Group therapy program development: clinician-administrator collaboration in new practice settings.

Despite being practiced widely and applied to many conditions, group therapy is underutilized in some segments of the market. One important reason for its underuse is the lack of a model for group program development. Program development requires an integrated effort involving many disciplines. Effective collaboration between clinicians and administrators is an essential but underappreciated component in the development of group programs in independent practice associations.

Interdisciplinary pilot project in a rehabilitation setting.

This project qualitatively evaluated the planning, implementation, and outcome of an interdisciplinary model of clinical education. Expectations of physiotherapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), and speech-language pathology (SLP) students and clinicians were assessed to determine whether the model allowed for the acquisition of the interdisciplinary knowledge and skills needed for current practice. Students from OT (n = 5), PT (n = 3), and SLP (n = 1) undertook normally scheduled five-to-eight-week clinical placements, beginning on the same start date. All students were at intermediate or senior levels in their programs. Discipline-specific activities were supervised by clinical instructors from the disciplines. Interdisciplinary sessions during the first five weeks covered cross-disciplinary activities related to clinical reasoning, interviewing techniques, professionalism, and communication skills for team reporting. Themes related to the clinical experience were derived from student and supervisor responses to pre-and post-placement questionnaires, post-placement focus group interviews, and student journals. The response to the model was positive. The students felt they had gained insights into developing interdisciplinary skills, although they did feel that some discipline-specific needs were not met. The instructors were less enthusiastic but, given better planning and communication before the placement, welcomed the opportunity to try it again.

CNS Sjögren's syndrome: an underrecognized and underappreciated neuropsychiatric disorder.

Sjögren's syndrome is a common medical condition that may produce psychiatric symptoms. Untreated deficits can become permanent, sometimes resulting in death. The hypothesized mechanism involves CNS vasculitis. Psychoactive medications treat psychiatric symptoms but leave the underlying medical process unaffected. Laboratory tests to diagnose Sjögren's syndrome and specific treatments for this condition are improving.

Effect of different TENS stimulus parameters on ulnar motor nerve conduction velocity.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of different TENS stimulus characteristics on ulnar motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) in the forearm and on forearm and ring finger skin temperatures. Thirty-one healthy women consented to receive conventional, acupuncture-like and placebo TENS: one treatment being randomly administered on each of 3 separate days within 1 week. No significant difference in MNCV (m/s) was observed between the three treatments at any of the six times of measurement (P > 0.05). Post-treatment MNCVs were, however, significantly slower than pretreatment velocities (time main effect; P < 0.01), although the differences were only about 3% in magnitude. No significant differences in finger or in forearm skin temperature were observed between the three treatments at any of the six times of measurement (P > 0.05). However, forearm skin temperatures were significantly higher than were ring finger skin temperatures, and only finger temperature changed over time (site x time interaction; P < 0.01). The small changes in MNCV and finger skin temperature were attributed to subject inactivity during testing. Acupuncture-like and conventional TENS do not have different or unique effects on motor nerve conduction velocity when applied at clinical levels of stimulus intensity.