Rethinking systemic ableism: A response to Zagouras, Ellick, and Aulisio.

Introduction: This article is a response to Zagouras, Ellick, and Aulisio who presented a case study justifying the questioning of the capacity and autonomy of a young woman with a physical disability who was pregnant and facing coercive pressure to terminate. Case description: Julia is described as a 26-year-old woman with a neurological disability that requires her to receive assistance with activities of daily living. She was described as living with her parents who provided her with personal care assistance. Julia became pregnant and her parents wished her to terminate because they did not want to care for her child in addition to her. In fact, Julia's parents threatened her with institutionalization if she did not elect to terminate the pregnancy. Her health care team questioned her decision-making capacity based on her alleged "mental age" and experiences of being sheltered and excluded. The health care team used directive tactics to convince Julia to terminate the pregnancy, which describe as both an ethical and feminist intervention. Discussion: The current authors take issue with the case analysis provided by and argue that they neglected to account for numerous instances of systemic ableism that adversely affected Julia, demonstrated prejudicial and judgmental attitudes toward pregnancy and disability, inappropriately questioned her decision-making capacity by infantilizing her, misconstrued the feminist concept of relational autonomy, and colluded with coercive interference from family members. This is a classic example of discriminatory and culturally incompetent reproductive health care for a disabled woman.

Non-randomized evaluation of hospitalization after a prescription for nirmatrelvir/ritonavir versus molnupiravir in high-risk COVID-19 outpatients.

OBJECTIVES: To assess and compare subsequent hospital admissions within 30 days for patients after receiving a prescription for either oral nirmatrelvir/ritonavir or oral molnupiravir. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of 3207 high-risk, non-hospitalized adult COVID-19 patients who received a prescription for molnupiravir (n = 209) or nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (n = 2998) at an academic medical centre in New York City from April to December 2022. Variables including age, vaccination status, high-risk conditions and demographic factors were pulled from the electronic medical record. We used multivariable logistic regression to adjust for potential confounding variables. RESULTS: All-cause 30 day hospitalization was not significantly different between patients who received nirmatrelvir/ritonavir compared with molnupiravir (1.4% versus 1.9%, P value = 0.55). The association between COVID-related hospitalization and medication was also not significant (0.7%versus 0.5%, P value = 0.99). Patients who received molnupiravir were more likely to have more underlying high-risk conditions. After adjusting for potential confounders, the odds of all-cause hospitalizations were not significantly different between patients who received nirmatrelvir/ritonavir compared with molnupiravir (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 0.4-3.3, P value = 0.79). CONCLUSIONS: These data provide additional evidence to support molnupiravir as a suitable alternative when other COVID-19 antivirals cannot be given.

Advocacy: The seventh foundational principle and core competency of rehabilitation psychology.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: Advocacy has received increasing attention in the field of psychology over the past few years, including in the subfield of rehabilitation psychology. Psychology has been criticized for over-focusing on individual responses to complex sociopolitical problems. Rehabilitation psychology has tended to do this in much the same way, by placing the onus on individual disabled persons' responses to disability and overlooking the systemic and structural concerns of the environment. Advocacy has a long and important history as a competency for the practice of Rehabilitation Psychology. Yet, rehabilitation psychologists rarely receive formal training or guidance about performing effective advocacy efforts. The original six Foundational Principles include the person-environment relation, the insider-outsider distinction, adjustment to disability, psychological assets, self-perception of bodily states, and human dignity. Beatrice Wright advised that the guiding principles must be subject to review and open to expansion. RESEARCH METHOD/DESIGN: N/A. RESULTS: N/A. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: These authors believe that advocacy should be officially adopted as the seventh foundational principle of Rehabilitation Psychology. Rather than define advocacy narrowly as efforts within individual patient or family contexts, we argue that advocacy should be a broad construct of work done alongside the disability community and follow the lead of those with lived experience to avoid unintended consequences of well-intentioned advocacy efforts. We share models of advocacy in the field of psychology, including those most pertinent to rehabilitation psychology. Current disability advocacy priorities are highlighted at the individual, institutional, and discipline levels including interfacing with policymakers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Management of Upper Limb Amputation Rehabilitation: Synopsis of the 2022 US Department of Veterans Affairs and US Department of Defense Clinical Practice Guideline for Acquired Amputation.

ABSTRACT: Upper limb amputation can result in significant functional impairment necessitating a comprehensive rehabilitation approach throughout the continuum of care. In 2022, the Departments of Veteran Affairs and Defense completed an updated clinical practice guideline for the management of upper limb amputation rehabilitation. This practice guideline was developed by a workgroup of subject-matter experts from a variety of disciplines. Twelve key questions were developed by the workgroup using the PICOTS (population, intervention, comparator, outcomes, timing of outcomes measurement, and setting) format to establish the scope of the literature review. Eighteen recommendations were developed through extensive review of the available literature and use of the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation criteria. The strength of each recommendation was determined based on the quality of the research evidence and the additional domains of the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation criteria. Of the 18 recommendations, 4 were found to have sufficient evidence to suggest for use of a particular rehabilitation management strategy. Thus, the 2022 Department of Veteran Affairs and Department of Defense clinical practice guideline provides updated, evidence-based information on the care and rehabilitation of persons with upper limb amputation. However, a significant lack of high-quality evidence in upper limb amputation rehabilitation limited evidence-based clinical guidance to assist healthcare providers in managing this population.

Assessment of unvaccinated and vaccinated patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) treated with monoclonal antibodies during the delta wave (July 1-August 20, 2021): a retrospective observational monocentric study.

BACKGROUND: Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) prevent COVID-19 progression when administered early. We compared mAb treatment outcomes among vaccinated and unvaccinated patients during Delta wave and assessed the feasibility of implementing stricter eligibility criteria in the event of mAb scarcity. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective observational study of casirivimab/imdevimab recipients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 infection in an emergency department or outpatient infusion center (July 1-August 20, 2021). Primary outcome was all-cause hospital admission within 30 days post-treatment between vaccinated vs. unvaccinated patients during Delta surge in the Bronx, NY. RESULTS: A total of 250 patients received casirivimab/imdevimab (162 unvaccinated vs. 88 vaccinated). The median age was 39 years for unvaccinated patients, and 52 years for vaccinated patients (p < 0.0001). The median number of EUA criteria met was 1 for unvaccinated and 2 for vaccinated patients (p < 0.0001). Overall, 6% (15/250) of patients were admitted within 30 days post-treatment. Eleven unvaccinated patients (7%) were admitted within 30-days compared to 4 (5%) vaccinated patients (p = 0.48). CONCLUSIONS: All-cause 30-day admission was not statistically different between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients. When federal allocation of therapies is limited, programs must prioritize patients at highest risk of hospitalization and death regardless of vaccination status.

The evolution of disability language: Choosing terms to describe disability.

The use of disability language in academic scholarship has changed significantly over the past several years. Although it would be helpful to have concrete guidelines and rules that could generalize across situations regarding disability terminology, language itself is a phenomenon that evolves and varies over time in response to cultural shifts. People with disabilities have varied preferences about the language they use to describe themselves and what language they prefer to be used to describe them. At the same time, disability researchers, including the current authors, are often given prescriptive guidance by journal editors about the specific disability language they should use (i.e., person-first language). Thus, the tension between approaches to disability language underscores a need for open dialogue about a culturally informed choice of disability language in scholarly publications. Accordingly, this commentary discusses the history and evolution of disability language, explores current trends, and recommends language for academic articles.

COVID-19 and the spinal cord injury community: Concerns about medical rationing and social isolation.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: To provide a descriptive account of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the spinal cord injury (SCI) community focused on participants' concerns about medical discrimination and medical rationing, the impact of the pandemic on access to personal care attendants and medical supplies, and the impact of the pandemic on overall and mental health. Research Method/Design: Cross sectional, observational study among community-dwelling adults with SCI. Data were collected online between May 1, 2020 and August 31, 2020 (n = 187). The online questionnaire included questions regarding medical discrimination and rationing, the impact of the pandemic on access to care and medical supplies, and the impact of the pandemic on overall and mental health. RESULTS: Individuals with SCI have experienced difficulty accessing medical supplies due to the pandemic, and approximately half of our participants (52%) perceived that discrimination through medical rationing was occurring. Furthermore, compared to the general U.S. population, our sample reported that the pandemic had a greater negative impact on their mental health and access to medical supplies. CONCLUSION/IMPLICATIONS: Our findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted mental health and increased concerns of social isolation as well as access to medical supplies among those with SCI. Rehabilitation psychologists must advocate alongside the disability community to limit health disparities and to conduct outreach, specifically with regard to mental health issues. Future research should focus on the effects of pandemic-related fears and social isolation, as well as resilience in the context of public health care threats. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Post-severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Monoclonal Antibody Treatment Hospitalizations as a Sentinel for Emergence of Viral Variants in New York City.

We partnered with the US Department of Health and Human Services to treat high-risk, nonadmitted coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with bamlanivimab in the Bronx, New York per Emergency Use Authorization criteria. Increasing posttreatment hospitalizations were observed monthly between December 2020 and March 2021 in parallel to the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 variants in New York City.

Adapting a health behavioral change and psychosocial toolkit to the context of physical disabilities: Lessons learned from disabled women with young children.

BACKGROUND: Mothers with physical disabilities (MPDs) face the behavioral and psychosocial changes of the motherhood transition with fewer resources, additional barriers, and higher risks than nondisabled mothers. In this study we sought guidance from MPDs on adaptations needed to a health promotion toolkit for behavioral and psychosocial health that was originally developed for nondisabled, primarily low-income, women. OBJECTIVE: To identify general themes for adaptations that would increase the suitability of the toolkit for MPDs. METHODS: 11 MPDs were interviewed by videoconferencing in a mixed-methods study about their perspectives on improving relevance of the existing toolkit for this population. The toolkit contained three components: assessment scale, feedback template on assessment results, and a decision aid related to behavior change. Interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Nine themes for improving suitability of the toolkit for MPDs were identified. Themes covered: Using non-judgment language; including strengths, not just risks; using exercise items applicable to persons with physical disabilities; being aware that functional ability was the key body image concern; considering motivational stages of behavioral change; providing choice in goal-setting for change; including suggestions for social support; identifying resources for health and adaptive parenting; and making health promotion resources available in alternative platforms (paper, electronic). CONCLUSIONS: The MPDs' feedback revealed ways that our toolkit for behavioral and psychosocial health could be improved to be inclusive of MPDs. The participatory methods utilized here are also recommended in designing new or revising existing materials aimed at enhancing health promotion for people with disabilities.

Health and Well-Being among Women with Physical Disabilities After Childbirth: An Exploratory Study.

PURPOSE: Although research about pregnancy for women with disabilities has increased, their postpartum experience has received little attention. Studies generally focus on parenting, not on the health of the mothers themselves, despite recent studies underscoring the health risks they may face. Thus, our purpose was to examine postpartum health among women with physical disabilities, including how they maintain or improve their health. METHODS: Semistructured interviews were conducted with eleven new mothers with physically disabling conditions. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to analyze the transcribed interviews and identify themes. RESULTS: Nine women had delivered via cesarean section, and most had mobility impairments. Their average age was 35 years; 91% were college educated and 82% had a partner. Six overarching themes were identified: paying a price to have the baby, focus on the baby, supports-or a lack thereof, feelings of isolation, getting challenges under control/overcoming barriers, and not quite there yet/getting back to health promotion. CONCLUSIONS: Despite their resilience in dealing with the challenges of caring for their babies within the context of their disabling conditions (including recovery from complications from the birth experience), these women clearly identified the need for additional resources and supports. They also recognized limitations to their own health that came along with their parenting responsibilities. Health care providers should be more attuned to the postpartum needs of women with physical disabilities, and policies should provide additional supports such as insurance coverage for home visits to help maximize women's health and well-being during this important life transition.

Experiences of Breastfeeding among Disabled Women.

BACKGROUND: Although breastfeeding has been extensively studied, there remains a paucity of data about the breastfeeding experiences of disabled women. Despite indications of similar pregnancy rates, disabled women seem to breastfeed at lower rates. Emerging research on the intersection of breastfeeding and disability has begun to shed light on how aspects of disability may impact breastfeeding. METHODS: This digital and participatory action research study used semistructured video or telephone interviews to evaluate the experiences of breastfeeding among 24 disabled women through descriptive content analysis. The cross-disability sample was composed of women with self-identified intellectual, developmental, physical, sensory, and psychiatric disabilities. Some women had multiple disabilities. RESULTS: Qualitative analysis revealed four themes relating to breastfeeding among disabled women: 1) communication difficulties with lactation consultants, 2) milk supply and latch problems, 3) intense pressure to breastfeed, and 4) positive interactions with health care providers. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides new information about the breastfeeding experiences of women with disabilities. Our findings suggest that disabled women should be better supported in their breastfeeding decisions and require greater access to disability-affirmative and informative clinical resources and accessible communication.

No body is expendable: Medical rationing and disability justice during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The health threat posed by the novel coronavirus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic has particular implications for people with disabilities, including vulnerability to exposure and complications, and concerns about the role of ableism in access to treatment and medical rationing decisions. Shortages of necessary medical equipment to treat COVID-19 have prompted triage guidelines outlining the ways in which lifesaving equipment, such as mechanical ventilators and intensive care unit beds, may need to be rationed among affected individuals. In this article, we explore the realities of medical rationing, and various approaches to triage and prioritization. We discuss the psychology of ableism, perceptions about quality of life, social determinants of health, and how attitudes toward disability can affect rationing decisions and access to care. In addition to the grassroots advocacy and activism undertaken by the disability community, psychology is rich in its contributions to the role of attitudes, prejudice, and discriminatory behavior on the social fabric of society. We call on psychologists to advocate for social justice in pandemic preparedness, promote disability justice in health care settings, call for transparency and accountability in rationing approaches, and support policy changes for macro- and microallocation strategies to proactively reduce the need for rationing. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Detecting Drop-offs in Electronic Laboratory Reporting for Communicable Diseases in New York City.

CONTEXT: The Bureau of Communicable Disease at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene receives an average of more than 1000 reports daily via electronic laboratory reporting. Rapid recognition of any laboratory reporting drop-off of test results for 1 or more diseases is necessary to avoid delays in case investigation and outbreak detection. PROGRAM: We modified our outbreak detection approach using the prospective space-time permutation scan statistic in SaTScan. Instead of searching for spatiotemporal clusters of high case counts, we reconceptualized "space" as "laboratory" and instead searched for clusters of recent low reporting, overall and for each of 52 diseases and 10 hepatitis test types, within individual laboratories. Each analysis controlled for purely temporal trends affecting all laboratories and accounted for multiple testing. IMPLEMENTATION: A SAS program automatically created input files, invoked SaTScan, and further processed SaTScan analysis results and output summaries to a secure folder. Analysts reviewed output weekly and reported concerning drop-offs to coordinators, who liaised with reporting laboratory staff to investigate and resolve issues. EVALUATION: During a 42-week evaluation period, October 2017 to July 2018, we detected 62 unique signals of reporting drop-offs. Of these, 39 (63%) were verified as true drop-offs, including failures to generate or transmit files and programming errors. For example, a hospital laboratory stopped reporting influenza after changing a multiplex panel result from "positive" to "detected." Six drop-offs were detected despite low numbers of expected reports missing (<10 per drop-off). DISCUSSION: Our novel application of SaTScan identified a manageable number of possible electronic laboratory reporting drop-offs for investigation. Ongoing maintenance requirements are minimal but include accounting for laboratory mergers and referrals. Automated analyses facilitated rapid identification and correction of electronic laboratory reporting errors, even with small numbers of expected reports missing, suggesting that our approach might be generalizable to smaller jurisdictions.

Functional convergence in the decomposition of fungal necromass in soil and wood.

Understanding the post-senescent fate of fungal mycelium is critical to accurately quantifying forest carbon and nutrient cycling, but how this organic matter source decomposes in wood remains poorly studied. In this study, we compared the decomposition of dead fungal biomass (a.k.a. necromass) of two species, Mortierella elongata and Meliniomyces bicolor, in paired wood and soil plots in a boreal forest in northern Minnesota, USA. Mass loss was quantified at four time points over an 8-week incubation and the richness and composition of the fungal communities colonizing fungal necromass were characterized using high-throughput sequencing. We found that the structure of fungal decomposer communities in wood and soil differed, but, in both habitats, there was relatively rapid decay (∼30% remaining after 56 days). Mass loss was significantly faster in soil and for high-quality (i.e. high nitrogen and low melanin) fungal necromass. In both habitats, there was a clear trajectory of early colonization by opportunistic fungal taxa followed by colonization of fungi with greater enzymatic capacities to degrade more recalcitrant compounds, including white-rot and ectomycorrhizal fungi. Collectively, our results indicate that patterns emerging regarding substrate quality effects on fungal necromass decomposition in soil and leaf litter can be largely extended to fungal necromass decomposition in wood.

#SaytheWord: A disability culture commentary on the erasure of "disability".

PURPOSE: To inform the field of rehabilitation psychology about the sociocultural implications of the term "disability," and explain the rationale behind the #SaytheWord movement, a social media call to embrace disability identity. METHOD: Review of the literature on disability terminology, the history of language use, and the relationship between attitudes toward disability and language. We reflect on the role of disability within the field of psychology and within the American Psychological Association (APA), including the underrepresentation of disabled psychologists and trainees with disabilities and the lack of mentorship opportunities available in the field. IMPLICATIONS: The authors argue that erasure of the word "disability" can have unintended and adverse consequences. We describe how erasure of disability identity in the context of current sociopolitical efforts to reduce and eliminate public services and supports for people with disabilities is especially threatening to members of the disability community. To move forward, the authors postulate that the disability movement must reconcile its own history of exclusion and adopt a disability justice framework. CONCLUSION: The field of psychology has a rich tradition of appreciation of cultural diversity and individual difference; yet, disability has largely been left out of these efforts. The disability movement is moving toward the status of a diverse cultural group with a social justice agenda parallel to those of other marginalized communities. The authors posit that psychology must play a stronger role in advancing the human rights of people with disabilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Disability identity and allyship in rehabilitation psychology: Sit, stand, sign, and show up.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this conceptual paper was to put forth a call for rehabilitation practitioners to consider their role in developing disability identity in their clients, and to understand this action as a form of allyship toward the disability community. METHOD: This conceptual paper is organized to engage existing disability and disability-identity literature and its clinical implications. Practical tools and skills are offered for rehabilitation practitioners to develop disability identity and engage in disability allyship. RESULTS: An overview of disability identity and its relationship to clinical practice is presented by way of a literature review. Conversation starters and two activities are presented for rehabilitation practitioners to develop and engage with clients about their disability identities. Descriptions of allyship actions for practitioners are presented. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: In this conceptual paper, we framed disability in terms of both the medical and social models and argues that thinking about disability identity requires attention to the social model of disability. This attention is important, because it allows practitioners to think about themselves as allies to a particular community, rather than experts who must only "fix" clients' disabilities to elicit positive identity development. This shift toward allyship requires attention, engagement, and openness to see clients simultaneously as individuals and as members of a powerful, diverse community with a unique identity experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Erratum to: Duration of US Residence and Obesity Risk in NYC Chinese Immigrants.

The footnote to address the correspondence in the original copy of the article is an error. The contact information and affiliation only correspond to the first author, Aimee Afable. The correct affiliations for the other coauthors are mentioned below.

Duration of US Residence and Obesity Risk in NYC Chinese Immigrants.

We evaluated whether duration of time in the US is associated with obesity risk in NYC Chinese immigrants. We analyzed cross-sectional survey data on 2072 men and women. Duration of US residence was categorized into ≤5, 6-15, and 15 years and over. Obesity was defined using WHO Asian standards: BMI of 27.5 kg/m(2) or greater. Diet and physical activity (PA) were assessed as potential explanatory variables. After adjusting for covariates, increased time in the US was associated with an increased obesity risk (OR 1.49; 95 % CI 1.06, 2.08 for 15 years or more vs. ≤5 years); and in separate analysis, with having reported no work related PA (OR 0.76; 95 % CI 0.59, 0.99). Findings suggest that increased time living in the US is associated with an increased obesity risk, a finding possibly explained by a shift to more sedentary lifestyle characteristic of the transition of immigrants to the US.