Gastroparesis is an increasingly recognized disorder. Treatment can be difficult due to the several mechanisms for symptom production. Gastroparesis: Pathophysiology, Presentation and Treatment serves as a concise reference on this disorder that allows clinicians to quickly access and evaluate the necessary information for treating and managing patients with gastroparesis. Each chapter is written by experts in their respective area. The volume will enable the reader to better understand all aspects of this disorder. The book presents current concepts in a variety of areas opening with the epidemiology, clinical presentation and pathophysiology of gastroparesis. The natural history of patients is explored as well as evaluation of patients with suspected gastroparesis. This section includes chapters on Wireless Capsule Motility, Electrogastrography and Antroduodenal Manometry. This important resource concludes with a full section on treatment including dietary, prokinetic, antiemetic,sensory, electric stimulation, and surgical methods. New developments include the use of gastric electric stimulation for treatment, the use of SmartPill for diagnosis, and a number of new agents in development for this disorder. Gastroparesis: Pathophysiology, Presentation and Treatment is the ideal reference for gastroenterologists, and also for surgeons, endocrinologists, primary care physicians and nutritionists looking to keep pace with the latest information treatment options for their patients.

This issue aims to bring the busy gastroenterologist/endoscopist up to date with advances and future directions in gastrointestinal motility and functional bowel disorders. Articles include coverage of the esophagus and small bowel and attention is given to Smartpill technology. Gastric emptying and constipation are also covered in detail, with attention to role of surgery and particularly sacral nerve stimulation for fecal incontinence. The Guest Editor believes that the state-of-the-art information in this issue will allow clinicians to be on the cutting edge for the foreseeable future.

Emergency Department (ED) usage among people who are homeless is higher than in the general population; however, myths regarding people who are homeless inappropriately using the ED are present in public and scholarly discourse. Further, minimal research has investigated ED use among those who are homeless in a Canadian context, or regarding how those who are homeless understand the role of the ED in their healthcare. Study 1 explores the question of which factors predict ED use among people who are homeless in a Canadian sample. Participants (n = 483) from a local, longitudinal Housing First demonstration project consented to the linkage of their survey responses regarding housing, health and social service use to the provincial administrative health data repository. Predictor relationships were analyzed using negative binomial longitudinal mixed modelling. In the full model ED visits were positively and reliably predicted by Indigenous ancestry, high needs mental illness, pre-baseline ED use, and concurrent increased social assistance, primary care visits, ratings of physical health, substance use problems and case management visits. Study 2 addresses the question of how participants understand the role of the ED in their healthcare and day-to-day lives. A subset of participants from Study 1 were recruited (n = 16) to participate in semi-structured interviews regarding their ED stories and experiences. Interviews were analyzed using narrative analysis. Set within the context of narratives of disempowerment, participants storied the ED in differing ways. The findings indicate that participants understand the ED to be a public, accessible space where they could exert agency in obtaining necessary healthcare. ED narratives were also paradoxical, storying it as a fixed place of transient care in their transient lives; as a result, they were isolated, and yet belonged. Each study is accompanied by a discussion of the implications of their respective findings. The thesis includes a synthesis of the findings from the quantitative and qualitative studies. Overall, the findings from the combined research challenge misconceptions about the inappropriateness of ED use among people who are homeless and call for a cessation of propagating societal narratives that risk compromising the quality of their healthcare.