Background
Ethnic diversity is increasingly encountered in the HIV-infected population in North America, and it is unknown if beliefs surrounding illness and treatment vary among different ethnic ...groups.
Objective
Our objectives were to determine whether self-reported adherence, illness perceptions and treatment beliefs regarding HIV differ based on ethnicity.
Setting
This study was conducted during outpatient HIV clinic visits between March 1, 2010 and April 30, 2010 at two hospital-based clinics in Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Methods
A cross-sectional sample of 65 patients on antiretroviral therapy (34 Caucasian, 23 Aboriginal, and 8 from other ethnic groups) attending hospital-based clinics completed a self-administered survey; medical records were reviewed for demographic and treatment information.
Main outcome measure
An ANOVA with covariates was performed to measure variation of beliefs and adherence between ethnic groups.
Results
Mean self-reported adherence in the past week and past month was high (96 %) and the majority of patients (78.5 %) had a viral load <40 copies/mL. Patients had high perceived necessity scores and a low degree of perceived concern with antiretroviral therapy. In our study, treatment beliefs, illness perceptions, and self-reported adherence did not vary between ethnicities (
p
> 0.05).
Conclusion
Treatment beliefs, illness perceptions, and adherence appear to be largely similar in English-speaking patients with diverse ethnic backgrounds who have been on treatment for at least 3 months. Strong supports may overcome any cultural differences in treatment beliefs that were expected at the outset.
Although volunteers are widely acknowledged as important members of the palliative care team, their unique contribution to whole-person care has not been well documented or theorized, especially in ...rural communities. We conducted a focused ethnography in a small rural community, asking key community informants about their understanding of the role of hospice volunteers with dying people and their families. Our results show that these volunteers inhabit a unique third culture of care that fuses elements of formal care with the informal visiting of friends and neighbours. Their role is shaped to a community context where dying is not a private medical event, but rather a whole-person-in-community event, and where care is offered as a natural expression of the interdependence and reciprocity that characterizes rural community life. Our results are a reminder that it takes an entire community to care for the dying, and that hospice volunteers are a crucial link in the network of care that allows people to die with dignity and quality of life.
Since 2001, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has worked to refine its methods of evidence review and assessment and to create more usable documents in response to clinicians' needs. ...These changes have resulted in a revised grading system, as well as a new format and new language for the recommendation statement. This paper focuses on the changes to and the new look of the USPSTF recommendation statement. The new recommendation statement comprises 9 sections. Important changes include standardization of the format of the summary statement to specify what service is being recommended in what population; standardization of the headings in the rationale section; a change in the wording of the grade C recommendation and the I statement; and a new section, called "Other Considerations," in which salient issues related to cost-effectiveness, mandates, and other implementation issues are described.
This paper summarizes the results of a qualitative study of hospice volunteering in the rural communities of northwestern Ontario. In this region, there are 13 independent and active hospice ...volunteer programs serving communities ranging in population from 1,000 to 15,000. The 13 volunteer coordinators in these communities participated in a phone interview in which they described the role of hospice volunteers in their community and the kinds of clients they serve. The results indicate that the hospice volunteers in this rural region spend a large part of their time visiting medically frail and lonely seniors who are at risk of dying alone or without adequate care and companionship at the end of life. Long-term visiting to build relationships of trust and genuine caring are considered the ideal in these communities. Implications for end-of-life care for rural seniors are discussed.
PIERRE ALLARD, Élisabeth Bruyère Research Institute, SCO Health Service and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario; SUSAN BRAJTMAN, School of Nursing, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario; KEVIN ...BRAZIL, St. Joseph's Health System Research Network, Hamilton, Ontario; MANAL GUIRGUIS-YOUNGER, Faculty of Human Sciences, St.
The human melanoma cell line, A2058, has previously been shown to respond to an autocrine motility factor (AMF). We have studied biochemical pathways that may be involved in the generation of such a ...motile response. Pertussis toxin (PT) caused a profound, rapid decrease in stimulated motility that was both dose and time-dependent. Preincubation of cells for 2 hr with as little as 1 ng/ml of PT significantly inhibited motility. A concentration of PT (0.5 microgram/ml) that completely eliminated migration after a 30 min. preincubation had a markedly reduced effect when added 1 hr after the start of the assay. In contrast, agents which selectively modulate or have a role in the adenylate cyclase pathway, e.g., cholera toxin, forskolin, the cAMP analogue 8-bromoadenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate and the cyclase inhibitor 2',5'-dideoxyadenosine, all had negligible effect upon motility. These data are consistent with the presence of a receptor coupled to a PT sensitive G protein initiating motility independently of the adenylate cyclase system.
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