Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care
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There has been extensive research on the use of acupuncture in adults with a wide array of conditions. Much less research has been conducted on the use of acupuncture in children. In this article, we review the history and philosophy of acupuncture, and the literature on its effectiveness and safety in children and adolescents, giving special attention to the pediatric and adolescent conditions that have been most studied in high-quality randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
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Curr Probl Pediatr Adolesc Health Care · Jan 2016
ReviewConsequences of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Children.
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) has various negative health and behavioral consequences in the pediatric population. As shown in adults, there are metabolic derangements such as obesity, insulin sensitivity, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome, as well as cardiovascular derangements like hypertension, chronic inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, ventricular size/function abnormalities, and even elevated pulmonary arterial pressures, that can be seen in children with OSAS. The first two sections will discuss the metabolic and cardiovascular consequences on OSAS in children. The last section summarizes selected studies and reviews on the behavioral, neurocognitive and academic consequences of OSAS in children.
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Curr Probl Pediatr Adolesc Health Care · Dec 2015
ReviewSafety-I, Safety-II and Resilience Engineering.
In the quest to continually improve the health care delivered to patients, it is important to understand "what went wrong," also known as Safety-I, when there are undesired outcomes, but it is also important to understand, and optimize "what went right," also known as Safety-II. The difference between Safety-I and Safety-II are philosophical as well as pragmatic. Improving health care delivery involves understanding that health care delivery is a complex adaptive system; components of that system impact, and are impacted by, the actions of other components of the system. ⋯ These qualities can, respectively, detract from or contribute to the emergence of organizational resilience. Resilience is characterized by the ability to monitor, react, anticipate, and learn. Finally, this article celebrates the importance of humans, who make use of system capabilities and proactively mitigate the effects of system limitations to contribute to successful outcomes.
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Curr Probl Pediatr Adolesc Health Care · Dec 2015
ReviewLeveraging Social Science-Healthcare Collaborations to Improve Teamwork and Patient Safety.
Effective teamwork is critical to the provision of safe, effective healthcare. High functioning teams adapt to rapidly changing patient and environmental factors, preventing diagnostic and treatment errors. While the emphasis on teamwork and patient safety is relatively new, significant team-related foundational and implementation research exists in disciplines outside of healthcare. ⋯ This article highlights guiding team science principles from the organizational psychology literature that can be applied to the study of teams in healthcare. The authors' goal is to provide some common language and understanding around teams and teamwork. Additionally, they hope to impart an appreciation for the potential synergy present within clinician-social scientist collaborations.