Understanding the benefits of child-parent psychotherapy delivered via telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic

African American families have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Child-parent psychotherapy (CPP) was developed as a dyadic, attachment-based, in-person intervention for parents with young children who have experienced trauma that promotes secure attachment between the parent and child. This case series study evaluates the acceptability of telehealth delivery of CPP by four providers to five African American parent-child dyads during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings revealed that both parents and providers were overall satisfied with the use of telehealth for CPP delivery during the pandemic. The virtual delivery of CPP led to perceived beneficial outcomes for families who experienced trauma and additional stressors during the pandemic. Although the virtual delivery of CPP had its drawbacks, it decreased accessibility barriers such as time and distance. This finding lends support to the acceptability of telehealth delivery of CPP for under-resourced African American families and their providers as well as offers recommendations for improving the virtual delivery of CPP. © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Difference in general practice telehealth utilisation associated with birth country during COVID-19 from two Australian states.

Objective: Telehealth has been an integral part of ensuring continued general practice access during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether telehealth was similarly adopted across different ethnic, cultural, and linguistic groups in Australia is unknown. In this study, we assessed how telehealth utilisation differed by birth country. Methods: In this retrospective observational study, electronic health record data from 799 general practices across Victoria and New South Wales, Australia between March 2020 to November 2021 were extracted (12,403,592 encounters from 1,307,192 patients). Multivariate generalised estimating equation models were used to assess the likelihood of a telehealth consultation (against face-to-face consultation) by birth country (relative to Australia or New Zealand born patients), education index, and native language (English versus others). Results: Patients born in Southeastern Asia (aOR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.52-0.55), Eastern Asia (aOR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.60-0.66), and India (aOR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.63-0.66) had a lower likelihood of having a telehealth consultation compared to those born in Australia or New Zealand. Northern America, British Isles, and most European countries did not present with a statistically significant difference. Additionally, higher education levels (aOR: 1.34; 95% CI: 1.26-1.42) was associated with an increase in the likelihood of a telehealth consultation, while being from a non-English-speaking country was associated with a reduced likelihood (aOR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.81-0.84). Conclusions: This study provides evidence showing differences in telehealth use associated with birth country. Strategies to ensure continued healthcare access for patients, whose native language is not English, such as providing interpreter services for telehealth consultations, would be beneficial. Perspectives: Understanding cultural and linguistic differences may reduce health disparities in telehealth access in Australia and could present an opportunity to promote healthcare access in diverse communities.

MagAO-X: current status and plans for Phase II

We present a status update for MagAO-X, a 2000 actuator, 3.6 kHz adaptive optics and coronagraph system for the Magellan Clay 6.5 m telescope. MagAO-X is optimized for high contrast imaging at visible wavelengths. Our primary science goals are detection and characterization of Solar System-like exoplanets, ranging from very young, still-accreting planets detected at H-alpha, to older temperate planets which will be characterized using reflected starlight. First light was in Dec, 2019, but subsequent commissioning runs were canceled due to COVID-19. In the interim, MagAO-X has served as a lab testbed. Highlights include implementation of several focal plane and low-order wavefront sensing algorithms, development of a new predictive control algorithm, and the addition of an IFU module. MagAO-X also serves as the AO system for the Giant Magellan Telescope High Contrast Adaptive Optics Testbed. We will provide an overview of these projects, and report the results of our commissioning and science run in April, 2022. Finally, we will present the status of a comprehensive upgrade to MagAO-X to enable extreme-contrast characterization of exoplanets in reflected light. These upgrades include a new post-AO 1000-actuator deformable mirror inside the coronagraph, latest generation sCMOS detectors for wavefront sensing, optimized PIAACMC coronagraphs, and computing system upgrades. When these Phase II upgrades are complete we plan to conduct a survey of nearby exoplanets in reflected light.