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Young people transitioning from out-of-home care are globally regarded as a vulnerable group due to traumatic experiences pre-care and within the out-of-home care system, stigmatisation by the wider community, and limited and ineffective support beyond 18 years of age. Yet, many care leavers overcome this adversity to achieve positive life outcomes post-care. This exploratory qualitative study examines the views of a small group of care leavers and foster carers within Victoria on the key factors that influenced positive transition outcomes. Particular attention is drawn to the importance of ongoing support from a close relationship with a trusted adult, a sense of belonging within a placement or extended family or community, the value of advocacy by care leavers and their key support persons, and a connected autonomy beyond 18 years which allowed care leavers to assert their independence without losing their "safety net" of support. These findings are highly relevant to policy makers given the recent introduction of extended care until 21 years for care leavers in Victoria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firearms account for approximately half of all suicides in the United States and are highly lethal, widely available, and popular; thus, are an ideal candidate for targeted means safety interventions. However, despite their value as a suicide prevention tool, firearm means safety strategies are not widely utilized, possibly due to factors which impede openness to their use. This study examines the relationship between region, political beliefs, and openness to firearm means safety in a sample of 300 American firearm owners. Overall, firearm owners were more willing to engage in means safety for others than for themselves and to store firearms safely than temporarily remove them from the home. Social policy views and region were significantly associated with openness to firearm means safety measures, however, economic policy views were not. This study provides further context for the development and implementation of efficacious means safety measures capable of overcoming potential barriers to their use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extant literature provides evidence for the frequent use and lethality of firearms in suicide and the ability of means safety measures to prevent suicides; however, little evidence exists to provide an understanding of the characteristics that differentiate suicide decedents who die by firearm from those who die by other methods. In this study, we build on prior findings regarding the characteristics of those who die by firearms by examining the relationship between social and economic policy views and both firearm ownership and death by firearm in a sample of 160 American suicide decedents. We hypothesized that individuals with more conservative social and economic policy views would have higher rates of firearm ownership and would be more likely to die by firearm than would individuals with more liberal social and economic policy views. Furthermore, we hypothesized that differences in the likelihood of dying by a firearm would be accounted for by firearm ownership, providing preliminary evidence for a specific mechanism through which risk for death by firearm is conferred. As expected, suicide decedents with conservative social and economic policy views owned firearms at higher rates than did decedents with moderate or liberal views. The use of a firearm, the most common method across all decedents, was higher in individuals with conservative policy views. These results represent a novel angle from which to consider the importance of means safety efforts focused on firearm ownership and storage and limit concerns that firearm specific suicide research has relied too heavily on samples that are not representative of typical American suicide decedents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Women who continue to smoke during pregnancy are at risk of smoking-related diseases, maternity complications and expose the foetus to risks of perinatal mortality and morbidity. The number of women smoking at the time of delivery is estimated at 13.5% in England and 15.8% in the West Midlands. However, the prevalence can be elevated in certain areas, such as north Solihull.Aims: This research consults past, current and non-users of specialist smoking cessation services and reports pregnant women's views of smoking cessation delivery and potential service developments.Methods: Focus groups were conducted with 19 participants with experience of prenatal smoking.Findings: Data was analysed using thematic analysis. The main themes included: (1) improving access to clear, sensitive information on smoking and pregnancy; (2) perceptions of existing services; (3) improving current services: the right delivery and the right person; and (4) encouraging participation of pregnant smokers.Conclusions: In this area, pregnant smokers wanted easily-accessible, empathetic, non-judgemental and flexible support more than incentives or rewards to quit smoking. They also stated a preference for group cessation support as they believed that peer support would be advantageous. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]