From evidence to practice: using the RE-AIM framework to adapt the REACHII caregiver intervention to the community.

This article describes how the multi-step mid-course assessment of the REACH II community translation project in North Carolina was guided by the RE-AIM framework, and summarizes adaptations made to enhance the feasibility of adoption and maintenance while at the same time assuring fidelity to program core elements. The two-stage assessment involved both quantitative (survey) and qualitative (discussion group) components. Results indicated a need to focus primarily on tailoring pre-intervention training, streamlining and clarifying intervention guides and tools, targeting specific participant recruitment messages, addressing issues of session length, and clarifying what flexibilities family consultants could exercise in terms of specific session content addressed and other supportive materials used.

To Deliberate or Not to Deliberate: Interactions Between Age, Task Characteristics, and Cognitive Activity on Decision Making.

The effects of aging and deliberative activities on decision making were examined. In two separate tasks, young, middle-aged, and older adults were presented with four alternatives and given instructions to choose the best one. Following study, participants were either given additional time to think about their decision or were prevented from doing so.

A randomized controlled trial of anorectal biofeedback for constipation.

Purpose: The purposes of this study were: (1) to examine the efficacy of anorectal biofeedback (AB) for constipation compared to a biofeedback control (BC) treatment and (2) to examine the extent to which self-reported childhood sexual/physical abuse predicted biofeedback outcome.

Methods: Twenty-one patients with pelvic floor dyssynergia were randomized to either (1) an AB arm, where patients learned to isolate the anal sphincter using an electromyography probe, or (2) a BC arm that controlled for the nonspecific effects of biofeedback, where patients learned to relax trapezius or temporalis muscles with EMG feedback. Both treatments were delivered by registered nurses for six sessions.

Age differences in daily predictors of forgetting to take medication: the importance of context and cognition.

The present study examined age differences in the within-person daily associations of basic cognition, everyday cognition, and busyness with forgetting to take medication. The authors extend previous interindividual difference findings by conducting a daily diary study of a baseline assessment and 8 consecutive days of 40 older adults (age = 60-89 years, M = 74.86) and 31 younger adults (age = 18-20 years, M = 18.

Fecal incontinence: does age matter? Characteristics of older vs. younger women presenting for treatment of fecal incontinence.

Purpose: The etiology of fecal incontinence is multifactorial. We hypothesize that women who seek treatment at different ages differ. We sought to determine which characteristics of women with fecal incontinence patients are associated with younger age at presentation.

The constipation severity instrument: a validated measure.

Purpose: This study was designed to develop and test the validity and reliability of the Constipation Severity Instrument.

Methods: Scale development was conducted in two stages: 1) 74 items were generated through a literature review and focus groups of constipated patients and medical providers; and 2) a preliminary instrument was administered to 191 constipated patients and 103 healthy volunteers. Test-retest reliability of the constipated group was assessed (N=90).