Heart work: Indigenous doulas responding to challenges of western systems and revitalizing Indigenous birthing care in Canada

Background In Canada, there has been a significant increase in the training of Indigenous doulas, who provide continuous, culturally appropriate support to Indigenous birthing people during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. The purpose of our project was to interview Indigenous doulas across Canada in order to document how they worked through the logistics of providing doula care and to discern their main challenges and innovations. Population/setting Our paper analyzes interviews conducted with members of five Indigenous doula collectives across Canada, from the provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of the five Indigenous doula collectives across Canada in 2020 as part of the project, “She Walks With Me: Supporting Urban Indigenous Expectant Mothers Through Culturally Based Doulas.” Interview transcripts were approved by participants and subsequently coded by the entire research team to identify key themes. Results Our paper examines two themes that emerged in interviews: the main challenges Indigenous doulas describe confronting when working within western systems, and how they navigate and overcome these obstacles. Specifically, interview participants described tensions with the biomedical approach to maternal healthcare and conflicts with the practice of Indigenous infant apprehension. In response to these challenges, Indigenous doulas are working to develop Indigenous-specific doula training curricula, engaging in collective problem-solving, and advocating for the reformation of a grant program in order to fund more Indigenous doulas. Conclusions Both the biomedical model of maternal healthcare and the crisis of Indigenous infant apprehension renders Canadian hospitals unsafe and uncomfortable spaces for many Indigenous birthing people and their families. Indigenous doulas are continually navigating these challenges and creatively and concertedly working towards the revitalization of Indigenous birthing care. Indigenous doula care is critical to counter systemic, colonial barriers and issues that disproportionately impact Indigenous families, as well as recentering birth as the foundation of Indigenous sovereignty and community health.

Developing a toolkit for increasing the participation of black, Asian and minority ethnic communities in health and social care research

Background It is recognised that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) populations are generally underrepresented in research studies. The key objective of this work was to develop an evidence based, practical toolkit to help researchers maximise recruitment of BAME groups in research. Methods Development of the toolkit was an iterative process overseen by an expert steering group. Key steps included a detailed literature review, feedback from focus groups (including researchers and BAME community members) and further workshops and communication with participants to review the draft and final versions. Results Poor recruitment of BAME populations in research is due to complex reasons, these include factors such as inadequate attention to recruitment strategies and planning, poor engagement with communities and individuals due to issues such as cultural competency of researchers, historical poor experience of participating in research, and lack of links with community networks. Other factors include language issues, relevant expertise in research team and a lack of adequate resources that might be required in recruitment of BAME populations. Conclusions A toolkit was developed with key sections providing guidance on planning research and ensuring adequate engagement of communities and individuals. Together with sections suggesting how the research team can address training needs and adopt best practice. Researchers highlighted the issue of funding and how best to address BAME recruitment in grant applications, so a section on preparing a grant application was also included. The final toolkit document is practical, and includes examples of best practice and ‘top tips’ for researchers.

Establishing Surgical Care Sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa for Global Child Health: Insights From Pediatric Cardiac Surgical Capacity-Building Programs in Ethiopia and Côte d'Ivoire

The global surgery research team of the JW LEE Center for Global Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, introduced team-based health workforce training programs for pediatric cardiac surgery in Ethiopia and Côte d'Ivoire. A team-based collaborative capacity-building model was implemented in both countries, and details of the program design and delivery were documented. The research team shared their experiences and identified achievements, lessons, and challenges for cardiac surgical interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Future directions were put forward to advance and strengthen the low-and middle-income countries “Safe Surgery.”

Is There a Link between Oropharyngeal Microbiome and Schizophrenia? A Narrative Review

The study aimed to examine the impact of the oropharyngeal microbiome in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and to clarify whether there might be a bidirectional link between the oral microbiota and the brain in a context of dysbiosis-related neuroinflammation. We selected nine articles including three systemic reviews with several articles from the same research team. Different themes emerged, which we grouped into 5 distinct parts concerning the oropharyngeal phageome, the oropharyngeal microbiome, the salivary microbiome and periodontal disease potentially associated with schizophrenia, and the impact of drugs on the microbiome and schizophrenia. We pointed out the presence of phageoma in patients suffering from schizophrenia and that periodontal disease reinforces the role of inflammation in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Moreover, saliva could be an interesting substrate to characterize the different stages of schizophrenia. However, the few studies we have on the subject are limited in scope, and some of them are the work of a single team. At this stage of knowledge, it is difficult to conclude on the existence of a bidirectional link between the brain and the oral microbiome. Future studies on the subject will clarify these questions that for the moment remain unresolved.

Effective questionnaire design: How to use cognitive interviews to refine questionnaire items

BACKGROUND: Cognitive interviewing is a technique that can be used to improve and refine questionnaire items. We describe the basic methodology of cognitive interviewing and illustrate its utility through our experience using cognitive interviews to refine a questionnaire assessing parental understanding of concepts related to preterm birth. METHODS: Cognitive interviews were conducted using current best practices. Results were analyzed by the multidisciplinary research team and questionnaire items that were revealed to be problematic were revised. RESULTS: Revisions to the questionnaire items were made to improve clarity and to elicit responses that truly reflected the participants understanding of the concept. CONCLUSION: Cognitive interviewing is a useful methodology for improving validity of questionnaire items, we recommend researchers developing new questionnaire items design and complete cognitive interviews to improve their items and increase confidence in study conclusions.

Challenges of Researchers in Conducting International Study during the Eruption of COVID-19: Student and Mentor Perspectives

Conducting an international research study may bear various challenges; however, during the global COVID-19 crisis, such a study undertakes unpredictable trajectories. This paper explores the challenges experienced by researchers studying Syrian refugees’ physical and mental health and aid workers serving under humanitarian organizations in Lebanon. It includes information about the changes in the study’s goals and design with the emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2, as necessitated by the circumstances COVID-19 imposed. It focuses on the unique perspectives of the research team of two students and their mentor who faced multiple challenges while involved in the study, and their narratives and subjective experiences that led to new opportunities for growth in the project. The research team specifically engaged in humanistic and existential psychology in order to conduct research in a manner conducive to personal and professional development, productivity and growth. To conclude, the researchers propose recommendations to the academic community on mitigating some of the challenges faced when conducting international research, and suggestions to the humanitarian sector serving vulnerable populations in conflict zones during COVID-19.

Aklimatisasi Anggrek Species Hasil Kultur Jaringan Melalui Pemberdayaan Masyarakat Dusun Gempol

Gempol Village is a village on Mount Ungaran that has made efforts to preserve orchid species. Through mentoring and training from the UNNES Research Team which began in 2011, as well as greenhouse facilitation from PT Indonesia Power, the Gempol village community who are members of the Omah Sawah Community began to make efforts to conserve orchid species. The results of the identification of the problems experienced by community groups as foster partners can be grouped into three aspects, namely knowledge and skills of acclimatization of orchids from plant tissue culture, post-acclimatization management/care, and supporting infrastructure for acclimatization of tissue cultured orchids, where these three aspects are interrelated. The methods used include lecture and question and answer activities, practice, and mentoring. The result achieved is that the orchid species acclimatization activity in Gempol Hamlet, Ngesrepbalong Village has been carried out with satisfactory results. Activities are carried out through training and assistance to community groups who are members of Omah Sawah. The results of the evaluation of the participants showed that the participants' understanding and skills improved after this activity was carried out, even providing ideas for participants to apply to cultivated orchids. The result is enough to generate economic income for the participants, because some of their cultivated orchids are sold. Abstrak Dusun Gempol adalah satu dusun di Gunung Ungaran yang telah melakukan upaya pelestarian anggrek species hutan . Melalui pendampingan dan pelatihan dari Tim Peneliti UNNES yang dimulai pada tahun 201, serta fasilitasi greenhouse dari PT Indonesia Power, masyarakat Dusun Gempol yang tergabung dalam Komunitas Omah Sawah mulai melakukan upaya pelestarian anggrek species. Hasil identifikasi terhadap permasalahan yang dialami kelompok masyarakat sebagai mitra binaan dapat dikelompokkan menjadi tiga aspek, yaitu pengetahuan dan keterampilan aklimatisasi anggrek hasil kultur jaringan tanaman, pengelolaan/ perawatan pasca aklimatisasi, dan sarana prasarana penunjang aklimatisasi anggrek hasil kutur jaringan, dimana ke tiga aspek ini salingterkait. Metode yang dilakukan, meliputi kegiatan ceramah dan tanya jawab, praktik, dan pendampingan. Hasil yang dicapai adalah kegiatan aklimatisasi anggrek species di Dusun Gempol Desa Ngesrepbalong telah dilaksanakan dengan hasil yang memuaskan. Kegiatan dilaksanakan melalui pelatihan dan pendampingan terhadap kelompok masyarakat yang tergabung di Omah Sawah. Hasil evaluasi terhadap peserta menunjukkan bahwa pemahaman dan ketrampilan peserta meningkat setelah dilakukan kegiatan ini, bahkan memberikan ide bagi peserta untuk menerapkan pada anggrek budidaya. Hasilnya cukup membuahkan pemasukan ekonomi bagi peserta, karena beberapa anggrek budidaya mereka laku dijual.

Interview with Rebecca Hope Dirksen

Isabel Machado interviews Rebecca Hope Dirksen on After the Dance, the Drums Are Heavy: Carnival, Politics, and Musical Engagement in Haiti (2020). Interview date: Mar 17, 2021 Dr. Rebecca Dirksen is an ethnomusicologist working across the spectrum of musical genres in Haiti and its diaspora. Her research concerns cultural approaches to development, crisis, and disaster; sacred ecologies, diverse environmentalisms, and ecomusicology; and applied/engaged/activist scholarship. She is a professor in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University Bloomington and a founding member of the Diverse Environmentalisms Research Team (DERT).

Mentoring High-Impact Undergraduate Research Experiences

This article illustrates the Ten Salient Practices of Undergraduate Research Mentors with examples for English studies. The authors include both one-to-one and research-team examples, recognizing that although much English scholarship is solitary, peers and near peers play key roles in high-quality, mentored undergraduate research experiences.

Enablers and Barriers of Integrating Game-Based Learning in Professional Development Programmes

This study investigates the enablers and barriers of embedding technology for continuing professional development (CPD) of staff in the police sector. The research team developed an online game called “Child Witness Interview Simulation” (CWIS) to complement existing interview training for police officers and help them gain competency in interviewing children. Within the game design, development, and commercializing phases, the research team came across key themes that define the opportunities and challenges of implementing GBL through a police-based learning approach to CPD. The study identified that the successful implantation of Technology-Enhanced learning (TEL) in CPD falls into two broad categories: organizational, which considers learning outcomes, and individual, which considers learning aims and competency. Therefore, for successful implementation of TEL in CPD, ongoing supportive organizational culture that encourages employees and managers to be committed and motivated to implement TEL in CPD is necessary.