Patient empowerment in the United States: a critical commentary

Whilst there is no consensus amongst analysts regarding how best to define 'patient empowerment', at the very least, this concept entails a re-distribution of power between patients and physicians. Empowered patients attempt to take charge of their own health and their interactions with health care professionals. Empowerment can occur at different levels (micro, meso, and macro) and patients have different ideas about what it means to 'take charge' and 'be empowered'. Some patients simply want to be given information about their conditions whilst others want to have full control over all medical decision-making. Some empirical evidence suggests that active patient participation in health care is associated with better patient outcomes. This field is ripe for future studies which both help to develop theoretical models of patient empowerment and articulate the conditions under which patient empowerment occurs.     

Proxy respondents and the reliability of the Quality of Life Questionnaire Empowerment factor

Previous studies have questioned the reliability of Quality of Life Questionnaire (QOL-Q) Empowerment scores, and reported marked disagreement between consumers' self-reports and proxy data from staff informants. The present study examined agreement between consumer self-reports and proxy responses from community living staff for 63 adults with intellectual disability. Substantial positive correlations between consumers and staff were evident. No significant difference was found between total QOL-Q Empowerment scores for self- or staff reports. It was concluded that the QOL-Q Empowerment factor is sufficiently reliable for use both by self-report and proxy respondents. Even so, proxy data are not a substitute for consumer self-reports and the two data sources should not be treated as being interchangeable.     

Becoming a partner in your healthcare

Chronic disorders such as haemophilia and von Willebrand disease can rob people of a feeling of control over their lives. Added to this is often a feeling of confusion or intimidation when dealing with the healthcare system. People may begin to feel like victims of their disorders and of the healthcare system. The healthcare system defines people who are in receipt of care as patients. The word patient comes from the Latin word patiens, which means to suffer, endure, allow, permit or undergo. Even the term implies a sense of victimization. People who become partners in their care and view the receipt and delivery of healthcare as a service wherein they are the consumer and the doctor or clinician is the provider, will feel more in control and will likely have better outcomes than people who assume the more traditional role of 'patient'.     

Empowerment in people with a mental illness: reliability and validity of the Swedish version of an empowerment scale

Empowerment has become a widespread concept in various social policy contexts referring to different marginalized groups. Empowerment has also been focused within the mental health field although little empirical research exists. The aim of the present study was to investigate internal consistency and construct validity of the Swedish version of an empowerment scale developed for people with a mental illness, Making Decisions. Ninety-two persons were subject to an interview also comprising assessments of quality of life, needs for care, psychiatric symptoms, psychosocial functioning, aspects of the social network, rejection experiences and attitudes of devaluation/discrimination towards people with mental illness. The results showed that the overall scale and the subscales had a good internal consistency, except for the subscale power–powerlessness. A factor analysis revealed two superordinate factors, self-esteem and activism and community and power, with a satisfactory internal consistency. These two factors showed a good construct validity with expected associations to validation measures. Stigma was most markedly associated with self-esteem and activism, and a higher level of education was most strongly associated with community and power. In conclusion, the Swedish version Making Decisions may well be used in further studies of empowerment among people with a mental illness.     

International educational partnership for practice: Brazil and the United Kingdom

BACKGROUND: To enhance healthcare globally, successful academic partnerships between institutes of higher education are crucial to strengthen collaboration between countries and identify new ways of working. The desire to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity among childbearing women in north-east Brazil urged professional nurses to seek new ways of working through such a partnership. Reflections on the success of the link identify the key qualities uniting the partnership. AIMS. This paper explores the key qualities of a higher education partnership between the United Kingdom and north-east Brazil. These qualities can act as a guide to other faculties engaged in such links to facilitate successful collaborative working for gains on both sides. RESULTS. Critical reflections from both partners revealed that the key qualities identified are effective communication, deep commitment and the need for both partners to understand each other's context of care. CONCLUSIONS. Examination of each of these qualities illustrates that the shared perspectives, mutual respect and enriched educational experience are valuable and essential to successful partnership working. This critical reflection illustrates the process of success and how others can benefit from the lessons learned, whatever the nature of partnership. Understanding the nature of collaborative working has strengthened each education and practice community, encouraged them to take risks, and remain committed to collective success.     

The effectiveness of empowering in-service training programs for foreign nurse aides in community-based long-term care facilities

The objective of the study was to examine the effectiveness of empowering in-service training programs for foreign nurse aides working in community-based long-term care (LTC) facilities. The design was a pretest and post-test design with experiment and control groups. The sample consisted of purposeful sampling from 10 LTC facilities in the Shihlin and Peitou areas of Taipei. A total of 35 foreign nurse aides participated in this study; 16 in the experimental group and 19 in the control group. The experimental group attended the training program for a 3-month period, whereas the control group did not receive any training. The research findings reveal that the training program was effective in increasing the work stress of workload/scheduling (Z = 2.01, p 相似文献