Search results

The purpose of this paper is to provide an evidence‐base for home modification guidelines for people with visual impairment due to age‐related macular degeneration (AMD), from the perspective of people with AMD, by exploring the home modifications they find useful and would recommend to other people with visual impairment due to AMD as being effective.

People with impairments may not be aware of their own coping with inability strategies until they are asked to express their strategies. A qualitative approach using semi‐structured individual interviews was used to elicit the perspectives of people with AMD with regards to their preferred home modification interventions. Interviews were recorded and then transcribed verbatim into text for thematical analysis using Nvivo 8.

In total, 31 individuals (aged 79.1±5.6 years) with AMD and no other ocular diseases were recruited from a low vision clinic or the Macular Degeneration Foundation database in a metropolitan city. Interviewees had not received any formal home modification assessment from a government provider. Nevertheless, 70 per cent of participants stated that they undertook home modifications themselves or with the assistance of family and friends. The most important functional modifications as perceived by the participants concerned the installation of hand rails, non‐slip matting, colour contrasting safety stair nosing, single lever taps, slip resistant flooring, lift chairs and motion sensors that activated pathway lighting. Kitchens, steps and bathrooms were perceived as hazardous locations. Most participants had difficulties with reading fine‐print material on kitchen appliances, washing machines, microwave ovens and remote controls for electronic devices in the home.

An evidence‐base for useful home modifications as suggested by people with visual impairment was perceived to be a valuable resource for other people with visual impairment who may not yet have developed adaptive strategies. Industrial and interior designers and low vision rehabilitation services who aim to improve functionality of the home environment will also find these suggestions useful.

This study seeks to measure the public knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to eye health and disease in New Zealand (NZ).

A 22‐item survey of 507 adults in NZ was conducted. The survey was developed using interviews and focus groups, as well as comparisons with other benchmark international studies.

Overall awareness about the importance of eye health is high in NZ, although knowledge about associated diseases (e.g. macular degeneration) is low – this is particularly important, given the risk and cost of preventable vision impairment.

This consumer survey of eye health in NZ, which assessed awareness and access to eye care, provides a foundation for those involved in the provision of eye care health. It is also a first step to further exploring key issues and identifying longitudinal patterns for consumer, provider, and public health dialogue, as well as a baseline for public health campaigns.

The use of drugs outside the approved indication, called off‐label use, is a growing phenomenon in medical practice. Especially, when a drug approved for systemic use is used locally in small quantities, the drug price per treatment can fall far below the potential value of the drug. This paper aims to outline the potential value of off‐label Avastin^® used for wet/neovascular age‐related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of legal blindness in western countries.

The van Westendorp price sensitivity measurement (PSM) method was used to find an optimal price range for an Avastin formulation potentially approved by German regulatory authorities for neovascular/wet AMD. A survey was conducted among a majority of German AMD specialists as the central part of the buying center. Germany, the largest pharmaceutical market in Europe, was selected for the study.

The effective total response rate was 25.1 percent (51 questionnaires).The price range found is clearly above the price for currently used “off‐label” Avastin and far below the price for other comparable drugs approved for the treatment of neovascular AMD. The van Westendorp PSM method found for Avastin used in the eye the optimal price at €95 ($131), the indifference price at €200 ($276) and the acceptable price range between €90 ($124) and €310 ($428). The discussion provides further implications for pricing strategies for new drugs.

As price sensitivity and availability of drugs have become an increasingly political and public topic, off‐label application of drugs is turning into an important challenge for the pharmaceutical industry. Taken in total, the results provide support for the view that off‐label application not only creates major threats for pharmaceutical companies, but can also offer growth opportunities.

Advice about the role of eggs in the diet has changed several times over the decades. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate published evidence reporting associations between egg consumption, egg nutrients and health.

The scientific literature was searched using Medline and key words relevant to eggs and egg nutrients. In addition, a new secondary analysis of the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) was undertaken to examine nutritional and health differences between consumers and non‐consumers of eggs.

Eggs are a rich source of protein and several essential nutrients, particularly vitamin D, vitamin B12, selenium and choline. Emerging evidence suggests that eating eggs is associated with satiety, weight management and better diet quality. In addition, antioxidants found in egg yolk may help prevent age‐related macular degeneration. The secondary analysis showed that regular egg consumers with a low red and processed meat (RPM) intake ate healthier diets and had a better micronutrient status than those who did not eat eggs but who had a high RPM intake. It was concluded that egg consumption, at a range of intakes, was associated with nutrition and health benefits.

More research on eggs, and egg nutrients, is needed to confirm the health benefits. Future studies should control for other dietary and lifestyle factors.

This paper develops knowledge about egg consumption beyond cholesterol content and provides new evidence from a secondary analysis of a large national dietary database.

Increased longevity is the success story of 20th‐century biomedicine, together with improvements in general living conditions, but it brings great challenges. Although many individuals do undergo what might be termed ‘successful ageing’, this is not a universal experience, for with older age comes a range of age‐related diseases and degenerations that can diminish, if not destroy, quality of life for some older individuals. Biogerontology is the study of the biology of ageing, a normal process but one that has the potential to contribute to age‐related disease. Its goal is to extend the proportion of a life that is healthy, an outcome that is desirable both at an individual and a societal level. One of the great insights from the last decade or more of biogerontology is the realisation that the ageing process is not a fixed, unchangeable process. Rather, it is controlled by genes and is open to experimental interventions that extend healthy lifespan, in species from microbes to mice. These findings have produced a sea change in the way the biogerontological community views ageing: not as a fixed, ‘inevitable’ process, but one where rates of ageing vary enormously according to genotype, and can be readily changed by interventions. This makes the biological process of ageing an attractive target both to understand, and target, age‐related conditions.

The aim of the study was to explore aspects of learning in terms of gain in knowledge, confidence and empathy with immersive virtual reality (VR) from the patient perspective in undergraduate nursing students.

A pilot study integrating immersive VR experiences during clinical courses was facilitated based on the INACSL (2016) standards for simulation practices with a convenience sample of 165 nursing students in three levels of cohorts, using two different VR scenario simulations. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through pre- and post-surveys.

Student participants embodied patients with chronic disease using immersive VR. Findings showed substantial gains in most measures of knowledge, confidence and empathy, with slightly less difference seen in lower level nursing students particularly with empathy and understanding.

Embodiment through immersive VR scenarios was shown to increase learner development. The positive findings from the pilot study justified continuance of integration of immersive VR in nursing education, recommending further use and research.

Simulated learning for nursing has known benefits on knowledge and understanding. Immersive VR is gaining recognition within nursing education as a method to enhance cognitive and affective knowledge. This paper hopes to add insights on the impact of immersive VR for student learning and encourage discussion about the future for innovative immersive teaching and learning approaches for experiential learning.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use of virtual reality (VR) for experiential learning in dementia training. People have different perceptions and understanding of what it is like to live with dementia, particularly those that are new to dementia care, whether in a professional capacity, or as a friend or family member. Arguably the most powerful way in which to enhance understanding is to give people a glimpse of what living with dementia might be like.

The myShoes project aimed to create a resource that would augment a virtual environment and expose the user to an experience that gives them a sense of what living with dementia might be like. The resource was created using the latest VR and game development software. A sample group of students from a mixed range of health professions tested the resource providing in depth feedback on its immediate impact and ideas for further development.

Notwithstanding the limited sample on which the simulation has been tested, carefully designing the activities and constructing a learning space that allows for reflection on being placed temporarily in another person’s shoes, appears to have enabled students to think beyond ‘treatment, to considering how the person might feel and altering their approach accordingly.

This is a pilot study. More research using VR as a training resource is planned.

The study will support educational training, particularly that which uses virtual reality for clinicians and carers.

The adoption of a VR approach to training formal and informal carers has potential to enhance empathy and improve holistic care of people with dementia.

The myShoes project adopts a novel approach to simulating the effects of dementia for training purposes.

The use of performance indicators to develop a case for resources is illustrated. Factors which may lead to ophthalmology becoming a possible problem service for managers are mentioned. A case study is discussed.