Gender-Based Violence in the Lives of Somali Women With Refugee Status: A Framework for Analysis and Action.

INTRODUCTION: Gender-based violence (GBV) poses a significant threat to women with refugee status. METHODOLOGY: Following our analysis based on a previously published scoping review, we introduce a conceptual framework based on postcolonial feminist theory to inform research, policy, and practice that addresses the unique risk factors faced by Somali women with refugee status experiencing GBV and encountering barriers to care. RESULT: The framework synthesizes existing literature, incorporates findings from previous work with Somali women, and emphasizes the importance of understanding structural and sociocultural factors influencing help-seeking. DISCUSSION: By developing women-centered interventions, health care and social service institutions can play a pivotal role in addressing GBV for Somali women with refugee status.

Intimate partner violence in the lives of Indigenous and Black women in the upper Midwest of the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods protocol examining help-seeking behaviours and experiences.

Violent behaviour perpetrated against women has long-lasting negative physical and mental health consequences for women, their children, their families, and their communities. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with many adverse physical, psychological, and emotional consequences. Structural racism and historical trauma affect women's trust and further hinder the ability of Indigenous and Black women to seek help after experiencing IPV. The availability of IPV support services, which can include shelter, food, group therapy, legal assistance, and advocacy, can be inaccessible to women due to the inability to access often limited resources in urban environments and reasons compounded by potential geographic distance if living in rural areas or living in community. Understanding the unique reasons why Indigenous and Black women do not seek help, and the barriers they experience when seeking help after IPV, is critical. Pandemics have the potential to create further complexities on how IPV is experienced. Black and Indigenous women experiencing IPV were therefore at even greater risk for IPV-related harm because of state and local "stay at home" measures put in place to minimise the spread COVID-19. The purpose of this manuscript is to explicate the methods for a large R01 study in the Upper Midwest.

Substance Use Overdose Deaths Among Black and Indigenous Women in Wisconsin: A Review of Death Certificate Data From 2018 to 2020.

OBJECTIVES: We are in the midst of an overdose epidemic that has grown during the concurrent COVID-19 pandemic. In Wisconsin, overdose deaths increased 11-fold from 2000 to 2020, with over 1200 deaths in 2020. Because of disparities in substance use initiation, relapse, and treatment success among racially minoritized women, this study's purpose was to investigate overdose death rates among Black and Indigenous women in Wisconsin from 2018 to 2020. METHODS: Overdose death rates were examined under the following parameters: sex, race (Black, Indigenous, White), age, year, and manner of death. Logistic regression analysis was also conducted looking at death count data, with race, age, and year as potential predictor variables. RESULTS: Death rates (per 100,000) in 2018 were 14.1 (12.6-15.5) for White women, 20.8 (14.7-26.9) for Black women, and 26.5 (10.0-42.9) for Indigenous women; these rates increased in 2020 to 16.4 (14.8-17.9), 32.5 (25.0-40.0), and 59.9 (35.8-84.0) for White, Black, and Indigenous women, respectively. Regression findings illustrated that being Black or Indigenous and aged 15 to 44 or 45 to 64 years were significantly more likely to die from most causes of death (any drug, any opioid, prescription opioid, heroin, synthetic opioids, and cocaine; adjusted odds ratios > 1.25, P s < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that deaths in Wisconsin are disproportionately higher in female minoritized populations. Understanding the complex intricacies between the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with barriers to treatment access or acceptability in these populations is urgently needed. It will take a multipronged approach to address the overdose epidemic and better serve these marginalized, vulnerable populations.

A protocol for the safe recruitment of Indigenous and Black women experiencing intimate partner violence during the COVID-19 pandemic into a large mixed methods study: The Sisters by Choice Study.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a complex and pervasive public health problem disproportionately affecting Indigenous and Black women. During the COVID-19 pandemic, IPV became more complicated for advocates because social distancing, quarantine, and isolation measures further endangered women experiencing IPV. This manuscript is based on an ongoing community-engaged study in an upper Midwestern state. Our primary goal for this study is to generate urgently needed knowledge on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Indigenous and Black women's help-seeking behaviours following IPV by systematically documenting barriers women faced during the pandemic. Engaging women in a large study that seeks to garner information about their experiences of violence is complex and challenging and requires significant planning, especially for ensuring participants' safety. In this write-up, we detail the safety planning protocol developed for the purposes of recruiting and engaging women in rural and urban areas in an upper Midwestern state in the United States. Our goal is to provide scholars conducting research in the area of violence with practical considerations for safely conducting a study of this nature.

The Association between Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Using Pain Assessment Tools among Critically Ill Patients.

Background and Objectives: Pain is still undertreated among ICU patients, especially cognitively impaired patients. Nurses play a crucial role in their management. However, previous studies found that nurses had insufficient knowledge about pain assessment and management. Some nurses' socio-demographic characteristics, such as being female; age; years of experience; type of unit, either medical or surgical; education level; years of nursing experience; qualification; position; and hospital level, were found to be associated with their practices of pain assessment and management. This study aimed to examine the association between nurses' socio-demographic characteristics and the use of pain assessment tools for critically ill patients. Materials and Methods: A convenience sample of 200 Jordanian nurses responded to the Pain Assessment and Management for the Critically Ill questionnaire to achieve the study's aim. Results: The type of hospital, academic qualification, years of experience as a critical care nurse, and hospital affiliation were significantly associated with increased use of self-report pain assessment tools for verbal patients, while the type of hospital and hospital affiliation was significantly associated with an increased use of observational pain assessment tools for nonverbal patients. Conclusion: Examining the association between socio-demographic characteristics and the use of pain assessment tools for critically ill patients is essential for quality pain practice.

The Effect of Health Education on Dietary Knowledge and Practices of Pregnant Women in Jordan: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

BACKGROUND: Evidence reported inadequate dietary practices among pregnant women and recommended educating pregnant women about their diet to improve pregnancy outcomes. However, studies examining the effect of health education about dietary practices during pregnancy are lacking in Jordan. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of health education on the levels of dietary knowledge and practices among pregnant women in Jordan. METHODS: A quasi-experimental design (pretest-posttest control group) was used. A consecutive sample of 195 pregnant women was recruited from four public health centers in Jordan; two health centers formed the intervention group (n=95) and two formed the control group (n=100). A structured questionnaire was used to assess dietary knowledge and practices before and after the intervention. The intervention group received health education for one month, while the control group received routine antenatal care. Data were collected from September to November 2019. RESULTS: After health education, the intervention group recorded significantly higher dietary knowledge score (mean= 19.30, SD= 0.88) compared to the control group score (mean= 14.36, SD= 2.11), p < 0.001. In addition, the intervention group reported significantly higher dietary practices score (mean= 8.70, SD= 1.16) compared to the control group score (mean= 7.02, SD= 1.66), p < 0.001. In particular, the intervention group recorded a significant increase in dietary knowledge score from the pretest (mean= 14.60, SD= 2.53) to posttest (mean= 19.30, SD= 0.88), as well as practices score from the pretest (mean= 6.69, SD= 1.97) to posttest (mean= 8.70, SD= 1.16), p < 0.001. CONCLUSION: Providing health education concerning dietary knowledge and practices in the care of pregnant women may improve their knowledge and practices. Nurses and midwives in primary care centers have an essential role in assessing this knowledge and providing health education for pregnant women.