The Effects of Yoga Participation on Women's Quality of Life and Symptom Management During the Menopausal Transition: A Pilot Study.

Typically lasting 5-10 years, the menopausal transition is associated with symptoms including hot flashes, night sweats, and labile mood. As these symptoms often hinder a woman's successful functioning in everyday life, hormone therapy is commonly prescribed as a means to diminish symptoms. Many women, however, are seeking complementary and alternative treatments due to side effects and/or detrimental health-risks associated with conventional therapies. We completed a mixed methods study to determine changes in physiological symptoms associated with menopause and changes in women's quality of life, as a result of participation in a 10-week yoga intervention.

Exploring mHealth as a new route to bridging the nursing theory-practice gap.

The purpose of this article is to evaluate mHealth as a tool for research and development of nursing theories. Mobile health (mHealth) is one of the most promising new advances in health care technology. mHealth is defined as the use of mobile technology in the provision of health care delivery or health promotion (Qiang, Yamamichi, Hausman, & Altman, 2011). The need for innovative and effective interventions for the prevention and management of chronic illness is evident. The use of mHealth interventions in the treatment and monitoring of chronic illness is still young but shows great promise. Currently, the public health and psychological sciences are using their theories to guide interventional studies by operationalizing concepts through mHealth's multifaceted capabilities for patient interaction. Outcomes measures from chronic illness-mHealth studies are thematically evaluated by using theoretical nursing outcome-related concepts of Meleis's transitions theory and Mishel's uncertainty in illness theory. Despite a small sample of articles, there are strong themes of activation and engagement within this literature review. The application of nursing theory in mHealth offers a new method to operationalize theoretical concepts, test theory-based interventions, and gain new contextual insight into the health-illness patient experience.

A holistic programmatic approach to natural hormone replacement.

With an unprecedented number of women reaching midlife, the impact of menopause has become a significant public health issue. Recent findings have left women and practitioners questioning traditional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and searching for reasonable alternatives. Growing numbers of women in this country are choosing to use natural progesterone and estrogen to treat symptoms of menopause. This article describes a program that focuses on education, client participation, and alternative methodology to support individualized HRT therapy using natural compounded bio-identical hormones.