Results of research directly and indirectly applicable to life support indicate that patients and intimates suffer less psychological distress if those who have close positive relationship with patient maintain emotional closeness to patient and participate in making decisions concerning life support. Suggests that people feel less distress if…

To overcome limitations on nurses' teaching skills, staff shortages, and shorter hospitalizations, a patient education program uses varied methods (one-to-one, small group, videotape, telephone coaching) and aids (teaching standards, patient handbooks, skills checklists) to help nurses teach patients self-care techniques. (SK)

A study of 195,165 patient visits at the University of Illinois hospital's 5 clinics investigated the mix of ambulatory care diagnosis clusters for diversity. It concluded that, to create an appropriate patient mix for training medical students and residents in ambulatory care, supplementation with other clinics is necessary. (Author/MSE)

Integrated six dimensions of chronic low back pain (pain intensity, functional disability, attitudes toward pain, pain coping strategies, depression, illness behavior) to provide multidimensional patient profile. Data from 100 patients revealed presence of three distinct patient groups: patients who were in control, patients who were depressed and…

Presents interview with Ralph Mero, Executive Director of Compassion in Dying, Seattle (Washington)-based organization that has brought new voice to controversial issue of physician-assisted rational suicide. Mero explains how his years as minister watching people suffer with cancer or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome led him to work for…

Case means and case failures in performance-based medical student evaluations were examined to evaluate the consistency of ratings made by two or more standardized patients (SPs) simulating the same case. Results demonstrate a need for caution in interpreting scores obtained from a case checklist completed by multiple SPs. (Author/MSE)

Eight-seven adult outpatients in Edinburgh (Scotland) were tested with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale--Revised (WAIS-R) and a test of visual inspection time (IT). Factor analysis confirms that IT correlates more strongly with performance than with verbal intelligence quotient (IQ) scores. Implications for the study of IT and mental tests…

Presents case study of 44-year-old male admitted to acute psychiatric unit and diagnosed as having chemical dependency, posttraumatic stress disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and major depression. Following description of the case, comments are given by Candace Coggins, clinical specialist, and Jane Zibelin, Director of Nursing, and by Lois…

Appellate courts in Georgia and New York have ruled on exculpatory clauses incorporated into dental school clinic agreements with patients. The decisions represent a radical departure from the traditional view that the clinic is a training ground where patients are living models for practicing health provider skills. (MSE)

A study using five Southern Illinois University senior medical school classes (n=350 students) investigated whether having a standardized patient simulate a case repeatedly in postclerkship medical student evaluation affects the measure's reliability. Results suggest that repeated simulation had little or no effect on intercase reliability of…

Studied parameters that describe the course of change in subjective intensity of personal problems during psychotherapy: initial severity, rate of problem change, day-to-day intensity variability, and change in rate of problem change. Rate of change parameter correlated with traditional pre- to posttreatment outcome measures. Instability was high.…

A new procedure, the Letter Memory Test, was developed for evaluating adequacy of effort given during neuropsychological testing. It is a computer-administered forced-choice recognition task. In three studies involving nearly 400 patients and community volunteers, the test discriminated among poorly and highly motivated groups, and its internal…

Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the theoretical structure of the revised Personal Style Inventory (PSI) (C. Robins and others, 1994) with 869 nonclinical adults and 101 outpatients with depression. PSI items and subscales decomposed into factor structures that were fair to good representations of the theoretical model. (SLD)

U.S. recommendations for asthma management were adapted for use in educating Moscow families with children with asthma (N=252). Use of anti-inflammatory drugs, doctor visits, peak flow rates, and daily peak flow were also measured. One-year follow up showed significant improvement in asthma self-management skills among the education group.…

One pressing issue in health care delivery is that the system is not organized to serve people from different ethnocultural communities. Based upon investigations of the management of chronic illness by first-generation Canadian women, proposes a transformative model for counseling which acknowledges the wisdom of women is proposed. (Author/EMK)