Thinking Inside the Box: On Identity, Sexuality, Prostate Cancer, and Social Support

This fictional account results from three years of studying a social support group for prostate cancer patients and their loved ones. As a consequence, the story centers on the issue of identity and its relationship to illness, a significant cause of concern among group members. The story addresses the loss of sexual function and general agency that often accompany the disease, then considers the roles of social support and open communication in negotiating a new identity.     

The experience of male spouses in the context of breast cancer: a systematic review of the literature

The purpose of this systematic review is to look into how the experience of husbands of women treated for breast cancer is approached in the literature. Between July and August 2015, the databases of PubMed, SciELO and BIREME were searched for papers published in the period January 2005–July 2015; a final sample of 23 papers was defined. The studies listed several negative and positive aspects of the experience, such as financial difficulties, psychological distress, lack of coping skills among family members, social recognition of the role of caregiver, acquisition of new responsibilities and the maturing of family members.     

Evaluation of a Disease-Specific Self-Efficacy Instrument in Adolescents with Sickle Cell Disease and its Relationship to Adjustment

The psychometric properties of a disease-specific instrument used to assess self-efficacy in adolescents with sickle cell disease, the Sickle Cell Self-Efficacy Scale, were evaluated in a sample of 131 adolescents ranging from 11 to 19 years of age. This nine-item instrument was associated with a one-item, general self-efficacy question and an item of self-control. After controlling for age, gender, highest grade of education completed, and the number of individuals in the household, high levels of self-efficacy were related to fewer physical, psychological, and total symptoms. Using the stress process framework to examine the relationship between self-efficacy and self-reported symptoms in adolescents may lead to the initiation of effective intervention programs capable of increasing levels of self-efficacy in adolescents. These interventions could lead to better outcomes for adolescents with sickle cell disease. Additional longitudinal investigations are needed to evaluate the ability of self-efficacy to predict adolescent adjustment over time.     

心理干预在放疗患者中的应用

探讨通过实施恰当的心理行为治疗,尤其是教育性干预措施,达到改善放疗患者情绪、提高其生活质量以及降低治疗负反应的效果.采用病例对照的临床研究方法,选用生活质量和心境问卷对160名正在进行放射治疗的住院癌症病人进行了心理干预的比较研究.结果表明,干预组患者的总体情绪和总体生活质量状况,比对照组患者有明显的改善,但愤怒、认知功能以及恶心呕吐症状在两组间的差异不显著;干预组组内比较中,角色功能没有显著性差别.其原因有待于进一步研究.     

Ethnographic Interview

For an occupational therapist unfamiliar with a culturally diverse treatment population, ethnographic interview is described as an appropriate method for assessing client group needs. This study describes the use of ethnographic interview as a tool which was culturally sensitive to the occupational behaviors of American Indians and Alaska Natives of the Northwest involved in drug and alcohol treatment. Results of the interviews helped the researcher identify sociocultural factors in the acquisition and maintenance of maladaptive behaviors. Recurring themes of the extended family network, the strength and complexity of social norms and codes, and the pervasiveness of alcohol use among this population are described in review of the literature and results of the interviews. Results of the Tennessee Self-concept Scale revealed an overall measure of self-esteem significantly lower than that of the normed population, and enerally supported rehabilitation issues originally identified by the f iterature and expanded on in the interviews. Implications for treatment discuss acceptance of the therapist by members of the culture, the concept of nonmterference, the role of purposeful activity, cultural identification and assimilation, and the use of group work.     

血液系统恶性肿瘤患者相关疲劳的生物-心理-社会模式探讨

普遍的疲劳感是引起血液系统恶性肿瘤患者治疗及康复过程中生活质量显著降低的主要因素之一。因此如何减少肿瘤相关疲劳逐渐引起了血液病医生的关注。在医学从传统的"生物"模式向新的"生物-心理-社会"模式转变的背景下,本文就如何利用生物心理社会模式分析血液系统恶性肿瘤相关疲劳的病因、机制、评估、干预进行探讨。     

Can Bioethics be Lutheran?

Abstract :  A Lutheran bioethics must rest on a reconstructed version of Martin Luther's ethics. In the article it is shown that this ethics is Christian in that it has faith in Jesus Christ as its source. But the ethics of neighbor love is practiced in the secular world where it to some extent corresponds with natural law ethics. A Christian believer acts ethically both as an individual and as a citizen. Against the background of this understanding of Lutheran ethics, the position of Ted Peters and Gilbert Meilaender on genetics and stem cells is presented and criticized. One conclusion is that there is no Lutheran doctrine on the status of the human embryo.     

Risk-appraisal,outcome and self-efficacy expectancies: Cognitive factors in preventive behaviour related to cancer

Abstract

Health education often attempts to influence or persuade through risk-appraisal of impending danger or harm. Risk: appraisal implies cognitive processes concerning the severity of the threatening event and the probability of its occurrence. In two studies we investigated whether risk factors could adequately predict preventive behaviour with respect to cancer. The tint study concerned the health belief model. the second study the protection motivation theory. Protection motivation theory includes the health belief factors but also self-efficacy expectancy. The most important finding is that risk-appraisal does not predict preventive behaviour adequately: outcome expectancy and self-efficacy expectancy should be included in the prediction of preventive behaviour. In general, our findings suggest the superiority of the protection motivation theory to the health belief model in predicting preventive behaviour with respect to cancer.