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Biomedical subjects

B Berkman

Publications and source records attributed to B Berkman.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Predicting hospital readmission of elderly cardiac patients.

Sixty hospitalized elderly cardiac patients were tested using the Geriatric Functional Rating Scale (GFRS) and were followed four months postdischarge. Significant relationships were found between GFRS scores and readmission status. These data substantiate the potential usefulness of GFRS as a predictive instrument to identify those high-risk hospitalized elderly cardiac patients who need social-health services in the posthospital recovery period.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

Potential impact of a predictive test on the gene frequency of Huntington disease.

Fifty-five individuals at 50% risk of inheriting Huntington disease (HD) were given in-depth structured interviews to survey attitudes toward use of a predictive test and to assess the possible impact of such a test on the number of gene carriers born. Three-quarters of the sample said they would take predictive test. Given a positive predictive or prenatal test, the number of individuals choosing to have children is reduced from 80% of the total sample to 42%, or by almost one-half. The large proportion of at risk individuals who say they would use a predictive test underscores the importance of developing guidelines for its administration prior to implementation.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Increased rate of suicide among patients with Huntington's disease.

The proportion of deaths attributed to suicide was examined among 506 deceased individuals with diagnosed or suspected Huntington's Disease from New England USA. Comparison of this proportion with that of the general population indicated that the odds of a death being due to suicide in the Huntington's disease group is 8.2 times that of the Massachusetts population for persons aged 50 to 69 yr, but no difference appears in the 10 to 49 yr age group. Among the 157 Huntington's disease patients for whom cause of death was known, the corresponding odds estimates are 23.0 for the 50 to 69 yr age group and 2.7 for the 10 to 49 yr age group. More than half of the suicides occurred in individuals who showed early signs of the illness but who had not been diagnosed, suggesting that suicide may occur more frequently in the early stages of the illness.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Attitudes toward marriage and childbearing of individuals at risk for Huntington's disease.

Huntington's Disease (HD), a mid-life onset inherited neurological disorder, can have a profound social and psychological impact on affected individuals and relatives. This paper discusses the attitudes of 45 individuals at risk for inheriting HD toward marriage and childbearing. Social and demographic variables influencing these attitudes were also examined. Subjects who had graduated from college were found to be more likely to be deterred from having children than those with less education. Current childbearing status was also found to influence attitudes toward hypothetical situations dealing with having children. Knowledge of the factors influencing attitudes in these areas can aid health professionals involved in genetic counseling for Huntington's Disease and other inherited mid-life onset disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

The use of theoretical constructs and research data to establish a base for clinical social work in health settings.

This article suggests a means for organizing a base for clinical social work practice in health settings. Membership, as a theoretical construct, is used to explore the essentials of social work, to explicate its key practice concepts, and to review characteristics of the health field. Selected findings from a secondary analysis of data from the New England Regional Survey of Social Work Practice are considered with reference to theory and essential concepts of health social work practice. Questions are raised and implications drawn for the practice of clinical social work in health settings and for education for that practice.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed1983

Health agencies and a school of social work: practice and research in partnership.

Growing out of their joint recognition of the need for evaluation, accountability, and definition of social work's interdisciplinary contributions, a school of social work and Boston-area health agencies formed a research partnership. Fifty-five studies involving graduate students' research resulted in reportings, publications, and utilizations of findings.

Boston↗
PubMed1983

An interdisciplinary geriatric consultation service: a controlled trial.

The structure and function of a newly created interdisciplinary Geriatric Consultation Team (GCT) are described. The GCT was introduced on a single medical unit, where consultations were given to 46 consecutive patients aged 75 years and over. The GCT patients had, on the average, 5.5 illnesses and were receiving 3.7 medications. Anemia (50 per cent), were hypoalbuminemia (65 per cent), and elevated blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (58 per cent) were frequent. Functional assessment showed frequent dependence on others for assistance with ambulation (59 per cent), transfers (54 per cent), and dressing (52 per cent); cognitive impairment was found in 52 per cent and clinical depression in 11 per cent of the patients. In comparison with control units, the GCT increased use of physical therapy by 357 per cent, occupational therapy by 390 per cent, and speech therapy by 300 per cent without increasing length of stay. In comparison with control subjects, GCT patients had no decrease in hospital readmission rates (43 per cent) over 10.5 months of follow up. It was concluded that a GCT in an acute-care hospital promotes geriatrics, teaches interdisciplinary teamwork, improves awareness of functional problems of patients, and increases use of rehabilitative services, but does not decrease the high rate of readmission of hospitalized geriatric patients.

Aged↗
PubMed1980

Survey offers guidelines for social work.

Collection of hospital social work data is a step toward making the product of social work practice both measurable and quality controlled and can serve as a guide for all hospitals.

Data Collection↗
PubMed1980

Regional profile data as basis for social work audit.

Profile data obtained in a regional survey of social work practice have been used by one social work department of a general hospital to identify three problem areas of practice with patients whose discharges are delayed beyond medical necessity. The authors describe the department's analysis of the data, its identification of a topic of concern, and the subsequent steps taken in a departmental audit.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1980

Psychosocial problems and outcome: an external validity study.

Six acute-care teaching hospitals participated in a study to determine the validity of a problem-outcome classification system. Three hundred and forty-three randomly selected clients of 152 social workers served as external sources to determine the validity of the instrument. In 77 percent of the problems, social workers and clients agreed on the nature of the problem dealt with during intervention. However, workers tended to give more negative values to their assessments of outcome of intervention than did their clients.

Data Collection↗
PubMed1980

A social work department develops and tests a screening mechanism to identify high social risk situations.

This paper describes a model for developing and testing a screening mechanism to identify high psychosocial risk patient situations in need of early intervention by social workers. Although the criteria developed need further refinement, it was found that multiple criteria are significantly more predictive of high risk than single factors and that three variables, (1) severity of illness: life threatening, (2) severity of illness: physically dysfunctional; and (3) chronic illness were good predictors of need for social work services. It is suggested that similar screening mechanisms be developed and utilized in hospitals throughout the country.

Health Status Indicators↗
PubMed1980

Screening for high social risk: principles and problems.

Sound use of hospital social work services is not achieved when workers rely on other health personnel for referrals. The authors propose a screening mechanism to identify patients at what they term high levels of social risk and to restore the initiative to social work staff. Relevant principles and problems are also discussed.

Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over↗
PubMed1978

Social work undertakes its own audit.

This paper presents the findings of a Social Health Care Evaluation designed with a system of data collection that can serve as part of an ongoing audit mechanism. It can provide data necessary for the generation of profiles on patients served, on practitioners, and on the department's utilization patterns as a whole. In addition, it offers a method by which norms, criteria, and standards may be promulgated from demonstrated social work interventions. The approach is based on a social work frame of reference and is not disease specific. It focuses on assessments of social problems and outcome that can be correlated with any medical or nursing audit.

Hospital Departments↗