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The independent predictive power of fatigue for community integration has not been investigated, although there is an increasing amount of literature that recognizes the importance of fatigue in people with stroke. To examine the correlation between community integration and fatigue, walking endurance, and fear of falling; and to quantify the relative contribution of fatigue to community integration in people with stroke. This was a cross-sectional study with 75 community-dwelling people with stroke. Data were collected using the Community Integration Measure (CIM), Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS), 6-minute walk test (6MWT), and Survey of Activities and Fear of Falling in the Elderly (SAFE). Multiple linear regressions (forced entry method) were used to quantify the relative power of the FAS score to predict community integration in a model covering distance in the 6MWT and the SAFE score. After controlling for age, the CIM score significantly correlated with the scores for FAS (r=-0.48, p < 0.001), 6MWT distance (r = 0.24, p = 0.039), and SAFE (r=-0.39, p = 0.001). The entire model, including age, FAS score, 6MWT distance, and SAFE score, explained 26.1% of the variance in the CIM scores (F [4, 70] = 7.52, p < 0.001). The FAS scores independently explained 10.6% of the variance in the CIM scores. This study suggests that fatigue is an independent predictor of community integration among people with stroke, taking into account walking endurance and fear of falling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Increasingly, narrative and life story are being used in health and social sciences, and other disciplines. Narrative analysis assumes multiple forms in a variety of analytic practices, with no [...]

Examines the effectiveness of reminiscence approach to promote the well-being of nursing home residents with dementia. Adoption of a life-story approach in the intervention group; Provision of a friendly discussions by the comparison group to control for any changes in outcome as a result of social contacts and attention; Use of the Social Engagement Scale and Well-being/Ill-being Scale as the outcome measures.

lai c.k.y. & arthur d.g. (2003) Journal of Advanced Nursing 44(2), 173–182 Wandering behaviour in people with dementia Wandering has been described as one of the most challenging behaviours to manage and yet a search of the literature in the last two decades yields only a limited number of papers that specifically studied wandering. This paper reviews the current literature on wandering in relation to the nature of the phenomenon, attempts to classify the behaviour, the extent of the problem, the profile of those who wander, postulations about its aetiology, and intervention strategies being employed. Eight literature databases were searched for the last 40 years up to February 2003 using ‘wandering’ and ‘dementia’ as combined keywords. A total of 133 articles was included in the review. The prevalence of wandering behaviour was difficult to assess and no conclusions could be reached. The typical wanderer depicted in the literature was relatively young in the older population, more cognitively impaired, more likely to be a man, might have experienced sleep problems, had a more active premorbid lifestyle, and used more psychotropic medications. While studies agreed that wanderers are more cognitively impaired, their findings did not necessarily agree on other attributes. Three major approaches, namely the biomedical, psychosocial and person–environment interaction perspectives, in conceptualizing wandering behaviour can be identified from the literature. Medications, activity programmes, behavioural modification and environmental manipulation have been used as interventions but none has so far demonstrated unequivocal effectiveness. Knowledge generated through research remains insufficient to explain fully why and when wandering occurs. Variability in how the phenomenon was defined and studied, and the small size of the samples made generalizability of findings difficult. Future research should incorporate a clearer definition of wandering; a specific targeted population with representative sample size; appropriate subject identification strategies; focussed interventions, and better control conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]