Restorative Justice and Non-Custodial Measures as Panacea for Prison Decongestion in a Covid-19 Era: Nigeria in Perspective

Restorative and non-custodial sentences or measures are those sentences a court can impose on an offender which does not involve keeping the offender in prison or any other penal facility. They include compensation, damages, costs, restitution, restoration, plea bargain, community service, suspended sentence, probation and parole. The overuse of imprisonment and fine as sentencing measures by the judiciary in Nigeria without commensurate recourse to restorative and non-custodial sentencing measures as provided in our laws have increasingly led to prison congestion. Overcrowding is a known risk factor for infection and high-density prisons can double the risk of major infections, such as tuberculosis and COVID-19. This paper, while discussing legislative provisions on restorative justice and non-custodial sentences, makes a case for Judges, Magistrates and Prosecutors to apply restorative justice and non-custodial measures as they are beneficial and viable tools for prison decongestion particularly in this COVID-19 era. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.

Towards Determining the Effect of Age and Educational Level on Cyber-Hygiene

With the increasing rate of internet related challenges such as cyber-attacks, it has become imperative for users to adopt safe practices while using the internet. This safety measures are known as cyber-hygiene. As universities are making tremendous efforts towards minimising the rate of cyber-attacks in higher education, keeping good cyber-hygiene culture among faculty employees and students will play a critical role. Cyber-attacks sophistication has become a global issue, especially now that virtually all business transactions, learning, and communication are gradually becoming online as part of the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic. To be able to conduct this study, a qualitative research methodology was employed for an exploratory online study of cyber-hygiene among students and employees of University of Nigeria, Nsukka. In the study, 316 responses were used, and the findings revealed that age and level of education do not have statistical significance on the cyber hygiene culture and behaviour of the respondents. Also, it was discovered that mobile phone is the most widely used device with 50.26%, followed by laptop with 35.65%. Findings also showed that 159 (50.32%) respondents were found to have low cyber-hygiene culture while 157 (49.68%) respondents have high cyber hygiene culture. Hence, participants portray poor cyber-hygiene. © 2022 IEEE.

Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the blood pressure of children and adolescents with ADHD: Implications for clinical practice

Background ADHD is one of the commonest reasons for prescribing psychotropic medications for children and young people (CYP), and the efficacy is up to 70%. Three of the four medications licensed for ADHD in the UK (Methylphenidate, Dexamfetamine/Lisdexamfetamine, and Atomoxetine) are sympathomimetic amines that exert their beneficial effect by increasing levels of dopamine and or noradrenaline in the prefrontal cortex. These sympathomimetic amines also stimulate adrenergic receptors in the heart and blood vessels;hence are associated with small but statistically significant increases in Blood Pressure (BP). Thus, while medications for ADHD are effective and generally well tolerated and safe, patients need to be monitored for cardiovascular and other side effects. Clinical guidelines recommend that if children and young people (CYP) taking medication for ADHD experience raised BP above cut-off for hypertension, dose reduction and cardiology referral should be made. However, guidelines do not specify the need to consider contextual factors. Objectives We aimed to test the hypothesis that the most plausible explanation for elevated BP among CYP with ADHD during the Covid-19 lockdown was related to Covid-linked stress and the additional anxiety about coming to the clinic during the pandemic. Methods We carried out a prospective cardiovascular assessment of a cohort of 41 CYP (88% males) attending routine medical reviews for ADHD treatment in the Borough district of Halton in North West England within the first 6 weeks of the UK-wide Covid-19 lockdown in March-May 2020. Mean age was 12 years (range 5-18 years), and 92.5% were on psycho- stimulants while 7.5% were on non-stimulants. All the medications were within the lower range of normally approved doses. Their Blood Pressures were measured with regularly calibrated electronic sphygmomanometers based on standard clinical procedures and compared to BP recorded within the previous one year. Definition of Hypertension (HT) or Pre- HT was based on the British reference charts for CYP. The CYP were followed up with non-clinic-based BP monitoring at home or by GP. Results We identified 32 CYP seen within the first 6 weeks of the UK-wide Covid-19 lockdown who had BP above cut-off for prehypertension (44%) or hypertension (37%) (figure 1), all of whom previously had their BP in the normal range. Their medication types and doses had not changed. Their medical histories and anthropometric centiles were stable. By August 2020 when the lockdown had eased, their BP were back in the normal range without any further investigations or interventions. Conclusions This audit highlights the point that clinical evaluation of changes in BP among CYP taking medications for ADHD should take the socio-ecological context into account and not automatically translate into making major clinical changes to treatment such as dose reduction or referral for cardiology review. A conservative approach of non-clinic-based monitoring may be in the best interest of such young people, who, otherwise, may lose treatment efficacy following dose reduction. This conservative approach could also prevent the affected CYP being exposed to the inconvenience and risks associated with unnecessary medical investigations. There could also be additional efficacy gains for the wider health economy.

Pilot outcomes from a multidisciplinary telehealth versus in-person intensive outpatient program for eating disorders during versus before the Covid-19 pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: Eating disorders (EDs) are serious mental illnesses with high rates of mortality, morbidity, and personal and societal costs. Onset of the Covid-19 pandemic led to increased ED diagnoses in the general public, as well as worsening of ED symptoms in those with an existing ED diagnosis. Heightened prevalence and severity of EDs during the pandemic is complicated by the fact that traditional modes of ED care (specialty intensive treatment provided by a multidisciplinary team) have been difficult to access during the pandemic. METHODS: The current between-groups study (N = 93 ED) tested a multidisciplinary intensive outpatient program (IOP) delivered via in-person (pre-pandemic; n = 60) and virtually via telehealth (during the pandemic; n = 33). RESULTS: We found no differences in outcomes via delivery mode, such that regardless of in-person versus telehealth programming, ED symptoms, depression, and perfectionism significantly decreased and body mass index significantly increased. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that a multi-disciplinary telehealth ED IOP program is feasible and has comparable outcomes to in-person IOP treatment. These findings have implications for treatment beyond the pandemic, suggesting that adoption of telehealth IOPs is warranted. Such delivery modes of intensive treatments for EDs could be expanded to reach underserved populations, especially in rural areas where treatment is often difficult to access.