Promoting family-focused approaches within adult drug services: the potential of the 'Senses Framework'.

Background: Policies across countries promote family-focused engagement with adult drugs services however this is rarely offered routinely and relationships with carers are often poor. Research in mental health and older people's services suggests that improving the relationships between carers and service providers is fundamental to enhancing the quality of services. One example is the Senses Framework which assesses the extent to which services are relationship-centred and provides deeper insight into the areas that require further improvement.

Carer involvement with drug services: a qualitative study.

Background: Empirical research suggests that involving carers brings benefits to families and services. Consequently, drug-related policy and guidance has increasingly encouraged drug services to involve carers at all levels of service provision.

Objective: To explore the purpose and scope of carer involvement with adult drug services in North-east Scotland.

Relationship between changes in quality of life and measures of lung function and bronchial hyper-responsiveness during high-dose inhaled corticosteroid treatment in uncontrolled asthma.

Objective: To examine the relationship between changes in quality of life and measures of lung function and bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR) during treatment with high-dose inhaled corticosteroids in patients with uncontrolled asthma.

Methods: Thirty patients with uncontrolled asthma currently receiving inhaled corticosteroids (median dose 550 microg/day) were treated with beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) dry powder 2000 microg/day for 4 weeks. Patients completed the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ), underwent bronchial challenge with methacholine and spirometry, and made entries in asthma diary cards at baseline and after treatment with beclomethasone dipropionate.

An evaluation of short-term corticosteroid response in perennial allergic rhinitis using histamine and adenosine monophosphate nasal challenge.

Aims: To evaluate the role of AMP nasal challenge as a measure of short-term treatment response in patients receiving intranasal corticosteroids. Adenosine monophosphate (AMP) challenge has been shown to be a good inflammatory surrogate in the lower airways, but it has not been properly evaluated as a nasal challenge test.

Methods: Fourteen patients with perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR) were randomized to receive 2 weeks treatment with placebo (PL) or 200 microg intranasal mometasone furoate (MF) once daily in a randomized single-blind crossover study.

Therapeutic ratio of hydrofluoroalkane and chlorofluorocarbon formulations of fluticasone propionate.

Objectives: To compare the therapeutic ratio of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and hydrofluoroalkane-134a (HFA) formulations of fluticasone propionate (FP).

Methods: We performed a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study comparing 6 weeks of treatment with FP using 500 micro g/d and 1,000 microg/d formulations of CFC and HFA. The primary end points were provocative dose of methacholine causing a 20% fall in FEV1 (PD20) and overnight urinary cortisol/creatinine excretion.