Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy
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Despite high rates of women's use of intrapartum pain management techniques, little is known about the factors that influence such use. ⋯ The effect of key determinants on women's use of pain management techniques differs significantly, and, other than CS, no one determinant is clearly influential in the use of all pain management options.
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Patient participation in medication management during hospitalization is thought to reduce medication errors and, following discharge, improve adherence and therapeutic use of medications. There is, however, limited understanding of how patients participate in their medication management while hospitalized. ⋯ Failure to engage patients in medication management and provide opportunities for patients to learn about changes to their medications has implications for the quality and safety of care patients receive in hospital and when managing their medications once discharged. To increase the opportunity for patients to participate in medication management, a fundamental shift in the way nurses currently provide care is required.
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Patients' experiences are an indicator of health-care performance in the accident and emergency department (A&E). The Consumer Quality Index for the Accident and Emergency department (CQI A&E), a questionnaire to assess the quality of care as experienced by patients, was investigated. The internal consistency, construct validity and discriminative capacity of the questionnaire were examined. ⋯ The CQI A&E is a validated survey to measure health-care performance in the A&E from patients' perspective. Five domains regarding quality of care aspects and the 'global quality rating' had the capacity to discriminate among A&Es.
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Increasing maternal obesity trends and accompanying risks have led to the development of guidelines internationally. However, the evidence-base is poor for effective intervention, and there is a lack of representation from the perspective of obese pregnant women in guidelines. Women's engagement with weight management support services is low. ⋯ There are strong associations with women's lived experiences and engagement with antenatal weight management services. Incorporating women's perspectives in the development of these services could encourage engagement by focussing on women's priorities and motivations, while taking into consideration their socially related experiences in addition to their clinical health needs.
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Sheffield Profile for Assessment and Referral for Care (SPARC) was developed in response to concerns that palliative care may not be reaching all people who could benefit from it. Acceptability of the tool is an important step in developing its future use. ⋯ Overall, respondents considered SPARC an acceptable and relevant tool for clinical assessment of supportive and palliative-care needs. Whilst a small minority of people found SPARC difficult to understand (i.e. patients with cognitive impairments), most categories of service user found it relevant. Clinical studies are necessary to establish the clinical utility of SPARC.