The sociocultural conceptualisations of schizophrenia and patterns of help seeking in south-east Nigeria

Socioculturally influenced interpretations of mental illness play decisive roles on the time and choice of treatment. These often result in significant delays before patients present at the psychiatric services, with consequent worsening of the prognosis. The aim was to assess the association between sociocultural factors, choice of treatment and treatment delay among patients with schizophrenia. A cross-sectional study of 360 patients with schizophrenia, without previous contact with any statutory psychiatric services, was done. Of this, 75.8% of the participants had visited traditional/faith healers as the first treatment option and have attributed schizophrenia to magico-supernatural causation, despite 70.0% of the participants being educated, while 24.2% of them believed in the natural causation of the illness and presented early to psychiatric hospital. There is a need for community-based psychiatric services that would have mental health education as one of their core mandates; and collaborations with traditional and faith-based healers aimed to reduce delay in their facilities.     

Conceptualising mental health in the United Arab Emirates: the perspective of traditional healers

Substantial investments in health-care have ensured the widespread availability of allopathic medical services across the United Arab Emirates (UAE). However, in spite of this accessibility traditional healers (Mutawa) continue to play a significant, albeit, unofficial role in the UAE's health sector. Citizens routinely consult traditional healers for problems that might, from a western biomedical perspective, be considered psychiatric conditions. This qualitative study explores traditional healers' conceptualisations of mental health problems, discussing their perspectives on phenomenology, aetiology, intervention and outcome. Notably, traditional healers distinguished between biomedical illness and states they attributed to demonological or metaphysical causes. The Islamic spiritual narrative was central to discussions of aetiology, intervention and outcome. Greater integration of traditional healers within the UAE's mental health-care services would, in many cases, improve patient experience and outcomes.     

Development and Initial Validation of a Scale Measuring the Beliefs of Educators Regarding Response to Intervention

This article presents information on the development and initial validation of the 16-item Response to Intervention (RTI) Beliefs Scale. The scale is designed to measure the extent to which educators working in schools hold beliefs consistent with the tenets of RTI. The authors administered the instrument to 2,430 educators in 62 elementary schools in the fall of 2007 and 2,443 educators in 68 elementary schools in the spring of 2008. Exploratory, single-level confirmatory, and multilevel confirmatory factor analysis procedures were used to examine construct validity. Results supported a correlated 3-factor model (Academic Abilities and Performance of Students with Disabilities, Data-Based Decision Making, and Functions of Core and Supplemental Instruction) at both the school and educator levels of analysis. Furthermore, the factor scores derived from the model demonstrated significant, positive relations to RTI implementation. Reliability estimates for two of the three factor scores exceeded.70. Implications for research on educator beliefs and implementation of RTI as well as implications for school psychologists supporting RTI implementation are discussed.     

以家庭平衡为目的的辅助生殖技术性别选择问题探讨

对三孩政策下辅助生殖医疗机构患者就诊过程中呼声较高的以家庭平衡为目的的性别选择问题进行探讨,从概念的界定、产生需求的社会背景及可能引发的伦理问题进行论证,从而推动社会层面的深度思考。同时,结合当前辅助生殖技术中存在的社会需求,提出了以家庭平衡为目的的性别选择是曾经实行的“生男即止法”的延伸。但以家庭平衡为目的的性别选择还需要以辅助生殖技术规范应用为前提,应该从法律法规的完善、技术应用的监督及审查体系的加强等方面推动工作,防止相关技术的滥用。

     

家庭癌症告知过程及类型分析

将癌症告知看作一个家庭过程,以患者-家属为分析单位,阐述确诊及病程信息如何在家庭中流动,以及告知过程中患者和家属的角色演变。研究者对12位肺癌患者、7位家庭照护者和2位医生进行半结构访谈,并对访谈数据进行主题分析。家庭癌症告知是一个关乎患癌事实如何在家庭内流动的过程。围绕确诊、治疗和临终安排三个阶段,详细阐述了病患和家人的多种角色的演变,并基于此构建了两种家庭告知的理想类型：病患决策型和家属代理型。患者以往家庭角色、家庭沟通系统和疾病具身性体验是家庭癌症告知过程的重要影响因素。

     

患者和家属参与患者安全的概念演变及临床意义

运用Rodgers演化概念分析法对患者和家属参与患者安全概念的演化、替代术语和相关术语、前因变量、结果、概念属性、定义、典型案例进行分析。概念属性包含过程、行为及环境3个领域,4个重要特征分别为个性化、获取、投入及治疗联盟,其前因变量为患者的疾病、健康信息或护理协调的混乱、新政策号召的尝试。结果包括保障患者安全、减少医疗费用和确定最佳做法。澄清患者和家属参与患者安全的概念有助于提高医护人员对其的重视与了解,为临床的实践和研究提供参考和理论依据。

     

家庭及社会支持对城乡老年人心理健康影响的研究——以河北省城乡老年人调查为例

探究家庭及社会支持对老年人心理健康的影响,选取河北省6 173名60岁及以上城乡老年人,采用社会支持和心理健康症状自评量表进行问卷调查。城乡老年人心理健康评测结果显示,有心理症状者占22.9%;社会支持以低中度水平为主,占77.4%;家庭功能以一般及以下为主,占86.3%;经常与子女交流者占53.7%;得到社区帮助者占84.7%;社会支持、家庭功能、与子女交流情况、得到基层社区卫生服务情况均与城乡老年人的心理健康显著相关。统计结果揭示,我国应加大家庭及社会对老年人的支持力度,改善其心理健康状况。