Journal of general internal medicine
-
Patient hand-offs at physician shift changes have limited ability to convey the primary team's longitudinal insight. The Patient Acuity Rating (PAR) is a previously validated, 7-point scale that quantifies physician judgment of patient stability, where a higher score indicates a greater risk of clinical deterioration. Its impact on cross-covering physician understanding of patients is not known. ⋯ The PAR adds valuable information to sign-outs that could impact cross-cover decision-making and potentially benefit patients. However, correct training in its use may be required to avoid unintended consequences.
-
Despite a high prevalence of distress, few physicians seek help. Earlier identification of physicians in distress has been hampered by the lack of a brief screening instrument to assess the common forms of distress. ⋯ The seven-item PWBI appears to be a useful screening index to identify physicians with distress in a variety of dimensions and whose degree of distress may negatively impact their practice.
-
Depression management can be challenging for primary care (PC) settings. While several evidence-based models exist for depression care, little is known about the relationships between PC practice characteristics, model characteristics, and the practice's choices regarding model adoption. ⋯ Both readiness factors and characteristics of depression care models influence model adoption. Greater model simplicity may make collocation attractive within local quality improvement efforts. Dissemination through regional networks may be effective for more complex models such as TIDES.
-
Typically, chronic disease self-management happens in a family context, and for African American adults living with diabetes, family seems to matter in self-management processes. Many qualitative studies describe family diabetes interactions from the perspective of adults living with diabetes, but we have not heard from family members. ⋯ Diabetes silence, role adjustments, and conflict appear to be important aspects to address in family-centered diabetes self-management interventions. Contextual data gathered through formative research can inform such family-centered intervention development.
-
Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PC-MHI) may improve mental health services access and continuity of care. ⋯ Receipt of same-day PC-MHI may facilitate timely receipt of depression treatment.