The role of structural violence in family homelessness.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the impacts of structural violence on women and how this can influence their trajectory into and their sustainable exits from homelessness. METHODS: The research is qualitative and community-based, including 15 interviews with mothers living in emergency shelters and a group interview with nine professionals. An advisory group was formed through partnership with community services to provide project oversight and guide and interpret the results. A member check group consisting of seven mothers with recent experiences of homelessness was engaged to further refine findings and implications. The research team used Critical Social Theory, in particular feminist theory, as an analysis framework in order to account for the implications of structural violence on mothers with diverse and complex histories. RESULTS: The results highlight three structural-level factors: gendered pathways into homelessness, systems of support that create structural barriers, and disjointed services that exacerbate trauma. CONCLUSION: The authors propose systems-level changes rooted in trauma-informed approaches to facilitate a sustainable exit from homelessness for mothers and their children.

Understanding the Experiences of East African Immigrant Women With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.

OBJECTIVES: East African (EA) women are a subpopulation who are at very high risk for gestational diabetes (GDM) and poor obstetric outcomes, but little is known about the care experiences of this understudied group. The objective of this study was to document the impact of a diagnosis of GDM and the perceptions of diabetes care among EA immigrant women. METHODS: Semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 EA immigrant women diagnosed with GDM in Calgary; they were recruited from community and tertiary care settings. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using inductive thematic content analysis to explore participants' experiences when accessing and receiving care. RESULTS: EA immigrant women had varied experiences related to GDM. Thematic analysis revealed the negative impact of GDM diagnoses on women, including the burdens of self-care, fear, community influences and cultural and financial barriers. The positive impacts of the experience of diagnosis noted were primarily in the empowerment to make healthful behaviour changes. CONCLUSIONS: Study findings point to the need for more context-specific and culturally appropriate support and care. Diagnoses of GDM extended beyond the individuals affected and impacted their families culturally, psychologically and financially. Addressing the emergent themes during pregnancy is imperative to improving care providers' engagement with EA immigrant women in postpartum diabetes screening activities and beyond. The findings of this study contain elements transferable to other immigrant groups in similar socioecologic contexts.

[The historical condition in the spread of Sanqi (Panax notoginseng) in the Ming Dynasty].

A well-known and extensively applied Chinese herbs for promoting blood circulation and resolving blood stasis, San qi (Pana Notoginseng) is one of the medicinal plants first applied by the minority ethnic groups in southwestern China originally grown in Wenshan of Yunnan and Baise of Guangxi, China. The doctors in inland China began to know and apply it in the Ming Dynasty, indicating that the spread of medicine is restricted and influenced not only by geographical positions but also by social environments. The author suggests that it was the appropriate social environment, medical improvement inherited from previous generations and Li Shizhen's contributions that led to the spread of Sanqi (Panax notoginseng) in the Ming Dynasty.