Selfcare Strategies Shown to Be Useful in Daily Life for Adults Diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - A Systematic Review.

Adults with ADHD experience a wide range of difficulties in daily life, and RNs and other healthcare professionals need to know how to support them. The aim was to conduct a systematic review of which selfcare strategies adults with ADHD use and need in order to manage daily life. A literature review based on the PRISMA model was performed, and seven articles with a qualitative design were found. Data were analyzed with thematic analysis. The analysis generated one major theme Enabling ways to manage the consequences of disability in daily life based on three subthemes; Establishing ways of acting to help yourself, Finding encouraging and helping relationships, and Using external aids for managing daily life. Professionals may benefit from knowing about these selfcare strategies when meeting people with ADHD.

Predictors of problems reported on the EQ-5D-3L dimensions among people with impaired vision in northern Portugal.

BACKGROUND: The EQ-5D index often fails to detect the effect of ophthalmic diseases and sight loss. Investigating predictors of individual EQ-5D health dimensions might reveal the underlying reasons. The aim of this study was to investigate predictors of health dimension ratings obtained with the EQ-5D-3L from participants with impaired vision representing a spectrum of eye diseases. METHODS: Observational cross-sectional study with participants recruited at four public hospitals in Portugal. Outpatients with visual acuity of 0.30 logMAR(6/12) or worse in the better-seeing eye were invited to participate. Participants completed two instruments: the EQ-5D-3L (measures participants' perceived health-related quality-of-life) and the Massof Activity Inventory (measures visual ability-ability to perform vision-related activities). This study used logistic regression models to identify factors associated with responses to the EQ-5D-3L. RESULTS: The study included 492 participants, mean age 63.4 years (range = 18-93), 50% females. The most common diagnosis was diabetic retinopathy (37%). The mean visual acuity in the better seeing eye was 0.65 logMAR (SD = 0.48) and the mean visual ability was 0.62 logits (SD = 2.04), the correlation between the two was r = - 0.511 (p < 0.001). Mobility and self-care were the health dimensions with the fewest problems (1% reported extreme problems), anxiety and depression the dimension with the most problems (24% reported extreme problems). ROC curve analysis showed that the EQ-5D index was a poor predictor of cases of vision impairment whilst visual ability given was a good predictor of cases of vision impairment. Visual ability was an independent predictor of the response for all dimensions, higher ability was always associated with a reduced odds of reporting problems. The odds of reporting problems were increased for females in 3 out of 5 dimensions. Comorbidities, visual acuity and age-category were predictors of the odds of reporting problems for one dimension each. CONCLUSIONS: The odds of reporting problems for the five health dimensions of the EQ-5D-3L were strongly influenced by the ability to perform vision-related activities (visual ability). The EQ-5D index showed poor performance at detecting vision impairment. These findings are informative and relevant for the clinic and for research evaluating the impact of eye diseases and disease treatments in ophthalmology.

Immigrant women's food choices in pregnancy: perspectives from women of Chinese origin in Canada.

OBJECTIVE: Following migration, pregnant immigrant women may encounter social, cultural, and economic challenges that negatively affect their food choices and subsequent health outcomes. Culturally appropriate health care is crucial during the perinatal period to ensure the health of immigrant mothers and their children. This project aims to explore and understand how the health beliefs and practices of Chinese immigrant women affect their food choices during the perinatal period. DESIGN: This qualitative study used the methodology of focused ethnography. Women participated in one semi-structured interview, followed by a second photo-assisted, semi-structured interview which incorporated photographs taken by the women themselves. RESULTS: The food choices and health behaviors of immigrant women were influenced by their general health beliefs, cultural knowledge concerning particular types of foods, traditional Chinese medical beliefs, social advice and information, and socio-economic factors. CONCLUSION: The provision of culturally appropriate health care is crucial during the perinatal period, as it is not only a vulnerable life stage for women and their children but also a sensitive period of interaction with the Canadian health-care system. Understanding these intersecting factors can help to ensure culturally appropriate care and optimized health outcomes for Chinese immigrant women during the perinatal period.

An ethnographic investigation of the maternity healthcare experience of immigrants in rural and urban Alberta, Canada.

BACKGROUND: Canada is among the top immigrant-receiving nations in the world. Immigrant populations may face structural and individual barriers in the access to and navigation of healthcare services in a new country. The aims of the study were to (1) generate new understanding of the processes that perpetuate immigrant disadvantages in maternity healthcare, and (2) devise potential interventions that might improve maternity experiences and outcomes for immigrant women in Canada. METHODS: The study utilized a qualitative research approach that focused on ethnographic research design and data analysis contextualized within theories of organizational behaviour and critical realism. Data were collected over 2.5 years using focus groups and in-depth semistructured interviews with immigrant women (n = 34), healthcare providers (n = 29), and social service providers (n = 23) in a Canadian province. Purposive samples of each subgroup were generated, and recruitment and data collection - including interpretation and verification of translations - were facilitated through the hiring of community researchers and collaborations with key informants. RESULTS: The findings indicate that (a) communication difficulties, (b) lack of information, (c) lack of social support (isolation), (d) cultural beliefs, e) inadequate healthcare services, and (f) cost of medicine/services represent potential barriers to the access to and navigation of maternity services by immigrant women in Canada. Having successfully accessed and navigated services, immigrant women often face additional challenges that influence their level of satisfaction and quality of care, such as lack of understanding of the informed consent process, lack of regard by professionals for confidential patient information, short consultation times, short hospital stays, perceived discrimination/stereotyping, and culture shock. CONCLUSIONS: Although health service organizations and policies strive for universality and equality in service provision, personal and organizational barriers can limit care access, adequacy, and acceptability for immigrant women. A holistic healthcare approach must include health informational packages available in different languages/media. Health care professionals who care for diverse populations must be provided with training in cultural competence, and monitoring and evaluation programs to ameliorate personal and systemic discrimination.

Swedish version of measuring cultural awareness in nursing students: validity and reliability test.

BACKGROUND: Nearly 20 % of the Swedish population is foreign-born. Increased exposure of patients from diverse cultures means there is an urgent need to address their unique requirements and provide optimal health care to a diverse population. Nursing schools thus have an important goal of educating nurses to ensure they are culturally competent. Culturally competent care improves safety and equity for patients. To measure cultural awareness among nursing students in Sweden, the aim of this study was to translate, adapt and test the validity and reliability of the Swedish version of a cultural awareness scale which has not previously been tested. METHODS: A total of 158 nursing students from three universities in Sweden completed the 36-item questionnaire on cultural awareness. Verification of face and content validity and a translation/reverse translation process were first carried out. RESULTS: The results indicate that one item (no 13) caused weak reliability and validity, and therefore it was removed. The reliability test result (with 35 items) showed Cronbach's Alpha ranged from 0.60 to 0.87. The Model ChiSq group fit for five factors was 50.44 (31.27-77.06; Df = 5; p < 0.001), and the RMSEA was 0.24 (C.I 95 % = 0.18-0.30). CONCLUSION: The findings of the validity and reliability tests revealed that the CAS-scale for the 35 items is valid and reliable for use with Swedish nursing students. However, the CAS should be further tested in larger and more diverse samples of nursing students before being used in different socio-cultural settings.

Canadian adolescents' perspectives of cancer risk: a qualitative study.

Research examining adolescents' understandings of cancer and cancer risk is limited. Accordingly, we conducted an ethnographic study that sought to extend our limited understanding of Canadian adolescents' perspectives of cancer and cancer prevention including how adolescents conceptualize and understand cancer risk. This article addresses findings specific to adolescents' perspectives of cancer risk. Seventy-five adolescents (11-19 years old) took part in the study. Two individual open-ended interviews were planned for each adolescent with the second interview occurring 4 to 5 weeks after the first interview. The second interview was complemented by the use of photovoice. Four focus groups, composed of the adolescents who took part in the individual interviews, were also conducted. Data analysis involved both thematic and content analysis. Findings revealed that adolescents conceptualized cancer risk in terms of specific risk factors, with lifestyle factors (e.g., smoking, diet/nutrition and physical inactivity) dominating their discourse. Adolescents rationalized risky health behaviours through use of cognitive strategies that included questioning and evaluating risk information, considering the benefits costs of the cancer risk, and downplaying the impact of the cancer risk. Use of these cognitive strategies helped to make cancer risks more acceptable to adolescents. While adolescents felt that cancer could not always be prevented, they did feel it was possible for individuals to delay getting cancer by lowering the impact of cancer risks through making the right choices. Although more research in this area is needed, the findings from this study may help inform cancer prevention and risk communication programmes and policies.

"I have to do what I believe": Sudanese women's beliefs and resistance to hegemonic practices at home and during experiences of maternity care in Canada.

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that immigrant women having different ethnocultural backgrounds than those dominant in the host country have difficulty during their access to and reception of maternity care services, but little knowledge exists on how factors such as ethnic group and cultural beliefs intersect and influence health care access and outcomes. Amongst immigrant populations in Canada, refugee women are one of the most vulnerable groups and pregnant women with immediate needs for health care services may be at higher risk of health problems. This paper describes findings from the qualitative dimension of a mixed-methodological study. METHODS: A focused ethnographic approach was conducted in 2010 with Sudanese women living in an urban Canadian city. Focus group interviews were conducted to map out the experiences of these women in maternity care, particularly with respect to the challenges faced when attempting to use health care services. RESULTS: Twelve women (mean age 36.6 yrs) having experience using maternity services in Canada within the past two years participated. The findings revealed that there are many beliefs that impact upon behaviours and perceptions during the perinatal period. Traditionally, the women mostly avoid anything that they believe could harm themselves or their babies. Pregnancy and delivery were strongly believed to be natural events without need for special attention or intervention. Furthermore, the sub-Saharan culture supports the dominance of the family by males and the ideology of patriarchy. Pregnancy and birth are events reflecting a certain empowerment for women, and the women tend to exert control in ways that may or may not be respected by their husbands. Individual choices are often made to foster self and outward-perceptions of managing one's affairs with strength. CONCLUSION: In today's multicultural society there is a strong need to avert misunderstandings, and perhaps harm, through facilitating cultural awareness and competency of care rather than misinterpretations of resistance to care.

Constructing a questionnaire for assessment of awareness and acceptance of diversity in healthcare institutions.

BACKGROUND: To develop a healthcare environment that is congruent with diversity among care providers and care recipients and to eliminate ethnic discrimination, it's important to map out and assess caregivers' awareness and acceptance of diversity. Because of a lack of standardized questionnaires in the Swedish context, this study designed and standardized a questionnaire: the Assessment of Awareness and Acceptance of Diversity in Healthcare Institutions (AAAD, for short). METHOD: The questionnaire was developed in four phases: a comprehensive literature review, face and content validity, construct validity by factor analysis, and a reliability test by internal consistency and stability assessments. RESULTS: Results of different validity and reliability analyses suggest high face, content, and construct validity as well as good reliability in internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.68 to 0.8) and stability (test-retest: Spearman rank correlation coefficient: 0.60 to 0.76). The result of the factor analysis identified six dimensions in the questionnaire: 1) Attitude toward discrimination, 2) Interaction between staff, 3) Stereotypic attitude toward working with a person with a Swedish background, 4) Attitude toward working with a patient with a different background, 5) Attitude toward communication with persons with different backgrounds, 6) Attitude toward interaction between patients and staff. CONCLUSION: This study introduces a newly developed questionnaire with good reliability and validity values that can assess healthcare workers' awareness and acceptance of diversity in the healthcare environment and healthcare delivery.

Different pain variables could independently predict anxiety and depression in subjects with chronic musculoskeletal pain.

OBJECTIVES: Chronic, clinical pain states are often accompanied by distress such as anxiety and depression. The aim of this study was to determine if certain clinical pain variables could predict the level of anxiety and depression in subjects with musculoskeletal pain. METHODS: Two multiple linear regression analyses were conducted on a sample consisting of 189 subjects with clinical pain with the independent pain variables of pain intensity, the influence of pain on daily activities, pain persistence, pain duration, and the number of pain locations. The dependent variables measured anxiety and depression, respectively. RESULT: Two statistically significant models were found, where the predicted variables accounted for 37.0% of the variability in the anxiety levels and 43.7% of the variability in the depression levels. The independent variable, the influence of pain on daily activities, significantly predicted the level of anxiety. The variables, the influence of pain on daily activities and the number of pain locations, significantly predicted the levels of anxiety and depression. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that two different independent variables, the influence of pain on daily activities and the number of pain locations, significantly predicted the levels of depression. The predictor, the influence of pain on daily activities, significantly predicted the levels of anxiety. The knowledge gained about which specific pain variables are more likely to coexist with anxiety and depression in clinical pain states could be important in implementing holistic treatment plans for chronic pain.

Measuring social alienation in adolescence: translation and validation of the Jessor and Jessor Social Alienation Scale.

The objective of the study is to translate and examine the reliability and validity of the Jessor and Jessor Social Alienation Scale for use in a Swedish context. The study involved four phases of testing: (1) Translation and back-translation; (2) a pilot test to evaluate the translation; (3) reliability testing; and (4) a validity test. Main participants of this study were 446 students (Age = 15-19, SD = 1.01, Mean = 17). Results from the reliability test showed high internal consistency and stability. Face, content and construct validity were demonstrated using experts and confirmatory factor analysis. The results of testing the Swedish version of the alienation scale revealed an acceptable level of reliability and validity, and is appropriate for use in the Swedish context.

"Cultural awareness requires more than theoretical education" - Nursing students' experiences.

Cultural awareness in healthcare providers is considered one of the most important factors in improving the efficiency and quality of care in a diverse population. Thus, education in cultural awareness needs to be an essential component in nursing education. This study, which uses a qualitative design, aimed to investigate cultural awareness in nursing students in Sweden. Focus groups were used to collect data from 12 students. Three categories were identified as follows after qualitative data analysis of the interviews: 1) desire to learn, 2) learning by doing and 3) caring beyond boundaries. The result clearly indicates that students are willing to learn more about how to care for people with different cultural backgrounds. However, this learning is not always available in official lecture-based education. In fact, most awareness about cultural aspects of healthcare is developed from practice and informal education. Finally, the result also revealed the importance of nurses being able to see the individual beyond the culture, and being aware of their own prejudice. In conclusion, education offers limited opportunities for nursing students to become culturally aware. Nursing education can be improved by strengthening both theoretical and practical tasks involving cultural awareness.

An ethnographic study of communication challenges in maternity care for immigrant women in rural Alberta.

BACKGROUND: many immigrant and ethno-cultural groups in Canada face substantial barriers to accessing health care including language barriers. The negative consequences of miscommunication in health care settings are well documented although there has been little research on communication barriers facing immigrant women seeking maternity care in Canada. This study identified the nature of communication difficulties in maternity services from the perspectives of immigrant women, health care providers and social service providers in a small city in southern Alberta, Canada. METHODS: a focused ethnography was undertaken incorporating interviews with 31 participants recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. A community liaison and several gatekeepers within the community assisted with recruitment and interpretation where needed (n=1). All interviews were recorded and audio files were transcribed verbatim by a professional transcriptionist. The data was analysed drawing upon principles expounded by Roper and Shapira (2000) for the analysis of ethnographic data, because of (1) the relevance to ethnographic data, (2) the clarity and transparency of the approach, (3) the systematic approach to analysis, and (4) the compatibility of the approach with computer-assisted qualitative analysis software programs such as Atlas.ti (ATLAS.ti Scientific Software Development GmbH, Germany). This process included (1) coding for descriptive labels, (2) sorting for patterns, (3) identification of outliers, (4) generation of themes, (5) generalising to generate constructs and theories, and (6) memoing including researcher reflections. FINDINGS: four main themes were identified including verbal communication, unshared meaning, non-verbal communication to build relationships, and trauma, culture and open communication. Communication difficulties extended beyond matters of language competency to those encompassing non-verbal communication and its relation to shared meaning as well as the interplay of underlying pre-migration history and cultural factors which affect open communication, accessible health care and perhaps also maternal outcomes. CONCLUSION: this study provided insights regarding maternity health care communication. Communication challenges may be experienced by all parties, yet the onus remains for health care providers and for those within health care management and professional bodies to ensure that providers are equipped with the skills necessary to facilitate culturally appropriate care.