scholarly journals Determinants of visits of cancer patients to Dutch Community Based Psychosocial Support Centres (CBPSCs)

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Psychosocial Support ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Consistency Results ◽  
Sum Scores

Aim: The psychosocial support for cancer patients in the mental health care is often limited because of difficulties in access and the expense to patients. In response, informal regional support centers have been developed in the Netherlands called “Community-based Psychosocial Support Centres (hereinafter: CBPSCs) for cancer patients and relatives. They offer supporting complementary activities and professional psychological help which are easily accessible and free of charge. We studied the use (frequency, duration and future use) and the determinants of the visits to CBSPCs. Method: Visitors covering 701 cases from 25 CBPSCs filled-out a web-based questionnaire, answering questions about how often they contacted CBPSCs (frequency, duration and future use) and which personal factors, mainly based of the ASE model, influenced the use of CBPSCs. Also, the well-being of the patient, the evaluation of the visits and the significance of the support received were studied as dependent variables, in addition to the role of the ASE factors, applying multivariate analyses. All sum scores showed a strong internal consistency. Results: Most patients did not know what CBPSCs are or where to find them. About one-fifth was alerted by family, friends and acquaintances. Another 20% was informed about CBPSCs by hospital oncology nurses and through leaflets. Patients rarely reported being referred by their GPs and medical specialists. Health care providers in hospitals were much better informed about CBPSCs, referring approximately half of their patients to CBPSCs. Around two thirds of the patients visited the CBSPC once a week for 2 to 3 hours and intended to continue these visits in years to come. Present use generally showed that the most important determinants are the attitude towards the visits, whether the patient is a recent visitor, the patient’s perceived significance of the visits and having a socially-inactive lifestyle. Conclusions: The study confirms the high value that this type of organisation provides in informal support in cancer care. The CBPSCs need to improve their visibility in the healthcare system through more public campaigns and better information to patients. More countries should introduce and stimulate this type of easily-accessible, cheap, effective and highly-valued supportive care centres, and explore the needs of patient and family members.

Cancer Patients' and Health Care Providers' Perspectives on Smoking Relapse

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vani N. Simmons ◽  
Erika B. Litvin ◽  
Riddhi Patel ◽  
Paul B. Jacobsen ◽  
Judith McCaffrey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Smoking Relapse

scholarly journals Depression and Suicidality in Gay Men: Implications for Health Care Providers

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 910-919 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie Lee ◽  
John L. Oliffe ◽  
Mary T. Kelly ◽  
Olivier Ferlatte
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sexual Practices ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Prevalence Of Depression

Gay men are a subgroup vulnerable to depression and suicidality. The prevalence of depression among gay men is three times higher than the general adult population. Because depression is a known risk factor for suicide, gay men are also at high risk for suicidality. Despite the high prevalence of depression and suicidality, health researchers and health care providers have tended to focus on sexual health issues, most often human immunodeficiency virus in gay men. Related to this, gay men’s health has often been defined by sexual practices, and poorly understood are the intersections of gay men’s physical and mental health with social determinants of health including ethnicity, locale, education level, and socioeconomic status. In the current article summated is literature addressing risk factors for depression and suicidality among gay men including family acceptance of their sexual identities, social cohesion and belonging, internalized stigma, and victimization. Barriers to gay men’s help seeking are also discussed in detailing how health care providers might advance the well-being of this underserved subgroup by effectively addressing depression and suicidality.

Creating Comics to Address Well-Being and Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 152483992110654
Author(s):  
Kathryn West ◽  
Karen R. Jackson ◽  
Tobias L. Spears ◽  
Brian Callender
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Narrative Medicine ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Graphic Medicine ◽  
Racial Injustice ◽  
Pilot Implementation

In this descriptive case series, we detail the theoretical basis, methodology, and impact of a small-scale pilot implementation of graphic medicine workshops as an innovative approach to well-being and resilience in the age of COVID-19 and increasing awareness of racial injustice. The data provided in this article are anecdotal and based on participation in the workshops. Images created during the workshops are also shared as examples of the types of reflection that graphic medicine can enable. The workshops themselves were designed collaboratively and are based on the theoretical principles of graphic medicine, narrative medicine, and racial and social justice. They were conducted as part of a larger wellness initiative and were offered to health care-focused faculty at our academic medical institution. Our findings suggest that this was a beneficial activity which helped participants to reflect and reconsider their experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic and surging awareness of racial injustice. Reflections also showed that drawings were correlated with ProQOL scores and may, in larger numbers, also help to mitigate or bring attention to issues of burnout in frontline providers. Drawings shared show the tremendous impact of COVID-19 and the simultaneous chaos and emptiness of practicing during dual pandemics. Our workshops engaged about 20 frontline health care providers and other health care faculty and highlight the utility of graphic medicine as a tool for building resilience and encouraging self-reflection. Further study is necessary, as is more rigorous analysis of the relationship between the graphics created and the ability to recognize and mitigate burnout.

scholarly journals Massage Therapy in Outpatient Cancer Care: A Metropolitan Area Analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 851-855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia S. Cowen ◽  
Robin Streit Miccio ◽  
Bijal Parikh
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Cancer Treatment ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Treatment Plan ◽  
Therapeutic Touch ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Systematic Analysis

Massage offers cancer patients general quality of life benefits as well as alleviation of cancer-related symptoms/cancer-treatment–related symptoms including pain, anxiety, and fatigue. Little is known about whether massage is accessible to cancer patients who receive treatment in the outpatient setting and how massage is incorporated into the overall cancer treatment plan. Outpatient cancer centers (n = 78) in a single metropolitan area were included this mixed-methods project that included a systematic analysis of website information and a telephone survey. Massage was offered at only 40 centers (51.3% of total). A range of massage modalities were represented, with energy-based therapies (Reiki and Therapeutic Touch) most frequently provided. Although massage therapists are licensed health care providers in the states included in this analysis, massage was also provided by nurses, physical therapists, and other health care professionals.

scholarly journals Issues Associated With the Management and Governance of Sensor Data and Information to Assist Aging in Place: Focus Group Study With Health Care Professionals (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inga Hunter ◽  
Phoebe Elers ◽  
Caroline Lockhart ◽  
Hans Guesgen ◽  
Amardeep Singh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Older People ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Sensor Data ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Age In Place

BACKGROUND Smart home and telemonitoring technologies have often been suggested to assist health care workers in supporting older people to age in place. However, there is limited research examining diverse information needs of different groups of health care workers and their access to appropriate information technologies. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the issues associated with using technologies that connect older people to their health care providers to support aging in place and enhance older people’s health and well-being. METHODS Seven focus group discussions were conducted comprising 44 health care professionals who provided clinic-based or in-home services to community-dwelling older people. Participants were asked about their information needs and how technology could help them support older people to age in place. The recordings of the sessions were transcribed and thematically analyzed. RESULTS The perspectives varied between the respondents who worked in primary care clinics and those who worked in community-based services. Three overarching themes were identified. The first theme was “access to technology and systems,” which examined the different levels of technology in use and the problems that various groups of health care professionals had in accessing information about their patients. Primary care professionals had access to good internal information systems but they experienced poor integration with other health care providers. The community-based teams had poor access to technology. The second theme was “collecting and sharing of information,” which focused on how technology might be used to provide them with more information about their patients. Primary care teams were interested in telemonitoring for specific clinical indicators but they wanted the information to be preprocessed. Community-based teams were more concerned about gaining information on the patients’ social environment. The third theme was that all respondents identified similar “barriers to uptake”: cost and funding issues, usability of systems by older people, and information security and privacy concerns. CONCLUSIONS The participants perceived the potential benefits of technologies, but they were concerned that the information they received should be preprocessed and integrated with current information systems and tailored to the older people’s unique and changing situations. Several management and governance issues were identified, which needed to be resolved to enable the widespread integration of these technologies into the health care system. The disconnected nature of the current information architecture means that there is no clear way for sensor data from telemonitoring and smart home devices to be integrated with other patient information. Furthermore, cost, privacy, security, and usability barriers also need to be resolved. This study highlights the importance and the complexity of management and governance of systems to collect and disseminate such information. Further research into the requirements of all stakeholder groups and how the information can be processed and disseminated is required.

scholarly journals Issues Associated With the Management and Governance of Sensor Data and Information to Assist Aging in Place: Focus Group Study With Health Care Professionals

10.2196/24157 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. e24157
Author(s):  
Inga Hunter ◽  
Phoebe Elers ◽  
Caroline Lockhart ◽  
Hans Guesgen ◽  
Amardeep Singh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Older People ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Sensor Data ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Age In Place

Background Smart home and telemonitoring technologies have often been suggested to assist health care workers in supporting older people to age in place. However, there is limited research examining diverse information needs of different groups of health care workers and their access to appropriate information technologies. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the issues associated with using technologies that connect older people to their health care providers to support aging in place and enhance older people’s health and well-being. Methods Seven focus group discussions were conducted comprising 44 health care professionals who provided clinic-based or in-home services to community-dwelling older people. Participants were asked about their information needs and how technology could help them support older people to age in place. The recordings of the sessions were transcribed and thematically analyzed. Results The perspectives varied between the respondents who worked in primary care clinics and those who worked in community-based services. Three overarching themes were identified. The first theme was “access to technology and systems,” which examined the different levels of technology in use and the problems that various groups of health care professionals had in accessing information about their patients. Primary care professionals had access to good internal information systems but they experienced poor integration with other health care providers. The community-based teams had poor access to technology. The second theme was “collecting and sharing of information,” which focused on how technology might be used to provide them with more information about their patients. Primary care teams were interested in telemonitoring for specific clinical indicators but they wanted the information to be preprocessed. Community-based teams were more concerned about gaining information on the patients’ social environment. The third theme was that all respondents identified similar “barriers to uptake”: cost and funding issues, usability of systems by older people, and information security and privacy concerns. Conclusions The participants perceived the potential benefits of technologies, but they were concerned that the information they received should be preprocessed and integrated with current information systems and tailored to the older people’s unique and changing situations. Several management and governance issues were identified, which needed to be resolved to enable the widespread integration of these technologies into the health care system. The disconnected nature of the current information architecture means that there is no clear way for sensor data from telemonitoring and smart home devices to be integrated with other patient information. Furthermore, cost, privacy, security, and usability barriers also need to be resolved. This study highlights the importance and the complexity of management and governance of systems to collect and disseminate such information. Further research into the requirements of all stakeholder groups and how the information can be processed and disseminated is required.

scholarly journals Understanding How to Support Family Caregivers of Seniors with Complex Needs

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley Charles ◽  
Suzette Brémault-Phillips ◽  
Jasneet Parmar ◽  
Melissa Johnson ◽  
Lori-Ann Sacrey
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Caregiver Support ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
Participant Engagement

Purpose of the StudyThe purpose of this study was to describe the experiences and challenges of supporting family caregivers of seniors with complex needs and to outline support strategies and research priorities aimed at supporting them.Design and MethodsA CIHR-funded, two-day conference entitled “Supporting Family Caregivers of Seniors: Improving Care and Caregiver Outcomes” was held. An integrated knowledge translation approach guided this planning conference. Day 1 included presentations of research evidence, followed by participant engagement Qualitative data was collected regarding facilitators, barriers/gaps, and recommendations for the provisionof caregiver supports. Day 2 focused on determination of research priorities.ResultsIdentified facilitators to the provision of caregiver support included accessibility of health-care and community-based resources, availability of well-intended health-care providers, and recognition of caregivers by the system. Barriers/gaps related to challenges with communication, access to information, knowledge of what is needed, system navigation, access to financial resources, and current policies. Recommendations regarding caregiver services and research revolved around assisting caregivers to self-identify and seek support, formalizing caregiver supports, centralizing resources, making system navigation available, and preparing the next generation for caregiving.Implication A better understanding of the needs of family caregivers and ways to support them is critical to seniors’ health services redesign.

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