Grief education and bereavement support in Japan

Abstract This paper introduces the activities of the Japanese Association for Death Education and Grief Counseling, highlighting especially its grief education and bereavement support program. Because of greater life expectancy, most women in Japan will one day experience the death of their husbands, therefore pre-widowhood education programs are offered to married women in order to prepare them for widowhood. Memorial services, Buddhist, Christian and non-religious, are offered for bereaved persons. The search for a new self-identity after bereavement, the role of volunteer work, and the search for meaning in loss and bereavement are discussed. The issues of disenfranchised grief and grief after death from overwork are important themes in grief education.     

Central effects of nifedipine versus placebo following repeated application—influence of motivation and personality

Out of 92 medical students, five success-motivated and five failure-motivated subjects were selected for a study of the central effects of nifedipine. In a cross-over design and under double-blind conditions, the subjects were administered 10 mg nifedipine or placebo twice daily over a five-day period. A general evaluation of the results did not reveal any influence of nifedipine on vigilance (CFF), detail discrimination capacity (d2-test), responsiveness (tracking test), and subjective feelings. However, success-motivated and emotionally stable subjects were markedly impaired by nifedipine (CFF and d2-test, quantitative performance), whereas failure-motivated, emotionally unstable and introverted subjects under nifedipine exhibited less errors in the tests (d2-test, qualitative performance) compared to those who were given placebo.     

基于“照护银行”的医护大学生老年志愿照护方案体验研究

目的 以医护大学生志愿者群体为切入点构建老年志愿照护方案并进行体验研究,推进高校志愿服务可持续发展,打破老年照护队伍人员短缺的瓶颈问题。方法 利用文献研究及专家共识构建依托于“照护银行”管理系统的医护大学生老年志愿照护方案并进行体验研究,采用目的抽样法选取参与志愿服务的16名志愿者进行半结构式访谈,采用Colaizzi七步法分析资料,提炼主题。结果 提炼出收获与成就、信心与坚持、成长与反思3大主题及下属6个类属。结论 实践证明医护大学生志愿者群体参与老年照护服务能够弥补养老照护队伍短缺的问题,提升养老质量并有效培养医护大学生社会责任感,为我国养老事业发展及高校教育提供参考。     

专业志愿者参与模式对社区居家养老人员的影响

目的探讨专业志愿者参与的干预措施对社区居家养老人员慢性病控制情况及自我管理能力的影响。方法选取2016年12月-2018年12月广东省东莞市道滘镇社区的70名居家养老人员为研究对象,随机分为对照组和观察组,各35名。对照组采取常规社区养老干预措施,观察组采取专业志愿者参与的干预措施。对两组的慢性病控制情况、自我管理能力及生活质量进行比较。结果干预后,观察组的慢性病控制情况明显优于对照组,观察组的生活质量、遵医嘱服药率、定期复查率均明显高于对照组,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论专业志愿者参与的干预措施对社区居家养老人员干预效果明显,可有效改善老年人慢性病控制情况及自我管理能力,并提高生活质量,值得临床应用。     

The experiences of neighbour,volunteer and professional support‐givers in supporting community dwelling older people

Public policy increasingly emphasises the importance of informal support networks to meet the needs of the ageing population. Evidence for the types of support neighbours provide to older people and how neighbours collaborate with formal support‐givers is currently insufficient. Our study therefore explored (i) types of informal neighbour support and (ii) experiences of neighbours, volunteers and professionals providing support. Interviews with nine Dutch neighbour support‐givers, five volunteers and 12 professionals were conducted and subjected to latent content analysis. Findings indicate that commitment occurred naturally among neighbours; along with providing instrumental and emotional support, neighbour support seems to be a matter of carefully ‘watching over each other’. Neighbour support‐givers, however, are often frail themselves and become overburdened; they furthermore lack support from professionals. Neighbour, volunteer and professional support‐givers seem to operate in distinct, non‐collaborative spheres. Findings suggest that policy‐makers should consider the opportunities and limitations of neighbour and volunteer support. Professionals have an indispensable role in providing back‐up and accountable, specialised support. They may be trained to adopt a visible and proactive attitude in neighbourhoods to facilitate, cooperate with and mediate between neighbour and volunteer support‐givers.     

无偿献血者核酸检测实施效果评价

目的 通过分析无偿献血者全血标本的核酸检测(NAT)和血清学检测的结果,探讨NAT在筛查乙型肝炎病毒(HBV),丙型肝炎病毒(HCV)和人类免疫缺陷病毒(HIV)“窗口期”感染者或者隐匿性肝炎的患者中的作用.方法 选择2011年7月至12月于佛山市中心血站采集的无偿献血者全血样本13 126份作为研究对象.对无偿献血者全血标本同时进行血清学检测和NAT.使用诺华诊断血液筛查系统对标本进行单人份NAT.对于NAT联检和鉴别试验阳性而血清学试验阴性的献血者,进一步检测乙型肝炎血清标志物5项指标.结果 13 126份标本中,NAT联检试验阳性为128例(0.98％),其中95例为酶联免疫吸附试验(ELISA)双试剂阳性,4例为ELISA单试剂阳性,29例为ELISA阴性.对NAT联检试验和鉴别试验结果皆呈阳性的8例献血者做进一步追踪,6例行乙型肝炎血清标志物5项指标检测的结果显示,1例抗-HBs和抗-HBc呈阳性,3例仅抗-HBc呈阳性,2例呈全阴性.结论 NAT作为一种检测原理完全与ELISA不同的方法,能够在一定程度上弥补ELISA方法的局限性,有效缩短“窗口期”.NAT与ELISA两种检测方法能够互为补充,共同降低经输血途径传播病毒的风险.     

Women's Work: Volunteer AIDS Care Giving in Northern Thailand

SUMMARY

Because persons with AIDS in Thailand usually are cared for by their families, and because government AIDS policy relies upon this assistance for the care of the country's sick, the research reported here addressed the questions: Who are the home and community care givers for PWA? What kind of care do they give? And, What is the impact of care giving on the care giver(s)? Informants were drawn in 1998–99 from a long-term birth cohort study of a non-clinical urban population in the country's province of highest AIDS mortality, Chiang Mai. The study was part of a larger, exploratory ethnographic study of the interplay among health, reproduction and development among persons born in 1964 and their mothers that I began in 1973. Findings include that among care-givers, parents, overwhelmingly mothers, and wives considered it their place, duty and moral benefit to care for adult children or husbands sick with AIDS.     

北京高校医疗服务志愿者工作现状与发展对策——基于北京22所高校的实证研究

目的了解北京市高校医疗服务志愿者工作现状及问题，提出相应对策建议，为促进医疗志愿服务的发展提供依据。方法采用分层抽样对北京市22所高校的医疗服务志愿者进行调查分析，问卷有效回收率达99.08%。结果调查对象中，只有42.25%接受过医患沟通技巧培训；25.46%对保障表示一般甚至不满意；62.73%认为自己能使就医过程有序高效及普及健康知识；81.71%认为自己相关知识储备不足。结论高校学生志愿者的专业性和针对性不足，志愿管理体系尚未完善。应发挥高校志愿者的专业及人力资源优势，通过“学校-医疗机构-政府”共建共享联动模式对医疗服务志愿者进行管理，从而推动医疗志愿服务发展，提高全民健康素养。     

MRI DWI序列显示健康志愿者骶髂关节成像的最佳b值

背景：MRI DWI序列是一种简单易行、特异性较强、敏感度较高且能早期诊断活动性骶髂关节炎、监测其活动性的检查方法之一,但DWI序列对骶髂关节显示的最佳b值尚无统一标准。 目的：通过比较10-20岁健康志愿者骶髂关节MRI不同b值时DWI及表观弥散系数差异,寻找MRI DWI序列显示骶髂关节的最佳b值。  方法：随机选择21名10-20岁无骶髂关节疾病的健康志愿者作为研究对象,行骶髂关节轴位T1WI、STIR及DWI扫描(b值为0,300,600,900 s/mm²),观察不同b值对骶髂关节的显示情况,对图像进行评价;同时,分别测量双侧骶髂关节的骶侧、髂侧关节旁骨髓的表观弥散系数,对不同b值双侧骶髂关节旁骨髓表观弥散系数进行统计学分析。   结果与结论：21名健康志愿者42个骶髂关节在b值为300,600 s/mm²时,图像显示清晰,对比度好,能清晰显示骶髂关节关节。b值为900 s/mm²时,图像伪影较大,图像质量模糊,对比度差,无法完成表观弥散系数值的测量。b值为600 s/mm²时,双侧骶髂关节旁骨髓所测得的表观弥散系数值变化范围小,而b值为300 s/mm²时,表观弥散系数值差异性较大。结果显示600 s/mm²是MRI DWI序列显示骶髂关节的最适宜b值,不仅能清晰显示双侧骶髂关节,而且所测得关节旁骨髓的表观弥散系数值精确度较高。     

Biomarkers for the effects of cannabis and THC in healthy volunteers

An increasing number of novel therapeutic agents are targeted at cannabinoid receptors. Drug development programmes of new cannabinoid drugs may be facilitated by the identification of useful biomarkers. This systemic literature review aims to assess the usefulness of direct biomarkers for the effects of cannabis and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in healthy volunteers. One hundred and sixty-five useful articles were found that investigated the acute effects of cannabis or THC on the central nervous system (CNS) and heart rate in healthy volunteers. Three hundred and eighteen tests (or test variants) were grouped in test clusters and functional domains, to allow their evaluation as a useful biomarker and to study their dose–response effects. Cannabis/THC affected a wide range of CNS domains. In addition to heart rate, subjective effects were the most reliable biomarkers, showing significant responses to cannabis in almost all studies. Some CNS domains showed indications of depression at lower and stimulation at higher doses. Subjective effects and heart rate are currently the most reliable biomarkers to study the effect of cannabis. Cannabis affects most CNS domains, but too many different CNS tests are used to quantify the drug–response relationships reliably. Test standardization, particularly in motor and memory domains, may reveal additional biomarkers.