Institutions should take responsibility for student suicides.

I was greatly saddened to hear the news of a young resident, Dr Payal Tadvi, committing suicide at the BYL Nair Hospital and Topiwala Medical College in Mumbai. However, it is heartening to see that some fellow students, her family and the Tadvi Bhil community have made this issue public and are rallying for justice for her. Meanwhile, the three seniors that she has named have been arrested and, a faculty member suspended.

Disrespect and abuse of women during the process of childbirth in the 2015 Pelotas birth cohort.

BACKGROUND: The disrespect and abuse of women during the process of childbirth is an emergent and global problem and only few studies have investigated this worrying issue. The objective of the present study was to describe the prevalence of disrespect and abuse of women during childbirth in Pelotas City, Brazil, and to investigate the factors involved. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional population-based study of women delivering members of the 2015 Pelotas birth cohort. Information relating to disrespect and abuse during childbirth was obtained by household interview 3 months after delivery. The information related to verbal and physical abuse, denial of care and invasive and/or inappropriate procedures. Poisson regression was used to evaluate the factors associated with one or more, and two or more, types of disrespectful treatment or abuse. RESULTS: A total of 4275 women took part in a perinatal study. During the three-month follow-up, we interviewed 4087 biological mothers with regards to disrespect and abuse. Approximately 10% of women reported having experienced verbal abuse, 6% denial of care, 6% undesirable or inappropriate procedures and 5% physical abuse. At least one type of disrespect or abuse was reported by 18.3% of mothers (95% confidence interval [CI]: 17.2-19.5); and at least two types by 5.1% (95% CI: 4.4-5.8). Women relying on the public health sector, and those whose childbirths were via cesarean section with previous labor, had the highest risk, with approximately a three- and two-fold increase in risk, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that the occurrence of disrespect and abuse during childbirth was high and mostly associated with payment by the public sector and labor before delivery. The efforts made by civil society, governments and international organizations are not sufficient to restrain institutional violence against women during childbirth. To eradicate this problem, it is essential to 1) implement policies and actions specific for this type of violence and 2) formulate laws to promote the equality of rights between women and men, with particular emphasis on the economic rights of women and the promotion of gender equality in terms of access to jobs and education.

Survey of practices and policies relating to the use of complementary and alternative medicines and therapies in New South Wales cancer services.

AIMS: To examine policies and practices relating to the provision, prescription and monitoring of complementary and alternative medicine and therapies (CAM) in conventional cancer services in NSW. METHODS: Self-administered questionnaire sent to directors of all 65 eligible cancer services in NSW in 2009. RESULTS: Forty-three services responded to the survey (response rate 66%). Only six (14%) services reported having formal policies about CAM. Most (n = 33, 77%) expected that patients would be asked about CAM use during their initial assessment. Eight services (19%) provided and/or prescribed CAM for patients, and most of these (n = 7) recorded details of CAM use in patients' records. Only four (9%) services permitted CAM practitioners from the community to attend inpatients, whereas 24 (56%) permitted inpatients to bring in their own CAM. Most of these services (n = 17) required medical approval for the use of CAM. Of the latter, most (n = 13) recorded the use of approved CAM, but only seven recorded use of unapproved CAM and only three refused permission to continue use of unapproved CAM. CONCLUSION: Most cancer services in NSW recognise potential CAM use by patients and expect medical staff to ask patients about their use of CAM. While few cancer services provided or prescribed CAM, over half permitted inpatients to bring their own CAM into hospital. There was little control over the use of CAM, however, and monitoring was lax. Given the wide usage of CAM by patients with cancer, this lack of control may compromise clinical outcomes, with potentially dangerous consequences.

[Promoting "well-treatment" in medical imaging]. / Promotion de la bientraitance en imagerie médicale.

A project to promote "well-treatment" has been initiated in the medical imaging department of a Parisian hospital. With the aim of promoting the well-being of the patient and developing shared values of empathy and respect, the members of this medico-technical team have undertaken to build a culture of "well-treatment" which respects the patient's dignity and rights.

Utopian visions/dystopian realities: exploring practice and taking action to enable human rights and occupational justice in a hospital context.

AIM: This article reports some preliminary findings of an Australian action research project that aimed to investigate, and affect, occupational therapists' understanding of human rights theory and occupational justice philosophy in everyday occupational therapy practice. METHOD: Over the course of one year, nine therapists from a range of practice areas in a major metropolitan hospital participated in monthly discussion groups. Narrative data was collected through audio-recording and transcribing the discussions. Data was qualitatively analysed using line-by-line coding and theme-building. RESULTS: Two preliminary themes are discussed herein: the invisibility of human rights issues in an Australian occupational therapy setting and the dissonance between the ideal and the reality of human rights practice in occupational therapy. CONCLUSION: The authors suggest that through discussion, and with the support of a community of practice dedicated to exploring human rights and occupational justice issues, occupational therapists can increase their awareness of human rights challenges. And, therapists can increase their actions to better enable occupational justice in their practice.

[Setting up of a community/hospital network providing care for patients and their families]. / Mise en place d'une structure ville/hôpital de prise en charge des patients et de leurs familles.

With the ageing of the population, dementia has become a public healthcare priority. A network designed to help the families of patients suffering from dementia on a medical as well as a social and psychological level has been set up. This structure has been developed in close coordination with community practitioners and physicians and in line with the latest recommendations in particular with regard to ethics. Its first three years of existence confirm the importance of this type of approach which complements the care provided by hospitals.

SARS and hospital priority setting: a qualitative case study and evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Priority setting is one of the most difficult issues facing hospitals because of funding restrictions and changing patient need. A deadly communicable disease outbreak, such as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Toronto in 2003, amplifies the difficulties of hospital priority setting. The purpose of this study is to describe and evaluate priority setting in a hospital in response to SARS using the ethical framework 'accountability for reasonableness'. METHODS: This study was conducted at a large tertiary hospital in Toronto, Canada. There were two data sources: 1) over 200 key documents (e.g. emails, bulletins), and 2) 35 interviews with key informants. Analysis used a modified thematic technique in three phases: open coding, axial coding, and evaluation. RESULTS: Participants described the types of priority setting decisions, the decision making process and the reasoning used. Although the hospital leadership made an effort to meet the conditions of 'accountability for reasonableness', they acknowledged that the decision making was not ideal. We described good practices and opportunities for improvement. CONCLUSIONS: 'Accountability for reasonableness' is a framework that can be used to guide fair priority setting in health care organizations, such as hospitals. In the midst of a crisis such as SARS where guidance is incomplete, consequences uncertain, and information constantly changing, where hour-by-hour decisions involve life and death, fairness is more important rather than less.