Browse Items (88 total)

Hospices were founded to alleviate suffering at the end of life. Quality improvement in hospices should, therefore, target patients' subjective assessments of their care and its outcomes. However, little is known about the relationships among…

OBJECTIVE: To derive prognostic data for survival and clinical improvement in children with severe developmental disabilities. STUDY DESIGN: A 13-year follow-up study of several cohorts of children initially evaluated before their first birthday. The…

This review centers on important recent advances in the understanding of the role of glial fibrillary acidic protein in Alexander disease and of proteolipid protein in hypomyelinating disorders such as Pelizaeus-Merzbacher and spastic paraplegia. We…

We investigated the contractile mechanisms of action of three putative gastroprokinetic agents (cisapride, metoclopramide, and domperidone) on the linear phase of gastroduodenal emptying of solid meals in six healthy conscious dogs. The spatial and…

Growth failure and nutritional status were evaluated in 142 children with quadriplegic cerebral palsy, aged between two and 18 years. Linear growth was assessed by upper-arm and lower-leg lengths: both means were significantly reduced. Mean…

OBJECTIVES: The authors evaluate a measure of the validity of utility elicitations and study the potential effects of invalid elicitations on population utility values. METHODS: The authors used a computerized survey to describe and measure…

Recently, researchers in several different fields have discovered that people who have experienced seriously adverse events frequently report that they were positively changed by the experience. Respondents in these studies typically have reported a…

This multivariate study examined the relationship between meaning in caregiving--positive beliefs about the caregiving situation and the self as caregiver--and the psychological well-being of 131 informal caregivers to community-residing frail…

It is currently believed that effective intervention programs can reduce the negative consequences of stressful life events. The purpose of this paper is to describe a three-step process used to develop a theory-based preventive intervention for…

It is becoming increasingly evident that nutrition is not only an important component of health but also that levels of specific nutrients can affect disease expression. This is particularly apparent in the realm of HIV disease. Despite this…

This study used the following model of distress: Distress = [Exposure to Stress + Vulnerability]/[Psychological and Social Resources]. The constructs in the model were operationalized as (a) distress in response to caregiver experiences (burden); (b)…

The purpose of this study was to examine whether appraisals of desirable and undesirable effects of military service mediated the effect of combat stress on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in later life in 1,287 male veterans, aged…

Although personal resources of caregivers, such as coping skills and social support, have been shown to be important in understanding caregiver stress and health outcomes, personality traits have not previously been considered. The purpose of this…

For nearly a century, bereavement theorists have assumed that recovery from loss requires a period of grief work in which the ultimate goal is the severing of the attachment bond to the deceased. Reviews appearing in the 1980s noted a surprising…

Prebereavement predictors of the course of postbereavement depressive mood were examined in 110 gay men who were their partner's caregiver until the partner's death of AIDS. In all, 37 HIV+ and 73 HIV- bereaved caregiving partners were assessed…

Research on dispositional optimism as assessed by the Life Orientation Test (Scheier & Carver, 1985) has been challenged on the grounds that effects attributed to optimism are indistinguishable from those of unmeasured third variables, most notably,…

The effectiveness of analgesia during sickle cell crisis was examined in this descriptive, exploratory study. Pain scores (using the African-American Oucher and the Adolescent Pediatric Pain Tool) and analgesics administered were examined during a…

This study examined the differences in the prescription and administration of analgesics in eight pediatric specialty units. Medical records of patients (n = 153) who were reported by nurses to be having pain were reviewed. Results showed that there…

The effectiveness of systemic lidocaine in relieving acute and chronic pain has been recognized for over 35 years. In particular, systemic lidocaine has been utilized both as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool for intractable neuropathic pain during…

Providing care to a spouse or partner who is dying and then losing that person are among the most stressful of human experiences. A longitudinal study of the caregiving partners of men with AIDS showed that in addition to intense negative…

BACKGROUND: Despite the growing availability of advance directives, most patients in the intensive care unit lack written directives, and, therefore, consultation with families about treatment decisions remains the rule. In the context of decision…

Since the founding of the first hospice in the United States in 1974, the number of health care organizations providing hospice services has grown rapidly. In 1978, the U.S. General Accounting Office identified 59 operational hospices [1]. A survey…

Records on recovery after cholecystectomy of patients in a suburban Pennsylvania hospital between 1972 and 1981 were examined to determine whether assignment to a room with a window view of a natural setting might have restorative influences.…

Results of a longitudinal study of the effects of bereaved parents' participation in a self-help group and in psychotherapy are presented. Active self-help group participants evidenced unique changes in attitudes about bereavement. Reasons for lack…

War's influence on emotional health includes potential psychological gains as well as losses. In a sample of 149 veterans from longitudinal samples at the Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley, this study explores two…

Contrasting predictors of depression among 101 men and 214 women providing care to spouses suffering from Alzheimer's Disease indicated that the sole predictor for husbands was ill health, whereas for wives less emotional investment was also…

Existing empirical literature on the prolonged or cumulative consequences of exposure to the stresses of caregiving is reviewed. Specific goals are to identify psychiatric and physical morbidity effects, report the magnitude of those effects,…

We investigated how variations in the way information is presented to patients influence their choices between alternative therapies. Data were presented summarizing the results of surgery and radiation therapy for lung cancer to 238 ambulatory…

The question of suffering and its relation to organic illness has rarely been addressed in the medical literature. This article offers a description of the nature and causes of suffering in patients undergoing medical treatment. A distinction based…

Twenty-four families who had participated in a Home Care Program for children terminally ill with cancer and 13 families of similar children who had died in the hospital completed inventories on parent and sibling personality as well as family…

Predicting survival and disclosing the prediction to patients with advanced disease, particularly cancer, is among the most difficult tasks that physicians face. With the de-emphasis of prognosis in favor of diagnosis and therapeutics in the medical…

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