Literary inquiry has been a part of the curriculum at many North American medical schools for more than 30 years. Ostensibly its original purpose was to humanize the overstuffed, science-based curriculum. Since then, other rationales for its place in the curriculum have appeared, including, among others, translating critical reading skills to…

Various speech and voice disorders affect 70% to 85% of individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). Speech treatment is generally conducted on an individual basis, with family member involvement. Clinical experience indicates that many patients do not practice treatments at home or apply the learned techniques in everyday situations. An…

The asymmetry in power relations that exist between physicians and patients also exist between teachers and students. Thus, the dimensions of student care are analogous to those of patient care. The interactions between teachers and students are analyzed using the framework of the principles of beneficence (non-maleficence), autonomy, and justice,…

For the project, an actress created a patient character, staging a consultation among a group of 36 medical students. The consultation process was monitored by a teacher and was stopped by "timeout" at any critical incidence. Students reflected on possible strategies and, one at a time tried out their own or someone else's proposal. The project…

The Arabic Scale of Death Anxiety (ASDA) was administered, individually, to 7 groups (N=765) of Egyptian normal participants (non-clinical), anxiety disorder patients, and patients suffering from schizophrenia (males and females), and addicts (males only). They were generally matched as groups according to age, occupation, and education. The…

This article describes the derivation of a short-form of the Marwit-Meuser Caregiver Grief Inventory (MM-CGI), an inventory designed to measure grief in caregivers of persons with progressive dementia. It presents initial reliability and validity data and describes ways to use the inventory both clinically and scientifically. The resulting MM-CGI…

General practitioners (GPs) need advanced skills in geriatric assessment to be competent to treat the increasing number of elderly patients. Continuing medical education in geriatrics for GPs is heterogeneous, and not assessed for effectiveness. In this study we compared the educational effects of three geriatric post-graduate training methods on…

Caring for patients with dementia is complex and demanding. Since family physicians (FPs) provide much of this care, we examined their practices, learning needs, and barriers to care concerning Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. We surveyed 392 (approximately 50%) Nova Scotia FPs and conducted focus groups and interviews with: FPs; staff of…

The extent to which the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach is reliably scored has been a topic of some controversy. Although several studies have concluded it can be scored reliably in research settings, little is known about its reliability in field settings. This study evaluated the reliability of both response-level codes and protocol-level…

The MMPI-2 Superlative (S) scale was developed by Butcher and Han (1995) to assess individuals tendencies to present themselves in an unrealistically positive light. The current study examined the performance of the L, K, and S scales in accurately distinguishing the MMPI-2 profiles of 379 psychiatric inpatients who produced one or more elevations…

With the substantial growth of an aging population, professionals in gerontology need to know how to work with groups of older people. Group work has become a popular means of helping the elderly, for example, to cope with losses (support groups) and to engage in social activities with peers (groups in day centers) as well as to support caregivers…

Forensic patients are occupying an increasingly large number of beds in state psychiatric hospitals. The presence of these mentally ill offenders has raised concerns about the risk they present to nonforensic patients. This study compared the rate of assaults and factors associated with assaultive behavior among 308 nonforensic patients and two…

This paper looks at how the capacity for separateness arises, and some of the ways in which gender is thought about in relation to this. A link is made with technical considerations about the stance we as therapists take with our patients. In particular, therapists often choose or are prodded into a role that is more empathic or more…

This study surveyed the practice patterns of speech-language pathologists in their use of thickened liquids for patients with swallowing difficulties. A 25-item Internet survey about thickened liquids was posted via an e-mail list to members of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Division 13, Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether stress management training reduces blood pressure (BP) variability in hypertensive patients. Previous literature suggests that cardiovascular risk is not only a function of BP levels, but also of BP variability, and this partially depends on changes induced by the stress of everyday life. The…