Statement on the effects of law enforcement in school settings.

School-based law enforcement (SBLE) have become increasingly common in U.S. schools over recent decades despite the controversy surrounding their presence and lack of consensus around their associated benefits and harms. Drawing on the history and evidence base regarding SBLE, we advocate for an end to SBLE programs. Grounding our argument in principles of Community Psychology and positive youth development, we outline how the presence and actions of SBLE negatively affect individual students as well as school systems, with particularly harmful outcomes for students with minoritized and marginalized identities. Research on SBLE and school crime does not provide consistent evidence of positive impacts, and many studies find null effects for the relationship between SBLE and school crime or increases in crime and violence in schools. Though funding for SBLE is often prompted by high-profile acts of gun violence in schools, evidence suggests that SBLE neither prevents these incidents, nor lessens the severity when they do occur. Thus, we advocate for removing law enforcement from school settings and redirecting resources into inclusive, evidence-informed responses that are generally safer and more effective than SBLE. We close by outlining the policy landscape governing SBLE programs and ways communities can lobby for change.

A Systematic Review of Organizational Assessments Related to Racism and Equity.

This systematic review aimed to assess the following questions: (1) what organizational assessments exist for measuring racism and equity? (2) How are these assessments meant to be completed? (3) What constructs are typically assessed for in these measures? (4) What are the psychometric properties of these measures? Assessments were located by searching PubMed/MEDLINE (including non-MEDLINE and pre-MEDLINE), Scopus, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, PsycInfo, SocIndex, Dissertations & Theses Global, and the Trip Database through June 27, 2022. Cited and citing references of included assessments were also screened. In total, 21 organizational assessments assessing equity, racial equity, health equity, racism, and cultural competency were located. The setting for completion, who was meant to complete the assessment, and whether re-evaluation was needed were frequently not described in assessments. The ten question types most commonly assessed for in organizational assessments, in order of frequency, were community partnership, engagement, and accountability; cultural competency and norms; education and training; values and mission; communication; hiring, retention, and promotion; resources and funding; service provision; leadership and shared decision-making; and policies. Just one assessment assessed any form of reliability and validity. Although there has been substantial growth over the last decade in assessments that measure racism and equity, results indicate a need for more empirically developed and tested assessments to ensure reliability and validity and a more prescriptive structure and process for the administration of the assessment.

Breast Cancer Treatment Experiences of Witness Project of Kansas Participants.

BACKGROUND: African American women continue to die at a higher rate than White women from breast cancer. Kansas has a high death rate among African American women. Their voices needed to be heard. OBJECTIVES: This exploratory study will ask the following questions: 1) Were African American and White women having different breast cancer treatment experiences with their health care providers? And 2) How satisfied were they with their treatment? METHOD: A total of 15 breast cancer survivors were recruited to participate in this qualitative research study. We conducted focus groups in two communities in the Midwest. Forty percent of the sample was White women, 53% of the sample was African American women and 7% of the sample was Hispanic/Latina. RESULTS: Overall six themes emerged. Generally both African American women and White women were satisfied with their health care; both felt they were treated equally by health care professionals. However, they felt that health care professionals should pay more attention to their significant others and to continue to educate young women about early detection. CONCLUSIONS: As a result of the focus groups a gap in services emerged in educating the patient's partners about what is needed for their significant others and what role partners play in the recovery process.

Community Study of Outcome Monitoring for Emotional Disorders in Teens (COMET): A comparative effectiveness trial of a transdiagnostic treatment and a measurement feedback system.

Emotional disorders, encompassing a range of anxiety and depressive disorders, are the most prevalent and comorbid psychiatric disorders in adolescence. Unfortunately, evidence-based psychosocial therapies typically focus on single disorders, are rarely adopted by community mental health center clinicians, and effect sizes are modest. This article describes the protocol for a comparative effectiveness study of two novel interventions designed to address these challenges. The first intervention is a transdiagnostic treatment (the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Adolescents, UP-A), a promising new approach that uses a small number of common strategies to treat a broad range of emotional disorders, and their underlying shared emotional vulnerabilities. The second intervention is a standardized measurement feedback system, the Youth Outcomes Questionnaire (YOQ), designed to improve clinical decision making using weekly symptom and relational data. The three study arms are treatment as usual (TAU), TAU plus the YOQ (TAU+), and UP-A (used in combination with the YOQ). The primary aims of the study are to [1] compare the effects of the UP-A and TAU+ to TAU in community mental health clinics, [2] to isolate the effects of measurement and feedback by comparing the UP-A and TAU+ condition, and [3] to examine the mechanisms of action of both interventions. Design considerations and study methods are provided to inform future effectiveness research.

Youth empowerment implementation project evaluation results: A program designed to improve the health and well-being of low-income African-American adolescents.

Adolescent obesity is a major health issue facing today's youth. This may be the first generation to have a lower life expectancy than their parents. The Youth Empowerment Implementation Project's (YEIP) goal was to increase fruit and vegetable intake, lower junk food consumption, and increase physical activity among low-income African-American youth living in the Midwest. Thirty middle school aged youth participated in an evidenced-based program (i.e., Botvin's Life Skills Training) and were engaged in health education and physical activities. The results from baseline to follow-up demonstrated a reduction in junk food intake for participants and an increase in fruit and vegetable intake but not for physical activity. The health behaviors of participants improved for three out of four indicators following the intervention. Limitations, future research, and implications for future programs are also discussed.

Stages of Adoption Concern and Technology Acceptance in a Critical Care Nursing Unit.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to examine the stages of concern (self, task, and impact) and usability (trust, perceived usefulness, and ease of use) shifts experienced by nurses adopting new technology. BACKGROUND: Patient care processes in critical care units can be disrupted with the incorporation of information technology. New users of technology typically transition through stages of concern and experience shifts in acceptance during assimilation. METHODS: Critical care nurses (N = 41) were surveyed twice: (1) pre, immediately after training, and (2) post, 3 months after implementation of technology. RESULTS: From presurvey to postsurvey, self-concerns decreased 14%, whereas impact concerns increased 22%. Furthermore, there was a 30% increase in trust and a 17% increase in perceived usefulness, even with a 27% decrease in ease of use. CONCLUSION: Adoption of new technology requires critical care nurses to adapt current practices, which may improve trust and perceived usefulness yet decrease perceptions of ease of use.

Exploring the Experience of Life Stress Among Black Women with a History of Fetal or Infant Death: a Phenomenological Study.

INTRODUCTION: Disparate birth outcomes among Black women continue to be a major public health problem. Whereas prior research has investigated the influence of stress on Black women's birth outcomes, few studies have explored how stress is experienced among Black women across the life course. The objectives of this study were to describe the experience of stress across the life course among Black women who reported a history of fetal or infant death and to identify stressful life events (SLE) that may not be represented in the widely used SLE inventory. METHODS: Using phenomenological, qualitative research design, in-depth interviews were conducted with six Black women in Kansas who experienced a fetal or infant death. RESULTS: Analyses revealed that participants experienced multiple, co-occurring stressors over the course of their lives and experienced a proliferation of stress emerging in early life and persisting into adulthood. Among the types of stressors cited by participants, history of sexual assault (trauma-related stressor) was a key stressful life event that is not currently reflected in the SLE inventory. CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the importance of using a life-course perspective to gain a contextual understanding of the experiences of stress among Black women, particularly those with a history of adverse birth outcomes. Further research investigating Black women's experiences of stress and the mechanisms by which stress impacts their health could inform efforts to reduce disparities in birth outcomes. An additional focus on the experience and impact of trauma-related stress on Black women's birth outcomes may also be warranted.

Trust in healthcare settings: Scale development, methods, and preliminary determinants.

The literature contains research regarding how trust is formed in healthcare settings but rarely discusses trust formation in an emergent care population. A literature review was conducted to determine which of the trust determinants are important for this process as well as how to develop a scale to measure trust. A search generated a total of 155 articles, 65 of which met eligibility criteria. Determinants that were important included the following: honesty, confidentiality, dependability, communication, competency, fiduciary responsibility, fidelity, and agency. The process of developing a scale includes the following: a literature review, qualitative analysis, piloting, and survey validation. Results suggest that physician behaviors are important in influencing trust in patients and should be included in scales measuring trust. Next steps consist of interviewing emergent care patients to commence the process of developing a scale.

College Students Opinions on Gun Violence.

Gun violence and control issues have become serious public health problems. This study gathered the opinions from 419 college students from a Midwestern University. Participants were asked about beliefs about purchasing assault weapons, beliefs about bringing handguns to college campuses and beliefs about contributing factors that lead to gun violence. Participants completed surveys online. The findings showed that overall 54 % of respondents believed that military assault weapons should be banned and 53 % agree that teachers should be allowed to carry a registered handgun on campus. There were statistically significant differences between males and females on these issues. For instance, females believed military assault weapons and high capacity magazines should be banned more than 1.9 times (p = .004) p < .05 compared to male students. On the other hand, female students were more likely to believe that school teachers should be allowed to carry registered handguns on school campuses more than 1.55 times (p = .046) p < .05 compared to their male student counterparts. There were no statistically significant differences between ethnic groups. The top four contributing factors that students believed led to gun violence were decline in parenting and family values (17 %), gang involvement (14 %), bullying (13.8 %) and guns being easy to obtain (13.8 %). Limitations and implications for policy work are discussed.