Objectives: To determine the facilitators and barriers influencing healthy eating behaviours among aged Chinese-Canadians with hypertension. Methods: After attending five weeks of dietary educational training (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension with Sodium (Na) Reduction for Chinese Canadians; DASHNa-CC), 30 aged Chinese-Canadian participants partook in a telephone interview. Participants were asked to name three facilitators and three barriers that influenced their ability to follow the DASHNa-CC intervention. Telephone transcripts were then analyzed and coded using computer software and categorized into personal, familial, community, and societal facilitators or barriers. Results: Personal factors included health problems, motivation, effects of healthy diet, health-related careers, and dietary habits. Family factors included family structure, support from family members, and critical health events involving family members or relatives. Community factors consisted of educational materials, friends, primary care physicians, and online social networks. Societal factors included accessibility to grocery stores and restaurants. Conclusions: Aged Chinese-Canadian immigrants experience unique facilitators of and barriers to healthy eating, which may warrant further attention from healthcare professionals when educating patients in a culturally-sensitive manner.

Despite the lack of English literature about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) food therapy, there is abundant Chinese literature about the application of food therapy for hypertension control. This paper summarizes basic concepts of TCM, the principles of food therapy and its application for hypertension control according to Chinese literature. In TCM, food is conceptualized according to both nutritional and functional aspects, and can be used to treat illnesses. Four principles of TCM food therapy including light eating, balancing the "hot" and "cold" nature of food, the harmony of the five flavors of food, and consistency between dietary intake and different health conditions, can be used to facilitate hypertension control. Based on a statistical analysis of antihypertensive foods recommended in 20 books on the application of food therapy for hypertension control, the 38 most frequently recommended are celery, tomato, banana, hawthorn, garlic, onion, seaweed, apple, corn, green beans, persimmon, laver, kiwi, watermelon, eggplant, carrots, mushroom, peanut, soy products, sea cucumber, buckwheat, garland chrysanthemum, spinach, honey, dairy products, vinegar, black fungus, jellyfish, green onion, shepherd's purse, soybean, potato, pear, winter melon, bitter melon, oat, pea, and tea. Food therapy emphasizes the therapeutic effects of food, considering its nature, taste, and function on human balanced health, which leads to optimal blood pressure control. Current literature suggests that food therapy is effective in blood pressure control and can be incorporated into blood pressure self-management in the Chinese population.

Background: Limited work has been done to explain how work-family conflict is related to anxiety symptoms and the roles of emotional exhaustion and social support may play. Methods: Based on a sample of 764 female nurses and physicians, a model was tested in which emotional exhaustion served as a mediator and social support was regarded as a moderator between work-family conflict and anxiety symptoms. Results: This current study supported a moderated mediation model where the relationship between work-family conflict and anxiety symptoms via emotional exhaustion was weakest for female medical staff who reported high levels of social support. Conclusions: This study contribute to providing an understanding of how and when work-family conflict affects anxiety symptoms. The results implicate a wide range of interventions aimed at promoting mental wellbeing among female medical staff for policymakers and individuals.

Background: Social support can be a critical resource to help medical staff cope with stressful events; however, the moderating effect of social support on the relationship between burnout and anxiety symptoms has not yet been explored. Methods: The final sample was comprised of 514 intensive care unit physicians and nurses in this cross-sectional study. Questionnaires were used to collect data. A moderated model was used to test the effect of social support. Results: The moderating effect of social support was found to be significant (b = − 0.06, p = 0.04, 95%CI [− 0.12, − 0.01]). The Johnson-Neyman technique indicated that when social support scores were above 4.26 among intensive care unit medical staff, burnout was not related to anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: This is the first study to test the moderating effect of social support on the relationship between burnout and anxiety symptoms among intensive care unit staff.

ObjectivesHigh levels of organisational citizenship behaviour can enable nurses to cooperate with coworkers effectively to provide a high quality of nursing care during the outbreak of COVID-19. However, the association between autonomy, optimism, work engagement and organisational citizenship behaviour remains largely unexplored. This study aimed to test if the effect of autonomy on organisational citizenship behaviour through the mediating effects of optimism and work engagement.Study designThis was a cross-sectional study.SettingThe study was conducted in the Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital in China.ParticipantsIn total, 242 nurses who came from multiple areas of China to work at the Wuhan Jinyintan hospital during the COVID-19 epidemic participated in this study.MethodsA serial mediation model (model 6) of the PROCESS macro in SPSS was adopted to test the hypotheses, and a 95% CI for the indirect effects was constructed by using Bootstrapping.ResultsThe autonomy–organisational citizenship behaviour relationship was mediated by optimism and work engagement, respectively. In addition, optimism and work engagement mediated this relationship serially.ConclusionThe findings of this study may have implications for improving organisational citizenship behaviour. The effects of optimism and work engagement suggest a potential mechanism of action for the autonomy–organisational citizenship behaviour linkage. A multifaceted intervention targeting organisational citizenship behaviour through optimism and work engagement may help improve the quality of nursing care among nurses supporting patients with COVID-19.

Background: South Asian immigrant women make up the largest visible minority in Canada, where visible minorities include persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour, and approximately half of these women are above the age of 35. Few studies have investigated the factors that impact the midlife transition for these women. This study aims to identify the facilitators and barriers experienced by South Asian immigrant women during the midlife transition. Methods: Two focus groups and ten one-on-one interviews about the midlife transition were held with South Asian first-generation immigrant women in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada; discussions were analyzed thematically. Findings: Personal facilitators to the midlife transition included being employed and possessing adequate life skills. Personal barriers consisted of financial strain, overwhelming demands, and limited life skills. Familial facilitators were stable financial status and support. Familial barriers included limited understanding and support and high expectations. Community facilitators included a close social circle and adequate healthcare. Community barriers were limited social support and cultural expectations. Fair and respectful societies were a facilitator, whereas inadequate policy support and acculturative stress were societal barriers. An environmental barrier was the colder Canadian climate. Discussion: Employment and education programs for South Asian immigrant women need to be prioritized to help them integrate into society. Family-centred assessment and education can improve familial support. Communities need to foster peer support groups and culturally sensitive healthcare. Social and employment policies should accommodate the midlife transition. Conclusion: South Asian immigrant women experience unique facilitators and barriers to their midlife transition that should be considered by healthcare providers, policymakers and society to support them.

Immigrant women are less likely to be physically active and face many barriers to participation in physical activity. This systematic review aims to identify the influencing factors and adaption approaches of physical activity interventions among midlife immigrant women. A systematic literature search was performed using various databases, such as MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL, in February 2021. Studies were included if they investigated midlife immigrant women participating in physical activity interventions and were published in an English peer-reviewed journal in or after 2000. Twenty-two papers were included in this review. Guided by the Ecosocial theory, thematic analysis was utilized for data analysis. Among midlife immigrant women, influencing factors associated with physical activity participation included individual factors (a lack of time, current health status, motivation, and a lack of proficiency in various life skills), familial factors (familial support and seasonality), and community factors (social support and neighbourhood environment). The appropriate adaptation of physical activity interventions included adjustments in language, physical activity intensity, physical activity duration, logistical intervention adjustments and other potential technology-based adjustments. The findings can inform community stakeholders, healthcare professionals and researchers to design appropriate physical activity interventions that meet the needs of midlife immigrant women and improve their health outcomes.

Strategies for immigrant health education must be technologically diverse, involve partnerships with multidisciplinary professionals, elicit active community participation, and facilitate language transfer and interpretation. Future research must continue to explore these barriers and strategies, using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.