Use Of Self-care Strategies Research Articles

Seeking balance between contradictory experiences - therapists treating survivors of sexual violence

ABSTRACT With the prevalence of sexual violence in most countries and its increase in Sweden, it is important to understand the development of secondary traumatic reactions among professionals who work with sexually violated clients. The aim of this study was to describe the meaning of therapists’ personal experiences when treating survivors of sexual violence. We conducted a qualitative interview study of therapists in Sweden (N = 11) using thematic analysis and adding a phenomenological openess towards the phenomenon. The participants were all women, with different professional backgrounds and with further education in areas such as psychotherapy, sexology, trauma treatment, and forensic nursing. The essential meaning of their work could be described as a continuum where therapists were seeking balance between contradictory experiences, further described in four themes. They experienced their work as highly meaningful, and the use of self-care strategies helped to maintain protective boundaries. However, the incomprehensible violence they were indirectly exposed to, challenged their protective boundaries, thus causing negative reactions for the therapists. Increased understanding of the impact of work on therapists’ professional and private lives is crucial, and the need for therapists to have a model or framework of meaning and explanation for sexual violence that ties contradictory experiences together.

Wellness as an Ethical Mandate: Examining the Mental Health, Stress, and Self-Care Practices of School Psychology Graduate Students

Previous literature has found that psychology graduate students experience clinically significant rates of mental health problems. Self-care practices at the individual and program level may help to mitigate these outcomes and benefit student wellbeing. However, minimal research exists about the mental health and self-care practices of school psychology graduate students. The current study examined prevalence rates of anxiety, depression, and stress in a sample of school psychology students (N = 202) as well as self-care utilization and perceptions of programmatic self-care emphasis. Results indicated that most participants reported clinically significant rates of stress, depression, and/or anxiety. In contrast to prior findings, participants who identified with minoritized identities did not report significantly different rates of mental health outcomes. Correlational analyses revealed significant negative relationships between participants’ self-care utilization and mental health outcomes, and between perceived programmatic emphasis on self-care and participants’ mental health outcomes. Coding of open-ended survey responses identified barriers to and facilitators of participants’ self-care and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on participants’ mental health. Findings highlight that school psychology students face significant threats to their mental health throughout training and indicate that encouraging self-care practices may support student wellbeing. Implications for training and future research are discussed. Impact Statement This study found that most of the school psychology graduate student sample reported clinically significant levels of stress, depression, and anxiety and that rates did not differ significantly across student subgroups. Additionally, results indicated individual use of self-care strategies as well as a broader emphasis on implementation of self-care across programs were positively related to students’ wellbeing. Barriers and facilitators of self-care services, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, were also explored. The results of this study contribute to our knowledge of school psychology graduate trainees’ experiences of stress and mental health challenges during their training, as well as offer practical steps for graduate programs to implement wellbeing supports desired by their students.

Self-Care Strategies and Job-Crafting Practices Among Behavior Analysts: Do They Predict Perceptions of Work-Life Balance, Work Engagement, and Burnout?

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) practitioners report high levels of burnout, exhibited as exhaustion and disengagement. Turnover, a stressful and costly experience for individual practitioners and the human service organizations that employ them, is a potential consequence of burnout. Work-life balance and work engagement are associated with lower burnout and lower intention to quit. Research concerning behavioral predictors of work-life balance, work engagement, and burnout-all of which are associated with turnover intentions-among ABA service providers is scant. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to explore whether and how the use of self-care strategies and job-crafting practices influences perceived levels of work-life balance, work engagement, and burnout among ABA practitioners who work in human service settings. In a sample of 826 ABA practitioners, 72% reported medium to high levels of burnout. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the use of both self-care strategies and job-crafting practices strongly predicted work-life balance, work engagement, and burnout above and beyond sociodemographic variables (gender and years of experience). Findings can inform the development of effective organizational/systems- and individual-level self-care and job-crafting interventions that support sustainable individual, organizational, and client-related outcomes. We contend that self-care and job-crafting interventions support a culture of well-being in graduate programs, training/supervision curricula, and mentor-mentee relationships.

Practicing What We Preach: Teaching Psychiatric-Mental Health Student Nurses to Care For Themselves.

It is well known that stress has a profoundly negative impact on the physical, mental, and spiritual health of nurses. In addition, undergraduate nursing students experience a tremendous amount of stress as a result of their academic and clinical requirements. In the current study, new self-care activities were introduced in an undergraduate psychiatric-mental health nursing course at a midsize, teaching-intensive university over the course of four academic semesters. Thematic analysis was conducted using qualitative feedback from 79 students who completed standard university course evaluations, and four major themes emerged: Stress Levels, Use of Self-Care Strategies and Coping Skills, Self-Reflection, and Perception of Instructor. Overall, students found value in self-care activities that have potential to reduce burnout, increase retention, and improve student and patient outcomes. Therefore, a proactive approach should be taken early in undergraduate programs to provide education to nursing students about strategies to combat the deleterious effects of stress and promote self-care. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 58(6), 40-45.].

Health of grey nomads: On the move and under the health sector radar.

Grey nomads - older people driving long distances recreationally and staying in caravans, tents or motor homes - are common on Australian highways. Although grey nomads report many benefits from their travels, there is anecdotal evidence that they impose a significant burden on rural/remote health services, including general practitioners, pharmacists and hospitals. There have been calls for better resourcing and service provision, but little reference to solid evidence on which to base this. This literature review is the first to integrate existing evidence for a health audience. Australia. Narrative literature search and synthesis. There is very little published information about the health and health service utilisation of grey nomads, and almost none in the medical literature. One key exception, a survey at a caravan park in the Kimberley region, found that, like other older Australians, many grey nomads have chronic diseases, and they have high rates of medication use. However, other studies have found that they generally view themselves as relatively healthy. There is some evidence of inadequate preparation for travelling. Issues include lack of health summaries, inadequate medication supplies and suboptimal vaccination. Some experience emergencies, sometimes resulting in hospital admissions. Overall, they place a poorly documented burden on rural/remote services. There is a need for further research on the health of grey nomads, their use of self-care strategies, and their uptake of health services both on the road and at home, to inform the provision of health services and optimise their well-being and health care utilisation.

A social cognitive view of self-regulated learning about health.

Researchers interested in health-related learning have recently begun to study processes people use to self-regulate their health and their ability to prevent or control chronic disease. This paper represents a social cognitive view of self-regulation that involves three classes of influence on self-regulating behavior: personal, behavioral, and environmental. This triadic model assumes that people self-regulate their health through the use of self-care strategies, setting reasonable health goals, and monitoring feedback concerning the effectiveness of strategies in meeting their goals. People's perceptions of self-efficacy are also assumed to play a major role in motivating them to self-regulate their health functioning. According to social cognitive theory, processes entailed in regulating one's health can be taught through social modeling, supports, and feedback; gradually these external supports are withdrawn as one is able to self-regulate. This paper will analyze self-regulation processes related to controlling or preventing lung disease, specifically management of asthma and eliminating smoking. The educational implications of the triadic model of self-regulation for promoting health and related behavioral functioning will be discussed.

Self-Reported Sleep Difficulties and Self-Care Strategies Among Rural Older Adults

This study examined the use of self-care strategies to address difficulty sleeping among community-dwelling older adults. Data were collected from a series of 18 questionnaires administered to 195 rural African American and white older adults in North Carolina. Participants reported whether they had experienced difficulty sleeping and strategies used to respond to the symptom. The most widely used strategies included ignoring the symptom, staying in bed or resting, and praying. Herb and supplement use were not reported. Ethnicity, income, and education were associated with use of specific self-care strategies for sleep. This variation suggests that older adults may draw on cultural understandings to interpret the significance of difficulty sleeping and influence their use of self-care strategies, including complementary and alternative medicine use. This information may enable health care providers to communicate with the older patients about sleep difficulty strategies to minimize sleep problems.

Self-Care and Professionally Guided Care in Osteoarthritis

The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of self-management practices among older White and African American persons with osteoarthritis. Self-management was defined broadly to include all behaviors adopted to reduce morbidity, whether recommended by physicians or not. A population-based sample of Medicare beneficiaries (N = 551) was recruited. An expanded set of self-management behaviors using structured and open-ended inquiry, along with use of arthritis-specific medications was elicited. Few differences in self-care behaviors between race groups were found. However, older African American persons were significantly less likely to have prescriptions for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs) and more likely to use over-the-counter nonprescription analgesics. Older White and African American persons made similar use of self-care strategies to reduce disease morbidity. African Americans without access to prescription pain relievers substituted nonprescription analgesics. A broader view of self-management is valuable for assessing the ways people may move between professionally guided care and self-care.

Abstract 2234: Self-care And Quality Of Life In Patients With Heart Failure

Purpose: Although it is well-known that self-care (SC) reduces the frequency of hospital admissions and exacerbations, and enhances quality of life (QOL) in heart failure patients, little is known about SC in this population. The study purpose was to examine relationships among selected individual characteristics (demographics, severity of illness, co-morbidities, and social support), SC strategies, and QOL using Reigel’s Model of Self Care in Patients with Heart Failure as the guiding framework. Method: 114 subjects were recruited to participate in this descriptive correlational study. SC was measured using the Self-Care of Heart Failure Index , which measures self-care maintenance (SC-Mt), self-care management (SC-Mn), and self-care self-confidence (SC-Sc). QOL was measured using a disease-specific instrument, the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire , and a generic instrument, the Short-Form Health Survey characterizing physical and mental-emotional functioning. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify predictors of QOL. Findings: 98 subjects (age = 56.7 years; 53.8% male; 49.5% Caucasian) completed and returned mailed questionnaires. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that better disease-specific QOL was predicted by being less likely to try SC-Mn strategies (β = .325; p = 0.003), better SC-Sc (β = −.251; p = 0.012), better NYHA functional class (β = .246; p = 0.008), and less co-morbidity (β = .236; p = 0.014) (R 2 = .334; F = 7.269, p = 0.000). Better generic QOL (physical functioning) was predicted by better NYHA functional class (β = −.309; p = 0.001), better SC-Mt (β = .205; p = 0.037), better SC-Sc (β = .296; p = 0.003), and being less likely to try SC-Mn strategies (β = −.165; p = 0.000) (R 2 = .361; F = 9.602, p = 0.000). Better generic QOL (mental-emotional functioning) was predicted by better NYHA functional class (β = −.229; p = 0.024), and being men (β = −.204; p = .047) (R 2 = .277; F = 4.548, p = 0.000). Discussion: Findings suggest that better QOL is influenced by gender (male), better NYHA functional class, less co-morbidity, and better use of SC strategies. Exploring patient decision-making can assist nurses in identifying how to improve decision-making performance and enhance QOL.

Umsetzung von Allgemeinmaßnahmen bei Herzinsuffizienz

Non-pharmacological treatment (NPT) and immunization with influenzal and pneumococcal vaccines are an integral part in the management of heart failure (HF). However, few data are available about the implementation of NPT in real life. The aim of this study was to analyse long-term changes in behavior and the use of self-care strategies by patients with HF. 91 of 151 patients in HF (77 men, 14 women; mean age 68) at the Göttingen University Hospital were recruited to the study. Implementation of NPT was assessed during the hospital stay and one year after discharge by standardized interviews. Additionally, patients were also asked about their preferred sources of information about HF. Compared with the baseline data, NPT were more frequently named after one year (significant increase for "See the doctor in case of weight gain" [24.3% vs. 57.1%; p<0.001] and "Dietary salt restriction" [41.4% vs. 70.0%; p<0.001]. Patients who had been readmitted reported NPT more frequently than those who had not previously been admitted to hospital (3.6 vs. 3.1, n.s). The majority of patients considered general practitioners to be the most important source for information on HF. One year after discharge more patients had become aware of NPT. On the whole lifestyle modification is still relatively uncommon. General practitioners are seen as the most important informants on the management of HF and could use this trust to promote greater implementation of NPT by their patients.

The Self-Reported Effects of Crisis Intervention Work on School Psychologists

Documenting the effects of crisis intervention work on school psychologists was the primary purpose of this study. To examine these effects a sample of 400 randomly selected school psychologists were surveyed. Half of the surveys were returned. Among respondents who had previously participated in a crisis intervention, just over 90% reported one or more of 37 specific negative reactions following crisis intervention work. Physical reactions in general and fatigue/exhaustion in particular were the most frequently reported reactions. All respondents reported use of self-care strategies and 94% viewed these strategies as important. Implications of these findings for the practice of school psychology are discussed.

The pivotal role of cardiac self-care in treatment timing

In Western nations, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and disability, and myocardial infarction (MI or heart attack) is responsible for the most significant proportion of these deaths. Over the past decades, however, mortality rates from CVD in general and MI specifically have been decreasing due in large part to the proliferation of time-dependent therapies. As their description suggests, the use of such effective therapies is associated with early hospital presentation, thus reducing treatment time has significant benefits. Previous research most often has focused on sociodemographic or clinical factors influential in treatment timing, while the activities that individuals undertake during the critical hours prior to presentation for formal medical treatment remain insufficiently examined. Since self-care activities provide a window into how cardiac symptom sufferers conceptualize and act on their distress and, subsequently, how these conceptualizations shape treatment timing, we sought a more complete understanding of the relationship between self-care behaviours and treatment timing. Employing a complementary design, we examined data from 2972 survivors participating in the MI Onset study in the United States and 35 survivors from the MI Illness Narrative Study. Results indicate that cardiac self-care played a defining role in time to treatment, while other factors (i.e., sociodemographic and clinical factors) did not. Specifically, taking over-the-counter medications (i.e., analgesics and antacids) was associated with a longer treatment time. A closer look at who was likely to pursue these strategies and their reasons behind so doing leads us to conclude that (1) social location and self-identity; (2) previous health experiences, including personal health history and prior use of self-care strategies and; (3) social interaction play important roles in cardiac self-care responses which, in turn, shape treatment timing.

A Social cognitive view of self-regulated learning about health

Researchers interested in health-related learning have recently begun to study processes people use to self-regulate their health and their ability to prevent or control chronic disease. This paper represents a social cognitive view of self-regulation that involves three classes of influence on self-regulating behavior: personal, behavioral, and environmental. This triadic model assumes that people self-regulate their health through the use of self-care strategies, setting reasonable health goals, and monitoring feedback concerning the effectiveness of strategies in meeting their goals. People’s perceptions of self-efficacy are also assumed to play a major role in motivating them to self-regulate their health functioning. According to social cognitive theory, processes entailed in regulating one’s health can be taught through social modeling, supports, and feedback; gradually these external supports are withdrawn as one is able to self-regulate. This paper will analyze self-regulation processes related to...