Psychosocial Communication Research Articles

The effectiveness of a cognitive-environmental program to improve psychosocial communication in cases of speech, language and speech disorders " ( Empirical Study )

The effectiveness of a cognitive-environmental program to improve psychosocial communication in cases of speech, language and speech disorders " ( Empirical Study )

Autism, ADHD, Sexual Compulsivity, and Problematic Pornography Use: A Sexual Psychosocial Communication Disparity in Disability

Autism, ADHD, Sexual Compulsivity, and Problematic Pornography Use: A Sexual Psychosocial Communication Disparity in Disability

The Magnitude and Effects of Early Integration of Palliative Care Into Oncology Service Among Adult Advanced Cancer Patients at a Tertiary Care Hospital.

BackgroundPalliative care (PC) has a positive effect on symptom burden, quality of life, psychosocial communication, prognostic understanding, mood, and quality of care at the end of life of patients with advanced cancer.ObjectivesTo investigate the timing of the first palliative consultation and referral of advanced cancer patients to the palliative care service and their determinants at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSHRC), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.Subjects and methodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted at KFSHRC. It included advanced cancer patients who died between January 1, 2019 and Jun 30, 2020. The dependent variable of primary interest is the timing of PC consultation and the timing of PC referral. The independent variables included age, sex, marital status, nationality, date of death, types of cancer, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), palliative performance status (PPS), palliative prognostic index (PPI), code status (do not resuscitate [DNR]), the severity of symptoms (assessed by the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System - Revised [ESAS-r]), referral to home health care (HHC), referral to long-term care (LTC), referral to interdisciplinary team (IDT), length of survival after the first PC consultation, length of survival after the referral to the PC service, length of hospital stay, frequency of emergency room (ER) visits and hospital admission in the last year before death, and involvement in bereavement with advanced care planning (ACP) services.ResultsOf the 210 advanced cancer patients, 109 (51.9%) were male, and their ages ranged between 18 and 90 years. More than half of patients (56.7%) had a history of PC consultation. Among them, PC consultation was described as late in 60.5% of patients. Concerning the timing of palliative care referral among advanced cancer patients, it was too late and much too late among 25.7% and 58.1% of them, respectively. Patients who visited ER more frequently (≥3 times) (p=0.014) and those who referred to HHC (p=0.005) were more likely to consult PC early compared to their counterparts. Length of survival was significantly higher among patients who reported early PC consultation compared to those without PC consultation and those with late PC consultation, p<0.001. Referral to PC for both transfer of care and symptom management was associated with earlier PC consultation, p=0.021. Patients who were admitted to the hospital three times or more were less likely to be much too late referred to PC services, p=0.046. Also, patients who were not referred to long-term care or home health care were more likely to be referred to PC services much too late, p<0.001. Among 28.8% of patients whose PPS ranged between 30% and 50% compared to 14.9% of those whose PPS ranged between 10% and 20% expressed too late referral time to PC, p=0.040.ConclusionIn a considerable proportion of terminal cancer patients, palliative care was consulted late, and the timing of palliative care referral was too late/much too late among most of those consulted palliative care. Length of survival was higher among patients who reported early PC consultation and who with ideal referral time to PC services than others. Therefore, future considerations to facilitate early integration of palliative care in cancer patients are highly recommended through mainly improving staff education in communication skills and palliative care approach.

The mental health status among nurses from low-risk areas under normalized COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control in China: A cross-sectional study.

This study aimed to investigate the mental health status of nurses from low‐risk areas of novel coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic, its potential impact factors, and the main stressors under the normalized prevention and control in China. A mobile phone app‐based survey was conducted among registered nurses in Jiangsu province via a region‐stratified sampling method. The questionnaire consisted of items on the demographic characteristics of the nursing staff and their Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale‐21 (DASS‐21) along with questions for self‐assessment of stressors that are associated with COVID‐19. STROBE guideline was used. Among 1803 nurses who were working in the low‐risk areas in Jiangsu, 22.0%, 29.8%, and 16.1% of them reported moderate to extreme levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. Having 11–15 years of working experience and being a fixed‐term contract nurse were associated with experiencing worse mental health outcomes while supporting‐Wuhan working experience and having mental health preparation course training were independent factors that had beneficial impact on their psychological well‐being afterward. In terms of source of pressure, a key finding of this study is that the main stressor among these nurses was the lack of patient’s understanding and cooperation (71.2%) which calls for better psychosocial communication between nurses and patients. The present findings would provide information for other regions at low risk of COVID‐19 and may aid the provision of support and interventions for the benefit of the psychological well‐being of nurses who are exposed to life‐threatening occupational risks and are more vulnerable to the pandemic than others.

Assessing communication issues on the basis of Personality, Perceived Stress, Family Environment and Self-Esteem of Individuals with and without Substance Related Disorders

The aim of the present study was to compare the personality dimensions, perceived stress, family environment &amp; self -esteem of individuals with and without substance related disorders. To fulfill the aim 120 adults belonging to early and middle adulthood were included in the study .60 adults were in the substance related disorders group and another 60 comprised the control group. Further, relation in personality dimensions, perceived stress, family environment and self esteem was also assessed. From the result of the present study, it can be concluded that substance related disorders group is found to be high on all the three personality dimensions namely psychoticism, neuroticism &amp; extraversion and they also have significantly higher perceived stress as compared to control group but control group is found to be significantly high on self esteem and possess better family environment. Communication issues do not get adequate relavance in tackling psychosocial issues Good communication skills can help in tackling issues related to substance related disorders . Intervention strategies have been mentioned in the study which facilitate good communication.

Experiences and training needs of healthcare providers involved in the care of Ghanaian adolescents living with HIV: an interventional study

BackgroundCaring for adolescents living with HIV/AIDS (ALHIV) can be overwhelming due to their unique needs. Ghana is currently among nine countries in West and Central Africa contributing to 90% of new paediatric infections in the sub-region with a growing population of ALHIV. Regardless, gaps in paediatric related care including healthcare providers (HCPs) capacity issues have been identified. This study sought to assess the competencies of adolescent-oriented healthcare providers before, and after interventionist training to inform recommendation that would guide the psychosocial care they give to ALHIV.MethodsThe study adopted a mixed methods approach with a non-randomized interventional study involving three-phase multi-methods. The sample consisted of 28 adolescent-oriented and multi-disciplinary healthcare providers at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH) in Ghana. Data were obtained in three phases, namely, a baseline survey, interventionist training, and post-training in-depth interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using Stata version 13 for descriptive analysis while the qualitative data were analyzed thematically using NVivo version 11.ResultsAlthough the majority of the HCPs claim to be knowledgeable about adolescent health issues (n = 21, 75.0%), only about a third (n = 10, 35.7%) could correctly define who an adolescent is. The majority (n = 18, 64.3%) had not received any training on how to work with the adolescent client. The main areas identified for improvement in the ALHIV care in phase 1 included issues with psychosocial assessment, communication and treatment adherence strategies, creating an adolescent-friendly work environment, and availability of job aids/protocols. During the post-training interviews, participants reported an improved understanding of the characteristics of an adolescent-friendly site and basic principles for ALHIV care. They were also able to correctly describe the widely used adolescent health assessment tool; the HEEADSSS. Post intervention interviews also revealed HCPs perception on increased practice related confidence levels and readiness to implement new knowledge and skills gained.ConclusionThis study has shown that targeted training on routine ALHIV care is effective in increasing HCPs knowledge, skills and confidence. Addressing the healthcare system/facility related gaps serves as an impetus for improved ALHIV care among HCPs.

Enhancing teaching competence through bidirectional mentoring and structured on-the-job training model

ABSTRACTThis study employed conventional and reverse mentoring to form the theoretical basis for bidirectional mentoring. Using the analytic hierarchy process, the relative weights of bidirectional mentoring functions were measured and analyzed. A focus group method was employed to plan a structured on-the-job training course framework for bidirectional mentoring. Analysis of research data indicated that role modeling is the most crucial bidirectional mentoring function, followed by psychosocial support and career development. Psychosocial support, role modeling, teaching, teamwork, and communication skills were the most crucial elements of career development. This paper proposes seven training courses, totaling 59 h, based on the mentoring development plan. This study intends to use the proposed structured on-the-job training framework for bidirectional mentoring to promote career development and psychosocial support for new teachers, to improve role modeling for senior teachers, and to enhance the teaching skills of new and senior teachers.

La Comunicación Humana del Gerente en las Organizaciones del Siglo XXI

El artículo ofrece los resultados de un estudio cuantitativo sobre la comunicación humana del gerente en las organizaciones del siglo XXI, que soportado en el principio epistémico de la complementariedad se aplicaron herramientas de coaching (Feedback 360° y Rueda de la Vida) y entrevista no estructurada a seis gerentes de CORPOELEC, para develar cómo interacciona tanto horizontal como verticalmente e identificar barreras comunicacionales desde el elemento ontológico del gerente. Los hallazgos de la investigación señalan la presencia de barreras comunicativas culturales y psicosociales que impactan las interacciones (gerente-gerente superior, gerente-gerente y gerente-subordinado), por tal motivo, entre otros lineamientos se recomienda el Coaching Ontológico para desarrollar un gerente persona con competencias de comunicación humana, valoración personal y manejo de diferencias que humanice la comunicación en la organización del siglo XXI.

The relationships between patient volume per oncologist, social worker presence, and capacity to provide psychosocial care.

156 Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between new patient volume per oncologist, the availability of a social worker, and the capacity to provide psychosocial care. Methods: Community practices within Michigan Oncology Quality Consortium (MOQC), a statewide quality collaborative, completed NCI’s 10-item Cancer Psychosocial Care Matrix (CPCM). The CPCM speaks to communication, assessment, coordination, training, and outcomes and quality, each on a separate Likert scale. Analyses describe the ability to meet psychosocial care and the availability of a social worker, new patients/full time oncologist, payer mix, and percent minorities. Results: To date,15 of 47 practices (32%) completed the CPCM. We report on 4 measures with sizeable variation between practices. Scores were the highest on the ability to communicate the importance of psychosocial care and implementing a plan (scale of 1 – 3; mean of 2.36, standard deviation, SD 0.72; mean of 1.79, SD 0.89). The lowest scores were related to linking patients with services and offering provider education (scale of 1 – 5: mean of 2.18, SD 1.08; mean of 2.20, SD 0.94). Linear regression showed an association with number of patients/oncologist and the ability to provide staff training of effective patient/provider communication and monitoring this activity’s impact. For every 100-person increase in the number of patients/oncologist, there was a -0.16 (p = 0.046) rating difference in staff training and a -0.25 (p = 0.006) rating difference to monitor the communication’s effect. A dedicated social worker was present in 3 practices. Regression analysis showed a relationship between a social worker and recognizing (p=0.02) and addressing psychosocial care (p&lt;0.001). There was wide variation in payer mix and percent minorities but no association between the dependent variables and these characteristics. Conclusions: Community practices with a larger volume of new patients/oncologist/year are less likely to provide staff training and monitoring on psychosocial communication. In this sample, payer mix and racial composition are not associated with a practice’s ability to deliver psychosocial care.

Explaining doctoral students’ relational maintenance with their advisor: a psychosocial development perspective

ABSTRACTThis study explored how psychosocial development affects doctoral students’ relationship and communication with their advisor. Chickering and Reisser’s vectors of psychosocial development were examined in the doctoral context to understand how students preserve communicatively satisfying relationships with their advisor through the use of relational maintenance behaviors. Doctoral students (N = 304) completed self-report surveys and the results revealed that psychosocial development was related positively to their use of relational maintenance behaviors. The results also indicated that students’ relational maintenance behaviors mediated the associations between psychosocial development and communication satisfaction in the student–advisor relationship. These findings support the importance of psychosocial development in graduate school and provide information that may be used to improve the quality of doctoral education.

Caring and connectedness in the context of domestic worker employment in South Africa

This study investigated workplace relational connectedness qualities in terms of domestic worker employment in a South African setting. Twenty black female domestic workers were recruited through purposive respondent-driven self-sampling. Participants ranged in age from 27 to 59 years. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were used to generate the data. An interpretative phenomenological approach was used to foreground the thematic data analysis. Caring and connectedness emerged as the main theme that characterised participants’ positive employment relationships. Identified sub-themes related to participants’ experience of their employment context, work engagement and treatment, psychosocial well-being and communication. The findings are consistent with the broaden-and-build theory which proposes a positive behavioural cycle which results from reciprocal actions.

Evaluation of an interactive electronic patient-reported outcome (e-PRO) system in outpatient with oral chemotherapy.

696 Background: Health Information Technology (HIT) is increasingly integrated in clinical cancer care. Simultaneously routine assessment of patient reported outcomes (PROs) has been shown to reliably improve symptom management, identification of psychosocial problems and patient-provider communication. Methods: This study is a single center experience of a multicenter randomized study for the development and validation of an interactive e-PRO tool (RemeCoach). After obtaining informed consent, outpatients, using oral anti-cancer treatment, recorded their medication intake and 17 clinical parameters using this E-PRO tool. The device allowed real time data collection and communication with other care providers via a central platform. The registered data were processed by an algorithm, this algorithm stratifies the data into different grades according to international standards of care (CTCAE v4.0) and clinical importance. Patient clinical and demographic information is collected from medical records and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: 21 Patients were included, 62% male, mean age 59,2 (range 38-79). 38% Of patients used capecitabine, 52% regorafenib, 5% pazopanib and 5% sunitinib. Most common symptoms cited were fatigue (95%), myalgia and joint pain (75%) and cough (62%). Median pain score : 3 (Brief Pain Inventory(BPI)). Treatment compliance using the e-PRO was 75%. Conclusions: This study confirms the feasibility of the program, in an outpatient setting. This e-tool provides a means to register compliance, early symptoms of disease and toxicity of treatment.The compliance to the e-PRO tool will be confirmed, with further development of this program in a multicenter, randomized design. Evaluation of quality of life PRO-measurements and further exploration of the relationship between optimal pharmacovigilance and improvement of patient’s outcome will ensue.

Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Communication

Cancer is a multi-system disorder that influences all aspects of the life of affected individuals and their caregivers. Aside from the magnitude of the physical aspect of the disease and treatment there are complex sequalea that must be dealt with. This may include social interactions, family relations, peer interaction, intimate relationships, education, employment, spiritual attitudes and navigating the complexities of the health care system, providers and their ancillary functions. As the disease progresses there is a need for acceptance and adaptation to end of life issues and symptom management. The integration of palliative care within the context of psychosocial oncology is a integral part of the Comprehensive Care of cancer patients and their families.

Acceptability of a Touch Screen Tablet Psychosocial Survey Administered to Radiation Therapy Patients in Japan.

Studies in western clinical settings suggest that touch screen computer surveys are an acceptable mode of collecting information about cancer patients' wellbeing We examined the acceptability of a touch screen tablet survey among cancer patients in Japan. Eligible patients (n = 262) attending a university hospital radiation therapy (RT) department were invited to complete a touch screen tablet survey about psychosocial communication and care. Survey consent and completion rates, the proportion and characteristics of patients who completed the touch screen survey unassisted, and patient-reported acceptability were assessed. Of 158 consenting patients (consent rate 60% [95% CI 54, 66%] of eligible patients), 152 completed the touch screen computer survey (completion rate 58% [95% CI 52, 64%] of eligible patients). The survey was completed without assistance by 74% (n = 113; 95% CI 67, 81%) of respondents. Older age was associated with higher odds of having assistance with survey completion (OR 1.09; 95% CI 1.04, 1.14%). Ninety-two percent of patients (95% CI 86, 96%) felt that the touch screen survey was easy to use and 95% (95% CI 90, 98%) agreed or strongly agreed that they were comfortable answering the questions. Overall, 65% (95% CI 57, 73%) of respondents would be willing to complete such a survey more than once while waiting for RT treatment. Although patient self-reported acceptability of the touch screen survey was high, self-administered touch screen tablet surveys may not be entirely appropriate for older cancer patients or possibly for patients with lower educational attainment.

Clients’ psychosocial communication and midwives’ verbal and nonverbal communication during prenatal counseling for anomaly screening

ObjectivesThis study focuses on facilitation of clients’ psychosocial communication during prenatal counseling for fetal anomaly screening. We assessed how psychosocial communication by clients is related to midwives’ psychosocial and affective communication, client-directed gaze and counseling duration. MethodsDuring 184 videotaped prenatal counseling consultations with 20 Dutch midwives, verbal psychosocial and affective behavior was measured by the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS). We rated the duration of client-directed gaze. We performed multilevel analyses to assess the relation between clients’ psychosocial communication and midwives’ psychosocial and affective communication, client-directed gaze and counseling duration. ResultsClients’ psychosocial communication was higher if midwives’ asked more psychosocial questions and showed more affective behavior (β=0.90; CI: 0.45–1.35; p<0.00 and β=1.32; CI: 0.18–2.47; p=0.025, respectively). Clients “psychosocial communication was not related to midwives” client-directed gaze. Additionally, psychosocial communication by clients was directly, positively related to the counseling duration (β=0.59; CI: 0.20–099; p=0.004). ConclusionsIn contrast with our expectations, midwives’ client-directed gaze was not related with psychosocial communication of clients. Practice implicationsIn addition to asking psychosocial questions, our study shows that midwives’ affective behavior and counseling duration is likely to encourage client’s psychosocial communication, known to be especially important for facilitating decision-making.

Plutocratic Fears and Fantasies: Projective Identification and Enactment in a Market Society

Recently, the fears and violent fantasies of some of the wealthy elite in the United States have become public. In this article, I claim that these fantasies, which emerge from and are linked to neoliberal capitalistic narratives, are signifiers of a systemic and often hidden social reality of class relations. Moreover, they are social-cultural symptoms of unconscious material, dynamics, and communications taking place between classes. I use the concepts of projective identification and enactment to tease out the psychosocial dynamics and communications of these class-based fantasies and consider briefly the implications of this perspective.

Palliative Care and Psychosocial Communication in Honduras: Implementing Educational Programs for Oncology Clinicians

Palliative Care and Psychosocial Communication in Honduras: Implementing Educational Programs for Oncology Clinicians

Understanding Stress Among Adults Diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes at a Younger Age

Objective: Little data exists regarding the emerging population of adults diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) at a younger age. This study was conducted to gain insight related to diabetes distress and self-efficacy among adults diagnosed with T2DM between 18-40 years of age. Research Design and Methods: : Individuals diagnosed with T2DM between 18-40 years of age (n = 118) completed an online survey in either English or Spanish. The survey included two validated scales to understand levels of diabetes distress and self-efficacy. Independent samples t-tests were conducted to examine differences among gender, while Pearson correlation coefficients were conducted to examine the relationships of current age, age of diagnosis, duration of diabetes, HbA1c values, and insulin use with multiple domains of diabetes distress and self-efficacy. Results: Both regimen-related distress and interpersonal distress were reported at levels worthy of clinical attention. Overall diabetes-related distress, emotional-burden, and physician-related distress were slightly below the level of clinical significance. Bivariate analysis suggests strong positive relationships between HbA1c values and each domain of diabetes distress. Additionally, negative correlations were found between insulin use and overall diabetes distress, emotional-burden, physician-related distress, regimen-related distress, and interpersonal distress. Conclusions: Findings suggest adults diagnosed with T2DM at a younger age experience levels of diabetes distress worthy of clinical attention, particularly regarding regimen-related and interpersonal distress. T2DM programs should include psychosocial education and communication strategies for improving social support to enhance overall quality of life for this population.

Psychologists' views of inter-disciplinary psychosocial communication within the cancer care team.

Little is known about how psychologists working in cancer care centres communicate clinical information to other members of the multidisciplinary team or what information is communicated. This study surveyed Australian cancer care psychologists regarding their communication practices and their views on barriers to and facilitators of effective inter-disciplinary communication. Psychologists were invited to complete an online survey containing purpose-designed items that addressed study aims. Forty-four psychologists completed the survey. Psychologists' most common method of recording initial consultations was in patient medical records, with 69 % of respondents recording notes in either most of the time or all of the time. Twenty-two percent of psychologists said they did not regularly feedback the results of an initial assessment to a referrer and more than 40 % used verbal and e-mail communication to do so. This study provides data that will assist in the development of guidelines for inter-professional communication between psychologists and other members of the cancer care team.

Improving Medical Student’s Confidence Regarding Adolescent Interviewing

Background: The adolescent interview is a challenging task in which many medical students and residents report low levels of confidence. Purpose: To explore whether receiving structured feedback from an adolescent and mother Standardized Patient pair improves medical students’ confidence regarding the adolescent interview. Methods: Medical students undergoing their core Pediatric Clerkship Rotation were asked to rate their confidence involving basic psychosocial communication and key medical components of adolescent interviewing on a 13-item confidence questionnaire. Students were then randomized to receive structured feedback (n=25) on adolescent interviewing skills from an SP pair, or to receive no structured feedback (n=20). Students also ranked six self-perceived learning needs. Four weeks later students underwent a second SP interview and completed the 13-item confidence questionnaire. All students then received feedback from the SP pair. Results: Students who received structured feedback had greater confidence scores in their adolescent interviewing skills when compared to students who received no structured feedback. This difference was statistically significant in the areas of ‘Physical Exam’ (p=0.001) and ‘Sexual Issues’ (p=0.023). The six ranked self-perceived learning needs indicated that students felt least prepared for ‘Sexuality Questioning’ (contraception, sex) and ‘Preventative Health Care’ (injuries, sexually transmitted infections). Conclusion: Structured feedback from an adolescent and mother standardized patient pair was shown to be a useful tool in training medical students for the adolescent interview particularly on the topics of ‘Physical Exam’ and ‘Sexuality Questioning’. This study also highlighted important areas of the adolescent interview that required further training, such as ‘Sexuality Questioning’ and ‘Preventative Health Care.