Financial Capability and Asset Building (FCAB) for Persons with Disabilities in Ghana: the Role of Social Workers.

Persons with disabilities (PWDs) are over-represented among the poorest populations in developing countries. They often encounter several challenges in accessing financial services and are financially vulnerable and prone to poverty. Most PWDs in developing countries, such as Ghana, are less likely to have the requisite economic socialisation and education leading to gainful employment, compared to their counterparts without disabilities. This could worsen their economic resilience and adversely impact their daily lives. Pragmatic and robust policy interventions are required to reverse these financial vulnerabilities for PWDs in Ghana. Guided by the financial capability framework, this paper argues that financial capability and asset building (FCAB) interventions are imperative in promoting financial inclusion and literacy for PWDs. In lieu of this, social workers have very critical roles to play, as they often work with financially vulnerable populations like PWDs. Social workers could work as advocates, mobilisers, facilitators and educators in FCAB interventions in the pursuit of breaking the cycle of poverty among PWDs.

Randomized preventive intervention for families: Adolescents' emotional insecurity and attachment to fathers.

The family communication project was a randomized preventive intervention designed to support families by improving interparental conflict behavior and the parent-child relationship, with the ultimate goal of decreasing emotional insecurity in the interparental relationship. Evidence for programs that may benefit father-adolescent attachment and adolescents' emotional insecurity in the marital context is a gap in the literature. According to the fathering vulnerability hypothesis, father-child attachment security might be expected to especially benefit from improvements in interparental conflict behavior. The present study evaluated whether there were any indirect effects of this intervention on emotional insecurity via attachment with each parent, with a particular interest in the role of father-child attachment. Cross-lagged panel models revealed that the parent-adolescent (PA) treatment condition predicted significantly decreased emotional insecurity at 6 months through posttest attachment to fathers, relative to the control and parent-only conditions. Mother-adolescent attachment was improved in the PA condition at posttest but was not a significant mediator of subsequent adolescent emotional insecurity. Thus, the intervention's effects on father-adolescent attachment plays an important role in explaining the long-term effects of the intervention on emotional insecurity about the interparental relationship. Results also call attention to the value of including adolescents in interventions to improve interparental conflict and parent-child relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of a brief parenting intervention on Latinx mothers and their children.

Parent-Child Interactions (PCI) is a home visit parenting intervention designed to promote positive parenting and deter punitive approaches to child behavior management. With attention to the importance of providing efficacious interventions for families from diverse backgrounds, this study used a subsample from a larger randomized controlled trial (RCT) to examine the efficacy of PCI intervention among Latinx participants. PCI was offered to 170 at-risk Latinx mother-child dyads, of whom the majority were primarily Spanish speaking. Dyads were randomly assigned to an intervention or a wait-list control condition. Path analysis modeling was used to examine parenting outcomes as a mediator of program efficacy between group assignment and children's long-term functioning. Results suggest that Latinx parent and child functioning benefited from PCI intervention 6 months following intervention. Specifically, model results indicated significant indirect effects of the PCI intervention on (1) cooperative child behavior and (2) children's externalizing behaviors 6-months posttreatment via parenting at post test, with mother-child dyads assigned to the treatment condition, relative to the control, demonstrating better functioning 6-months posttreatment. Overall, findings contribute to increased understanding of parenting intervention implementation among Latinx families. Recommendations for future study are discussed.

Interacciones entre padres e hijos (Parent-Child Interactions, PCI) es una intervención en la crianza con visitas a los hogares diseñada para promover la crianza positiva y desalentar los métodos correctivos de manejo del comportamiento infantil. Con atención a la importancia de ofrecer intervenciones eficaces para las familias de distintos orígenes, en este estudio se utilize una submuestra de un ensayo controlado aleatorizado más grande para analizar la eficacia de una intervención de PCI entre participantes latinas. Se ofreció la PCI a 170 díadas de madres e hijas latinas en riesgo, de las cuales la mayoría eran principalmente hispanohablantes. Las díadas se asignaron aleatoriamente a un grupo de intervención o de control en lista de espera. Se utilizó el modelo de análisis de ruta para analizar los resultados de la crianza como mediadora de la eficacia del programa entre la distribución a los grupos y el funcionamiento a largo plazo de las niñas. Los resultados sugieren que el funcionamiento de las madres latinas y las niñas se benefició de la intervención de PCI seis meses después de la intervención. Específicamente, los resultados del modelo indicaron efectos indirectos significativos de la intervención de PCI en (1) el comportamiento cooperativo de las niñas y (2) las conductas de exteriorización de las niñas seis meses después del tratamiento mediante la crianza en la evaluación posterior, donde las díadas madre e hija asignadas al grupo de tratamiento, respecto del de control, demostraron un major funcionamiento seis meses después del tratamiento. En general, los resultados contribuyen a una mayor comprensión de la implementación de intervenciones en la crianza entre las familias latinas. Se comentan las recomendaciones para futuros estudios.

Cross-domain associations between mathematical and narrative abilities in preschool-aged children.

Both mathematical and narrative abilities are considered critical dimensions of children's kindergarten readiness skills and are emphasized in developmental standards and readiness assessments during the prekindergarten period. Yet, despite considerable opportunities available to educators to leverage potential cross-domain associations in their instruction, little is known about how component math skills are associated with narrative skills. The current study extends prior theoretical and empirical work on cross-domain associations by examining the extent to which component math skills, constituting a kindergarten readiness assessment battery, are associated with narrative comprehension skills in children aged 4-6 years. Two geographically distinct samples of children enrolled in a summer kindergarten readiness program in the United States (N = 108) were used to explore how early numeracy skills (e.g., counting, cardinality), math language, and patterning skills individually and together contributed to variance in narrative comprehension skills. Zero-order correlations indicated that math and narrative skills were significantly and moderately correlated, with cardinality and math language skills showing the strongest associations, followed by patterning and counting skills. Furthermore, results from a multiple regression analysis indicated that cardinality and math language each explained a significant and substantial proportion of variance in narrative comprehension skills when controlling for the other math skills. Implications for theoretical models of cross-domain development of children's cognitive skills are discussed.

Imaging of Bowel Wall Thickening in the Hospitalized Patient.

Bowel wall thickening in the hospitalized patient can be due to myriad etiologies. Familiarity with the optimal study protocols and a structured approach for evaluation are important. Understanding the pathology and knowing the imaging features of most common entities (ischemia, shock bowel, hemorrhage, infection, graft-versus-host disease, and fluid overload) enable radiologists to provide unique value to clinical management.

SEER study of ablation versus partial nephrectomy in cT1A renal cell carcinoma.

AIM: Compare ablation versus partial nephrectomy (PN) in T1A renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treatment, using the SEER database. METHODS: Patients with diagnosed T1A RCC from 2004 to 2013 were identified. Propensity matching paired subjects with similar background variables. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards regression were performed before and after matching. RESULTS: Cohort included 4592 patients (809 ablation, 3783 PN). PN compared with ablation group had significantly increased overall survival (OS; 93.6% vs 81.9% 5-year survival; p < 0.0001) and cancer-specific survival (CSS; p < 0.0001). After matching (1222 pairs), PN group had significantly increased OS (91.0% vs 86.3% 5-year survival; p = 0.0457) but similar CSS (p = 0.4023). CONCLUSION: Ablation offers similar CSS but lower OS as PN for T1A RCC in this SEER database.

Survival comparison of hepatocellular carcinoma patients treated with radioembolization versus nonoperative/interventional treatment.

AIM: To compare the overall survival (OS) and liver cancer-specific survival of advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who received transarterial radioembolization (TARE) with those who received nonoperative/interventional treatment (NOT). MATERIALS & METHODS: A total of 12,520 HCC patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database were categorized by treatment with either radioembolization or NOT. Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox regression were conducted. RESULTS: The TARE group had both a significantly longer median overall survival than the NOT group (TARE = 9 months; NOT = 2 months; p < 0.0001) and a significantly higher probability of liver cancer-specific survival (hazard ratio = 0.474). CONCLUSION: TARE appears to provide a significant survival advantage over the NOT population in advanced HCC patients.

Thermal ablation versus surgical resection for localized hepatocellular carcinoma: a population study using the SEER database.

AIM: To compare overall survival (OS) and liver cancer-specific survival (LCSS) in patients with localized hepatocellular carcinoma treated with surgical resection (SR) or thermal ablation (TA) using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database. MATERIALS & METHODS: Kaplan-Meier, competing risk and Cox regression analyses were performed after identifying patients. Propensity score matching was then applied. RESULTS: There was significantly better OS in the SR group and significantly lower probability of LCSS in the TA group. After matching, there was significantly longer OS in the SR group and a lower probability of LCSS in the TA group. CONCLUSION: SR offered a significant survival benefit over TA for localized hepatocellular carcinoma.

Chemoembolization versus radioembolization for the treatment of unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in a single institution image-based efficacy and comparative toxicity.

AIM: Compare radioembolization (Y90) and chemoembolization (CE) for the treatment of unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (UICC). MATERIALS & METHODS: Institutional Review Board-approved, retrospective search was performed. Forty patients with UICC were treated with either Y90 (n = 25, 39 treatments) or CE (n = 15, 35 treatments). Comparative analysis was performed using Student's t and fisher-exact tests. Multivariable-logistic regression was also performed. RESULTS: Median ages were 60 and 64 years for CE and Y90 groups, respectively (p = 0.798). Patient variables including age, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group score, tumor burden, extra-hepatic disease, prior chemotherapy and prior surgery were similar between groups. Adverse events were similar in both groups (CE 20%, Y90 26%; p > 0.9). Overall response rate (CE 6%, Y90 4%; p > 0.9) and disease control rate (CE 46%, Y90 48%; p > 0.9) were statistically similar. Multilogistic regression did not identify any variables that correlated with disease control rate, including Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group score and tumor burden. CONCLUSION: Our observation shows that CE and Y90 display similar toxicity and disease control in the treatment of UICC.

Effects of backpack carriage on gait parameters in children.

PURPOSE: Carrying a backpack over 2 shoulders is the most efficient means of carriage, but often backpacks are carried over 1 shoulder. Our purpose was to assess walking base of support, stride length, double support time, and velocity when backpacks were carried on 1 or 2 shoulders. METHODS: Thirty-two children (12-13 years) were assessed under 2 load conditions using the GAITRite system. RESULTS: No significant differences were found in base of support, stride length, or velocity when compared with the unloaded baseline walk. Double limb support significantly increased (p < 0.0001) with both load conditions when compared with the baseline, but not between 1-shoulder and 2-shoulders carriage. CONCLUSION: Little change in temporal-spatial gait parameters was noted during backpack use with loads limited to 15% body weight. Future studies need to examine the effects of the child's height, body mass index, and strength on safe backpack use.