Exploring the Support Needs of Family Caregivers of Patients with Brain Cancer Using the CSNAT: A Comparative Study with Other Cancer Groups.

A substantial burden is placed on family caregivers of patients diagnosed with brain cancers. Despite this, the support needs of the caregivers are often under-recognised and not addressed adequately in current routine and patient centred clinical care. The Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) is a validated instrument designed to systematically identify and address caregiver needs [corrected].

Receiving the news of a diagnosis of motor neuron disease: What does it take to make it better?

Our objectives were to identify the experiences of people with MND in receiving the diagnosis and to determine which aspects of breaking this bad news were associated with greater satisfaction with the way the diagnosis was delivered to them. An anonymous postal survey was facilitated by all MND associations in Australia, in 2014, and centred on the SPIKES protocol for communicating bad news. Of the patients (n = 248, response rate 29%), 36% were dissatisfied with the delivery of the diagnosis and gave low ratings on the ability/skills of their neurologists to deliver the diagnosis.

Building Community Capacity in Bereavement Support.

Background: Most bereaved people do not require specialist intervention, yet building community capacity in providing bereavement support is underdeveloped. While family caregivers indicate a need for more information about bereavement, there is little evidence to guide what this information might contain.

Objective: The study's purpose was to inform bereavement support by determining the advice people bereaved through expected deaths in palliative care have for others in that situation.

Composite Noble-Metal Films/H -Conducting Solid-Polymer Electrolyte Assemblies: The Nitrate-Reduction Activity in an Asymmetric Sandwich-Type Reactor.

Asymmetric (Pt|Nafion|Pt-Pd-Cu) assemblies were fabricated to study the nitrate-reduction reaction (NRR) at the cathode surface. The influence of the material composition, supplied current, and applied potential on the reactivity, kinetics, and product selectivity were thoroughly investigated. The cathode assembly consisting of 54 atom % Pt showed enhanced reactivity both in binary (Pt-Pd; k ≈10.

Exploring barriers to assessment of bereavement risk in palliative care: perspectives of key stakeholders.

Background: Palliative care standards advocate support for grieving caregivers, given that some bereaved people fail to integrate their loss, experience ongoing emotional suffering and adverse health outcomes. Research shows that bereavement support tends to be delivered on an ad hoc basis without formal assessment of risk or need. To align support with need, assessment of bereavement risk is necessary.

Optimized design of a nanostructured SPCE-based multipurpose biosensing platform formed by ferrocene-tethered electrochemically-deposited cauliflower-shaped gold nanoparticles.

The demand for on-site nanodevices is constantly increasing. The technology development for the design of such devices is highly regarded. In this work, we report the design of a disposable platform that is structured with cauliflower-shaped gold nanoparticles (cfAuNPs) and we show its applications in immunosensing and enzyme-based detection.

"Champion" behavior in a community obesity reduction program: Feedback from peers.

Current interventions to reduce obesity have limited success. This study aimed to determine the characteristics of successful champions (non health professional/community leaders) and to assess how these relate to acceptability ratings of an obesity reduction intervention-the Waist Disposal Challenge. A total of 200 peer participants completed questionnaires.

Protocol for a randomised controlled trial of an outreach support program for family carers of older people discharged from hospital.

Background: Presentations to hospital of older people receiving family care at home incur substantial costs for patients, families, and the health care system, yet there can be positive carer outcomes when systematically assessing/addressing their support needs, and reductions in older people's returns to hospital attributed to appropriate discharge planning. This study will trial the Further Enabling Care at Home program, a 2-week telephone outreach initiative for family carers of older people returning home from hospital. Hypotheses are that the program will (a) better prepare families to sustain their caregiving role and (b) reduce patients' re-presentations/readmissions to hospital, and/or their length of stay; also that reduced health system costs attributable to the program will outweigh costs of its implementation.

The influence of trait-negative affect and compassion satisfaction on compassion fatigue in Australian nurses.

For this study, we examined the nature of the unique relationships trait-negative affect and compassion satisfaction had with compassion fatigue and its components of secondary traumatic stress and burnout in 273 nurses from 1 metropolitan tertiary acute hospital in Western Australia. Participants completed the Professional Quality of Life Scale (Stamm, 2010), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (Lovibond & Lovibond, 2004), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983). Bivariate correlation and hierarchical regression analyses were performed to examine and investigate 4 hypotheses.

Challenges during long-term follow-up of ICU patients with and without chronic disease.

Introduction: Reflecting on researchers' experiences during follow-up of patients enrolled in research may lead to improved understanding of the challenges faced in maintaining contact when patients leave hospital.

Aims: (1) Describe the challenges researchers face when following-up patients who survive ICU. (2) Identify issues that influenced our ability to follow-up patients.

Enabling a family caregiver-led assessment of support needs in home-based palliative care: Potential translation into practice.

Background: Systematic assessment of family caregivers' support needs and integrating these into service planning according to evidence-based research are vital to improving caregivers' outcomes and their capacity to provide care at end of life.

Aim: To describe the experience with and feedback of nurses on implementing a systematic assessment of support needs with family caregivers in home-based palliative care, using the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool.

Methods: This study was conducted during 2012-2014 in Silver Chain Hospice Care Service in Western Australia.

Older people living alone at home with terminal cancer.

This study describes the lived experiences of older people coping with terminal cancer and living alone, focusing on how they face challenges of the biographical life changes from their disease progression. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted in two phases with palliative care clients of a community-based service in Western Australia (2009-2011): Brief interviews with 43 cancer patients who live alone and then in-depth interviews with 8 of them. Using biographical disruption as the analytical framework for interpreting the qualitative data, four main themes emerged: Biographical disruption: adjusting to change; Biographical continuity: preserving normality; Biographical reconstruction: redefining normality; and Biographical closure: facing the end.

The impact of the carer support needs assessment tool (CSNAT) in community palliative care using a stepped wedge cluster trial.

Family caregiving towards the end-of-life entails considerable emotional, social, financial and physical costs for caregivers. Evidence suggests that good support can improve caregiver psychological outcomes. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the impact of using the carer support needs assessment tool (CSNAT), as an intervention to identify and address support needs in end of life home care, on family caregiver outcomes.

Who needs bereavement support? A population based survey of bereavement risk and support need.

This study identifies and describes the profiles of bereavement risk and support needs of a community sample in Australia and tests the fit of the data with the three-tiered public health model for bereavement support. Family members who were bereaved 6-24 months prior to the survey and who were clients of four funeral providers participated (May-July 2013). A postal survey was used to collect information about bereaved people's experience of caring and perceived satisfaction with any bereavement support provided.

A scoping review of bereavement risk assessment measures: Implications for palliative care.

Background: Palliative care standards and policies recommend that bereavement support be provided to family caregivers, yet uncertainty surrounds whether support currently offered by palliative care services throughout developed countries meets caregiver needs. The public health model of bereavement support, which aligns bereavement support needs with intervention, may address this gap between policy and practice.

Aim: The aim was to review the literature to identify bereavement risk assessment measures appropriate for different points in the caring and bereavement trajectories, evaluate their psychometric properties and assess feasibility for use in palliative care.

The effect of caregiving on bereavement outcome: study protocol for a longitudinal, prospective study.

Background: The aim of the current study is to determine the effects of caregiving on bereavement outcome. The study will address two important gaps in the research literature: (1) the relationship between pre-death distress and post-death outcomes and (2) family caregivers' anticipation and preparation of the death of the person for whom they care.

Methods/design: We will conduct a longitudinal, prospective study of adult family caregivers of adult patients receiving palliative care.

A comparison of outcomes among hospital survivors with and without severe comorbidity admitted to the intensive care unit.

Little is known about the experiences of patients with severe comorbidity discharged from Intensive Care Units (ICUs). This project aimed to determine the effects of an ICU stay for patients with severe comorbidity by comparing 1) quality of life (QOL), 2) the symptom profile of hospital survivors and 3) health service use after hospital discharge for patients admitted to ICU with and without severe comorbidity. A case-control study was used.

Microsurgical Treatment of Previously Coiled Intracranial Aneurysms: Systematic Review of the Literature.

Objective: To assess indications, complications, clinical outcomes, and technical nuances of microsurgical treatment of previously coiled intracranial aneurysms.

Methods: A systematic review of the literature was performed using PubMed/MEDLINE and EMBASE databases from January 1990 to December 2013. English-language articles reporting on microsurgical treatment of previously coiled intracranial aneurysms were included.

A pilot study to assess the construct and face validity of the Northwestern Objective Microanastomosis Assessment Tool.

Object: Microsurgical skills remain an integral component of neurosurgical education. There is a need for an objective scale to assess microsurgical skills. The objective of this study was to assess the face and construct validity of a bench training microanastomosis module and an objective assessment scale, i.

Supporting family caregivers to identify their own needs in end-of-life care: Qualitative findings from a stepped wedge cluster trial.

Introduction: The Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool encompasses the physical, psychological, social, practical, financial, and spiritual support needs that government policies in many countries emphasize should be assessed and addressed for family caregivers during end-of-life care.

Aim: To describe the experience of family caregivers of terminally ill people of the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool intervention in home-based palliative care.

Methods: This study was conducted during 2012-2014 in Silver Chain Hospice Care Service in Western Australia.

Dignity therapy for people with motor neuron disease and their family caregivers: a feasibility study.

Background: There are calls to explore psychological interventions to reduce distress in patients with motor neuron disease (MND) and their family caregivers. Dignity therapy is a short-term psychotherapy intervention shown to alleviate distress for people with life-limiting illnesses.

Objectives: To assess the acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of dignity therapy to reduce distress in people with MND and their family caregivers.

Preventing thalassemia in Lebanon: successes and challenges in a developing country.

Thalassemia continues to be a major health burden. The chronicity of the disease and the high cost of life-long treatment make prevention strategies crucial in the management of this disease. In this article, we revisit different successful prevention strategies, and underline the Lebanese model.

Compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, anxiety, depression and stress in registered nurses in Australia: phase 2 results.

Aim: This is the first two-phase Australian study to explore the factors impacting upon compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, anxiety, depression and stress and to describe the strategies nurses use to build compassion satisfaction into their working lives.

Background: Compassion fatigue has been found to impact on job satisfaction, the quality of patient care and retention within nursing. This study provides new knowledge on the influences of anxiety, stress and depression and how they relate to compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue.

Bis[tris-(phenanthroline-κ(2) N,N')cobalt(II)] undeca-tungsto(VI)vanado(V)phosphate dihydrate.

In the title hydrated salt, [Co(C12H8N2)3]2[PVW11O40]·2H2O, the complete Kegggin ion is generated by crystallographic inversion symmetry, which imposes statistical disorder on the O atoms of its central PO4 group. The V atom is statistically disordered over all the metal sites of the anion. In the cation, the Co(2+) ion is coordinated by three bidentate 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) ligands, generating a distorted CoN6 octa-hedron.

Reported experiences of bereavement support in Western Australia: a pilot study.

Objective: This article describes the pilot testing of a community survey to ascertain the experiences and needs of people who were bereaved 6-24 months before the survey. The pilot study aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the survey and test the theoretical public health model for bereavement support.

Methods: A postal survey was used to collect information from clients of three funeral providers in Western Australia in 2012.