Systematic news media scanning and synthesis: creating a dataset of emergent initiatives and localized responses to public washroom provision in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. / Revue systématique et synthèse des articles de presse : création d'un ensemble de données sur les initiatives émergentes et les interventions locales concernant l'offre de toilettes publiques au Canada durant la pandémie de COVID-19.

News media are an underused source of localized information on complex and structural public health issues that are neglected in policy and unaccounted for in mainstream data collection. We applied systematic review search methods to online news media and developed a dataset highlighting municipal reactions and initiatives in response to public washroom pressures during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reliance on consumer-based models of washroom access "became news" amid the closures and lockdowns. Our results showed that many municipalities were grappling with the issue, but overwhelmingly responding with temporary and pandemic-specific measures that did not address the needs of marginalized groups.

Systematic news media scanning offers a different way to connect the disconnected for issues neglected in policy and unaccounted for in mainstream data collection. Public washrooms are critical public health infrastructure, yet they are scarce and there is little data on their provision. We adapted systematic review search methods to online news media to capture municipal responses to public washroom pressures during the first year of the pandemic. The resulting dataset showed that 33 unique municipalities across all provinces were represented in news coverage; responses to public washroom pressures were overwhelmingly temporary, pandemicspecific and lacked consideration for needs of diverse user groups.

La revue systématique des articles de presse offre une manière différente d'établir des liens lorsque des questions ne sont pas abordées dans les politiques ni prises en compte dans la collecte de données courantes. Les toilettes publiques sont des infrastructures de santé publique essentielles, mais elles sont peu nombreuses et les données sur l'offre en la matière sont limitées. Nous avons adapté des méthodes de revue systématique aux articles de presse en ligne pour connaître les interventions des municipalités face au problème du manque de disponibilité de toilettes publiques durant la première année de la pandémie. L'ensemble de données ainsi produit a révélé que 33 municipalités réparties dans plusieurs provinces ont fait l'objet d'articles de presse et que la vaste majorité des interventions face aux problèmes liés aux toilettes publiques étaient temporaires et relatives à la pandémie, ne tenant pas compte des besoins des divers groupes d'utilisateurs.

A scoping review of military and Veteran families within international suicidality and suicide prevention research.

The impacts of suicidality on families are well known, which is particularly relevant in at-risk populations, such as active duty military personnel and Veteran communities. This scoping review describes how military and Veteran families have been conceptualized within suicide prevention research. A systematic, multi-database search was conducted, and 4,835 studies were screened. All included studies underwent quality assessment. Bibliographic, participant, methodological, and family-relevant data was extracted and descriptively analyzed into Factors, Actors, and Impacts. In total, 51 studies (2007 - 2021) were included. Most studies focused on suicidality rather than suicide prevention. Factor studies described family constructs as a suicidality risk or protective factor for military personnel or Veterans. Actor studies described families' roles or responsibilities to act in relation to the suicidality of military personnel or Veterans. Impacts studies described the impacts of suicidality on military and Veteran family members. The search was limited to English language studies. There were few studies on suicide prevention interventions for or including military and Veteran family members. Family was typically considered peripheral to the military personnel or Veteran experiencing suicidality. However, there was also emerging evidence of suicidality and its consequences in military-connected family members.

Delivery of Distance Counselling to Survivors of Sexual Violence: A Scoping Review of Promising and Best Practices.

Distance counselling holds immense potential for improving access to trauma supports for survivors of sexual violence (SV), and particularly for under-served groups who disproportionately experience violence and myriad barriers to accessing in-person supports. And yet, the evidence-base for the practice and delivery of distance counselling remains under-developed. In the context of COVID-19, where telehealth applications have undergone a rapid uptake, we undertook a scoping review of existing evidence of therapeutic and organizational practices related to the real-time (synchronous) delivery of distance counselling to survivors of SV. We based our scoping review methods on Arksey and O'Malley framework and in accordance with the guidance on scoping reviews from the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) and PRISMA reporting guidelines for scoping reviews. A comprehensive search of MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Sociological Abstracts was undertaken in October 2020, and again in March 2022. Searching, reviewing, appraisal, and data extraction was undertaken by two reviewers. In total, 1094 records were identified that resulted in 20 studies included. Descriptions, findings, and recommendations were gleaned and synthesized into potential practices using inductive thematic analysis. While many studies have an appreciative orientation to distance counselling, these benefits tend to be framed as non-universal, and conditional on survivor safety, flexibility, anonymity, survivor choice, strong and inclusive technology, and a supported workforce.Despite the limited evidence-base, we present several clusters of findings that, taken together, can be used to support current COVID-19 distance counselling initiatives with survivors, as well as guide the future development of best practices.

Experiences of families of public safety personnel: a systematic review protocol of qualitative evidence.

BACKGROUND: Public safety occupations are well-recognized to be dangerous and stressful. Despite recent attention on post-traumatic stress injuries among public safety personnel, there has been considerably less attention paid to the ongoing ways in which the risks and requirements associated with those occupations shape family life, and how families respond and adapt to those lifestyle dimensions. This systematic review aims to understand how day-to-day family life is affected and shaped when a family member works in a public safety sector, such as fire, police, paramedic, corrections, and emergency communications. METHODS: Qualitative studies that examine the experiences of families or family members of public safety personnel will be included in this review, with no date or language restrictions. An initial search of Embase and CINAHL will be conducted, followed by an analysis of text words contained in the title and abstract, and of the index terms used to describe the articles. Databases to be searched for published studies include MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Sciences, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Sociological Abstracts. Titles and abstracts will be screened by two independent reviewers. The full texts of selected studies will be assessed in detail, and findings and their illustrations will be extracted and aggregated. Any disagreements between the reviewers that arise at each stage will be resolved through discussion, or by a third reviewer. Further analysis of the synthesized findings will be informed by family systems theory. DISCUSSION: The ways that occupational risks and requirements shape family life have been better investigated within other high-risk occupation groups, which has led to productive advancements in organizational policies and supports in the respective sectors. An understanding of the experiences which typify family life ongoing within PSP sectors is a critical gap in the development of meaningful family-informed occupational initiatives and supports. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: Submitted to PROSPERO for systematic review registration: CRD42020208126.

Food Insecurity and Aging: A Scoping Study of the Literature.

Literature on food insecurity (FI) and aging is limited and scattered across disciplines, the reasons for which include the nascence of the study of "hunger" more generally, and relatively lower rates of FI among older people. This scoping review synthesized and characterized the current research to prompt a more critical examination of food insecurity and aging. Data extraction included reviewing and characterizing the empirical, methodological and conceptual contributions of each study, accessed from selected health sciences and social sciences databases. Thirty-eight studies were included from 2,041 titles. Different methods and operationalizations of FI and age were found to be used across studies. Thematic analysis revealed, with few exceptions, consistent tendencies towards the biomedicalization of the FI issue alongside aging. These findings reinforce the value of population-level monitoring of FI and uptake of standard measures. Moving forward, the issue of FI and aging is an opportune topic for critical social analysis.

Prevalence and Predictors of Food Insecurity among Older People in Canada.

Background: Food insecurity research has been mainly examined among young people. The root causes of food insecurity are closely linked to poverty, and social policies and income supplements, including public and private pensions, have been shown to sharply curb food insecurity into later life. However, social, economic, and political trends that are closely connected to social and health inequalities threaten to undermine the conditions that have limited food insecurity among older people until now. Exploring the prevalence and predictors of food insecurity among older people across Canada has important implications for domestic policies concerning health, healthcare, and social welfare. Methods: Data come from the Canadian Community Health Survey 2012 Annual Component (n = 14,890). Descriptive statistics and a generalized linear model approach were used to determine prevalence and estimate the associations between food insecurity-as measured by the Household Food Security Survey Module-and social, demographic, geographic, and economic factors. Results: Approximately 2.4% of older Canadians are estimated to be moderately or severely food insecure. Income was by far the strongest predictor of food insecurity (total household income <$20,000 compared to >$60,000, OR: 46.146, 95% CI: 12.523⁻170.041, p < 0.001). Younger older people, and those with a non-white racial background also had significantly greater odds of food insecurity (ages 75+ compared to 65⁻74, OR: 0.322, 95% CI: 0.212⁻0.419, p < 0.001; and OR: 2.429, 95% CI: 1.438⁻4.102, p < 0.001, respectively). Sex, home ownership, marital status, and living arrangement were all found to confound the relationship between household income and food insecurity. Prevalence of food insecurity varied between provinces and territories, and odds of food insecurity were approximately five times greater for older people living in northern Canada as compared to central Canada (OR: 5.189, 95% CI: 2.329⁻11.562, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Disaggregating overall prevalence of food insecurity among older people demonstrates how disparities exist among sub-groups of older people. The seemingly negligible existence of food insecurity among older people has obscured the importance, practicality, and timeliness of including this age group in research on food insecurity. The current research underscores the critical importance of an income floor in preventing food insecurity among older people, and contributes a Canadian profile of the prevalence and predictors of food insecurity among older people to the broader international literature.

Letter to the Editor - The implications of the professionalization of health promotion in Canada: a response to JR Graham's letter to the editor. / Lettre à la rédaction - Les répercussions de la professionnalisation de la promotion de la santé au Canada : une réponse à la lettre à la rédaction de J. R. Graham.

This letter is in response to the following Letter to the Editor: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/hpcdp-pspmc/37-1/ar-04-eng.php.

RÉSUMÉ: Cette lettre est en réponse à la Lettre à la rédaction suivante : http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/hpcdp-pspmc/37-1/ar-04-fra.php.

Beyond the "I" in the obesity epidemic: a review of social relational and network interventions on obesity.

BACKGROUND: Recent research has shown the importance of networks in the spread of obesity. Yet, the translation of research on social networks and obesity into health promotion practice has been slow. OBJECTIVES: To review the types of obesity interventions targeting social relational factors. METHODS: Six databases were searched in January 2013. A Boolean search was employed with the following sets of terms: (1) social dimensions: social capital, cohesion, collective efficacy, support, social networks, or trust; (2) intervention type: intervention, experiment, program, trial, or policy; and (3) obesity in the title or abstract. Titles and abstracts were reviewed. Articles were included if they described an obesity intervention with the social relational component central. Articles were assessed on the social relational factor(s) addressed, social ecological level(s) targeted, the intervention's theoretical approach, and the conceptual placement of the social relational component in the intervention. RESULTS: Database searches and final article screening yielded 30 articles. Findings suggested that (1) social support was most often targeted; (2) few interventions were beyond the individual level; (3) most interventions were framed on behaviour change theories; and (4) the social relational component tended to be conceptually ancillary to the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Theoretically and practically, social networks remain marginal to current interventions addressing obesity.

Physical inactivity mediates the association between the perceived exercising behavior of social network members and obesity: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: Social networks influence the spread of depression, health behaviors, and obesity. The social networks of older urban-dwelling adults were examined to assess whether physical inactivity mediated the association between social networks and obesity. METHODS: Data come from the Montreal Neighborhood Networks and Healthy Aging study (n=2707). Self-reported height and weight were used to calculate body mass index (BMI) with obesity defined as a BMI ≥ 30. A name generator/interpreter instrument was used to elicit participants' core ties (i.e., alters), and assess whether alters exercised regularly and resided in participants' neighborhoods. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to measure physical inactivity. Separate multilevel logistic regression analyses were conducted for younger (18-54 years) and older (55 years plus) age groups to examine the association between the exercising behavior of alters and obesity. Ancillary analyses examined whether the residential location of alters was associated with obesity. Mediation analyses assessed whether physical inactivity mediated the association between alter exercising behavior and obesity. Models adjusted for participant socio-demographic and -economic characteristics. RESULTS: Among the older age stratum (55 years plus), physically inactive individuals were more likely obese (OR 2.14; 95% CIs: 1.48-3.10); participants who had more exercising alters were less likely obese (OR: 0.85; 95% CIs: 0.72-0.99). Physical inactivity mediated the association between exercising alters and obesity. Ancillary analyses showed that having exercising alters in the neighborhood compared to other locations tended to reduce the odds of obesity. CONCLUSION: This work demonstrates the importance of social networks among older adults in facilitating a physically active lifestyle and reducing the odds of obesity. Such findings can inform the design of public health interventions that seek to improve the environmental conditions supporting the physical activity of older adults.