scholarly journals Online Training in Specific Meditation Practices Improves Gratitude, Well-Being, Self-Compassion, and Confidence in Providing Compassionate Care Among Health Professionals

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nisha Rao ◽  
Kathi J. Kemper

Mind-body practices that intentionally generate positive emotion could improve health professionals’ well-being and compassion. However, the feasibility and impact of clinician training in these practices is unknown. Data were analyzed from 3 online modules offered to health professionals: ( a) Gratitude, ( b) Positive Word, and ( c) Loving-kindness/Compassion meditation. Paired t tests were used to assess pre- to posttraining changes in gratitude (Gratitude Questionnaire), well-being (World Health Organization Well-Being Index), self-compassion (Neff’s Self-Compassion Scale), and confidence in providing compassionate care (Confidence in Providing Calm, Compassionate Care Scale). The 177 enrollees included diverse practitioners (nurses, physicians, social workers, and others). Training was associated with statistically significant improvements in gratitude (38.3 ± 4.6 to 39.5 ± 3.3), well-being (16.4 ± 4.0 to 17.9 ± 4.2), self-compassion (39.5 ± 8.1 to 43.1 ± 7.6), and confidence in providing compassionate care (73.3 ± 16.4 to 80.9 ± 13.8; P < .001 for all comparisons). Brief, online training appeals to diverse health professionals and improves their gratitude, well-being, self-compassion, and confidence in providing compassionate care.

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 696-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathi J. Kemper ◽  
Nisha Rao ◽  
Gregg Gascon ◽  
John D. Mahan

Background. There is a high rate of burnout among health professionals, driving diverse attempts to promote resilience and well-being to counter this trend. The purpose of this project was to assess the dose-response relationship between the number of hours of online mind-body skills training for health professionals and relevant outcomes a year later. Methods. Among 1438 registrants for online training (including up to 12 hours of training on mind-body practices) between December 2013 and November 2015, we analyzed responses from the first 10% who responded to an anonymous online survey between December 1, 2015 and February 1, 2016. Questions included the type and frequency of mind-body practice in the past 30 days and whether the online training had any impact on personal life or professional practice. Standardized measures were used to assess stress, mindfulness, confidence in providing compassionate care, and burnout. Results. The 149 respondents represented a variety of ages and health professions; 55% completed one or more mind-body training modules an average of 14 months previously. Most (78%) engaged in one or more mind-body practices in the 30 days before the survey; 79% reported changes in self-care and 71% reported changes in the care of others as a result of participating. Increasing number of hours of training were significantly associated with practicing mind-body skills more frequently; increasing practice frequency was associated with less stress and burnout, which were associated with missing less work. Greater practice frequency was also associated with improvements in stress, mindfulness, and resilience, which were associated with increased confidence in providing compassionate care. Conclusion. Online training in mind-body therapies is associated with changes in self-reported behavior one year later; increasing doses of training are associated with more frequent practice which is associated with less stress, burnout, and missing work, and higher levels of mindfulness, resilience, and confidence in providing compassionate care. Additional studies are needed to compare mind-body skills training with other interventions designed to improve resilience and compassion while decreasing burnout in health professionals.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-153
Author(s):  
Laura Bardelli ◽  
Stefania Bordiga ◽  
Roberta Foglia

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines therapeutic adherence as “the extent to which a patient’s behavior – in taking medications, following a diet and/or making lifestyle changes – corresponds to the recommendations of health professionals in charge”.Chronic disease is permanent and requires by the patient an active attitude to reach and maintain a state of well-being, and to be often subject to long periods of supervision, observation and care.Trust must therefore be established between patient and healthcare professionals.This is the reason why it is not correct to discuss compliance. The main difference is that therapeutic adherence requires the patient’s agreement with the prescriptions: patients should be an active partner in their own care and communication between the patient and healthcare professionals is required for an efficient clinical practice.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-81
Author(s):  
Hamidreza Shirzadfar ◽  
Narsis Gordoghli

In recent years, chronic medical problems have become increasingly prevalent. Chronic ‎illnesses challenge the view of life as a regular and continuous process, a challenge that has ‎important psychological consequences. The long duration of people suffering from these ‎diseases, the long process of treatment and the fact that there is no proper and definitive ‎treatment for most of these diseases and their associated complications have made chronic ‎diseases a detrimental factor in public health. According to the World Health Organization ‎‎(2006), the prevalence of chronic and non-communicable diseases is increasing in all countries, ‎especially developing countries, so that the major challenge for the health system in the present ‎century, is not living people, but better adapted to chronic illnesses and maintaining their ‎mental and social health and well-being Ed's life-threatening chronic physical illness.‎ Chronic pain is a pain that lasts longer than usual, and according to the criteria of the ‎International Association of Pain, this time is defined as at least 3 months to 6 months. Chronic ‎pain is such that not only faced the sick person whit the pressure of the pain but also with many ‎other pressure that affect different parts of her life. Fibromyalgia is one of the most rheumatologic disorders and one of the most resistant chronic ‎pain syndromes. Fibromyalgia is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders in adults ‎and chronic pain is one of the most common complaints in this group of patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (31) ◽  
pp. 87-95
Author(s):  
Nicole Maria Miyamoto Bettini ◽  
Fabiana Tomé Ramos ◽  
Priscila Masquetto Vieira de Almeida

A Organização Mundial da Saúde - OMS confirmou a circulação internacional do novo Coronavírus em janeiro de 2020, nomeando-o como COVID-19 e, declarando uma pandemia. É de extrema importância que durante a pandemia, os profissionais de saúde tenham acesso e conhecimento sobre o uso correto dos Equipamentos de Proteção Individual (EPIs) e suas indicações, tomando assim, as devidas precauções na prevenção de infecções. O presente estudo buscou identificar a padronização mundial quanto ao uso dos EPIs utilizados no atendimento a pacientes suspeitos e/ou confirmados de COVID-19 no Brasil, EUA, China, Espanha, Itália e demais países europeus. Os guidelines apresentam a padronização quanto ao uso dos EPIs utilizados no atendimento a suspeitos e/ou confirmados de COVID-19, indo ao encontro das recomendações fornecidas pela OMS. Até o momento, o uso de EPIs é sem dúvida a estratégia mais importante e eficaz para proteger os profissionais de saúde durante a assistência ao paciente com COVID-19.Descritores: Infecções por Coronavírus, Equipamento de Proteção Individual, Pessoal de Saúde, Enfermagem. Recommendations for personal protective equipment to combat COVID-19Abstract: The World Health Organization - WHO confirmed the international circulation of the new Coronavirus in January 2020, naming it as COVID-19 and declaring a pandemic. It is extremely important that during the pandemic, health professionals have access and knowledge about the correct use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and its indications, thus taking appropriate precautions to prevent infections. The present study sought to identify the worldwide standardization regarding the use of PPE utilized to take care of suspected and confirmed patients with COVID-19 in Brazil, USA, China, Spain, Italy and other European countries. The guidelines present a standardization regarding the use of PPE utilized to take care of suspected and confirmed with COVID-19, in line with the recommendations provided by WHO. To date, the use of PPE is undoubtedly the most important and effective strategy to protect healthcare professionals during care for patients with COVID-19.Descriptors: Coronavirus Infections, Personal Protective Equipment, Health Personnel, Nursing. Recomendaciones para el equipo de protección personal para combatir COVID-19Resumen: La Organización Mundial de la Salud - La OMS confirmó la circulación internacional del nuevo Coronavirus en enero de 2020, nombrándolo COVID-19 y declarando una pandemia. Es extremadamente importante que durante la pandemia, los profesionales de la salud tengan acceso y conocimiento sobre el uso correcto del Equipo de Protección Personal (EPP) y sus indicaciones, tomando así las precauciones adecuadas para prevenir infecciones. El presente estudio buscó identificar la estandarización mundial con respecto al uso de EPP utilizado para atender a pacientes sospechosos y/o confirmados con COVID-19 en Brasil, Estados Unidos, China, España, Italia y otros países europeos. Las pautas presentan la estandarización con respecto al uso de EPP utilizado para cuidar COVID-19 sospechoso y/o confirmado, de acuerdo con las recomendaciones proporcionadas por la OMS. Hasta la fecha, el uso de EPP es, sin duda, la estrategia más importante y efectiva para proteger a los profesionales de la salud durante la atención de pacientes con COVID-19.Descriptores: Infecciones por Coronavirus, Equipo de Protección Personal, Personal de Salud, Enfermería.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002073142110249
Author(s):  
Huriye Toker

As seen clearly from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, health is an important foreign policy and diplomatic issue connected with security, economic well-being, and international development. According to risk communication researchers, effective, transparent, and timely information sharing is the most important tool after vaccines for responding to pandemics. This study aims to start a scholarly discussion on the risk communication efforts of the World Health Organization (WHO) during the COVID-19 outbreak. We analyzed WHO’s communication efforts during the first 3 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the leading international health organization, WHO was responsible for providing rapid, up-to-date, and credible information for the public and the media. The selected research items were 42 news releases and statements provided by WHO between December 31, 2019, and March 30, 2020. These were subjected to qualitative and quantitative content analyses using the NVivo 12 qualitative analysis software program for coding. The data were coded under 6 variables (date of publication, topics, frequency, wording of the COVID-19 outbreak, sourcing, and themes of the releases). While 54.7% of WHO's communications were devoted to the COVID-19 outbreak, more than half were not issued until March. That is, instead of early risk communication and clear warnings about the outbreak, WHO acted overcautiously, preferring messages related to solidarity and cooperation during the most devastating pandemic of the 21st century.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 480-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah McCue Horwitz ◽  
Philip J. Leaf ◽  
John M. Leventhal ◽  
Brian Forsyth ◽  
Kathy Nixon Speechley

The importance of psychological and social issues for children's well-being has long been recognized and their importance in the practice of pediatrics is well documented. However, many of the studies looking at this issue have emphasized psychiatric problems rather than issues commonly referred to as the new morbidity. The goal of this research was to refocus interest on the problems of the new morbidity. This study examined the rates and predictors of psychological problems in 19 of 23 randomly chosen pediatric practices in the greater New Haven area. Families of all 4- to 8-year-old children were invited to participate and to complete the Child Behavior Checklist prior to seeing a clinician. Clinicians completed a 13-category checklist of psychosocial and developmental problems based on a World Health Organization-sponsored primary care, child-oriented classification system. Of the 2006 eligible families, 1886 (94%) participated. Clinicians identified at least one psychosocial or developmental problem in 515 children (27.3%). Thirty-one percent of the children with problems received no active intervention, 40% received intervention by the clinician, and 16% were referred to specialty services. Not surprisingly, children whose problems were rated as moderate or severe were twice as likely to be referred compared with children with mild problems. Recognition of a problem was related to four characteristics: if the visit was for well child rather than acute care; if the clinician felt he or she knew a child well; if the child was male; and if the child had unmarried parents (all P ≤ .05). The data suggest that, when asked to use a taxonomy appropriate for primary care, clinicians recognize problems in many 4- to 8-year-old children (515/1886; 27.3%). This rate is considerably higher than the rates previously reported. Further, many children with identified problems (56%) were reported by their clinicians to receive some form of active intervention. Characteristics of the visit (type of visit, clinician's knowledge of a child) that influence the recognition of problems were also identified. These results suggest that investigators must define what types of problems they are interested in and under what circumstances to determine accurately what pediatric practitioners know about psychosocial and developmental problems in their young patients and families.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 94 (6) ◽  
pp. 987-987
Author(s):  
Hu Ching-Li

It is important to recall the definition of health embodied in the Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) over 45 years ago: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic, or social condition." Among the Organization's mandated functions is "to promote maternal and child health and welfare and to foster the ability to live harmoniously in a changing total environment." The challenge of that task is no less today than it was then. Historically, societies have evolved various patterns of family structure for social and economic functions. In preindustrial societies there evolved a great concordance between these functions, with many of the health, developmental, and socialization functions taking place first within the family and then within the immediate community. The rapid social changes of both the industrial and information revolutions have changed drastically the functions of the family, and have shifted many of the health, developmental, and social functions to nonfamily institutions, from which families are often excluded or marginally involved. Much of the international attention to child health in this last decade has been directed at simple interventions to prevent the nearly 13 million deaths each year of children under 5: universal child immunization; the control of diarrheal and acute respiratory diseases; and infant and young child nutrition, particularly breast-feeding.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S105-S105
Author(s):  
M. Barrios ◽  
G. Guilera ◽  
O. Pino ◽  
E. Rojo ◽  
S. Wright ◽  
...  

IntroductionIn 2001, the World Health Organization (WHO) created the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) to offer a comprehensive and universally accepted framework to describe functioning, disability and health. The ICF Core Sets (ICF-CS) are a selection of categories that serve as a minimal standard for the assessment of functioning and disability in a specific health condition. The ICF-CS for schizophrenia was created in 2015 based on four preliminary studies that intend to capture different perspectives.ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to describe the similarities (i.e. overlap) and discrepancies (i.e. unique contribution) between the clinical, patient and expert perspectives on the most relevant problems in functioning of individuals with schizophrenia, being focused on the European WHO region.MethodsForty-four experts from 14 European countries participated in an expert survey, patients with schizophrenia were involved in four focus groups, and health professionals assessed 127 patients in relation to daily life functioning. Information gathered from these three preliminary studies was linked to the ICF.ResultsData showed that although a considerable number of second-level ICF categories agreed on the three preparatory studies (n = 54, 27.7%), each perspective provided a unique set of ICF categories. Specifically, experts reported 65 unique ICF categories, patients 23 and health professionals 11.ConclusionsEven though there were similarities between perspectives, each one underlined different areas of functioning, showing the importance of including different perspectives in order to get a complete view of functioning and disability in individuals with schizophrenia.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Peta

In 2016, the World Health Organization, through the Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology Initiative, issued the Priority Assistive Products List which is meant to be a guide to member states of the 50 assistive products needed for a basic health care and/or social welfare system; it is also a model from which nations can develop their national priority assistive products lists. The aim of this opinion paper is to share my views about the Priority Assistive Products List on the grounds that it makes no distinct mention of sexual assistive devices, yet research has indicated that sexuality is an area of great concern for persons with disabilities. In any case, sexuality forms a core part of being human, and it impacts on both the physical and mental well-being of all human beings. I conclude in part that, in its present format, the list perpetuates the myth that persons with disabilities are asexual beings who are innocent of sexual thoughts, feelings and experiences. The list also propagates the stereotype that sexuality is a sacred, private, bedroom matter that should be kept out of the public domain, to the detriment of the health and well-being of persons with disabilities.


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