Class of 2009 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: To measure the attitudes of Arizona e-prescribing clinicians regarding (1) the importance of key criteria that may be used in the selection of an e-prescribing system; and (2) their satisfaction with key criteria as implemented within their current e- prescribing system. METHODS: This study utilized a print-based questionnaire. The questionnaire was faxed weekly to clinicians who were registered office-based e-prescribers in Arizona until either a response was received or three fax cycles were completed. Clinicians were asked to rate the importance of each e-prescribing feature on a five-point scale, where 1 was not at all important and 5 was extremely important. For each e-prescribing feature, clinicians were asked to rate their satisfaction with their current e-prescribing system on a seven-point scale, where -3 was very dissatisfied and +3 was very satisfied. Demographic data were collected on practice size, practice type, prescription entry, e-prescribing software vendor and system used, year e-prescribing started, and comments. RESULTS: Questionnaires were completed and returned by 114 clinicians. The overall mean for feature importance and satisfaction was 4.22 and 4.92, respectively. Of the 39 criteria, 9 were categorized as having high importance with low satisfaction; and 14 were categorized as having high importance with high satisfaction. The nine criteria with high importance but low satisfaction were related to vendor support, system cost, lack of e-prescribing features, and unrealized benefits. CONCLUSIONS: Arizona e-prescribers are moderately satisfied with the basic functions provided by their electronic prescribing systems. Their dissatisfaction with electronic prescribing systems may be due to vendor support and system costs.

No description available.

Accuracy in applying diagnostic concepts is one of the most important aspects of any mental health professional’s work. Inaccuracy in diagnosing, or misdiagnosing, can lead to numerous problems including inappropriate and potentially harmful treatment, inaccurate prognosis, stigma, and wasted or misutilized resources. For mental health professionals, inaccuracy in diagnosing can happen both intentionally and unintentionally. The severity of a person’s symptoms or the level of functional impairment the person is experiencing are two factors which can easily confound diagnostic accuracy. The present study sought to determine how each of these factors contribute to diagnostic accuracy independently and in conjunction with one another. Participants were invited the complete the current study online and were presented with two vignettes representing varying levels of symptom severity and functional impairment severity. We asked participants to rate the severity of each (symptoms and impairment), to provide diagnostic opinions, and to provide treatment recommendations. We found that in rating the severity of symptoms or impairment, and in providing diagnoses, the presence of one (symptoms or impairment) tended to overshadow the absence of the other. However, severity ratings of either symptom or impairment severity were predictive of rates in diagnosing and recommending treatment. Additionally, we found that regardless of the presence of a diagnosis, most participants believe that the person represented in the vignette would benefit from treatment. Based on these findings, it seems when conceptualizing case vignettes, professionals may be viewing symptoms and functional impairment as more interchangeable than as different components of a diagnosis.

No description available.

Master of Public Health - MPH / Background: As South Africa’s HIV programme increases in size, increasingly complex HIV/TB cases occur that are often beyond the clinical scope of primary health care clinicians. In the Eastern Cape (EC) province, health facilities are geographically widespread, with a discrepancy of specialist availability outside of academic/tertiary institutions. The use of WhatsApp, a Mobile Instant Messaging (MIM) application, could facilitate learning and mentoring of primary healthcare clinicians in peripheral facilities. The aim of this study is to describe this app and its use as an alternative learning tool to improve clinician access to specialized management of complicated HIV/TB cases, as part of Continuing Medical Education (CME). Method: A an observational, descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among a group of clinicians from the EC province that formed part of a Wits RHI WhatsApp HIV/TB clinical discussion group from January 2016 to July 2017. Data was collected using a structured anonymous internet questionnaire, distributed to the clinicians that formed part of the WhatsApp group, informed consent being obtained from participants prior to completion. Data was analysed with Epi Info, using descriptive and analytic statistics. Frequency distributions and cross tabulations were generated and bi-variate analysis was done to determine significant associations between relevant variables.

Master of Public Health - MPH / Background: As South Africa’s HIV programme increases in size, increasingly complex HIV/TB cases occur that are often beyond the clinical scope of primary health care clinicians. In the Eastern Cape (EC) province, health facilities are geographically widespread, with a discrepancy of specialist availability outside of academic/tertiary institutions. The use of WhatsApp, a Mobile Instant Messaging (MIM) application, could facilitate learning and mentoring of primary healthcare clinicians in peripheral facilities. The aim of this study is to describe this app and its use as an alternative learning tool to improve clinician access to specialized management of complicated HIV/TB cases, as part of Continuing Medical Education (CME). Method: A an observational, descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among a group of clinicians from the EC province that formed part of a Wits RHI WhatsApp HIV/TB clinical discussion group from January 2016 to July 2017. Data was collected using a structured anonymous internet questionnaire, distributed to the clinicians that formed part of the WhatsApp group, informed consent being obtained from participants prior to completion. Data was analysed with Epi Info, using descriptive and analytic statistics. Frequency distributions and cross tabulations were generated and bi-variate analysis was done to determine significant associations between relevant variables.

The objective of this study was to explore the attitudes toward antisocial personality disorder among clinicians. The researcher created a 15 question survey to interview clinicians in hopes of eliciting information about their attitudes toward this population. The survey consisted of seven open ended questions and eight Likert scale questions. The researcher analyzed the data by transcribing the interviews and looking for common themes among the responses. Likert scale questions were tallied and compared in SPSS to determine the spread of the answers. The results of the study showed there are negative attitudes among clinicians currently in direct treatment settings; attitudes were more neutral among clinicians who are currently not involved in direct practice. In applying the theory of reasoned action it is suggested clinicians in direct practice who hold negative views display behaviors that affect the treatment process and outcome. The researcher’s recommendation for future study is to explore the attitudes of other helping professionals in comparison to social work practitioners.

The study explored the perceptions of clinical therapists who have conducted treatment on adults who live in poverty with an anxiety related disorder. Previous studies have discussed the relationship between poverty and the development of anxiety related disorders, while others have discussed the negative impacts anxiety can have on physical health, mental health, and social functioning. To improve the efficacy of therapeutic intervention for low income adults with anxiety related disorders, the study explored what clinicians believe are the most effective aspects of therapy to utilize. The study elicited qualitative data, reflecting on the experiences of ten participants who had at least two years of clinical practice with low income adults who suffered from an anxiety disorder. The data was collected through face-to-face interviews, and analyzed the challenges and successes that therapists experienced in their clinical practice. The study found that clinicians viewed cognitive-behavioral approaches as the most effective treatment model when treating this population. The study also revealed that clinical practice experience was perceived to lead to higher rates of positive treatment outcomes. Based on the findings of the study, we recommend that that clinical social workers and agencies continue to utilize and adapt cognitive behavioral approaches when treating low-income adults who suffer from anxiety related disorders.

Social Workers make up a significant portion of mental health clinicians providing services to clients or young adults, and in today’s day and age, the popularity of social media use is increasing within the young adult population. Young adults spend hours on end on many different social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and/or Snapchat. Therefore, this study asks, what are clinician’s perspectives about social media influencing young adults with mental health concerns? This study utilized a qualitative, content analysis approach in interviewing clinicians to draw from their experience with clients who have used and interacted with social media. This study utilized a qualitative, content analysis approach in interviewing clinicians to draw from their experience with clients who have used and interacted with social media. The findings of this study suggest that social work clinicians interviewed have found that social media has an overall negative influence on young adults, but that they have not considered the depths of its effect. The findings of this study assist in raising awareness on the ever-present and changing internet culture; and this study provides clinicians perspectives on therapeutic modalities that can best be used in practice when interacting with clients.

The clinical adherence to and combination of methods with EMDR to treat PTSD has not been explored. This is of some concern as 27 000 clinicians are trained in EMDR globally. This exploratory study gained information on Australian trained EMDR clinicians' adherence to EMDR, and the methods they combined with EMDR to treat PTSD. Survey responses from 126 clinicians were analysed using predominantly descriptive statistics. The findings of this study showed that the majority of respondents perceived that they closely adhered to the standard EMDR treatment. However, respondents reported adhering more closely to the phases than the steps of EMDR. Statistically significant findings showed that more experienced EMDR level 1 clinicians were more likely to add steps and phases to EMDR, and to change the standard sequence of steps. Clinicians with greater years of experience were also more likely to change the standard sequence of steps. In addition, more experienced EMDR level 2 clinicians, were less likely to educate their clients about PTSD. Almost all respondents combined EMDR with other methods to treat PTSD. Combined methods included CBT, hypnosis / relaxation, system / solution focused methods and exposure. This research has contributed to theory and practice by uncovering that clinicians appear to use EMDR differently to researchers, by changing EMDR to meet client needs, combining EMDR with other methods and Holly Byron 16/9/99 vi therapies, and introducing EMDR in the mid stage of treatment. These findings are vital to reduce the scientist-practitioner divide by accurately testing EMDR's efficacy and enabling future controlled trials to reflect the clinical use of EMDR.