Jennifer Leason | University of Calgary (original) (raw)

Papers by Jennifer Leason

Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada

Introduction Substance-related acute toxicity deaths continue to be a serious public health conce... more Introduction Substance-related acute toxicity deaths continue to be a serious public health concern in Canada. This study explored coroner and medical examiner (C/ME) perspectives of contextual risk factors and characteristics associated with deaths from acute toxic effects of opioids and other illegal substances in Canada. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted with 36 C/MEs in eight provinces and territories between December 2017 and February 2018. Interview audio recordings were transcribed and coded for key themes using thematic analysis. Results Four themes described the perspectives of C/MEs: (1) Who is experiencing a substance-related acute toxicity death?; (2) Who is present at the time of death?;(3) Why are people experiencing an acute toxicity death?; (4) What are the social contextual factors contributing to deaths? Deaths crossed demographic and socioeconomic groups and included people who used substances on occasion, chronically, or for the first time. Using alone p...

Promotion de la santé et prévention des maladies chroniques au Canada

Introduction Les décès par intoxication aigüe liée à une substance demeurent un important problèm... more Introduction Les décès par intoxication aigüe liée à une substance demeurent un important problème de santé publique au Canada. Cette étude explore les points de vue des coroners et des médecins légistes concernant les facteurs de risque contextuels et les caractéristiques associés aux décès causés par les effets toxiques aigus d’opioïdes et d’autres substances illégales au Canada. Méthodologie Des entrevues approfondies ont été réalisées avec 36 coroners et médecins légistes de huit provinces et territoires entre décembre 2017 et février 2018. Les enregistrements audio des entrevues ont été transcrits et codés par thèmes clés à l’aide d’une analyse thématique. Résultats Quatre thèmes permettent de décrire les points de vue des coroners et médecins légistes : 1) Qui sont les personnes victimes d’un décès par intoxication aigüe liée à une substance? 2) Qui sont les personnes présentes au moment du décès? 3) Pourquoi des personnes décèdent‑elles des suites d’une intoxication aigüe? 4)...

The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

To the Editor: We read O'Hara's 1 commentary on the recent article by Amani et al 2 with interest... more To the Editor: We read O'Hara's 1 commentary on the recent article by Amani et al 2 with interest and agree with the author's review outlining the effectiveness of peer-delivered psychotherapy. However, we challenge the conclusion by Dr O'Hara that it is "not yet" time for peer-delivered psychotherapy for postpartum depression. Safe interaction with the health care system is a privilege that numerous people do not receive. There are accessibility barriers to perinatal mental health care, which are exacerbated among many equity-deserving communities. 3 For many individuals from marginalized groups, seeking mental health care has led to more harm than benefit (for example, infant/child apprehension). 4 For people who have a deep distrust of health systems, due to historical and ongoing trauma, peer support may be the safest and most culturally appropriate way to receive evidence-based services. We strongly disagree with O'Hara's "not yet" conclusion and instead advocate that the time is now to face the growing treatment gap for perinatal populations. Dr O'Hara asks, "But do women really want minimally trained former sufferers delivering psychotherapy-is it ethical? Is it sustainable?" We respond by asking, "Is it ethical to deny perinatal women effective interventions?" There will never be enough specialist providers to address the treatment gap for perinatal depression, and, as O'Hara points out, there is evidence worldwide in support of peer-delivered psychotherapy. 5,6 As clinicians and researchers, it is our ethical and moral responsibility to provide perinatal women with effective interventions, and peer-delivered psychotherapy offers one patient-centered and cost-effective solution. In our patient-oriented research, participants with perinatal depression have indicated overwhelming support for this modality of therapy (Singla et al 7 and K. Chaput, PhD; M. Vekved, BSc; S. McDonald, PhD, et al, manuscript submitted). Further, because mental health clinicians and researchers are often in places of privilege, we should endeavor to collaborate with women with lived experience and their communities to ensure that their voices are the primary drivers of new directions in evidencebased practice. 8 With burgeoning health care costs and rates of mental health problems, is keeping evidence-based intervention in the hands of doctoral-level psychologists sustainable when much lesser trained individuals can deliver them with therapeutic impact? Acting as a peer could be protective with respect to both clients' and peers' well-being and a form of empowerment, 9 making such a model particularly sustainable. Second, O'Hara asks, "It is the case that there is a significant shortage of trained mental health professionals. But should peers be the ones to fill the gap?" Sustainable models of peer-led supervision among multiple cadres of nonspecialist providers have been shown to be acceptable and feasible in low-resource settings. 5,7 We believe that peers should be paid for their work, in the same way that any other health care provider is compensated, and that peer support can be embedded into systems of support that can help to manage and mitigate crises as they arise. Rather than questioning the growing evidence of whether peers can deliver psychotherapy, the key question is how to overcome professional guilds and build a collaborative, stepped-care system that incorporates these patientcentered models. We acknowledge that the authorship team and our views are influenced by a feminist lens and expertise in perinatal mental health and peer support, grounded in lived experience, and guided by a deep respect for social justice and Indigenous ways of knowing. We ask for trust that these peer workers are quite capable and deserving of making the best "use of [their] talents, " to paraphrase O'Hara. People suffering from depression deserve the choice of available good medicines.

Canadian Family Physician

<sec> <title>BACKGROUND</title> Pregnancy is associated with an increa... more <sec> <title>BACKGROUND</title> Pregnancy is associated with an increased risk for depression, anxiety and insomnia. eHealth interventions provide a promising and accessible treatment alternative to face-to-face intervention. </sec> <sec> <title>OBJECTIVE</title> The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the effectiveness of eHealth interventions to prevent and/or treat depression, anxiety and insomnia during pregnancy. Secondary aims were to identify demographic and intervention moderators of effectiveness. </sec> <sec> <title>METHODS</title> Five databases (PsycINFO, Medline, CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane) were searched from inception to May 2021. Terms related to eHealth, pregnancy, randomized controlled trials, depression, anxiety, and insomnia were included. RCTs were included if they reported (a) an eHealth intervention for (b) the prevention or treatment of depression, anxiety or insomnia (c) in pregnant women. Study screening, data extractions and quality assessment were conducted independently by two reviewers. Random effects meta-analyses of pooled effect sizes were conducted to determine the effect of eHealth interventions on prenatal mental health. Meta-regression analyses were conducted to identify potential moderators. </sec> <sec> <title>RESULTS</title> In total, 17 studies were included in the current review that assessed changes in depression (11), anxiety (n=10), and insomnia (n=3). Several studies included both depression and anxiety symptoms as outcomes (n=7). The results indicated that during pregnancy, eHealth interventions showed small effect sizes for preventing and treating symptoms of anxiety and depression and a moderate effect size for treating symptoms of insomnia. With the exception of intervention type for the outcome of depressive symptoms, where Mindfulness interventions outperformed other intervention types, no significant moderators were detected. </sec> <sec> <title>CONCLUSIONS</title> eHealth interventions are an accessible and promising resource for treating symptoms of anxiety, depression and insomnia during pregnancy. However, more research is necessary to identify ways to increase the efficacy of eHealth interventions for this population. </sec> <sec> <title>CLINICALTRIAL</title> The study was registered with PROSPERO through the University of York Center for Reviews and Dissemination (Registration No. CRD42020205186). </sec>

Behavioral Neuroscience, 2002

When navigating, women typically focus on landmarks within the environment, whereas men tend to f... more When navigating, women typically focus on landmarks within the environment, whereas men tend to focus on the Euclidean properties of the environment. However, it is unclear whether these observed differences in navigational skill result from disparate strategies or disparate ability. To remove this confound, the present study required participants to follow either landmark-or Euclidean-based instructions during a navigation task (either in the real-world or on paper). Men performed best when using Euclidean information, whereas women performed best when using landmark information, suggesting a dimorphic capacity to use these 2 types of spatial information. Further, a significant correlation was observed between the mental rotation task and the ability to use Euclidean information, but not the ability to use landmark information.

Indigenous women's experiences during pregnancy, birth and the early months of parenthood are imp... more Indigenous women's experiences during pregnancy, birth and the early months of parenthood are important to understand their strengths, gaps, needs, priorities and barriers in order to address maternal and child health disparities. Despite clear evidence on how social determinants of health influence health, there is limited research that includes the perspectives and experiences of Indigenous women. The purpose of my research was to explore Indigenous women's maternity experiences. An interdisciplinary theoretical perspective that includes decolonized and Indigenous methodology, social determinants of health theory, critical medical anthropology, and feminist scholarship informs my research. I conducted an analysis of Indigenous women's (N=410) responses to the Canadian Maternity Experiences Survey (PHAC 2009), followed by ethnographic research with ten Indigenous mothers in the Okanagan Valley, BC. Individual indepth interviews and participant-observations were analyzed using thematic content analysis, which is organized into proximal, intermediate and distal contexts of Indigenous women's maternity experiences. The aim of my research was to expand upon my MES findings and to explore the complex context of Indigenous women's maternity experiences and to understand why they experience higher frequency of stressors, violence and postpartum depression. Each woman's maternity experience is shaped by her unique circumstance. My findings suggest that Indigenous women's maternity experiences are embedded within their historical, social and cultural experiences, thus illustrating the importance of addressing and alleviating social determinants of health. My research highlights and contextualizes Indigenous women's narratives of stress, barriers and experiences of accessing maternity healthcare, the impacts of colonization, and concludes with Indigenous women's strength and resiliency as women warriors. My dissertation iv contributes to expanding research on Indigenous women's maternity experiences as a way of moving forward for culturally safe and improved maternal-child health, healthcare and maternity research.

In the age of big data, the amount of data that people generate and use on a daily basis has far ... more In the age of big data, the amount of data that people generate and use on a daily basis has far exceeded the storage and processing capabilities of a single computer system. That motivates the use of distributed big data storage and processing system such as Hadoop. It provides a reliable, horizontallyscalable, fault-tolerant and efficient service, based on the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) and MapReduce. The purpose of this research is to experimentally determine whether (and to what extent) the network communication speed, the file replication factor, the files' sizes and their number, and the location of the HDFS client influence the performance of the HDFS read/write operations.

BACKGROUND: The marginalization of Indigenous women in Canada has resulted in adverse pregnancy a... more BACKGROUND: The marginalization of Indigenous women in Canada has resulted in adverse pregnancy and infant health outcomes. While the epidemiological research focuses on statistical evidence, it fails to address the context and underlying causes, including social determinants of health. Despite clear evidence on how social determinants influence health, there is limited research on Indigenous women’s perspectives and experiences. Indigenous women’s narratives during pregnancy, birth and the early months of parenthood are critical to understand the underlying causes and proposed solutions. This research demonstrates how Indigenous women’s maternity experiences are embedded within their historical, social and cultural experiences, thus explaining the importance of addressing contexts related to social determinants of health. METHODS: Through an Indigenous and decolonized lens, maternity narratives from ten in-depth interviews were conducted with Indigenous birth mothers in British Co...

International Journal of Indigenous Health

This doctoral research highlights Indigenous women’s experiences of stress and postpartum depress... more This doctoral research highlights Indigenous women’s experiences of stress and postpartum depression (PPD) through secondary quantitative analysis of the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Canadian Maternity Experiences Survey (2009) and qualitative Indigenous maternity narratives. Indigenous women’s responses to the survey demonstrate that Indigenous women experience 1.9 times higher odds of PPD and are 1.5 times as likely to be diagnosed with depression prior to pregnancy, compared to Canadian women. Indigenous women are also 1.3 times as likely to experience higher levels of stress and 3.3 times as likely to experience three or more stressful life events. While the survey demonstrates higher rates of stress and PPD, it is not culturally or contextually relevant. Therefore, Indigenous maternity narratives from 10 Indigenous mothers in 2015 further contextualize experiences of stress and PPD to include narratives related to adverse social determinants of health and impacts of colonia...

Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada

Promotion de la santé et prévention des maladies chroniques au Canada

The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

Canadian Family Physician

Behavioral Neuroscience, 2002

International Journal of Indigenous Health