An interview guide for children and adolescents, which is based on systemic therapy, has recently been added to the collection of published instruments for psychological interviews. This article aims to establish the amount of information gained during a psychological investigation using the Systemic-based Interview Guide rather than an intuitive,…

Describes rehabilitation implications associated with psychosocial factors, patient reaction, and family adjustment to coronary heart disease. Patient education and counseling must stress specific long-term care and follow-up and deal with family anxiety and depression. The rehabilitation counselor can help patients incorporate medical…

Few differences in quality of life results are reported between different primary surgical treatments for breast cancer. Assumptions regarding the role of informed choice in psychosocial morbidity have not been substantiated, and fewer women than expected take an active role in decision making. Rigorous research is needed. (Author/EMK)

The author discusses health education for the patient and the differences between patient education and the concept of self-care. Both types of programs may contribute to the public's health at different points on the same continuum. (MF)

Explored post-visit recall of medication regimens and lifestyle recommendations among 83 elderly clinic patients. Found recall problematic: average patient failed to recall 46 percent of medications. Of 42 patients receiving lifestyle recommendations, 52 percent failed to recall them. Patterns of communication during visits were more strongly…

Indicates that perceived rational communication between physicians and patients is strongly related to affective, cognitive, and behavioral satisfaction. Also indicates more expressions of receptivity, immediacy, composure, similarity, and formality and less dominance by the physician are associated with greater patient satisfaction. (NKA)

Obstetric patients rated the skills and assessed the roles of students caring for them during a clinical clerkship. They rated skills and attitudes high, generally, with lower ratings for their ability to answer questions and preparation to participate in care. Most felt students improved their care, primarily in supportive ways. (Author/MSE)

Patients can induce such intense emotions in physicians that these feelings can become a source of stress for the physician and interfere with patient care. Patient illnesses and conditions that caused dysphoria among three specialty groups of house officers were investigated. (Author/MLW)

Early childhood experiences communicating about death were better predictors of the ease with which respondents can imagine communicating with a terminally-ill loved one. Most respondents thought the physician should decide how the patient should be informed although 83 percent consider physicians poorly equipped for this role. (Author)

Long sentences, medical terms, and small print make hospital information brochures and consent forms difficult for many patients to understand. Nurses can help patients by simplifying language, highlighting important information, and using lists. (JOW)

Assessed neuropsychological functioning in 100 patients who had relapsing-remitting or chronic-progressive courses of multiple sclerosis (MS). Both MS subgroups showed significant neuropsychological impairment, relative to a normal comparison group (N=100), but chronic-progressive MS was associated with greater impairment in each major ability…

Examined whether normal control subjects (N=17) and depressed outpatients (N=72) differed with respect to extent and conditions under which they reported dysfunctional guilt. Depressed outpatients reported significantly more guilt than normal controls in most types of situations. Family history of depressions was related to higher overall level of…

The Outcomes and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) is now used extensively for regulatory, reimbursement, research, and clinical purposes in home health care. However, little is known about the interrater reliability of OASIS items based on assessments from home-health-agency clinicians. Therefore, we evaluated OASIS item interrater reliability…

The present study was designed to provide additional insights into the neural mechanisms underlying respiratory-swallowing coupling by studying potential alterations in movement coordination when upper airway protection is no longer necessary. Twelve laryngectomized participants, all at least 3 years postsurgery, were compared to age- and…

Aphasic patients with reading impairments frequently substitute incorrect real words for target words when reading aloud. Many of these word substitutions have substantial orthographic overlap with their targets and are classified as ''visual errors'' (i.e., sharing 50% of targets' letters in the same relative position). Fifteen chronic aphasic…