Testing the Latent Structure of the Autism Spectrum Quotient in a Sub-clinical Sample of University Students Using Factor Mixture Modelling

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - In the present study, factor mixture models (FMMs) were used to examine the latent structure underlying the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) among a...     

Sensitivity to change and responsiveness of the Segmental Assessment of Trunk Control (SATCo) in children with spinal cord injury

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the sensitivity and responsiveness of the Segmental Assessment of Trunk Control (SATCo) for evaluating trunk control in children with spinal cord injury (SCI) receiving activity-based locomotor training (AB-LT).

Methods: Prospective study of nine outcomes for consecutively enrolled children in outpatient AB-LT. To evaluate sensitivity to change, linear-mixed models were constructed and adjusted for covariates: age at and time since SCI. To evaluate responsiveness, standardized response means and 95% confidence intervals were estimated per outcome.

Results: SATCo scores increased significantly (p < 0.05) regardless of chronicity, initial score, and injury level. The SATCo was the most responsive measure and the only outcome demonstrating a large effect size after 3 months of therapy.

Conclusions: Children with SCI receiving AB-LT improved trunk control regardless of chronicity, initial impairment, or prior experience. SATCo sensitivity and responsiveness support its usefulness in measuring trunk control in children with SCI.     

Safe and Appropriate Use of Methadone in Hospice and Palliative Care: Expert Consensus White Paper

Methadone has several unique characteristics that make it an attractive option for pain relief in serious illness, but the safety of methadone has been called into question after reports of a disproportionate increase in opioid-induced deaths in recent years. The American Pain Society, College on Problems of Drug Dependence, and the Heart Rhythm Society collaborated to issue guidelines on best practices to maximize methadone safety and efficacy, but guidelines for the end-of-life scenario have not yet been developed. A panel of 15 interprofessional hospice and palliative care experts from the U.S. and Canada convened in February 2015 to evaluate the American Pain Society methadone recommendations for applicability in the hospice and palliative care setting. The goal was to develop guidelines for safe and effective management of methadone therapy in hospice and palliative care. This article represents the consensus opinion of the hospice and palliative care experts for methadone use at end of life, including guidance on appropriate candidates for methadone, detail in dosing, titration, and monitoring of patients' response to methadone therapy.     

In care,aftercare and caring for those in care: my successful care journey

Coyle and Pinkerton identify gaps in the care leaving system in Northern Ireland regarding social work training and meeting the challenges of transitioning from care. The primary focus of this article is to provide a perspective of care and leaving care which could contribute to social work education and practice in these areas. Framed within a strengths perspective, the article draws on my own care journey from service user to social work student to newly qualified social worker. As a final-year social work student on Placement Learning Opportunity in a children's home which mainly provided long-term care, I reflected on my own care journey and what I thought made it successful. I concluded that a number of resilience-enhancing factors existed both at the personal and environmental levels including my own level of motivation, meaningful roles, positive school experiences and surrogate relationships. I also considered the relevance of my care journey to my qualifying social work training, including the importance of relationships in residential social work, learning responsibility and understanding the reality of independent living. Implications for social work education and practice include use of personal knowledge and engaging with duality, which means recognition of an individual actively combining and integrating lived service user or carer experience and professional training in their social work qualifying training and professional practice. However, this article emphasises that elements of my care journey should not be used as a checklist for current and former “looked after” children as each child's and young person's care journey is lived and experienced in different ways.