Considers how family and professional carers can work together more effectively in order to provide the highest quality of care to people who need support in order to remain in their own homes. Adopting a temporal perspective, this book looks at key transitions in caregiving and is useful for health care students and professionals

Considers how family and professional carers can work together more effectively in order to provide the highest quality of care to people who need support in order to remain in their own homes. Adopting a temporal perspective, this book looks at key transitions in caregiving and is useful for health care students and professionals.

http://Considers how family and professional carers can work together more effectively in order to provide the highest quality of care to people who need support in order to remain in their own homes. Adopting a temporal perspective, this book looks at key transitions in caregiving and is useful for health care students and professionals

Considers how family and professional carers can work together more effectively in order to provide the highest quality of care to people who need support in order to remain in their own homes. Adopting a temporal perspective, this book looks at key transitions in caregiving and is useful for health care students and professionals

Considers how family and professional carers can work together more effectively in order to provide the highest quality of care to people who need support in order to remain in their own homes. Adopting a temporal perspective, this book looks at key transitions in caregiving and is useful for health care students and professionals

Two common complaints related to diabetes mellitus are oral dryness (xerostomia) and peripheral neuropathy (PN) and there is some evidence of a relationship between them. Therefore, we formulated a hypothesis that type 2 diabetic subjects with xerostomia in our study also exhibited PN. The study included 102 randomly sampled type 2 diabetic patients from a healthcare district in mid-Sweden. Besides clinical and X-ray examinations, patients were asked whether they experienced oral dryness. PN was defined through thorough foot examination and the use of a modified neuropathy symptom score (NSS) and neuropathy disability score (NDS). Other diabetes-related variables were extracted from medical records. More than half of the individuals (53.5%) reported oral dryness and 23.8% were diagnosed with PN. None of the variables in a stepwise regression analysis could explain the variance in oral dryness, besides "pain in the legs," which contributed with 5% to the explanation. Our hypothesis that type 2 diabetic subjects with xerostomia also were affected with PN could not be verified in this study, but the results must be interpreted with caution as relatively few subjects were affected with both oral dryness and PN (13.8%). Further and larger controlled studies are needed before the hypothesis can be definitely rejected. Despite our incomplete understanding about the relation between oral dryness and PN, professionals in oral health as well as in primary health have to strive for increased knowledge in this field. ⌐ 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Considers how family and professional carers can work together more effectively in order to provide the highest quality of care to people who need support in order to remain in their own homes. Adopting a temporal perspective, this book looks at key transitions in caregiving and is useful for health care students and professionals

Aims of the study. To investigate self-reported health in adult Tanzanian and Swedish diabetic patients in relation to the general population in the two countries and to investigate whether diabetic patients with poor glycaemic control also rated their self-reported health to be impaired. Design/methods. The study design was cross-sectional and comparative. One hundred and fifty Tanzanian patients were age-and gender-matched with Swedish diabetic patients. Self-reported health was measured using the generic SF-36 health questionnaire, measuring eight different health domains. Glycaemic control was measured by testing glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c). Results. The main results were that Tanzanian diabetic patients had poorer health in comparison with general Tanzanian population living in the same geographical area. In contrast, diabetic patients in Sweden did not markedly differ from the Swedish general population. Furthermore, Tanzanian patients had poorer glycaemic control. In both countries poor glycaemic control did not associate with impaired self-reported health, with one exception. Tanzanian patients with unsatisfactory or poor glycaemic control had significantly poorer reported health in the mental health domain. Conclusions. The results indicated that patients' health should be assessed using a specific health measure in addition to general medical measures.

The purpose of this study was to investigate normal body temperature in adult men and women. A systematic review of data was performed. Searches were carried out in MEDLINE, CINAHL, and manually from identified articles reference lists. Studies from 1935 to 1999 were included. Articles were classified as (1) strong, (2) fairly strong and (3) weak evidence. When summarizing studies with strong or fairly strong evidence the range for oral temperature was 33.2-38.2░C, rectal: 34.4-37.8░C, tympanic: 35.4-37.8░C and axillary: 35.5-37.0░C. The range in oral temperature for men and women, respectively, was 35.7-37.7 and 33.2-38.1░C, in rectal 36.7-37.5 and 36.8-37.1░C, and in tympanic 35.5-37.5 and 35.7-37.5░C. The ranges of normal body temperature need to be adjusted, especially for the lower values. When assessing body temperature it is important to take place of measurement and gender into consideration. Studies with random samples are needed to confirm the range of normal body temperature with respect to gender and age.

Aim. To examine the relationship between sustained work with quality improvement (QI) and factors related to research utilization in a group of nurses. Design. The study was designed as a comparative survey that included 220 nurses from various health care organizations in Sweden. These nurses had participated in uniformly designed 4-day basic training courses to manage a method for QI. Method. A validated questionnaire covering different aspects of research utilization was employed. The response rate was 70% (154 of 220). Nurses in managerial positions at the departmental level were excluded. Therefore, the final sample consisted of 119 respondents. Four years after the training courses, 39% were still involved in audit-related activities, while 61% reported that they had discontinued the QI work (missing = 1). Results. Most nurses (80-90%) had a positive attitude to research. Those who had continued the QI work over a 4-year period reported more activity in searching research literature compared with those who had discontinued the QI work (P = 0.005). The QI-sustainable nurses also reported more frequent participation in research-related activities, particularly in implementing specific research findings in practice (P = 0.001). Some contextual differences were reported: the QI-sustainable nurses were more likely to obtain support from their chief executive (P = 0.001), consultation from a skilled researcher (P = 0.005) and statistical support (P = 0.001). Within the broader health care organization, the existence of a research committee and a research and development strategy, as well as access to research assistant staff, had a tendency to be more common for nurses who had continued the QI work. Conclusion. Sustainability in QI work was significantly related to supportive leadership, facilitative human resources, increased activity in seeking new research and enhanced implementation of research findings in clinical practice. It appears that these factors constitute a necessary prerequisite for professional development and the establishment of evidence-based practice.

Due to the large group of patients with advanced testicular cancer now being cured, it is important to identify the men who are at risk of deteriorated health. The purposes of this study were: (1) to delineate and compare frequency of self-perceived physical, psychologic, and general symptoms in men treated for testicular cancer with those of a general population sample and (2) to compare self-perceived physical, psychologic, and general symptoms in relation to secondary Raynaud phenomena, sexual dysfunction, infertility, and self-perceived attractiveness in different treatment modalities. The subjects were 277 survivors of testicular cancer (M = 42.2 years) who had completed a self-reported questionnaire (75.5% response rate). A population survey comprising 392 men was used as a comparison group (M = 45 years). The result demonstrated that although survivors of testicular cancer as a group reported significantly less frequency of backache, leg pain, cough, and eye problems than did the general population sample, they described that they significantly more often felt cold. Men reporting secondary Raynaud phenomena, infertility, and/or feeling less attractive had experienced significantly more self-perceived symptoms. Oncologist nurses could play an important role in psychologic counseling for those men.

Objective: To evaluate a strategy for supporting nurses to work with quality improvement (QI). Design: Post-intervention evaluation. Study participants and intervention: 240 nurses participated in a uniformly designed 4 day basic training course in applying a model for QI. Of these, 156 nurses from over 50 healthcare institutions constituted the generic education (GE) group while 84 nurses from 42 neonatal units took part in a project to develop national guidelines, constituting the targeted intervention (TI) group. Method: Postal questionnaire 4 years after the training courses. Results: The response rate was 80% in the TI group and 64% in the GE group. Nurses in the TI group had a significantly higher rate in completing all phases of the QI cycle (p=O.O002). With no differences between the groups, 39% of ali nurses were still involved in QI work 4 years after the training courses. Three factors were significantly related to nurses continuing their involvement in QI projects: remaining employed on the same unit (OR 11.3), taking courses in nursing science (OR 4.1), and maintenance of the same QI model (OR 3.1). Reported motives for remaining active in QI work were the enhancement of knowledge, influence over clinical practice, and development as a nurse. Reasons for discontinuation were organisational restructuring, a lack of facilitation and knowledge, and change of workplace. Conclusions: Participation in a national guideline project, including a common focus for improvement, facilitation and opportunities for networking, seems to have enhanced the ability to carry out the process of QI, but not to sustain the QI work over a longer period.