Journal of evaluation in clinical practice
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When implementing new interventions into clinical practice, it is of great importance to investigate the implementation process to better understand factors promoting and impeding the implementation to stimulate engagement and sustainability of the intervention. It is essential to consider perspectives both from the health professionals delivering the intervention and those receiving the intervention to be open to their suggestions for enhancing the dissemination and implementation of the intervention. The aim of the study was to evaluate adoption, acceptability and appropriateness of a person-centred group intervention (PCGI) from the perspectives of facilitators and participants with mental illness in mental health outpatient services right after delivery. ⋯ Facilitators and participants found the form and structure of the PCGI useful and meaningful. Some participants dropped out as they did not feel comfortable in a group setting. The components in the sessions, questions on cards and reflection sheets together with peer-to-peer interactions provided a safe environment. However, facilitation from facilitators requires appropriate skills and qualifications, which must be provided by the hospital together with supervision and the possibility for peer feedback and exchange of experiences.
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Body image undergoes significant changes during pregnancy, marking a pivotal phase in a woman's life. ⋯ It was determined that pregnant women experience physical and psychological changes related to body image during pregnancy.
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Review
Beyond empathy training for practitioners: Cultivating empathic healthcare systems and leadership.
Empathic care benefits patients and practitioners, and empathy training for practitioners can enhance empathy. However, practitioners do not operate in a vacuum. For empathy to thrive, healthcare consultations must be situated in a nurturing milieu, guided by empathic, compassionate leaders. ⋯ Efforts to enhance empathy must therefore go beyond training practitioners to address system-level factors that foster empathy. These include patient education, cultivating empathic leadership, customer service training for reception staff, valuing cleaning and all ancillary staff, creating healing spaces, and using appropriate, efficiency saving technology to reduce the administrative burden on healthcare practitioners. We divide these elements into environmental factors, organisational factors, job factors, and individual characteristics.
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Review Historical Article
Herd immunity to endemic diseases: Historical concepts and implications for public health policy.
"Herd immunity" became a contested term during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the term "herd immunity" is often used to refer to thresholds at which some diseases can be eliminated (e.g., due to mass vaccination), the term has multiple referents. Different concepts of herd immunity have been relevant throughout the history of immunology and infectious disease epidemiology. For some diseases, herd immunity plays a role in the development of an endemic equilibrium, rather than elimination via threshold effects. ⋯ Informed by the history of infectious disease epidemiology, we argue that understanding the concept in this way will help us manage both SARS-CoV-2 and hundreds of other seasonal respiratory pathogens with which we live but which have been disrupted due to sustained public health measures/non-pharmaceutical interventions targeting SARS-CoV-2.
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Masks have been widely used as a preventative tool during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the use of masks by children has been controversial, with international guidelines recommending a risk-based approach to national policymakers. ⋯ Children's experiences of mask-wearing were varied and context-dependent, with several mask-design challenges raised. Future policy on mask-wearing needs to consider the context in which mask-wearing would be most beneficial, and how local adaptations to policy can respond to children's needs.