Gender-Based Violence Interventions in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review of Interventions at Structural, Community, Interpersonal, Individual, and Multiple Levels.

Gender-based violence (GBV) disproportionately impacts women and girls in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). This review described the characteristics of structural, community, interpersonal, individual, and multilevel GBV interventions in LMIC and examined components of interventions implemented at different socio-ecological levels. We conducted a systematic search of peer-reviewed literature on GBV intervention evaluation studies in LMIC using the following databases: PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane, Academic Search Ultimate, PsycInfo, and Web of Science. The search resulted in 3,256 articles, with 60 articles meeting the eligibility criteria. Thirty-eight articles reported positive GBV outcomes with significant differences between intervention and control arms on at least one GBV outcome. Very few interventions were found to be stand-alone GBV interventions. The key components of interventions effective in addressing victimization and perpetration across levels were education or psychoeducation, psychotherapy, skills development, gender transformative activities, community engagement, focus on men and/or partners, and health promotion activities such as HIV or STI prevention. Most interventions were multilevel, with positive outcomes for victimization. Fewer evidence-based interventions existed for addressing perpetration. There is need for additional research using rigorous methods to establish an evidence base for effective interventions in under-researched regions in LMIC as well as for interventions that address perpetration of GBV.

The Refugee Health Partnership: A Longitudinal Experiential Medical Student Curriculum in Refugee/Asylee Health.

PROBLEM: In 2017, there were 25.4 million refugees worldwide, of whom 33,400 were resettled in the United States. In fiscal year 2016, 20,455 individuals were granted permanent asylum status in the United Sates. Both in the United States and overseas, refugees/asylees face significant disparities in accessing needed medical, mental health, and social support. APPROACH: The Refugee Health Partnership (RHP) was developed by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine students and colleagues at a local refugee resettlement agency in 2011. The program pairs teams of preclinical medical students with recently resettled refugees/asylees who have special health care needs. After receiving training, students conducted monthly home visits and accompanied patients to appointments to assist them in navigating the health care system over one year. Students participated in monthly reflection exercises to process experiences and attended monthly seminars facilitated by expert faculty and guests. OUTCOMES: From 2012 to 2016, the RHP served 20 refugee families and engaged 60 students across four cohorts. Refugee participant retention was 20/22 (90.9%), and student retention was 57/60 (95.0%). In surveys completed at the end of their programs, students reported improvement in all measures, including understanding of different patient perspectives as well as comfort in communicating with patients across cultures and language barriers. NEXT STEPS: The authors plan to integrate more objective measures of students' progress into the evaluations. They are scaling this model up both locally and beyond and plan to gather data from refugee/asylee participants to more accurately assess how they benefit from the program.

Heterogeneity in ventricular zone neural precursors contributes to neuronal fate diversity in the postnatal neocortex.

The recent discovery of short neural precursors (SNPs) in the murine neocortical ventricular zone (VZ) challenges the widely held view that radial glial cells (RGCs) are the sole occupants of this germinal compartment and suggests that precursor variety is an important factor of brain development. Here, we use in utero electroporation and genetic fate mapping to show that SNPs and RGCs cohabit the VZ but display different cell cycle kinetics and generate phenotypically different progeny. In addition, we find that RGC progeny undergo additional rounds of cell division as intermediate progenitor cells (IPCs), whereas SNP progeny generally produce postmitotic neurons directly from the VZ. By clearly defining SNPs as bona fide VZ residents, separate from both RGCs and IPCs, and uncovering their unique proliferative and lineage properties, these results demonstrate how individual neural precursor groups in the embryonic rodent VZ create diversity in the overlying neocortex.