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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the information behaviours of patients newly diagnosed with dementia.

This is a cross-sectional qualitative study, using in-depth interviews with 13 people recently diagnosed with dementia.

Reactions to a diagnosis of dementia varied and these influenced the perception of the value of information when making sense of the diagnosis. Information was avoided if participants did not feel that they could influence their situation; instead, participants relied on internal explanations to normalise their memory loss. Barriers to information seeking and use included not knowing who to speak to, perceived stigma associated with dementia and difficulty of applying generic information to own situation. Some participants valued information that confirmed their suspicions and provided explanations.

This study was based on a small sample size (n=13), the findings may not be generalisable to all people with dementia; however, the findings may be transferable to people who have recently been diagnosed with dementia.

There is not a one-size-fits-all approach to information provision for people with dementia at diagnosis, information should be tailored to individuals.

There is a need to address the feeling of powerlessness and futility that some people with dementia experience at diagnosis, as this precludes independent information seeking and use. People receiving a diagnosis may need additional support and information pertinent to their specific circumstances, separate from the information needs of their carer(s).

The study provides a new understanding of the information behaviours of people recently diagnosed with dementia and how these differ from those of informal carers.

Although the information needs of women receiving antenatal and postnatal care are well understood, few studies have examined the use of information by minority ethnic women. This paper describes a pilot study that aimed to identify the main maternity information sources used by Somali women living in a northern city in the UK. The study described here utilised unstructured exploratory focus group and semi‐structured interviews with Somali women. All discussions and interviews were audiotaped, translated and transcribed in their entirety and then analysed using a variation of the theme analysis method. Sources of information emerged as a sub‐theme from the data. Women sought and used information from several interpersonal sources. Many were dependent on general practitioners and health visitors for maternity information, although participants favoured community health forums addressed by health professionals. Women also sought maternity information from friends and neighbours. Interpersonal sources as a whole were viewed as having a number of advantages. Informal sources in particular were perceived as being approachable and providing a means through which further information could be sought, while each information source was also evaluated according to specific criteria. The implications of these findings for minority ethnic women are discussed and recommendations for further research are outlined.

The purpose of this study is to examine the health and social care information needs of people with a visual impairment; to identify the health and social care information sources used by visually‐impaired people seeking information; to identify differences in the information needs of people with different visual impairments; to examine ways in which developments in information provision may help to meet the needs of visually impaired people.

In total, 28 semi‐structured interviews (face‐to‐face or telephone) were conducted with 31 visually impaired people living in or near Sheffield, UK. The participants included two groups: people with an age‐related visual impairment, and people with a visual impairment since birth or early childhood. Framework analysis was used to analyse the findings.

Four major themes were identified: health and social care information needs, sources of health and social care information, possible improvements, and “intervening variables”.

In this study only a small proportion of the health and social care information needs of visually impaired people were currently being met. There was minimal co‐ordination of information between the different information providers. Visually impaired people were dependent on acquiring and seeking out additional information from a wide variety of sources.

This paper provides new insights into the health and social care information needs of visually impaired people and their sources of information, and starts to fill gaps identified in an earlier systematic review. The paper reinforces the view that visually impaired people are a heterogeneous group, with different needs according to their visual impairments.

This study, conducted in 1997, aimed to explore in depth the views and experiences of women with breast cancer concerning diseaserelated mass media information. Three age‐stratified, unstructured focus group discussions were convened with thirty women with breast cancer (n = 11, 12 and 7). The discussions were audiotaped and transcribed in full and the transcripts were analysed using theme analysis. A number of themes concerning mass media breast cancer information were identified. Women sought and paid attention to information from a variety of mass media sources, including medical books and journals, leaflets, videotapes, women’s magazines, newspapers and television programmes. Mass media information was thought to possess a number of advantages. In particular, participants viewed mass media sources such as magazines and television as helpful in raising breast cancer awareness in the general population. Mass media information, however, was also viewed as having a number of disadvantages. For example, once diagnosed, participants thought that mass media sources such as magazines were frightening and depressing owing to their often negative and sensationalised nature. This finding was particularly worrying as women with breast cancer looked for and were often ‘drawn’ to such communication vehicles. To conclude, mass media information has advantages and disadvantages and its impact upon individuals may depend on their disease status. It is important that editors of mass media sources such as women’s magazines are aware of this dichotomy and are prepared to provide accurate, factual and less dramatised breast cancer information.

This chapter provides an overview of the specific legal, ethical, and privacy issues that can arise when conducting research using Twitter data. Existing literature is reviewed to inform those who may be undertaking social media research. We also present a number of industry and academic case studies in order to highlight the challenges that may arise in research projects using social media data. Finally, the chapter provides an overview of the process that was followed to gain ethics approval for a Ph.D. project using Twitter as a primary source of data. By outlining a number of Twitter-specific research case studies, the chapter will be a valuable resource to those considering the ethical implications of their own research projects utilizing social media data. Moreover, the chapter outlines existing work looking at the ethical practicalities of social media data and relates their applicability to researching Twitter.

This paper aims to describe and evaluate the impact of a compassion-focused therapy (CFT) group for adults with intellectual disabilities (ID).

People with ID are commonly subjected to stigmatising experiences that can contribute to feelings of shame. CFT targets shame and self-criticism by helping people to cultivate self-compassion. There is evidence to suggest that CFT can be meaningfully adapted for people with ID. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected using a mixed-methods design, aiming to gain a rich evaluation of the CFT group. Eight adults with ID were referred by their local community psychology team. An 11-week group protocol was based on materials from previous research. The protocol included the development of a “compassion box”, aiming to make CFT concepts more concrete and tangible. Questionnaires measuring psychological distress, self-compassion and negative social comparisons were completed pre- and post-group. Feedback from participants and carers were collated and facilitators’ observations were recorded.

Questionnaire findings were mixed, and some participants found the measures difficult to understand. Participants’ qualitative feedback and facilitators’ observations suggested that the group created feelings of safety and connectedness whilst facilitating engagement and action with shame and self-criticism. Several participants highlighted the usefulness of the ‘”compassion box”, although some barriers were noted.

This paper provides a rich description of how group CFT can be adapted to meet the needs of adults with ID and is the first study of its kind, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to evaluate the incorporation of the “compassion box”.

This paper describes a state‐of‐the‐art process for immersion tin plating of PCBs which is used to preserve solderability prior to assembly. The process sequence is described and preventive measures for handling the final surface finish is documented. A solderability test method and basic requirements for fluxes and soldering parameters are also described. Quantitative results on the formation of intermetallic tin‐copper phases are shown and their influence on the formation of tin whiskers explained. A problem in production is the precise measurement of the tin thickness, therefore different measuring methods are also detailed. Finally, the mechanism of tin deposition and the formation of tetravalent tin and the relationship with bath age and deposit quality are discussed.

There is a growing evidence base for cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) as a treatment for psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) in the general population. Despite the relatively high proportion of individuals with PNES who have an intellectual disability (ID) there is a paucity of literature on the use of CBT for PNES in this population. The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of an adapted CBT approach to treat PNES in a woman with mild ID.

The intervention used a CBT approach that included both the client and her mother, her primary care giver, throughout the therapy sessions. It involved 13 1-hour sessions over 20 weeks.

Over the course of the intervention the client experienced a reduction in seizure activity. Both the client and her mother reported increases in her perceived ability to cope with the seizures.

This report describes an adapted CBT-based intervention for individuals with PNES in the context of ID. It is the first report to include the involvement of a care-giver in adapting this approach for individuals with ID.