Buddy Systems Research Articles

The positive impact of daily well-being practices on individual veterinary professionals' professional quality of life self-assessment scores within an emergency and specialty hospital.

Our study set out to identify the benefits for veterinary workers of structured daily well-being practices on compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. Suggested origins of high rates of psychological stress and burnout are significant occupational concerns for veterinary workers. Many professional helpers experience an extreme state of tension and preoccupation from exposure to the suffering of those being helped. Veterinary workers are further impacted by negative associations and moral distress experienced due to limitations in the provision of quality medical care for veterinary patients. These negative experiences exist despite veterinary professionals' work being worthwhile and highly valued. A randomized controlled study was performed over 6 months. Volunteer participants were members of a team of veterinary workers at a 24-h emergency and specialty hospital. Study participants were asked to incorporate daily well-being practice(s) into existing routines whereas control participants were not. Measures of well-being and the negative impacts of serving as veterinary helpers were assessed by having participants complete the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) self-assessment at baseline and at 1, 3 and 6 months. Composite scores for compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress were calculated. Baseline ProQOL scores were similar between study participants and controls. Baseline compassion satisfaction (CS), burnout scores (BS), and secondary traumatic stress (STS) scores for those instituting well-being practices were 37.6 (+/- 3.6), 26 (+/- 5.3), and 26.6 (+/- 5.2). Study participants had higher compassion satisfaction scores at 6 months with mean CS scores (n = 15) of 40.1 (+/- 6.8) and adjusted scores that were on average 3.0 (95% CI 0-6.1) higher than the control group (p = 0.048). Significant differences in BS or STS scores were not seen. Improvements were seen in CS but not BO/STS for those caregivers who implemented well-being practices into their daily routines. Factors that likely contributed to successful implementation of well-being practices include educational resources, supportive leadership, accessibility, and consistent acknowledgement and positive rewards. Proposed supportive elements and resources for maintenance of well-being practices within a team of veterinary workers include provision of a psychologically safe community and team support (including formal or informal "buddy systems").

“THE ONLY WAY FOR US TO STAY SAFE IS TO HIDE”: THE EXPERIENCES OF OLDER CHINESE IMMIGRANTS DURING COVID-19 IN NYC

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected older adults, who were at heightened risk for COVID-19 morbidity and mortality, as well as social isolation. Challenges to accessing health information and vaccine resources were amplified among older immigrants due to language barriers, lack of established social networks, and experiences of systemic discrimination. Considering the surge of anti-Asian violence across the country and the high-profile violent incidents targeting Asian older adults, our analysis focuses on the lived experiences of older Chinese immigrants during the pandemic in New York City (NYC). To describe the support needed during the pandemic to inform service delivery, we conducted in-depth interviews with 9 low-income Chinese adults over 65 about their experiences in coping with COVID-19. Interviews were transcribed and subjected to inductive thematic analysis. Results show that driven by the pro-vaccination and science norms in China, participants shared an overall positive attitude towards vaccines and exhibited extraordinary resilience to COVID-misinformation. However, COVID-19 and anti-Asian violence amplified each other. Fear of contracting COVID-19 due to perceived age-related vulnerability and fear of anti-Asian violence were prevalent, leading to self-protective withdrawal and deferred health care. Many expressed concerns about traveling to public places alone. Deeply frustrated with the government’s role in controlling violent crimes, some participants decided to stay home indefinitely to evade trouble. Mechanisms to draw out people who have socially withdrawn are needed. Senior service providers in NYC should initiate discussions about perceived safety and implement peer buddy systems to enhance post-pandemic quality of life for Asian older adults.

Exploring student fitness to practise in physiotherapy – Strategies from the coalface

Health professionals have high rates of burnout. Their work satisfaction is also affected by supervising students with fitness to practise (FTP) issues. FTP issues include those regarding clinical competence, professionalism and physical and/or mental health. Strategies to support health professional clinical educators are warranted but have not yet been documented. This project investigated insights into strategies that support the supervision of students with FTP issues. Participants included approximately 45 attendees at the Personally Arranged Learning Session (PeArL) at the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) Conference Melbourne, October 2013 and approximately 20 attendees at the Clinical Education Managers Australia and New Zealand (CEMANZ) meeting in April 2015. Clinical educators discussed peer-assisted learning and buddy systems to support clinical educators and students. There was a preference indicated for feed-forward mechanisms to support student learning needs. Educators valued faculty staff as important supports particularly when supervising students with mental health concerns. Mentoring for clinical educators was also encouraged to help support staff new to the educator role. The importance of teamwork and regular breaks from clinical education were discussed. Clinical education managers discussed the inherent requirements of physiotherapy courses including strategies to flag and support students with FTP issues. Strategies to support clinical educators when supervising students with FTP issues were described.

A review of snorkelling and scuba diving fatalities in Queensland, Australia, 2000 to 2019.

This study examined all known diving-related fatalities in Queensland, Australia, from 2000 to 2019 to determine likely causes and potential countermeasures. Data were extracted from the Australasian Diving Safety Foundation fatality database, including previously published reports. The National Coronial Information System was searched to identify diving-related deaths in Queensland for 2014-2019 and data were extracted, analysed, and combined with previously published data covering the period 2000-2013. Descriptive statistics and parametric and non-parametric tests were used to analyse these data. There were 166 snorkelling and 41 scuba victims identified with median ages of 59 and 49 years respectively, and 83% of snorkel and 64% of scuba victims were males. One quarter of snorkel and 40% of scuba victims were obese. Two-thirds of the snorkellers and three quarters of scuba divers were overseas tourists. Contributory predisposing health conditions were identified in 61% of snorkel and 50% of scuba victims. Nine scuba victims died on their first dive. The increase in snorkelling deaths likely reflects increased participation, higher age, and poorer health. The main disabling condition in both cohorts was cardiac-related. Pre-existing health conditions, poor skills, inexperience, poor planning, supervision shortcomings and lack of effective buddy systems featured in both cohorts, and apnoeic hypoxia in breath-hold divers. Suggested countermeasures include improved education on the importance of health and fitness for safe diving and snorkelling, increased emphasis on an honest and accurate pre-activity health declaration and subsequent implementation of appropriate risk mitigation strategies, improved supervision, better buddy pairing, and on-going education on the hazards of extended apnoea.

CFFS: A Persistent Memory File System for Contiguous File Allocation With Fine-Grained Metadata

Extensive research on persistent memory (PM)-aware file systems has led to the development of numerous methods for improving read/write throughput. In particular, accessing or modifying file contents in a similar manner to the memory operations through <i>mmap</i> is a common approach. We designed a file system, CFFS (Contiguous File Allocation with Fine-Grained Metadata File System), to rapidly allocate PM pages to upper layer applications for <i>mmap</i> and to alleviate page fault overheads due to <i>mmap</i>. We optimized the physical contiguity of files in PM to reduce file fragmentation and increase fragment alignment with the goal of reducing software overhead. To achieve this goal, we implemented greedy-based buddy systems and implicit preallocation with a not-most-recently-used (NMRU) policy based on our overall page allocation strategy of considering not only the spatial but also the temporal locality of file access patterns. Furthermore, for efficient and atomic metadata operations, we fully leveraged the byte-addressable property of PM to design fine-grained metadata. CFFS adopts persistent doubly linked lists for directory operations to identify and recover from inconsistencies caused by system failures, doing so without using traditional log mechanisms. In experiments, CFFS showed superior page allocation performance to EXT4-DAX and NOVA did under different PM fragmentation levels. Our allocation algorithm also reduced the cost of page faults for frequently appended files. Finally, CFFS&#x2019;s lightweight directory operations performed excellently in creating and deleting files of various quantities. In summary, the main contribution of the paper is proposing an efficient page allocation algorithm to improve the performance of subsequent <i>mmaps</i>, based on the strategy of considering not only the spatial but also the temporal locality of file access patterns in PM file systems. Another contribution was the fine-grained and log-free method for atomic directory operations.

Anticipating the primary care role in genomic medicine: expectations of genetics health professionals.

Our purpose was to explore genetics health professionals' (GHPs) expectations of primary care providers' (PCPs) role in genomic medicine now and in the future. Focus groups/interviews were conducted with GHPs in Ontario, Canada. Recordings were transcribed and analysed using qualitative descriptive analysis. Five focus groups (6 clinical geneticists, 24 genetic counselors, 1 nurse, 4 laboratory staff, 3 genetics program administrators) and 3 interviews (nurses) were conducted. GHPs described a key role for PCPs in genomic medicine that could be enhanced if GHPs and PCPs worked together more effectively, making better use of GHPs as a scarce specialist resource, improving PCP knowledge and awareness of genomics, and increasing GHPs' understanding of primary care practice and how to provide PCPs meaningful education and support. Health system change is needed to facilitate the GHP/PCP relationship and improve care. This might include: PCPs ordering more genetic tests independently or with GHP guidance prior to GHP consultations, genomic expertise in primary care clinics or GHPs being accessible through buddy systems or virtually through telemedicine or electronic consultation, and developing educational materials and electronic decision support for PCPs. Our findings highlight need for change in delivering genomic medicine, which requires building the relationship between GHPs and PCPs, and creating new service delivery models to meet future needs.

Personal protective equipment preparedness in Asia-Pacific intensive care units during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: A multinational survey

BackgroundThere has been a surge in coronavirus disease 2019 admissions to intensive care units (ICUs) in Asia-Pacific countries. Because ICU healthcare workers are exposed to aerosol-generating procedures, ensuring optimal personal protective equipment (PPE) preparedness is important. ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to evaluate PPE preparedness across ICUs in six Asia-Pacific countries during the initial phase of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, which is defined by the World Health Organization as guideline adherence, training healthcare workers, procuring stocks, and responding appropriately to suspected cases. MethodsA cross-sectional Web-based survey was circulated to 633 level II/III ICUs of Australia, New Zealand (NZ), Singapore, Hong Kong (HK), India, and the Philippines. FindingsTwo hundred sixty-three intensivists responded, representing 231 individual ICUs eligible for analysis. Response rates were 68–100% in all countries except India, where it was 24%. Ninety-seven percent of ICUs either conformed to or exceeded World Health Organization recommendations for PPE practice. Fifty-nine percent ICUs used airborne precautions irrespective of aerosol generation procedures. There were variations in negative-pressure room use (highest in HK/Singapore), training (best in NZ), and PPE stock awareness (best in HK/Singapore/NZ). High-flow nasal oxygenation and noninvasive ventilation were not options in most HK (66.7% and 83.3%, respectively) and Singapore ICUs (50% and 80%, respectively), but were considered in other countries to a greater extent. Thirty-eight percent ICUs reported not having specialised airway teams. Showering and “buddy systems” were underused. Clinical waste disposal training was suboptimal (38%). ConclusionsMany ICUs in the Asia-Pacific reported suboptimal PPE preparedness in several domains, particularly related to PPE training, practice, and stock awareness, which requires remediation. Adoption of low-cost approaches such as buddy systems should be encouraged. The complete avoidance of high-flow nasal oxygenation reported by several intensivists needs reconsideration. Consideration must be given to standardise PPE guidelines to minimise practice variations. Urgent research to evaluate PPE preparedness and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 transmission is required.

Exercise Is Medicine For Mental Illness: Insights From Mental Health Professionals

PURPOSE: Serious mental illness (SMI) is a major public health concern linked with adverse outcomes (premature mortality, cardiovascular disease, obesity).1,2 Physical activity (PA) has effectively reduced health risks,3-6 yet challenges exist for effective PA treatment delivery and sustainability in SMI populations.7,8 Certified peer specialists (CPSs), trained persons with lived recovery experience working in mental health settings, offer a potentially sustainable and reimbursable delivery mechanism for Exercise Is Medicine (EIM) PA interventions.9 This study examined CPSs’ insights on the feasibility and acceptability of an EIM intervention in adults with SMI delivered in peer group settings. METHODS: Qualitative data were collected Spring/Summer 2018 through 4 focus groups of 3-6 people per group. CPSs were recruited through two behavioral health facilities in Kansas (n=11) and Georgia (n= 8). Semi-structured focus group guides elicited information regarding knowledge of PA, current PA with SMI peers, role of the CPS to promote PA, and feasibility of administering a PA intervention. Audio files were transcribed verbatim and analyzed with NVivo11 using qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach.10,11 RESULTS: Focus groups averaged 49±8 minutes. Data were coded into four themes: knowledge of PA, current PA with SMI peers, role of the CPS to promote PA, and PA intervention administration. CPSs stated their knowledge of PA is general and mostly comes from personal experience or internet searches. CPSs agreed their role covers Whole Health Action Management principles including promoting and participating in PA with SMI peers. CPSs were eager to participate in a PA intervention and willing to complete PA training or certification. PA intervention administration included input on PA duration, frequency location, time of day, resources needed, motivators (e.g., buddy systems, competitions, rewards) and overcoming common SMI barriers (e.g., transportation). CONCLUSIONS: CPSs were willing to facilitate EIM interventions and offered valuable insights on current practices, program feasibility and administration. Findings will aid development of a PA intervention delivered through mental health services to address low rates of PA and reduce health disparities in adults with SMI.

Group system: An efficient dynamic memory management scheme for real-time systems

While dynamic memory management (DMM) has been widely used as one of the basic elements of computer systems, it has been rarely used in real-time systems. DMM in real-time systems must exhibit fast execution, high memory efficiency, and predictable execution time. However, it is difficult to design a DMM scheme that simultaneously satisfies all of these requirements, and therefore DMM has not been widely used in real-time systems. This study proposes a new DMM scheme, named group system, that simultaneously satisfies the three requirements of real-time systems. The new DMM scheme is an extension of buddy systems and provides significantly improved memory efficiency compared to buddy systems while maintaining the advantage of the predictable execution time of buddy systems. Group system shows a slightly better worst-case execution time (WCET) than buddy systems that are known to exhibit excellent execution time, and shows memory efficiency that is close to that of the best fit scheme that is known to have excellent memory efficiency.

Successful Elements of Intergenerational Dementia Programs: A Scoping Review

ABSTRACTPeople with dementia often experience social isolation and stigmatization. Research shows that bringing generations together can be mutually beneficial. Although intergenerational dementia programs show promising results, specific successful elements remain unclear. A scoping literature review was performed to compare intergenerational dementia programs and identify successful elements and outcomes. Successful elements included (1) including buddy systems to foster relationship building, (2) dementia education to increase knowledge, positive attitudes and empathy among younger participants, (3) Montessori-based activities, (4) being considerate about activity set-up, (5) analyzing student-reflective journals, and (6) reminiscence programs. These findings can be used to develop successful intergenerational dementia programs.

Who Supports Project Careers? Leveraging the Compensatory Roles of Line Managers

This exploratory research examines who supports what aspects of career development on projects. Our main finding is that, although project professionals receive support from formal and informal sources, a compensatory mechanism is at play. When support does not come from direct line managers, project professionals are compelled to initiate informal practices, including mentoring, buddy systems, and communities of practice. Practical implications arise for organizations regarding how to ensure sufficient mechanisms are in place to compensate for lack of line management career support and to allow project professionals to access the development opportunities they need by supporting their self-initiated efforts.

Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans

Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans

Strategies to improve general practitioner well-being: findings from a focus group study.

Primary care physicians are particularly prone to high levels of burnout and poor well-being. Despite this, no qualitative studies have specifically investigated the best ways to improve well-being and prevent burnout in primary care physicians. Previous interventions within primary care have been person-oriented and mainly focused on mindfulness, but there has been no prior research on whether general practitioners (GPs) deem this to be the best approach. To explore strategies that could improve GP well-being and reduce or prevent burnout, based on GP perceptions of the workplace factors that affect their levels of well-being and burnout. Five focus groups were conducted, with 25 GPs (locums, salaried, trainees, and partners) in the UK, between September 2015 and February 2016. Focus groups took place in GP practices and private meeting rooms. Discussions were centered on the workplace factors that they perceived to influence their well-being, along with strategies that they use either personally, or as a practice, to try and prevent burnout. Furthermore, strategies that could feasibly be implemented by individuals and practices to improve well-being, as well as changes that are needed by groups or organizations that are external to their practice (e.g., the government) to improve the working conditions, were explored. Thematic analysis was conducted on the transcripts. Based on the contributors to burnout and workplace well-being that the participants identified, the following feasible strategies were suggested: compulsory daily coffee breaks, increasing self- and organizational awareness of the risks of burnout and mentoring or buddy systems. System-level organizational changes were voiced as vital, however, to improve the well-being of all primary care physicians. Increasing resources seemed to be the ideal solution, to allow for more administrative staff and GPs. These strategies merit further consideration by researchers, physicians, healthcare organizations and policy makers both in the UK and beyond. Failure to do so may result in healthcare staff becoming even more burntout, potentially leading to a loss of doctors from the workforce.

Meeting Physical Activity Guidelines: The Role of Personal Networks Among Residents of Low-Income Communities

Despite known benefits of regular physical activity (PA), residents of low-income communities have disproportionately high rates of physical inactivity. Mounting evidence suggests that social network characteristics may be associated with health behaviors, including PA. The purpose of the current study was to examine associations between egocentric network characteristics and meeting PA guidelines among residents of low-income and predominantly African-American communities. Data from the Greenville Healthy Neighborhoods Project (2014), a cross-sectional study, examined social network characteristics, including the PA behavior of social ties, and whether participants met PA guidelines (150 minutes per week of aerobic exercise). Respondent-driven sampling (non-random) was utilized to recruit participants (n=430) within eight low-income communities. Logistic regression analyses, performed in 2016, included robust sandwich estimation to account for clustering (non-independence) of observations. Participants were predominantly older (M=54.4 years, SD=15.1 years), African American (88.0%), and female (70.7%). More than one third of participants had an annual household income <$15,000 (41.6%) or reported meeting the current aerobic PA guidelines (45.8%). Controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, greater network extensity (based on the occupation of ego's network ties; OR=1.11, 95% CI=1.03, 1.20, p=0.02) and a higher percentage of physically active network members (OR=1.97, 95% CI=1.02, 3.82, p=0.04) were associated with higher odds of meeting PA guidelines. Social network characteristics are associated with individual PA behavior among residents of low-income communities. Interventions to increase PA among low-income and predominantly African-American communities should leverage personal networks, including the implementation of walking groups or buddy systems.

Chronic hepatitis C and individuals with a history of injecting drugs in Spain: population assessment, challenges for successful treatment.

In Spain, there is a need to improve chronic hepatitis C care among people who inject drugs (PWID). Injecting drug use is an important risk behaviour for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Review of 28 sources of the relevant published literature mapped the size of the addiction-HCV population in Spain. Experts in opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment in Spain completed a consensus to define the population size, HCV prevalence and access or barriers to hepatitis C treatment for PWID populations. In Spain, over 300 000 individuals have a lifetime history of injecting drugs. Currently, 150 000 individuals in Spain have OUD; many have injected drugs. Each year, 80 000 individuals engage with treatment services for OUD. A proportion of this group continues to inject drugs. There is a high HCV prevalence in PWID - estimates of 60-80% in Spain. Uptake of hepatitis C therapy in PWID in Spain is limited; barriers include awareness of treatment pathways, advocacy for regular screening and effective joint care. There is an urgent need to address barriers to effective hepatitis C care for PWID in Spain. Practical and specific strategies including peer-led solutions, patient buddy systems and joint working models at the local level can make important short-term differences.

Social Network Engagement and Adherence with Physical Activity Recommendations; The American Time Use Survey

Physical activity has numerous benefits in both primary and secondary prevention of chronic diseases. Current estimates suggest that most adults are not meeting the minimum recommended levels (PA-R) of leisure time physical activity (LT-PA) and these levels of adherence can vary by sociodemographic factors. Individuals’ social networks may impact their health behavior choices through interpersonal support mechanisms. Many LT-PA intervention studies have utilized “buddy systems” or social network engagement (SNE), as a method of promoting adherence. Thus far, there have been no large-scale, population based examinations of the relationship between SNE and adherence to PA-R. PURPOSE: The current study used nationally representative data from the American Time Use Survey dataset to test the relationship between Social Network Engagement (SNE) and participants’ adherence to minimum recommendations (PA-R) during leisure-time physical activity (LT-PA), and the impact of socio-demographic factors. METHODS: Data were collected from each cross sectional year (2003-2014) of the American Time Use Survey dataset. Leisure Time-Social Network Engagement (SNE) was conceptualized as the participation of LT-PA with a member of an individual’s social network. Adherence to PA Recommendations (PA-R) was calculated using an estimation of physical activity intensity through the PA compendium MET values and corresponding activity codes. MET-weighted minutes of LT-PA were dichotomized into a PA-R adherence estimation. RESULTS: The data were stratified by gender for the analysis. Age group, the only significant covariate, was controlled for in the models presented here. Men (OR = 1.53; 95% CI: 1.11 to 2.11) and women (OR = 2.52; 95% CI: 1.90 to 3.34) engaging their social network during reported LT-PA were more likely to meet PA-R compared to participating alone. Men engaging a friend (OR = 2.80; 95% CI: 1.84 to 4.25) and women engaging a family member (OR = 4.39; 95% CI: 2.37 to 8.12) or a friend (OR: 3.08; 95% CI: 2.10 to 4.51) during LT-PA were more likely to meet PA-R compared to participating alone, and when controlling for age and other forms of SNE. CONCLUSIONS: Social Network Engagement is associated with meeting PA-R. This relationship varies by gender and the type of SNE, but not other common sociodemographic factors.

Encouraging Dog Walking for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.

Regular physical activity is associated with numerous health benefits, including the prevention of many chronic diseases and conditions or a reduction in their adverse effects. Intervention studies suggest that promoting dog walking among dog owners who do not routinely walk their dogs may be an effective strategy for increasing and maintaining regular physical activity. Strategies that emphasize the value of dog walking for both dogs and people, promote the context-dependent repetition of dog walking, enhance the social-interaction benefits, encourage family dog walking, and ensure availability of public space for dog walking may encourage increased dog walking. Research also supports organizing buddy systems via "loaner" dogs to facilitate informal walking by dog owners and non-dog owners. Given the number of homes that have dogs, strategies that promote dog walking could be effective at increasing physical activity levels among a significant proportion of the population. Maximizing the potential for dog walking to positively influence the health of individual people (and dogs) will only occur through implementing programs with broad population-level reach. Policies that facilitate dog walking at the community and population levels, such as "dogs allowed" places, off-leash zones, and dog-friendly built environments and parks, may contribute to greater physical activity through dog walking.

From youth team to first team: An investigation into the transition experiences of young professional athletes in soccer

Using Wylleman and Lavallee [(2004). A developmental perspective on transitions faced by athletes. In M. Weiss (Ed.), Developmental sport psychology (pp. 507–527). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology] and Stambulova [(2003). Symptoms of a Crisis-transition: A Grounded Theory Study. In N. Hassmen (ed.), Svensk Idrottspykologisk Förening (pp. 97–109). Örebro, Sweden: Örebro University Press] models of transition as conceptual frameworks for the current study, we aimed to explore United Kingdom professional soccer players’ (N = 5) experiences going through a youth-to-senior career transition to first team level, and assess the immediate changes that occur during the move. Few studies have assessed this process, and no studies have focused on assessing the changes that may occur between pre- and post-transition. Data collection lasted one month with players interviewed twice, two weeks before, and two weeks after their transition to the first team. Data were abductively thematically content analysed. Prior to transition, players reported high motivation to be successful, but also feeling anxious about the transition to senior sport. Post-transition, players felt more confident about their ability to succeed in senior sport and maintained high levels of motivation to succeed. Family, friends, coaches, and teammates provided emotional, technical, and tangible support to the players throughout the transition, but were also sources of stress for athletes moving to senior sport. These findings suggest ways to assist transitioning athletes, such as the use of buddy systems with senior players.

Men's experiences of regaining urinary continence following robotic‐assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) for localised prostate cancer: a qualitative phenomenological study

To understand how men interpret their experiences of regaining continence following robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP). RALP is an innovative surgical technique intended to minimise the risk of long-term postoperative urinary incontinence in localised prostate cancer. Studies have shown that urinary function and quality of life domains can be adversely affected following RALP; however, the impact on men's lives has been hitherto unreported. A qualitative study using hermeneutic phenomenology Face-to-face, in-depth audio-recorded interviews with seven men (aged 57-71) who had recently undergone RALP and defined themselves as continent of urine. Data were inductively analysed for themes using an adapted version of Diekelmann etal. [1989, The NLN Criteria of Appraisal of Baccalaureate Programs: A Critical Hermeneutic Analysis, 1st edn. National League for Nursing (NLN) Press, New York, NY] framework. Men's experiences of regaining continence were situated within a wider network of personal and social relationships, and cultural structures. Themes included 'what was forecast', 'after-sales service', 'new plumbing', 'sense of self'. Men adopted a variety of practical coping strategies: preventing incontinence; improving incontinence; and dealing with lack of bladder control. The need to regain a sense of control over their lives resulted in all men developing coping mechanisms in order that they could resume their societal roles, which were salient to their personal identity, inferring that men's ability to cope with incontinence after RALP was dependent on factors other than urinary leakage alone. Knowledge of the potential impact of RALP could help nurses tailor appropriate interventions. Incontinence is individually interpreted and may not be well-addressed by traditional 'one-size fits all' preoperative programmes or information. Flexible and imaginative options (e.g., activity-focused interventions; buddy systems; internet programmes; telephone follow-up) for preoperative and postoperative support and activities for men may improve men's uptake of such services, through specialist nurse or peer support.

Strategies to promote coping and resilience in oncology and palliative care nurses caring for adult patients with malignancy: a systematic review.

Strategies to promote coping and resilience in oncology and palliative care nurses caring for adult patients with malignancy: a systematic review.