Yes

Background & Purpose: Chronic pain is a prevalent chronic condition for which the best management options rarely provide complete relief. Individuals with chronic pain with neuropathic characteristics (NC) report more severe pain and experience less relief from interventions. Little is known about current self-management practices. The purpose of this dissertation was to inform self-management of chronic pain with and without NC at the individual, health system, and policy levels using the Innovative Care for Chronic Conditions Framework. Methods: The study included a systematic search and review and cross-sectional survey. The review evaluated the evidence for chronic pain self-management interventions and explored the role of health care providers in supporting self-management. The survey was mailed to 8,000 randomly selected Canadians in November 2011, and non-respondents were followed-up in May 2012. Screening questions were included for both chronic pain and NC. The questionnaire captured pain descriptions, self-management strategies, and self-management barriers, and facilitators. Results: Findings of the review suggested that self-management interventions are effective in improving pain and health outcomes. Health care professionals provided self-management advice and referred individuals to self-management interventions. The questionnaire was completed by 1,520 Canadians. Those with chronic pain (n=710) identified primary care physicians as the most helpful pain management professional. Overall, use of non-pharmaceutical medical self-management strategies was low. While use positive emotional self-management strategies was high, individuals with NC were more likely to use negative emotional self-management strategies compared to those without NC. Multiple self-management barriers and facilitators were identified, however those with NC were more likely than those without NC to experience low self-efficacy, depression and severe pain which may impair the ability to self-management. Conclusions: Health care professionals have the opportunity to improve chronic pain outcomes by providing self-management advice, referring to self-management interventions, and addressing self-management barriers and facilitators. Individuals with NC may require additional health services to address their greater self-management challenges, and further research is needed to identify non-pharmaceutical interventions effective in relieving chronic pain with NC. Public policy is needed to facilitate health systems in providing long-term self-management support for individuals with chronic pain. / Thesis (Ph.D, Nursing) -- Queen's University, 2013-09-25 12:57:58.59

The purposes of this study are to examine the relationship of self-efficacy regarding self-management of asthma and student self-management knowledge and also examine the extent to which self-efficacy and self-management knowledge predicts student outcomes such as reading grades, the number of times a student was absent and the number of visits a student made to the school nurse. Students were sampled from one public school district within a suburban city in the southwest portion of the United States. The sample was comprised of 33 males and 12 females ranging in age from six to eleven years of age. Three data collection instruments were developed for this study. Parents of the participants were asked to fill out a demographic survey to provide descriptive data. Participants of the study were administered two face-to-face interview surveys: The Asthma Student Self-Management Knowledge in a School Setting Survey (SMS) and the Asthma Self-Efficacy of Self-Management of Asthma Survey (AMES). Both surveys were developed based on the six lesson topics of Open Airways. Two separate data analyses were conducted based on the data collected from each participant. To better understand the relationship between the AMES and the SMS, a Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used in the regression analysis. The findings showed that there was a statistically significant positive relationship between the SMS and the AMES. To determine if the AMES and the SMS could predict reading grades, the number of times a student was absent and the number of visits a student made to the school nurse, a multiple linear regression was used. The findings showed that there is minimal evidence showing that only reading scores maybe predicted by asthma self-efficacy and asthma self-management knowledge. Taking into account identified limitations such as not taking into account the severity of the participant??s asthma, one would be cautious to generalize these findings to other children with asthma. Based on these results and limitations, recommendations for future practice and for future research are provided.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Sociology." Includes bibliographical references (p. 288-297).

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--University of Toledo, 2007. / Typescript. "Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology." Bibliography: leaves 82-92.

The World Health Organization has estimated that by 2030, approximately 350 million people will be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Currently, 18.8 million people are diagnosed with T2DM. An additional 7 million people have high blood sugar but have yet to have an official diagnosis of diabetes. The literature supports early identification and prevention are key to reducing the severity of T2DM its complications. The Health Belief Model, the Chronic Care Model and Orem's Theory of Self-Care guided the current proposal, whose purpose was to develop and validate a new T2DM DSME module. A validation of the DSME module was completed by 5 local diabetic clinical experts. Each expert reviewed the DSME modules then completed a 10-question Likert-type scale survey. The survey was used to measure the content amount, ease of use, and visual presentation. Descriptive analysis was employed to analyze these data. Results revealed that all strongly agreed that the education module was easy to read and follow. They also strongly agreed that there was an adequate amount of educational information within the module. Additional comments from the experts resulted in minor revision to the new DSME. A future pilot study comparing current education to the newly validated DSME module will be implemented post-graduation. Changing the diabetic teaching culture into an improved patient focus role has the potential to reduce the economic healthcare impact and empower patients to bring about positive social change. Social change will also improve trust and confidence among patients within the healthcare organization.

Background. Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) requires the ongoing self-management of blood glucose to minimize the likelihood of serious morbidity and premature mortality. Adherence to clinical recommendations is challenging and is influenced by serious short-term complications of self-management (e.g., hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia) and long-term vascular pathology (e.g., eye disease, heart attack). Worry of hypoglycemia (WoH) and worry of vascular complications (WVC) are two cognitive and behavioural constructs that have important implications for blood glucose control. Although researchers have argued that avoidance behaviour explains the relationship between diabetes-related worry and blood glucose, data supporting this assertion is lacking. Furthermore, the impact of diabetes-related worry and worry-driven behaviour on important health-related quality of life (HRQoL) dimensions is unclear. The purpose of the present study was to provide the first test of this avoidance behaviour mediation hypothesis, and to examine the relationships between diabetes-related worry, avoidance behaviour and HRQoL (perceived impact; self-management satisfaction). Method. One hundred and fifty two individuals with T1DM completed a self-report questionnaire package, and 129 participants had blood glucose values (i.e., A1C) available for analysis. Results. Avoidance behaviour did not mediate the relationships between diabetes-related worry and blood glucose. However, WoH was associated with avoidance behaviour, which in turn, was associated with higher blood glucose levels. Hypoglycemia avoidance behaviour mediated the positive relationship between WoH and the perceived impact of having diabetes, and WVC and hyperglycemia avoidance behaviour were independently associated with the perceived impact of having diabetes. While WoH and WVC were associated with lower satisfaction with self-management practices, hypoglycemia subtle avoidance behaviour, hyperglycemia avoidance behaviour, and complication vigilance/risk behaviour avoidance was associated with greater satisfaction. Discussion. In the majority of cases, the avoidance behaviour mediation hypotheses were not supported by these data. However, these results highlight the differential impact of diabetes-related worry and worry-driven behaviour on blood glucose and HRQoL among individuals with T1DM. Strengths and limitations of the present study are discussed, and directions for future research are offered.

Background. Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) requires the ongoing self-management of blood glucose to minimize the likelihood of serious morbidity and premature mortality. Adherence to clinical recommendations is challenging and is influenced by serious short-term complications of self-management (e.g., hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia) and long-term vascular pathology (e.g., eye disease, heart attack). Worry of hypoglycemia (WoH) and worry of vascular complications (WVC) are two cognitive and behavioural constructs that have important implications for blood glucose control. Although researchers have argued that avoidance behaviour explains the relationship between diabetes-related worry and blood glucose, data supporting this assertion is lacking. Furthermore, the impact of diabetes-related worry and worry-driven behaviour on important health-related quality of life (HRQoL) dimensions is unclear. The purpose of the present study was to provide the first test of this avoidance behaviour mediation hypothesis, and to examine the relationships between diabetes-related worry, avoidance behaviour and HRQoL (perceived impact; self-management satisfaction). Method. One hundred and fifty two individuals with T1DM completed a self-report questionnaire package, and 129 participants had blood glucose values (i.e., A1C) available for analysis. Results. Avoidance behaviour did not mediate the relationships between diabetes-related worry and blood glucose. However, WoH was associated with avoidance behaviour, which in turn, was associated with higher blood glucose levels. Hypoglycemia avoidance behaviour mediated the positive relationship between WoH and the perceived impact of having diabetes, and WVC and hyperglycemia avoidance behaviour were independently associated with the perceived impact of having diabetes. While WoH and WVC were associated with lower satisfaction with self-management practices, hypoglycemia subtle avoidance behaviour, hyperglycemia avoidance behaviour, and complication vigilance/risk behaviour avoidance was associated with greater satisfaction. Discussion. In the majority of cases, the avoidance behaviour mediation hypotheses were not supported by these data. However, these results highlight the differential impact of diabetes-related worry and worry-driven behaviour on blood glucose and HRQoL among individuals with T1DM. Strengths and limitations of the present study are discussed, and directions for future research are offered.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, 2007. / Includes tables. Includes 2 published papers co-authored Cavanagh and Grant. Title from title screen (viewed June 12, 2008). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Psychology, Faculty of Science. Degree awarded 2007; thesis submitted 2006. Bibliography: leaves 268-297. Also available in print form.

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Psychology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.