Publications by authors named "Rebecca Baxter"

Objectives: Self-compassion is a positive psychological factor linked to improved physical and psychological outcomes across different chronic illness populations. However, the extent to which self-compassion contributes to reduced distress across different conditions or as a function of participant factors is not clear. The current meta-analysis aimed to quantify the association between self-compassion and psychological distress in different chronic illness populations and evaluate the factors that moderate this association.

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Background: The Serious Illness Care Programme was developed to promote more, better and earlier serious illness conversations. Conversations about goals and values are associated with improved experiences and outcomes for seriously ill patients. Clinicians' attitudes and beliefs are thought to influence the uptake and performance of serious illness conversations, yet little is known about how clinicians perceive the impact of these conversations on patients.

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  • Cancer patients often experience long-term sleep disorders, which can be alleviated through non-drug strategies like exercise.
  • This systematic review examined the effects of resistance training (RT) on sleep outcomes in cancer survivors, alongside existing evidence supporting aerobic training.
  • Results from 21 studies indicated significant improvements in sleep quality and insomnia among participants who engaged in combined aerobic and resistance exercises over a 12-week period.
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Background: Conversations about goals, values and priorities with patients that are seriously ill are associated with improved palliative healthcare. The Serious Illness Care Program is a multi-component program that can facilitate more, better, and earlier conversations between clinicians and seriously ill patients. For successful and sustainable implementation of the Serious Illness Care Program, it is important to consider how stakeholders perceive it.

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  • - The study aimed to translate and adapt the Serious Illness Conversation Guide for the Swedish healthcare system, involving cognitive interviews with patients, family members, and healthcare professionals to gather feedback and improve the guide.
  • - The adapted guide was tested during training sessions for medical staff and was deemed effective in supporting difficult conversations about serious illnesses, while also being sensitive to the emotional challenges involved.
  • - Participants reported that the guide was appropriate and responsive to their needs, suggesting it could promote healthier discussions about serious illnesses, although further research is necessary to assess its impact on person-centered and goal-concordant care.
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Background: Whilst the majority of primary-school aged children with Down syndrome are educated in mainstream schools, little is known about the roles of Teachers and TAs in their education provision or their views on issues related to their effective inclusion.

Aims: This study explored the perceptions of Teachers and TAs working with pupils with Down syndrome in mainstream primary schools in the UK using an online survey.

Methods And Procedures: Responses from 105 TAs and 94 Teachers were collected.

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  • Indonesian care staff in Japan are increasing, but there's no assessment tool in their language to evaluate their dementia care practices.
  • This study translated the Person-centered Care Assessment Tool (P-CAT) into Indonesian and tested its reliability and validity with 218 care staff members through various analyses.
  • The findings suggest that the Indonesian P-CAT is a valid and reliable measure for assessing person-centered care among these staff, with promising implications for improving care practices.
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Background: Ariadne Labs' Serious Illness Care Program (SICP), inclusive of the Serious Illness Conversation Guide (SICG), has been adapted for use in a variety of settings and among diverse population groups. Explicating the core elements of serious illness conversations could support the inclusion or exclusion of certain components in future iterations of the programme and the guide.

Aim: This integrative systematic review aimed to identify and describe core elements of serious illness conversations in relation to the SICP and/or SICG.

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Objective: This study aimed to explore changes to resident thriving in Swedish nursing homes over a 5-year period and describe changes in associated factors.

Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected from a randomised sample of Swedish nursing homes in 2013/2014 (baseline) and 2018/2019 (follow-up). Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, and chi squared tests were used to statistically evaluate differences between the samples.

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  • - Serious illness conversations are designed to better align medical treatment with what patients value and prefer, but effective methods to identify patients in need of these conversations are not well-studied or compared across different settings.
  • - A scoping review analyzed literature from 2014 to 2021 and found that common methods for identifying patients include clinical triggers, the 'surprise question', or a combination of methods, with contributions from various healthcare staff and automated tools.
  • - The study highlighted both facilitative factors and barriers in the patient identification process, suggesting that future research should evaluate how to improve identification methods and better understand clinicians' decision-making in this area.
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Children with language learning difficulties frequently display problems learning grammar. One such group is children with Down syndrome. This study evaluates the effectiveness of an intervention to teach the use of the regular simple past tense to children with Down syndrome.

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  • - The study investigated the educational experiences of pupils with Down syndrome (DS) in UK schools, focusing on parent feedback through an online survey with 569 respondents.
  • - Results showed that 65% of these pupils were in mainstream schools, with higher participation in primary (80%) compared to secondary (37%). Most pupils engaged in academic and social activities, although not all opportunities were accessed.
  • - Overall, parents expressed satisfaction with the educational support provided, highlighting the role of teachers and teaching assistants, while suggesting areas for improvement to ensure all pupils have equal access to learning opportunities.
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  • The study aims to identify key contributors to thriving in nursing homes by analyzing qualitative literature on the subject.
  • It employs qualitative meta-ethnography, reviewing 1,017 sources and narrowing down to seven key studies that reveal two main themes: personal and social contributors, and environmental factors that support thriving.
  • The findings suggest that thriving is a holistic concept defined by individual attributes, relationships, and the surrounding environment, emphasizing the need for further exploration of how these elements interact over time.
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Background: Thriving has emerged as a contemporary and health-promoting concept for older people living in nursing homes; however, there has been limited research to explore how nursing home staff identify thriving in their everyday practice. The aim of this study was to explore how staff recognize expressions of thriving among persons living in nursing homes.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 nurses working at a nursing home in Victoria, Australia.

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The emergence of COVID-19 has changed the world as we know it, arguably none more so than for older people. In Sweden, the majority of COVID-19-related fatalities have been among people aged ⩾70 years, many of whom were receiving health and social care services. The pandemic has illuminated aspects within the care continuum requiring evaluative research, such as decision-making processes, the structure and organisation of care, and interventions within the complex public-health system.

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First introduced in 1996, Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) redefined prehospital, point-of-injury (POI), battlefield trauma care for the human combat casualty. Today, many consider TCCC as one of the most influential interventions for reducing combat-related case fatality rates from preventable deaths in human combat casualties. Throughout history, Military Working Dogs (MWDs) have proved and continue to prove themselves as force multipliers in the success of many military operations.

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Background And Objectives: Thriving has been described as a multidimensional concept that can be used to explore place-related well-being; however, there has been limited research into the meaning of thriving in aged care. This study aimed to illuminate meanings of thriving as narrated by persons living in nursing homes.

Research Design And Methods: Narrative interviews were conducted with 21 persons residing in a rural Australian nursing home.

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  • The study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the 32-item Thriving of Older People Assessment Scale (TOPAS) and consider creating a shorter version.
  • A cross-sectional analysis involving staff ratings of 4,831 nursing home residents in Sweden revealed the original TOPAS had good reliability, leading to the identification of items suitable for reduction.
  • The short-form TOPAS demonstrated excellent internal consistency and strong correlation to the original scale, making it a useful tool for measuring resident well-being in nursing homes.
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Military working dogs (MWDs) are force multipliers that are exposed to the same risks as their human counterparts on the battlefield. Hemostatic resuscitation using blood products is a cornerstone of damage control resuscitation protocols for both humans and dogs. Canine-specific blood products are in short supply in mature theaters due to logistic and regulatory concerns and are almost nonexistent in austere environments, whereas human blood products are readily available at most surgical facilities.

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To support the development of internationally comparable common data elements (CDEs) that can be used to measure essential aspects of long-term care (LTC) across low-, middle-, and high-income countries, a group of researchers in medicine, nursing, behavioral, and social sciences from 21 different countries have joined forces and launched the Worldwide Elements to Harmonize Research in LTC Living Environments (WE-THRIVE) initiative. This initiative aims to develop a common data infrastructure for international use across the domains of organizational context, workforce and staffing, person-centered care, and care outcomes, as these are critical to LTC quality, experiences, and outcomes. This article reports measurement recommendations for the care outcomes domain, focusing on previously prioritized care outcomes concepts of well-being, quality of life (QoL), and personhood for residents in LTC.

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  • Postgraduate education is crucial for enhancing nurses' professional competence and confidence, which are vital for providing safe care; however, there is limited empirical evidence on its effectiveness.
  • The study aimed to assess how a critical care postgraduate certificate course affects nurses' self-reported competence and confidence, using a specially developed questionnaire.
  • Results showed that nurses experienced a significant increase in both competence and confidence after completing the course, and the questionnaire used was reliable for measuring these changes.
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