scholarly journals Can social support work virtually? Evaluation of rheumatoid arthritis patients’ experiences with an interactive online tool

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 199-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zlatina Kostova ◽  
Maria Caiata-Zufferey ◽  
Peter J Schulz

BACKGROUND: There is strong empirical evidence that the support that chronic patients receive from their environment is fundamental for the way they cope with physical and psychological suffering. Nevertheless, in the case of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), providing the appropriate social support is still a challenge, and such support has often proven to be elusive and unreliable in helping patients to manage the disease.OBJECTIVES: To explore whether and how social support for RA patients can be provided online, and to assess the conditions under which such support is effective. An online support tool was designed to provide patients with both tailored information and opportunities to interact online with health professionals and fellow sufferers. The general purpose was to identify where the support provided did – or did not – help patients, and to judge whether the determinants of success lay more within patients – their engagement and willingness to participate – or within the design of the website itself.METHODS: The present study reports qualitative interviews with 19 users of the tool. A more specific purpose was to elaborate qualitatively on results from a quantitative survey of users, which indicated that any positive impact was confined to practical matters of pain management rather than extending to more fundamental psychological outcomes such as acceptance.RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Overall, online learning and interaction can do much to help patients with the everyday stresses of their disease; however, its potential for more durable positive impact depends on various individual characteristics such as personality traits, existing social networks, and the severity and longevity of the disease.

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharnee Diamond ◽  
Chrystal Jaye

INTRODUCTION: This project aimed to identify the support needs of older people living in rural Central Otago, Aotearoa New Zealand and to ascertain if a pilot social work position was meeting these needs.METHODS: Data were collected during December 2019. Twelve semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with the social worker, referrers of the social worker’s clients, key community stakeholders, and the older rural residents supported by the social worker.FINDINGS: An interpretive analysis of the data identified two key thematics: 1) being older in Central Otago; and 2) providing aged social work services in this region.CONCLUSION: Despite the positive impact that the Age Concern Otago social work position is having for clients of the service, the need for social support for older rural people in Central Otago continues to grow. In addition to increasing social worker resourcing, better coordination and linking between the government and non-government agencies operating in this space would improve the effectiveness of aged social work services, as would improved visibility of these services within the community.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiedi Lei ◽  
Chris Ashwin ◽  
Mark Brosnan ◽  
Ailsa Russell

Diabetes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 737-P
Author(s):  
SARA SUHL ◽  
JONATHAN B. ROST ◽  
KEATON C. STONER ◽  
REBECCA GOWEN ◽  
CATERINA FLORISSI ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kumari Kumkum ◽  
R. N. Singh ◽  
Yogershi Rajpoot

There may be so many negative consequences of stress for human beings and dissatisfaction among employees happens to be one of the major problems. It indicates negative feelings that individuals have regarding their jobs or its facets. On the other hand, social support is assumed to be mitigating the relationship between negative aspects of the work environment and job satisfaction. Job stress is said to be associated with job dissatisfaction as well as experience of strain. In view of the above, this study examined the role of job stress and social support in job satisfaction. The sample consisted of 30 school teachers from different school of Varanasi (U.P.). The job stress, job satisfaction and social support scales were administered on the participants. The responses of the participants were converted into scores for statistical analyses. The scores of participants on the scales were correlated. The findings revealed that job stress led to increased job satisfaction. It is against the proposed hypothesis and it appears as if the social support received by the participants is a factor behind it. Two of the four dimensions of social support were found to exert positive impact on job satisfaction but the other two dimensions were not found to be correlated with it. The findings are thoroughly discussed and interpreted.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1360.1-1360
Author(s):  
M. Jordhani ◽  
D. Ruci ◽  
F. Skana ◽  
E. Memlika

Background:The COVID-19 global pandemic has had a great impact on world population due to morbidity, mortality and restriction measures in order to stop the progression of COVID-19.Patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletic diseases, and especially rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, being one of the vulnerable classes of chronic patients, were recommended to follow the government’s rules1.Objectives:The aim of this study was to evaluate DAS-28-ESR in patients with rheumatoid arthritis before and after lockdown period.Methods:This is a multi-center observational study including 85 patients which were evaluated before and after lockdown for their disease activity score according to DAS-28-ESR score. They had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis more than 5 years ago. A thorough physical examination was performed before and after the lockdown period. It included examination of tender and swollen joints and patient’s global health. They were completed with all required laboratory data, including erythrosedimentation rate. For a more accurate calculation, DAS-28-ESR was used in an electronic version. Patients with other inflammatory or infective diseases were excluded from the study. All data were statistically evaluated using statistical tests such as t-student test.Results:The first group (the one before lockdown) had an average DAS-28-ESR of 4.7 while after the lockdown period, the average DAS-28-ESR was 5.16.After statistically evaluating all data, it was found that there exists a significant difference between DAS-28-ESR score before and after COVID-19 lockdown (p=0.0011).Conclusion:Our study showed that lockdown period due to COVID-19 pandemic, has aggravated disease activity in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. This may be consequence of various causes such as physical inactivity and difficulty to follow-up or to take the medication properly.References:[1]Landewé RB, Machado PM, Kroon F, et al, EULAR provisional recommendations for the management of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases in the context of SARS-CoV-2, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2020;79:851-858.Disclosure of Interests:None declared.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 205
Author(s):  
Anne M. E. Bijlsma ◽  
Claudia E. van der Put ◽  
Geertjan Overbeek ◽  
Geert Jan J. M. Stams ◽  
Mark Assink

Personalization is an important strategy for enhancing the effectiveness of treatment that is aimed at reducing the risk of child maltreatment. In recent years, a growing body of research has appeared on how child protection can benefit from the principles of the Risk-Need-Responsivity model, but no attention has yet been paid to the implementation of the responsivity principle in child protection. Put simply, this principle states that treatment must be tailored to individual characteristics of clients to optimize its effectiveness. This study was the first to address how the responsivity principle can be of value in child protection. First, a systematic review of responsivity factors in forensic care was performed. Second, the relevance of applying each factor in child protection was examined through interviews with clinical professionals working in the field, who also provided suggestions on how treatment can be tailored to each of these factors. This resulted in an overview of seven responsivity factors all related to caregiver characteristics: problem denial, motivation to cooperate with treatment, psychological problems, cognitive abilities, cultural background, practical barriers such as financial problems and social support, and barriers to specific treatment types such as group therapy. Implications and recommendations for strengthening clinical practice are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 233339362110357
Author(s):  
Johanna R. Jahnke ◽  
Julee Waldrop ◽  
Alasia Ledford ◽  
Beatriz Martinez

Many studies have demonstrated a significant burden of maternal stress and depression for women living on the Galápagos Islands. Here, we aim to uncover burdens and needs of women with young children on San Cristóbal Island and then explore options for implementing evidence-based programs of social support to meet these needs. We conducted 17 semi-structured qualitative interviews with mothers of young children, healthcare workers, and community stakeholders. We then used Summary Oral Reflective Analysis (SORA), an interactive methodology, for qualitative analysis. Despite initial reports of a low-stress environment, women described many sources of stress and concerns for their own and their children’s health and well-being. We uncovered three broad areas of need for mothers of young children: (1) the need for information and services, (2) the need for trust, and (3) the need for space. In response to these concerns, mothers, healthcare workers, and community leaders overwhelmingly agreed that a social support program would be beneficial for the health of mothers and young children. Still, they expressed concern over the feasibility of such a program. To address these feasibility concerns, we propose that a web-based education and social support intervention led by nurses would best meet mothers’ needs. Women could learn about child health and development, develop strong, trusting friendships with other mothers, and have their own space to speak freely among experts and peers.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 1551-1563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan H. Cameron ◽  
Carla Zucchero Sarracini ◽  
Linda Rozmovits ◽  
Gary Naglie ◽  
Nathan Herrmann ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackground:Driving in persons with dementia poses risks that must be counterbalanced with the importance of the care for autonomy and mobility. Physicians often find substantial challenges in the assessment and reporting of driving safety for persons with dementia. This paper describes a driving in dementia decision tool (DD-DT) developed to aid physicians in deciding when to report older drivers with either mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment to local transportation administrators.Methods:A multi-faceted, computerized decision support tool was developed, using a systematic literature and guideline review, expert opinion from an earlier Delphi study, as well as qualitative interviews and focus groups with physicians, caregivers of former drivers with dementia, and transportation administrators. The tool integrates inputs from the physician-user about the patient's clinical and driving history as well as cognitive findings, and it produces a recommendation for reporting to transportation administrators. This recommendation is translated into a customized reporting form for the transportation authority, if applicable, and additional resources are provided for the patient and caregiver.Conclusions:An innovative approach was needed to develop the DD-DT. The literature and guideline review confirmed the algorithm derived from the earlier Delphi study, and barriers identified in the qualitative research were incorporated into the design of the tool.


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