What Young People Need to Make Better-Informed Decisions When Communicating With Digital Images: Implications for Mental Health and Well-Being.

Sixty-eight young people contributed to a Design Thinking Challenge created to elicit a better understanding of their electronic image-sharing experiences, the helpful and harmful consequences of image-sharing to adolescent mental health and safety, and promising interventions that allow young people to make more positive decisions and minimize their risks when sharing images through electronic devices. Through this collaborative group-based process, each co-design group engaged in a four-phase process to discover, define, develop, and deliver an intervention that took the form of a paper-based mobile app prototype. Young people reported that they need information and advice to support their and others' online decision making, help making situational decision-making skills for managing online interactions, and means to control information and images that can be accessed and distributed. Detailed app features that they required to address their decision-making needs are also discussed. These app intervention features highlight what young people need to make better-informed decisions when communicating through images electronically.

Vascular access outcome with a dedicated vascular team based approach.

The objective of this study is to determine the impact of a dedicated vascular team in the early detection of complications and improvement of vascular access patency. A dedicated vascular access team comprised four dialysis nurses, a vascular access coordinator and led by a physician. They were assigned for the surveillance and care of all vascular accesses. The team presented problematic cases in the regular quality meeting with documentation of access blood flow, dynamic venous pressure, findings of hematoma, prolonged bleeding, swelling, low arterial pressures, steal syndrome, recirculation studies and dialysis adequacy. In case of failed recirculation or persistently elevated dynamic venous pressure, further evaluation was done either a fistulogram or review by a vascular surgeon. A total of 226 problematic vascular access cases were detected during the study (January 2014 to October 2017). The majority were in 41-70 years age group. A total of 248 referrals were given. Two hundred cases were referred for fistulogram, but it was performed in 188 patients. Vascular access stenosis was detected in 153 patients (81.3%) and angioplasty was performed in 137 (89.5%) of these patients. Fifteen (9.8%) patients were managed conservatively and one patient refused angioplasty. The 15 cases managed conservatively continued to work normally. One patient who refused to angioplasty later clotted his fistula during the follow-up period. Out of 41 cases who were totally noncompliant to referral, nine (22%) clotted their fistula during the follow-up period. In 12 cases in whom fistulogram was requested, but the request was declined by the primary hospital, five patients (41.6%) clotted their fistulas. Subgroup analysis showed that in patients who had both failed recirculation and high venous pressure, the prevalence of stenosis was 90% and angioplasty was performed in 94.4%. In patients who had failed recirculation and low arterial pressure, stenosis was detected in 85.7% and angioplasty was performed in 100% of cases. A dedicated vascular team approach for the care of dialysis vascular access helps in early identification of complications and improve vascular access outcome.

Inverse Dose-Response Relationship Between Home Health Care Services and Rehospitalization in Older Adults.

OBJECTIVES: (1) To examine the impact of specific services [skilled nursing (SN), physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), and home health aide (HA)] in Medicare-certified home health care (HHC) on subsequent rehospitalization among older patients during a 60-day HHC episode and (2) to test the moderating effect of functional limitation on these services. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of data from the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) and HHC administrative records of a statewide not-for-profit HHC agency from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2016. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Participants were ≥65 years old and were admitted to HHC within 48 hours of hospital discharge. MEASURES: Outcome was time to rehospitalization during the 60-day HHC episode (ie, number of days). Independent variables were visit intensity (number of visits/week) of SN, PT, OT, and HA, respectively. Functional limitation was measured by a composite score generated from 9 OASIS items on physical function. Multivariate Cox Proportional hazard analyses were conducted. Subgroup analysis (high vs low functional limitation) was conducted to examine the moderating effect of functional limitation on specific HHC services. Ad hoc analysis was conducted to examine potential interaction between specific HHC services that were significantly related to rehospitalization. RESULTS: The sample included 1377 participants, among whom 11.5% were rehospitalized during the 60-day HHC episode. At the threshold dose of 1 PT or 2 SN visits/week, higher visit intensity significantly reduced the hazard of rehospitalization in these patients by up to 82% for PT (2.30 visits/week; hazard ratio [HR] = 0.18, P value < .001) and 48% for SN visits (2.51 visits/week; HR = 0.52, P value < .05). The effect of PT on reducing the risk of rehospitalization was more pronounced in patients with low versus high functional limitation (2.30 visits/week, HR = 0.08 vs 0.24, both P < .001). SN was only effective in reducing the hazard of rehospitalization in the low functional limitation group (1.70 visits/week, HR = 0.41, P < .05; 2.51 visits/week, HR = 0.29, P < .05), but not in the high functional limitation group (P > .05 at all intensity levels). Visit intensity of HA or OT was not significantly related to rehospitalization. CONCLUSIONS/RELEVANCE: At a threshold of 1 PT visit or 2 SN visits/week, HHC lowered the risk of rehospitalization in older patients by up to 82% and 48%, respectively. Both PT and SN were more effective in avoiding rehospitalization in patients with low functional limitation than in those with high functional limitation. Older patients should receive enough HHC services (especially PT and SN) to avoid rehospitalizations with consideration of their functional limitation.

Somali Older Adults' and Their Families' Perceptions of Adult Home Health Services.

Many studies have identified the vulnerability of ethnic elders, and there is promising evidence indicating home health care (HHC) services can improve the health outcomes of Somali older adults. This study used a community-engaged qualitative descriptive approach with the participation of non-profit organization Refugees Helping Refugees. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe Somali older adults' and their families' perceptions of and experiences with HHC services in order to improve its use and access. Data collection included home visits (n = 15), semi-structured interviews (n = 17) and debriefing sessions (n = 16) with 19 individuals from 14 Somali families. Somali families recognized HHC services were needed and believed having services in the home facilitated learning but HHC agencies should work more with the Somali community. HHC agencies need to work with community organizations to facilitate cultural and health understanding, and better health care for Somali older adults.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Policy Regarding Supervised Exercise for Patients With Intermittent Claudication: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

On May 25, 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a decision memo establishing coverage for supervised exercise therapy (SET) for Medicare beneficiaries experiencing intermittent claudication due to peripheral artery disease (PAD). A meaningful impact on population health is possible with greater freedom to participate in regular physical activity. The authors of this editorial explain the potential roles of physical therapists in the SET program and argue for further integration of physical therapists through collaborative practice. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2017;47(12):892-894. doi:10.2519/jospt.2017.0111.

Using a Clinical Outreach Project to Foster a Community-Engaged Research Partnership With Somali Families.

BACKGROUND: Community-engaged research partnerships build the capacity of community and educational organizations to work together toward addressing important health issues and disparities for vulnerable populations, such as refugees or immigrants. A critical step for building a community-engaged research partnership is the Thrst contact or entrée into the community. PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to describe how a successful home health community-engaged partnership became the entrée and foundation for a community-engaged research partnership to explore the home health needs of Somali older adults and their families. METHODS: A number of strategies were used to engage the Somali community, initially in a clinical home health project and subsequently in an academic research study. LESSONS LEARNED: Valuable lessons were learned on delivering home health care (HHC) services to Somali older adults and their families as well as conducting research with this population. The most important lesson was that none of the work could be done without the involvement of the Somali community. The partnership described is one of the Thrst to address the home health needs and experiences of Somali older adults and their families. The project illustrates a mutually beneThcial relationship that can occur when a community-engaged clinical project expanded to address an issue of importance to the community through research. CONCLUSIONS: This foundation served to create an opportunity for more comprehensive community-academic partnerships with the potential to improve the delivery of HHC to Somali older adults, as well as open avenues for research in other areas that are relevant to the Somali, medical, and academic communities.

Home health care nurse interactions with homebound geriatric patients with depression and disability.

Building therapeutic nurse-patient relationships is pivotal to the provision of optimum nurse care management for geriatric home health care (HHC) patients. However, little is known about which strategies most effectively treat older adult HHC patients with concomitant depression and disability. This qualitative descriptive study was conducted in two parts to explore the issue further. The first part involved interviews regarding HHC nurse perceptions of geriatric depression and disability care management. The second part, which is the focus of the current analysis, describes HHC nurses' use of care management and therapeutic during home visits. Observation of nurse-patient interactions involved 25 nurses home visits to HHC patients 60 and older who had depression and disability. Drawing on clinical knowledge and interpersonal skills, nurses built relationships and fostered trust. However, despite their disabilities to make these connections, multiple missed opportunities occurred for nurses to engage in more productive interactions. Four training components to support improvement of nurse-patient therapeutic relationships are described and recommended.

Longitudinal prevalence and correlates of elder mistreatment among older adults receiving home visiting nursing.

The objectives of this study were to identify elder mistreatment (EM) prevalence among a cohort of older adults receiving visiting nurse care in their homes, determine EM subtypes, and identify factors associated with EM. EM data were collected by nurses during monthly home visits for up to 24 months. It took the nurses a mean of 10.5 visits to discern EM. Fifty-four (7.4%) of 724 patients were identified as mistreated, of which 33 had enough information to subtype the EM. Of these 33, 27 were victims of neglect, 16 of psychological abuse, and 10 of financial exploitation, and 17 suffered more than one type. Among the entire sample, 11 variables were positively correlated with EM presence. Nurses visiting older adults in their homes should be aware that their patients are, as a group, vulnerable to EM, and that the factors identified here may be specific markers of greater risk.

Evaluation of geriatric home healthcare depression assessment and care management: are OASIS-C depression requirements enough?

OBJECTIVE: Research is scarce on how depression is identified and treated among Medicare home healthcare (HHC) patients age 65+ with disability. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently incorporated depression screening into the OASIS-C HHC assessment. Our study objectives were to evaluate and characterize depression care management (DCM) in an HHC agency after CMS increased its depression requirements and to determine if there was an association of DCM with disability (activities of daily living [ADLs]) outcomes. METHODS: The authors conducted a retrospective chart review of 100 new Medicare HHC admissions patients age 65+ (mean age: 81.7) who screened positive for depression and had disability and multimorbidity. Clinical and administrative records were examined and descriptive analyses used. Multivariate regression analyses investigated the association of six DCM components with ADLs improvement. RESULTS: Depression was recognized in care plans of 60% of patients. Documentation of only one nurse care management activity, antidepressant use, indicated the use of evidence-based standards of depression assessment and DCM. Depression measures were not administered at discharge, recertification, or transfer. Forty percent of patients had a formal depression diagnosis by the referring physician in the chart, and 65% were receiving an antidepressant. Having a depression care plan and depression medication were significantly associated with a large ADLs improvement. CONCLUSION: Despite the association of depression care plans with patient disability improvement, inadequate compliance to evidence-based DCM was found. Medicare and HHC agencies must ensure compliance to DCM, including follow-up depression assessment for patients with positive screens.

Effects of a home visiting nurse intervention versus care as usual on individual activities of daily living: a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Home visiting nurses (HVNs) have long been part of home and community-based care interventions designed to meet the needs of functionally declining older adults. However, only one of the studies including HVNs that have demonstrated successful impacts on Activities of Daily Living (ADL) has reported how those interventions affected individual ADLs such as bathing, instead reporting the effect on means of various ADL indices and scales. Reporting impacts on means is insufficient since the same mean can consist of many different combinations of individual ADL impairments. The purpose of our study was to identify which individual ADLs were affected by a specific HVN intervention. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis comparing two arms of a randomized controlled study that enrolled Medicare patients (mean age = 76.8 years; 70% female) with considerable ADL impairment. At baseline difficulty with individual ADLs ranged from a low of 16.0% with eating to a high of 78.0% with walking. Through monthly home visits, the HVN focused on empowering patients and using behavior change approaches to facilitate chronic disease self-management. Three categories of analyses were used to compare difficulty with and dependence in 6 individual ADLs between the HVN (n = 237) and care as usual (n = 262) groups (total N = 499) at 22 months after study entry: (1) unadjusted analyses that strictly depend on random assignment, (2) multinomial logistic regression analyses adjusting for baseline risk factors, and (3) multinomial regression analyses that include variables reporting post-randomization healthcare use as well as the baseline risk factors. RESULTS: Compared to care as usual, patients receiving the HVN intervention had less difficulty performing bathing at 22 months. However, there were no effects for difficulty performing the other 5 ADLs. While no effects were found for lower levels of dependence for any ADLs, impacts were detected for the most dependent levels of 4 ADLs: patients experienced less dependence in walking and transferring, a substitution effect for toileting, and more dependence in eating. CONCLUSIONS: Future research is needed to confirm these findings and determine how HVN interventions affect individual ADLs of older adults with multiple ADLs.

Which components of a primary care affiliated home visiting nurse program are associated with disability maintenance/improvement?

A process evaluation of a primary care affiliated home visiting nurse intervention was performed to determine which intervention components were associated with disability maintenance/improvement. This secondary analysis (N = 238) used data recorded in intervention databases and patient interviews among community-dwelling elders with disability. Intervention components were examined in descriptive, correlational, bivariate, and logistic regression analyses. Results demonstrated that two structure components--physician-patient-family-nurse conference visits and intervention (education) materials--and three process components--disease management activities, goal setting, and medication management activities--were linked to maintaining/improving activities of daily living disability status. Confirmation of these findings may help home care nurses to delay disability worsening.

Use of quality indicators in physical therapist practice: an observational study.

BACKGROUND: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 contain provisions specific to health care quality that apply to physical therapists. Published evidence examining gaps in the quality of physical therapy services is limited. OBJECTIVE: The primary purpose of this study was to determine the use of quality indicators in physical therapist practice. DESIGN: This was an observational study. METHODS: All members of the Orthopaedic and Private Practice sections of the American Physical Therapy Association were invited to participate by completing an electronic survey. The survey included 22 brief patient descriptions, each followed by questions regarding the use of examinations and interventions based on the 2009 list of Medicare-approved quality measures. Separate multivariate logistic regression models were used to determine the odds ratios related to the performance of each examination and intervention on more than 90% of patients, given perceptions of its importance to care, the burden of performing it, and the level of evidence supporting its use. RESULTS: Participants (n=2,544) reported a relatively low frequency of performing examinations and interventions supporting primary and secondary prevention (3.6%-51.3%) and use of standardized measures (5.5%-35.8%). Perceptions of high importance and low burden were associated with greater odds of performing an examination or intervention. Importance and burden were more influential factors than the perceived availability of evidence to support use of identified techniques. LIMITATIONS: The survey was not assessed for test-retest reliability. A low response rate was a source of potential bias. CONCLUSION: The study findings suggest that physical therapists may not see themselves as providers of primary or secondary prevention services. Patient management strategies associated with these types of services also may be perceived as relatively unimportant or burdensome.

Patient age is related to the types of physical therapy interventions provided for chronic low back pain: an observational study.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of a longitudinal cohort of patients treated for chronic low back pain (CLBP). OBJECTIVES: To determine whether patient age is associated with types of physical therapy interventions received for CLBP. BACKGROUND: Advancing age is associated with less positive treatment outcomes in patients with CLBP. If patient age influences a therapist's choice of interventions, it may partially explain the difference in treatment outcomes. METHODS: Data were examined in a sample of 7392 patients (62% women, 38% men; mean ± SD age, 56.7 ± 16.5 years) with CLBP. We used a generalized estimating equation to examine the probability of each subject receiving each of the individual intervention categories in the presence of the other intervention categories. RESULTS: A significant interaction between intervention category and age existed after controlling for gender, duration of symptoms, comorbidities, payer source, and functional status at initial intake (χ(2) = 130.27, df = 8, P<.0001). The changes in probability of receiving an intervention category averaged 10% as patient age increased. The probability of receiving exercise or task-specific training did not change with advancing age. The probability of receiving postural exercises, pain modalities, joint mobility techniques, ice, or McKenzie exercises decreased with advancing age. The probability of receiving augmented soft tissue mobilization and balance/mobility training increased as age increased. CONCLUSION: The impact of age on physical therapist treatment choices varies depending on the type of intervention. Other variables in addition to age may have an impact on treatment choice. Further research is needed to determine how therapists incorporate age into their clinical decision making.

Barriers and facilitators to optimize function and prevent disability worsening: a content analysis of a nurse home visit intervention.

AIMS: This paper is a report of an analysis of how to better understand the results of the nurse home visit intervention in the Medicare Primary and Consumer-Directed Care Demonstration in terms of facilitators and barriers to disability improvement/maintenance as compared with disability worsening. BACKGROUND: There is a lack of literature describing how nurse home visit interventions are able to maintain/improve disability among older persons with disability. The present study is one of only six reporting beneficial disability outcomes. METHODS: Cases were purposefully sampled to represent change in the disability construct leading to selection of ten cases each of disability maintenance/improvement (no change or decrease in total Activities of Daily Living score from baseline) and worsening (an increase in total Activities of Daily Living score from baseline). Data from nurses' progress notes and case studies (collected in March 1998-June 2002) were analysed using qualitative descriptive analysis (May 2009). These results remain relevant because the present study is one of the few studies to identify select nurse activities instrumental in postponing/minimizing disability worsening. RESULTS/FINDINGS: Three primary themes captured the facilitators and barriers to effective disability maintenance/improvement: (1) building and maintaining patient-centred working relationships, (2) negotiating delivery of intervention components and (3) establishing balance between patients' acute and chronic care needs. Sub-themes illustrate nurse, patient and system factors associated with effective disability maintenance/improvement (e.g. nurse caring, communicating, facilitating interdisciplinary communication) and barriers associated with disability worsening (e.g. dementia, depression and recurring acute illnesses). CONCLUSION: This study provides new insights about the facilitators and barriers to effective disability maintenance/improvement experienced by patients receiving home visits. Potential opportunities exist to integrate these insights into best-practice models of nurse home visiting.

Academic difficulty and program-level variables predict performance on the National Physical Therapy Examination for licensure: a population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Several factors have been shown to influence first-time pass rates on the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE). It is unclear to what extent academic difficulty experienced by students in a physical therapist education program may affect NPTE pass rates. The effects of institutional status (public or private) and Carnegie Classification on NPTE pass rates also are unknown. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to quantify the odds of failure on the NPTE for students experiencing academic difficulty and for institutional status and Carnegie Classification. DESIGN: This investigation was a retrospective population-based cohort study. METHODS: Quota sampling was used to recruit a random sample of 20 professional physical therapist education programs across the United States. Individual student demographic, preadmission, and academic performance data were collected, as were data on program-level variables and data indicating pass/fail performance on the NPTE. A generalized linear mixed-effects logistic regression model was used to adjust for confounding factors and to describe relationships among the key predictor variables-academic difficulty, institutional status, and Carnegie Classification-and the dependent variable, NPTE performance. RESULTS: Academic difficulty during a student's professional training was an independent predictor for NPTE failure. The odds of students who had academic difficulty (relative to students who did not experience academic difficulty) failing the NPTE were 5.89 (95% confidence interval=4.06-8.93). The odds of NPTE failure also varied depending on institutional status and Carnegie Classification. LIMITATIONS: The findings related to Carnegie Classification and institutional status should be considered preliminary. CONCLUSIONS: Student performance on the NPTE was influenced by multiple factors, but the most important, potentially modifiable risk factor for poor NPTE performance likely is academic difficulty during professional training.

Patient satisfaction, empowerment, and health and disability status effects of a disease management-health promotion nurse intervention among Medicare beneficiaries with disabilities.

PURPOSE: To report the impact on patient and informal caregiver satisfaction, patient empowerment, and health and disability status of a primary care-affiliated disease self-management-health promotion nurse intervention for Medicare beneficiaries with disabilities and recent significant health services use. DESIGN AND METHODS: The Medicare Primary and Consumer-Directed Care Demonstration was a 24-month randomized controlled trial that included a nurse intervention. The present study (N = 766) compares the nurse (n = 382) and control (n = 384) groups. Generalized linear models for repeated measures, linear regression, and ordered logit regression were used. RESULTS: The patients whose activities of daily living (ADL) were reported by the same respondent at baseline and 22 months following baseline had significantly fewer dependencies at 22 months than did the control group (p = .038). This constituted the vast majority of respondents. In addition, patient satisfaction significantly improved for 6 of 7 domains, whereas caregiver satisfaction improved for 2 of 8 domains. However, the intervention had no effect on empowerment, self-rated health, the SF-36 physical and mental health summary scores, and the number of dependencies in instrumental ADL. IMPLICATION: If confirmed in other studies, this intervention holds the potential to reduce the rate of functional decline and improve satisfaction for Medicare beneficiaries with ADL dependence.

Interventions associated with an increased or decreased likelihood of pain reduction and improved function in patients with adhesive capsulitis: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether physical therapy interventions predicted meaningful short-term improvement in 4 measures of physical health, pain, and function for patients diagnosed with adhesive capsulitis. PARTICIPANTS: Data were examined from 2,370 patients (mean age=55.3 years, SD=12.4; 65% female, 35% male) classified into ICD-9 code 726.0 who had completed an episode of outpatient physical therapy. METHODS: Principal components factor analysis was used to define intervention categories from specific treatments applied during the episode of care. A nested logistic regression model was used to identify intervention categories that predicted a 50% or greater change in Physical Component Summary-12 (PCS-12), physical function (PF), bodily pain (BP), and hybrid function (HF) scores. RESULTS: None of the patients achieved a 50% or greater improvement in PCS-12 scores. Improvement in BP scores was more likely in patients who received joint mobility interventions (odds ratio=1.35, 95% confidence interval=1.10-1.65). Improvement in HF scores was more likely in patients who received exercise interventions (odds ratio=1.50, 95% confidence interval=1.03-2.17). Use of iontophoresis, phonophoresis, ultrasound, or massage reduced the likelihood of improvement in these 3 outcome measures by 19% to 32%. LIMITATIONS: The authors relied on clinician-identified ICD-9 coding for the diagnosis. Impairment measures were not available to support the diagnosis, and some interventions were excluded because of infrequent use by participating therapists. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: These results are consistent with findings from randomized clinical trials that demonstrated the effectiveness of joint mobilization and exercise for patients with adhesive capsulitis. Ultrasound, massage, iontophoresis, and phonophoresis reduced the likelihood of a favorable outcome, which suggests that use of these modalities should be discouraged.

Review of nurse home visiting interventions for community-dwelling older persons with existing disability.

Despite there being a considerable number of meta-analyses and reviews synthesizing the nurse in-home visiting literature, there have been no reviews examining nurse in-home visiting for patients who are already disabled. This article presents a literature review and synthesis of 10 trials targeted on older adults with disability. The review is organized into structure and process components related to the outcome variable disability based on the classic Donabedian model. The review suggests that the components of in-home visiting associated with favorable disability outcomes include multiple home visits, geriatric training and experience, health provider collaboration, multidimensional assessment, and theory use. In contrast, lack of process measures, physician collaboration, training, and specific intervention components targeting disability are associated with ineffective interventions. This review helps provide insight into variables that influence disability outcomes as well as the development of best-practice models of in-home visiting to older adults with existing disability.