An evaluation of the EOLAS psychoeducation programme for service users: An innovative approach to collaboration between clinicians and ‘experts by experience’

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S565-S565 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Gibbons ◽  
A. Higgins ◽  
D. Hevey ◽  
M. Monahan ◽  
C. O’Connor

IntroductionPsychoeducation for service users has been shown in several recent meta-analyses to improve adherence with treatment, decrease rehospitalization rates and improve various measures of quality of life. The 8-week EOLAS Programme for service users with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder is unique in being designed, co-facilitated and evaluated collaboratively by both clinician and peer representatives. EOLAS forms part of the service plan of the national Health Service in Ireland.Aims and objectivesTo evaluate the impact of the EOLAS programme on participants’ perceived knowledge, confidence, advocacy, recovery attitudes and hope.MethodologyAnonymised questionnaires were administered to participants before and after completion of the EOLAS Programme.All survey participants were invited to attend for interview to examine qualitatively their experience of the programme. Interviews were recorded and subjected to thematic analysis.ResultsForty-five subjects completed pre- and post-programme questionnaires (participation rate = 55%).Significant improvements (P < 0.05) were identified across each of the 5 domains examined (i.e. perceived knowledge, confidence, advocacy, recovery attitudes, hope). Expressed satisfaction with the programme was high (95%).At interview, participants (n = 12) particularly valued:– the opportunity to ask questions of the psychiatrist e.g. about medication;– improving self-care skills e.g. monitoring early warning signs of relapse;– co-facilitation by a peer, which provided extra credibility and inspired hope;– sharing experiences with peers.ConclusionsThe EOLAS programme succeeds in meeting the needs of the participants across the target domains. This success depends on the unique collaboration between clinicians and peer experts on which EOLAS is based.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-72
Author(s):  
Herlin Hamimi ◽  
Abdul Ghafar Ismail ◽  
Muhammad Hasbi Zaenal

Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam which has a function of faith, social and economic functions. Muslims who can pay zakat are required to give at least 2.5 per cent of their wealth. The problem of poverty prevalent in disadvantaged regions because of the difficulty of access to information and communication led to a gap that is so high in wealth and resources. The instrument of zakat provides a paradigm in the achievement of equitable wealth distribution and healthy circulation. Zakat potentially offers a better life and improves the quality of human being. There is a human quality improvement not only in economic terms but also in spiritual terms such as improving religiousity. This study aims to examine the role of zakat to alleviate humanitarian issues in disadvantaged regions such as Sijunjung, one of zakat beneficiaries and impoverished areas in Indonesia. The researcher attempted a Cibest method to capture the impact of zakat beneficiaries before and after becoming a member of Zakat Community Development (ZCD) Program in material and spiritual value. The overall analysis shows that zakat has a positive impact on disadvantaged regions development and enhance the quality of life of the community. There is an improvement in the average of mustahik household incomes after becoming a member of ZCD Program. Cibest model demonstrates that material, spiritual, and absolute poverty index decreased by 10, 5, and 6 per cent. Meanwhile, the welfare index is increased by 21 per cent. These findings have significant implications for developing the quality of life in disadvantaged regions in Sijunjung. Therefore, zakat is one of the instruments to change the status of disadvantaged areas to be equivalent to other areas.


Background: Integrated disease management with self-management for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is effective to improve clinical outcomes. eHealth can improve patients’ involvement to be able to accept and maintain a healthier lifestyle. Eventhough there is mixed evidence of the impact of eHealth on quality of life (QoL) in different settings. Aim: The primary aim of the e-Vita-COPD-study was to investigate the effect of use of eHealth patient platforms on disease specific QoL of COPD patients. Methods: We evaluated the impact of an eHealth platform on disease specific QoL measured with the clinical COPD questionnaire (CCQ), including subscales of symptoms, functional state and mental state. Interrupted time series (ITS) design was used to collect CCQ data at multiple time points. Multilevel linear regression modelling was used to compare trends in CCQ before and after the eHealth intervention. Results: Of 742 invited COPD patients, 244 signed informed consent. For the analyses, we only included patients who actually used the eHealth platform (n = 123). The decrease of CCQ-symptoms was 0,20% before the intervention and 0,27% after the intervention; this difference was statistically significant (P=0.027). The decrease of CCQ-mental was 0,97% before the intervention and after the intervention there was an increase of 0,017%; this difference was statistically significant (P=0,01). No significant difference was found in the slopes of CCQ (P=0,12) and CCQ-function (P=0,11) before and after the intervention. Conclusion: The e-Vita eHealth platform had a potential beneficial impact on the CCQ-symptoms of COPD patients, but not on functional state. The CCQ-mental state remained stable after the intervention, but this was a deterioration compared to the improving situation before the start of the eHealth platform. In conclusion, this study shows that after the introduction of the COPD platform, patients experienced fewer symptoms, but their mental state deteriorated slightly at the same time. Therefore, health care providers should be aware that, although symptoms improve, there might be a slight increase in anxiety and depression after introducing an eHealth intervention to support self-management.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000486742110096
Author(s):  
Vikas Menon ◽  
Sujita Kumar Kar ◽  
Ramdas Ransing ◽  
Ginni Sharma ◽  
Jigyansa Ipsita Pattnaik ◽  
...  

Objective: Little is known about changes in quality of media reporting of suicide in the community following a celebrity suicide. Our objective was to compare trends in quality of media reporting of suicide, before and after the suicide of an Indian entertainment celebrity, against the World Health Organization suicide reporting guidelines. Method: Online news portals of English and local language newspapers, as well as television channels, were searched to identify relevant suicide-related news articles. Comparison of reporting characteristics before and after the celebrity suicide was performed using chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test. Results: A total of 3867 eligible news reports were retrieved. There was a significant increase in harmful reporting characteristics, such as reporting the name, age and gender of the deceased ( p < 0.001 for all comparisons), mentioning the location ( p < 0.001) and reason for suicide ( p = 0.04) and including photos of the deceased ( p = 0.002) following the celebrity suicide. Helpful reporting practices were less affected; there was a significant rise in inclusion of expert opinion ( p = 0.04) and mention of suicide-related warning signs ( p = 0.02). Conclusion: Following a celebrity suicide, significant changes in the quality of media reporting of suicide were noted with an increase in several potentially harmful reporting characteristics.


Author(s):  
Carlos Mena Canata ◽  
Rebeca Noemí Ruiz Vallejos

The objective of this study is to determine the impact of adenotonsillectomy on the quality of life of postoperative patients.The study is observational, cross-sectional, and retrospective. The files of all postoperative adenotonsillectomy patients in Otorhinolaryngology Service, Hospital de Clínicas, San Lorenzo Paraguay. The Obstructive sleep apnea – 18 questionnaire (OSA 18) was applied, asking patients about symptoms before and after surgery. An effective sample of 143 postoperative patients was obtained. The average age was 6.05 ± 2.08 years, 55.10% (81) were male and 44.89% (66) were female, 65.30% (96) were from urban areas and 34.69% (51) from the rural areas. The t test was performed for means of two paired samples, comparing the results of the Obstructive sleep apnea – 18 questionnaire surveys before and after surgery which presented a significant difference (p <0.05) with a tendency to improve the quality of life after surgery. It has been shown that there is a significant difference, a considerable improvement in the quality of life of patients after adenotonsillectomy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 294-309
Author(s):  
Jamhur Poti ◽  
Mahadiansar Mahadiansar

Revitalizing traditional markets is a form of improving the quality of public space as a policy of the regional government in cooperation with local communities. The purpose of revitalizing traditional markets is not merely to improve the physical form of traditional markets but also to manage these traditional markets. The researcher raised a case study on the policy after revitalizing the Lembu Market, Tanjungpinang City, to what extent the policies that have been implemented before and after the market revitalization match the public's expectations, it is necessary to evaluate the programs that have been implemented. Researchers used policy evaluation techniques with a formal evaluation approach using Dunn 2018 theory. The research method used by researchers used library research, by carrying out a search of several library sources such as e-books, journals, websites, organizational reports, and other good documents. print and online relevant to the topic being evaluated. The results showed that the evaluation of the revitalization program for the beef slaughter market in the city of Tanjungpinang had not found the value of cross-impact analysis and discounting on the program so that the revitalization of traditional markets was only in the form of target mapping, value clarification and mapping of barriers that had become the impact of the revitalization policy of the traditional cattle slaughter market in Tanjungpinang City. The researcher also did not find Urgency in realizing the traditional market revitalization policy in order to change the characteristics of the market for the better.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Montse Romero-Mas ◽  
Anna Ramon-Aribau ◽  
Dyego Leandro Bezerra de Souza ◽  
Andrew M. Cox ◽  
Beni Gómez-Zúñiga

Caring for a person with dementia burdens family caregivers, and there is a close negative relationship between this burden and their quality of life (QoL). Research suggests that caregivers’ main needs are information and training about the disease and support from others experiencing the same situation, and Internet interventions hold considerable promise for meeting these needs. Virtual communities of practice (VCoPs) are Internet frameworks to share knowledge where members collaborate and achieve a sense of trust in the community. This paper seeks to evaluate the impact of participating in a VCoP (developed through an App) on the QoL of caregivers to people with Alzheimer’s. Results show QoL before and after the intervention changed significantly. The impact of VCoP on caregivers’ overall QoL is moderated by age and relation with the person with Alzheimer’s, specifically those over 65, and spouses. VCoPs allow interaction and knowledge sharing among caregivers which provide them mainly with information and support from peers helping them to meet their needs. Furthermore, caregivers’ QoL did not decrease when their relative deteriorated functionally, which could be due to the participation in VCoP. Although we found significant pre- and post differences in caregivers’ health literacy, we must report the ambiguous result that this variable only impacts on QoL’s physical domain. Participants also reported that they had a positive experience because the App was perceived to be a useful tool, because they could manage their own participation and they met peers and felt less lonely. Results suggest that participation in a VCoP impacts positively on caregivers’ QoL.


2022 ◽  
Vol 82 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Hedfi ◽  
M. Ben Ali ◽  
A. Noureldeen ◽  
H. Darwish ◽  
T. Saif ◽  
...  

Abstract The main objective of the current study was to assess the impact of the water taken from the ‘Tunisian Refining Industries Company’ on meiobenthic nematodes, before and after a series of treatments in decantation basins followed by its discharge in Bizerte bay, Tunisia. The comparison of environmental parameters of the two types of water was clearly indicative of an improvement in the quality of treated waters after a significant reduction in their loads in hydrocarbons. Overall, the water retained a good quality after being treated by ‘Tunisian Refining Industries Company’ before discharge in the sea. At the end of the experiment, differential responses were observed according to the richness of sediment in organic matter and hydrocarbons. Thus, it was apparent that the nematode assemblage exposed to the treated waters was closer to controls and associated to higher values of abundance, than that under untreated ones. It was also assumed that the species Microlaimus honestus De Man, 1922, Paramonohystera proteus Wieser, 1956 and Cyartonema germanicum Juario, 1972 are sensitive bioindicators of bad environmental statues and of hydrocarbon presence in the environment. On the other hand, Metoncholaimus pristiurus (Zur Strassen, 1894) Filipjev, 1918 would rather be classified as a positive bioindicative species of this type of pollutants.


2021 ◽  
pp. bmjspcare-2021-003163
Author(s):  
Ronald Chow ◽  
Robert Bergner ◽  
Elizabeth Prsic

ObjectivesSeveral reviews and meta-analyses have reported on music therapy for physical and emotional well-being among patients with cancer. However, the duration of music therapy offered may range from less than 1 hour to several hours. The aim of this study is to assess whether longer duration of music therapy is associated with different levels of improvement in physical and mental well-being.MethodsTen studies were included in this paper, reporting on the endpoints of quality of life and pain. A meta-regression, using an inverse-variance model, was performed to assess the impact of total music therapy time. A sensitivity analysis was conducted for the outcome of pain, among low risk of bias trials.ResultsOur meta-regression found a trend for positive association between greater total music therapy time and improved better pain control, but it was not statistically significant.ConclusionThere is a need for more high-quality studies examining music therapy for patients with cancer, with a focus on total music therapy time and patient-related outcomes including quality of life and pain.


2019 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 03010
Author(s):  
Imrich Sánka ◽  
Dušan Petráš

This article investigates the impact of energy renovation on the indoor environmental quality of apartment building during heating season. The study was performed in one residential building before and after its renovation. Energy auditing and classification of the selected building into energy classes were carried out. Additionally, evaluation of indoor air quality was performed using objective measurements and subjective survey. Thermal environment and concentration of CO2 was measured in bedrooms. Higher concentrations of CO2 was observed in the residential building after its renovation. The concentrations of CO2, in some cases exceeded the recommended maximum limits, especially after implementing of energy saving measures on the building. The average air exchange rate was visible higher before renovation of the building. The current study indicates that large-scale of renovations may reduce the quality of the indoor environment in many apartments, especially in the winter season.


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