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This review focuses on the nature, influence, and modifiability of academics’ mindsets. Synthesising the large, growing, and influential body of adult growth and fixed mindset research with applied research into academia, it documents emerging evidence suggesting an academic’s growth mindset can improve their personal performance, career success, and well-being – and some student, peer, and workplace outcomes. Commencing with a primer to the general research into the nature and effects of mindsets in adults, we recommend that while more and better applied research is needed, and there is sufficient general and research in academics to incorporate growth mindset principles into professional development for individual academics, managers and institutional leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses about impact of ChatGPT, an AI chatbot with advanced text generation capabilities, on higher education in health science. Topic include It highlights ChatGPT's potential to generate educational content, provide tutoring, and assist in assessments, along with ethical considerations. The article presents three hypothetical scenarios for nursing and health science's response to ChatGPT, emphasizing the importance of addressing its influence rather than avoiding it.

An editorial is presented on Nursing's preoccupation with leadership references to leaders and leadership abound in discourse not only about nursing, nurses and healthcare organizations around all professions and workplaces. Topics include Nurse leader are senior in rank or credential in nursing organizations or academic departments; and conceptions of nursing leaders and leadership that consider alternative approaches empower nurses of organizations to embrace leadership practices.

The article focuses on the prevalence of questionable research practices (QRPs), the negative effects they have on the public's trust in research, and the cultural pressures that incentivize the practices. Topic include understanding the nature of QRPs and the pressures researchers face to prioritize research quantity and career advancement over quality; and the pressure to prioritize research impact, reach, and quantity over quality is often a significant contributor to QRPs.

"Stream of consciousness" writing is writing what comes to mind with no regard for cohesion or the fit of that thought with the previous thought or any sort of perfection of language. Your reading of your data is a transaction, your writing of your data is another transaction, and the readers of your writing will engage in transactions of their own. Here's the Catch: Permission was Right in Front of You All Along Those writing qualitative research appear to hunger for pragmatic writing strategies to stimulate their thinking and further enhance their methods. [Extracted from the article]

Conceptualize Your Poster Design Reflecting on your success indicators, your audience, and main messages, how can you create a poster design that helps rather than hinders conveying the content? Helpfully, faced with the prospect of producing an academic poster for the first time, new researchers both consciously and unconsciously base this poster on their understanding of the genre of the academic conference poster. Yet genre makes it hard for good posters to even be made due to the sheer dominance of poor posters because each bad poster both reflects and also constitutes the future genre of the conference poster. To develop proficiency in producing academic conference posters, and to effectively represent the academic poster genre, new researchers are likely to already have knowledge of this genre through their own previous experiences of conference posters ([9]). [Extracted from the article]

In this article, the author talks about minimizing research misconduct and also talks about priorities for academics in nursing. It mentions need for researchers to deposit their study data using Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) principles and institutions need to encourage and reward researchers for doing so. It mentions workplace strategies to prevent misconduct needs to encourage senior academics, to explore their personal emotions and fears.

An editorial is presented on nursing’s research problems. Topics include the importance of research on nursing for its development; the prevalence of research studies led by nurses on units and as valid indicators to influence of research in nursing; and use of research skills for practice which is established during pre‐registration education which include developing search questions, searching for the right research studies.

Every year thousands of presentations of qualitative research findings are made at conferences, departmental seminars, meetings, and student defenses. Yet scant scholarship has been devoted to these presentations, their nature and relevance to qualitative research, and how they can be improved. This article addresses this important gap by positioning "research findings" presentations as a distinctive genre, part of qualitative method, and an expression of scholarly discourse. From the theoretical basis of genre theory, a number of common and damaging mistakes are found to be evident in the manner in which qualitative research findings are usually presented. These have negative implications: reducing the methodological quality of, engagement with, and overall influence of the qualitative research presented. We draw on genre theory to make recommendations for future qualitative research findings presentations to improve the rigor, influence, and impact of such presentations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular disease exerts an enormous burden on women's health. The intake of a healthy diet may reduce this burden. However, social norms and economic constraints are often factors that restrain women from paying attention to their diet. Underpinned by critical realism, this study explores how gender/sex influences decision‐making regarding food consumption among women of low socioeconomic status (SES). The study was carried out at two cardiac facilities in Karachi, Pakistan, on 24 participants (male and female from different ethnic backgrounds), who had received health education. Using an interpretive descriptive approach, the study identified major barriers to a healthy diet: proscribed gender roles and lack of women's autonomy, power, male domination, and abusive behaviours. Cardiovascular risk and disease outcomes for the Pakistani women of low SES are likely to further escalate if individual and structural barriers are not reduced using multifactorial approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research conception is not a descriptive end in itself but also constitutes future discourses of research which shape and influence the expectations and experiences of new and emerging researchers. Despite apparent invisibility in formal discourse, researchers' social conversations around research are characterized by laments of personal and work-related failings and failures. [Extracted from the article]

An editorial is presented which discusses about the life and work balance, career goals and employment, the career crisis, suffering from denial, depression, bargaining, the challenges and failure in academic work and individualization. It talks about focusing on what an individual can control, helping them to feel better, controlling personal values, to try not to get defensive and to be wary of inappropriate conducts.

The article suggests the important role of cardiovascular health professionals in advocating for and advancing health equity in their cardiovascular care practice, including prevention, disease management and rehabilitation.

Background Values are central to ethical and effective nursing and health care. However, in relation to heart failure, an extremely common and burdensome syndrome, the role that patients’ values have in influencing self-care is poorly understood. Methods A mixed methods systematic review was conducted using a critical meta-narrative synthesis approach to synthesizing qualitative and qualitized data. Nine databases were searched (14 March 2014). To be included in the review, studies had to contain data on heart failure patients’ values and self-care behaviors, include adults aged ≥18 years with symptomatic heart failure, and be published ≥2000 as full articles or theses. Study quality was assessed using a mixed-methods appraisal tool. Findings Of 6467 citations identified, 54 studies were included (30 qualitative, 8 mixed methods, and 16 quantitative; 6045 patients, 38 lay caregivers, and 96 health care professionals). The synthesis identified multiple bi-directional interactions between heart failure, patients’ values, and self-care. Patients are motivated by self-related and other-related values. Self-related values are tied directly to intimate personal feelings (self-direction, pleasure, and being healthy) or related to individuals’ life circumstances (maintaining a healthy lifestyle and financial balance). Other-related values, which are fundamentally socially-based, are related to benefits received from society (social recognition and socialization) and social obligations (responsibility, observing traditions, and obedience). For each decision, several values are involved; some are incompatible and some are in conflict. Patients make their self-care decision based on the values they prioritize and those that are blocked. Conclusion Values are integral to how patients approach and undertake HF self-care. These values both affect and respond to this self-care and the severity of HF symptoms. Values extend to those relating to the self and others and incorporate a range of personal, life, and social dimensions. Values cannot be assumed to be fixed, normative or similar to those held by nurses and other health professionals. Future interventions to improve HF self-care must address and respond to the complexity of patients’ values and how they influence patient behavior in undertaking heart failure self-care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the nursing leadership in academia. Topics discussed include the importance of leadership in academia, effective academic leadership in academic settings, and authoritarian working cultures. Also being discussed are the higher deference to external agencies, and lowered autonomy in thought and action.

The article highlights lessons from art which can bring benefits to research for motivation, creativity and meaning. It mentions that values are an important facilitator of research rigor, credibility and ethics, instead of detracting from the scientific inquiry's rigor. It states that it is significant for people who do innovative research to seek of being featured in mainstream journals and be influential, like the artists of old who fought consistently for their work to be recognized.

Aims and objectives To examine the personal and structural facilitators and barriers for home-dialysis decision-making for older adults with chronic kidney disease. Background Chronic illness is a global problem. Older adults with chronic kidney disease form a large and growing segment of the dialysis population in many high-income countries but are less likely to uptake home-dialysis despite its benefits. Design This qualitative ethnography framed in social theory took place in Canada and included adults with chronic kidney disease not on dialysis, older than 65 years of age. Methods Thirteen people (seven men and six women, aged 65-83 years of age) who received care in a team chronic kidney disease clinic took part. Persons with chronic kidney disease were interviewed and group interviews were conducted with four of their chronic kidney disease clinic healthcare professionals. Content analysis was used for data analysis. Results The factors influencing older adults' chronic kidney disease modality decisions are similar to younger adults. However, older adults with chronic kidney disease are in a precarious state with persistent uncertainty. Age imposes some limitations on modality options and transplantation. Modality decisions were influenced by health status, gender, knowledge, values, beliefs, past experience, preferences, lifestyle and resources. Support from family and healthcare professionals was the largest determinant to home-dialysis selection. Conclusion The social and contextual factors associated with age influenced home-dialysis decision-making. Adequate social support, functional status and resources enabled home-dialysis selection. Relevance to clinical practice Understanding more about the decision-making processes for older adults with chronic kidney disease is important for quality interventions and the economic sustainability of dialysis services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses five reasons why so many nursing authors publish their work in a predatory journal. Topics covered include suggestions to counter the risk of credible research being published in predatory journals, ways to identify predatory publishers, and the role of academic leaders, supervisors and mentors in raising awareness of the practices and perils of predatory journals.

Context Disease management interventions for heart failure (HF) are inconsistent and very seldom incorporate the views and needs of patients and their caregivers into intervention design. Objective and data To improve intervention effectiveness and consistency, a systematic review identified 49 studies which examined the views and needs of patients with HF and their caregivers about the nature and determinants of effective HF self-care. Results The findings identify key drivers of effective self-care, such as the capacity of patients to successfully integrate self-care practices with their preferred normal daily life patterns and recognise and respond to HF symptoms in a timely manner. Conclusions Future interventions for HF self-care must involve family members throughout the intervention and harness patients' normal daily routines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking debates about the roles of structure and agency in health as a lens, this essay asks how Critical Realist and Feminist Intersectional approaches might inform health interventions research. Despite recognition of multiple determinants of health, health problems are often thought of as individual and interventions, in turn, target risky individual behaviours. Such approaches are rooted in a liberal model of personhood. This paper critiques enduring individualist assumptions linked to Western liberal underpinnings embedded in health interventions. It posits the need to include a robust conception of the social world in which change depends on shifting power relations, and individual agency is shaped by power as well as individual will. We propose preliminary steps for undertaking critical realist intersectional interventions research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which describes the factors that influence cardiac rehabilitation programmes in people with coronary heart disease. The researchers have conducted a qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis to develop interventions in post referral and initial cardiac rehabilitation programmes. The findings reveal that patients' participation are driven by perceptions of the nature, suitability, and scheduling of programmes.

The components of complex interventions are frequently discussed, invoked and examined in theory and research but seldom defined. This leads to theoretical and ontological ambiguities, lack of methodological transparency, and potentially, resistance to the wider movement towards complex intervention. This paper is the first to compare and contrast the different approaches that can be taken to the components of complex interventions. Most basically, complex interventions are defined as being composed of parts that make the whole intervention and, in isolation or combination, can generate the power of the intervention. Examples from the field of cardiac rehabilitation are used to illustrate key points. In relation to complex interventions past approaches variously: downplay complexity, focus on the complicatedness of complex interventions, or emphasize the complexity of complex interventions. Thus, approaches can be categorized as viewing components variously as: (1) Non existent parts and powers; (2) Irrelevant parts and powers; (3) Undifferentiated powerful parts; (4) Higher order parts and non-existent lower parts; (5) Higher order parts with non-powerful lower order parts; (6) Higher and lower order parts with powers; and (7) Components as the parts and the whole with powers. Based on this overview, complex interventions should be defined as being formed of parts, which can be material, human, theoretical, social, or procedural in nature, possibly stratified into higher and lower realms, that exercise power individually, in combination, or as emergent properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives To analyse available research on the effectiveness of prewarming to prevent perioperative hypothermia and identify knowledge gaps for future research. Background Perioperative hypothermia is common and causes complications, such as coagulation and platelet function abnormalities; increased cardiac morbidity, surgical site infection, and pressure ulcer incidence levels. In this context, several methods have been investigated to prevent perioperative hypothermia, including prewarming. Prewarming is defined as the warming of peripheral tissues or the skin surface before anaesthetic induction and may consist of an active cutaneous warming system or the preoperative administration of vasodilation drugs. Design Systematic review. Methods We searched CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials and Medline ( January 1990- November 2011) for randomised controlled trials on the effectiveness of prewarming for prevention of perioperative hypothermia, published in English, Spanish and Portuguese, and involving elective surgery patients aged 18 years or older. Results Of 730 identified studies, only 13 met the inclusion criteria. After hand-searching the reference lists of included studies, an additional study was identified for a total sample of 14 studies. The results suggest that forced-air warming system is effective to reduce hypothermia when applied for the prewarming of surgical patients. Conclusion Prewarming patients with the forced-air warming system might be effective to reduce perioperative hypothermia, and new studies are needed to examine the use of carbon fibre technology. Relevance to clinical practice Nurses can use this review to inform decision-making on a prewarming programme in the perioperative period. They can also develop research on strategies to put in practice prewarming in the surgical context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper presents critical realism (CR) as an innovative system for research in tobacco prevention and control. CR argues that underlying mechanisms are considered and explored to ensure effective implementation of any program/policy or intervention. Any intervention or program/policy that is transposed from one country to another or one setting to another is complex. Methods: The research was undertaken and analyzed through a critical ethnography lens using CR as a philosophical underpinning. The study relied upon the following components: original fieldwork in Nigeria including participant observation of smokers, in-depth interviews and focus groups with smokers, and in-depth interviews with health professionals working in the area of tobacco control in Nigeria. Results: Findings from this small ethnographic study in Nigeria, suggest that Critical Realism holds promise for addressing underlying mechanism that links complex influences on smoking. Conclusion: This paper argues that understanding the underlying mechanisms associated with smoking in different societies will enable a platform for effective implementation of tobacco control policies that work in various settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This systematic review examined how people with chronic kidney disease make decisions about the type of dialysis modality to use. In particular, meta-synthesis was used to understand the process of patient decision-making and how aspects of context influenced these decisions. This topic is important because home-dialysis has economic and quality of life advantages for patients and society but is underutilized. To increase the use of home-based dialysis services a greater understanding is needed of how patients make dialysis modality decisions. Design: Systematic review methods incorporating meta-synthesis were used. Data sources: Seven databases were used for the search. Eligible studies were published qualitative research studies containing extractable data on decision-making about dialysis modality selection generated from patients with chronic kidney disease. Review methods: A systematic review was conducted and the data were analyzed using meta-synthesis (also known as meta-ethnography) for qualitative research. Results: Sixteen studies were included (410 patients at various stages of chronic kidney disease). Across all the studies, decisions drew on patients' values and in the context of their situation and life. Common elements across patients' decisions were: (1) the illusion of choice - a matter of life or death, (2) minimization of the intrusiveness of dialysis on quality of life, autonomy, values, sense of self, and (3) decision-making in the context of wider knowledge and support. Conclusions: Modality decisions are highly personal and strongly influenced by patient and family values, the context of their life, and a desire for minimal intrusiveness. There is a clear need for planned and timely discussions about modalities in which home-based dialysis is presented as a viable option. Professional support should focus on patient and family preparation, knowledge of different modalities and the lifestyle implications of different modality choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To understand the process of help-seeking among heart failure patients from the perspectives of patients, caregivers and health professionals. Design: Systematic review using qualitative meta-synthesis. Methods: A systematic search (20th May 2011) was conducted to identify studies published in English as full papers 1995 reporting primary qualitative data with extractable heart failure-specific data or themes related to help-seeking in patients, caregivers or health professionals. Databases searched were: CINAHL, Medline, PsycInfo, Social Science Citation Index, Embase, Social policy/Practice, SocIndex, Ageline, Health Source Nursing, Scopus; additionally, we consulted with experts and manually searched references. Results: 58 studies (990 patients; 274 female, 527 male, 189 sex not described; 229 caregivers, 79 health professionals) were included. Heart failure help-seeking was embedded in daily experiences of heart failure but ongoing symptoms were confusing, ambiguous and disruptive; little support was available from professionals to interpret the presence and significance of fluctuations in symptoms for help-seeking. Other significant barriers to help-seeking were: avoidance-based coping, fear of hospitals and misplaced reluctance to be burdensome. Help-seeking was facilitated by good involvement and frank communication between patients, caregivers and health professionals and the presence of a sense of elevated personal risk. Conclusion: Health services should harness primary care providers and support patients and caregivers to prioritize development of objective symptom monitoring skills, recognize and personally assimilate the elevated risks of heart failure and help-seeking delays and discourage avoidance-based coping and unwarranted concerns that downplay the significance of heart failure and urgency to address symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with heart disease receive little support for sustaining physical activity over the long-term. This study compared the characteristics of patients choosing to join a peer support program to promote use of physical activity and assessed its effects on physical activity. Aims: To compare characteristics of those choosing to join the peer support (PS) program versus those who did not, and to assess the effect on physical activity patterns at 12 months of the PS program. Methods: Based on health status from 225 people who completed centre-based cardiac rehabilitation, 109 patients with heart disease who had completed a program of hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation were suitable for the peer support program. Health status and characteristics of patients opting to join the program (n = 79) were compared to patients who did not wish to join (n = 30). A longitudinal study was then conducted to determine the objective effects on physical activity levels of program membership at 12 months as measured by self-report and pedometers. Results: Patients who joined the peer support program tended to be older (p < 0.001), and female compared to those who were eligible but did not join (p = 0.04). Over the next 12 months, those who did not participate in the peer support program reported a decline of 211 min in the total amount of physical activity accumulated in an average week (1382.5 ± 238.2 to 1171.5 ± 220.1 min week−1 p = 0.003), whereas program members sustained similar levels of physical activity as was recorded at the completion of cardiac rehabilitation (1021.1 ± 141.9 to 1070 ± 127.8 min week− 1). Objective measures of physical activity indicated that groups increased moderately total step count per week (p = 0.68 and p = 0.25) and in their average steps per day (p = 0.68 and p = 0.25 respectively) from baseline to 12 months. Conclusion: Peer support programs have good potential to help people with heart disease maintain physical activity after cardiac rehabilitation. Importantly, they may offer particular benefits for older patients and females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses a debate on whether nurses should publish in 'impactful' journals. He analyses the merits of five of the most common arguments made in the discipline against impact. Measures of impact used to evaluate the contributions of nursing academics in various countries, including the impact factor (IF), the Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) and the h-index are presented. He mentions the significance of showing academic leadership and direction in the nursing professoriate.

HARWOOD L and CLARK AM. Nursing Inquiry 2012; 19: 29-38 Understanding health decisions using critical realism: home-dialysis decision-making during chronic kidney disease This paper examines home-dialysis decision making in people with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) from the perspective of critical realism. CKD programmes focus on patient education for self-management to delay the progression of kidney disease and the preparation and support for renal replacement therapy e.g.) dialysis and transplantation. Home-dialysis has clear health, societal and economic benefits yet service usage is low despite efforts to realign resources and educate individuals. Current research on the determinants of modality selection is superficial and insufficient to capture the complexities embedded in the process of dialysis modality selection. Predictors of home-dialysis selection and the effect of chronic kidney disease educational programmes provide a limited explanation of this experience. A re-conceptualization of the problem is required in order to fully understand this process. The epistemology and ontology of critical realism guides our knowledge and methodology particularly suited for examination of these complexities. This approach examines the deeper mechanisms and wider determinants associated with modality decision making, specifically who chooses home dialysis and under what circumstances. Until more is known regarding dialysis modality decision making service usage of home dialysis will remain low as interventions will be based on inadequate epistemology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SWORD W, CLARK AM, HEGADOREN K, BROOKS S and KINGSTON D. Nursing Inquiry 2012; 19: 51-62 The complexity of postpartum mental health and illness: a critical realist study Postpartum depression (PPD) is a major public health issue that profoundly impacts the woman, her infant and family. Although it may be linked to hormone changes, no direct hormonal aetiology has been established. A large body of evidence implicates numerous psychosocial predictors of PPD. While a history of depression predicts about 50% of cases of PPD, it remains unclear why some women with a history do not develop depression following childbirth, even taking psychosocial factors into account. The aim of this study was to identify the main mechanisms and factors associated with the presence or absence of PPD in women with a history of depression, and the presence of PPD in women without a history, using a critical realist approach. The findings indicate a number of personal and contextual factors that influence postpartum mental health and illness. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, women who did not develop depression identified goal-oriented actions that were protective. These factors and processes did not exist in isolation and the interplay among them in influencing health was apparent. More research is needed to explore the effects of these mechanisms in different contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Review examines recommendations and principles that promote good decision-making with regard to the insertion, deactivation, and potential malfunction of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs). This guidance is important because ICDs are now used for primary and secondary prevention of arrhythmias in more than 20 diverse clinical populations, which accounts for the exponential increase in insertion rates over the past decade. Current guidelines require clinicians to provide personalized, culturally appropriate, and easy to understand information to patients on the benefits and harms of proposed treatment choices; however, obtaining valid informed consent for insertion and deactivation of ICDs is challenging. Initiating early conversations with patients and continuing this dialogue over time, implementation of localized care protocols, increased collaboration (particularly between cardiac and palliative care teams), and the provision of training for all health professionals involved in the care of these patients, can help to ensure that adequate informed consent is maintained throughout their care. In addition to providing information, health professionals should identify and address high levels of anxiety in patients and their next of kin and promote effective communication throughout decision making. In the future, use of standardized checklists or decision aids based on a clear understanding of the principles underlying key topics could support this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the perceptions of people with stroke-related dysarthria in relation to the management and rehabilitation of dysarthria.Design: Qualitative semi-structured interviews.Setting: Community settingSubjects: Twenty-four people with an acquired dysarthria as a result of a stroke in the previous three years. All were living at home at the time of the interview. None exhibited a co-existing impairment (for example, aphasia, apraxia or cognitive impairment) that might have contributed to their communicative experiences.Results: Participants described the considerable efforts they made to maximize their communicative effectiveness prior to, and during, communicative interactions. Activities described included careful articulation and vocal projection as well as more inconspicuous strategies including pre-planning interactions, focused, effortful speech and word substitution. Communication was facilitated by a range of strategies including drafting, rehearsal, manoeuvring and ongoing monitoring and repair. Self-led speech rehabilitation activities were functionally based and often undertaken regularly. Some novel reading-aloud and speaking-aloud activities were described.Conclusion: The quantity and nature of inconspicuous, internalized, cognitive activities people with dysarthria engage in to maximize their communicative effectiveness should be considered in evaluating the impact of dysarthria following stroke. Focusing upon externally observable characteristics alone is insufficient. Challenging, functionally relevant, patient-focused activities, materials and targets are more likely to be perceived by the patient as relevant and worthwhile and are thus more likely to ensure adherence to recommended rehabilitation activities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The critical illness of an adult constitutes a crisis for the patient’s family. They relinquish primary responsibility for the physical well-being of the patient to health providers, but remain involved, working to get through the situation. What constitutes this “work”? Results of two grounded theory studies revealed that family members were engaged first in the pivotal work of gaining access because of their overarching need to be present with and for their critically ill relative. Other work included patient-related work, nurse/physician-related work, and self-related work. These findings extend our understanding of their experiences beyond current knowledge and paternalistic perceptions of burden, stress and coping, and need recognition and fulfillment. Critical care nurses are exhorted to support family members in their work by removing barriers to patient, staff, and information access and to partnering opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction. Each year an estimated 30,000-45,000 UK individuals experience stroke-related dysarthria (impairment of movements required to produce speech). Many will experience persistent dysarthria long after discharge from stroke services. Although we have some insight into the impact of other communication impairments, we have very limited information on the impact of dysarthria on social participation. Purpose. To explore the impact of dysarthria on social participation following stroke. Methods. We report data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with 24 individuals with stroke-related dysarthria. Results. Our findings suggest a complex association between the severity of an individual's dysarthria and the impact on their social participation. Participants' descriptions highlighted their experiences of social participation and isolation. We further suggest that, in some cases, the coping strategies adopted by the participants could be seen to further exacerbate this isolation. These results have important implications for the prioritisation, planning and delivery of therapeutic interventions for people with dysarthria. Conclusions. The impact of stroke-related dysarthria transcends the physiological impairment to impact upon individuals' social participation, which is key to the process of rehabilitation. The development and evaluation of the effectiveness of an intervention that addresses these impacts is the next challenge for therapists and researchers working in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve patient support, it is important to understand how people view and experience Heart Failure (HF) self-care. This systematic review of qualitative studies included all published studies that examine the influence of sex and gender on HF self-care. A systematic search was done for papers (1995-2010) indexed in Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Medline, Ovid EMBASE, Ovid PsycINFO, CSA Sociological Abstracts, OVID AARP Ageline, EBSCO Academic Search Complete, EBSCO CINAHL, EBSCO SocINDEX, ISI Web of Science: Social Sciences Citation Index and Science Citation Index Expanded, and Scopus. After screening of 537 citations, six qualitative studies identified that differences existed in perceptions of symptoms with women having less family involvement and psychosocial support around self-care. Moreover, women had considerably more negative views of the future, themselves and their ability to fulfill social self-care roles. Women with HF represent a highly vulnerable population and need more support for psychosocial wellbeing and self-care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on whether research quality assessment exercises influenced the growth of the quality and visibility of nursing research and what the harms and costs of such exercises are to the state of the present nursing research. He cites the importance of seeing the potential good arising from the assessments to accept the reality of their existence and use it to promote positive developments for the discipline of nursing, for the departments and for individual nurse academics.

Socioeconomic status (SES) refers to an individual's social position relative to other members of a society. Low SES is associated with large increases in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in men and women. The inverse association between SES and CVD risk in high-income countries is the result of the high prevalence and compounding effects of multiple behavioral and psychosocial risk factors in people of low SES. However, strong and consistent evidence shows that parental SES, childhood and early-life factors, and inequalities in health services also contribute to elevated CVD risk in people of low SES who live in high-income countries. In addition, place of residence can affect CVD risk, although the data on the influence of wealth distribution and work-related factors are inconsistent. Studies on the effects of SES on CVD risk in low-income and middle-income countries is scarce, but evidence is emerging that the increasing wealth of these countries is beginning to lead to replication of the patterns seen in high-income countries. Clinicians should address the association between SES and CVD by incorporating SES into CVD risk calculations and screening tools, reducing behavioral and psychosocial risk factors via effective and equitable primary and secondary prevention, undertaking health equity audits to assess inequalities in care provision and outcomes, and by use of multidisciplinary teams to address risk factors over the life course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]