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1) Gain insight into PA prescription by United States-based physical therapists treating patients 50 years and older, and 2) Explore the contextual factors that impact PA prescription. We integrated ethnographic study data, including a questionnaire, observations, and semi-structured interviews. Our nine participants with 24.7 years (SD= 11.6) of clinical experience completed frequent PA assessments, but PA prescription was inconsistent. The following themes helped explain the participants' clinical decisions: 1) treatment prioritization; 2) physical therapists' intentions of addressing PA; and 3) contextual factors that impact treatment and treatment prioritization (e.g., experience, beliefs, concerns related to PA prescription, and work environment). Most participants did not address PA among adults 50 years and older. Due to the importance of performing regular PA, it is vital for physical therapists to reflect on their PA prescription. Organizations and health service researchers need to implement strategies that address the PA prescription barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The China Study of Midlife Women data is used to test the notion that East Asian women have a low level of midlife symptom reporting compared with North American women. The analysis demonstrates that women's midlife symptom reporting in China cannot be equated with findings on women in Japan.

Drawing upon interviews and participant observation conducted with hundreds of middle-aged and elderly Chinese women in rural and urban neighborhoods in Beijing Municipality between 1993 and 2012, this paper explores the emergence of revolutionary new narratives of self-compassion among older women in reform-era Beijing. Taught before 1949 that they should first and foremost serve their families and after 1949 that they should put their own individual needs aside and serve the party and the masses, many older Chinese women in Beijing – after the seeds of market reform were sown in the late 1970s – slowly began to focus more attention than before on themselves, their past and present experiences, sources of and solutions to past and present distress, and their own personal enjoyment of everyday life. The analysis shows how western theories of both gero-transcendence and individualization as modernization are insufficient to account for the complex cultural formations of self-care that have developed among older women in the first decades of post-Mao China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on recent paper published literature in both English and Chinese, this explores reactions to the evaluation of Chinese medicine using randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and the standards of evidence-based medicine (EBM). The literature review revealed a few sources which contend that Chinese medicine should not be evaluated on the basis of RCTs, but a far greater number which advocate for applying RCT and EBM standards to Chinese medicine. This paper describes the position of the detractors and points out ways in which their arguments contain oversimplified representations of Chinese medicine, biomedicine, EBM, and RCTs. In describing the position of the proponents, the analysis outlines some of the numerous innovative techniques they are developing for dealing with issues of control and standardization in efficacy research. Overall, the analysis indicates that important refinements are being generated in Chinese medicine research and clinical trial design in response to the challenges posed by the forced encounter of these two paradigms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on recent publications in English and Chinese, this article explores reactions to the use of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and the standards of evidence-based medicine (EBM) to evaluate Chinese medicine. Some authors contend that RCTs should not be used to evaluate Chinese medicine, but a far greater number of authors advocate their use. This paper describes the position of the RCT detractors and points out how their arguments contain oversimplified representations of Chinese medicine, biomedicine, EBM, and RCTs. In describing the position of the RCT proponents, the article discusses how challenges of standardization and control in Chinese medicine research have been met with important innovations in clinical trial design. Overall, the article argues that not only Chinese medicine is modified in meeting the demands of RCTs and EBM, but clinical trial design is being transformed through the innovations of Chinese medicine researchers.