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Biomedical subjects

W Rakowski

Publications and source records attributed to W Rakowski.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Satisfaction with clinical encounters among residents and geriatric patients.

A total of 69 clinical encounters between 15 internal medicine residents and 69 geriatric patients were examined to determine the residents' attitudes toward specific patients and to assess their mutual satisfaction with the clinical encounter. The residents rated their attitudes toward each patient and indicated their beliefs about the patients' health status, adjustment to medical care, and expected benefits of health education activities. In general, both the residents and the patients expressed satisfaction with their clinical encounters. Little similarity in the satisfaction ratings of the residents and patients was found. The patients tended to express higher levels of satisfaction than the residents. The residents' perceptions of the expected benefits of health education and attitudes toward the patient were found to be statistically significant predictors of the residents' satisfaction. These findings suggest that specific attitudes and beliefs of residents toward their geriatric patients are linked to the residents' satisfaction and hold important implications for medical training.

Aged↗
PubMed1988

Daily symptoms and behavioral responses. Results of a health diary with older adults.

Research on the health care behavior of older adults in response to symptoms will benefit from having data collection methods that can monitor health actions as they occur on a daily basis. In the present study, symptom experiences over a 2-week period and the actions taken in response to them were studied with a self-kept daily diary. Participants were 142 community-resident older persons, aged 62-94. Diary information about number of daily symptoms and the accompanying pain/discomfort was correlated with health perceptions and psychosocial indices obtained in an interview prior to the diary period. Women tended to take a more active response to symptoms than men, particularly in the area of personal care actions. Preventive health behaviors were not strongly related to symptom-related actions. Satisfaction with one's income was the only predictor of seeking professional assistance. Overall, the diary method is feasible to use with older adults, although certain groups may require special consideration (e.g., the visually impaired, persons with multiple symptoms per day, or those with a limitation on writing ability).

Age Factors↗
PubMed1988

[Use of low-temperature plasma in the preparation of synthetic polymers for modification by collagen].

The physico mechanical properties of films, vascular prostheses and nets made of polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene film treated with the low temperature plasma were investigated. The plasma was generated by glow discharge in air under the following conditions: gas pressure - , current - 0.4-0.6 A, time of treatment - 40-240 s. stated that the angles of wetting with water and collagen solution of films treated with plasma decreases considerably. Sharp decreasing of wetting angles is followed by quick rise of the between water and polymeric film, and also by the increasing of free surface energy. The increasing of the wettability does not change during the storing time. The breaking stress and extension of the films treated with plasma are the same or a little bit higher than those of the untreated ones. The collagen modified by radiation shows high adhesion to the polymeric materials treated with plasma. The value of this adhesion 6 x 10(5) mN/m for polyester film, is about 6 times higher than the value of adhesion obtained by other authors, if the polyester film was treated with air plasma generated by spark discharge method.

Adhesiveness↗
PubMed1987

Characteristics of participants in community health promotion programs: four-year results.

Four years of participant tracking data (N = 24,995) for community-based programs targeting cardiovascular disease risk factors are presented. Over two-thirds of contacts were female; age segment representation in these programs was comparable to the city's demography. However, the data show that programs of varying formats which target specific risk factors attract different types of participants. Implications for marketing strategy are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Congruence of health and treatment perceptions among older patients and providers of primary care.

High utilization of primary health care services by older adults, and factors which promote discrepancies between personal and professional health judgments, create a need for effective communication between providers and patients. The present study was designed to extend existing reports on the congruence of health ratings among older adult patients and their primary care physicians and nurses. Congruence ranged from 29 to 69 percent across fourteen health and treatment questions (N = 108 patient/provider pairs). Patients appeared to be more favorable on most questions, and questions with a present orientation exhibited greater congruence than those with a future orientation. Few variables predicted congruence. Providers' ratings were associated with congruence more strongly than were patients' ratings. Further research should examine the uniformity of content and structure in patient/provider communication both across providers, and with their individual patients.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Personal health practices, health status, and expected control over future health.

Data from Wave 1 of the National Survey of Personal Health Practices and Consequences were used to examine the association between perceived control over future health and 13 health behavior indices. Analyses were conducted within three strata of health status, defined by a cross-tabulation of subjective and functional health ratings. Greater control expected over future health was associated with 11 of the 13 practices in the stratum of persons in best health, but with only 2 practices in the lowest and 3 practices in the middle health strata. Age, gender, education, and a regular source of health care were also important predictors. Overall, persons in the lowest health stratum had the fewest number and least consistent set of predictors of preventive practices. Although the rationales proposed for following preventive practices often rely upon individuals' favorable outlooks on their futures, the present data suggest that background health status may mediate the relationship. Health status can be viewed as a personal resource, which provides an opportunity for predispositions such as perceived control over future health to be consistently expressed in behavior. Attempts to develop theoretical frameworks and intervention programs that are applicable to several behaviors appear to face a difficult challenge, since few of the predictors were consistently related to more than a small number of the 13 practices. Health promotion programs may need to include health status as an additional characteristic around which to structure both the content of recruitment messages, and expectations for persons who will be relatively more easy or difficult to reach.

Adult↗