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P Pound

Publications and source records attributed to P Pound.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

The HIV-positive psychiatric patient and the duty to protect: ethical and legal issues.

UNLABELLED: A small, yet significant, percentage of HIV-positive patients have a concomitant psychiatric or neurological disorder associated with impaired judgment. Clinical problems such as psychoses, certain personality disorders, and dementias are associated with disinhibition of impulses and diminished capacity for self-monitoring. These deficits in reasoning and judgment may prevent the patient from comprehending the significance of their HIV status and the consequences of sexual behavior or needle sharing. There are indications that the Tarasoff duty-to-protect may apply to this situation. METHOD: Available data about the prevalence of HIV risk behavior and HIV infection among psychiatric patients are reviewed. The applicability to these situations is described. RESULTS: When an HIV patient engages in high risk sexual behavior with identifiable partners and refuses to notify them of their HIV status, physicians and mental health professionals may have a legal and ethical duty to warn. CONCLUSION: A decision model for this clinical dilemma is presented. Clinical strategies for these patients may include ongoing supervision and monitoring as well as possible quarantine.

AIDS Dementia Complex↗

Development and results of a questionnaire to measure carer satisfaction after stroke.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To develop a carer satisfaction questionnaire for use as an outcome measure in stroke, to test the measure for reliability and validity, and to survey levels of carer satisfaction with services for stroke patients. DESIGN: Postal survey of carer satisfaction with stroke services was carried out using the questionnaire we developed and tested. Internal consistency was tested and construct validation was explored by examining correlations with other outcome measures (the Faces Scale, the Nottingham Health Profile, the short form of the Geriatric Depression Scale, and the patient's Barthel Index score). SETTING: Two adjacent districts in North East Thames Regional Health Authority. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 103 carers were identified from 219 people who had survived a stroke to six months. During the pilot stage, six of seven carers who were invited to participate in in depth interviews and 15 of 23 carers (65%) who were invited to completed the first draft of the questionnaire. MAIN RESULTS: The questionnaire was divided into two sections, one on inpatient services (Carer Hospsat) and one on services after discharge (Carer Homesat). The questionnaire had construct validity, providing significant correlations with the Faces Scale (Carer Hospsat r = 0.59, p < 0.00001 and Carer Homesat r = 0.68, p < 0.00001), the patients' Barthel score (Carer Hospsat r = 0.25, p = 0.01), and the patients' Nottingham extended Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale (Carer Hospsat r = 0.31, p = 0.002). Internal consistency was high for both sections (Cronbach's alpha: Carer Hospsat 0.87, Carer Homesat 0.79). Most carers (77%) were satisfied with the care their relative or friend received while in hospital, but only 39% were satisfied with services after discharge. CONCLUSIONS: Carer satisfaction is an important outcome measure in stroke research. This study has shown that carers are dissatisfied with services after hospital discharge. Our questionnaire is valid, reliable, and sensitive and could be used to test interventions aimed at improving services.

Aftercare↗