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Antibias training is increasingly identified as a strategy to reduce maternal health disparities. Evidence to guide this work is limited. We conducted a community-guided scoping review to characterize new antibias research. Four of 508 projects met our criteria: US-based, publicly funded, initiated from January 1, 2018 to June 30, 2022, and featuring an intervention to reduce bias or racism in maternal health care providers. Training was embedded in multicomponent interventions in 3 projects, limiting its evaluation as a stand-alone intervention. Major public funders have sponsored few projects to advance antibias training research in maternal health. More support is needed to develop a rigorous and scalable evidence base.

Background: Despite broad scientific consensus about the importance of the early years in the lifelong health and wellbeing of children, there is debate about whether and how healthcare professionals can optimise early child development through monitoring or screening. The evidence in support of a systematic population-level intervention is disputed, which is reflected in the diversity of approaches to developmental screening internationally. Methods: Using a case-study design, and interpretive qualitative methods, we explored how Canadian experts in child health (n=39): a) rationalise why they do, or would, pursue population-level developmental screening; b) articulate the policy goals of such an intervention, and; c) justify the practice with reference to evidence. Findings: Respondents identified three distinct framings, or policy agendas, for what developmental screening can and should seek to achieve, specifically: 1) as medical intervention, facilitating the early identification of health risk or disorder; 2) as social intervention, providing an opportunity for communication and connection with parents for all children; and 3) as political intervention, staking a claim for early child health on the broader political agenda. Discussion and conclusions: Each agenda is justified by distinct types of evidence, posing a challenge to simplistic models of evidence-based policymaking, and demonstrating that evidence is not just an input, but a contested part of a dynamic and political policymaking process.

Background: The health-care community has a responsibility to address the environmental impact of delivering health-care services. Educational programmes present ideal fora to confer 'environmental competencies' to future health system leaders, managers, practitioners and researchers. The aim of this review is to synthesise the literature on health-care competencies, education and training of relevance to issues of environmental sustainability and climate change in the health sector. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of English language articles on environmental competencies in healthcare in the MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and ProQuest databases published from inception to April 2019. Thematic analysis and descriptive statistics were used to synthesise the findings and develop a typology of environmental competencies. Results: Of the 902 unique citations, we identified 23 articles that met our inclusion criteria. Environmental competencies that align with general management skills were most frequent (40%), followed by research skills (37%). Three competencies specific to the environment (22%) were identified: resource stewardship (n = 16), systems thinking (n = 14) and social and environmental justice (n = 7). The majority of work was identified in nursing, medicine and public health. Competencies were most commonly embedded in existing curricula or offered as new courses or workshops. Conclusion: Incorporating environmental competencies into education programmes will serve to raise awareness of, and advance the significance of, the health sector's impact on climate change and environmental sustainability. Our findings that environmental competencies align with previously validated health-care competencies support the perspective that these competencies represent essential knowledge and skills for the health-care workforce.

The Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) has launched SPARKForAutism.org, a dynamic platform that is engaging thousands of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and connecting them to researchers. By making all data accessible, SPARK seeks to increase our understanding of ASD and accelerate new supports and treatments for ASD.

Background: This protocol outlines a scoping review with the objective of identifying and exploring planetary health considerations within existing health guidelines and health technology assessments (HTA). The insights gained from this review will serve as a basis for shaping future Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) guidance on planetary health. Methods: We will adhere to the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. We will conduct a comprehensive search and screening of results in all languages across various databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Global Health, Health Systems Evidence, Greenfile, and Environmental Issues. Additionally, we will supplement this search with resources such as the GIN library, BIGG database, Epistemonikos, GRADE guidelines repository, GRADEpro Guideline Development Tool Database, MAGICapp, NICE website, WHO websites, and a manual exploration of unpublished relevant documents using Google incognito mode. Two independent reviewers will screen and assess the full texts of identified documents according to the eligibility criteria. The following information from each full text will be extracted: document title; first author's name; publication year; language; document type; document as a guideline or HTA; the topic/discipline; document purpose/study objective; developing/sponsoring organization; the country in which the study/guideline/HTA report was conducted; definition of planetary health or related concept provided; types of planetary health experts engaged; study methods; suggested methods to assess planetary health; use of secondary data on planetary health outcomes; description for use of life cycle assessment; description for assessing the quality of life cycle; population/intended audience; interventions; category; applicable planetary health boundaries; consideration of social justice/global equity; phase of intervention in life cycle related to planetary health addressed; the measure of planetary health impact; impact on biodiversity/land use; one health/animal welfare mention; funding; and conflict of interest. Data analysis will involve a combination of descriptive statistics and directed content analysis, with results presented in a narrative format and displayed in tables and graphs. Discussion: The final review results will be submitted to open-access peer-reviewed journals for publication when they become available. The research findings will also be disseminated at relevant planetary health conferences and workshops. Systematic review registration: Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/3jmsa). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundDeletion of the recurrent ~600 kb BP4-BP5 chromosomal region 16p11.2 has been associated with a wide range of neurodevelopmental outcomes.MethodsTo clarify the phenotype of 16p11.2 deletion, we examined the psychiatric and developmental presentation of predominantly clinically referred individuals, with a particular emphasis on broader autism phenotype characteristics in individuals with recurrent ~600 kb chromosome 16p11.2 deletions. Using an extensive standardized assessment battery across three clinical sites, 85 individuals with the 16p11.2 deletion and 153 familial control subjects were evaluated for symptom presentation and clinical diagnosis.ResultsIndividuals with the 16p11.2 deletion presented with a high frequency of psychiatric and developmental disorders (>90%). The most commonly diagnosed conditions were developmental coordination disorder, phonologic processing disorder, expressive and receptive language disorders (71% of individuals >3 years old with a speech and language-related disorder), and autism spectrum disorder. Individuals with the 16p11.2 deletion not meeting diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder had a significantly higher prevalence of autism-related characteristics compared with the familial noncarrier control group. Individuals with the 16p11.2 deletion had a range of intellectual ability, but IQ scores were 26 points lower than noncarrier family members on average.ConclusionsClinically referred individuals with the 16p11.2 deletion have high rates of psychiatric and developmental disorders and provide a genetically well-defined group to study the emergence of developmental difficulties, particularly associated with the broader autism phenotype.

In the context of continuing pressures from managerialist and neoliberal drivers of university reform in Australia, Macquarie University's recent undergraduate curriculum innovation, based on "People," "Planet," and "Participation," has resulted in the embedding and integration of experiential learning in its curriculum and institutional framework. Such an approach challenges academic and administrative staff, students, and partners in industry, the community and public sector settings, to engage and collaborate across significant boundaries. This article outlines the scope and nature of the curriculum reform, then considers the way geographers have both shaped and responded to the opportunities it created. In so doing, it proposes a number of challenges and recommendations for geographers who might seek to extend their longstanding commitment to field-based learning through similar reforms. In this regard, the discipline of geography and its tendency to engage with the "field" can offer much in fostering deeply transformative learning.