Addressing Stigma and Promoting Help-Seeking Among African Nova Scotian Youth Experiencing Psychosis and Other Mental Health Problems.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of perceptions of mental illnesses (especially psychosis), help-seeking, barriers to help-seeking, and opportunities to facilitate help-seeking in the African Nova Scotian Community. METHODS: A qualitative interpretive narrative approach, using the focus group method, was employed to engage African Nova Scotians in discussions on their perceptions and beliefs about mental illnesses and help-seeking in their communities. Youth in Early Intervention services, their caregivers, youth in the community, their caregivers, community leaders, and health service providers, were recruited from four locations in the Halifax Regional Municipality. A total of 75 individuals (37 female, 38 male) participated in the study. Narrative emplotment was used to analyse data from focus groups. RESULTS: Findings from focus groups were categorized based on four areas of discussion: (a) perceptions about psychosis and other mental illnesses among youth, caregivers, service providers and community leaders (b) beliefs about help-seeking among youth, caregivers, services providers and community leaders; (c) barriers and facilitators to seeking help for mental illnesses; and (d) the content and format of educational resources to educate and support youth, families and communities. CONCLUSIONS: Stigma surrounding mental illnesses in the community, lack of knowledge of illness and available services, concerns regarding negative involvement with police, or dismissal of difficulties by health care providers represent significant barriers to help-seeking in this community. Additionally, barriers include a lack of trust in health care services and a dearth of African Nova Scotian service providers. Bolstering capacity of community organizations to support and educate individuals around illness as well as fostering collaboration between health services and community organizations could reduce barriers to care. Future research should focus on examining ways to engage African Nova Scotians in collaboration with existing community organizations.

Fostering Equity, Diversity, and Cultures of Inclusiveness Through Curricular Development.

BACKGROUND: Developing, supporting, and evaluating initiatives that foster equity, diversity, and a culture of inclusiveness (EDI) within nursing programs are important to effect change that will improve the impact, relevance, and effectiveness of how historically marginalized populations are represented by and within the nursing profession. METHOD: The curriculum was identified as a key factor in effecting change within the school of nursing at a university in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. An EDI Curriculum Project sought to evaluate course syllabi to identify areas where courses could align with EDI initiatives within the school and the university more broadly. RESULTS: An EDI rubric was developed to assess syllabi using a standardized approach along five criteria. CONCLUSION: The rubric can be adapted to align with the EDI initiatives being undertaken within institutions that seek to bring about transformational change in the nursing profession and society more broadly. [J Nurs Educ. 2021;60(11):614-617.].

Educators' strategies for engaging diverse students in undergraduate nursing education programs: a scoping review protocol.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this scoping review is to identify and chart teaching strategies that educators use in classroom settings to engage diverse students in undergraduate nursing education programs. INTRODUCTION: Student engagement is critical to facilitating academic success and significant learning experiences for undergraduate nursing students. However, students from diverse backgrounds face challenges in undergraduate nursing programs, and these challenges impact their academic engagement and sense of belonging and inclusion. Creating conditions in nursing education that foster engagement by meeting the learning needs of diverse learners could facilitate their success, which ultimately might strengthen the nursing workforce diversity. INCLUSION CRITERIA: This review will consider papers on how educators engage undergraduate nursing students from diverse backgrounds in classroom settings, including online, face-to-face, and blended formats, irrespective of the country. Evidence obtained from all sources including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods studies, systematic reviews, as well as gray literature will be considered for inclusion. METHODS: JBI methodology for scoping reviews, which includes a three-step search strategy, will be employed. First, keywords will be identified from relevant articles in CINAHL and ERIC. Second, another search using the identified keywords and index terms across select databases will be conducted. Third, the reference lists of all identified articles will be screened for additional papers. Titles and abstracts will be screened by two independent reviewers, and then followed by the full text review of included articles against the inclusion criteria by two independent reviewers. Data will be extracted from included articles and the findings will be presented in tables, figures, and narratively as appropriate. SCOPING REVIEW PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: Open Science Framework https://osf.io/7bv5p/.

Racism and cardiovascular disease: implications for nursing.

The social determinants of health (SDH) are recognized as a prominent influence on health outcomes across the lifespan. Racism is identified as a key SDH. In this article, the authors describe the concept of racism as an SDH, its impact in discriminatory actions and inactions, and the implications for cardiovascular nurses. Although research in Canada on the links among racism, stress, and cardiovascular disease is limited, there is growing evidence about the stress of racism and its long-term impact on cardiovascular health. The authors discuss how cardiovascular nursing could be enhanced through an understanding of racism-related stress, and race-based differences in cardiovascular care. The authors conclude with strategies for action to address this nursing concern.

Prospective predictors of the onset of anorexic and bulimic syndromes.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated prospective predictors of lifetime history diagnoses of partial- and full-syndrome anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa (referred to as anorexic syndrome and bulimic syndrome.) METHOD: Participants were 157 females who were studied initially in the 7th-10th grades (ages 12-16) and followed-up 2 and 8 years later in middle adolescence (ages 14-18) and young adulthood (ages 20-24), respectively. A telephone interview to determine lifetime history of anorexic and bulimic syndromes was conducted in young adulthood. RESULTS: In multivariate analyses controlling for initial eating symptoms, initial perfectionism and low body weight predicted young adult onset of anorexic syndrome, and initial negative emotion predicted young adult onset of bulimic syndrome. DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that adolescent girls who are initially thin and also adhere to perfectionistic standards may be at risk for developing anorexic syndrome. For bulimia, negative affect may contribute to the development of the binge-purge cycle.