Teaching Family Caregivers to Assist Safely with Mobility: Methods for safe patient handling can and should be used in the home.

This article is part of a series, Supporting Family Caregivers: No Longer Home Alone, published in collaboration with the AARP Public Policy Institute. Results of focus groups, conducted as part of the AARP Public Policy Institute's No Longer Home Alone video project, supported evidence that family caregivers aren't given the information they need to manage the complex care regimens of family members. This series of articles and accompanying videos aims to help nurses provide caregivers with the tools they need to manage their family member's health care at home.

Preventing Falls and Fall-Related Injuries at Home: Teaching family caregivers about home modification and what to do if a fall occurs.

This article is part of a series, Supporting Family Caregivers: No Longer Home Alone, published in collaboration with the AARP Public Policy Institute. Results of focus groups, conducted as part of the AARP Public Policy Institute's No Longer Home Alone video project, supported evidence that family caregivers aren't given the information they need to manage the complex care regimens of family members. This series of articles and accompanying videos aims to help nurses provide caregivers with the tools they need to manage their family member's health care at home.

Language equivalence of the modified falls efficacy scale (MFES) among English- and Spanish-speaking older adults: Rasch analysis.

Background: To investigate item-level measurement properties of the Modified Falls Efficacy (MFES) Scale among English- and Spanish-speaking urban-dwelling older adults as a means to evaluate language equivalence of the tool.

Methods: Secondary analysis of survey data from 170 English (n = 83) and Spanish (n = 87) speaking older adults who reported to the emergency department of a quaternary medical center in New York City between February 2010 and August 2011. The Rasch rating scale model was used to investigate item statistics and ordering of items, item and person reliability, and model performance of the Modified Falls Efficacy Scale.

Quality of life among women veterans.

Background: Of 23 million US veterans, 2 million are women. Female veterans often have physical and mental health disorders, but only 6.5% use the Veterans Health Administration (VA) system.

Sensory Environments for Behavioral Health in Dementia: Diffusion of an Environmental Innovation at the Veterans Health Administration.

Objectives: To evaluate the diffusion of multisensory environments (MSEs) as an innovation at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and gather feedback regarding staff perceptions of barriers to uptake and effectiveness of MSEs for Veterans with dementia.

Background: Responding to the need for nonpharmacological behavioral interventions, VHA funded the first MSE for Veterans with dementia in 2010. The room incorporated LED color-changing lights, bubble tubes, vibroacoustic furniture, music, and aromatherapy, and the success of this patient-centered sensory room fueled national rollouts in 2013 and 2015.

Identifying Risk of Depressive Symptoms in Adults With Physical Disabilities Receiving Rehabilitation Services: Propensity Score Approaches.

Objective: To compare the risk of depressive symptoms in adults with physical disabilities between rehabilitationreceivers and non-receivers.

Methods: A total of 3,568 adults with physical disabilities were retrieved from the 2014 Korean National Survey on People with Disabilities database. Four covariate adjustment methods (a multivariable regression model, inverse probability of treatment weighting [IPTW] adjusted for normalized weight, IPTW with stabilized weight, and greedy algorithm with 1:1 propensity score matching) were used to estimate the odds of having depressive symptoms.

Occupational Hazard: Disruptive Behavior in Patients.

Accurate reporting of disruptive behavior enables the development of strategies that provide for the safe delivery of health care to patients.

Pressure ulcer summit 2018: An interdisciplinary approach to improve our understanding of the risk of pressure-induced tissue damage.

Pressure ulcers (PrUs) affect approximately 2.5 million patients and account for 60,000 deaths annually. They are associated with an additional annual cost of $43,000 per related hospital stay and a total cost to the US health care system as high as $25 billion.

Economic evaluation of a supported employment program for veterans with spinal cord injury.

To estimate the net monetary benefit of an individual placement and support-based supported employment program for Veterans with spinal cord injuries. Economic evaluation comparing a supported employment program to treatment as usual, using cost and quality-of-life data from a longitudinal study of Veterans with spinal cord injuries. Spinal cord injury centers in the Veterans Health Administration.

Trends in VA Telerehabilitation Patients and Encounters Over Time and by Rurality.

Telerehabilitation fills a need and helps ensure treatment adherence for rural and other veterans who find it difficult to access health care.

Preventing Falls in Hospitalized Patients: State of the Science.

Falls in hospitalized patients are a pressing patient safety concern, but there is a limited body of evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of commonly used fall prevention interventions in hospitals. This article reviews common study designs and the evidence for various hospital fall prevention interventions. There is a need for more rigorous research on fall prevention in the hospital setting.

Comparative study of PROMIS self-efficacy for managing chronic conditions across chronic neurologic disorders.

Purpose: Self-efficacy (SE) for managing chronic conditions is the belief that one can carry out behaviors to reach health goals. The study objective is to investigate (1) SE for managing chronic conditions across diverse neurologic conditions, (2) demographic and disease determinants of SE, and (3) SE as a predictor of health and disability.

Methods: Patients with chronic neurologic conditions (epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, neuropathy, Parkinson disease, stroke; n = 834) completed five SE for Managing Chronic Conditions instruments (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System®; PROMIS®).

Scoping review of clinical rehabilitation research pertaining to traumatic brain injury: 1990-2016.

Introduction: Understanding the impact of disease on function and improving functional outcomes is an important goal of rehabilitation. This scoping review analyzes 25 years of published traumatic brain injury (TBI) clinical rehabilitation research (CRR) to determine the frequency with which function is a research goal.

Methods: The review protocol was prepared by experienced clinical researchers in the field.

Multidimensionality of the PROMIS self-efficacy measure for managing chronic conditions.

Purpose: This study investigated the PROMIS Self-Efficacy Measure for Managing Chronic Conditions (PROMIS-SE) domain distributions and examined the factor structure of the PROMIS-SE.

Methods: A total of 1087 individuals with chronic conditions participated in this study. PROMIS-SE's item banks and two short forms (eight-item and four-item) measuring five behavioral domains (daily activities(DA), Emotions(EM), medications and treatments(MT), social interactions(SS), and Symptoms(SX)) were examined.

V-Mart, a Virtual Reality Grocery Store: A Focus Group Study of a Promising Intervention for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Objective: This study examined the potential usability, relevance, and acceptability of V-Mart, a virtual reality grocery store as an assessment and intervention tool for veterans with mild traumatic brain injury.

Design: Six focus groups were conducted for a 2-yr period to assess perceptions from the following three key stakeholders: therapists, veterans with neither mild traumatic brain injury nor posttraumatic stress disorder, and veterans with mild traumatic brain injury with or without posttraumatic stress disorder (mild traumatic brain injury/posttraumatic stress disorder). The System Usability Scale was applied as an objective measure of usability.

One hertz versus ten hertz repetitive TMS treatment of PTSD: A randomized clinical trial.

The purpose of this trial was to test whether right prefrontal cortex 1 Hz versus 10 Hz rTMS provides a significantly greater improvement in PTSD symptoms and/or function. Veterans 18 to 50 years of age suffering from PTSD were randomized to right prefrontal 1 Hz rTMS [2400 pulses/session] versus right prefrontal 10 Hz rTMS [2400 pulses/session]. The treatments were performed 5 days a week for 6 weeks with a 3-week taper using the NeuroStar system.

A model of successful DNP and PhD collaboration.

Background And Purpose: Within nursing education, the existence of two graduate-level programs has created some challenges. Role confusion between the practice-focused Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and the research-focused Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is compounded by competition for similar positions. Collaboration between DNP and PhD nurses, however, benefits the health care system and patients.

Perspectives on the Management of Vascular Depression.

In the next few years, the youngest of the baby boomers will reach age 65, resulting in the greatest proportion of elderly adults in US history. Concurrent with this demographic change is the growing number of adults living with chronic conditions that increase risk of vascular disease, including hypertension, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus. We address how these conditions contribute to age-related cerebrovascular changes and lead to subsequent effects on mood and cognitive function, with an emphasis on the role of “vascular depression” as a focus of treatment.

Quality of Life Outcomes for Veterans With Spinal Cord Injury Receiving Individual Placement and Support (IPS).

Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an evidence-based practice that helps persons with mental and/or physical disabilities, including spinal cord injury, find meaningful employment in the community. While employment is associated with positive rehabilitation outcomes, more research is needed on the impact of IPS participation on non-vocational outcomes, particularly quality of life (QOL). : To identity QOL outcomes experienced with (1) IPS participation and (2) IPS participation leading to employment.

Machine learning for psychiatric patient triaging: an investigation of cascading classifiers.

Objective: Develop an approach, One-class-at-a-time, for triaging psychiatric patients using machine learning on textual patient records. Our approach aims to automate the triaging process and reduce expert effort while providing high classification reliability.

Materials And Methods: The One-class-at-a-time approach is a multistage cascading classification technique that achieves higher triage classification accuracy compared to traditional multiclass classifiers through 1) classifying one class at a time (or stage), and 2) identification and application of the highest accuracy classifier at each stage.

CE: Original Research: Patient Handling and Mobility Course Content: A National Survey of Nursing Programs.

Unlabelled: : Purpose: Despite the evidence supporting safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) practices, anecdotal evidence suggests that such practices are not universally taught in academic nursing programs. The primary goal of this cross-sectional descriptive study was to understand what nursing programs teach students about lifting, turning, transferring, repositioning, and mobilizing patients.

Methods: Faculty from baccalaureate and associate's degree nursing programs in the United States were invited via e-mail to complete a 64-item survey questionnaire, which was accessible through an online link.

Relationships among functional capacity, cognition, and naturalistic skill performance in people with serious mental illness.

There has been increasing interest in understanding real-world outcomes for individuals with serious mental illnesses (SMI). This study examined domain-specific skill knowledge, functional capacity, and neurocognition as predictors of naturalistic grocery shopping skill performance in forty-eight individuals with SMI. Participants completed measures of skill knowledge and general functional capacity (UCSD Performance-Based Skill Assessment - brief) as well as measures of neurocognition and symptoms.

Evidence supporting wound care end points relevant to clinical practice and patients' lives. Part 2. Literature survey.

Patients with wounds bear significant clinical, personal, and economic burdens yet complete wound healing is the only United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognized primary clinical trial end point. The overall goal of this project is to work with FDA to expand the list of acceptable primary end points, recognizing that new and innovative treatments, devices, and drugs may not have complete healing as the focus. Part 1 of the project surveyed 628 wound care experts who identified and content-validated 15 end points most relevant to clinical practice and benefitting patients' lives as primary outcomes in clinical trials.