Research & Innovation

Abstract:

Autism continues to be a leading neurodevelopmental disorder across adult and pediatric populations that transcends racial, ethnic, age, and socioeconomic groups worldwide. Autism care and treatment also exerts immense costs on the healthcare system and lost productivity which are partly attributed to the existing resource limitations globally. Organizations, campaigns, and policies exist worldwide in increasing equity and accessibility of resources and services to individuals with autism. In the context of our digital era, a wealth of information is also more readily available on autism through electronic communication including social media platforms. As YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are ever-growing and among the leading social media platforms in contemporary times, examination of content covered on autism across these communication mediums is timely and warranted. This review consolidates findings from 32 sources on the sources, formats, and nature of content covered on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook pertaining to a wealth of dimensions surrounding autism. Strengths and limitations of the studies and endeavors are presented. Implications for future campaign development, health equity, health policy, neurodiversity, and patient care are also delineated. Lastly, recommendations for future research and practice are discussed which present directions for tapping into the potential of YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook as health communication mediums across the ever-changing autism landscape.

Abstract:

The global mental health crisis is a longstanding one that impacts a multitude of patient populations worldwide. Within this crisis, psychiatric medication adherence is yet another complex public health challenge that continues to persist and contribute towards the chronic nature of the increased incidence and prevalence of psychiatric morbidities, which in turn result in the sequalae of substantial costs to humanity, the healthcare system, lost productivity, functioning and disability among patients with mental disorders. Psychotropic medication adherence is a significant part of psychiatric care and treatment across severity levels of mental illness. This health behavior is also filled with complexities, given the abundance of social and behavioral determinants as well as intrinsic and extrinsic factors that surround this health behavior. Examining contexts for promoting this health behavior change is crucial in determining directions for addressing it more optimally. There have been several published studies on considerations and interventions to address this health behavior; however, to date, no studies have been published on assessing coverage and directions of content across social media platforms, which trend as a rising health communication medium in our digital era. The present study is the first of its kind to dive into exploring the nature of widely viewed content and deliverers of this content on a prominent social media platform, YouTube, as the basis to determine potential directions for future intervention that can extend to reaching more patients struggling with this high-risk health behavior across the world, given the global reach of social media.

Abstract:

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a leading cause of infant mortality across the United States and the world. There are multiple environmental and behavioral determinants of sudden infant death which are modifiable risk factors and potential targets for intervention. In this increasingly digital era, health education and communication on SIDS have taken many forms, which extend to social media. Current published studies on coverage of infant safe sleep practices are scant and were published well before the newly revised guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics that review ways to prevent infant sleep-related deaths based on evidence-based SIDS-reduction measures. In this Perspective: Review of a Pediatric Field, the current state of published knowledge and coverage on a range of infant safe sleep considerations across social media are reviewed. We delineate gaps in the knowledge and practice as well as the central differences between the 2016 and 2022 AAP Safe Sleep guidelines. We also present recommendations for further research and practice which support coverage of future content on the revised guidelines across social media as the basis to present the most up-to-date and evidence-based information for reducing sudden infant death from sleep-related causes. Tapping into the potential of social media as a learning modality in health promotion also contributes towards the larger goal of the World Health Organization, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and Healthy People 2030 to reduce infant mortality on both global and national levels.

The grant, which provides funding to individual authors writing nonfiction books in the humanities for the public, will support writing and archival research for Levine’s book-in-progress, under advance contract with W. W. Norton, on 19th-century American author and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, best known for her 1852 novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

From their privileged childhood in Egypt, the paths of once-inseparable twins Taher and Aisha diverge early:

When the USSR invades Afghanistan, Taher abandons their shared plans to study medicine in Europe, instead joining their cousin, Ahmed, as a medic for the mujahideen fighting the Soviets. As Aisha’s Western perspective grows, so does her fear for her brother, who is becoming increasingly radicalized during the civil war between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. With powerful imagery, Danuta Hinc’s When We Were Twins shows how innocence and loyalty to those we love can be twisted by political forces, leading a young man to choose a fateful path that changes the course of history.

Abstract:

Cerebral palsy is one of the most prevalent groups of motor disorders affecting children and adults across the world. As increasingly more children with cerebral palsy are living longer into adulthood, it is ever more crucial to ensure access to timely and needed early intervention from the onset of diagnosis, on a continuum, to optimize medical, developmental, socio-emotional, and academic outcomes for these children over time. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), in collaboration with the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM), substantially revised the clinical practice guidelines for cerebral palsy in 2022, after their prior publication of the guidelines in 2006. The revised guidelines account for a range of considerations that are in line with the biopsychosocial, risk and resilience, and family-centered care models as well as promote a more strengths-based approach to care. Furthermore, there is increased emphasis in the guidelines on promoting equitable access to care as part of contributing towards health equity for all children with cerebral palsy. In addition, the 2022 guidelines clearly present recommendations for earlier diagnosis of cerebral palsy, potentially as early as infancy, as the basis for activating access to early intervention services for children that can bolster their neuroplasticity and global development from an earlier age onward. We consolidate the existing literature on caregiver perceptions, beliefs and concerns surrounding earlier diagnosis of cerebral palsy and connect them to the recommendations in the revised guidelines. We also delineate several considerations surrounding education for healthcare providers and caregivers of children in navigating the chronicity of cerebral palsy in
both community and healthcare contexts. There is a scant amount of literature on cerebral palsy across traditional and nontraditional sources of media in published studies, which we also review. Lastly, we present a wealth of recommendations for further research and practice that account for the revised 2022 guidelines, caregiver preferences and acceptability of care, and health equity as the bases for strengthening equitable access to care for children with cerebral palsy on a continuum as they transition into adulthood.

In this novel by Ann Claycomb ’01, Jo, Abony, Ranjani, and Maia all have something in common: they have each been cursed by the CEO of their workplace after he abused his power to prey on them. He wants them silent and uses his sinister dark magic to keep them quiet about what he did. But Jo, Abony, Ranjani, and Maia are not fairy-tale princesses waiting to be rescued. They are fierce, angry women with a bond forged in pain, and they’re about to discover that they have power of their own. In this sharply written, bitingly relevant modern fable, the magic is dark and damaging, and the women are determined to rescue themselves.

Abstract:

Boarding across pediatric healthcare systems is on the rise during the pandemic. Children with positive COVID-19 test results awaiting psychiatric placements in the emergency department or medical unit settings are at increased risk for decompensation with unmet psychiatric needs during a time of crisis marked by vulnerability. There is scant literature unveiling best practices on delivery of care for these patients to achieve acute crisis stabilization. Recent studies have uncovered substantial increases in mental health disorders among children during the pandemic compared to previous incidence and prevalence rates prior to the pandemic. From the published literature, two healthcare systems have initiated long-term planning, development, and implementation of biodome psychiatric units for patients with COVID-19 in need of acute crisis stabilization services. We sampled 100 acute inpatient child and adolescent psychiatric programs to discern their post-COVID positive clearance policies for admission. Findings were mixed among days of quarantine required, symptomology, covid-designated spaces vs. self-isolated rooms for psychiatric treatment, number of COVID negative retests, and additional considerations. We also review a range of considerations and recommendations for clinical practice and the health system in achieving parity in mental health care for these patients which in turn could contribute towards mitigating the rising global mental health crisis. Furthermore, increasing access to acute psychiatric services for these patients will also contribute towards the larger goal of the World Health Organization, Sustainable Developmental Goals of the United Nations, and Healthy People 2030 in increasing accessibility, quality and equity of mental health care for individuals on both global and national frontiers.

In Edward A. Johnson's little-known speculative novel Light Ahead for the Negro (1904), protagonist Gilbert Twitchell departs New York City in 1906 aboard a dirigible airship bound for Mexico City and awakens in Phoenix, Georgia, one hundred years later. He finds that a century's worth of changes include an abolished Congress, electric cars, and a legally protected form of African American citizenship still lacking in "social equality."¹ Born enslaved, Johnson penned this early example of Black speculative fiction while working in Eastern North Carolina's district attorney's office. The tension he creates as his text alternates between the turn of the century and the ostensibly utopian turn of the millennium aims to persuade. I argue that the formal features of Johnson's temporally complex, generically hybrid text work both to depict the contested nature of Black citizenship during and after Reconstruction and to challenge the prevailing historiography of Reconstruction in Johnson's time.

"A Separate Peace" was published in the Journal of Social Work in End-Of-Life & Palliative Care. 

Overview:

This past summer, a 4-month-old baby named Heidi with microcephaly and subsequent autonomic instability was hospitalized for 1 month in an intermediate care unit at a hospital on the eastern seaboard. She was diagnosed with microcephaly at 2 months of age at the same hospital. During her most recent hospitalization, Heidi presented with significant neuroirritability. Her parents felt uncomfortable having her return home unless she was sleeping through the night without needing any pain medications. The family and the medical team had different perspectives on the management of Heidi’s care. Both recognized that Heidi had a progressive, degenerative illness; however, her parents felt that her illness would progress to death a lot sooner than the medical team’s prediction that she could potentially live for longer than 6 months. The medical team and nursing staff involved in her care were emotionally impacted by this hospitalization in several different ways. This was evident in behavioral responses such as distress, anger, fear, and defensiveness. As the social worker supporting Heidi’s family, I found myself as a gatekeeper and holder of information as well as an advocate and educator. The rest of the care team, especially our nursing staff, felt a sense of protection over the child which affected their objectivity in approaching the child’s case. This was a unique situation where the family’s peace about their child’s limited life span clashed with the care team’s expectation that the family would still be coming to terms with her illness.