A new measure of professional caregiver coping in long-term care: The LTC COPE.

Introduction: The professional caregiver workforce (nursing assistants and personal care aides) is critical to quality of care and quality of life in nursing home (NH) and assisted living (AL) settings. The work is highly stressful, so improving responses to stress in this workforce could contribute to satisfaction and retention. This research developed a coping measure appropriate for the diverse professional caregiver workforce.

Stress-related coping and its relationship to well-being in nursing assistants and personal care aides in nursing homes and assisted living.

Introduction: Professional caregivers (nursing assistants and personal care aides) in nursing homes (NH) and assisted living (AL) provide the majority of long-term residential care for persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Their work is stressful, but until recently, no measures were available to assess stress in this workforce. Using the new Long-Term Care Cope (LTC COPE) scale, this study evaluates the relationship of coping with staff demographic characteristics and outcomes; the findings can be used to develop and evaluate interventions to improve staff well-being.

The Prevalence and Benefits of Self-Compassion Among Professional Caregivers.

Objective: Self-compassion is a healthy way of responding to challenges that may help long-term care professional caregivers (ie, nursing assistants and personal care aides) cope with stress, but its use may vary in important ways. This study explored the relationships between self-compassion and caregiver demographic characteristics, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and job satisfaction in a large racially/ethnically diverse sample of professional caregivers.

Design: Cross-sectional self-report questionnaire.

Feasibility, acceptability, and depression outcomes of a randomized controlled trial of Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens (MSC-T) for adolescents with subsyndromal depression.

Introduction: Adolescents are experiencing high rates of depressive symptoms, with negative consequences to their long-term health. Group-based, mindful self-compassion programs show promise in mitigating the development of more significant depression in at-risk adolescents. However, the lack of well-designed, active control conditions has limited the ability to examine the efficacy of such interventions.

Easing the burden of dementia caregiving: Protocol development for a telephone-delivered mindfulness intervention for rural, African American families.

Background: There have been few interventions targeted for rural African American (AA) caregivers of persons with dementia despite their unique cultural, geographic, health-related and socio-economic needs, including relatively less access to-and willingness to engage with-formal supports and resources. One effective intervention, Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), has been found to be culturally acceptable in AA populations; however, no studies have assessed feasibility, acceptability and impact of an adapted mindfulness intervention targeting rural AA dementia caregivers.

Aims: The purpose of this study is to 1) determine the feasibility and acceptability of a telephone-delivered mindfulness training intervention in decreasing caregiver burden among rural, AA, informal caregiving teams of people with dementia; 2) to explore the effects of the training on caregiver burden and relevant secondary outcomes for both caregiving team members, including emotional regulation, tolerance of uncertainty, emotional and physical health, family conflict within the informal caregiving team, and self-efficacy; and 3) to explore comfort with and willingness to adopt technologies to access mindfulness practices and existing caregiving educational resources.

Self-Compassion and Current Close Interpersonal Relationships: A Scoping Literature Review.

Objectives: In order to provide a broad overview of the body of peer-reviewed literature on self-compassion and close relationships, this scoping review describes how self-compassion relates to thoughts, feelings and behaviors within the context of current personal relationships between family members, romantic partners, friends, or others referred to as "close".

Methods: Two reviewers independently screened peer-reviewed articles retrieved based on a defined search strategy within three online databases, extracted data from 72 articles that met inclusion criteria by consensus, and summarized findings thematically. Results: With few exceptions, self-compassion is positively associated with secure attachment, adaptive parenting behaviors, healthy family, romantic and friendship functioning, and constructive conflict and transgression repair behavior.

Certified nursing assistants' experiences with self-compassion training in the nursing home setting.

Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) in nursing home (NH) settings experience considerable work-related and personal stress. Self-compassion is a personal resource linked to improved stress coping and may be particularly relevant to health care workers. In this study, we explored NH CNA's experiences with self-compassion training based on their narrative replies.

The design and methods of the OPTIMUM study: A multisite pragmatic randomized clinical trial of a telehealth group mindfulness program for persons with chronic low back pain.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an evidence-based non-pharmacological approach for chronic low back pain (cLBP), yet it is not readily available or reimbursable within primary care clinics. Primary care providers (PCPs) who wish to avoid prescribing opioids and other medications typically have few options for their cLBP patients. We present the protocol of a pragmatic clinical trial entitled OPTIMUM (Optimizing Pain Treatment In Medical settings Using Mindfulness).

Parent Self-Compassion and Supportive Responses to Child Difficult Emotion: An Intergenerational Theoretical Model Rooted in Attachment.

Self-compassion is an adaptive way of self-relating that entails tending to one's emotional pain with understanding and care. In this paper, we propose an intergenerational model explaining how self-compassion develops within the context of the parent-child relationship. Specifically, we posit that parents who have had supportive experiences with their own childhood caregivers develop a secure attachment and a high level of self-compassion.

Self-compassion training for certified nurse assistants in nursing homes.

Background/objectives: Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) who work in nursing homes (NHs) face significant work and personal stress. Self-compassion training has been shown to decrease stress postintervention in previous studies among healthcare providers and those in helping professions. This study examines the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of self-compassion training to address CNA stress and well-being.

Is parents' education level associated with adolescent self-compassion?

Self-compassion has been identified as a trait that correlates with robust mental health; specifically, less anxiety, depression and stress in both adolescents and adults. However, little is known about the parental and family factors that are associated with adolescent self-compassion that may promote or enhance the development of this stress-buffering trait. In this study, 1057 adolescents in grades 7-12 from two different school settings answered questions in an online survey that related to their parents' education level and their own self-compassion.

Adolescent Self-Compassion Moderates the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Internalizing Symptoms.

Introduction: Self-compassion, a trait that involves responding to one's difficulties with care and concern, may offer unique stress coping benefits during the challenges of adolescence.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used survey data from a large adolescent sample within two U.S.

Young adult cancer survivors' experiences with a mindful self-compassion (MSC) video-chat intervention: A qualitative analysis.

Young adult cancer survivors (YACS) are a vulnerable population that reports high anxiety, social isolation, and feelings of inadequacy after cancer treatment completion. Mindful self-compassion (MSC) provides strategies for coping with suffering. We explored how MSC practices addressed the psychosocial needs of a nationally recruited YACS sample (N=20, all female, age M=27.

Self-Compassion: A Potential Path to Adolescent Resilience and Positive Exploration.

The adolescent developmental stage is characterized by multiple transitions, both physiological and environmental, and physical, cognitive and socioemotional growth that often leads to both challenges and opportunities. Developing coping strategies to contend with these challenges, such as strengthening resilience and being open to new experiences, can potentially facilitate traversing this developmental period with greater ease. Although previous research has supported the premise that self-compassion buffers the negative effects of these emotional challenges, little research to date has examined the link between strengths-based attributes such as resilience and curiosity/exploration (i.

Why is announcement training more effective than conversation training for introducing HPV vaccination? A theory-based investigation.

Background: Improving healthcare providers' communication about HPV vaccination is critical to increasing uptake. We previously demonstrated that training providers to use presumptive announcements to introduce HPV vaccination improved uptake, whereas training them to use participatory conversations had no effect. To understand how communication training changed provider perceptions and communication practices, we evaluated intermediate outcomes and process measures from our randomized clinical trial, with a particular focus on identifying mechanisms that might explain the announcement training's impact.

Helping Dementia Caregivers Manage Medical Problems: Benefits of an Educational Resource.

Background/rationale: Family caregivers of people with dementia must attend to medical care needs of their relative, yet few available resources address comorbidities in dementia. Consequently, caregivers feel ill-equipped when medical concerns arise. In response, an educational resource-Alzheimer's Medical Advisor ( AlzMed)-was developed in 2 forms (website and book) and evaluated.

Announcements Versus Conversations to Improve HPV Vaccination Coverage: A Randomized Trial.

Objective: Improving provider recommendations is critical to addressing low human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination coverage. Thus, we sought to determine the effectiveness of training providers to improve their recommendations using either presumptive "announcements" or participatory "conversations."

Methods: In 2015, we conducted a parallel-group randomized clinical trial with 30 pediatric and family medicine clinics in central North Carolina.

Improving dementia diagnosis and management in primary care: a cohort study of the impact of a training and support program on physician competency, practice patterns, and community linkages.

Background: Primary care physicians routinely provide dementia care, but may lack the clinical skills and awareness of available resources to provide optimal care. We conducted a community-based pilot dementia training intervention designed to both improve clinical competency and increase utilization of local dementia care services.

Methods: Physicians (N = 29) and affiliated staff (N = 24) participated in a one-day training program on dementia screening, diagnosis and management that included direct engagement with local support service providers.

A medical home for children with insulin-dependent diabetes: comanagement by primary and subspecialty physicians--convergence and divergence of opinions.

Objective: The purpose of this work was to examine pediatricians' and endocrinologists' views about management for routine preventive and acute care, diabetes-specific care, and family education and care coordination for children with insulin-dependent diabetes.

Methods: We conducted a mixed-mode survey of all of the pediatricians in 1 medicaid managed care network and all of the pediatric and adult endocrinologists who treat children with diabetes in North Carolina.

Results: Of the 201 pediatricians surveyed, 132 responded (65%).