Guidelines for Creating, Implementing, and Evaluating Mind-Body Programs in a Military Healthcare Setting.

Research suggests that the development of mind-body skills can improve individual and family resilience, particularly related to the stresses of illness, trauma, and caregiving. To operationalize the research evidence that mind-body skills help with health and recovery, Samueli Institute, in partnership with experts in mind-body programming, created a set of guidelines for developing and evaluating mind-body programs for service members, veterans, and their families. The Guidelines for Creating, Implementing, and Evaluating Mind-Body Programs in a Military Healthcare Setting outline key strategies and issues to consider when developing, implementing, and evaluating a mind-body focused family empowerment approach in a military healthcare setting. Although these guidelines were developed specifically for a military setting, most of the same principles can be applied to the development of programs in the civilian setting as well. The guidelines particularly address issues unique to mind-body programs, such as choosing evidence-based modalities, licensure and credentialing, safety and contraindications, and choosing evaluation measures that capture the holistic nature of these types of programs. The guidelines are practical, practice-based guidelines, developed by experts in the fields of program development and evaluation, mind-body therapies, patient- and family-centered care, as well as, experts in military and veteran's health systems. They provide a flexible framework to create mind-body family empowerment programs and describe important issues that program developers and evaluators are encouraged to address to ensure the development of the most impactful, successful, evidence-supported programs possible.

Patient- and family-centered perinatal care: partnerships with childbearing women and families.

Providing patient- and family-centered care is not a simple endeavor. It requires a transformation in organizational culture that is reflected in a myriad of details at the departmental, clinical, and individual provider and patient levels. Patient- and family-centered practitioners know that it is not a recipe or formula of specific practices, but an evolving approach that guides policy and program development, facility design, decision making, and daily interactions throughout the healthcare system. Today, momentum for patient- and family-centered care continues to build. It is supported by a growing body of research and by prestigious organizations that are committed to involve patients and families in care and in the redesign of healthcare for the 21st century to meet the recommendations of the IOM report. This article outlines the concepts of patient- and family-centered care and describes how they link with and differ from traditional concepts of family-centered maternity care. Partnerships with childbearing women and their families in clinical settings and in healthcare redesign that enhance quality, safety, and experience of care are described.

Assessment of blood serum immunoglobulin and C-reactive protein concentrations in workers of x-ray diagnostics units.

OBJECTIVES: Workers of x-ray departments are occupationally exposed to long-term low levels of ionizing radiation. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of occupational exposure of low-level x-ray radiation on immunoglobulin and C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations in radiology workers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the study group of 41 x-ray department workers and the control group composed of 32 persons, immunoglobulins (IgM, IgG, IgA) and CRP concentrations were analyzed. The study group was subdivided by gender and smoking habit. RESULTS: A significant decrease in IgG level was found in the workers and the female subgroup. The same observation was made when smokers and nonsmokers of both groups were compared. Smoking workers showed lower concentrations of IgA than non-smokers. The remaining results of immunoglobulin and CRP concentrations did not show significant differences. CONCLUSIONS: Occupational exposure to low levels of ionizing radiation is associated with suppressive influence on the immunoglobulin production, especially IgG. In addition, smoking decreases the production of IgA in radiology workers.