No abstract

Community arts projects have long been used in community development. Nevertheless, despite many liberatory tales that have emerged, scholars caution that well-meaning organizations and artists may inadvertently become complicit in efforts that distract from fundamental inequities, instrumentalizing creative expression as a means to transform potentially dissident youth into productive and cooperative ‘citizens’. This article examines how social circus – using circus arts with equity-seeking communities – has been affecting personal and community development among youth with marginalized lifestyles in Quebec, Canada. Employing a ‘critical mixed methods’ design, we analysed the impacts of the social circus methodology and partnership model deployed on transformation at the personal and community level. Our analysis suggests that transformation in this context is grounded in principles of using embodied play to re-forge habits and fortify an identity within community and societal acceptance through recognizing individual and collective creative contributions. The disciplinary dimension of the programme, however, equally suggests an imprinting of values of ‘productivity’ by putting marginality ‘to work’. In the social circus programmes studied, tensions between the goal of better coping within the existing socioeconomic system and building skills to transform inequitable dynamics within dominant social and cultural processes, are navigated by carving out a space in society that offers alternative ways of seeing and engaging.

The article adds to the burgeoning literature examining the macro‐level influence of income inequalities and electoral turnout by evaluating the relationship between the two variables across a global sample of 161 presidential elections from 1990 to 2010. Controlling for compulsory voting, semi‐presidentialism, federalism, regime type, development, population size, and the closeness of the election, we find that dispersions in income neither directly nor indirectly influence macro‐level electoral participation in presidential political systems. Rather, the variable's impact on electoral turnout is statistically insignificant and empirically nonsubstantial. In this sense, our article rejects both the power and the conflict theories' predictions on the supposed relationship between the two concepts at the macro‐level.

Health care workers in sub-Saharan Africa are at high risk of acquiring bloodborne diseases. A training program was launched to build the capacity of occupational health nurses to design and implement workplace-based projects. The study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of health care workers regarding blood and body fluid exposures in a small district hospital in a rural area of the Free State in South Africa. Under the guidance of two experienced mentors, an occupational health nurse designed a knowledge, attitudes, and practices questionnaire and distributed itto 101 health care workers at risk throughout the hospital; 88% of questionnaires were returned in sealed envelopes.Limited knowledge and ineffective practices were documented. For example, only 54.3% of the respondents reported that needles should never be recapped. A significant correlation (p < .001) was found between limited knowledge and recent blood and body fluid exposure. The study results provided the occupational health nurse with data to address the knowledge, attitudes, and practices deficits by implementing an injury prevention educational intervention. Such training initiatives can decrease the burden of occupational disease among health care workers in rural low-resourced areas.

Background British Columbia (BC) is in the midst of an opioid overdose crisis. Since 2017, smoking illicit drugs has been the leading mode of drug administration causing overdose death. Yet, little is known about people who smoke opioids, and factors underlying choice of mode of administration. The study objectives are to identify the prevalence and correlates associated with smoking opioids. Methods The Harm Reduction Client Survey is a monitoring tool used by the BC Centre for Disease Control since 2012. This survey is disseminated to harm reduction sites across BC to understand drug use trends and drug-related harms. We examined data from the survey administered October–December 2019 and performed descriptive, univariate, and multivariate analyses to better understand factors associated with smoking opioids. Results A total of 369 people who used opioids in the past 3 days were included, of whom 251 (68.0%) reported smoking opioids. A total of 109 (29.5%) respondents experienced an overdose in the past 6 months; of these 79 (72.5%) smoked opioids. Factors significantly associated with smoking opioids were: living in a small community (AOR =2.41, CI =1.27–4.58), being a woman (AOR = 1.84, CI = 1.03–3.30), age under 30 (AOR = 5.41, CI = 2.19–13.40) or 30–39 (AOR = 2.77, CI = 1.33–5.78) compared to age ≥ 50, using drugs alone (AOR = 2.98, CI = 1.30–6.83), and owning a take-home naloxone kit (AOR = 2.01, CI = 1.08–3.72). Reported use of methamphetamines within the past 3 days was strongly associated with smoking opioids (AOR = 6.48, CI = 3.51–11.96). Conclusions Our findings highlight important correlates associated with smoking opioids, particularly the recent use of methamphetamines. These findings identify actions to better respond to the overdose crisis, such as targeted harm reduction approaches, educating on safer smoking, advocating for consumption sites where people can smoke drugs, and providing a regulated supply of opioids that can be smoked.