Conectar
Historically, Black women have been positioned as primary caretakers and problem-solvers, often expected to bear disproportionate responsibility during times of crisis. There is an enduring image of Black women possessing exceptional strength handed down through generations, captured in the sociocultural phenomenon known as the superwoman schema, or SWS. The aim of this discursive review is to explore health disparities among Black women related to the SWS.
A discursive paper.
A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar to identify relevant papers published from 2016 to 2025 that addressed health disparities among Black women.
Through literature review, we identified three critical areas of health disparities associated with mental health disorders, maternal mortality and breast cancer, reflecting the influence of inequitable practices embedded within healthcare systems and society. Nurses, advanced practice nurses and other healthcare providers must prioritise identifying and addressing barriers that hinder access to quality healthcare for Black women. Many providers remain unaware of how depressive symptoms, chronic stress and social determinants impact maternal, mental and breast health outcomes. Encouraging Black women to prioritise mental health, engage in routine prenatal care and seek early breast cancer screening is critical to improving health outcomes. By understanding the historical, societal, and personal contexts of the SWS, nurses can clarify both its benefits and challenges for Black women.
To describe the latest information on types of psychosocial interventions and their effectiveness on loneliness reduction among older adults in community and residential care settings, and the experience with these interventions.
Umbrella review.
The Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for umbrella reviews.
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews; Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature; Medline; Embase; Emcare; PsycINFO; ProQuest Dissertation & Thesis Global; Ovid Nursing Database; MedRxvi.
Twenty-two reviews were included. Seven major types of psychosocial intervention were identified: (1) social facilitation interventions, (2) psychological therapies, (3) health and social care provision, (4) animal-assisted interventions, (5) befriending interventions, (6) leisure and skill development, and (7) other interventions. Social facilitation interventions that provide synchronised interaction, psychological therapies, health and social care provision, and animal (−assisted) interventions demonstrated positive effects while leisure/skill development and befriending interventions warrant more rigorous evidence. Group settings, synchronised interaction and purpose-driven are identified as facilitators, whereas technological issues and safety issues are barriers to participation.
Seven types of psychosocial interventions are currently available for loneliness among community-dwelling older adults, and a positive effect in reducing loneliness was demonstrated in some types. Facilitators and barriers to their participation were synthesised. Two future research directions are suggested: (1) reviews on meaning-centred interventions to provide a comprehensive understanding and (2) implementation studies employing community-based paraprofessionals to promote programme scalability and accessibility.
Health and social care practitioners (e.g., nurses), researchers and policymakers are recommended to employ social facilitation interventions with synchronised interaction, psychological therapies, health and social care provision and animal-assisted interventions to address loneliness among community-dwelling older adults.
This review provided empirical information on available effective interventions to address loneliness among community-dwelling older adults. It also provided information for nurses to implement psychosocial interventions in the community.
The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines
This study did not include patient or public involvement in its design, conduct or reporting.
PROSPERO CRD 42023482852, registered 25/11/2023
by Joseph E. Rubin, Florence Huby, Roshan P. Madalagama, Shyamali de Alwis, Melinda Wyshynski, Rasika Jinadasa
The ability to prepare sterilized media is a critical capability of any microbiology lab. Diagnostic labs in low-resource settings, which lack autoclave facilities, are therefore severely limited in their ability to perform basic assays such as bacterial culture or biochemical tests. This investigation aimed to validate the use of a commercially available pressure cooker as an autoclave substitute to produce agar plates. First, a Geobacillus stearothermophilus biological indicator was used to confirm adequate sterilization. Next, the colony morphology of several important bacterial species were compared on MacConkey and 5% sheep’s blood agar plates prepared using the pressure cooker with those made in an autoclave. Finally, disc diffusion susceptibility testing was performed to determine whether the sterilization method impacts the inhibitory zone diameters. Overall, the morphology of colonies was similar on media prepared in both ways; key phenotypic characteristics (lactose fermentation, colour, shape, hemolysis and smell) were the same. Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion test results were nearly identical. These findings indicate that a commercially available pressure cooker may be suitable to prepare media in low-resource laboratories.
FreshRSS 