Sources of “relational homes”: a qualitative study of cancer survivors’ perceptions of emotional support

The aim of this article is to shed light on the different ways in which a group of Danish cancer survivors fulfil their need of emotional support. The study comprised participant observation at a Danish cancer rehabilitation centre, individual semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews with course participants. The analytical process combined the inductive approach of interpretative phenomenological analysis with a deductive theoretical strategy. Key concepts from Robert D. Stolorow's existential-phenomenological trauma theory were used as interpretative framework. Findings suggest that cancer survivors’ perception of emotional support is captured by the theoretical concept a “relational home,” understood here as a supportive and caring environment. A relational home may include different dimensions in various situations and contexts, including an existential and metaphysical dimension in which God/a higher power may provide emotional support similar to that obtained in human relationships.     

Influence of Speed and Accuracy Constraints on Motor Learning for a Trajectory-Based Movement

This study investigated the influences of task constraint on motor learning for a trajectory-based movement considering the speed–accuracy relationship. In the experiment, participants practiced trajectory-based movements for five consecutive days. The participants were engaged in training with time-minimization or time-matching constraints. The results demonstrated that the speed–accuracy tradeoff was not apparent or was weak in the training situation. When the participants practiced the movement with a time-minimization constraint, movement errors did not vary, whereas the movement time decreased. With the time-matching constraint, the errors decreased as a session proceeded. These results were discussed in terms of the combination of signal-dependent noises and exploratory search noises. It is suggested that updating spatial and temporal factors does not appear to occur simultaneously in motor learning.     

Differential outcomes of skill training,group counseling,and individual cognitive therapy for persons with acquired visual impairment

As part of the Living Skills Training Program, group counseling and individual cognitive therapy were implemented to decrease psychological distress for adults with acquired visual impairment. This quasi‐experimental design study compared the outcomes of a 6‐month skill training program combined with a group counseling program (n = 37), with (n = 9) or without (n = 10) individual cognitive therapy, and with a control group (n = 42). The outcome measures were the Profile of Mood States and the Nottingham Adjustment Scale Japanese Version. The results showed that participants with low psychological distress decreased anxiety and increased acceptance of disability, even when they did not participate in group counseling. However, among the participants with high distress, they did not show any improvement without group counseling or individual therapy. The participants with high distress who engaged in group counseling showed an improving trend in attitudes toward others. Moreover, the participants who chose to engage in individual therapy in addition to group counseling showed decreased tension‐anxiety, depression, and fatigue, and significantly improved acceptance of disability. These results suggest that group counseling, combined with individual cognitive therapy, can be an effective part of rehabilitation treatment for clients who have high psychological distress.     

The Effects of Sensory Manipulations on Motor Behavior: From Basic Science to Clinical Rehabilitation

Modifying sensory aspects of the learning environment can influence motor behavior. Although the effects of sensory manipulations on motor behavior have been widely studied, there still remains a great deal of variability across the field in terms of how sensory information has been manipulated or applied. Here, the authors briefly review and integrate the literature from each sensory modality to gain a better understanding of how sensory manipulations can best be used to enhance motor behavior. Then, they discuss 2 emerging themes from this literature that are important for translating sensory manipulation research into effective interventions. Finally, the authors provide future research directions that may lead to enhanced efficacy of sensory manipulations for motor learning and rehabilitation.     

Bipedal Hopping Reveals Evidence of Advanced Neuromuscular Aging Among People With Mild Multiple Sclerosis

Measures of walking such as the timed 25-ft walk test (T25FWT) may not be able to detect subtle impairment in lower limb function among people with multiple sclerosis (MS). We examined bipedal hopping to determine to what extent people with mild (Expanded Disease Severity Scale ≤ 3.5) MS (n = 13) would differ compared to age-, gender-, and education-matched controls (n = 9) and elderly participants (n = 13; ≥ 70 years old). We estimated lower limb power (e.g., hop length, velocity), consistency (e.g., variability of hop length, time), and symmetry (ratio of left to right foot). Participants completed the T25FWT and, after a rest, they then hopped using both feet 4 times along the walkway. We found that although all groups scored below the 6 -s cutoff for T25FWT, the elderly group had significantly shorter hop lengths, more variability, and more asymmetry than the controls. The results of the MS group were not significantly different from the elderly or controls in most measures and most of their values fell between the control and elderly groups. Hop length, but not measures of walking predicted Expanded Disease Severity Scale score (R² = .38, p = .02). Bipedal hopping is a potentially useful measure of lower limb neuromuscular performance.     

Analyzing conditions for recognizing pictures of family members in a patient with Alzheimer's disease

In the present study, an 89‐year‐old woman with the neurocognitive disorder Alzheimer's disease participated. The purpose was to study recognition of the participant's relatives' faces with the use of sorting tests and matching‐to‐sample (MTS) trainings and tests for emergent relations. The stimuli used were pictures of her relatives, their written names, and their family relationship. The study also focused on how responding to pictures of relatives changed over time. Therefore, the participant was presented with experimental conditions over three time periods. Time Period 1 included only sorting tests. In Time Period 2, which began 9 months after Time Period 1, the participant was presented with both sorting tests and conditional discrimination training and testing. In Time Period 3, which began 1 year after Time Period 2, both sorting tests and conditional discrimination training and testing were again presented. The results from Time Periods 2 and 3 showed that the percentage of stimuli sorted correctly was maintained over time. Additionally, the results from the MTS training and tests were maintained at the second follow‐up periods.