The postpartum period is often portrayed as a blissful, calm and loving time when mothers, partners and family members bond with their newborn babies. However, this time may be experienced quite differently when mothers are monitored by Child Protection Services. Having a baby under these circumstances can be very difficult and traumatizing. While all new parents require support and information to help them through the transition to parenthood and address physical and psycho-social changes, mothers who are involved with Child Protection Services require more specialized support as they encounter higher incidences of postpartum stressors and higher rates of poverty, mental illness and substance abuse. The impact of support for mothers involved with Child Protection Services is not well-understood from the perspective of mothers.The aim of the study was to understand how new mothers in Nova Scotia prioritized their postpartum needs and where they went to obtain information and support.Feminist poststructuralism was the methodology used to understand how the experiences of five mothers who accessed a family resource center and had been involved with Child Protection Services in Nova Scotia Canada had been personally, socially and institutionally constructed.Themes include: (1) We are Mothers, (2) Being Red Flagged, (3) Lack of Trust, (4) Us Against Them and (5) Searching for Supportive Relationships.Personal stories from all participants demonstrated how they experienced stigma and stereotypes from healthcare workers and were often not recognized as mothers. They also struggled to find information, supports and services to help them keep or regain their babies.
Nurse-midwives and obstetricians are the primary postpartum health-care providers for mothers and babies in Tanzania. It is imperative that mothers and babies receive adequate information and support in order to save lives. Feminist poststructuralism and discourse analysis were used to conduct and analyze 13 semi-structured interviews from nurse-midwives and obstetricians at three clinics in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Establishing friendly supportive relationships enabled nurse-midwives and obstetricians to work effectively with mothers postpartum. Participants explained the importance of including family members in postpartum care and about the strategies they used in a clinic environment that was not always supportive of including family. Effective relational maternity care focused on families during the postpartum period can facilitate the delivery of information and save lives.
The objective of this review is to chart the evidence relating to food security among African Canadian communities to inform future research and offer insight related to food security in African Canadian communities.Achieving food security is of global importance to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. As a social determinant of health, food security, which refers to the unrestricted physical, economic, and timely access to safe and nutritious foods, impacts more than 4 million Canadians. Yet, little is known about food security and the differential impacts of food insecurity among African Canadians. This scoping review sought to describe the current state of food security among African Canadians.Sources were considered for inclusion if they: i) focused on Canada, ii) involved African Canadians, and iii) examined food security.This scoping review was conducted in accordance with JBI methodology. Databases and relevant websites containing peer-reviewed, unpublished, and gray literature were searched. Ancestry searching and forward citation tracing were completed. No restrictions were placed on date of publication. Language restrictions were limited to English and French. In instances where articles were unavailable, authors of potential sources were contacted at the full-text review phase to request access to their article. Data were extracted independently by two team members, and are presented narratively and in tabular format.The search of databases yielded a total of 1183 records. Ancestry tracing yielded 287 records. After removing duplicates, 1075 titles and abstracts were screened for eligibility and 80 advanced to full-text screening. Seventy-five full-text articles were excluded for not meeting the inclusion criteria, leaving five articles that underwent data extraction. All five included studies involved African Canadian participants in Canada. All studies focused on adults; one study included women and men participants, while four focused exclusively on women. One study involving women participants included cisgender and transgender women as well as those identifying as queer. Study designs reflected qualitative (n = 2), quantitative (n = 1), and mixed methods (n = 2) designs.This review begins to fill a gap in understanding the current evidence available on food security as it impacts African Canadians. The findings of this review represent existing research, describing the type of evidence available and methodologies used, before suggesting implications for research and practice. The inclusion of only five studies reveals the limited evidence regarding the current state of food security among African Canadians. Further, included studies were exclusively conducted in urban settings and predominantly in one province. There is a need for further research in rural communities, in other provinces and territories, as well as with younger and older participants. The urgent need to collect race-disaggregated data in Canada is evident.
In this commentary, the author shares insights into her personal journey of nursing leadership by describing a leadership development plan that has guided her journey thus far, and will continue to guide the remainder of her doctoral studies and nursing practice.
ABSTRACT Objectives: The objectives of this review are to investigate the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions for type 2 diabetes prevention in children and adolescents of African descent in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries and to attempt to ascertain what aspects of these interventions are most effective in this population. Introduction: Lifestyle interventions have been shown to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes;however, the extent to which these interventions are effective for children and adolescents of African descent is not well established. The increasing type 2 diabetes incidence and prevalence in children and adolescents of African descent in some OECD member countries underscores the need to pool available evidence to ascertain the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions for type 2 diabetes prevention in this population. Inclusion criteria: Lifestyle interventions to be considered include individual-or group-based lifestyle or behavioral modification interventions aimed at preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents of African descent aged 19 years and under in OECD countries. Randomized controlled trials and non-randomized studies that assess the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions for type 2 diabetes prevention will be considered. Methods: The databases to be searched include MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Social Services Abstracts, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global databases. There will be no language or date limits placed on the search. Two independent reviewers will conduct the title, abstract, and full-text screening, followed by critical appraisal and data extraction. Data will undergo meta-analysis where appropriate, and will otherwise be presented as narrative synthesis. Systematic review registration number: PROSPERO CRD42021247267
The objectives of this qualitative study were to explore participant experiences of doula training programs offered by a prisoner health advocacy organization and Indigenous and Black community groups.This investigation employed a qualitative design. Recruitment was conducted through email. Interviews were conducted in Winter 2020. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.A total of 12 participants were recruited to participate in this study. Six participants identify as Black and six identify as Indigenous. All participants identify as women.Qualitative interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide to elicit a breadth of information.Key themes included training experiences, training improvements and ''bridging the gap''. The training validated participants' experiences of birth and began to address the exclusion of Black and Indigenous people from birth work. However, participants expressed concerns about not being adequately positioned for sustained participation in birth work.Participants expressed receiving great value from the training programs. These trainings, which were fully subsidized, removed a financial barrier. However, these trainings do not address the exclusion of Black and Indigenous people from perinatal work or the lack or sustainable support systems for Black and Indigenous communities. This study makes several recommendations for future interventions.
This article highlights a growing gap in the Canadian nursing workforce, specifically in nursing leadership. Black nurses are significantly underrepresented in nursing and even more so as nurse leaders. This commentary will provide a brief background related to Black nurses in healthcare, a description of nursing leadership, the significance of having Black nurses in leadership positions and finally how to move towards increasing the representation and visibility of Black nurse leaders. This commentary is timely and necessary, as it will describe how Black nurse leaders can enrich the nursing profession as well as the lives of Black individuals, families and communities.
The systematic brutalization of Black people has persisted since colonization, but police murder, global anti-racism protests, and a pandemic that has disproportionately impacted racialized communities have brought anti-Black racism to the attention of the global community. The insidious nature of White supremacy has given birth to anti-Black racism, which has shaped institutions of public and post-secondary education across Canada. Institutional racism is harmful and continues to negatively impact the trajectories of Black lives. For example, Black children are more likely to be enrolled in under-resourced schools, receive harsher punishments, and be streamed into non-academic programming regardless of academic potential and capability. Moreover, Black students are less likely to attend university, despite wishing to, and Black educators remain under-represented and undervalued, despite their immeasurable contributions to academia and the Black community. These examples represent a concerted effort to guard White spaces and keep Black people from accessing equal opportunity through basic access to education. This paper is a call to action for all educators, allies, and institutions to begin to make reparations and end the racial hierarchy and systematic anti-Black oppression across Canada because Black Lives Matter.
Ancestral Black Nova Scotian (ABNS) nurses are a culturally distinct group yet, little is known about their experiences. Available literature suggests that ABNS nurses are underrepresented in nursing and that they encounter discrimination throughout the health system. Understanding the experiences of ABNS nurses facilitates addressing antiBlack racism in nursing and healthcare. This study sought to critically examine the leadership experiences of ABNS nurses in healthcare. This qualitative study was guided by Black feminist theory and involved one-on-one semi-structured telephone interviews with eighteen ABNS nurses. Critical Discourse Analysis was applied in the reading of interview transcripts to examine words used by participants in relation to nursing and healthcare. The findings are presented in two conceptual themes. Black Tax in Nursing captures the added physical, mental, and spiritual strain experienced by ABNS nurses navigating nursing and healthcare. Black Tax encompassed everyday microaggressions and systemic processes, including intra-profession tensions. Integrating into nursing was made increasingly difficult by a reinforcing network of gatekeepers, policies, and structural design. Nova Scotia Healthcare as an Archaic Institution depicts an antiquated "broken" paternalistic system that did not empower patients nor promote health. Additionally, nursing education was accused of reinforcing negative stereotypes, competency gaps, and mistrust with patients. Institution of Care show how ABNS nurses challenge institutional standards and norms in their approach to nursing. ABNS nurses navigate nursing and the health system by maintaining a community-oriented approach to health. Addressing anti-Black racism in nursing and healthcare requires attention to multi-level processes within institutions.
