Introduction: Patient-centred care (PCC) has come to the forefront for many institutions, funding agencies and clinicians, and is integrated into care. Does a disconnect in understanding still exist between patients, healthcare organizations and clinicians in what PCC means and how outstanding issues might be addressed?
Methods: We conducted interviews and focus groups with self-reported chronic care patients and clinicians providing care to these patients exploring PCC experiences, expectations and practices. These data were initially analysed using inductive thematic analysis.
Objective: To understand healthcare worker and patient experience with peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) insertion in patients with difficult intravenous access (DIVA) including the use of ultrasound (US).
Methods: Descriptive study using 1-on-1 semi-structured interviews conducted between August 2020 and January 2021. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit healthcare practitioners (HCPs) and patients with DIVA who had PIVC experience.
Background: Patient navigation is a complex intervention that has garnered substantial interest and investment across Canada. We conducted an environmental scan to understand the landscape of patient navigation programs within the health care system in Alberta, Canada.
Methods: We included patient navigation programs within Alberta Health Services (AHS) and Alberta's Primary Care Networks (PCNs).
Purpose: A breast cancer diagnosis leads to considerable internal conflict and social disruption. Coping with breast cancer may be especially challenging where psychosocial services are not integrated to cancer care. This exploratory descriptive qualitative study delves into breast cancer-associated psychosocial morbidity among women diagnosed with breast cancer at a cancer centre in post-war northern Sri Lanka.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProviding care to women following stillbirth affects the well-being of midwifery staff. In this grounded theory study, the authors used focus groups and individual interviews to explore the experiences of midwifery students at a faith-based university in Papua New Guinea. is the process students used to balance social, cultural and professional factors to achieve their aim of providing the best possible care to women following stillbirth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudy Objectives: Difficulties in providing timely access to care have prompted interest in primary care delivery models for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Sustainable implementation of such models requires codesign with input from key stakeholders. The purpose of this study was to identify patient and provider perspectives on barriers and facilitators to optimal, patient-centered management of OSA in a primary care setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLack of timely access to diagnosis and treatment of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) has sparked interest in using nonphysician providers. Previous studies of these alternative care providers (ACPs) excluded patients with more complicated forms of SDB and did not directly explore the impacts of a model incorporating ACPs on healthcare system performance, such as wait times. To evaluate the use of ACPs in the management of patients with severe SDB from a clinical and system perspective.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAust J Rural Health
October 2019
Objective: To describe the development and evaluation of an educational resource that aimed to provide the non-midwifery workforce in rural and remote health facilities with basic knowledge and skills to assist women who present when birth is imminent.
Design: Descriptive methods using surveys were employed to evaluate the resource named the Imminent Birth Education Program.
Participants: Health professionals employed in Queensland Health rural and remote non-birthing facilities.
Purpose: The discussion of a cancer diagnosis and prognosis often is difficult. This study explored the expectations of Tamil-speaking patients with cancer and their families with respect to receiving their cancer diagnosis in northern Sri Lanka.
Methods: This exploratory, descriptive, qualitative study used semistructured interviews.
Background: Communication skills are essential for veterinarians who need to discuss animal health related matters with their clients. When dealing with an emerging zoonosis, such as Hendra virus (HeV), veterinarians also have a legal responsibility to inform their clients about the associated risks to human health. Here we report on part of a mixed methods study that examined the preparedness of, and difficulties experienced by, veterinarians communicating about HeV-related risks with their clients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: This article describes the use and effectiveness of the participatory action research (PAR) framework to better understand community members' perceptions and risks of pandemic influenza. In 2009, the H1N1 influenza pandemic affected Indigenous populations more than non-Indigenous populations in Oceania and the Americas. Higher prevalence of comorbidities (diabetes, obesity, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) as well as pregnancy in Indigenous communities may have contributed to the higher risks of severe disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Veterinary infection control for the management of Hendra virus (HeV), an emerging zoonosis in Australia, remained suboptimal until 2010 despite 71.4% (5/7) of humans infected with HeV being veterinary personnel or assisting a veterinarian, three of whom died before 2009. The aim of this study was to identify the perceived barriers to veterinary infection control and HeV management in private veterinary practice in Queensland, where the majority of HeV outbreaks have occurred in Australia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Marked differences exist between the maternal and neonatal outcomes of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and their babies compared with the outcomes for other Australian women and their babies. Australian government policies underline the need to increase the number of practising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander midwives and nurses as a strategy for delivering culturally appropriate healthcare to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. Additional challenges are experienced by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander midwifery students providing Continuity of Care (COC) to Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander childbearing women.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPressure ulcers can have a significant effect on patients' health and quality of life. They may also be associated with increased treatment-related costs, including product selection, length of interventions, prolonged hospitalisation, and resources and time required to care for patients. Pressure ulcers may be more common in patients with comorbidities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe explored the experiences of patients using the Townsville Tele-oncology clinic, where most patients are no longer seen face-to-face. All medical oncology patients who received services via telehealth at the Townsville Cancer Centre in 2012 were invited to participate in an interview. None refused.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIschemia followed by reperfusion leads to release of toxic molecules into the circulation, and these molecules may cause injury in remote organs such as the lung. Horses commonly suffer from episodes of intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (IR) due to intestinal twisting/strangulation followed by repair. Because there is no evidence of lung injury associated with IR in horses, we designed a study to characterize the intestinal IR-associated lung inflammation and determine the effect of lidocaine on lung inflammation in IR horses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: This article outlines the meaningful participation of eight Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members employed as community researchers investigating the impact of pandemic influenza in rural and remote Indigenous communities in Australia. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation is now a requirement of health research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. There is a growing literature on the different approaches to such involvement.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To explore and describe the experiences of working in the dual role as nurse and midwife in rural areas of far north Queensland, Australia.
Method: The methodology was informed by Heidegger's interpretive phenomenological philosophy and data analysis was guided by van Manen's analytical approach. Data was generated by conversational interviews.
Nurses and midwives continue to make up the largest proportion of the health workforce. As a result, shortages of nurses and midwives have a significant impact on the delivery of effective health care. Shortages of nurses and midwives are known to be more pronounced in rural and remote areas where recruitment and retention remain problematic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To develop culturally appropriate and effective strategies to reduce the risk from pandemic influenza (H1N109) in rural and remote Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Methods: Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach that enabled communities and researchers to work together to develop understanding and take action to reduce risk.
Results: The H1N109 pandemic raised deep concerns and serious issues in all of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities involved in this project.