Social Science Databases Research Articles

Legal approaches and government policies enacted to address the overdose epidemic: a scoping review protocol.

The objective of this scoping review is to map different past and present legal approaches and government policies that have an intended or unintended effect on the ongoing overdose epidemic. In response to the current overdose epidemic, a number of different legal approaches and government policies have been implemented regarding prescription drugs, illicit substances, and drug use. Additionally, other legal approaches and government policies that do not directly target the overdose crisis (eg, cannabis legalization) may have unintentional effects on opioid use-related harms. The findings of this review will inform policy-makers and individuals working at the forefront of the overdose crisis to help them anticipate the consequences of legal approaches already in place or those that have been recently implemented. This review will include all legal approaches or government policies that have an intended or unintended effect on the overdose epidemic or on opioid use-related harms or mortality. Only studies published in English from 2000 onward will be included. We will search health sciences databases, legal databases, and social sciences databases to ensure comprehensive identification of studies across disciplines. Two independent team members will screen titles and abstracts, and review full-text articles for potential inclusion. One team member will extract data for all studies, and a second team member will verify the data extraction. The results will be presented as a narrative synthesis and in tabular or diagrammatic form.

Adopting open access in the social sciences and humanities: evidence from a developing nation

Open Access (OA) publishing, with ambitious movements such as Plan S, is engendering radical changes among academic publishers. Emerging countries need to keep publishing as well as adopt open access to catch up with the changes. Using exclusive data from the Social Sciences & Humanities Peer Awards (SSHPA) database, the study employed both descriptive statistics and a Bayesian linear regression model to examine the journals and publishers in which Vietnamese social scientists published during the period 2008–2019, and the potential of pursuing the OA movement in Vietnam. We found an increasing diversification in the publishing sources of Vietnamese social science researchers with growth rates of 9.8% and 14.1% per annum in the number of publishers and journals, respectively. Given that the proportion of Gold OA articles had a fourfold increase over the examined period, it seems that the Vietnamese academic community is adopting OA. Furthermore, Bayesian analysis results hint at positive associations of internal and external collaborative power (number of domestic and foreign authors, respectively) with the decision to publish in OA (βb_TotalVN_OpenAccess = 0.22; βb_TotalForeign_OpenAccess = 0.15). The results and its implications suggest that Vietnamese policymakers and university director boards should facilitate as well as control the quality of the scientific publishing and the OA movement.

A critical exploration of university policy supporting the employment and career development of people with disability in the Australian academy

Policymakers are challenged to advance diversity and inclusion throughout the Australian academy. Informing this issue, this study aims to (a) identify proportions of staff in Australian universities that are publicly reported as being represented by persons with disability; (b) identify categories of actions supporting the employment and career development of people with lived experience as reported within Australian university plans and (c) critically examine contemporary policy efforts of Australian universities by exploring the scholarly evidence base for measures with potential to support disability recruitment and advancement in the academy. The study is informed by thematic analysis as applied to 17 action plans retrieved from an internet search and 7 scholarly articles obtained from Scopus, ProQuest Central and ProQuest Social Science databases. This research offers policymakers a preliminary guide containing good practice features that they should consider when designing and developing policy endeavouring to increase the representation and advancement of persons with disability in staff at Australian universities.

An overview of European supply of social science information. Paper presented in ECSSID VI Conference, Canterbury, 1991

Tomando como fuente de información para esta comunicación el Repertorio EUROSPES de Bases de Datos en Ciencias Sociales editado en 1990, se analiza la oferta de Información a través de las Bases de Datos creadas en los países europeos de habla latina. El objetivo del trabajo que se presenta es conocer, de manera detallada, los rasgos que definen esta oferta en cada país y en el conjunto de países estudiados. Estructurado en dos partes, en la primera se ofrecen, en primer lugar, datos sobre las características de la información contenida en las bases de datos: naturaleza de la información, temas sobre los que versa, cobertura temporal, técnicas documentales utilizadas, normas de descripción bibliográfica, productores de esas Bases de Datos. En segundo lugar, se estudian los aspectos relativos a la distribución de la información: distribuidores, -paquetes de gestión de bases de datos, instrumentos de ayuda al usuario para las consultas, tipo de acceso que se ofrece. La segunda parte se dedica al análisis de los datos aportados en la primera: distribución de la producción de bases de datos por temas, países y años, estudio de las áreas temáticas no cubiertas, comparación de las técnicas documentales empleadas, compatibilidad de los paquetes de gestión y de los formatos informáticos, análisis de la calidad de los servicios de acceso, precios, formación ofrecida, etc. Se finaliza con unas conclusiones orientadas a proponer los desarrollos deseables para el conjunto de paises así como las posibilidades de cooperación con vistas a mejorar la oferta de información automatizada en Ciencias Sociales.

The Internal Capability of Vietnam Social Sciences and Humanities: A Perspective from the 2008–2019 Dataset

International collaboration contributes significantly to improving scientific performance in Vietnam, but it also results in Vietnamese researchers depending on foreign partners to get their work published. The current study is an initial effort to examine the domestic research capability of Vietnam’s Social Science and Humanities (SSH) disciplines through scientific productivity. The research focuses on investigating various aspects, including leading Vietnamese authors, solo authors, and gender difference, as well as international and domestic collaboration networks. The study extracts the data of 2040 Vietnamese SSH authors, 1981 foreign authors, and 3160 publications during the period of 2008–2019, from the exclusive Social Sciences and Humanities Peer Awards (SSHPA) database. Findings show a steadily rising contribution from leading domestic authors in SSH research, with an annual growth rate of approximately 22.33%. Moreover, 77.26% of publications are led by Vietnamese researchers. The proportion of publications by Vietnamese authors increased dramatically and surpassed the proportion of internationally collaborated publications in 2019, at 55.83%. The domestic research collaboration network has expanded in an observable manner. However, the participation rate of women in SSH research was relatively low, at an average of 37.30%. While the self-sustaining capacity of SSH researchers and institutes in Vietnam has been rising, gender inequality remains prevalent. In order to further strengthen and promote the scholarly community, as well as their research capacity, and to maintain public trust in SSH research, we recommend that policymakers encourage self-sustaining research, nationwide collaboration, and empower female researchers.

Are Services Inclusive? A Review of the Experiences of Older GSD Women in Accessing Health, Social and Aged Care Services.

The review aimed to examine the views and experiences of ageing gender and sexually diverse (GSD) women—a triple minority in relation to their age, gender and sexual orientation—in accessing health, social and aged care services. Eighteen peer reviewed articles identified from seven electronic databases in health and social sciences were evaluated according to predefined criteria and a thematic review methodology drawing upon socio-ecological theory was used to analyse and interpret the findings. Four major themes were identified from the analysis: “The Dilemma of Disclosure”, “Belonging/Connection”, “Inclusiveness of Aged Care” and “Other Barriers to Access Care”. In the dilemma of disclosure, older GSD women consider factors such as previous experiences, relationship with the provider and anticipated duration of stay with the provider before disclosing their sexual identifies. The review also revealed that aged care services lack inclusiveness in their policies, advertising materials, aged care spaces and provider knowledge and attitude to provide sensitive and appropriate care to GSD women. Overall, older GSD women experience multiple and multilevel challenges when accessing health, aged and social services and interventions are needed at all levels of the socio-ecological arena to improve their access and quality of care.

Informing children of their parent's illness: A systematic review of intervention programs with child outcomes in all health care settings globally from inception to 2019.

Children are impacted when parents are ill. This systematic review gives an overview of the current state of research and extracts what children and parents found helpful in the interventions aimed at informing children of their parent's illness. This review was registered with PROSPERO and conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Five health and social science databases were searched from inception to November 2019 to identify original, peer-reviewed articles in English describing effective interventions. The authors selected and reviewed the studies independently, and any inconsistencies were resolved by discussion in face-to-face meetings and emails. A descriptive synthesis of evidence-based concepts from quantitative and qualitative studies was conducted. A total of 13 892 titles and 144 full-text articles were reviewed with 32 selected for final inclusion, 21 quantitative, 11 qualitative and no mixed-method studies published from 1993 to November 2019. Most of the research was conducted in mental health, including substance abuse (n = 22), but also in cancer care (n = 6) and HIV care (n = 4). Most studies using quantitative method showed a small to moderately positive statistically significant intervention effect on the child's level of internalized symptoms. Content analysis of the results of studies employing qualitative methodology resulted in four concepts important to both children and parents in interventions (increased knowledge, more open communication, new coping strategies and changed feelings) and three additional concepts important to parents (observed changes in their children's behavior, the parent's increased understanding of their own child and the relief of respite). In the literature there is evidence of mild to moderate positive effects on the child's level of internalized symptoms as well as concepts important to children and parent's worth noting when trying to bridge the still existing knowledge gaps. In further efforts the challenges of implementation as well as adaptation to differing clinical and personal situations appear key to address.

A Systematic Review of Literature on User Behavior in Video Game Live Streaming.

Video game live streaming is a kind of real-time video social media that integrates traditional broadcasting and online gaming. With the rapid popularity of video game live streaming in the past decade, researchers have started to investigate the relationship between the use of video game live streaming and various psychological variables. In order to fully understand the factors that affected user participation (streamers and audiences) in video game live streaming and provide a reference to the mental health issues of Internet addiction, this paper summarizes the relevant literature on user behavior in video game live streaming. First, we comprehensively searched literature in six social science databases and thus obtained 24 papers that meet our inclusion criteria. Second, the above literature was presented in table form for classification and we found that the effect factors of user behavior in video game live streaming mainly include user demands and platform impact. Based on Use and Satisfaction theory, this paper reviewed the following four aspects: streamer demand, audience demand, interaction behavior and platform impact, then a relevant theoretical framework was constructed. Finally, this paper looks forward to possible future research topics based on the research platform, research data and research content and so on, hoping to provide a foundation and new ideas for future research.

Psychosocial adjustment of young offspring in the context of parental type 1 and type 2 diabetes: a systematic review.

To identify all available research on psychosocial outcomes in young people who have a parent with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Embase, PsychInfo, Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed and ProQuest Social Sciences databases were searched according to a registered study protocol (PROSPERO CRD42019125301). Quality assessment, data extraction and data synthesis were carried out. The initial search yielded 11 599 articles, 10 of which met the criteria for this review: six for type 1 diabetes and four for type 2 diabetes. Through thematic analysis, five categories emerged related to offspring psychosocial adjustment: offspring mental health, offspring physical health, offspring personal resources, parental illness characteristics and offspring caregiving. Overall, there were few studies focusing solely on the effects of parental type 1 and type 2 diabetes on young people. From the limited available research, there is weak evidence suggesting both parental types of diabetes can adversely impact young offspring. Illness-related variables were only explored in parental type 1 diabetes studies, while offspring caregiving was only examined in parental type 2 diabetes studies. Research on the effects of parental diabetes on young people is scarce; however, there was weak evidence to suggest some young people are at risk of adverse psychosocial impacts. Given the rise in the incidence of diabetes globally, there is a pressing public health need to conduct more rigorously designed studies to ascertain the extent to which young people are at risk of mental and physical health problems and to identify risk and protective factors associated with youth adjustment in the context of parental diabetes.

Gender Binary Thêmata in Social Representations of Sexual Minorities: A Ten Year Scoping Review

Within the frame of Social Representations Theory, gender binarism and heteronormativity can be considered as themata that make sexual minorities emerge as a norm-challenging social object. Recent social change in the acceptance and regulation of LGBT identities and relationships suggests some kind of transformation in the representations of sexual minorities in order to make these social objects more familiar and acceptable. This scoping review analyzes research articles on social representations of sexual minorities and of gender-related phenomena in sexual minority populations from the last 10 years. The aim of the review is investigating the social representations of gender in sexual minorities in order to understand to what extent these representations might be normalized within the gender binary thema, and to what extent they might be rather transforming the gender frame in order to reduce its binary and heteronormative frame. After searching for scientific contributions in the 5 major social science data bases, 97 articles were screened and 28 were included in the review. Results suggest mostly that social representations of sexual minorities are still being familiarized within a gender-binary frame. Three different semantic processes of familiarization are discussed: gender-compartmentalization, dehumanization, and subjectification. The latter one seems to be the most relevant in the process of social acceptance of the LGBT population.

Continuing professional development requirements for UK health professionals: a scoping review

ObjectivesThis paper sets out to establish the numbers and titles of regulated healthcare professionals in the UK and uses a review of how continuing professional development (CPD) for health professionals...

Settlement Service Literacy and the Relationship Between Service Utilisation and Wellbeing Among Newly Arrived Migrants: A Mixed Methods Systematic Review Protocol

Background: Settlement service literacy refers to the ability of migrants to access, understand and critically navigate settlement services. In Australia, increasing numbers of culturally and linguistically diverse migrants require settlement services to assist their transition. However, there are barriers to migrant’s ability to utilise settlement services which are related to their level of settlement service literacy. This review aims to shed light on how settlement service literacy influences new migrant’s utilisation of settlement services, and the consequences that it has for health, well-being and sense of belonging.
 Methods: The review will follow the guidelines laid out by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Literature searches will be undertaken in CINAHL, EMBASE, PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, Sociological Abstracts, SocIndex, ProQuest Social Science Database, and Google Scholar. Grey literature and relevant government bodies, non-government organisations, service providers and research institutes will also be searched. Studies included will report primary data (qualitative and quantitative) on new migrant’s (under five years) ability to utilise settlement services in high income countries. Studies that meet the inclusion criteria will be imported to Covidence, two researchers will screen the studies in a two part process (title and introduction scan; and full text) for relevance. Data extracted will include general publication information (author, country, year, and publication), type of study, participants, type of settlement service, measured outcomes, and the study aims, methods and results. Finally, data will be synthesised using a narrative approach.
 Discussion: The review will provide insight into the relationship between settlement service literacy and service utilisation and wellbeing for new migrants. The review will also provide data to inform settlement service policy to better cater for the needs of migrants.
 Systematic review registration:This protocol has been submitted to international prospective register of systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PROSPERO) and is currently under review.

Food Insecurity and Aging: A Scoping Study of the Literature

Literature on food insecurity (FI) and aging is limited and scattered across disciplines, the reasons for which include the nascence of the study of "hunger" more generally, and relatively lower rates of FI among older people. This scoping review synthesized and characterized the current research to prompt a more critical examination of food insecurity and aging. Data extraction included reviewing and characterizing the empirical, methodological and conceptual contributions of each study, accessed from selected health sciences and social sciences databases. Thirty-eight studies were included from 2,041 titles. Different methods and operationalizations of FI and age were found to be used across studies. Thematic analysis revealed, with few exceptions, consistent tendencies towards the biomedicalization of the FI issue alongside aging. These findings reinforce the value of population-level monitoring of FI and uptake of standard measures. Moving forward, the issue of FI and aging is an opportune topic for critical social analysis.

Physical activity interventions to improve the health of children and adolescents in out of home care – A systematic review of the literature

Of the substantial literature on interventions to improve the poor health of children in out of home care, little focuses on lifestyle factors such as physical activity. This review identifies if physical activity interventions are effective for this population, and if so which type of activity and for what health outcomes. A systematic review of 14 social science and physical activity databases was conducted in November 2019. Included articles examined the effect of a physical activity intervention on any health or wellbeing outcome, for children or adolescents under 20 years of age whose primary condition for admission to care was abuse, neglect or parental incapacity. A final 12 studies were identified, dated from 1989 to 2019, covering nine countries and with a mix of designs; eight Randomised Control Trials (RCT’s), three single group trials and one qualitative study. Most interventions showed benefit, with the best evidence for rhythmic movement on visual motor integration and behaviour, yoga in relation to balance, flexibility and muscle strength, and initiative or general recreation activities for self-concept, self-efficacy and general psychological temperament. However, for some studies the effect may be moderated by other co-occurring interventions, like group social activities. Further research is required before these results could be confidently generalised across different settings, with particular gaps in relation to children and young people residing in foster or kinship care and for studies examining the effect of sports participation. The results of this review indicate that physical activity could be an effective intervention to address health concerns for children in out of home care and should therefore be considered in policies and program design. It is important to note that specific types of activity could not yet confidently be recommended over others.

Stigma resulting from head lice infestation: A concept analysis and implications for public health.

The aim of this concept analysis was to examine stigma in the context of head lice, illuminating its components and providing insights for the development of appropriate nursing interventions. Stigma associated with the phenomenon of head lice management is pervasive, promulgating fear and influencing policy and treatment practices. Few studies have examined stigma in this context. The method followed was the Rodgers's evolutionary method. Health, education, and social sciences databases were searched and yielded 20 articles spanning 1996-2018 used to create a relevant literature review. Stigma arising from head lice infestation is preceded by an actual or perceived case of head lice, negative perceptions of lice, negative perception of groups or persons with head lice, or being associated with a group or person of lesser status believed to be a carrier of head lice. Defining attributes include marks of infestation, negative and unfair beliefs, and shame. Consequences of stigma are economic costs, social costs, mistreatment, and overtreatment with pediculicides. The concept of stigma in the context of head lice management is multifaceted. Further research is required to understand the magnitude of stigma as well as other factors associated with optimal treatment of children with head lice.

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in sub-Saharan Africa and associations with undernutrition, and governance in children under five years of age: a systematic review.

Associations between different forms of malnutrition and environmental conditions, including water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), may contribute towards persistently poor child health, growth and cognitive development. Experiencing poor nutrition in utero or during early childhood is furthermore associated with chronic diseases later in life. The primary responsibility for provision of water and sanitation, as a basic service and human right, lies with the State; however, a number of stakeholders are involved. The situation is most critical in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where, in 2015, 311 million people lacked a safe water source, and >70% of SSA populations were living without adequate sanitation. The aim of this paper was to conduct a systematic review to investigate the state of literature concerned with WASH and its association with nutritional status, and governance in children from birth to 5 years of age in SSA. Articles were sourced from PubMed Central, Science Direct and ProQuest Social Science databases published between 1990 and 2017. The PRISMA Statement was utilised and this systematic review is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42017071700). The search terms returned 15,351 articles for screening, with 46 articles included. This is indicative of a limited body of knowledge; however, the number of publications on this topic has been increasing, suggesting burgeoning field of interest. Targeted research on the governance of WASH through the identification of the various role players and stakeholders at various levels, while understanding the policy environment in relation to particular health-related outcomes is imperative to address the burden of child undernutrition.

Patient Characteristics Associated with Non-Adherence to Tuberculosis Treatment: A Systematic Review

Background: A high level of adherence to treatment is essential for cure and prevention of tuberculosis (TB) treatment resistance. Methods: A Systematic review of 53 studies addressing the patient characteristics associated with TB medication non-adherence was performed. The publications were identified by searching the PubMed, World Health Organization (WHO), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) database, EmBase, Scopus database Arts, Humanities, Social Science database and Google scholar. Only English language publications were eligible. Potentially eligible studies were retrieved and the full articles were assessed. The potentially eligible studies were included if they concerned patients treated for tuberculosis, reported non adherence and reported on potential risk factors associated with non-adherence. Results: Factors that were most frequently consistently and statistically significantly related to non-adherence to tuberculosis treatment were: family income, patient movement and changing address or giving wrong address, tuberculosis relapse or multidrug-resistant TB (MDRTB), during intensive phase of treatment, history of default, treatment regimen (long course), response to treatment, homeless, stigma, seeking traditional healers, staff receptiveness, lack of directly observed therapy short course (DOTS), poor knowledge or lack of health education, side effects of drugs, feeling better, alcohol intake and lack of family and social support. Conclusions: Non-adherence to tuberculosis treatment was influenced by several factors.

Access to specialty healthcare in urban versus rural US populations: a systematic literature review

BackgroundAccess to healthcare is a poorly defined construct, with insufficient understanding of differences in facilitators and barriers between US urban versus rural specialty care. We summarize recent literature and expand upon a prior conceptual access framework, adapted here specifically to urban and rural specialty care.MethodsA systematic review was conducted of literature within the CINAHL, Medline, PubMed, PsycInfo, and ProQuest Social Sciences databases published between January 2013 and August 2018. Search terms targeted peer-reviewed academic publications pertinent to access to US urban or rural specialty healthcare. Exclusion criteria produced 67 articles. Findings were organized into an existing ten-dimension care access conceptual framework where possible, with additional topics grouped thematically into supplemental dimensions.ResultsDespite geographic and demographic differences, many access facilitators and barriers were common to both populations; only three dimensions did not contain literature addressing both urban and rural populations. The most commonly represented dimensions were availability and accommodation, appropriateness, and ability to perceive. Four new identified dimensions were: government and insurance policy, health organization and operations influence, stigma, and primary care and specialist influence.ConclusionsWhile findings generally align with a preexisting framework, they also suggest several additional themes important to urban versus rural specialty care access.

Reporting and synthesis practices in barriers and facilitators reviews: a methodological systematic review

BackgroundAn increasing number of systematic reviews set out to identify and synthesise research on barriers to and facilitators of the achievement of various outcomes. Yet, this type of review has been criticised for relying on aggregative synthesis approaches (such as vote counting), and for generating overly simplistic representations of complex social issues. We aimed to describe and appraise the reporting and synthesis practices used in recently published barriers and facilitators reviews in public health. MethodsWe did a methodological systematic review of reviews, using the following databases: ABI/INFORM Global, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA), CINAHL, Embase, Global Health, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS), Medline, PAIS Index, PsycINFO, Social Science Database, and Sociology Database. All English-language peer-reviewed systematic reviews that synthesised either primary or secondary research on barriers and facilitators in a health-related context were eligible for inclusion. We designed the search string to include an exhaustive list of synonyms for “barrier(s)”, “facilitator(s)”, and “systematic review”. We restricted our search results to reviews from Nov 1, 2017, to Nov 30, 2018. Our protocol was prospectively registered in PROSPERO (CRD42018112361). Findings100 reviews were identified. We found a high degree of variation in the synthesis and categorisation practices used in barriers and facilitators reviews, with most reviews using aggregative (rather than interpretive) synthesis approaches. The findings echo common critiques of this review type, including concerns associated with reducing complex issues to simplified, discrete factors. Few reviews critically investigated the potential dynamic features and contextual variability of, and interrelationships between, identified factors. Although several papers highlighted the complexity of barriers and facilitators, this was usually mentioned in passing rather than systematically analysed or discussed in depth. Analysis of the minority of reviews that included explicit discussion of the barriers and facilitators approach revealed some common themes. These issues tended to be either conceptual/definitional (eg, ideas about the interrelationships and overlap between factors) or methodological/practical (eg, challenges related to the aggregation of heterogeneous research). InterpretationBarriers and facilitators reviews can enhance both their academic contribution and effect on policy and practice by clearly defining their constructs of analysis, explicitly describing how factors are extracted and subsequently synthesised, and providing critical reflection on the contextual variability and reliability of identified factors. FundingNone.

Health promotion among the unemployed: an international systematic review

Abstract Issue The interactions between unemployment and health create a need for specific interventions for health promotion and prevention. Description This overview provides information on how health promotion for the unemployed has been approached with an analysis of controlled intervention studies between 1996-2016. The literature search consulted 11 international databases in medicine, social sciences and psychology. A total of 30 health interventions for the unemployed were identified, with 43 articles that included the effects of intervention. Results A controlled-study design was used in 14 studies. The health promotion measures were generally based on individual counselling, case management, training or group services. The overview demonstrates the breadth of variation in target groups and types of measures. Their result indicators for health and labor market integration vary substantially. Effects are rather moderate or low in magnitude and the effect mechanisms often remain unclear. Effects weaken over time. While success is more common in the areas of health, physical activity, nutrition and stress relief, there was no impact on smoking behavior. Lessons A significant evolution can be observed in the quality and quantity of health promotion over time. There is a need for further research on the effectiveness and sustainability of interventions. Key messages There is evidence of improved health and labor market integration for established approaches like the JOBS Program and JobFit. Intervention strategies should be developed that take account of the diversity of the unemployed and their different needs.