Work : a journal of prevention, assessment, and rehabilitation
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Identify barriers and facilitators related to the use of low-back pain guidelines as perceived by occupational therapists (OTs). ⋯ Participating OTs raised few barriers related to them. Barriers were mostly related to client expectations, work organization and peers. It appears the guidelines would be easily implemented by OTs, but environmental elements could limit this.
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Case Reports
U.S. Army combat operational stress control throughout the deployment cycle: a case study.
As military conflicts around the world persist, a comprehensive approach in managing behavioral health issues will continue to be a key component of military healthcare. Deployed military personnel frequently exposed to trauma are well-known to be at high risk for developing behavioral health disorders, including combat stress reactions and posttraumatic stress disorder. In the U. ⋯ Army, members of combat operational stress control (COSC) units have unique skills to assist soldiers and their families not only throughout all phases of a deployment, but also throughout a soldier's entire career. The purposes of this article are twofold, first to describe the role of COSC operations with an emphasis on interventions in a deployed environment. The second purpose is to present a case study from Operation Iraqi Freedom highlighting the efficacy of the COSC approach to meet a Soldier's behavioral health needs in a deployed environment.
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We describe medical care received through workers' compensation (WC) and union-provided insurance surrounding work-related back injuries and examine relationships between care provided and time off work among a large cohort of carpenters. ⋯ Examination of medical care through both systems versus solely in workers' compensation provides a more complete understanding of back injury care while also demonstrating complexity. Differences in outcomes based upon treatment shortly after injury are worthy of further exploration.
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Family support in end-of-life decision-making is critical, yet this issue receives little attention. The purpose of this research is to provide insight into how the clinical ethicist can effectively support family caregivers when making end-of-life healthcare decisions. It further suggests how the clinical ethicist can provide support to other healthcare professionals who work with family caregivers in making end-of-life healthcare decisions. ⋯ The results demonstrated the challenges that family members encounter when faced with end-of-life decision-making. The participants identified the importance of having access to a clinical ethicist who, with objectivity and specific training, can better meet the needs of family caregivers and improve the process of decision-making at the end-of-life.
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Performing Arts Medicine (PAM) specializes in providing healthcare to performing artists. Participation in the performing arts can cause injury and impair performing artists' art and livelihood. While healthcare is often available for professionals, university-level students remain underserved. Therefore, our objective was to describe the successful development and implementation of the George Mason University university-level PAM program as a possible template for other institutions. ⋯ The PAM program offers primary injury prevention by implementing performing artists specific interventions and secondary prevention to improve their health outcomes. Overall, we hope the program's success encourages other institutions to provide in-house healthcare to their students, eventually helping improve healthcare status of all university-level performing artists.