Posts Tagged ‘family’
Training in childhood obesity management in the United States: a survey of pediatric, internal medicine-pediatrics and family medicine residency program directors
Background:
Information about the availability and effectiveness of childhood obesity training during residency is limited.
Methods:
We surveyed residency program directors from pediatric, internal medicine-pediatrics (IM-Peds), and family medicine residency programs between September 2007 and January 2008 about childhood obesity training offered in their programs.
Results:
The response rate was 42.2% (299/709) and ranged by specialty from 40.1% to 45.4%. Overall, 52.5% of respondents felt that childhood obesity training in residency was extremely important, and the majority of programs offered training in aspects of childhood obesity management including prevention (N=240, 80.3%), diagnosis (N=282, 94.3%), diagnosis of complications (N=249, 83.3%), and treatment (N=242, 80.9%). However, only 18.1% (N=54) of programs had a formal childhood obesity curriculum with variability across specialties. Specifically, 35.5% of IM-Peds programs had a formal curriculum compared to only 22.6% of pediatric and 13.9% of family medicine programs (p<0.01). Didactic instruction was the most commonly used training method but was rated as only somewhat effective by 67.9% of respondents using this method. The most frequently cited significant barrier to implementing childhood obesity training was competing curricular demands (58.5%).
Conclusions:
While most residents receive training in aspects of childhood obesity management, deficits may exist in training quality with a minority of programs offering a formal childhood obesity curriculum. Given the high prevalence of childhood obesity, a greater emphasis should be placed on development and use of effective training strategies suitable for all specialties training physicians to care for children.
Effect of a peer-educational intervention on provider knowledge and reported performance in family planning services: a cluster randomized trial
Background:Peer education is an interactive method of teaching or learning which is widely used for educating school and college students, in a variety of different forms. However, there are few studies on its effectiveness for in-service education. This study evaluated the effect of an educational programme including peer discussions on the providers’ knowledge and reported performance in family planning services.Methods:An educational programme was designed and applied in a random selection of half of in-charges of the 74 family health units (intervention group) in Tabriz at a regular monthly meeting. The other half constituted the control group. The programme included eight pages of written material and a two-hour, face-to-face discussion session with emphasis on the weak areas identified through a needs assessment questionnaire. The educated in-charges were requested to carry out a similar kind of programme with all peers at their health facilities within one month. All in-charges received one self-administered questionnaire containing knowledge questions one month after the in-charge education (follow-up I: 61 responses), and another one containing knowledge and self-reported performance questions 26 months later (follow-up II: 61 responses). Also, such tests were done for the peers facilitated by the in-charges one (105 responses) and 27 months (114 responses)after the peer discussions. Multiple linear regression was used for comparing mean total scores,and Chi square for comparing proportions between control and intervention groups, after defining facility as the unit of randomization.Results:The mean total percentage scores of knowledge (percent of maximal possible score) in the intervention group were significantly higher than in the control group, both at follow-up I (63%) and at follow-up II (57%); with a difference of 16 (95% CI: 11, 22) and 5 (95% CI: 0.4, 11) percentage units, respectively. Only two of the nine reported performance items were significantly different among the non in-charges in the intervention group at follow-up II.Conclusions:The educational programme including peer discussions using existing opportunities with no need for additional absence from the workplace might be a useful complement to formal large group education for the providers.
Investigation: Washington State Moves Medicaid Nursing Home Patients To Adult Family Homes
The Seattle Times investigates Washington’s practice of relocating some Medicaid patients from nursing homes to adult family homes. “Jeri Ringseth had no business being in an adult family home. Her physical and mental disabilities are so significant that she’s spent most of her adult life in nursing homes or state hospitals. …
New Jersey Seeks Federal Permission To Expand Medicaid Family Planning Coverage
New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) this week applied for permission from the federal government to expand no-cost family planning services to uninsured women with incomes up to twice the federal poverty level, or about $21,000 annually, who do not qualify for existing subsidized health insurance programs, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Physician-Assisted Suicide Does Not Increase Severity Of Depression, Grief Among Family Members
Unlike other forms of suicide, physician assisted death does not cause substantial regret, or a sense of rejection among surviving family members. In addition, the prevalence and severity of depression and grief among family members whose loved ones received aid in dying is no different than family members whose loved ones did not pursue physician assisted suicide.
Family Physician Survey In Mainz: Patients With Depression Frequently Suffer From Medically Unexplained Pain
Pain symptoms that cannot be attributed, or at least not fully attributed, to an organic origin are more frequently and more severely experienced by patients with depression than by those without. “It is the case that women are much more frequently affected by depression and also by so-called somatoform pain disorder than men,” explains Dirk Frieser, psychologist at the Institute of Psychology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.
Investigating the barriers to teaching family physicians’ and specialists’ collaboration in the training environment: a qualitative study
Background:Collaboration between physicians in different specialties is often taken for granted. However, poor interactions between family physicians and specialists contribute significantly to the observed discontinuity between primary and specialty care. The objective of this study was to explore how collaboration between family physicians and specialists was conceptualised as a competency and experienced in residency training curricula of four faculties of medicine in Canada.Methods:This is a multiple-case study based on Abbott’s theory of professions. Programs targeted were family medicine, general psychiatry, radiology, and internal medicine. The content of the programs’ objectives was analyzed. Associate deans of postgraduate studies, program directors, educators, and residents were interviewed individually or in focus groups (47 residents and 45 faculty members).Results:The training objectives related to family physicians-specialists collaboration were phrased in very general terms and lacked specificity. Obstacles to effective collaboration were aggregated under themes of professional responsibility and questioned expertise. Both trainees and trainers reported increasing distances between specialty and general medicine in three key fields of the professional system: the workplace arena, the training setting, and the production of academic knowledge.Conclusions:The challenges of developing collaborating skills between generalists and specialist physicians are comparable in many ways to those encountered in inter-professional collaboration and should be given more consideration than they currently receive if we want to improve coordination between primary and specialty care.
Six In Ten Say Family Put Off Medical Care Due To Cost
As economic conditions remain poor, a majority of the public continues to say that they or a member of their household have delayed or skipped health care in the past year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s April health tracking poll.
Family Members May Help Assess A Loved One’s Pain In ICU
Managing pain in the ICU is an ongoing and significant challenge for the critical care team. However, new reports suggest that taking a comprehensive approach to pain management may be the key to managing pain in the ICU and even decreasing the incidence of preventable pain.
Scientists Unravel Genetic Codes And Family Trees Of Common Cold Viruses
US scientists have unravelled the genetic code of all known strains of the common cold virus; by completing their diverse genomic sequences they were able to map not only their RNA configurations but also determine their family trees to reveal how closely they may be related and what characteristics they may or may not share as a result of mutating through neighbouring or distant evolutionary branches.
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