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Designing relational models of collaborative integrative medicine that support healing processes.

The concept of optimal healing environments (OHE) includes a variety of elements that require exploration, definition, measurement, and interpretation. One key element is the relationships between healer and patient/client and between healers themselves. These complexities mean that models of OHE that include relationship dynamics as resources in the healing processes need information to help planning, execution and measurement. This paper examines aspects of a proposed model of optimal healing that utilizes relational dynamics as central to healing processes. The dynamics of relationships between healers and clients are critical to the effectiveness of healing as a process of transformation. Conscious examination of healers' emotional availability in relationship-centered care may be important in determining primary roles in delivering care.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

The UFRJ-UERJ group: interdisciplinary virtual reality experiments in neuropsychiatry.

This paper describes the research lines of an interdisciplinary group composed by two government universities in Rio de Janeiro. The first research line, a Virtual Environment for testing the acceptance of Virtual Reality equipment by schizophrenia patients, has stimulated a growing interest in this area in the country and abroad. The second research line, in progress now, develops a virtual environment to improve the learning abilities of children with Attention-Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Another study is related to the use of Virtual Reality in the cognitive treatment of common city phobias, beginning with the reproduction of some tunnels of our city to treatment of claustrophobic patients. The last of the research lines in progress in this group develops a virtual square for stimulating autistic patients.

Adult↗

Interdisciplinary research is key to understanding sex differences: report from the Society for Women's Health Research Meeting on understanding the biology of sex differences.

Progress in sex-based biology, the study of biological and behavioral differences between males and females, and the impact of those differences on health and disease will require collaboration across research disciplines and medical specialties and among all research approaches, from molecular biology to epidemiology. The importance of sex-based biology to healthcare necessitates a bench-to-bedside approach that is built on integration of research findings from studies at the cellular level, in animals, and in human subjects. Barriers to interdisciplinary collaborations are being addressed in a variety of ways by public and private funders. The J.D. and C.T. MacArthur Foundation supports interdisciplinary research networks that address broad questions in health and behavior. The National Institute of Mental Health supports cross-disciplinary research networks investigating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal network. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development offers grants for Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health. The National Science Foundation Directorate for Biological Sciences sponsors Research Coordination Networks in Biological Sciences. Among the challenges faced by interdisciplinary research programs are appropriate peer review, career advancement for young investigators with interdisciplinary training, and acceptance of interdisciplinary research reports by high-quality scientific publications.

Female↗

Development of a Chinese medicine assessment measure: an interdisciplinary approach using the delphi method.

BACKGROUND: The diagnostic framework and clinical reasoning process in Chinese medicine emphasizes the contextual and qualitative nature of a patient's illness. Chinese medicine assessment data may help interpret clinical outcomes. OBJECTIVES: As part of a study aimed at assessing the validity and improving the inter-rater reliability of the Chinese diagnostic process, a structured assessment instrument was developed for use in clinical trials of acupuncture and other Chinese medical therapies. STUDY DESIGN: To foster collaboration and maximize resources and information, an interdisciplinary advisory team was assembled. Under the guidance of two group process facilitators, and in order to establish whether the assessment instrument was consistent with accepted Chinese medicine diagnostic categories (face validity) and included the full range of each concept's meaning (content validity), a panel of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) expert clinicians was convened and their responses were organized using the Delphi process, an iterative, anonymous, idea-generating and consensus-building process. An aggregate rating measure was obtained by taking the mean of mean ratings for each question across all 10 experts. RESULTS: Over three rounds, the overall rating increased from 7.4 (SD = 1.3) in Round 1 to 9.1 (SD = 0.5) in Round 3. The level of agreement among clinicians was measured by a decrease in SD. CONCLUSIONS: The final instrument TEAMSI-TCM (Traditional East Asian Medicine Structured Interview, TCM version) uses the pattern differentiation model characteristic of TCM. This modular, dynamic version was specifically designed to assess women, with a focus on gynecologic conditions; with modifications it can be adapted for use with other populations and conditions. TEAMSI-TCM is a prescriptive instrument that guides clinicians to use the proper indicators, combine them in a systematic manner, and generate conclusions. In conjunction with treatment manualization and training it may serve to increase inter-rater reliability and inter-trial reproducibility in Chinese medicine clinical trials. Testing of the validity and reliability of this instrument currently is underway.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗

Policy for therapeutic acupuncture in an academic health center: a model for standard policy development.

Acupuncture as a therapeutic modality offers multiple applications. Its effectiveness coupled with its general acceptance by conventional health care professionals makes it one of the first complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modalities to be incorporated in an integrative approach to care. However, few centers that offer acupuncture have written standard policies to regulate its use. This lack of standard policies may impede provision of quality care, serve as a barrier to cross-institutional data collection and clinical application of that data, and may put health care professionals and institutions at risk when credentialing or malpractice liability has not been clearly addressed. Here we present a policy for acupuncture, created by a diverse group of health care professionals at the University of Michigan Health System. It may function as a generalizable template for standard policy development by institutions incorporating acupuncture.

Academic Medical Centers↗

Status of credentialing alternative providers within a subset of U.S. academic health centers.

BACKGROUND: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) clinical services are increasingly provided within conventional health care settings. OBJECTIVE: To determine how a subset of U.S. academic health centers is credentialing CAM providers. DESIGN: An electronic survey was created focusing on the credentialing method utilized for six specific types of CAM clinical practitioners within academic medical settings. METHODS: This survey was electronically distributed to 33 academic health centers in the United States during the summer 2004. RESULTS: Ninety-five percent (95%) of academic centers surveyed provide some CAM clinical care. Acupuncture and massage are most common, with naturopathy and homeopathy least common. State licensure requirements for CAM providers appear to not be well-understood. Most commonly, CAM professionals do not receive full medical staff credentials. LIMITATIONS: Results cannot be extrapolated to remaining academic health centers within the United States. Mind-body practitioners were not included in the survey. CONCLUSIONS: Credentialing and privileges are most commonly granted via indirect methods. Variability in state licensure compounds the challenge of credentialing CAM practitioners. Suggestions for beginning discussions on guiding principles for integrating CAM practitioners within conventional settings are proposed.

Academic Medical Centers↗

General practitioners' attitudes to palliative care: A Western Australian rural perspective.

BACKGROUND: People with a terminal illness and their families who live in rural or remote areas of Australia face difficulties in accessing palliative care services as a result of physical isolation. This leads to rural general practitioners (GPs) carrying the burden of care, which is often exacerbated by a lack of support staff. OBJECTIVE: This research addressed the following questions: What are GPs' attitudes to palliative care in a rural center of Western Australia? What factors contribute to GPs' attitudes to palliative care in a rural center of Western Australia? What are the perceived barriers to the provision of palliative care in a rural center of Western Australia? DESIGN: A qualitative in-depth research design was used for this study due to the exploratory nature of the research. A model of attitudes that considers an attitude as a summary evaluation of an issue based on: cognitive information, (thoughts and beliefs), affective or emotional information, and information concerning behavior, was used. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 10 registered GPs located within the Greater Bunbury Division of General Practice in Western Australia. RESULTS: Six themes emerged from the research: maintaining patients' quality of life, providing continuity of care, experiencing emotional issues, collaborating with a multidisciplinary team, acknowledging the need for education and training, and dealing with the wider context. CONCLUSION: Education and training for rural GPs needs to be relevant to the local context and needs to focus on emotions and beliefs.

Adult↗

Shared medical appointments: facilitating interdisciplinary care for midlife women.

Shared medical appointments (SMAs) are a new way to deliver woman-focused interdisciplinary care for midlife women. SMAs are a series of one physician to one patient encounters with other patient observers. The women's health physician addresses each woman's unique medical needs individually but in the context of a shared setting. The major focus is on delivering individual medical care with the benefits of additional time spent educating women patients and answering questions.

Adult↗

Antithrombotic prescribing in atrial fibrillation: application of a prescribing indicator and multidisciplinary feedback to improve prescribing.

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation is common in older people, and is associated with an increased risk of ischaemic stroke. Antithrombotic therapy reduces stroke-risk, but is known to be under-prescribed. OBJECTIVES: To use an evidence-based indicator to audit antithrombotic prescribing for older hospital inpatients with atrial fibrillation, and to assess whether feedback of audit results to hospital staff increases antithrombotic use. DESIGN: Cross-sectional notes-based audits, before and after feedback. SETTING: Six Aged Care and three General Medicine units at nine Australian public teaching hospitals between September 1998 and May 1999. SUBJECTS: 1416 hospital inpatients aged 65 years and over (median age 81). METHODS: Medication charts were reviewed to identify patients prescribed digoxin or amiodarone. Presence of atrial fibrillation was confirmed by review of the patients' medical notes. To be considered appropriate, patients with atrial fibrillation had to be receiving either warfarin or aspirin (or both), or have documented contraindications to both agents. Feedback of audit results was provided to medical, pharmacy and nursing staff at multidisciplinary meetings. Changes in antithrombotic prescribing 4-8 weeks and 6 months after feedback were assessed. Prescribing 8 weeks prior to feedback was assessed retrospectively. RESULTS: Appropriateness of the decision to prescribe (or not prescribe) antithrombotic therapy increased from 81/112 (72%) immediately prior to feedback to 97/105 (92%) 4-8 weeks later (P<0.0001). Six months after feedback, appropriateness of prescribing declined slightly, to 85% (p=0.36). Over the 8 weeks prior to feedback, appropriateness of prescribing did not change (74% versus 77%, p=0.80). Increased aspirin prescribing accounted for most of the improvement in antithrombotic use after feedback, while warfarin continued to be under-used. CONCLUSIONS: Antithrombotics were under-prescribed for older patients with atrial fibrillation. Audit and multidisciplinary feedback resulted in increased antithrombotic prescribing. The intervention had a greater impact on aspirin prescribing compared with warfarin.

Aged↗

An outreach geriatric medication advisory service in residential aged care: a randomised controlled trial of case conferencing.

BACKGROUND: efficient strategies are needed to provide specialist advice in nursing homes to ensure quality medical care. We describe a case conference intervention involving a multidisciplinary team of health professionals. OBJECTIVES: to evaluate the impact of multidisciplinary case conferences on the appropriateness of medications and on patient behaviours in high-level residential aged care facilities. DESIGN: cluster-randomised controlled trial. SETTING: ten high-level aged care facilities. PARTICIPANTS: 154 residents with medication problems and/or challenging behaviours were selected for case conference by residential care staff. INTERVENTION: two multidisciplinary case conferences involving the resident's general practitioner, a geriatrician, a pharmacist and residential care staff were held at the nursing home for each resident. MEASUREMENTS: outcomes were assessed at baseline and 3 months. The primary outcome was the Medication Appropriateness Index (MAI). The behaviour of each resident was assessed via the Nursing Home Behaviour Problem Scale. RESULTS: 45 residents died before follow-up. Medication appropriateness improved in the intervention group [MAI mean change 4.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.1-6.1] compared with the control group (MAI mean change 0.4, 95% CI -0.4-1.2; P < 0.001). There was a significant reduction in the MAI for benzodiazepines (mean change control -0.38, 95% CI -1.02-0.27 versus intervention 0.73, 95% CI 0.16-1.30; P = 0.017). Resident behaviours were unchanged after the intervention and the improved medication appropriateness did not extend to other residents in the facility. CONCLUSION: multidisciplinary case conferences in nursing homes can improve care. Outreach specialist services can be delivered without direct patient contact and achieve improvements in prescribing.

Aged↗