Concept map analysis in the assessment of speech-language pathology students’ learning in a problem-based learning curriculum: A longitudinal study

The aim of this study was to track students’ critical thinking performance longitudinally through concept map analysis in a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. Concept map analysis has been employed in the assessment of students’ critical thinking in medical education. Little is known concerning concept mapping (CM) in speech-language pathology (SLP) education. In this quantitative study, students in a 4-year SLP education program (N?=?38) were followed until the completion of a fully-integrated PBL curriculum from Years 1 to 3. Students’ concept maps were analyzed using a tool developed for this study, the Concept Map Assessment Profile (CMAP). There was an increase in concept map scores across the 3 years at the beginning of the academic year. The CM performance over the 3 years predicted 21.0% to 33.6% of variance in three measures of learning outcomes. The CMAP is a reliable measure, with strong inter-rater and intra-rater reliability (r?=?0.85 and r?=?0.96, respectively). In addition to its use as an assessment tool, the CMAP might be used to facilitate students’ learning as feedback concerning strengths and weaknesses in the development of critical thinking can be provided.     

Clients’ experiences of moments of sadness in psychotherapy: A grounded theory analysis

Abstract

Although few studies have examined the experience of depression, no research has been conducted on the experience of sadness in psychotherapy. In this study, clients were interviewed about their experience of sadness using an interpersonal process recall method, these interviews were subjected to grounded theory analysis, and a model of sadness experienced in psychotherapy was derived. The resulting core category—in therapy, the experience of sadness is a struggle against the fear of becoming trapped within the painful, existential question “Who am I?”—captures the essence of the experience of the clients’ sadness and describes the struggle, the causes of sadness, and ways therapists facilitated sadness exploration. The findings are discussed in reference to clinical application and future psychotherapy research.     

Older patients’ in Sweden and their experience of the emotional support received from the registered nurse – a grounded theory study

Objectives: This study intends to explore older patients’ experiences of the emotional support received from registered nurses (RNs). We also aimed to gain deeper knowledge about the process of how getting the support they need is managed by the patient.

Methods: The study was conducted using the grounded theory method. Data were collected by interviewing 18 patients between 80 and 96 years old.

Results: Reasons why older patients experienced the emotional support received from the RN are reflected in the categories ‘Meets my needs when I am irresolute’, ‘Meets my needs when I am vulnerable’ and ‘Meets my needs when I am in need of sympathy’. Reasons to the emotional support resulted in that patients experienced ‘A sense of being able to hand over’, which is therefore the core category of this study.

Conclusion: Older patients’ experiences of emotional support are about obtaining relief. Patients were active participants and had strategies for which they wanted to share their emotions with the RN. In order to develop participatory care for older patients, we need more knowledge about how emotional support can be used as a nursing intervention.     

Medical students’ attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities: A literature review

The present paper provides a review of research on medical students’ attitudes to people with intellectual disabilities. The attitudes of medical students warrant empirical attention because their future work may determine people with intellectual disabilities’ access to healthcare and exposure to health inequalities. An electronic search of Embase, Ovid MEDLINE(R), PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science was completed to identify papers published up to August 2013. Twenty-four studies were identified, most of which evaluated the effects of pedagogical interventions on students’ attitudes. Results suggested that medical students’ attitudes to people with intellectual disabilities were responsive to interventions. However, the evidence is restricted due to research limitations, including poor measurement, self-selection bias, and the absence of control groups when evaluating interventions. Thus, there is a dearth of high-quality research on this topic, and past findings should be interpreted with caution. Future research directions are provided.     

Digital technology in psychiatry: towards the implementation of a true person-centered care in psychiatry?

European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience -     

Recruitment to psychiatry in the Czech Republic: ‘Waiting for resuscitation’?

Abstract

Recruitment to psychiatry is becoming a serious obstacle in providing first-class mental health treatment in many countries worldwide. We attempt to address this burning issue by examining medical student's attitudes towards psychiatry and factors influencing their career choice in the Czech Republic. In 2010, 71 students in their last year of medical school at the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague were recruited in this quantitative cross-sectional online study. From the sample, 16% (n = 11) of students were considering psychiatry as a career path. An important factor in choosing psychiatry as a career path was personal/family presence of mental illness. Longer experience with psychiatry placement also contributed to the choice of psychiatry, as well as participation in elective courses or psychiatric research projects. Students considering psychiatry were less systematic compared to the group not considering psychiatry. Low reported levels of recruitment to psychiatry present a problematic issue in the Czech Republic. To make psychiatry more appealing to medical students, proactive steps by the relevant stakeholders need to be implemented. These strategies should include steps such as allocating more time for psychiatry in the medical curriculum, better quality of lectures, and the inclusion of additional elective courses.     

Errorless (re)learning of everyday activities in patients with Korsakoff’s syndrome: A feasibility study

Errorless learning has proven to be an effective method for (re)learning tasks in several patient groups with amnesia. However, so far only a handful of studies have examined the effects of errorless learning in patients with Korsakoff’s syndrome. The aims of this feasibility study were to (a) examine the effects of errorless learning training on (re)learning tasks in a patient with Korsakoff’s syndrome, (b) examine the effects of the nature of the training on the execution of the tasks, and (c) examine characteristics that may mediate learning outcome. Professional caregivers, who were trained in errorless learning principles, taught 51 patients with Korsakoff’s syndrome two everyday tasks. Significant improvements in the performance were found after an errorless intervention for different types of trained tasks (activities of daily living, chores, mobility, housekeeping). Moreover, the results of this study suggest that all patients, despite of age, educational level, or level of cognitive functioning, may benefit from errorless learning. The results showed that, despite severe amnesia, patients with Korsakoff’s syndrome have the potential to (re)learn everyday skills. Errorless learning might be beneficial for memory rehabilitation in patients with Korsakoff’s syndrome in clinical practice. The results of this study are clinically relevant, as successfully learning tasks using errorless learning principles might improve autonomy and independence in the daily lives of patients with Korsakoff’s syndrome.     

Are dopaminergic pathways involved in theory of mind? A study in Parkinson's disease

The "orbitofrontal" and "cingulate" frontostriatal loops and the mesolimbic dopaminergic system that modulates their function have been implicated in theory of mind (ToM). Parkinson's disease (PD) provides a model for assessing their role in humans. Results of the handful of previous studies of ToM in PD providing preliminary evidence of impairment remain controversial, mainly because the patients included in these studies were not accurately described, making it difficult to determine whether their ToM deficits were due to general cognitive deterioration or to a more specific dopaminergic deficit. The aim of our study was therefore to re-examine previous results highlighting ToM in PD and to explore the involvement of the dopaminergic pathways in ToM. ToM was investigated in 17 newly diagnosed PD patients (early PD group), 27 PD patients in the advanced stages of the disease (advanced PD group) and 26 healthy matched controls (HC), using two ToM tasks: a visual one, which is thought to reflect the "affective" ToM subcomponent ("Reading the Mind in the Eyes"), and a verbal one, which is thought to reflect both the "affective" and the "cognitive" ToM subcomponents (faux pas recognition). Furthermore, the early PD group was studied in two conditions: with and without dopamine replacement therapy (DRT). We failed to find any significant difference in ToM between the early PD patients and the HC group. Furthermore, there was no difference between the early PD patients in the medicated and unmedicated conditions. Conversely, the advanced PD patients scored poorly on the intention attribution question ("cognitive" ToM score) in the faux pas recognition task. The present results suggest that the deficit in ToM only occurs in the more advanced stages of the disease. In addition, our results would appear to indicate that these advanced PD patients present "cognitive" ToM impairment rather than global ("cognitive" and "affective") ToM impairment. In other words, the ToM deficit would appear to be present in PD patients where the degenerative process has spread beyond the dopaminergic pathways, but not in early PD patients where neuronal loss is thought to be restricted to the nigrostriatal and mesolimbic dopaminergic systems. In conclusion, our results suggest that the dopaminergic pathways are not involved in ToM.     

Medical students and the response to COVID-19: Educational preparedness and psychological impact of their involvement in communicating with patients’ relatives

ObjectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic has challenged without precedent both healthcare and educational systems worldwide. How medical students could and should be engaged in the response remains unclear. Medical students were asked to help with communicating with patients’ relatives in our institution. Authors aimed: to (i) present the rapid implementation and assessment of a teaching/e-teaching lesson in the COVID-19 era; (ii) report an early evaluation of preparedness, mental health and well-being of students involved.MethodsThe lesson was elaborated at lockdown in France. The clinical guidance consisted of a voluntary lesson entitled: “How to communicate with relatives of hospitalized COVID-19 patients?”. Students received an anonymous online questionnaire after two weeks.ResultsSixty-six medical students were trained (32% face-to-face). The response rate was 64%. Most students informed relatives about the routine care of the patient (95%). Concerning the lesson, students assured to have had one (95%), considered it relevant (86%), and had used the educational content (81%). 33% were charged with unexpected missions (only 36% felt prepared). Most of them did not report any psychological impact, but some reported anxiety or sleep disorders with no difference between face-to-face/distance training.ConclusionsThis pandemic may last. Communication ability is a key competence in medical curriculum and is more than ever essential. Distance learning technologies may provide a useful and accepted tool for medical students. We report on a rapid feedback on what can be expected or not from students in terms of mission and short-term psychological consequences.     

Plasticity in older adults’ theory of mind performance: the impact of motivation

ABSTRACT

Objective: Recently, motivation has been found to attenuate the age-related decline in Theory of Mind (ToM) performance (i.e. faux pas recognition). However, whether or not this effect could be generalized to other ToM tasks is still unknown. In the present study, we investigated whether and how motivation could enhance older adults’ performance and reduce age differences in ToM tasks (Faux Pas vs. Animation task) that differ in familiarity.

Method: Following a previous paradigm, 171 Chinese adults (87 younger adults and 84 older adults) were recruited, and we experimentally manipulated the level of perceived closeness between participants and the experimenter before administering the ToM tasks in order to enhance participants’ motivation.

Results: Results showed that, for the Faux Pas task, we replicated previous findings such that older adults under the enhanced motivation conditions performed equally well as younger adults. Conversely, for the Animation task, younger adults outperformed older adults, regardless of motivation.

Discussion: These results indicate that motivation can enhance older adults’ performance in ToM tasks, however, this beneficial effect cannot be generalized across ToM tasks.     

Attracting young academics into the field of psychiatry and psychotherapy in Switzerland – The Zurich ‘study focus on psychiatry’ and training concept for medical psychotherapy

Abstract

For several years the demand regarding psychiatrists in Switzerland can only be satisfied by recruiting colleagues from other countries. Given the global increase of mental disorders, initiatives encouraging young academics to choose psychiatry as their speciality, and enhancing the attractiveness of our field, are urgently needed. Two projects for the promotion of young academics are presented in this paper, one working with medical students, the other with residents in psychiatry. The Zurich ‘Study Focus on Psychiatry’ provides medical students with knowledge and key competencies in psychiatry at an early stage of their undergraduate training. This way, students are offered an opportunity to have a thorough look into psychiatry as a clinical specialism and as a science. The three-year psychotherapy training curriculum in medical psychotherapy provides residents in psychiatry and psychotherapy with specific training in either cognitive behavioural, or psychodynamic, or systemic psychotherapy. Additionally, and independent of the psychotherapeutic orientation they have chosen, all trainees attend joint sessions focusing on generic elements of psychotherapy and facilitating a hands-on transfer of psychotherapeutic principles into their clinical routine. These two projects aim at enhancing the attractiveness of psychiatry and psychotherapy as a speciality, and thus contributing to the promotion of young academics.     

The iHOPE-20 study: mortality in first episode psychosis—a 20-year follow-up of the Dublin first episode cohort

Purpose

Increased mortality rates have been found in those with a diagnosis of psychosis; studies suggest a shortened life expectancy of up to 20 years less than that of the general population. This study aimed to investigate the mortality of a first episode psychosis cohort at 20-year follow-up, compare it to that of the general Irish population, and explore whether the mortality gap has changed over time.

Methods

171 individuals diagnosed with a first episode psychosis identified between 1995 and 1999 in a community mental health service were traced. Mortality was established by matching death certificates to deceased cohort members (using name, age at date of death, and address at date of death). Date of first presentation to service was used as date of entry point and date of death or end of follow-up as the end point.

Results

Of the 171 cases there were 20 deaths during follow-up. Nine deaths were attributed to natural causes; 7 to unnatural causes; and 4 were unknown. Comparing standardised mortality rates at 20-year follow-up to those at 12 year showed a reduction in rates over time.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that the mortality gap in people with schizophrenia and other psychoses remains high, especially in young males.

     

Rule induction performance in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s dementia: examining the role of simple and biconditional rule learning processes

Introduction: Rule induction tests such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test require executive control processes, but also the learning and memorization of simple stimulus–response rules. In this study, we examined the contribution of diminished learning and memorization of simple rules to complex rule induction test performance in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) or Alzheimer’s dementia (AD). Method: Twenty-six aMCI patients, 39 AD patients, and 32 control participants were included. A task was used in which the memory load and the complexity of the rules were independently manipulated. This task consisted of three conditions: a simple two-rule learning condition (Condition 1), a simple four-rule learning condition (inducing an increase in memory load, Condition 2), and a complex biconditional four-rule learning condition—inducing an increase in complexity and, hence, executive control load (Condition 3). Results: Performance of AD patients declined disproportionately when the number of simple rules that had to be memorized increased (from Condition 1 to 2). An additional increment in complexity (from Condition 2 to 3) did not, however, disproportionately affect performance of the patients. Performance of the aMCI patients did not differ from that of the control participants. In the patient group, correlation analysis showed that memory performance correlated with Condition 1 performance, whereas executive task performance correlated with Condition 2 performance. Conclusions: These results indicate that the reduced learning and memorization of underlying task rules explains a significant part of the diminished complex rule induction performance commonly reported in AD, although results from the correlation analysis suggest involvement of executive control functions as well. Taken together, these findings suggest that care is needed when interpreting rule induction task performance in terms of executive function deficits in these patients.