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AimThis paper examines HIV-infected Asian Americans' experiences with religion throughout the course of their illness and their family relationships.BackgroundAs the number of Asians in the United States continues to grow, health professionals are beginning notice obvious gaps of knowledge in caring for this population, including HIV-infected individuals. Little is known about the impact of religion and faith on Asian Americans with HIV and their families. The study focuses on the participants' reported experiences to understand the variety of roles religion can play in the progression of a highly stigmatized chronic disease.MethodsAn in-depth interview was conducted in San Francisco and New York City with 30 HIV-infected Asians. Narrative samples and summarized responses was used to highlight themes that emerged from the participants' anecdotes. Interpretive content analysis was employed.ResultsThese groups were categorized as (a) those who did not adhere to any religion, (b) those of tenuous religious faith with conflicted feelings, and (c) those of strong religious faith with congruent beliefs. Within these three groups, various themes were synthesized from the members' perceptions and past experiences with religion. Within each group, participants displayed various stages of reconciliation with their current faith-related beliefs and escape the family stress from their religion practices. Each participant's story shown the vast range of human understanding and faith experiences including self-actualization, acculturation, and depression.ConclusionsThis research provides new insight on the challenge of managing HIV-infected patients in a culturally and religiously appropriate manner.

The presence of toxic organic pollutants in aquatic environments poses significant threats to human health and global ecosystems. Photocatalysis that enables in situ production and activation of H2O2 presents a promising approach for pollutant removal; however, the processes of H2O2 production and activation potentially compete for active sites and charge carriers on the photocatalyst surface, leading to limited catalytic performance. Herein, a hierarchical 2D/2D heterojunction nanosphere composed of ultrathin BiOBr and BiOI nanosheets (BiOBr/BiOI) is developed by a one‐pot microwave‐assisted synthesis to achieve in situ H2O2 production and activation for efficient photocatalytic wastewater treatment. Various experimental and characterization results reveal that the BiOBr/BiOI heterojunction facilitates efficient electron transfer from BiOBr to BiOI, enabling the one‐step two‐electron O2 reduction for H2O2 production. Moreover, the ultrathin BiOI provides abundant active sites for H2O2 adsorption, promoting in situ H2O2 activation for •O2− generation. As a result, the BiOBr/BiOI hybrid exhibits excellent activity for pollutant degradation with an apparent rate constant of 0.141 min−1, which is 3.8 and 47.3 times that of pristine BiOBr and BiOI, respectively. This work expands the range of the materials suitable for in situ H2O2 production and activation, paving the way toward sustainable environmental remediation using solar energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Indiscriminate use of laboratory blood testing in hospitals contributes to patient discomfort and healthcare waste. Patient engagement in low‐value healthcare can help reduce overuse. Understanding patient experience is necessary to identify opportunities to improve patient engagement with in‐hospital laboratory testing. Objectives: To understand patient experience with the process of in‐hospital laboratory blood testing. Methods: We used a qualitative study design via semistructured interviews conducted online or over the phone. Participants were adult patients or family members/caregivers (≥18 years of age) with a recent (within 12 months of interview) experience of hospitalization in Alberta or British Columbia, Canada. We identified participants through convenience sampling and conducted interviews between May 2021 and June 2022. We analysed transcripts using thematic content analysis. Recruitment was continued until code saturation was reached. Results: We interviewed 16 participants (13 patients, 1 family member and 2 caregivers). We identified four themes from patients' experiences of in‐hospital laboratory blood testing: (i) patients need information from healthcare teams about expected blood testing processes, (ii) blood draw processes should consider patient comfort and preferences, (iii) patients want information from their healthcare teams about the rationale and frequency of blood testing and (iv) patients need information on how their testing results affect their medical care. Conclusion: Current laboratory testing processes in hospitals do not facilitate shared decision‐making and patient engagement. Patient engagement with laboratory testing in hospitals requires an empathetic healthcare team that provides clear communication regarding testing procedures, rationale and results, while considering patient preferences and offering opportunities for involvement. Patient or Public Contribution: We interviewed 16 patients and/or family members/caregivers regarding their in‐hospital laboratory blood testing experiences. Our findings show correlations between patient needs and patient recommendations to make testing processes more patient‐centred. To bring a lived‐experience lens to this study, we formed a Patient Advisory Council with 9–11 patient research partners. Our patient research partners informed the research design, co‐developed participant recruitment strategies, co‐conducted data collection and informed the data analysis. Some of our patient research partners are co‐authors of this manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]