A pilot study exploring quality of life experienced by patients undergoing negative pressure wound therapy as part of their wound care treatment compared to patients receiving standard wound care

The use of Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) has been widely documented as a technique to help heal complex wounds. This paper presents the findings of a preliminary study which aimed to explore quality of life experienced by patients undergoing negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) as part of their wound care treatment in comparison to that of patients with a wound using traditional (standard) wound care therapies. A quasi-experimental study was undertaken, with patients treated in wound care/vascular clinics with chronic/acute wounds. Quality of life impact was measured using the Cardiff Wound Impact Schedule and administered post consent at timed intervals. Our results identified that there were no real differences in quality of life scores recorded by patients over the 12 week period. Although there was no overall interaction between the therapies used for wound healing, NPWT did have an effect on social life: during the first 2 weeks of the application of therapy, patients in the NPWT group reported an increase in the social life domain. The authors conclude that true QoL can only be elicited if an accurate baseline is established or if data is collected over a long enough period to allow comparison of scores over time

Prospective associations between loneliness and emotional intelligence

Loneliness has been linked cross-sectionally to emotional skill deficits (e.g., Zysberg, 2012), but missing from the literature is a longitudinal examination of these relationships. The present study fills that gap by examining the prospective relationships between loneliness and emotional functioning in young adolescents in England. One hundred and ninety-six adolescents aged 11-13 years (90 females) took part in the study and completed the youth version of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT-YV) and the peer-related subscale of the Loneliness and Aloneness Scale for Children and Adolescents (LACA) at two time points, which were 10 months apart. Prospective associations were obtained for male and female adolescents separately using cross-lagged statistical techniques. Our results showed prospective links between understanding and managing emotions and loneliness for both females and males. Perceiving and using emotions were prospectively linked to loneliness in males only. Possible explanations and directions for future research are discussed

Effects of temperature and land-use change on soil organic matter dynamics in a permafrost-affected ecosystem

Subarctic ecosystems are among the regions on earth that experience the strongest impact by climate change. As a result of global warming, agricultural centers are shifting poleward into previously non-viable regions of subarctic forests. These subarctic ecosystems are among those predicted to be most strongly impacted by rising global temperatures. Additionally, because agriculture north of 60 degrees latitude has been historically limited, there are few studies which systematically examine the effect of converting subarctic forests for cropland or grassland use on soil carbon. The aim of this thesis was to quantify the effects of land-use change from boreal forest to cropland and grassland on the stocks and composition soil organic carbon. Therefore, three studies were conducted in the Canadian Yukon Territory. First, the effect of soil warming on stocks and fractions of the soil organic matter was quantified by using proximity to a geothermal spring in a subarctic ecosystem as a long-term warming experiment. In the second study, 18 sites covering forest soils as well as adjacent agricultural land were sampled to assess differences in soil organic matter. Included were sites with and without permafrost as well as farms of different age, selected to quantify the influence of permafrost and duration of agricultural use on soil carbon dynamics. The aim of the third study was to measure the effect of land-use change on soil temperature and litter decomposition. Tea bags and temperature sensors were buried in the topsoil (10 cm) and in the subsoil (50 cm) at the same sites as used for the second study and retrieved after two years. This work has shown that deforestation for the purpose of agriculture leads to soil warming and therefore to the loss of near-surface permafrost. Consequently, a large loss of soil organic carbon was observed. Furthermore, the results indicated that the loss of soil organic carbon could be minimised if deforestation is restricted to permafrost-free soils and if the deforestation technique is adapted to minimal disturbance of the topsoil.Subarktische Ökosysteme gehören zu den am stärksten vom Klimawandel betroffenen Region der Erde. Im Zuge der Erderwärmung lässt sich eine Verlagerung der landwirtschaftlichen Zentren in Richtung der Pole beobachten, die zu einer Ausbreitung der Landwirtschaft hinein in subarktische Waldregionen führt. Da Landwirtschaft in Regionen nördlich von 60°N bislang nur eine untergeordnete Rolle spielte, existieren kaum Studien, die den Effekt des Landnutzungswandel von Wald zu Acker und Wald zu Grünland auf den Bodenkohlenstoff systematisch erfasst haben. Ziel der Dissertation war es, die Auswirkungen des Landnutzungswandels von borealem Wald zu Acker und Grünland auf die Vorräte und die Zusammensetzung der organischen Bodensubstanz zu quantifizieren. Den Kern der Dissertation bilden drei Studien, die im kanadischen Yukon Territory durchgeführt wurden. Zunächst wurde der Effekt von Bodenerwärmung auf die Vorräte und Fraktionen der organischen Bodensubstanz quantifiziert, in dem eine geothermale Quelle als Langzeit-Erwärmungsexperiment genutzt wurde. Im Rahmen der zweiten Studie wurden an 18 Standorten sowohl Waldböden, als auch benachbarte landwirtschaftlich genutzte Flächen in Hinblick auf die organische Bodensubstanz beprobt. Im Zuge dessen wurden Flächen mit und ohne Permafrost und Farmen unterschiedlichen Alters ausgewählt, um den Einfluss des Permafrostes auf die Kohlenstoffdynamik zu berücksichtigen und um mögliche Einflüsse der Nutzungsdauer zu quantifizieren. Ziel der dritten Studie war es, den Effekt der Landnutzungsänderung auf die Bodentemperatur und den Streuabbau zu messen. Hierfür wurden an denselben Standorten wie in der zweiten Studie Teebeutel und Temperatursensoren im Oberboden (10 cm) und im Unterboden (50 cm) vergraben und nach zwei Jahren geborgen. Die vorliegende Arbeit hat insgesamt gezeigt, dass Entwaldung für die Etablierung landwirtschaftlicher Flächen zur Erwärmung und somit zum Verlust des oberflächennahen Permafrostes führt, was wiederum große Verluste des Bodenkohlenstoffes nach sich zieht. Ferner fanden sich Hinweise darauf, dass Verluste des Bodenkohlenstoffes durch die Beschränkung der Entwaldung auf permafrostfreie Flächen und durch angepasst Entwaldungstechniken minimiert werden können.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft/Breaking the ice/401106790/E

Coping with loneliness: What do older adults suggest?

Objectives: A limited amount of information is available on how older adults cope with loneliness. Two ways of coping are distinguished here, i.e. active coping by improving relationships and regulative coping by lowering expectations about relationships. We explore how often older adults suggest these options to their lonely peers in various situations and to what extent individual resources influence their suggestions. Method: After introducing them to four vignettes of lonely individuals, discriminating with regard to age, partner status, and health, 1187 respondents aged 62 to 100 from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam were asked whether this loneliness can be alleviated by using various ways of coping. Results: In general, both ways of coping were often suggested. However, regression analyses revealed that active coping was suggested less often to people who are older, in poor health, or lonely and by older adults who were employed in midlife and have high self-esteem. Regulative coping was suggested more often to people who are older and by older adults with a low educational level and with low mastery. Conclusions: Coping with loneliness by actively removing the stressor is less often seen as an option for and by the people who could benefit most from it. This underlines the difficulty of combating loneliness

"They're Really PD Today": An Exploration of Mental Health Nursing Students' Perceptions of Developing a Therapeutic Relationship With Patients With a Diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder

The therapeutic relationship is of particular importance when working with patients with antisocial personality disorder, but despite this, there is a paucity of literature exploring student nurses’ perceptions of developing a therapeutic relationship with such patients. Hence, this qualitative study explored the perceptions of second-year mental health nursing students of developing a therapeutic relationship with this patient group. Student nurses from a University in the Northwest of England participated in two focus groups, to compare the perceptions of a group of student nurses who had experience in secure settings (forensic hospital) with those who had not. Four key themes emerged: diagnosis, safety, engagement, and finally environmental influences. Both groups commented on looking beyond the diagnosis and seeing the person. The student nurses cited other staff in their clinical placement areas as hugely influential in terms of the development of their perceptions of patients with antisocial personality disorder and how to relate to them

You’ll never walk alone: supportive social relations in a football and mental health project

Football can bring people together in acts of solidarity and togetherness. This spirit is most evocatively illustrated in the world renowned football anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone (YNWA). In this paper we argue that this spirit can be effectively harnessed in nursing and mental health care. We draw on data from qualitative interviews undertaken as part of evaluating a football and mental health project to explore the nature of supportive social relations therein. We use some of the lyrics from YNWA as metaphor to frame our thematic analysis. We are especially interested in the interactions between the group facilitators and group members, but also address aspects of peer support within the groups. A contrast is drawn between the flexible interpersonal boundaries and self-disclosure evident in the football initiative and the reported more distant relations with practitioners in mainstream mental health services. Findings suggest scope for utilising more collective, solidarity enhancing initiatives and attention to alliances and boundaries to maximise engagement and therapeutic benefits within routine practice

Childhood loneliness as a predictor of adolescent depressive symptoms: an 8-year longitudinal study

Childhood loneliness is characterised by children’s perceived dissatisfaction with aspects of their social relationships. This 8-year prospective study investigates whether loneliness in childhood predicts depressive symptoms in adolescence, controlling for early childhood indicators of emotional problems and a sociometric measure of peer social preference. 296 children were tested in the infant years of primary school (T1 5 years of age), in the upper primary school (T2 9 years of age) and in secondary school (T3 13 years of age). At T1, children completed the loneliness assessment and sociometric interview. Their teachers completed externalisation and internalisation rating scales for each child. At T2, children completed a loneliness assessment, a measure of depressive symptoms, and the sociometric interview. At T3, children completed the depressive symptom assessment. An SEM analysis showed that depressive symptoms in early adolescence (age 13) were predicted by reports of depressive symptoms at age 8, which were themselves predicted by internalisation in the infant school (5 years). The interactive effect of loneliness at 5 and 9, indicative of prolonged loneliness in childhood, also predicted depressive symptoms at age 13. Parent and peer-related loneliness at age 5 and 9, peer acceptance variables, and duration of parent loneliness did not predict depression. Our results suggest that enduring peer-related loneliness during childhood constitutes an interpersonal stressor that predisposes children to adolescent depressive symptoms. Possible mediators are discussed

Therapeutic relationships in day surgery: a grounded theory study

Aim: The aim of the study was to explore patients’ experiences of day surgery. Background: Therapeutic relationships are considered to be a core dimension of nursing care. However in modern healthcare with short hospital stays the formation of these relationships may be impeded. A major theme to emerge from this study was the development of therapeutic relationships in the day surgery setting. Methodology: The Glaserian method of Grounded Theory was utilised. Semi –structured interviews with 145 patients took place from 2004-2006 in two day surgery units in the United Kingdom. Analysis involved transcriptions of interviews and memos. Lists of key words and phrases were made and constantly compared until core categories began to emerge. Results: Patients spoke highly of the relationships they developed with nurses during their stay in the day surgery unit. Analysis of the data revealed the core category of therapeutic relationships and four sub core categories: “presence,” “extra special” “befriending” and “comfort-giving.” Conclusion: This paper adds to the growing body of literature which demonstrates that therapeutic relationships can be developed within the short stay arena of health care : routine interactions which may not be considered to be significant by nurses may be of importance to patients. The patients in this study felt supported, comforted and befriended by day surgery nurses. However a minority of patients were disappointed with the nursing staff responses to patient needs. Relevance to clinical practice: Anecdotal and empirical evidence suggests that personnel working within day surgery are not always aware of their therapeutic potential. Therefore raising awareness of this through research generated from patients’ experiences might encourage nurses to further realise their capabilities in this fundamental area of nursing