An exploratory analysis of factors associated with spontaneous preterm birth among pregnant veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Background: Pregnant veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are at increased risk for spontaneous preterm birth, yet the underlying reasons are unclear. We examined factors associated with spontaneous preterm birth among pregnant veterans with active PTSD.

Methods: This was an observational study of births from administrative databases reimbursed by the Veterans Health Association (VA) between 2005 and 2015.

Protocol for a mixed-methods randomised controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of a dyadic expressive arts-based intervention in improving the psychosocial well-being of children with intellectual disability in special schools and their mothers.

Introduction: Mothers of children with intellectual disability (ID) are often distressed because of intensive workloads and difficulties in communicating with their children. Given the interdependence between the psychosocial well-being of such dyads, interventions that promote parent-child relationships and mutual communication would be beneficial. Arts provide alternative avenues for expression and offer an imaginative and playful environment for discovering new communication strategies.

Postpartum Transition of Care: Racial/Ethnic Gaps in Veterans' Re-Engagement in VA Primary Care after Pregnancy.

Introduction: Pregnancy presents an opportunity to engage veterans in health care. Guidelines recommend primary care follow-up in the year postpartum, but loss to follow-up is common, poorly quantified, and especially important for those with gestational diabetes (GDM) and hypertension. Racial maternal inequities are well-documented and might be exacerbated by differential postpartum care.

Association of Costs and Days at Home With Transfer Hospital in Home.

Importance: New Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services waivers created a payment mechanism for hospital at home services. Although it is well established that direct admission to hospital at home from the community as a substitute for hospital care provides superior outcomes and lower cost, the effectiveness of transfer hospital at home-that is, completing hospitalization at home-is unclear.

Objective: To evaluate the outcomes of the transfer component of a Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital in Home program (T-HIH), taking advantage of natural geographical limitations in a program's service area.

VA home-based primary care interdisciplinary team structure varies with Veterans' needs, aligns with PACE regulation.

Background: Interdisciplinary team (IDT) care is central to home-based primary care (HBPC) of frail elders. Traditionally, all HBPC disciplines managed a patient (Full IDT), a costly approach to maintain. The recent PACE (Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly) regulation provides for a flexible approach of annual assessments from a core team with involvement of additional disciplines dependent upon patient needs (Core+).

Associations of intimate partner violence and financial adversity with familial homelessness in pregnant and postpartum women: A 7-year prospective study of the ALSPAC cohort.

Objective: To determine whether emotional and physical intimate partner violence (IPV) and financial adversity increase risk of incident homelessness in pregnancy and the post-partum period.

Study Design: Data were drawn from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, which starting in 1990 mailed questionnaires to 14,735 mothers in the UK, over 7 years from pregnancy onwards. Marginal structural models and multiple imputation were used to address time-varying confounding of the primary variables, testing for interaction between concurrent emotional/physical IPV and financial adversity, and adjusted for baseline age, ethnicity, education, partner's alcohol use, parity, depression, and social class.

A randomised controlled trial of expressive arts-based intervention for young stroke survivors.

Background: Stroke causes lasting brain damage that has numerous impacts on the survivor's physical, psychosocial, and spiritual well-being. Young survivors (< 65 years old) tend to suffer more because of their longer overall survival time. Expressive arts-based intervention is considered a holistic approach for stroke rehabilitation because it allows participants to express their thoughts and emotions through the arts.

Effects of Expressive Arts-Based Interventions on Adults With Intellectual Disabilities: A Stratified Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: People with intellectual disabilities have difficulties expressing their views and can manifest psychological and behavioral symptoms. The present study aimed to examine the effects of expressive arts-based intervention (EABI) on the behavioral and emotional well-being of adults with intellectual disabilities.

Methods: This study assigned 109 Chinese adults with intellectual disabilities into EABI ( = 55) or control groups ( = 54) using stratified randomization.

Toward a Holistic Approach to Spiritual Health Care for People With Schizophrenia.

Medical and behavioral treatments are the predominant types of rehabilitation services for people with schizophrenia. Spirituality in people with schizophrenia remains poorly conceptualized, thereby limiting knowledge advancement in the area of spiritual health care services. To provide a framework for better clinical and research practices, we advocate a holistic approach to investigating spirituality and its application in spiritual health care services of people with schizophrenia.

Understandings of spirituality and its role in illness recovery in persons with schizophrenia and mental-health professionals: a qualitative study.

Background: Spirituality has received increased attention in the psychiatric literature; however, it remains underexplored on a global level. Knowledge about spirituality of persons with schizophrenia is often hampered by positive and negative symptoms, which limit their expression of spiritual needs and shift mental-health professionals' focus from spiritual care to symptom control. Differences in the ways that the two parties understand spirituality may create different expectations and further hinder the provision of high-quality holistic care.

Association of Fatigue with Perceived Stress in Chinese Women with Early Stage Breast Cancer Awaiting Adjuvant Radiotherapy.

Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is common in women with breast cancer, but little is known of its relationship with perceived stress. We conducted a cross-sectional study to explore the associations of CRF with perceived stress, anxiety, depression, pain and sleep quality in 133 Chinese women (aged 25-68 years) with early stage breast cancer. The majority of women had completed surgery and chemotherapy and were awaiting radiotherapy.

The associations between diurnal cortisol patterns, self-perceived social support, and sleep behavior in Chinese breast cancer patients.

Objective: This study examined the relationships between diurnal cortisol patterns and sleep behavior, social support, psychological factors, and perceived health status in breast cancer patients.

Methods: One hundred and eighty-one breast cancer patients completed a self-report questionnaire that combined the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Yale Social Support Scale, and self-perceived measures of physical health, stress, sleep quality, total sleep hours, and time of awakening. Salivary cortisol was collected upon waking, at 1200h, 1700h, and 2100h on two consecutive days.