Women's Lived Experiences in the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Breast Cancer Management: A Phenomenological Study.

This study aimed to explore women with breast cancer (WBC) lived experiences on the use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) for breast cancer management. van Manen's phenomenology of practice was used as the methodology and method in this study. In-depth interviews guided by semi-structured questions were conducted with 21 WBC recruited using convenience sampling.

Finding the Hidden Professional Culture of Mental Health Nursing-Spiritual Care for Individuals with a Co-morbid Life-Limiting Illness.

People with severe mental illness are dying up to thirty years earlier than the general population. The limited literature on their experience of dying indicates that they often suffer from inequities in their access to healthcare services, and further, what care they do receive is frequently poor. Living with both a mental illness and facing death can engender spiritual concerns and dying at a younger age is a risk factor for spiritual despair.

Towards reduction of preventable hospital readmission: Older people and family members' views on planned self-management of care at home.

Aims And Objectives: To reduce the likelihood of preventable readmissions, the aim was to investigate how older people (with their family members) managed their chronic health conditions at home following hospital discharge. The objectives explored older people and their family members' perspectives on how discharge plans assisted self-management of their chronic conditions, their recognition of deterioration and when to seek treatment/re-attend hospital.

Background: Chronic conditions have challenged older adults' self-management, particularly after hospital discharge and can impact on preventable readmission.

Step Activity Monitoring in Boys with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and its Correlation with Magnetic Resonance Measures and Functional Performance.

Background: Muscles of boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) are progressively replaced by fatty fibrous tissues, and weakness leads to loss of ambulation (LoA). Step activity (SA) monitoring is a quantitative measure of real-world ambulatory function. The relationship between quality of muscle health and SA is unknown in DMD.

Development of Contractures in DMD in Relation to MRI-Determined Muscle Quality and Ambulatory Function.

Background: Joint contractures are common in boys and men with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), and management of contractures is an important part of care. The optimal methods to prevent and treat contractures are controversial, and the natural history of contracture development is understudied in glucocorticoid treated individuals at joints beyond the ankle.

Objective: To describe the development of contractures over time in a large cohort of individuals with DMD in relation to ambulatory ability, functional performance, and muscle quality measured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS).

Aerobic Responses to FES-Assisted and Volitional Cycling in Children with Cerebral Palsy.

Recumbent stationary cycling is a potential exercise modality for individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) that lack the postural control needed for upright exercises. Functional electrical stimulation (FES) of lower extremity muscles can help such individuals reach the cycling intensities that are required for aerobic benefits. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of cycling with and without FES assistance to that of a no-intervention control group on the cardiorespiratory fitness of children with CP.

"When I suffer from fever, I eat mangos." Determinants of health-seeking beliefs and behaviors of rural older women in Sylhet, Bangladesh.

Poverty, poor living conditions, religious values and norms, lack of education, and gender discrimination influence the beliefs and behaviors of rural older women in many low-income countries. This paper aims to report the socio-ecological determinants of health-seeking beliefs and behaviors of rural older women in North-eastern Bangladesh and how these behaviors impact their recognition within the setting. It involved semi-structured interviews with 25 older women and 11 healthcare professionals.

Reliability of the Telemedicine Application of the Gross Motor Function Measure-88 in Patients With Leukodystrophy.

Background: Leukodystrophies are a rare class of disorders characterized by severe neuromotor disability. There is a strong need for research regarding the functional status of people with leukodystrophy which is limited by the need for in-person assessments of mobility. The purpose of this study is to assess the reliability of the Gross Motor Function Measure-88 (GMFM-88) using telemedicine compared with standard in-person assessments in patients with leukodystrophy.

Could standing orders have a place? A phenomenological exploration of experienced ward-based registered nurses' views on the escalation protocol for patient deterioration.

Aims And Objectives: To explore experienced ward-based Registered Nurses' views on the potential use of standing orders, prior to the escalation protocol, for patient deterioration.

Background: Ward based nurses are required to follow set steps of the escalation protocol. The introduction of standing order policies would allow nurses to intervene earlier when deterioration was first detected.

The World Is Not Mine - Barriers to Healthcare Access for Bangladeshi Rural Elderly Women.

Social determinants of health is a core cross-cutting approach of the World Health Organization to reduce health inequalities, and places an emphasis on aged care planning in rural areas of low- and lower-middle income countries including Bangladesh. The complex correlated health and social factors in Bangladesh interplay to shape the healthcare access of rural people. This impact is significant for rural elderly women in particular who have been shown to access healthcare in ways that are described as 'socially determined'.

Walking activity in a large cohort of boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Introduction: In this study we explored walking activity in a large cohort of boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

Methods: Step activity (monitored for 7 days), functional ability, and strength were quantified in ambulatory boys (5-12.9 years of age) with DMD and unaffected boys.

Care workers' perspectives of factors affecting a sustainable aged care workforce.

Aims: To identify the reasons why workers decide to enter, stay or leave the aged care workforce; and the factors influencing them to transition between community and residential sectors in Australia.

Background: Factors affecting the recruitment and retention of suitable care workers in aged care are complex and influenced by personal, institutional and societal factors.

Methods: A qualitative description study design.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Linking Findings to the Physical Therapy Clinic.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a muscle degenerative disorder that manifests in early childhood and results in progressive muscle weakness. Physical therapists have long been an important component of the multidisciplinary team caring for people with DMD, providing expertise in areas of disease assessment, contracture management, assistive device prescription, and exercise prescription. Over the last decade, magnetic resonance imaging of muscles in people with DMD has led to an improved understanding of the muscle pathology underlying the clinical manifestations of DMD.

Upper and Lower Extremities in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Evaluated with Quantitative MRI and Proton MR Spectroscopy in a Multicenter Cohort.

Background Upper extremity MRI and proton MR spectroscopy are increasingly considered to be outcome measures in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) clinical trials. Purpose To demonstrate the feasibility of acquiring upper extremity MRI and proton (H) MR spectroscopy measures of T2 and fat fraction in a large, multicenter cohort (ImagingDMD) of ambulatory and nonambulatory individuals with DMD; compare upper and lower extremity muscles by using MRI and H MR spectroscopy; and correlate upper extremity MRI and H MR spectroscopy measures to function. Materials and Methods In this prospective cross-sectional study, MRI and H MR spectroscopy and functional assessment data were acquired from participants with DMD and unaffected control participants at three centers (from January 28, 2016, to April 24, 2018).

Evaluation of a nurse-led education program to improve cross-cultural care for older people in aged care.

Background: Cultural diversity is significant in aged care facilities. Registered nurses play a leading role in the care setting. Nurse-led education interventions to improve the cultural competence of aged care workers are in high demand.

MR biomarkers predict clinical function in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Objective: To investigate the potential of lower extremity magnetic resonance (MR) biomarkers to serve as endpoints in clinical trials of therapeutics for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) by characterizing the longitudinal progression of MR biomarkers over 48 months and assessing their relationship to changes in ambulatory clinical function.

Methods: One hundred sixty participants with DMD were enrolled in this longitudinal, natural history study and underwent MR data acquisition of the lower extremity muscles to determine muscle fat fraction (FF) and MRI T biomarkers of disease progression. In addition, 4 tests of ambulatory function were performed.

Repairing the effects of childhood trauma: The long and winding road.

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT?: Domestic and family violence contributes to mental distress and the development of mental illness and can reverberate throughout a person's life. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: Therapeutic work with people who experience domestic and family violence needs to take considerable time to allow the process to unfold. Understanding the triggers that cause past traumas to be re-experienced helps people to recognize and change their conditioned emotional responses.

Nurses' experience of providing home-based palliative care in the country setting: An integrated literature review.

Aims: The aim of the study is to explore the experiences of nurses providing home-based palliative care for patients who live in country settings.

Methods: This study is an integrated literature review. Electronic databases, specific journals of interest, and reference lists were searched using key words and Boolean operators.

Exploring Aboriginal aged care residents' cultural and spiritual needs in South Australia.

Background: Attention to culture and its impact on health care can improve the quality of care given, add to our understanding of health care among culturally diverse populations, and encourage a more holistic approach to health care within general care. Connection to culture is important to Aboriginal peoples, and integrating Aboriginal culture into general care in residential aged care facilities may contribute to improving care delivery and outcomes for residents. The literature to date revealed a lack of understanding of the capacity of residential aged care and the health practices of carers in relation to providing cultural care for Aboriginal people.

Balance impairment in pediatric charcot-marie-tooth disease.

Introduction: Balance impairment contributes to gait dysfunction, falls, and reduced quality of life in adults with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) but has been minimally examined in pediatric CMT.

Methods: The CMT Pediatric Scale (CMTPedS) was administered to 520 children with CMT. Associations between balance function (Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency [BOT-2]) and sensorimotor and gait impairments were investigated.

Understanding the Diverse Forms of Spiritual Expression of Older People in Residential Aged Care in Australia.

The ability of older people to express their spirituality is an important component of aged care. Spirituality is not specifically religiousness although, for some, religion offers a means for spiritual expression. This paper aimed to explore what constitutes spiritual life for residents in three residential aged care facilities in South Australia.

Improved growth and developmental activity post tracheostomy in preterm infants with severe BPD.

Objectives: To examine growth, sedation needs, and participation in developmental activities before and after tracheostomy among infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of infants born at <32 weeks' gestation or birth weights <1500 g with severe BPD who underwent tracheostomy placement between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2016 in a quaternary referral newborn and infant intensive care unit. Changes in growth parameters and frequency/type of participation in physical therapy sessions performed during the 4-weeks before tracheostomy and 4-weeks after the first tracheostomy tube change were compared.

Longitudinal timed function tests in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: ImagingDMD cohort natural history.

Introduction: Tests of ambulatory function are common clinical trial endpoints in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Using these tests, the ImagingDMD study has generated a large data set that can describe the contemporary natural history of DMD in 5-12.9-year-olds.

Two-Year Longitudinal Changes in Lower Limb Strength and Its Relation to Loss in Function in a Large Cohort of Patients With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Objective: The main objective of this study was to examine the effect of disease on strength in two functionally important lower limb muscles for a period of 2 yrs in children with Duchene muscular dystrophy.

Design: Seventy-seven Duchene muscular dystrophy children participated in this study. Plantar flexors, knee extensors, strength, and performance on timed tests (6-min walk, 4-stairs, 10-m walk, supine-up) were assessed yearly for 2 yrs.