Engaging Community Partners to Understand and Respond to Substance Use and Addiction Crisis Facing Families in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

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.

Pediatric oral health: community-based participatory research.

BACKGROUND: The most common chronic disease affecting children in Canada is dental caries. The objective of this study was to explore, identify, and address the strengths and barriers related to oral health services with an independent Indigenous community in Saskatchewan. METHODS: Community-based participatory research used interviews with Elders, health care providers, teachers, and parents/guardians of elementary school-aged children. The research focused on the development of genuine partnerships with the community. During data collection, the findings/results were returned to the community to establish direction, build success, and establish next steps. Thematic analysis was undertaken with the community. Descriptive statistics were analyzed using SPSS. RESULTS: The most commonly identified themes included: community resilience; the need for resource development and process to improve oral health literacy and skills; and how access to care barriers dually affected and related to personal and community cost, time, and human resources. CONCLUSIONS: The research process involved the co-creation of tools to identify strengths within the community and drive opportunities for change; subsequently generating solutions to the practical problems and potentially transform the health system accessed by the community.

Community led: celebrating wellness with a smile.

Dental caries is the most common chronic childhood disease in Canada and creates a significant burden on both human and financial costs. In Canada, the annual cost of dental day surgery for children is $21.2 million. The objective of this study was to explore and address the strengths and barriers related to the provision of oral health services in an Indigenous community in northern Saskatchewan. This community-based participatory research project focused on developing authentic relationships with the community. This research is novel because it is community-led and from the perspective of Indigenous people. Descriptive statistics were undertaken to describe the 38 participants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with elders, healthcare providers, teachers and parents/guardians of elementary school-aged children; and inductive, thematic analysis was undertaken with the qualitative data. The most commonly identified themes included: community resilience, the need to improve oral health literacy and skills and the mitigation of barriers to access care. The research process included co-creating tools with the community that built upon strengths, creating opportunities for change, generated solutions and transforming the health system the community accessed.

Living with parents with problematic substance use: Impacts and turning points.

BACKGROUND: Growing up in an environment where substance use is prevalent creates a climate for adverse childhood experiences. These experiences can contribute to mental and psychological problems later in life. METHODS: This study used an exploratory study design to explore the experiences of individuals whose upbringing was influenced by substance use at home or who had parents with addiction problems. RESULTS: Four themes shaped the participants' lives: (1) impact of substance use at home on children; (2) school influences on substance use; (3) aggravating traumatic life experiences, and d) rebuilding a battered life. CONCLUSION: Growing up in homes with addictions created an environment for traumatic events and encounters. Participants adopted diverse strategies to cope with these experiences, such as leaving home, using substances early in life, and dropping out of school. Screening and intervention for childhood trauma should be encouraged both in schools and community health settings. Such interventions can reduce substance use among school children to deal with ensuing trauma.

"I can't live like that": the experience of caregiver stress of caring for a relative with substance use disorder.

BACKGROUND: The impact of addiction extends beyond the individual using a substance. Caring for an individual with addiction creates persistent stressful circumstances that cause worry, anger, depression, shame, guilt, anxiety, and behavioral problems within the family unit. THE AIM OF THE STUDY: The paper aims to explore the experiences of caring for a relative with a substance use disorder (SUD) and self-care strategies caregivers employ. METHODS: The study adopted an exploratory qualitative design. To be included in the study, participants were required to have a relative with a (SUD) disorder and not be actively using the substance themselves. Individual interviews were conducted to gather their experiences, meanings, and how they made sense of caring for a relative with a SUD. RESULTS: Twenty one participants were involved in the study, of which 17 were women, and four were men of which there had a sister, four had a brother, eight had a parent, six had a dependent, and one participant had a grandparent with a SUD. Four themes, whose overarching focus is the pains of living and caring for a family with a SUD, caused the participants and how the participants mitigated these experiences CONCLUSION: The stress associated with caring for individuals with a SUD impacts the caregiver's physical and mental health. Specific care modalities targeting caregivers need to be developed to address the health impact and to support self-care.

Integrating oral health into pediatric nursing practice: Caring for kids where they live.

PURPOSE: The purpose was to identify the factors influencing pediatric oral health and describe the Caring for Kids Where They Live program. CONCLUSIONS: In North America, the burden of pediatric oral disease is significant. Despite evidence to this effect, oral health is an often-neglected aspect of pediatric nursing care. The Caring for Kids Where They Live program has successfully integrated oral health into pediatric nursing care as evidenced by increased accessibility of health care, pathways for care, and disease prevention. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Pediatric nurses can address oral health disparities by integrating an oral health assessment tool as well as interprofessional follow-up and referral processes in practice.

Caring For Kids Where They Live: interprofessional collaboration in teaching and learning in school settings.

Across North America, educators are challenged with finding learning opportunities for students in the health professions. Faculty members with a pediatric specialization in nursing recognized that schools were an ideal setting to provide children with care from the health continuum including health promotion, assessment and treatment, and chronic disease management. The faculty of nursing at a Western Canadian University established a unique educational approach by creating an interprofessional pediatric clinical learning experience titled, Caring For Kids Where They Live. This practicum brings together students in the health professions (nurses, dentists, and kinesiologists) and students and their families from three urban schools; one elementary school and two high schools. The primary goals of this partnership were to create an interprofessional clinical learning experience and to promote health and wellness of children and youth. This initiative far exceeded the initial goals. This descriptive article with the use of reflective elements from student journals, identifies learning that occurred in an environment whereby students from the health professions had the opportunity to meet and interact, to collaborate, and to gain experience in caring for children and youth.

A framework for exploring adolescent wellness.

This article presents and explains a "Framework for Exploring Adolescent Wellness" and outlines a research approach used to explore adolescent wellness specific to the discipline of nursing. The "Framework for Exploring Adolescent Wellness" assessed the concept of wellness through the perceptions of youth and sought to explain the relationship between adolescent well-being and development. A wellness survey was used to collect data from 280 youth, 16 to 20 years old, in two Western Canadian high schools. Their perceptions of wellness meant more to them than regular physical activity and healthy eating. The majority of youth suggested that psychological (89%), social (85%), and physical (80%) development made the most significant contribution to adolescent wellness. Slightly more than half the youth felt that spirituality (53%) contributed to their sense of wellness. These research findings indicate the need for an approach to adolescent nursing care that includes a high priority and greater visibility to the practice and philosophy of wellness.

A wellness framework for pediatric nursing clinical practice.

This article presents a proposed holistic Framework for Exploring Adolescent Wellness specific to the discipline of nursing. Conceptualized as a practical adolescent wellness assessment tool, the framework attends to the physical, spiritual, psychological and social dimensions of adolescent health. Through the discussion of a reconstructed case study the framework's application to nursing practice is illustrated. Nurses are distinctly positioned to promote adolescent wellness. This approach facilitates the exploration of the multiple influences on the health of adolescents, across a variety of clinical practice specialties and settings, by nurses of varying experiences.