Non-use of cancer information services among people experiencing cancer in Ireland.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the reasons for non-use of a national cancer society's cancer information services among people experiencing cancer.

Method: This study used a qualitative design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 17 participants who had not previously utilised the Cancer Society's information services.

Friendship and money: A qualitative study of service users' experiences of participating in a supported socialisation programme.

Background: Social opportunities can be limited in the lives of people with enduring mental illness (EMI) due to psychiatric stigma, restricted home environments and employment barriers. Supported socialisation programmes have the potential to redress the impact of social isolation.

Aim: To explore the experiences of service users with EMI taking part in a supported socialisation programme, using written diary entries.

Sleep quality in patients with chronic illness.

Aims And Objectives: To explore sleep quality in patients with chronic illness in primary care.

Background: Many people suffer from chronic illness with the numbers increasing. One common issue arises from problems that people have with their quality of sleep: a largely under-researched topic.

Improving social functioning and reducing social isolation and loneliness among people with enduring mental illness: Report of a randomised controlled trial of supported socialisation.

Background: This randomised controlled trial examined if for people with enduring mental illness, being supported to socialise leads to improved social functioning, increased self-esteem and extended social networks; a reduction in social isolation, social, emotional and family loneliness and a reduction in illness symptoms, namely depression.

Methods: A prospective randomised controlled trial was undertaken from November 2007 to September 2011. Service users with a diagnosis of enduring mental illness (>18 years) were invited to participate.

An electron paramagnetic resonance method for measuring the affinity of a spin-labeled analog of cholesterol for phospholipids.

Cholesterol (chol)-lipid interactions are thought to play an intrinsic role in determining lateral organization within cellular membranes. Steric compatibility of the rigid steroid moiety for ordered saturated chains contributes to the high affinity that holds chol and sphingomyelin together in lipid rafts whereas, conversely, poor affinity of the sterol for highly disordered polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) is hypothesized to drive the formation of PUFA-containing phospholipid domains depleted in chol. Here, we describe a novel method using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) to measure the relative affinity of chol for different phospholipids.