Influences on the Food Choice Behaviors of Adults With Severe Mental Illness

The objective of this research was to gain a deeper understanding of factors influencing the healthiness of food choice behaviors of community-dwelling adults with severe mental illness. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in an outpatient treatment facility with 20 program participants and 10 staff. Grounded theory analysis methods were used. Five dominant themes emerged: food availability, preference for simple food preparation, perceived cost of food, complexity of choice, and relative importance of healthy food choices. The theme of medication effects only emerged from staff interviews. This research can be useful to inform the design of nutrition interventions for this population.     

Mindfulness and self-acceptance

The present article will focus on the cognitive theory of mindfulness and its importance in achieving unconditional self-acceptance. The goal of the mindful perspective is to increase cognitive flexibility and to thereby increase behavioral flexibility and the ability to adapt to one’s current environment in a meaningful manner. Empirical evidence spanning four decades attests to the beneficial effects of a mindful vs. mindless perspective. The article will focus on the following aspects of mindfulness as they apply to self-acceptance: the importance of authenticity, the tyranny of evaluation, the benefits of mistakes, the mindlessness of social comparison, the trap of rigid categories, and the acceptance of self as a mindful choice. The article concludes with a number of mindfulness applications geared toward enhancing self-acceptance.     

从医疗投诉分析医学人文服务现状

通过对上海某大型综合性医院的919例医疗投诉进行分类和分析,发现其中88.3%的投诉和医学人文服务欠缺有关。讨论了医学人文服务欠缺的表现,并进行患者需求、医学教育和医院培训等相关因素分析;指出医学人文服务和医疗技术服务同样重要。     

The basis for choice reaction time slowing in Alzheimer's disease

Slowed reaction time has been suggested as an early feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the basis for this slowing has not been established. Patients with mild AD were compared with controls on a choice reaction time task, both cued (CCRT) and uncued (CRT). Initial and 1-year followup data were analyzed both as mean reaction times and as parameters of a fitted two-component quantitative model (the ex-Gaussian model). Slowing of CRT proved to be a sensitive test for AD. Slowing was due to changes in both the sensory/motor and the decisional components of the CRT model. However, these changes were found in both AD and slower, older controls. The modeling of CRT in AD is discussed.     

Case study: Research with brain-dead children

The esophageal obturator airway (EOA) is a device used throughout the United States to facilitate artificial respiration of critically ill patients who are not hospitalized. Its use is restricted to persons who are over 15 years old because obturators for children are not available. A protocol submitted to an institutional review board (IRB) intended to develop EOAs suitable for use in children. The investigators proposed to perform preliminary testing of these devices on children who had sustained irreversible loss of brain function (“brain death”). In its review of this protocol, the IRB had to confront several vexing questions.     

Positive killing and the irreversibly unconscious patient

Various arguments have been given against positive euthanasia, but little attention has been given to the question of whether these arguments are uniformly effective in all contexts. There appears to be a range of cases, involving non-voluntary killing of irreversibly unconscious patients, in which these arguments do not succeed. Various reasons have been given in support of positive killing in such cases. It can be argued that there is a range of cases for which a policy of allowing positive killing is morally required. However, currently there are legal obstacles to implementing such a policy.     

Stress,strain, and hardiness as predictors of adaptation in farm and ranch families

We examined the relationship between potential family vulnerability factors (stressor and strains), manifestations of maladaptation (family discord and distress), family strengths (hardiness), and measures of bonadaptation (quality of life) as reported by 188 men and women representing 100 Idaho farm and ranch families. Family strains, and stressors unique to farming and ranching, were positively associated with family discord and distress but negatively associated with hardiness and quality of life. Greater family hardiness as reported by both wives and husbands was positively correlated with their perceptions of family quality of life. The results have implications for mental health professionals and family life educators whose goal is to help farm and ranch families manage stress more effectively, increase hardiness, and enhance their overall quality of life.