1,721,215 research outputs found
From theory to practice: designing interventions to reduce fatigue in patients with cancer
No full textPURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To review the evidence available to guide the development of interventions to alleviate cancer-related fatigue. DATA SOURCES: Published fatigue theories and research describing patients' self-care strategies and the efficacy of interventions for the management of fatigue. DATA SYNTHESIS: Fatigue is a pervasive problem for patients with cancer. Without guidance, patients adopt common-sense strategies that generally prove unsuccessful in alleviating fatigue. Theories that identify self-care actions that can reduce fatigue are becoming increasingly sophisticated. A small number of strategies, most notably exercise, has been evaluated. Other interventions--educational, attention-restoring, and psychosocial--have been tested to a lesser extent. The theoretical foundations of these experimental studies frequently are unclear. However, primary evidence is favorable and supports further evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: Passive approaches frequently fail to reduce fatigue in patients with cancer. Alternative approaches based on the growing body of theoretical and research evidence should be adopted. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Patients require guidance in managing cancer-related fatigue. Nurses need to develop and evaluate relief interventions. Systematic research programs based on sound theoretical premises and previous research will contribute to the growing body of evidence to aid future management of this troublesome symptom
Facilitating patients' coping with fatigue during chemotherapy: pilot outcomes
No full textA pilot study was conducted to develop and test a nursing intervention to facilitate the management of fatigue in patients receiving chemotherapy. The intervention, named the Beating Fatigue program, has 4 elements: assessment/monitoring, education, coaching in the management of fatigue, and provision of emotional support. Beating Fatigue was implemented with and evaluated by 8 patients. Overall, patients were very positive about the program and perceived the opportunity to talk to someone about fatigue as the most beneficial strategy within the program, although individual patients varied in which aspect they most preferred. Data from the pilot work supported the view that a multifaceted approach to the management of cancer-related fatigue is appropriate because it enables an intervention package to be tailored to an individual's requirements. The approach appeared both feasible and practical. Although numeric data were limited, there was some evidence that the approach had the capacity to lessen fatigue and enhance emotional well-being
Schade, dass ich dies nicht vorher gewusst habe! Was krebskranke von den Informationen uber fatigue halten: eine Beurteilung durch patienten in der Schweiz und in England
No full textIn the course of a cancer trajectory, many patients suffer from distressing fatigue. In past years, research has shown that care givers tend to underestimate or even to ignore this frequent phenomenon. Despite increasing knowledge, fatigue seems to remain an orphan topic in symptom management. Aim: A qualitative research strategy was used to explore the perception of cancer patients regarding the awareness of fatigue in professionals and the way they deal with it. Patients also evaluated the usefulness of some currently available information material about fatigue. Methods: The expert-opinion of cancer patients in Switzerland and England was analysed. Convenient sampling guided the selection process of seven patients in each country. A tape-recorded focus-group interview served as method to collect and transcribe data. Data were analysed according to the framework analyses by Richie & Spencer. Results: Results were very similar in both countries. Patients stated a great need for more information regarding fatigue. They feel that care givers are not sufficiently aware of it and that a specific support is not part of current standard practice. The information material was well received and generally judged as very good and helpful. Conclusions: Communication barriers in professionals as well as in patients continue to exist. Patients wish to be better informed by care givers. The available information material serves well to support this information as they provide words for the unmentioned phenomenon. Far more professional fatigue education is needed to raise care givers’ awarenes
Being a cancer patient doesn't mean it stops when you walk out of the hospital - patients and care managers perspectives of surviving cancer, living life telephone care management programme
No full textBackground: Despite evidence that cancer survivors experience a range of unmet needs services remain poorly developed. Many questions remain about what form services should take, and who, where and how they should be delivered. This study sought to gain insight into, and understanding of, patients’ and care managers’ views of a newly established programme designed to respond to supportive care needs of patients who have recently completed treatment. The programme, entitled ‘Surviving Cancer, Living Life’ consists of telephone care management and at this stage of development involves patients with breast and prostate cancer. The programme has been developed and implemented through a partnership between Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and Pfizer HealthSolutions.Material and Methods: This study utilised a qualitative approach. A purposeful sample of 22 patients and 3 care managers involved in delivery were interviewed. Interviews explored reactions to the programme, nature of relationships developed with care manager, and perceived impact and outcomes of telephone support. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and subject to Framework Analysis.Results: Perceptions of the programme were unequivocally positive – it appeared to answer a deep felt need for support at a period when patients felt vulnerable. It represented a new and strikingly positive experience ofhealthcare in contrast to many of the inadequacies felt to be present in the traditional, routine approach to cancer care follow up. The programme met a need for emotional, practical and informational support and provided relational continuity and a point of access. It helped patients reframe their life and adjust to life after treatment. The form of delivery – based solely on telephone contact – was considered advantageous compared to face to face contact, particularly in terms of convenience, confidentiality and continuity.Conclusions: The medium of the telephone appears to hold significant promise when designing services to meet the supportive care needs of patients as they adapt to life after finishing treatment
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Fatigue in adolescents with and following a cancer diagnosis: developing an evidence base for practice.
No full textAlthough fatigue has been a focus for research in adult cancer care for some time, the same cannot be said for adolescent
oncology practice. This paper summarises the literature concerning fatigue in adolescents with, and following, cancer diagnoses, drawing on data from four empirical studies. Fatigue is multidimensional, multifactorial and highly subjective, but can be managed to enhance self-caring and coping strategies. All of the studies reviewed within indicate that fatigue is a troublesome symptom, which impacts on quality of life. From this review, we set up a research study. This paper provides a brief report of preliminary data from this study drawn from a group of adolescents in late remission from childhood cancer. These data are used to evaluate the utility of focus groups as a method of data collection in exploring the concept of fatigue in adolescents. Concurring with the studies we reviewed, findings from the preliminary data suggest that fatigue is a highly subjective and ‘abnormal’ phenomenon that holds a variety of implied meanings and associated metaphors connected with past experiences of childhood cancer. The focus group proved to be a viable research method to facilitate mutual disclosure and provoke discussion. Recognition of the research challenges
with adolescents, where there is the potential for a range of meanings for the experience of fatigue, is an important finding for future studies
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