Biomedical subjects

S Sereika

Publications and source records attributed to S Sereika.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

A confirmatory factor analysis of the Caregiving Appraisal Scale for caregivers of home-based ventilator-assisted individuals.

OBJECTIVE: To confirm the underlying dimensions of the Caregiving Appraisal Scale (CAS) with use of data collected from caregivers of home-based ventilator-assisted individuals (VAIs). DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Residences of home-based VAIs. SAMPLE: Two hundred seventy-seven primary family caregivers of VAIs. MEASURES: Twenty-eight-item CAS developed by Lawton et al. (1989), and an investigator-developed instrument to assess physical health and sociodemographic characteristics of both VAIs and their caregivers. INTERVENTION: None. ANALYSIS: Confirmatory factor analysis with principal components extraction. An oblique (oblimin) solution was used for rotation of the factor matrices. The number of common factors needed to obtain the best fit of the factor model was determined with use of maximum-likelihood estimation. Confirmatory factor analysis with linear structural equation modeling was also performed. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis did not fully replicate the factor structure proposed by Lawton et al. CONCLUSIONS: The model proposed by Lawton et al. provides a useful foundation for examining the appraisal of family caregivers of home-based VAIs. Additional development work is needed for the CAS.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Oral contraceptive pill use after an initial visit to a family planning clinic.

A retrospective study of 1,311 women making initial family planning visits to metropolitan-area health department clinics found that many women switch methods or discontinue use in the first year following the clinic visits. Among a subgroup of women, most of whom selected the pill as their primary method and who used the pill for at least one of the months in the study period, almost half either changed methods or used no method at some point during a follow-up period averaging eight months. This includes 13 percent of women who made two or more changes. In addition, only 42 percent said they took a pill every day, and only half of these said they always took their pill at about the same time every day. Despite such irregularities, pill users were approximately one-third as likely to get pregnant during the study period as women making an initial family planning visit to a health department clinic who did not use the pill at all.

Contraception Behavior↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Home-based ventilator-dependent patients: measurement of the emotional aspects of home caregiving.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the concept of caregiving appraisal with the primary family caregivers of home-based ventilator-dependent patients and test the internal consistency of instruments to measure functional dependency of the patient and caregiving appraisal. DESIGN: Nonexperimental, cross-sectional survey. Respondents were reimbursed $25 for the return of a completed questionnaire. SETTING: Caregivers of home-based ventilator-dependent patients residing in southwestern Pennsylvania. SAMPLE: Caregivers of 39 home-based ventilator-dependent patients, 27 responses (69%) were received. MEASURES: Modified Katz Index, Modified Caregiving Appraisal Scale, investigator-developed instrument to assess the health and sociodemographic characteristics of both patients and their caregivers. INTERVENTION: None. RESULTS: The needs of ventilator-dependent patients, as reported by their primary family caregivers, are extensive. Patients require considerable assistance with activities of daily living, with many patients having total care requirements in many functional domains. Caregivers are responsible for numerous pieces of high-tech equipment, as well as other special care requirements unrelated to the patient's ventilatory insufficiency. Although caregivers reportedly spend an average of 8.4 hours each day caring for their family member, the majority continue to maintain full- or part-time employment. Despite the considerable demands placed on caregivers, responses to the Modified Caregiving Appraisal Scale indicate that home placement is not perceived to be a negative experience. Internal consistency of instruments was determined by use of Cronbach's alpha, yielding the following correlation coefficients on the Modified Caregiving Appraisal Scale: burden subscale, 0.87; satisfaction subscale, 0.71; mastery subscale, 0.73; impact subscale, 0.70; and ideology subscale, 0.65. Alpha coefficients for the Katz Indexes measuring patient functional dependence, and consequent caregiver responsibility, were 0.95 and 0.90, respectively.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMedDate not supplied

High touch meets high tech. Distance mental health screening for rural youth using Teleform.

This article presents an overview of distance mental health screening using Teleform. This technology provides nurses with the ability to have questionnaires administered in one location then processed and scored rapidly at a location some distance away by using a facsimile system and Teleform. The authors examine the process of using Teleform, cite its advantages and disadvantages, discuss its application with rural youth, and suggest implications for school personnel and health-care providers. Technology has facilitated many changes in health-care delivery and increasingly will be instrumental in creating changes. Computer technology can help nursing deliver services swiftly to larger populations.

Adolescent↗