Biomedical subjects

Carol J Farran

Publications and source records attributed to Carol J Farran.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

A review of spiritual and religious measures in nursing research journals: 1995-1999.

BACKGROUND: A series of systematic reviews has revealed relatively high levels of interest in religion and spirituality in different nursing specialties, but not in general nursing research journals. PURPOSE: To identify the extent to which spirituality and religiousness were measured in all quantitative and qualitative research articles published in Research in Nursing and Health, Nursing Research, Advances in Nursing Science (ANS), and Image: The Journal of Nursing Scholarship from 1995 to 1999. METHODS: A full-text search was conducted of ANS and Image using the Ovid search system. Nursing Research and Research in Nursing and Health were hand searched for spiritual/religious measures. Characteristics of selected studies, the measures taken, and their uses were coded for data analysis. RESULTS: A total of 564 research studies were identified, of which 67 (11.9%) included at least one measure of spirituality or religiousness. A significant difference was found between the percentage of qualitative and quantitative studies that contained measures of these concepts. Of the 119 qualitative studies, 23 (19.3%) contained a measure of religion or spirituality, compared to 44 of the 445 (9.9%) quantitative studies. Nominal indicators of religious affiliation were the most commonly used measures in the quantitative studies and measures of religion and spirituality were rarely used in the analyses. Although only a few quantitative or qualitative studies intended to focus on religion or spirituality, these themes often emerged spontaneously in the qualitative research. CONCLUSIONS: Research in Nursing and Health, Advances in Nursing Science, Nursing Research, and Image: The Journal of Nursing Scholarship all published research measuring spirituality and religiousness during the time-period studies. The rate at which spirituality and religion appeared in these nursing research articles is substantially higher than that found in most fields outside of nursing. Even more frequent inclusion of spiritual and religious variables and richer measures of spirituality and religiousness would help to increase the available scientific information on the role of spirituality and religion in nursing care.

Humans↗

PubMed2005

Meaning in life and psycho-spiritual functioning: a comparison of breast cancer survivors and healthy women.

PURPOSE: Incorporating holistic health perspectives, this study compared and examined relationships among meaning in life, spirituality, perceived stress, and psychological distress in breast cancer survivors (BCS) and healthy women. METHODS: Standardized self-report measures were completed once by all participants (N = 78). FINDINGS: Group comparison revealed statistically significant variances across the measures. Covariate analysis identified BCS without children had less meaningful lives and greater stress and distress than BCS with children and participants without cancer. Significant correlations (p > .001) between meaning in life and spirituality (r = .43), stress (r = -.39), and distress (r = -.41) were also identified. CONCLUSION: Personal factors (i.e., being a parent) may be especially important in BCS. Also, psychological and spiritual variables are highly correlated, suggesting the use of an integrated term psycho-spiritual functioning. IMPLICATIONS: Holistic nursing interventions can facilitate self-awareness, interpersonal connection, and living a meaningful life, particularly in vulnerable patients such as BCS without children.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2004

Alzheimer's disease caregiving information and skills. Part II: family caregiver issues and concerns.

In recent years researchers have carried out an increasing number of clinical trials with family caregivers of the elderly. The results of these interventions have suggested that caregiver skill-building interventions may be more effective than information/support interventions. Although researchers have given considerable attention to the information and support needed by family caregivers, less is known about how this information and support translates into caregiver skills or into changes in behavior. This is the second in a series of three articles on a study in which researchers used qualitative methods to analyze summaries from the group component of a larger caregiver clinical trial. In this article we describe caregiver issues and concerns in five major areas: (a). dealing with change, (b). managing competing responsibilities and stressors, (c). providing a broad spectrum of care, (d). finding and using resources, and (e). experiencing emotional and physical responses to care. We identify specific skills needed by caregivers in addressing these caregiving issues and concerns, and we compare and contrast skilled with less skilled caregivers. Further work is needed concerning the focus and methods of future caregiver skill-based interventions.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2004

Alzheimer's disease caregiving information and skills, part III: group process issues and concerns.

In this descriptive study we examined content and processes in a group-based component of an ongoing clinical trial with family caregivers of persons with dementia. The purpose was to identify issues arising from the group processes that could be used to inform future skill-building caregiver groups. Summaries from two types of intervention groups, a caregiver skill-building (CSB) treatment intervention and an information and support only (ISO) control intervention were examined, along with data collected during a group leader debriefing session. Three major categories of process information were identified: (a) group member behaviors that support group processes necessary for skill development, (b) group leader behaviors that support group processes necessary for skill development, and (c) the phases of learning in caregiver (CG) skill development. Subcategories and specific content in each of these areas are identified in this article, and a list of member and leader behaviors that might support future skill development in groups is presented.

Alzheimer Disease↗

PubMed2004

Depression among Korean, Korean American, and Caucasian American family caregivers.

This study compared depressive symptoms among Korean, Korean American, and Caucasian American female family caregivers of older persons with dementia. The sample included Korean caregivers living in Seoul, Korea (KK); Korean American (KA) caregivers living in the Chicago and Los Angeles areas; and Caucasian American (CA) caregivers from the Chicago metropolitan area. KK caregivers were more likely to be daughters-in-law, KA caregivers were more likely to be daughters, and CA caregivers were more likely to be wives or daughters. Overall, wives were more depressed than daughters and daughters-in-law. KK caregivers were the most depressed of the three cultural groups. When caregiver relationship and cultural group were examined simultaneously, KK and KA wives were most depressed, and KA daughters-in-law were least depressed. Differences in culture and social role appeared to affect depressive symptoms among these caregivers. The findings suggest a need to further examine the associations between caregivers' relationships with their care recipients and their own emotional status.

Acculturation↗

PubMed2004

Caring for self while caring for others: the two-track life of coping with Alzheimer's disease.

Relationships between depressive symptoms and altered immune function have been documented in the literature; however, the links between depressive symptoms, altered immune function, and changes in physical health are less clear. Although a number of caregiver descriptive studies have examined immunological outcomes, only one intervention study with caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease, known to the authors, has included immunological outcomes. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the effectiveness of a caregiver skill-building intervention to decrease caregiver depressive symptomatology and care-receiver behavioral symptoms; and to assess the feasibility and stability of the delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin test with this population. Caregiver depressive symptoms decreased, while care-receiver behaviors did not. Findings suggested that the DTH skin test could be successfully administered to caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and that this skin test had short-term stability. There were no significant relationships between caregiver depressive symptoms and immune function. Study findings suggest that nurses can play a pivotal role in intervening with family caregivers and potentially decreasing their depressive symptoms.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2003

Alzheimer's disease caregiving information and skills. Part I: care recipient issues and concerns.

Increasing attention has been given to testing clinical trials with family caregivers of the elderly. More recent intervention studies indicated that caregiver skill-building interventions may be more effective than information/support interventions. Researchers have given considerable attention to the content and support needed by family caregivers, but we know less about how this content and support translates into caregiver skills. This is the first in a series of three articles on a study in which qualitative methods were used to analyze summaries from the group component of a larger caregiver clinical trial. In this article we identify content and skills that dementia family caregivers need in addressing three major care recipient issues and concerns: (a) difficult behaviors and emotional responses, (b) personal and instrumental activities of daily living, and (c) cognitive decline.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2002

The PLUS intervention: a pilot test with caregivers of depressed older adults.

The PLUS Nursing Intervention, which is aimed at caregivers of elderly persons with depression and designed to increase caregiver personal resources, respond to caregiver learning/skill development needs, address caregiver unanticipated needs, and assist with caregiver stress/illness management, was pilot tested for efficacy. Thirteen families were assigned to the PLUS group and 12 families to the standard home care control group. There were no significant outcome differences between the two groups. However, caregivers who received the PLUS intervention made significantly more improvements over Standard Home Care caregivers when patients made functional improvements. Findings suggest that patient functioning might be a better predictor of long-term caregiver outcomes than psychiatric symptoms.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Writing with a collaborative team.

As the science of rehabilitation moves forward, the need to actively participate on a collaborative research team increases. Rehabilitation involves many different disciplines--for example, nursing, medicine, psychology, physical therapy, social work, and epidemiology-that affect the care of persons of all ages with a variety of different clinical needs. Each discipline adds a particular perspective to research questions, clinical situations, and eventually to professional publications. As such, the need for multidisciplinary collaborative research and publication is paramount. Nurses uniquely contribute their theoretical perspectives, use of varied research designs, and their close relationship to clinical practice to collaborative teams. Nurses bring invaluable expertise to the clinical research arena, especially in the areas of health services and implementation research, for which their on-the-ground perspective is invaluable to the overall goal of understanding and improving the system of care to enhance patient outcomes. Nurses benefit greatly by serving as active members on research teams because they come to know more and to be more well known.

Cooperative Behavior↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Psychometric testing of the revised 15-item Bakas Caregiving Outcomes Scale.

BACKGROUND: Family caregivers of stroke survivors experience a variety of negative social, emotional, and health-related outcomes as a result of providing care. OBJECTIVES: : To psychometrically test the revised 15-item Bakas Caregiving Outcomes Scale (BCOS) measuring life changes specifically resulting from providing care. The original 10-item BCOS was improved by adding five items addressing financial well-being, level of energy, role functioning, physical functioning, and general health. METHODS: Psychometric testing of the revised 15-item BCOS using a sample of 147 family caregivers of stroke survivors approximately 4 months after stroke was conducted to determine the quality of the items, internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, construct validity, and criterion-related validity. Most caregivers were women (78.9%), White (68.0%) or African American (29.9%), and either spouses (60.1%) or adult children (31.3%). RESULTS: Satisfactory evidence of internal consistency (alpha = .90) and 2-week test-retest reliability (intraclass coefficient [ICC] = .66; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.42-0.81) was provided, with item-to-total correlations ranging from .41 to .74. Unidimensionality was supported by confirmatory factor analysis with indices, indicating a good fit. Using hierarchical multiple regression, 36% of the BCOS variance was explained by constructs in the conceptual model [F(11,132) = 6.72, p < .001]. Criterion-related validity was supported by correlations with the 36-item Short Form (SF-36) General Health Subscale (r = .32, p < .001) and a criterion variable measuring how caregivers' lives had changed overall (r = .67, p < .001). DISCUSSION: The revised 15-item BCOS has evidence of satisfactory reliability and validity in family caregivers of stroke survivors. The BCOS is a valuable measure in research and can be used to identify priority areas for nursing interventions designed to improve caregivers' outcomes.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Assessing the cultural appropriateness of the Finding Meaning Through Caregiving Scale for Korean caregivers.

Before psychometric instruments can be used for populations other than those for whom they were originally developed, validation of cultural appropriateness is essential. This article describes the assessment of the cultural appropriateness of the Finding Meaning Through Caregiving Scale (FMTCS) with Korean female family caregivers. The FMTCS measures finding meaning among caregivers from an existential perspective and has three subscales: Loss/Powerlessness, Provisional Meaning, and Ultimate Meaning. The instrument's cultural appropriateness was examined through semistructured interviews with ten Korean-born female family caregivers, five caregivers living in Korea, and five living in the United States. The interview data are reported according to the three dimensions described by Flaherty and colleagues (1988): content, semantic, and conceptual equivalence. Although the majority of items of the FMTCS appeared applicable to Korean caregivers, items on the Loss/Powerlessness and Provisional Meaning subscales asking caregivers about feelings related to missing their past relationships or communications appeared inappropriate for many Korean daughters-in-law. Of equal importance, a unique source of meaning among Korean caregivers that is not assessed in the FMTCS is an interpersonal context, including the importance caregivers place on teaching children and feeling proud of one's caregiving accomplishments in the eyes of other relatives. The addition of new items that address the interpersonal context is warranted to improve the instrument's cultural appropriateness for Korean caregivers.

Adult↗