports are needed that can guide service agencies in accessing sustainable funding for EBTs. We conducted a pilot evaluation of the Fiscal Mapping Process, an Excel-based strategic planning tool that helps service agency leaders identify and coordinate financing strategies for their EBT programs. Method: Pilot testing of the Fiscal Mapping Process was completed with 10 youth mental health service agencies over a 12-month period, using trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy or parent-child interaction therapy programs. Service agency representatives received initial training and monthly coaching in using the tool. We used case study methods to synthesize all available data (surveys, focus groups, coaching notes, document review) and contrast agency experiences to identify key findings through explanation building. Results: Key evaluation findings related to the process and outcomes of using the Fiscal Mapping Process, as well as contextual influences. Process evaluation findings helped clarify the primary use case for the tool and identified the importance-and challenges-of engaging external collaborators. Outcome evaluation findings documented the impacts of the Fiscal Mapping Process on agency-reported sustainment capacities (strategic planning, funding stability), which fully explained reported improvements in outcomes (extent and likelihood)-although these impacts were incremental. Findings on contextual factors documented the influence of environmental and organizational capacities on engagement with the tool and concerns about equitable impacts, but also the view that the process could usefully generalize to other EBTs. Conclusions: Our pilot evaluation of the Fiscal Mapping Process was promising. In future work, we plan to integrate the tool into EBT implementation initiatives and test its impact on long-term sustainment outcomes across various EBTs, while increasing attention to equity considerations.

Pilot-Testing a Tool for Planning the Sustainable Financing of Youth Mental Health Treatments that Work Plain Language Summary Youth mental health treatments that work must be consistently available to improve youth mental health in our communities, but funding for these treatments is often limited and hard to access. Youth mental health service agencies need tools that can help guide them in accessing sustainable funding for evidence-based treatments. We developed the Fiscal Mapping Process, an Excel-based strategic planning tool for planning sustainable financing of youth mental health treatment programs, and conducted a 1-year pilot-testing evaluation with 10 youth mental health service agencies. We used case study methods to compare and contrast agency experiences with using the tool, related to the process, outcomes, and contextual influences on using the Fiscal Mapping Process. Key findings included clarification of the ideal characteristics of contributors and treatment programs for using the tool; initial confirmation that the tool can improve agency-reported capacities for sustaining treatments that work and long-term sustainment outlooks, although these impacts were incremental; and documentation of the influence of environmental and organizational capacities on engagement with the tool, concerns about equitable impacts, and user views that the process could be applied to a wide range of treatment models. In summary, our pilot evaluation of the Fiscal Mapping Process showed that this tool is promising for supporting the financial sustainment of treatments that work in youth mental health services. In future research, we plan to incorporate the tool into real-world training initiatives with mental health service agencies, test its impact on long-term sustainment across a variety of treatment models, and incorporate attention to equity considerations.