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Responses of family caregivers and family members with Alzheimer’s disease to an activity kit: an ethnographic study This qualitative evaluation research focused on individuals with Alzheimer’s disease cared for at home by a family caregiver. It aimed to assess the responses of family caregivers and family members to an activity kit containing 20 therapeutic activities (The BAG or ‘Be Active with Games’ kit). In-depth interviews with and observations of 21 caregiver/member dyads were analysed according to Spradley’s ethnographic method. Responses to The BAG were contingent upon the family member’s symptoms, prior experience, and time of day. For some caregivers The BAG was useful in filling time, inspiring additional activities, facilitating connections with the family member, and connecting family members with their past; for others it was an additional burden in an already frenetic life. The BAG engaged some family members with AD while it ‘insulted’ others. The value of activities for individuals with AD requires more theoretical and methodological exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the wandering behaviors of institutionalized patients with Alzheimer's disease. Response to immediate need of controlling this patients from exiting the health care setting; Method used in the study; Findings of the study; Discussion of the study.

As part of a patient safety program in the authors' department of radiology, operational rounds have been instituted. This process consists of radiology leaders' visiting imaging divisions at the site of imaging and discussing frontline employees' concerns about patient safety, the quality of care, and patient and family satisfaction. Operational rounds are executed at a time to optimize the number of attendees. Minutes that describe the issues identified, persons responsible for improvement, and updated improvement plan status are available to employees online. Via this process, multiple patient safety and other issues have been identified and remedied. The authors believe that the process has improved patient safety, the quality of care, and the efficiency of operations. Since the inception of the safety program, the mean number of days between serious safety events involving radiology has doubled. The authors review the background around such walk rounds, describe their particular program, and give multiple illustrative examples of issues identified and improvement plans put in place.

Purpose: To describe lucky adolescents who unintentionally avoid pregnancy., Design and Methods: The second phase of a descriptive qualitative study in which 17 low-income African-American females ages 19 to 26 participated in open-ended interviews on how they avoided pregnancy as adolescents., Results: Constant comparative analysis revealed that five of the girls avoided pregnancy because they were "lucky" that others insisted they use contraceptives. These lucky girls were unaware of sexual risks, but used contraceptives because they complied with decisions made by their parents, grandparents, and partners., Practice Implications: Lucky girls are at risk for adolescent pregnancy because they abdicate decision making to others and are likely to be overlooked in practice because they are using contraceptives. Promoting self-protection includes assessment, knowledge, skills-building strategies, and health-promoting contracts between the nurse and adolescent.

Because clear instructions for interviewing men about their developing procreative identities do not exist, the authors discuss a variety of methodological issues that surfaced during in-depth interviews with young men about relationships, sex, contraception, pregnancy, and fatherhood. The authors interviewed a diverse sample of 50 single male participants, ages 16 to 30, who had dated at least one woman in the past 3 years (or had been married). The purpose of the reflexive analysis was to sensitize researchers, social service providers, and the authors to the challenges of conducting qualitative interviews with young men. The authors present indices for assessing interview success.