Prince Albert Grand Council

Coping strategies are essential for psychological well-being and healthy survivorship experience of patients with breast cancer. However, there is a research gap in the understanding of coping strategies and their associated factors among patients with breast cancer in Nigeria. This study aimed to investigate coping strategies, focusing on disengagement coping and its relationship with sociodemographic and illness-related factors in a sample of patients with breast cancer in South-South, Nigeria. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 240 breast cancer patients at a tertiary hospital in the South‒South region of Nigeria. The participants completed a clinico-sociodemographic questionnaire to gather their background information and the 32-item Coping Strategies Inventory (CSI-32) to assess coping. The mean age of the participants was 46.8 years (SD = 13.4), and most participants were employed (89.2%), married (62.1%), and had children (74.6%). Most participants (n = 179, 74.6%) presented with advanced breast cancers (stage 3 and 4) and reported poor treatment adherence (n = 185, 77.1%). The findings on CSI-32 revealed a significantly greater reliance on disengagement coping (61.25%, n = 147) strategies (e.g., wishful thinking and social withdrawal) compared with engagement coping (38.75%, n = 93). Disengagement coping was significantly associated with those with fewer children, χ2(1, N = 240) = 4.93, p = .03; post-primary education level, χ2(1, N = 240) = 5.71, p = .01; being employed, χ²(1, N = 240) = 6.38, p = .01; early cancer stage, χ2(1, N = 240) = 2.94, p = .03; and poor treatment adherence, χ2(1, N = 240) = 3.22, p = .03. Following regression analysis, individuals with disengagement coping were more likely to be employed, have post-primary education, and report poor treatment adherence. There is a need for psychosocial interventions to bolster healthy coping strategies amongst patients with breast cancer in this region, preferably by reducing a reliance on disengagement coping and ultimately improving psychological well-being. Such interventions need to be holistic and tailored to the unique attributes of individual patient using a patient-centered care model. Our study findings also highlight the need for future research with robust methodology, especially prospective studies, to better understand the trajectory of coping strategies in patients with breast cancer and the impacts on their wellbeing.

The COVID-19 pandemic had significant impacts on the lives and mental health of individuals across the globe. Due to language barriers and social, economic, and cultural factors, these challenges were amplified for immigrants to Canada during the pandemic, putting them in an increasingly vulnerable position. Of the study was to document the challenges experienced, the impacts on mental health, and other aspects of life, and support immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic by engaging new immigrants, using a virtual platform that offered a new approach for collaboration. Taking a community-based research approach in collaboration with the Regina Immigrant Women Center, 14 language-assisted discussion sessions were hosted virtually between July 2020 and April 2021. The sessions covered credible and current public health measures, and participants collectively discussed strategies to address upcoming challenges posed by the pandemic. Discussion on daily life challenges imposed by the pandemic and solutions implemented served as data. Thematic analysis of participants' perspectives highlighted the impact of social isolation on all age groups. Overall, participants mentioned considerable mental stress amplified by uncertainty, fear of infections, and social isolation. Negative influences of social media and technology use on mental well-being were highlighted. Participants suggested various coping strategies, including religious and spiritual practices, connecting virtually, expressing gratitude, positive self-talk, self-love, and self-care for mental well-being. Participants also shared lessons learned and insights discovered during the pandemic. The interactive virtual discussion sessions helped maintain social connectedness, provided support and a sense of community for immigrants, enhancing resilience, and positively impacting mental wellness. Language-assisted virtual discussion sessions can support immigrants during a health emergency.

Declining oxygen concentrations in the deep waters of lakes worldwide pose a pressing environmental and societal challenge. Existing theory suggests that low deep-water dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations could trigger a positive feedback through which anoxia (i.e., very low DO) during a given summer begets increasingly severe occurrences of anoxia in following summers. Specifically, anoxic conditions can promote nutrient release from sediments, thereby stimulating phytoplankton growth, and subsequent phytoplankton decomposition can fuel heterotrophic respiration, resulting in increased spatial extent and duration of anoxia. However, while the individual relationships in this feedback are well established, to our knowledge, there has not been a systematic analysis within or across lakes that simultaneously demonstrates all of the mechanisms necessary to produce a positive feedback that reinforces anoxia. Here, we compiled data from 656 widespread temperate lakes and reservoirs to analyze the proposed anoxia begets anoxia feedback. Lakes in the dataset span a broad range of surface area (1-126,909 ha), maximum depth (6-370 m), and morphometry, with a median time-series duration of 30 years at each lake. Using linear mixed models, we found support for each of the positive feedback relationships between anoxia, phosphorus concentrations, chlorophyll a concentrations, and oxygen demand across the 656-lake dataset. Likewise, we found further support for these relationships by analyzing time-series data from individual lakes. Our results indicate that the strength of these feedback relationships may vary with lake-specific characteristics: For example, we found that surface phosphorus concentrations were more positively associated with chlorophyll a in high-phosphorus lakes, and oxygen demand had a stronger influence on the extent of anoxia in deep lakes. Taken together, these results support the existence of a positive feedback that could magnify the effects of climate change and other anthropogenic pressures driving the development of anoxia in lakes around the world.

IntroductionInternational students make significant contributions to their host institutions and countries. Yet research shows that not all international students have the financial means to fend for themselves and meet their financial obligations for the entire study programme. Such students are at significant risk of food insecurity. The objective of this scoping review is to synthesise available information on the factors related to food insecurity among international students studying at postsecondary educational institutions and identify the types of food insecurity interventions that have been implemented to address this issue.Methods and analysisThe Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methodology will be used to guide this scoping review, and we will search the following databases: MEDLINE (through Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCO), PubMed, ERIC (via Ovid), PROSPERO and ProQuest. The titles, abstracts, and subsequently full texts of the selected papers will then be screened against the inclusion criteria. Data from articles included in the review will be extracted using a data charting form and will be summarised in a tabular form. Thematic analysis will be used to identify common themes that thread through the selected studies and will be guided by the steps developed by Terry et al.Ethics and disseminationSince this project entails a review of available literature, ethical approval is not required. The findings will be presented at academic conferences and published in a peer-reviewed journal. To make the findings more accessible, they will also be distributed via digital communication platforms.

Substance use is a persisting health care crisis that has led to residents’ addiction to diverse substances in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. This public health issue affects not only those with a substance use disorder but also those within their circle of family and friends. This paper aims to outline the community engagement processes that we undertook to identify community priorities for addressing the substance use and addiction issues facing them. We began the community engagement using a patient-oriented research process, which led to the development of a grant application. Following the awarding of this grant application by the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation and Saskatchewan Centre for Patient-Oriented Research, we conducted interviews with family members affected by addiction in the city. The study provided us with significant insight into the impacts of substance use disorders on family members. The importance of collaboration among people with lived experience, health care providers, and community partners helped us to identify our research questions. Community members also actively participated in the data collection, analysis, and presentation of the findings where priorities for the interventions were identified. The conversations we had because of the community’s engagement and participation in the research process enhanced our understanding of the realities of caring for people with substance use disorders and the importance of family involvement throughout the process. We also learned lessons regarding community engagement and participation in research on a stigmatizing and complex topic.

Indigenous fire stewardship enhances ecosystem diversity, assists with the management of complex resources, and reduces wildfire risk by lessening fuel loads. Although Indigenous Peoples have maintained fire stewardship practices for millennia and continue to be keepers of fire knowledge, significant barriers exist for re-engaging in cultural burning. Indigenous communities in Canada have unique vulnerabilities to large and high-intensity wildfires as they are predominately located in remote, forested regions and lack financial support at federal and provincial levels to mitigate wildfire risk. Therefore, it is critical to uphold Indigenous expertise in leading effective and socially just fire stewardship. In this perspective, we demonstrate the benefits of cultural burning and identify five key barriers to advancing Indigenous fire stewardship in Canada. We also provide calls to action to assist with reducing preconceptions and misinformation and focus on creating space and respect for different knowledges and experiences. Despite growing concerns over wildfire risk and agency-stated intentions to establish Indigenous Peoples as partners in wildfire management, power imbalances still exist. The future and coexistence with fire in Canada needs to be a shared responsibility and led by Indigenous Peoples within their territories.

Given the high prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Canada and globally, as well as the staggering cost to human life and health systems, there is an urgent need to understand the successful applications of telemedicine in cardiovascular medicine. While telemedicine in cardiology is well documented, reports on virtual care in the form of synchronous, real-time communication between healthcare providers and patients are limited. As a result of the immediate suspension of ambulatory services for cardiology in Alberta, Canada, due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic, we undertook a rapid review on the impact of non-virtual visits in cardiovascular ambulatory settings on patients’ healthcare utilization and mortality. Evidence from 12 randomized control trials and 7 systematic reviews was included in the rapid review, with the majority of papers (n = 15) focusing on telemedicine in heart failure. Based on our appraisal of evidence from the last 5 years, virtual visits are non-inferior, or more effective, in reducing hospitalizations and visits to emergency departments in patients with CVD compared to traditional standard in-clinic/ambulatory care. The evidence for a superior effect of virtual visits in reducing mortality was not supported in this review. While telemedicine is an appropriate tool for CVD follow-up care, more research into the efficacy of different components of telemedicine and virtual visits is required.