This paper explores how personal experience acquires the status of knowledge and/or evidence in contemporary healthcare contexts that emphasise being both patient-centred and evidence-based. Drawing on a comparative analysis of three case studies -- self-help and mutual aid groups; online patient activism; and patient feedback in healthcare…

Policymakers have invested significant resources in financial education to improve financial literacy of the poor, reduce bad financial decision-making, and increase take-up of financial services and products. Yet, there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of such interventions, especially in developing countries. This paper provides evidence…

Along with positive developments in psychology, the self-help movement is becoming widespread, based on the belief that people are capable of growing and achieving positive change with only minimal help. This article addresses the potential of a solution-focused self-help tool to improve university students' well-being by comparing its outcome to…

This study surveyed college freshman to determine which types of preparation if any they had before taking either the SAT and/or ACT to decide if a certain type of preparation increased their scores. Students indicated whether they used online resources, self-help resources, school workshops and/or private tutoring before taking either test. The…

Objective: To compare and contrast 5 sets of expert recommendations about the treatment of childhood and adolescent obesity. Method: We reviewed 5 sets of recent expert recommendations: 2007 health care organizations' four stage model, 2007 Canadian clinical practice guidelines, 2008 Endocrine Society recommendations, 2009 seven step model, and…

Background: This study evaluated a school-based obesity intervention for elementary school children (N = 835) where health professionals assisted teachers with the integration of healthy messages into the school curriculum. Methods: Schools were randomized into a professional-facilitated intervention (PFI; N = 4) or a self-help (SH; N = 3)…

Several randomised controlled studies have shown the efficacy of Internet-based self-help treatments. These studies have centred their attention on axis I (efficacy) of the Guidelines for Empirically Validated Treatments, although there are a few studies that also take into account axis II (effectiveness). The aim of the present work was to test…

Objective: Coping strategies of men who were sexually abused in childhood were examined to ascertain their relationship to clinical diagnoses. Time elapsed since the abuse occurred was examined for its relationship to psychological functioning. Clinical psychopathology of this primary sample of sexually abused men was compared to a community…