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Biomedical subjects

L J Nelson

Publications and source records attributed to L J Nelson.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Promoting healthy nutritional habits by paradigmatic behavior therapy.

Paradigmatic behavior therapy was applied to alter the maladaptive nutritional habits of a 41-year-old depressed female. The client's activities, affect, and cognitions were self-monitored, along with daily intake of processed sugar and fruits and vegetables. The intervention program included contingency contracting and the production of pleasant affective states. The program promoted a favorable attitude toward fruits and vegetables and led to a significant increase in their consumption with significant decrements in sugar intake. The client became less tense and depressed. The favorable effects were maintained at a 5-month follow-up.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Medical malpractice and access to obstetrical care in Alabama.

The medical malpractice insurance crisis of the mid-1980s has abated, but nonetheless there are concerns that the threat of liability continues to have a deleterious effect on access to obstetrical services for low income women. Currently, at the national level there is discussion over whether the tort system should be replaced with a no fault compensation scheme similar to the worker's compensation system. Florida and Virginia have already enacted no fault compensation schemes for certain birthrelated neurological injuries. After reviewing the situation in Alabama with respect to claim frequency and severity, insurance costs and access to obstetrical care, we will examine proposals for a fundamental restructuring of the medical liability system.

Alabama↗
PubMed1987

Detection of missing words in spoken text.

Two tests were conducted to examine listeners' detection of missing words in spoken paragraph contexts. Detection was assessed by presenting listeners with normal paragraphs and with paragraphs each containing a single occurrence of a missed word, an inappropriate pause, or a mispronounced word. In the first test, listeners were simply asked whether they detected any abnormalities and to describe them. The results indicated that listeners reported missed words in only 34 to 49% of the paragraphs containing such words. In the second test, a separate group of listeners was given more specific instructions beforehand, indicating the three possible types of abnormality. In this task, the correct detection of missed words rose to 96%. Taken together, the results indicate that listeners do not readily detect occasional missing words under ordinary circumstances but are capable of such detection in a task specifically focused on message abnormalities.

Attention↗
PubMed1987

Generating probable consequences.

A study was conducted to examine some of the factors that influence peoples' generation of likely consequences associated with a major hypothetical life event, involving the loss of the function of one of one's own limbs. The design included four limbs involving two inclusion relations, thumb-hand and foot-leg, and two viewpoints involving consequences for one-self or for others. The results indicated that subjects generate more numerous consequences for primary than for secondary consequences, more for short-term consequences than for medium- or long-term ones, more for an inclusive limb than for an included limb (e.g., hand vs thumb), and more pertaining to one-self than to others. Individual differences in the generation of consequences were not associated with prior experience involving functional loss of the limbs tested or with general differences in academic performance. The results permit inference about some of the mental processes that accompany consequence generation.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1986

The law, professional responsibility, and decisions to forego treatment.

Medical technology can delay the moment of death for nearly every adult patient. Thus matters that were once the province of fate are now matters of human choice--the choice to withhold or withdraw treatment. The quality and appropriateness of care rendered in situations in which a question arises about foregoing treatment will be ensured only if the interests and rights of all persons involved are understood and respected. The article identifies the various types of situations in which such questions may arise, discusses the general legal principles applicable to each situation, and offers principles and procedures that providers could follow to handle the problems that often accompany a decision to forego treatment.

Ethics Committees, Clinical↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Primum utilis esse: the primacy of usefulness in medicine.

The famous and oft-quoted maxim "Do no harm" should not be thought of as the first principle of medical ethics. The documents of the Hippocratic tradition and clinical experience indicate that a more appropriate and helpful first principle would be "Above all, be useful." The concept of usefulness implicitly rests at the very heart of medicine itself and the physician-patient relationship. The failure to adhere to this concept undermines the physician-patient relationship, dissolves the distinction between quacks and physicians, and destroys the integrity of the medical profession. The determination of useful medical treatment belongs to both physicians and patients. Any decision to initiate, continue, or discontinue diagnostic or therapeutic action has both a medical and a personal value component; the former properly belongs to physicians and the latter to patients. Practicing medicine with the intent of producing benefit and being useful to the patient is far more fundamental than practicing medicine to avoid harm.

Clinical Competence↗