Study protocol of a randomized control trial on the effectiveness of improvisational music therapy for autistic children.

Background: Music therapy is the clinical use of musical interventions to improve mental and physical health across multiple domains, including social communication. Autistic children, who have difficulties in social communication and often increased anxiety, tend to show a strong preference for music, because it can be structured and systematic, and therefore more predictable than social interaction. This makes music therapy a promising medium for therapeutic support and intervention.

The Support Needs and Current Practices of Public Health Nurses in the Republic of Ireland Who Provide Support to Breastfeeding Mothers: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

Background: Breastfeeding continuation rates are low in Ireland. The Breastfeeding Observation and Assessment Tool (BOAT) was developed to assist public health nurses in assessing breastfeeding challenges; however, little is known of its actual usage, the level of training experienced or desired by public health nurses, or their level of confidence in the support they provide to breastfeeding mothers.

Research Aim: To identify the current practices and support needs of public health nurses who provide breastfeeding support in Ireland.

How do people with chronic pain choose their music for pain management? Examining the external validity of the cognitive vitality model.

Music interventions for pain are more successful when patients choose the music themselves. But little is known about the attentional strategies used by chronic pain patients when choosing or using music for pain management, and the degree to which these attentional strategies align with the cognitive mechanisms outlines in the cognitive vitality model (CVM, a recently developed theoretical framework that outlines five cognitive mechanisms that mediate the analgesic effects of music for pain management). To investigate this question, we used a sequential explanatory mixed method approach, which included a survey, online music listening experiment, and qualitative data collection, with chronic pain patients (n=70).

"I'm not being serviced; I'm being cared for": A mixed methods study of patients' and nurses' perceptions of community oncology nursing delivered by a Community Intervention Team.

Purpose: Many patients do not have access to community oncology nursing care in a primary setting and are completely reliant on tertiary hospital care. The aim of this study is to gain an understanding of oncology patients' and nurses' perceptions of community oncology nursing, delivered by an urban Community Intervention Team (CIT) in Ireland.

Methods: A descriptive, concurrent mixed methods approach was used which included semi-structured interviews with 14 oncology patients and an online survey of 27 hospital and community nurses.

Tune out pain: Agency and active engagement predict decreases in pain intensity after music listening.

Music is increasingly being recognised as an adjuvant treatment for pain management. Music can help to decrease the experience of both chronic and experimental pain. Cognitive agency has been identified as a specific mechanism that may mediate the analgesic benefits of music engagement however, it is unclear if this specific mechanism translates to acute pain.

Community nurses' attitudes, knowledge and educational needs in relation to urinary continence, continence assessment and management: A systematic review.

Aims And Objectives: To identify, appraise and summarise the available evidence relating to community nurses' attitudes, knowledge and educational needs in relation to urinary continence.

Background: Community nurses play a pivotal role in identifying and supporting individuals who experience urinary continence issues. Gaps in nurses' continence-related education and knowledge may contribute to sub-optimal assessment and management across the continuum of care.

Cognitive agency in music interventions: Increased perceived control of music predicts increased pain tolerance.

Background: Self-selected music is consistently found to be the strongest predictor for successful music listening interventions in pain management contexts, but the specific cognitive mechanisms that mediate these effects are currently unknown.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to isolate the role of cognitive agency on pain tolerance in music listening interventions, independently from parallel effects related to enjoyment. Additionally, the study examines the role of intramusical features and individual attributes related to musical engagement.

The Cognitive Mechanisms in Music Listening Interventions for Pain: A Scoping Review.

Music interventions have been introduced in a range of pain management contexts, yet considerable inconsistencies have been identified across evaluation studies. These inconsistencies have been attributed to a lack of clarity around the prospective cognitive mechanisms of action underlying such interventions. The current systematic scoping review was conducted to examine the theoretical rationales provided in the literature for introducing music listening interventions (MLIs) in pain contexts.