Irish journal of medical science
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Social inclusion is a complex concept, and its relationship to health has been widely debated. Across the European Union, there has been a move towards policies promoting social inclusion. Despite this, there has been a limited analysis of how the concept of social inclusion is operationalised in Irish policy. The aim of this research was to document and map the development of social inclusion policies in the Irish context. The objectives were to identify all the relevant stakeholders and policies and to describe the relevance of social inclusion policy in the domain of health. ⋯ The concept of social inclusion was being operationalised in the Irish policy context. A multitude of stakeholders were involved, reflecting the wide reach of this concept in society. Social inclusion was a particularly important concept in the realm of health, and in the primary care domain in particular.
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Communication difficulties are associated with oppositional symptoms in young people. We hypothesise that a communication group intervention will reduce oppositional symptoms in young people. Previous research on communication and social skills training in young people with externalising disorders is limited. ⋯ Our pilot study data suggest that further research is needed to study the effects of a communication group intervention on oppositional symptoms in a larger number of adolescents.
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It is well documented that medical students struggle to bridge the theory-practice gap. Competently integrating classroom-taught skills into the clinical setting is a challenge. ⋯ The module descriptor devised can be used as a template for further curricular reform. Simulation-based teaching is feasible in the undergraduate setting and may ease the transition to postgraduate teaching modalities.
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Thyroid dysfunction (TD) occurs in 13.4% of diabetic patients, which has prompted recommendations for annual thyroid screening in patients with diabetes. However, recommendations for annual screening should be based on disease incidence rather than prevalence. ⋯ Our data confirms the high prevalence of TD in diabetic patients, in concordance with the results from other series. We found only 25 treatable cases of new thyroid disease from 639 patients in the 8-year follow-up, less than 0.5% per year. The low incidence of treatable thyroid disease challenges the need for annual screening for thyroid abnormalities in patients with type 2 diabetes.
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Prompt carotid endarterectomy for stroke prevention remains an essential component of treatment for symptomatic carotid stenosis. There exist a number of techniques, most commonly, access via a longitudinal arteriotomy for conventional carotid endarterectomy (CCEA), but eversion endarterectomy (ECEA) may also be used. Neither has been definitively proven as superior. We outline the experience in our institution of these two approaches. ⋯ These two carotid endarterectomy techniques are equivalent in terms of outcome, but ECEA can be performed in a significantly shorter operative time and reduces need for shunting.