Increasing perceived health and mental health literacy among separated refugee Ukrainian families with urgent needs occasioned by invasion-a group intervention study with participatory methodology in Sweden.

Background: With the increasing numbers of refugees from Ukraine affected by the ongoing war, there is a high risk of trauma-related stress due to low local health and mental health literacy care. Perceived good health is a human right. Earlier studies show that intervention for refugees can reduce and prevent post-migration stress and anxiety. The present explorative study aimed to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of a short, trauma-focused group intervention (in Swedish "hälsoskola") for Ukrainian-speaking refugees (EU's mass refugee directive). This intervention was part of an ESF project aiming to get the subjects closer to the labor market in Västernorrland County, Sweden. Materials and methods: A mixed-methods design, a participatory methodology, and an evaluation were used. Data were obtained with a short questionnaire in Ukrainian. It included a visual analogue health-rating scale, an observation, and an oral evaluation in groups. For practical and ethical reasons, there was no control group. Each group met five times for 2 h, a total of 10 h excluding pre- and post-assessment. There were eight sets of five group sessions per set, a total of 40 sessions. Brief initial and concluding breathing exercises sought to reduce stress among the participants. Results: Baseline data were obtained from 99 participants, mostly females. Data gathered directly after the group intervention from 57 participants who had filled in both the pre- and post-questionnaires showed that (1) perceived anxiety/stress was significantly reduced (chi-2 25,53, df = 4, p < 001). (2) The participants showed significantly better perceived health as assessed on a visual analogue scale (average change from 63.16 to 71.18, p < 0.001). This result was supported by the participants' questions, which were qualitatively evaluated using thematic content analysis. Five general themes stemmed from questions raised in dialogue with the participants plus observation with the respective local expert. The participants received answers to their questions, and their perceived negative attitudes to authorities changed to more positive ones. Conclusion: By dialogue between the participants' needs of knowledge and direct answers by the local expert, respectively, was feasible and effective as they perceived trust and health and mental health literacy increased. Implications for primary prevention are discussed.

Medical Students' Learning About Other Professions Using an Interprofessional Virtual Patient While Remotely Connected With a Study Group: Mixed Methods Study.

BACKGROUND: Collaboration with other professions is essential in health care education to prepare students for future clinical teamwork. However, health care education still struggles to incorporate interprofessional education. Distance learning and virtual patients (VPs) may be useful additional methods to increase students' possibilities for interprofessional learning. OBJECTIVE: This study had two aims. The first was to assess if an interprofessional VP case could facilitate medical students' learning about team collaboration in online groups. The second was to assess how students experienced learning with the VP when remotely connected with their group. METHODS: A mixed methods design was used. The VP case was a 73-year-old man who needed help from different health professions in his home after a hip fracture. Questionnaires were answered by the students before and directly after each session. Qualitative group interviews were performed with each group of students directly after the VP sessions, and the interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: A total of 49 third-year medical students divided into 15 groups participated in the study. Each group had 2 to 5 students who worked together with the interprofessional VP without a teacher's guidance. In the analysis of the group interviews, a single theme was identified: the interprofessional VP promoted student interaction and gave insight into team collaboration. Two categories were found: (1) the structure of the VP facilitated students' learning and (2) students perceived the collaboration in their remotely connected groups as functioning well and being effective. The results from the questionnaires showed that the students had gained insights into the roles and competencies of other health care professions. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that an interprofessional VP enabled insights into team collaboration and increased understanding of other professions among student groups comprising only medical students. The interprofessional VP seemed to benefit students' learning in an online, remote-learning context. Although our VP was not used as an interprofessional student activity according to the common definition of interprofessional education, the results imply that it still contributed to students' interprofessional learning.

Global surgery for medical students - is it meaningful? A mixed-method study.

INTRODUCTION: There has been an increase in global health courses at medical universities in high-income countries. Their effect on students, however, is poorly understood. In 2016 an elective global surgery course was introduced for medical students at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The course includes a theoretical module in Sweden and a two-week clinical rotation in Uganda. The present study aimed to assess the format and determine its effect on students' knowledge of global surgery and approach towards patients of non-Swedish origin. METHOD: A mixed-methods design was used. Semi-structured case-based interviews were conducted individually with 18 students and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Examination scores and the course evaluation were analysed with Kruskal Wallis one-way analysis of variance, Pearson's Chi-square and a Wilcoxon signed-rank test as appropriate. RESULTS: The course was appreciated and students reported gained insights and interest in global surgery. Students' ability to reason about global surgery issues was improved after the course. Students considered complicating aspects in the meeting with patients of non-Swedish origin. Students with abroad clinical experience felt less compelled to act on preconceptions. DISCUSSION: The global surgery course at Karolinska Institutet is appreciated and students gained valuable knowledge. The case-based interviews acted as a catalyst for reflection and showed that students felt insecure as they lacked knowledge about globally common surgical conditions and struggled with generalized preconceptions of patients of non-Swedish origin. To further support students to integrate theoretical knowledge and professional development, we suggest the introduction of problem-based learning. CONCLUSION: The ability of the course to inspire students' commitment to global surgery is promising as this engagement is the key to reaching the goal of equitable health globally. Offering such courses is a step towards inspiring and recruiting the future clinicians and researchers needed for expanding the field of global surgery.

Primary care consultations on emotional distress - a part of the acculturation process in patients with refugee backgrounds: a grounded theory approach.

BACKGROUND: Considering the global refugee crisis, there is an increasing demand on primary care physicians to be able to adequately assess and address the health care needs of individual refugees, including both the somatic and psychiatric spectra. Meanwhile, intercultural consultations are often described as challenging, and studies exploring physician-patient communication focusing on emotional distress are lacking. Therefore, the aim was to explore physician-patient communication, with focus on cultural aspects of emotional distress in intercultural primary care consultations, using a grounded theory approach, considering both the physician's and the patient's perspective. METHODS: The study was set in Region Stockholm, Sweden. In total, 23 individual interviews and 3 focus groups were conducted. Resident physicians in family medicine and patients with refugee backgrounds, originating from Somalia, Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, were included. Data was analysed using a grounded theory approach. RESULTS: Over time, primary care patients with refugee backgrounds seemed to adopt a culturally congruent model of emotional distress. Gradual acceptance of psychiatric diagnoses as explanatory models for distress and suffering was noted, which is in line with current tendencies in Sweden. This acculturation might be influenced by the physician. Three possible approaches used by residents in intercultural consultations were identified: "biomedical", "didactic" and "compensatory". They all indicated that diagnoses are culturally valid models to explain various forms of distress and may thus contribute to shifting patient perceptions of psychiatric diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians working in Swedish primary care may influence patients' acculturation process by inadvertently shifting their perceptions of psychiatric diagnoses. Residents expressed concerns, rather than confidence, in dealing with these issues. Focusing part of their training on how to address emotional distress in an intercultural context would likely be beneficial for all parties concerned.

Awareness of parental illness: a grounded theory of upholding family equilibrium in parents on long-term sick-leave in primary health care.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the main concern of chronically ill parents and how they resolve this concern in relation to their children. DESIGN: Grounded theory. SETTING: Three primary health care clinics in Sweden. SUBJECTS: Thirty-two interviewed parents and their children. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Processes and typologies of upholding family relationships. RESULTS: A concern of chronically ill parents is sustaining family equilibrium, achieved through a process of upholding family relationships. How a parent upholds depends upon his/her comprehension of the illness and of their child's need for parenting. In response to the parent's upholding behaviours, children mirror the effect of the illness to the parent, the child's specific behaviour depending on his/her level of comprehension regarding the parent's illness. Their combined behaviours create an awareness context that may be closed, concealed, suspicious, conflicted, mutual pretence or open.When the parent drives and facilitates the evolution of comprehension, the context quickly evolves from closed to open. When the parent hinders the process by masking and resisting the child responds by probing and proving and they become locked into a suspicious or conflicted awareness context with high relational tension. To create family equilibrium the parent needs to reveal and facilitate the awareness process. CONCLUSION: Parents on long-term sick leave in primary health care can need assistance to facilitate the awareness context of themselves and their child.Implications: Clinicians can identify the current awareness context of their patient and help their patient towards increased understanding of their illness; their child's needs and the parental capacities needed to reveal the illness and its impacts.Key PointsChildren are affected when parents are ill; they wish for information on their parent's illness. Effective interventions are available in settings other than primary health care and possibilities seen by GPs and families in Scandinavian primary health care have been previously described. There is a knowledge gap in how parents view themselves and their parenting when ill in primary health care. An analysis grounded in interviews was needed to generate a hypothesis (theory) of parental concerns and behaviours.This theory proposes that an important concern of chronically ill parents is to sustain family equilibrium, which they attempt to do by upholding family relationships.Specific upholding behaviours include masking, resisting, colluding, and revealing. In response, children will engage in mirroring behaviours. Which paired behaviours are enacted will depend upon the respective levels of comprehension of parent and child regarding the illness and on the child's need for parenting. In their interactions, parent and child create one of six awareness contexts.Identifying the current awareness context in the family about chronic parental illness provides clinicians with a conceptual tool to better support those families locked in suspicious or conflicted awareness contexts.

Barriers and potential solutions for improved surgical care for children with hernia in Eastern Uganda.

Five billion people lack timely, affordable access to surgery. A large proportion of these are children. Qualitative research investigating the barriers to surgical care for children and ways of overcoming them is lacking. This study focused on children with hernia, a very common paediatric surgical condition for which surgery is the only effective treatment. The main aim of this qualitative study was to explore barriers to surgical care for children and identify potential solutions. Data were collected from parents of children with hernia and from health care providers at Soroti Regional Referral Hospital in eastern Uganda. Parents' experiences, motives and barriers when accessing care were explored. The health care providers' knowledge, perceptions and practices relating to children with hernia were investigated. The data were analysed using thematic content analysis. Traditional beliefs and gender inequality were considered major issues. Possible solutions included partnering with the local community in efforts to increase knowledge and acceptability in the community in general and by parents in particular. A formation of a surgical team dedicated to the management of children with surgical conditions was suggested as way to improve quality and increase volume of surgery for children.

Virtual patients reflecting the clinical reality of primary care - a useful tool to improve cultural competence.

BACKGROUND: Virtual patients are educational tools that may be described as case-based interactive computer simulations of clinical scenarios. In terms of learning outcomes, improved clinical reasoning skills and knowledge acquisition have been shown. For further exploring the role of virtual patients in medical education, a greater focus on context-specific cases, combined with suitable educational activities, has been suggested. A knowledge gap has been identified in cultural competence in primary care. As primary care physicians are often the main medical providers for patients with refugee backgrounds, they would probably benefit from improved training focusing on how to apply cultural competence in everyday work. Using virtual patient cases, as a complement to clinical training, may be one way forward. The aim of this study was therefore to explore a learner perspective on the educational use of a virtual patient system designed to contribute to training in cultural competence in a primary care context. METHODS: Three virtual patient cases portraying patients with refugee backgrounds were developed. The cases addressed various issues and symptoms common in primary care consultations, while also incorporating intercultural aspects. The system also provided the informants with individualized feedback. Primary care physicians and medical students were invited to test the cases and participate in an interview about their experience. Data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: The analysis generated the theme Virtual patients might help improve cultural competence in physicians and medical students by complementing knowledge gained through the informal curriculum. Informants at different educational levels found it suitable as a tool for introducing the topic and for reflecting on one's own consultations. It could also compensate for the predominant informal manner of learning cultural competence, described by the informants. CONCLUSIONS: Virtual patients could be useful for gaining cultural competence in a primary care context. Advantages that could benefit learners at both pre- and post-graduate levels are decreased dependence on the informal curriculum and being presented with an illustrative way of how cultural competence may be applied in the consultation.

Experiences of tobacco cessation including a prescription approach among patients in Swedish primary health care with a focus on socioeconomically disadvantaged areas.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco Cessation on Prescription (TCP) is a new intervention that is being evaluated in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas in Swedish primary health care (PHC). Patients' perceptions of TCP are important to understand as this may have implications for the acceptability and adherence to treatment and explain cessation outcomes. Patients' general experiences of tobacco cessation are also important to explore to improve cessation support in this setting. AIM: To explore experiences of tobacco cessation and TCP among patients in Swedish PHC focusing on socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. METHODS: Inductive content analysis of transcripts from eight semi-structured interviews with patients recruited from the intervention group in a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of TCP in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas in PHC in Stockholm. RESULTS: Two themes were identified: needing individualized support to quit, taking differences in patients' experiences of tobacco use and cessation into account, acknowledging individual factors such as impact of health and wellbeing on tobacco use and differing attitudes towards tobacco and cessation and needing a supportive environment to facilitate tobacco cessation, taking contextual factors like professional support from the health care system, the importance of the social environment and supportive societal structures into account. Regarding TCP, the prescription form was perceived as useful for providers but did not appear to have a direct impact on tobacco cessation from the informants' perspective. However, individualized counseling from a tobacco cessation specialist, an empathetic approach in the treatment and long-term follow-up was considered important. CONCLUSION: A holistic approach may be needed in cessation treatment, combined with interventions outside the health care system, to facilitate tobacco cessation among patients in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas in Swedish PHC. The TCP prescription form may be helpful for PHC providers but counseling and follow-up appear to be the most important components of TCP for patients in this setting.

A virtual patient model for students' interprofessional learning in primary healthcare.

OBJECTIVES: Interprofessional education is important for increasing the quality of patient care, but organising it in primary healthcare is still challenging. The aim of this study was to develop and assess a virtual patient model for primary healthcare and to investigate students' perceptions of learning with this interprofessional virtual patient model. METHODS: The virtual patient case described a patient with several medical conditions who had returned home after surgery. The virtual patient included text files, short videos, and links to illustrate different health professions' roles in home care. Ten interprofessional groups with 39 students assessed the virtual patient from four different study programmes: nursing, physiotherapy, medicine, and occupational therapy. The students answered a questionnaire about how they perceived the usability of the virtual patient and participated in group interviews. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data from the semi-structured group interviews. RESULTS: The analysis of the interviews resulted in four main categories: The virtual patient model facilitated the learning process; It was beneficial to have students from different programmes in the group when working with the virtual patient; Working with the virtual patient helped the students to understand the roles and competencies of their own and other professions and All professions are needed in clinical work in order to help the patient. The students perceived that the mixture of text and multimedia made the virtual patient seem authentic and stimulated their group discussions, which they valued most. The students gave generally high points for usability in the questionnaire, but they also gave input for improvement of the program in their comments. CONCLUSIONS: The interprofessional virtual patient model facilitated interactions and discussions between students and may be a useful complement for interprofessional education in clinical contexts and might be a suitable tool in preparing students for future teamwork.

To Increase Mental Health Literacy and Human Rights Among New-Coming, Low-Educated Mothers With Experience of War: A Culturally, Tailor-Made Group Health Promotion Intervention With Participatory Methodology Addressing Indirectly the Children.

Due to the increasing numbers of newcomers with impacts of war, civil war and persecution, at high risk of trauma-related mental health problems, there is a need for increase the poor mental health literacy (MHL) and human rights among the new-comers, especially low-educated mothers with children. This article aimed to present a case study report of several years' experience of tailor-made group health promotion intervention. It describes as an example, a project during autumn 2018 in five municipalities of Sweden and in collaboration between academia, primary care, social welfare, police, and an NGO. Fifty-one women, Arabic- or Somalian speaking, with 1-7 children, mean age 40 years, low-educated and in average four years' of living in Sweden participated. Under supervision, a local female member of the NGO coordinated the group meetings in Swedish with up to ten participants and the moderators were representatives of healthcare, social services and police/lawyer, with an interpreter present. Each intervention focused on human rights, health including mental health, psychosocial and parenting support, by using a 5-week group intervention a 2 h/week, totally 10 h excluding pre- and post-evaluation, and one language per intervention. Each meeting included 1-h lecture and after a short break with refreshments, the participants asked questions to the respective moderator. It was a mixed method but emphasis on qualitative design and participatory methodology with co-creation and evaluation of the intervention. The results showed that this tailor-made group intervention gave the participants empowerment and a sense of coherence, MHL and tools to deal with stress/anxiety, based on their needs that were mapped before in a pilot study during Spring 2018, indirectly addressing their children. However, they did not primarily talk about mental illness experience. It is vital that these interventions toward the target group with limited exposure to Western concepts (e.g., illness, anxiety, and trauma), may bridge the gap between Western and traditional cultural understanding of pre- and postmigration stress. In conclusion, MHL may be a function of both the cultural origin of the target group's background and their resettlement in a Western reception country. Implications are discussed.

Informing children of their parent's illness: A systematic review of intervention programs with child outcomes in all health care settings globally from inception to 2019.

INTRODUCTION: Children are impacted when parents are ill. This systematic review gives an overview of the current state of research and extracts what children and parents found helpful in the interventions aimed at informing children of their parent's illness. METHODS: This review was registered with PROSPERO and conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Five health and social science databases were searched from inception to November 2019 to identify original, peer-reviewed articles in English describing effective interventions. The authors selected and reviewed the studies independently, and any inconsistencies were resolved by discussion in face-to-face meetings and emails. A descriptive synthesis of evidence-based concepts from quantitative and qualitative studies was conducted. RESULTS: A total of 13 892 titles and 144 full-text articles were reviewed with 32 selected for final inclusion, 21 quantitative, 11 qualitative and no mixed-method studies published from 1993 to November 2019. Most of the research was conducted in mental health, including substance abuse (n = 22), but also in cancer care (n = 6) and HIV care (n = 4). Most studies using quantitative method showed a small to moderately positive statistically significant intervention effect on the child's level of internalized symptoms. Content analysis of the results of studies employing qualitative methodology resulted in four concepts important to both children and parents in interventions (increased knowledge, more open communication, new coping strategies and changed feelings) and three additional concepts important to parents (observed changes in their children's behavior, the parent's increased understanding of their own child and the relief of respite). CONCLUSIONS: In the literature there is evidence of mild to moderate positive effects on the child's level of internalized symptoms as well as concepts important to children and parent's worth noting when trying to bridge the still existing knowledge gaps. In further efforts the challenges of implementation as well as adaptation to differing clinical and personal situations appear key to address.

The informal curriculum of family medicine - what does it entail and how is it taught to residents? A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The informal curriculum is a seemingly well-explored concept in the realm of medical education. However, it is a concept with multiple definitions and the term "the hidden curriculum" is often used interchangeably. In short, they both refer to the implicit learning taking place outside the formal curriculum, encompassing both a trickling down effect of organizational values and attitudes passed on by a mentor or colleague. While the informal curriculum is a recurrent theme in medical education literature; it is seldom discussed in Family Medicine. As the informal curriculum is likely to be highly influential in the forming of future family practitioners, our aim was to explore the area further, with respect to the following: which elements of the informal curriculum are applicable in a Family Medicine context and what educational interventions for Family Medicine residents, visualizing the various educational elements of it, have been performed? METHODS: We conducted a systematic review comprising iterative literature searches and a narrative synthesis of the results. RESULTS: Twenty articles, published between 2000 and 2019, were included in the analysis which resulted in three partly interrelated themes comprising the informal curriculum in Family Medicine: gaining cultural competence, achieving medical professionalism and dealing with uncertainty. The themes on cultural competence and uncertainty seemed to be more contextual than professionalism, the latter being discussed in relation to the informal curriculum across other medical disciplines as well. Formalized training for Family Medicine residents in aspects of the informal curriculum appeared to be lacking, and in general, the quality of the few interventional studies found was low. CONCLUSIONS: Important aspects of being a family practitioner, such as cultural competence and dealing with uncertainty, are learned through a context-dependent informal curriculum. In order to ensure a more uniform base for all residents and to reduce the impact of the individual supervisor's preferences, complementary formalized training would be beneficial. However, to date there are too few studies published to conclude how to best teach the informal curriculum. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The systematic review was registered with Prospero; registration number CRD42018104819.

Tobacco Cessation on Prescription as a primary health care intervention targeting a context with socioeconomically disadvantaged groups in Sweden: A qualitative study of perceived implementation barriers and facilitators among providers.

BACKGROUND: A new intervention, Tobacco Cessation on Prescription (TCP), has been developed in the Swedish primary health care (PHC) setting to address inequalities in health caused by tobacco use. It consists of counseling for at least 10 minutes, an individualized prescription of tobacco cessation treatment and follow-up on at least one occasion. TCP is currently being tested in clinical practice for the first time but there is a lack of knowledge about how it is perceived by health care providers. AIM: To explore PHC provider's perceived barriers and facilitators of implementing TCP as an intervention targeting a context with socioeconomically disadvantaged groups in Sweden. METHODS: Directed content analysis of transcripts from eight semi-structured interviews and one focus group interview with PHC providers with personal experience of TCP as informants. Data collection and analysis was guided by The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. RESULTS: Perceived facilitators of implementing TCP were increased self-efficacy among the informants and involvement in the treatment among patients, which led to more intensive counseling and advice being taken more seriously by patients. Lack of resources, routines, and collaboration to work with tobacco cessation and lack of knowledge, motivation and self-efficacy among colleagues were perceived as barriers. Motivation and self-efficacy to quit was perceived as low among some patients, which was explained by low social support to quit, negative attitude and low adherence to treatment and tobacco being used as a coping strategy for life stress. Access to treatment for patients was limited by cost of treatment, long waiting times and focus on face-to-face counseling. CONCLUSION: TCP was perceived positively by the informants but access to treatment for patients was partly limited by how tobacco cessation services were organized. Lack of structural support, resources and differing attitudes among PHC providers need to be addressed to facilitate its implementation.

Circling the undefined-A grounded theory study of intercultural consultations in Swedish primary care.

Well-functioning physician-patient communication is central to primary care consultations. An increasing demand on primary care in many countries to manage a culturally diverse population has highlighted the need for improved communication skills in intercultural consultations. In previous studies, intercultural consultations in primary care have often been described as complex for various reasons, but studies exploring physician-patient interactions contributing to the understanding of why they are complex are lacking. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore intercultural physician-patient communication in primary care consultations, generating a conceptual model of the interpersonal interactions as described by both the patients and the physicians. Using grounded theory methodology, 15 residents in family medicine and 30 foreign-born patients, the latter with Arabic and Somali as native languages, were interviewed. The analysis generated a conceptual model named circling the undefined, where a silent agreement on issues fundamental to the core of the consultation was inadequately presumed and the communicative behaviors used did not contribute to clarity. This could be a possible contributory cause of the perceived complexity of intercultural consultations. Identifying what takes place on an interpersonal level in intercultural consultations might be a first step towards building a common ground for increased mutual understanding, thereby bringing us one step closer to sharing, rather than circling the undefined.

Swedish adaptation of the General Medical Council's multisource feedback questionnaires: a qualitative study.

OBJECTIVES: to explore potential users' opinions of a translated and culturally adapted Swedish version of the General Medical Council's MultiSource Feedback Questionnaires. METHODS: In this qualitative study, we used content analysis on semi-structured interviews from 44 resident doctors, 29 medical colleagues and 28 patients to analyse their opinions of the Swedish adapted version, created through translation and expert review. Transcribed interview data concerning the informants' general thoughts about the tool were coded manually by three independent coders into categories, compiled as themes, and exemplified by citations. Data regarding specific question wording and relevance were used as a basis for final questionnaire revision. RESULTS: The informants valued the tool's potential to provide essential feedback to support the development of residents' medical competences and communication skills. Resident doctors welcomed support in their self-reflection. Colleagues saw it as a valuable tool for assessment that needs to be used sensitively. Patients appreciated opportunities to communicate feedback.  Ambiguous or irrelevant questions and response options were identified. Some colleague-related questions about specific skills and knowledge appeared ambiguous to residents. The final questionnaire revision - based on the expert review and the interview analysis - resulted in a number of changes: four questions were deleted, twelve were reformulated, and six were added. CONCLUSIONS: Potential users perceived the Swedish adapted version as a beneficial tool for residents in their professional development. Further research is needed to explore how this tool can influence doctors' development when used in real-life settings.

Psychometric analysis of the Swedish version of the General Medical Council's multi source feedback questionnaires.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the internal consistency and the underlying components of our translated and adapted Swedish version of the General Medical Council's multisource feedback questionnaires (GMC questionnaires) for physicians and to confirm which aspects of good medical practice the latent variable structure reflected. METHODS: From October 2015 to March 2016, residents in family medicine in Sweden were invited to participate in the study and to use the Swedish version to perform self-evaluations and acquire feedback from both their patients and colleagues. The validation focused on internal consistency and construct validity. Main outcome measures were Cronbach's alpha coefficients, Principal Component Analysis, and Confirmatory Factor Analysis indices. RESULTS: A total of 752 completed questionnaires from patients, colleagues, and residents were analysed. Of these, 213 comprised resident self-evaluations, 336 were feedback from residents' patients, and 203 were feedback from residents' colleagues. Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the scores were 0.88 from patients, 0.93 from colleagues, and 0.84 in the self-evaluations. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis validated two models that fit the data reasonably well and reflected important aspects of good medical practice. The first model had two latent factors for patient-related items concerning empathy and consultation management, and the second model had five latent factors for colleague-related items, including knowledge and skills, attitude and approach, reflection and development, teaching, and trust. CONCLUSIONS: The current Swedish version seems to be a reliable and valid tool for formative assessment for resident physicians and their supervisors. This needs to be verified in larger samples.

Resourcing: An approach used by foreign-born parents struggling on in childhood cancer care.

PURPOSE: To gain knowledge about foreign-born parents' experiences of dealing with their child's illness and treatment in the context of pediatric cancer care. METHOD: Data from 11 individual interviews with foreign-born parents were analyzed using qualitative inductive constant comparative analysis. RESULTS: To struggle on in childhood cancer care, foreign-born parents engaged in resourcing using various strategies including: information-monitoring, staying strong, support-seeking and concern-focusing. Parents experienced obstacles to information-monitoring and support-seeking related to their foreign background. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide a framework for understanding how foreign-born parents try to deal with childhood cancer care and can be used by health care staff to support their resourcing. Even though preconditions might differ, the strategies presented might also be used by native-born parents however further studied are needed.

Innovative training with virtual patients in transcultural psychiatry: the impact on resident psychiatrists' confidence.

BACKGROUND: Virtual patients are now widely accepted as efficient and safe training tools in medical education, but very little is known about their implementation in psychiatry, especially in transcultural clinical care of traumatized refugee patients. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at assessing the impact of training with a virtual patient on confidence in providing clinical care for traumatized refugee patients. METHODS: The authors developed an educational tool based on virtual patient methodology portraying the case of "Mrs. K", a traumatized refugee woman with symptoms of PTSD and depression. A group (N=32) of resident psychiatrists tested the system and their confidence in different aspects of providing clinical care for this patient group was evaluated pre- and post-test by using a validated confidence questionnaire. Cronbach's α was calculated for all clusters. Changes between pre- and post-test were compared by using the matched-pair t-test, binomial distribution for exact significance test and a calculation of effect sizes (Cohen's d). RESULTS: A statistically significant improvement was exhibited in overall confidence (mean Δ: 0.34; p<0.0001; d: 0.89) as well as in four more specific domains of clinical care, with the area of identifying and evaluating trauma-related diagnoses and disability showing the most prominent improvement (mean Δ: 0.47; p<0.0001; d: 1.00). CONCLUSIONS: This VP-system can lead to physicians' improvement of confidence in providing transcultural clinical care for traumatized refugee patients. Further research is required to investigate improvement in actual performance and cognitive outcomes with several VPs and in a long-term effect perspective.

Training with virtual patients in transcultural psychiatry: do the learners actually learn?

BACKGROUND: The rapid increase in the number of patients with diverse ethnic backgrounds and previous exposure to severe mental trauma dictates the need for improvement in the quality of transcultural psychiatric health care through the development of relevant and effective training tools. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of training with a virtual patient on the learner's knowledge of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, clinical management, and basic communication skills. METHODS: The authors constructed an interactive educational tool based on virtual patient methodology that portrayed a refugee with severe symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression. A total of 32 resident psychiatrists tested the tool and completed a pre-interaction and post-interaction knowledge test, including skills, at the time and several weeks later. RESULTS: All of the participants (N=32) completed the pre-interaction and post-interaction test, and 26 (81%) of them completed the online follow-up test. The mean pre-interaction score was 7.44 (male: 7.08, female: 7.65, no statistical significance). The mean post-interaction score was 8.47, which was significantly higher (P<.001) than the pre-interaction score (mean score 7.44). The mean score for the follow-up test several weeks later was 8.38, higher than the pre-interaction score by 0.69 points but not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that virtual patients can successfully facilitate the acquisition of core knowledge in the field of psychiatry, in addition to developing skills such as clinical reasoning, decision making, and history taking. Repeated training sessions with virtual patients are proposed in order to achieve sustainable educational effects.

Lifestyle course as an investment in perceived improved health among newly arrived women from countries outside Europe.

Family reunification was the most common reason (34%) for resettlement in Sweden in 2013. About one-fifth of the population is foreign-born. This study used mixed methods to evaluate a culturally tailored clinical health-promotion intervention. The intervention was conducted by licensed clinicians and a local coordinator. Sessions were five-weeks long, two hours a week. The quantitative data cover results from 54 participants, mainly Arabic and Somali-speaking, who participated in 10 groups. The participants' perceived health improved significantly over the three measures. They also shared that their health significantly improved according to moderate effect size. The qualitative data, analyzed using revised content analysis, reflected one general theme: "the intervention is an investment in perceived improved health", and four categories: "perceived increased health literacy", "strength, empowerment and security", "finding a new lifestyle", and "the key to entry into Swedish society is language". An intervention focusing on the prevention of ill-health, on health as a human right, and on empowerment, and aimed at female newcomers, has practical implications.