Publications by authors named "Bressington D"

Background/objectives: The prevalence of dementia, a complication of uncontrolled type 2 diabetes (T2DM), is rising among older adults. Effective self-management for dementia prevention is essential, but no validated questionnaires currently exist to evaluate these behaviors.

Methods: The Dementia Preventive Individual and Family Self-Management Process Questionnaire (DP-IFSM-PQ) and the Dementia Preventive Self-Management Behavior Questionnaire (DPSMBQ) were developed based on the Individual and Family Self-Management Theory to evaluate dementia prevention self-management behaviors in older adults with T2DM.

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Background: Depression is a growing concern among university students. Chatbots provide flexible, accessible, personalized psychosocial support. Delivering Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) sessions via chatbots may reduce depressive symptoms in university students.

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Objective: To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and efficacy of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based Lifestyle Counselling Program (ACT-LCP) on health outcomes of individuals with early psychosis.

Methods: In this assessor-blinded, parallel-group pilot randomized controlled trial, 72 early psychosis patients (mean age [SD] = 30.51 [8.

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Article Synopsis
  • - This text discusses the challenges faced by individuals with schizophrenia and the significant role that family dynamics play in their care, often leading to stress and burdens for family members.
  • - The objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of family-based interventions compared to standard care for those with schizophrenia and their families, addressing outcomes for both patients and their relatives.
  • - The review includes an analysis of randomized controlled trials, utilizing rigorous data collection and analysis methods to ensure reliable results about the impact of these interventions.
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Background: Government mandated quarantine outside the home was implemented to mitigate COVID-19 in some countries. Individual studies report that this can result in psychological distress. Investigating levels of distress and associated risk factors across different settings would inform public health models of care during future pandemics.

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Article Synopsis
  • Vaccine hesitancy is a major global health threat, and this study explores using AI-driven chatbots and motivational interviewing to combat it among adults in Hong Kong.
  • Researchers developed a motivational digital assistant consisting of five web-based modules, guided by established frameworks, expert evaluations, and pilot testing.
  • The pilot results showed significant increases in vaccine-related health literacy and confidence, indicating the digital assistant's potential as a beneficial tool for encouraging informed vaccination decisions, with readiness for future larger trials.
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Background: Schizophrenia is heavily stigmatized among health professionals. Given that health professional students are future members of the workforce and will provide care for people with schizophrenia, it is essential to implement interventions aimed at reducing stigma among this group.

Objective: This scoping review aimed to identify and synthesize existing literature on interventions to decrease schizophrenia stigma among health professional students, and to determine the possible gaps in the literature.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study tested an acceptance-based medication adherence intervention called AIM-AT for adults with early-stage psychosis, involving 126 participants from Hong Kong, randomly divided into three groups for comparison.
  • - Participants receiving AIM-AT showed significant improvements in medication adherence and understanding of their illness compared to those in conventional psychoeducation or usual treatment groups, measured at multiple follow-up points.
  • - Additional benefits for the AIM-AT group included reduced psychotic symptoms, improved social functioning, higher satisfaction with services, and fewer hospitalizations.
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Objective: Explore the preliminary effects of a breathing exercise (BE) intervention on chronic pain among breast cancer survivors.

Methods: This two-parallel-arm, open-label pilot randomized controlled trial recruited 72 breast cancer survivors who were randomly allocated to either the control or intervention group (n = 36 each). Both groups received usual care and a pain information booklet, while the intervention group received 4 weeks of additional BE.

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People in custody are at high risk of developing depression. Accessing psychological treatments in a prison setting is a particular challenge, in part, due to difficulties accessing specialist mental health workers. Behavioural Activation (BA) may be helpful in improving health outcomes for people in custody experiencing depressive symptoms.

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Objective: To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a mindfulness and motivational interviewing-oriented physical-psychological integrated intervention in community-dwelling spinal cord injury (SCI) survivors.

Design: A mixed-methods randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Local organizations for handicapped in Hong Kong.

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Introduction: Mind Space is an experiential mental health exhibition in Hong Kong, aiming to raise public awareness and provide education regarding mental health. This prepost study aimed to 1) examine the relationships between visitors' characteristics and their mental health stigma at baseline, and 2) provide a preliminary evaluation of the effectiveness of Mind Space in reducing stigma and promoting help-seeking attitudes toward mental health conditions.

Methods: We analyzed data from all consenting visitors who attended Mind Space between September 2019 and December 2021.

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Background: Despite worldwide concern about the poor physical health of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD), physical health screening rates are low. This study reports nurses' and patients' experiences of physical health screening among people with SSD using the Finnish Health Improvement Profile (HIP-F) and their ideas for implementation improvements.

Methods: A qualitative exploratory study design with five group interviews with nurses (n = 15) and individual interviews with patients with SSD (n = 8) who had experience using the HIP-F in psychiatric outpatient clinics.

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Introduction: Negative symptoms are frequently experienced by people with schizophrenia. People with negative symptoms often have impaired social functioning and reduced quality of life. There is some evidence that cognitive-behavioural therapy results in a modest reduction in negative symptoms.

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Objective: Australia has inadequate publicly available data regarding the use of involuntary psychiatric care. This study examined the association between patient clinical/demographic factors and involuntary psychiatric admission following initial psychiatric assessment in Royal Darwin Hospital.

Method: Retrospective review of 638 psychiatric assessments followed by covariate analysis of patient variables associated with involuntary psychiatric admission.

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Background: Research suggests a link between deficiencies in omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) and impulsivity among psychiatric populations. However, this association is less evident in non-clinical populations. As omega-3 LCPUFAs are predominantly sourced through fish consumption, non-fish dieters may be more vulnerable to higher impulsivity.

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Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death around the world. Most CVDs-related death can be prevented by the optimal management of risk factors such as unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for CVDs, provide some evidence-based recommendations which help healthcare professionals to achieve the best care for patients with CVDs.

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This quasi-experimental study evaluated feasibility and preliminary efficacy of dementia-preventive educational training intervention program based on the health belief model for improving perceived health beliefs and dementia-preventive behaviors among people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Two community hospitals with 72 eligible participants were chosen from 12 local institutions using simple random sampling method. One hospital (22 patients) was allocated to dementia-preventive educational training intervention, and the other hospital (23 patients) was allocated to control intervention (using simple random sampling).

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Article Synopsis
  • ICD-11 complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) is found to be more severe and common among military veterans compared to traditional PTSD, prompting a study on its prevalence and psychometric properties.
  • The research involved 189 Australian Defence Force veterans seeking mental health support and confirmed that the International Trauma Questionnaire accurately differentiates between PTSD and C-PTSD, demonstrating strong reliability.
  • Results showed that 9.1% of veterans had PTSD, while 51.4% had C-PTSD, with those diagnosed with C-PTSD generally having longer military service and higher levels of traumatic experiences and mental health issues like depression and anxiety.
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Aim: The aim of the proposed research is to develop, pilot and evaluate a novel, bespoke intervention with in-built consideration of the factors influencing attrition and barriers to retention for rural and remote undergraduate nursing students.

Background: There are high rates of attrition in nursing students with rural and remote backgrounds in Australia. However, there is a lack of understanding of what enables or impedes these students to progress in their studies and the strategies available to support them to become part of the nursing workforce.

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In Hong Kong, two infectious disease outbreaks occurred in 2003 (SARS) and 2020 (COVID-19), and a large-scale social unrest happened in 2019. These were stressful societal events that influenced the mental well-being of the public. We aimed to explore the impact of these events on psychiatric admissions in Hong Kong.

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Background: Breastfeeding is the ideal approach for feeding infants and is an important public health consideration. Successful exclusive breastfeeding initiation and duration is influenced by fathers' support. Paternal self-efficacy to support breastfeeding has also been shown to mediate infant feeding practices.

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