Life Course Perspectives of Aging With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders in Psychiatric and Long-Term Care Facilities.

Background And Objectives: Individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders must manage residual symptoms as they age, and they may experience premature or accelerated aging in comparison with those without their diagnosis. To explore their life course perspectives, we interviewed institutionalized adults aging with schizophrenia spectrum disorders in middle and older age.

Research Design And Methods: We used an exploratory descriptive design and qualitative methods.

An Online Mindfulness-based Intervention for Certified Nursing Assistants in Long-term Care.

Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) make up the largest segment of the long-term care (LTC) setting workforce, however, they are at high risk of job dissatisfaction and burnout. Evidence suggests that mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) might be particularly relevant and useful for CNAs in reducing psychological distress, improving job satisfaction, and reducing burnout, but little research has investigated this possibility. A feasibility study of an online MBI for CNAs in LTC settings was therefore conducted.

Elder's life course theory and person-centered research: A lens for conducting ethical nursing research and mental health nursing practice with older adults aging with the diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Introduction: Older adults diagnosed with schizophrenia are a vulnerable population owing to the manifestations of their illness, which can include decreased reality orientation, paranoia, hallucinations and delusions. This paper presents ethical principles of vulnerability, veracity, non-maleficence and autonomy for person-centered care in mental health nursing research and practice, focused with the lens of Elder's life course theory (LCT).

Aim: To present Elder's LCT as an ethical lens for person-centered care as nurses engage with older adults aging with the diagnosis of schizophrenia in clinical practice and/or research.

Communication strategies for nursing research with older adults diagnosed with schizophrenia using life course theory.

Purpose: To explore effective communication strategies that may be used to promote efficacious research with older adults diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Design: A theoretical framework of Life Course Theory was used to examine the problems of communicating in research settings with older adults diagnosed with schizophrenia and present potential effective solutions to these problems.

Methods: Using Life Course Theory as an underpinning, a literature review was conducted regarding communication strategies/methods commonly used in psychiatric nursing.

Older Adults Diagnosed With Schizophrenia in Long-term Care Facilities: Life Course Theory for Holistic Nursing Research and Practice.

Older adults diagnosed with schizophrenia (OADWS) often enter long-term care facilities with unique challenges related to trauma and stress experienced throughout their life course. Health care workers often report that when they work with this population, they feel unprepared due to limited training. In this article, life course theory is presented as a lens for holistic nursing research and as a way for nurses to adapt interventions already used with cognitively impaired older adults (e.

The Life Course Paradigm as a Lens for Holistic Nursing Research in Older Adults Diagnosed With Schizophrenia.

Older adults diagnosed with schizophrenia (OADWS) have unique needs for care and live longer today than their forebears who were diagnosed with schizophrenia. As a result, nurses need to be prepared for the specific care of individuals who live with schizophrenia as they age. Together, Life Course Theory and holistic nursing suggest a good fit in the quest for successful solutions and/or outcomes for the unique problems that OADWS face.

Pursuing Well-Being Among Rural-Dwelling Adults With Disabilities.

Through this constructivist grounded theory study, it was our purpose to create a substantive theory to explain how rural-dwelling, working-age adults with disabilities define and pursue well-being. Twelve rural-dwelling participants were interviewed up to 3 times to understand the processes involved in defining and pursuing well-being. From this exploration, we suggest that well-being is not a set state to be achieved and then enjoyed, rather well-being results from establishing and maintaining membership in the rural community.

Multimorbidity patterns and associations with functional limitations among an aging population in prison.

Objectives: Co-occurring chronic diseases are associated with functional limitations, particularly for the aging population ≥50 years old. Aging offenders (individual who are imprisoned) tend to have greater prevalence of chronic, mental health, and substance use disorders compared to non-imprisoned populations. Our primary aim was to determine patterns of co-occurring conditions associated with functional limitations among aging offenders.

Substance Use Disorders and Related Health Problems in an Aging Offender Population.

Substance use disorders (SUD), including alcohol and tobacco, have been associated with chronic, infectious diseases, and mental health disorders. Few studies have examined associations between SUD and health issues for aging offenders (≥ 45 years old), who may have been long-term users. This study investigated associations between SUD and health problems in a prison population (men and women).

Exploration of the Influence of Factors Identified in the Literature on School-aged Children's Emotional Responses to Asthma.

Approximately 6.3 million US children suffer from asthma. The purpose of this study was to explore factors on school-aged children's emotional responses to asthma, N=85, ages 6-12.

Gender and race disparities in weight gain among offenders prescribed antidepressant and antipsychotic medications.

Background: Studies have found that antipsychotics and antidepressants are associated with weight gain and obesity, particularly among women and some minority groups. Incarcerated populations (also referred to as offenders, prisoners or inmates) have a high prevalence of mental health problems and 15 % of offenders have been prescribed medications. Despite rates of antidepressant and antipsychotic use, investigations of weight gain and obesity in regard to these agents seldom have included offenders.

A Call to Develop Evidence-based Interventions to Reduce Sexually Transmitted Infections in Juvenile Justice Populations.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk, are a significant health issue for young women (ages 16-21), especially African Americans with a juvenile justice history. Studies have found that 44% of young African American women have had at least one STI compared to 24.1% for all young women.

Understanding Psychosocial and High-Risk Sexual Behaviors Among Detained Juveniles: A Descriptive Study Protocol.

Background: African American women are disproportionately impacted by sexually transmitted infections (STIs), such as chlamydia and gonorrhea, which are known risk factors for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. STIs, particularly chlamydia and gonorrhea, are even more prevalent among young African American women with a juvenile detention history. The population with experiences with the criminal justice system has greater rates of STIs and is diagnosed more often with mental health issues, often related to sexual abuse or intimate partner violence, compared to peers who have not been detained by law enforcement.

Minority caregivers' emotional responses and perceptions of the emotional responses of their children to asthma: comparing boys and girls.

Approximately 7.1 million children in the US suffer from asthma. An exploratory qualitative study using a stratified purposive sampling method was conducted.

Is rural school-aged children's quality of life affected by their responses to asthma?

The unpredictable nature of asthma makes it stressful for children and can affect their quality of life (QOL). An exploratory analysis of 183 rural school-aged children's data was conducted to determine relationships among demographic factors, children's responses to asthma (coping and asthma self-management), and their QOL. Coping frequency, asthma severity, and race/ethnicity significantly predicted children's asthma-related QOL.

Factors related to emotional responses in school-aged children who have asthma.

A systematic review of the literature was performed to answer the following questions (a) What factors contribute to the emotional responses of school-age children who have asthma? (b) What are the potential gaps in the literature regarding the emotional responses of school-age children (ages 6-12) who have asthma? (c) Are children with a lower socioeconomic status (SES) and those who are minorities represented in the literature proportionate to their prevalence? Two main focus areas regarding emotional responses were identified: (a) factors related to children who have asthma and (b) factors related to caregivers of children who have asthma. Internalizing disorders were reported consistently for children and caregivers of children who have asthma. Negative consequences of asthma for children included panic and asthma attacks, missed school days, and behavioral problems.

Implementing small tests of change to improve patient satisfaction.

The Institute of Medicine supports proposed changes in the overall delivery of healthcare and the nurses' work environment to achieve improved patient outcomes and protect the public from unnecessary harm. Allowing nurses to have a voice in decision making and influence over their practice, in an environment that fosters autonomy and interdisciplinary collaboration, enhances nurse satisfaction while improving the quality of patient care. The authors describe how a pediatric medical unit engaged in small tests of change to improve communication and patient satisfaction on an inpatient unit.

Gene expression changes during cataract progression in Sparc null mice: differential regulation of mouse globins in the lens.

Purpose: Sparc/osteonectin is a hydroxyapatite, calcium and, collagen binding protein, implicated in tissue morphogenesis, cell proliferation, and repair. Sparc null mice develop sub-cortical posterior cataract with eventual rupture of the lens. We wished to correlate genotype with phenotype in these mice via analysis of gene expression pattern changes leading to disease.

Psychophysical evaluation of responses to pleasant and mal-odour stimulation in human subjects; adaptation, dose response and gender differences.

A psychophysical detection test was used to measure the response of human subjects to 'good' and 'bad' smells. Different intensities and frequencies of odour stimulation were delivered by an olfactometer and the responses to a group of malodours (valeric acid, skatol, butyric acid) and pleasant smells (amyl acetate, cis-3-hexenol, linalool) were compared. A mathematical model, a power equation, was used to fit the three-dimensional data plots (dose vs.

The correlation between physiological and psychological responses to odour stimulation in human subjects.

Objectives: To correlate physiological and psychological responses to odour stimulation.

Methods: Olfactory event-related potentials (OERP) were recorded from human subjects in response to different odour pulse protocols. Pulse duration and interstimulus interval (ISI) were varied while the subjects recorded pulse detection by a button press.