Number Of Healthcare Professionals Research Articles

Meeting the increasing need for training in obstetric medicine.

As increasing numbers of women of child-bearing age enter pregnancy with chronic medical conditions and an increasing number are overweight or obese, the role of obstetric medicine expands as well. The challenge to safely prepare these women for pregnancy, care for them during pregnancy and develop plans for their long-term care will be enormous. We must be able to develop a workforce across disciplines to answer this need. In the latest UK Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths,1 in which the individual deaths were reviewed in detail, ‘the assessors were struck by the number of health care professionals who appeared to fail to be able to identify and manage common medical conditions or potential emergencies outside their immediate area of expertise’. In this edition of the journal, we are pleased to publish ‘Validation of a Canadian Curriculum in Obstetric Medicine’. This is an instrument specific to Canadian Residency training that has had country-wide validation. In addition, there have been contributions from the North American and the International Society of Obstetric Medicine's work on an international curriculum, spearheaded by our UK editor-in-chief, Professor Catherine Nelson-Piercy, and by Professor Raymond Powrie of the USA.

Communication and access to information in assessing the quality of multiprofessional care of patients.

To assess the quality of a multiprofessional healthcare model for in-hospital patients by means of two performance indicators (communication and knowledge about the case). A cross-sectional study assessed the knowledge that professionals had about the clinical information of patients and the use of communication strategies by the team. Healthcare professionals were interviewed during their work period. Seven occupational categories were interviewed. A total of 199 medical charts were randomly selected for interviews, and 312 professionals of different categories were interviewed. The sample comprised mostly nurses and physical therapists in the charts that were interviewed. There were no statistically significant differences between the expected performing model group and the under-performing model group for sex, location and job. In the under-performing model group, a larger number of professionals correlated with less knowledge. Communication was improved when nurses had the relevant information about interdisciplinary care (97.4%), appropriate use of the Plan of Care form (97.0%), and formalized discussions with physicians (88.2%). In the expected performing model group, it was observed that the higher the number of healthcare professionals involved, the higher the communication levels. This model of care based on case knowledge and multiprofessional team communication performance indices allowed to assess quality of care. This assessment is measurable and there is the possibility of establishing the quality of care delivered.

Improving Access to Health Care for Uninsured Elderly Patients

The purpose of this article is to explore the barriers that the uninsured elderly population encounter when accessing health care in the United States. These barriers include, but are not limited to lack of transportation, insurance, or family support; the daunting complexity of the health care system; poverty; culture; poor patient-health care provider communications; race/ethnicity; and lack of health care professionals such as nurses and doctors with adequate geriatric preparation, or generalists who are undereducated in geriatrics. The number of health care professionals currently available to treat elderly persons in the United States is inadequate. The Federal government should take steps to develop solutions to improve access to health care and decrease health disparities for older adults. As a nation, we should be proactive in addressing these concerns instead of waiting for new barriers to arise that further limit access to health care for elderly patients and their families. In this article, we provide an assessment of the barriers that limit access to health care in the uninsured elderly population and suggest recommendations and possible solutions to eliminate or reduce these barriers.

Monitoring the Tobacco Epidemic With National, Regional, and International Databases and Systematic Reviews: Evidence for Nursing Research and Clinical Decision Making

Tobacco use (primarily cigarette smoking) continues to be the most preventable health risk in the United States and the second greatest health threat around the world. In 2020 the global burden is expected to exceed nine million deaths annually. Nursing, with the largest numbers of health care professionals has an opportunity to make a significant reduction in tobacco use through its research and client-focused care. This chapter addresses why and how monitoring the tobacco epidemic with population-based databases and meta-analyses is important for nurse researchers and for evidence-based nursing practice. Population-based surveys permit an examination of trends in tobacco use and the progress in tobacco control with some confidence across time, places (i.e., states, nations, communities, etc.), and large numbers of participants. Included in this review are a description of the numerous national and international databases and other resources that nurse researchers can use to build the science of tobacco use. Additionally, research reviews and meta-analyses are described as other vehicles for providing a basis for making evidence-based decisions about nursing intervention. Nurse scientists have an obligation to use and evaluate these diverse resources to determine the gaps in knowledge, provide a foundation for clinical practice, and identify the needs and directions for future research in the field.

Linking biomedical research to health care

We are in the midst of a vitally important discussion on health care. This debate has provided insights into who we are as Americans and what we value. We clearly value our health and our health care. We believe that health and access to quality health care are a human right. As physicians, many of us have worked in impoverished areas in this country and abroad, and we’ve seen that the poor can often be deprived of such rights. We have had the privilege of providing medical care to people who otherwise would not be able to get it. The number of health care professionals eager to serve is impressive, and so is the amount that can be accomplished. And so, our efforts as physicians to advocate for health as a human right, to reduce Americans’ vulnerability, and to care for those in need must be heard. Another insight is obvious to those who engage in biomedical research, but the message is likely underappreciated by the American public. Biomedical research provides the basis for progress in health and health care. Basic discoveries, translation to clinical medicine, and implementation into medical practice have been the story line of medical advances for decades. And the vast majority of basic discoveries have been funded by the National Institutes of Health through taxpayers’ investment in biomedical research. So why isn’t NIH-funded research mentioned more in our health care discussion? We know the likely causes: it is difficult to draw a straight line between NIH-funded research and improvements in health care; many basic science advances take decades before being fully developed into therapeutics and fully implemented into medical practice; and reporting of medical advances rarely includes attribution to NIH funding. But this is a very special time for our biomedical community. We are the recipients of approximately $10 billion of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds, and we can use the health care discussion as an opportunity to articulate (a) our gratitude for the enormous investment made by the American public in the biomedical research enterprise; (b) how ARRA-supported research will accelerate medical progress by helping to deliver new treatments and prevention strategies to reduce disease; (c) the synergy among university, academic health centers, and NIH support for training the next generation of physician-scientists and biomedical leaders; and (d) the current and future scientific opportunities that will empower the biomedical research community. Knowledge gained from important fields of NIH-funded research will contribute significantly to our progress in achieving affordable and high-quality health care for all Americans. Comparative effectiveness research, for example, involves conducting and synthesizing research comparing the benefits and harms of different interventions and strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor health conditions in real-world settings. The goal of this research is to improve health outcomes by developing and disseminating evidence-based information to patients, clinicians, and other decision makers about which interventions are most effective for which patients in specific circumstances. The NIH has a long and rich tradition of comparative effectiveness research and is well positioned to play a major leadership role in continuing to fund this research. We understand that patient-centered health research is vital to effective health care, and the results of comparative effectiveness research can direct the right treatment to the right person in the right setting at the right time. Other areas in which NIH-funded research will inform the health care discussion include health economics, health systems research, health disparities, and personalized medicine, to name a few. As physicians, we carry within us a belief that health and access to quality health care are a human right; that when the health system does not serve many of our fellow Americans well, we must change it. Biomedical research offers hope to improve vaccines, therapeutics, devices, and health system approaches that will bring health and security to our fellow Americans. Our health care discussion is not solely about our nation’s health; it is also a statement about what we value.

Current Status of e-Health Awareness Among Healthcare Professionals in Teaching Hospitals of Rawalpindi: A Survey

The purpose of this survey was to determine the number of healthcare professionals with knowledge about e-health and how many people would like to use e-health in their practice. A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted from September to November 2007 in Rawalpindi Medical College and allied hospitals. E-health survey questionnaires were designed and distributed among healthcare professionals, and their knowledge and attitudes toward e-health were assessed. Of 186 healthcare professionals, 41.4% were doctors, 31.7% were medical students, and 26.9% were nurses. Of this total, 57% had heard of e-health prior to the survey; 28% were of the opinion that healthcare professionals should hear about e-health in medical college; 50.5% believed that e-health services for developing countries were useful in general. According to 40.3%, more information on successful e-health projects would be necessary to introduce e-health services into medical practice. Self-education, and better diagnosis and treatments were the main motivational factors to use e-health. Of those surveyed, 67.2% had access to Internet but most of them had not used an online database for reaching a diagnosis, preferring other doctors as their main source of expert advice. Recommendation by doctors and respected medical experts was considered most important for buying an e-health service. The present study demonstrates a lack of adequate knowledge about e-health among healthcare specialists. However, a majority believed that e-health has a very important role to play in present and future healthcare.

State of the world’s children with diabetes

As one considers the near future of diabetes in children, some very sobering thoughts are in order. First, with respect to the magnitude of the problem, the worst is yet to come! The emergence of new economic giants such as China and India will bring with it potential massive increases in type 1 diabetes (2-5% per annum increases in incidence in the world's most populous countries) and childhood obesity (with its associated insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes). This will demand the training of enormous numbers of health care professionals and delivery of insulin and testing equipment that is of high quality and reasonable cost. Second, the majority of children with diabetes presently do not and, likely in the foreseeable future, will not achieve and maintain levels of metabolic control that provide protection from microvascular and macrovascular complications. In fact, an analysis by the Centers for Disease Control in the USA suggested that a child of 10 yr of age developing diabetes in the year 2000 would live a further approximately 50-55 yr, losing about 18-20 yr of life, this in the world's richest nation!Finally, Edwin Gale in 2005 issued the following warning: 'The individual and communal legacy of poor glucose control will remain with us for the next 30 years, EVEN if an effective means of preventing new cases of the disease were to be introduced tomorrow'.There is much work to be done and little room for complacency. Only when every single child with diabetes has ready access to experienced health care professionals, insulin, and other supplies, food water and protection will the first part of the job be done.

Evaluation of the Uses of Medical Records within a Health Assistance Network

This article proposes a method to evaluate the uses of medical records by healthcare professionals within a health assistance network. We have used a mixed methodology with two main axes: a qualitative sociological analysis, based on face-to-face interviews, and a statistical study of computer log files. 19 interviews of healthcare professionals and 16,417 logs files, concerning 111 doctors and 823 patients, over a period of 43 months have been analyzed. The main results are that there is a real use of Shared Patient Records, even if the intensity of use is very heterogeneous, with a small group deeply involved in use of the system. Moreover, the use of Shared Patient Records has increased steadily since the system was launched, both in the number of healthcare professionals consulting them and the number of patients treated. The sharing of data is motivated by a specific goal: to coordinate the care of addictive behaviors and the kind of data shared is determined by this goal. Not all information is shared, but only data that can help other professionals treat addicted patients.

Research Ethics Training in Peru: A Case Study

With the rapidly increasing number of health care professionals seeking international research experience, comes an urgent need for enhanced capacity of host country institutional review boards (IRB) to review research proposals and ensure research activities are both ethical and relevant to the host country customs and needs. A successful combination of distance learning, interactive courses and expert course instructors has been applied in Peru since 2004 through collaborations between the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center Detachment, the University of Washington and the Department of Clinical Bioethics of the National Institutes of Health to provide training in ethical conduct of research to IRB members and researchers from Peru and other Latin American countries. All training activities were conducted under the auspices of the Peruvian National Institute of Health (INS), Ministry of Health. To date, 927 people from 12 different Latin American countries have participated in several of these training activities. In this article we describe our training model.

Development of an Interprofessional Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device Support Team

Caring for pediatric patients with a ventricular assist device (VAD) requires a collaborative approach from an interprofessional team to ensure maximum patient safety and optimal outcomes. Initiating a VAD program is challenging, due to the complex medical and technical nature of this device and associated learning needs. At our institution, the development of the interprofessional VAD support team was established in four phases. Initial Education, Core Team Formation, Expansion, and Evaluation. A "core VAD team" was created after the initial education at an established VAD center. In a third step, all efforts were directed toward increasing the number of health care professionals caring for the VAD patients in the Cardiac Critical Care setting and on the Cardiac ward. The last phase consists of ongoing evaluation. Several key areas imperative to the care of a patient on a VAD were identified and further elaborated. The complex care of a patient on a VAD needs a specialized team approach to cover all patient care needs. Ongoing interprofessional education continues to improve competency of care. Continuity of care was assured on all levels of service to ensure the best possible outcomes.

Books

Over the past 30 years a number of medical 'missions' have taken plastic surgery services to people with cleft lip and palate in the developing world. The editors of this book have commissioned contributions from a number of healthcare professionals, mainly from the USA and the UK, involved with such 'missions', or projects, inviting them to write about their experiences. The resulting book is both a review of current projects and a practical manual. Indeed the blurb on the back cover states that it is 'an important resource for anyone who has—;or plans to have—; a commitment to develop services in that environment…'.

The North American section of Rural and Remote Health: the time has come!

For this Journal section, North America is defined as inclusive of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Greenland, Central America and the Caribbean. The 23 countries included in this vast geographical range are diverse in their governance, level of development, research funding opportunities, health status and health concerns, availability of education and types and numbers of healthcare professionals. This diversity can provide the North American section with a full spectrum of ideas, projects, educational programs and policy issues to be shared through articles, commentaries and project descriptions and used as lessons learned for others involved in rural health issues.

Measuring the quality of transdisciplinary teams

The Team Decision Making Questionnaire (TDMQ) demonstrated internal consistency, stability over time, and construct validity. Internal consistencies were excellent and Cronbach's Alphas (N = 102) for the 4 components ranged from 0.83 to 0.91. The internal consistency for the total instrument was 0.96. Test re-test reliability (N = 22) measured with Intraclass Correlation Coefficient was good. Transdisciplinary teamwork is widely practiced in health care. However, specific measures to evaluate transdisciplinary team decision-making are not described in the literature. The purpose of this study was to develop and psychometrically test a scale to measure the quality of transdisciplinary teamwork. A multi-method approach using focus groups, field testing, and quantitative instrument development procedures was used to develop and evaluate TDMQ. Principal component analysis (PCA) with a varimax rotation (N = 102) revealed a four-component solution resulting in a 19-item measure consisting of 4 subscales including Decision Making, Team Support, Learning, and Developing Quality Services. This study's findings support the use of the TDMQ for measuring the benefits of transdisciplinary teamwork. The four subscales of the measure provide insight into the nature of such benefits. To validate the TDMQ research is required with a greater number of health care professionals and in other clinical fields.

Spatial and multidimensional visualization of Indonesia's village health statistics

BackgroundA community health assessment (CHA) is used to identify and address health issues in a given population. Effective CHA requires timely and comprehensive information from a wide variety of sources, such as: socio-economic data, disease surveillance, healthcare utilization, environmental data, and health resource allocation.Indonesia is a developing country with 235 million inhabitants over 13,000 islands. There are significant barriers to conducting CHA in developing countries like Indonesia, such as the high cost of computing resources and the lack of computing skills necessary to support such an assessment.At the University of Pittsburgh, we have developed the Spatial OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) Visualization and Analysis Tool (SOVAT) for performing CHA. SOVAT combines Geographic Information System (GIS) technology along with an advanced multidimensional data warehouse structure to facilitate analysis of large, disparate health, environmental, population, and spatial data.The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the potential of SOVAT for facilitating CHA among developing countries by using health, population, healthcare resources, and spatial data from Indonesia for use in two CHA cases studies.ResultsBureau of Statistics administered data sets from the Indonesian Census, and the Indonesian village statistics, were used in the case studies. The data consisted of: healthcare resources (number of healthcare professionals and facilities), population (census), morbidity and mortality, and spatial (GIS-formatted) information.The data was formatted, combined, and populated into SOVAT for CHA use. Case study 1 involves the distribution of healthcare professionals in Indonesia, while case study 2 involves malaria mortality. Screen shots are shown for both cases. The results for the CHA were retrieved in seconds and presented through the geospatial and numerical SOVAT interface.ConclusionThe case studies show the potential of spatial and multidimensional analysis using SOVAT for community health assessment in developing countries. Since SOVAT is based primarily on open-source components and can be deployed using small personal computers, it is cost-effective for developing countries. Also, combining the strength in analysis and the ease of use makes tools like SOVAT ideal for healthcare professionals without extensive computer skills.

Complexity, risk and simulation in learning procedural skills

A complex chain of events underpins every clinical intervention, especially those involving invasive procedures. Safety requires high levels of awareness and vigilance. In this paper we propose a structured approach to procedural training, mapping each learner's evolving experience within a matrix of clinical risk and procedural complexity. We use a traffic light analogy to conceptualize a dynamic awareness of prevailing risk and the implications of moving between zones. We argue that clinical exposure can be consolidated by simulation where appropriate, ensuring that each learner gains the skills for safe care within the increasingly limited time available for training. To be effective, however, such simulation must be realistic, patient-focused, structured and grounded in an authentic clinical context. Challenge comes not only from technical difficulty but also from the need for interpersonal skills and professionalism within clinical encounters. Many existing simulations focus on crises, so clinicians are in a heightened state of expectation that may not reflect their usual practice. We argue that simulation should also reflect commonly occurring non-crisis situations, allowing clinicians to develop an awareness of the complex events that underpin clinical encounters. We describe a patient-focused approach to simulation, using simulated patients and inanimate models within realistic scenarios, to ground experience in authentic clinical practice and bring together the complex elements that underpin clinical events. Although our argument has evolved from surgical practice and operating theatre teams, we believe it can be widely applied to the increasing number of health care professionals who perform clinical interventions.

Incident Reporting: A Curate's Egg?

Background Medical errors and adverse events are a source of concern to patients, practitioners and patient safety agencies across the world. The value of incident reporting as a means of improving patient safety has been questioned in the patient safety literature. Aim This paper provides a critical appraisal of incident reporting in the British National Health Service (NHS) as its prominence continues to grow at international, national and local levels. A number of implications are considered through reference to the available literature. Both national and local reporting systems will be discussed, before revisiting two key issues: the safety-information capacity of report data compared with medical record review, and the continued low reporting rate of medical staff. Conclusions While there are powerful drivers behind incident reporting, all of which have potentially beneficent rationales, a growing number of health-care professionals are beginning to question the usefulness of both reporting processes and outcomes. The authors suggest that an analysis of evidence of action taken to improve patient safety following the reporting of an incident would reveal low levels of activity and that, for many practitioners, the risk management activity is perceived as merely the act of reporting itself. Due to the continuing investment of organizational energy and finance into incident reporting, both at local and national level, it is prudent to reflect upon any uncertainties, so that further developments can be approached with confidence as part of the patient safety imperative.

Information Extraction From Sound for Medical Telemonitoring

Today, the growth of the aging population in Europe needs an increasing number of health care professionals and facilities for aged persons. Medical telemonitoring at home (and, more generally, telemedicine) improves the patient's comfort and reduces hospitalization costs. Using sound surveillance as an alternative solution to video telemonitoring, this paper deals with the detection and classification of alarming sounds in a noisy environment. The proposed sound analysis system can detect distress or everyday sounds everywhere in the monitored apartment, and is connected to classical medical telemonitoring sensors through a data fusion process. The sound analysis system is divided in two stages: sound detection and classification. The first analysis stage (sound detection) must extract significant sounds from a continuous signal flow. A new detection algorithm based on discrete wavelet transform is proposed in this paper, which leads to accurate results when applied to nonstationary signals (such as impulsive sounds). The algorithm presented in this paper was evaluated in a noisy environment and is favorably compared to the state of the art algorithms in the field. The second stage of the system is sound classification, which uses a statistical approach to identify unknown sounds. A statistical study was done to find out the most discriminant acoustical parameters in the input of the classification module. New wavelet based parameters, better adapted to noise, are proposed in this paper. The telemonitoring system validation is presented through various real and simulated test sets. The global sound based system leads to a 3% missed alarm rate and could be fused with other medical sensors to improve performance.

White House Conference Focuses on Geriatric MH

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Professional NewsFull AccessWhite House Conference Focuses on Geriatric MHJim RosackJim RosackSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:20 Jan 2006https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.41.2.0005Dan Blazer, M.D.: “Older adults and their advocates are much more aware of the disabling and tragic consequences of mental illness in late life.” Courtesy of American Association for Geriatric PsychiatryDelegates attending the 2005 White House Conference on Aging (WHCA) last month made the mental health of older Americans a priority for the first time in the conference's history. Delegates asked President Bush and Congress to focus national efforts on improving geriatric mental health services and to support increasing the number of health care professionals with expertise in geriatrics and mental health.Delegates from around the country representing diverse perspectives and issues agreed on 50 recommendations to send to the president and Congress regarding current and future pressing issues on aging. The delegates' final report will be sent to the president and Congress by June.Recognizing the current health and mental health needs of older Americans and the challenges awaiting as the baby-boom generation ages, delegates voted to place mental health and geriatric health professional training issues at the forefront by voting them numbers eight and nine among the top 10 recommendations.In their top 10 recommendations, delegates at the conference asked the president and Congress toReauthorize the Older Americans Act within the first six months after the 2005 White House Conference on Aging.Develop a coordinated, comprehensive, long-term care strategy by supporting public and private sector initiatives that address financing, choice, quality, service delivery, and the paid and unpaid workforce.Ensure that older Americans have transportation options to retain their mobility and independence.Strengthen and improve the Medicaid program for seniors.Strengthen and improve the Medicare program.Support geriatric education and training for all health care professionals, paraprofessionals, health profession students, and direct care workers.Promote innovative models of noninstitutional long-term care.Improve recognition, assessment, and treatment of mental illness and depression among older Americans.Attain adequate numbers of health care personnel in all professions who are skilled, culturally competent, and specialized in geriatrics.Improve locally and state-based integrated delivery systems to meet 21st century needs of seniors.“Older adults and their advocates are much more aware of the disabling and tragic consequences of mental illness in late life, especially depression, anxiety, and the agitation that is associated with dementia. They also recognize that we can do something about it,” explained Dan Blazer, M.D., Ph.D.Blazer, the president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine, served as a delegate to the WHCA.“The elderly and their advocates also recognize that to implement those treatments that we know to be effective, we must have a trained workforce,” Blazer added.A setback to achieving the conference's workforce recommendations came shortly after the conference, when funding for the training of health care professionals in geriatric programs, under Title VII of the Public Health Service Act, was eliminated as part of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education spending bill for 2006. Aware that the cut was being considered, conference delegates had urged restoration to ensure that vital programs could continue to educate a much-needed workforce.The 2005 WHCA, the fifth conference held, adopted the theme “The Booming Dynamics of Aging: From Awareness to Action.” Delegates focused on the unique challenges facing the 78 million Americans known as baby boomers, who begin turning age 60 this year.Prior conferences—in 1961, 1971, 1981, and 1995—contributed to the establishment and augmentation of Medicare, Medicaid, and the Supplemental Security Income Program; the passage of the Older Americans Act; and the birth of the National Institute on Aging. Delegates are selected by governors, members of Congress, and the National Congress of American Indians.More information about the 2005 White House Conference on Aging is posted at<www.WHCoA.gov>.▪ ISSUES NewArchived

Interactive online assessment training for busy practitioners

Context and setting During our 5-year programme students are assessed by a large number of health care professionals who are geographically dispersed throughout the south-west of England. It is essential that professionals receive training to familiarise themselves with the assessment instruments and marking schemes, participate in bench-marking sessions and receive instruction on how to reliably assess and provide constructive feedback to students to enhance their learning. We developed an assessment website containing interactive tutorials that could take the place of face-to-face training sessions. We describe the results of a first-round evaluation of the utility of the online training resource. Why the idea was necessary The number of health care professionals involved in the assessment process has risen every year, and currently stands in excess of 200. From early experiences we learnt that organising traditional face-to-face training sessions was difficult with such large numbers of dispersed and busy practitioners. We considered that face-to-face sessions could be replaced by online tutorials that could be worked through at a time and place convenient to the professionals. Discussions with other universities and an Internet search uncovered numerous teaching and learning resources, but a dearth of assessment-related resources. We therefore sought to develop a website that could serve as a permanent resource on good assessment practice. What was done The assessment website consists of 4 tutorials, a glossary of assessment-related terms and a reference list. Each tutorial can be completed within 15–20 minutes, and combines subject information with formative assessment, usually in the form of a short quiz, to test the user's understanding. The fourth tutorial incorporates a database where users can provide marks and feedback on a short essay and view the feedback given by other users. The tutorials were developed using the multimedia authoring tool Macromedia Flash, allowing us to combine text, imagery and animations. A re-useable template was used so that future tutorials, on peer assessment, for example, could be easily added to the current collection. Evaluation of results and impact A small number of practitioners and individuals from the school (11) were invited to complete the tutorials and an online evaluation and feedback form. The evaluation consisted of 4 items that explored the usability and utility of the resource using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree), and 3 free text items. This constituted a first-round evaluation, primarily to identify any problems and determine what improvements could be made before offering the resource to the practitioner population. The responses of the 11 participants were overwhelmingly positive. All participants agreed or strongly agreed that the tutorials were easy to use, that the images and interactive elements were relevant to the subject matter, and that they would feel confident about assessing students after completing the tutorials. Three participants commented that it was a useful learning resource, giving good insights into assessment-related issues. Our experience suggests that online tutorials may be a convenient means of introducing health care professionals to assessment.

Benefits of psychosocial oncology care: Improved quality of life and medical cost offset

The burden of cancer in the worldwide context continues to grow, with an increasing number of new cases and deaths each year. A significant proportion of cancer patients at all stages of the disease trajectory will suffer social, emotional and psychological distress as a result of cancer diagnosis and treatment. Psychosocial interventions have proven efficacious for helping patients and families confront the many issues that arise during this difficult time. This paper reviews the literature detailing the extent of distress in patients, the staffing needed to treat such levels of distress, and the efficacy of psychosocial treatments for cancer patients. This is followed by a summary of the literature on medical cost offset in mental health, other medical populations, and in cancer patients, which supports the notion that psychosocial interventions are not only effective, but also economical. Conclusions support taking a whole-person approach, as advocated by a growing number of health care professionals, which would not only help to treat the emotional and social aspects of living with cancer, but also provide considerable long-term cost savings to overburdened health-care systems.