Thematic Trends in Complementary and Alternative Medicine Applied in Cancer-Related Symptoms

Purpose: The main goal of this study is to discover the scientific evolution of Cancer-Related Symptoms in Complementary and Alternative Medicine research area, analyzing the articles indexed in the Web of Science database from 1980 to 2013. Design/Methodology/Approach: A co-word science mapping analysis is performed under a longitudinal framework (1980 to 2013). The documental corpus is divided into two subperiods, 1980–2008 and 2009–2013. Thus, the performance and impact rates, and conceptual evolution of the research field are shown. Findings: According to the results, the co-word analysis allows us to identify 12 main thematic areas in this emerging research field: anxiety, survivors and palliative care, meditation, treatment, symptoms and cancer types, postmenopause, cancer pain, low back pain, herbal medicine, children, depression and insomnia, inflammation mediators, and lymphedema. The different research lines are identified according to the main thematic areas, centered fundamentally on anxiety and suffering prevention. The scientific community can use this information to identify where the interest is focused and make decisions in different ways. Research limitation: Several limitations can be addressed: 1) some of the Complementary and Alternative Medicine therapies may not have been included; 2) only the documents indexed in Web of Science are analyzed; and 3) the thematic areas detected could change if another dataset was considered. Practical implications: The results obtained in the present study could be considered as an evidence-based framework in which future studies could be built. Originality/value: Currently, there are no studies that show the thematic evolution of this research area

Post-mortem consciousness: views of psychotherapists and their influence on the work with clients

The aim of this study was to explore the views of psychotherapists on postmortem consciousness and whether these views influence their work with clients. The mixed-methods approach used an online survey in stage one, which invited counsellors and psychotherapists to answer questions about their views on post-mortem consciousness. The sole participation criterion was that that participants must be experienced and accredited. Replies were gained from 103 participants. The survey yielded demographic information and included questions allowing for free-text responses for participants to expand on their comments. These were analysed thematically. Participants from stage one, who were willing to be interviewed for this project, were invited to make contact in order to take part in stage two of the research and 12 practitioners were interviewed. The transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Almost 70% of the survey participants indicated that questions about post-mortem consciousness influence the way they live their lives and also the way they work with clients. Additionally, just over 52% of the participants declared a belief in life after death. However, the findings from the interviews showed that 10 out of the 12 therapists who were interviewed were not aware of their clients bringing issues around death or post-mortem consciousness in their work. This may be due to: (1) therapists not having worked on issues relating to their own mortality; (2) a fear of losing credibility if the issue of post-mortem consciousness were to be discussed in the work; (3) confusion between imposing their views and allowing exploration of the topic of postmortem consciousness in their work; (4) the absence of this theme in their professional training; or (5) the possibility that the topic of death and postmortem consciousness was not part of clients’ overt or covert presenting issues. It is suggested that the current scientific paradigm on which counselling and psychotherapy is based, represses the presenting of more open and speculative views about what it means to be human, thereby limiting issues that clients might otherwise bring to therapy. These may include belief in post-mortem consciousness. The research suggests that therapists, supervisors and trainers need to assess their own views about post-mortem consciousness to become more open to, and able to work with, the potential presence of underlying issues that may stem from clients’ views about post-mortem consciousness in clients’ presenting issues

Mapping the field of physical therapy and identification of the leading active producers: a bibliometric analysis of the period 2000-2018

Objectives The objectives of the study were: 1) Describe the thematic structure and evolution of the field of physical therapy; 2) identify the main research producers (i.e. countries and institutions); and 3) compare their research output and citation impact. Methods Papers related to physical therapy indexed in Web of Science (2000-2018) were identified to delineate the field, using keywords, journals, and citation networks. VOSviewer software, advanced bibliometric text mining, and visualization techniques were used to evaluate the thematic structure. We collected data about the country and institutional affiliation of all the authors and calculated production and citation impact indicators. Results 85,697 papers were analyzed. Eleven thematic clusters were identified: 1) "health care and education"; 2) "biomechanics"; 3) "psychosocial, chronic pain and quality of life outcomes"; 4) "evidence-based physical therapy research methods"; 5) "traumatology and orthopedics"; 6) "neurological rehabilitation"; 7) "psychometrics and cross-cultural adaptation"; 8) "gait-balance analysis and Parkinson's disease"; 9) "exercise"; 10) "respiratory physical therapy"; and 11) "back pain." The United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia were the most productive countries. Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden had the highest citation impact. Conclusions Our bibliometric visualization approach makes it possible to comprehensively study the thematic structure of physical therapy. The ranking of producers has evolved and now includes China and Brazil. High research production does not imply a high citation impact.Merit, Expertise and Measuremen

Theoretical explanations for maintenance of behaviour change: a systematic review of behaviour theories

Background: Behaviour change interventions are effective in supporting individuals in achieving temporary behaviour change. Behaviour change maintenance, however, is rarely attained. The aim of this review was to identify and synthesise current theoretical explanations for behaviour change maintenance to inform future research and practice. Methods: Potentially relevant theories were identified through systematic searches of electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO). In addition, an existing database of 80 theories was searched, and 25 theory experts were consulted. Theories were included if they formulated hypotheses about behaviour change maintenance. Included theories were synthesised thematically to ascertain overarching explanations for behaviour change maintenance. Initial theoretical themes were cross-validated. Findings: One hundred and seventeen behaviour theories were identified, of which 100 met the inclusion criteria. Five overarching, interconnected themes representing theoretical explanations for behaviour change maintenance emerged. Theoretical explanations of behaviour change maintenance focus on the differential nature and role of motives, self-regulation, resources (psychological and physical), habits, and environmental and social influences from initiation to maintenance. Discussion: There are distinct patterns of theoretical explanations for behaviour change and for behaviour change maintenance. The findings from this review can guide the development and evaluation of interventions promoting maintenance of health behaviours and help in the development of an integrated theory of behaviour change maintenance

A Historical Review of Music Therapy and the Department of Veterans Affairs

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the history and development of music therapy within the veteran population, specifically in regards to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This research will be conducted qualitatively utilizing narrative inquiry and historical review. Using numerous sources of literature, the researcher will conduct a thorough historical review in order to fully portray the development of music therapy practice within the veteran population. The researcher will explore various sources of relevant literature in order to discover when and how music therapy was first used to treat the veteran population and how music therapy programs developed at the Department of Veterans Affairs. In addition to the historical review, a narrative inquiry will be conducted by interviewing several music therapists employed at VA facilities across the United States in order to discover how music therapy has grown and developed at their respective sites. Once data is collected from the participants, it will be combined with the data from the literature research in order to create a literary timeline of the progression of music therapy within the VA and the veteran population it serves

Into the intangible: an exploration of gravity dream motifs among psychotherapists

This study explores seven therapists’ phenomenological experiences of the gravity dream motif, as well as their lived experiences at the times they had these dreams and the impact the dream sequences had on their lives and practices. The ‘Phenomenology of Practice,’ as described by Van Manen was used to guide the methodology. Three final thematic aspects were established through the interviews. The first was essential to the experience of the gravity dream: The necessary dream, the changing motif and the journey of the developing self. This theme highlighted the fact that the dream served a purpose in some way. The motif changed alongside the developing self, particularly through the search for a sense of authenticity and identity. Two further themes were essential to the interview process, the first of which was: An emergence of a new hermeneutic meaning of the dream’s significance. All the participants derived new understandings of their dreams through the use of metaphor, life parallels and their felt sense of their dreams. The final theme: The therapy space - reduction, retrieval, revival and reconnection with our dream self, materialised through the interview process. The invitation to talk about an intangible subject, the reflective distance from the dream space and then the phenomenological interview itself, all enabled the participants to reconnect with their dream selves. They were also able to retrieve new awarenesses and revive their interest in working with dreams. In addition, the study also discovered that the seven participants were employing a reductive way of working with dreams and it calls for an enhancement of dream training, with more attention paid to the value of working with dreams in therapy. Finally, it suggests greater attention should be paid to the significance of a dream motif

Production Trends, Collaboration, and Main Topics of the Integrative and Complementary Oncology Research Area: A Bibliometric Analysis

Background: The prevalence of cancer has increased over time worldwide. Nevertheless, the number of deaths has been reduced during the past 2 decades. Thus, one-third of the cancer patients are users of complementary and alternative therapies, looking for other types of interventions. The main aim of the present study is to understand the current status of the research in integrative and complementary oncology. Three different aspects were analyzed: production trends, country collaboration, and leading research topics. Methods: The dataset was obtained from the documents indexed under the Integrative and Complementary Medicine category of the Web of Science database from 1976 to 2017. VOSviewer and SciMAT software were employed to perform the bibliometric analysis. Results: The Journal of Ethnopharmacology, China Medical University and the People’s Republic of China are the leading producers in the field. Regarding the collaboration, the United States and China present a close connection. The scientific community is focused on the following topics: apoptosis, breast cancer, oxidative stress, chemotherapy, and nuclear factor-Kappa-B (NF-Kappa-B). Conclusions: The present article shows potentially important information that allows understanding of the past, present, and future of research in integrative and complementary oncology. It is a useful evidence-based framework on which to base future research actions and academic directions

Early Shame, Self-Esteem, and Christian Women

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences surrounding the self-esteem of evangelical Christian women with early shame experiences. The theory guiding this study was attachment theory as it explains self-esteem being rooted in early childhood through trust building, unconditional love, and security. The theoretical framework further illustrates the impact of self-esteem as life progresses due to a combination of positive and negative self-evaluations. Early shame experiences affect one’s self-esteem adversely. Low self-esteem could breed isolation once people fail to see their self-worthy in establishing meaningful connections, without which individuals lack the nurture needed to grow and sustain their well-being. Data were collected through an unstructured interview. The study findings revealed that (1) poor parental bonds, (2) environmental stressors, and (3) identification with God were significant shared experiences. This study provided implications for community stakeholders in the field of education, healthcare, and ministry. It implied having an early secure attachment and a positive relationship with God as mitigators to adverse mental health, as they facilitate healthy coping among individuals who have faced trauma such as early shame experiences

Thematic Analysis: Exploring Practitioners' Perspectives of Delivering Animal Assisted Therapy

Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) is a psychotherapeutic approach that uses animals in a therapeutic capacity and can be used as an adjunct with a range of practices such as different psychotherapeutic modalities. Despite its relatively long history, more robust research is needed to increase AAT’s evidence-base. There is a relative lack of research in AAT practice from a practitioners’ perspectives. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore how practitioners use AAT in their clinical practice. Ten participants were interviewed about their experiences of using AAT in their clinical practice. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Three main themes emerged from the analysis: The Psychotherapeutic Encounter, Multi-Faceted Relational Process, and Challenges and Opportunities in AAT. The findings revealed that practitioners who used AAT utilised features of the therapy animal, with elements of nature and incorporated it into working in the moment. In addition, the findings revealed the relational dynamics between the client-animal, practitioner-animal, and that AAT is more than a dual therapeutic relationship. The findings also revealed the challenges and opportunities of using AAT within psychotherapy. The study has implications in the areas of better understanding and enhancing the therapeutic relationship in AAT, integrating AAT into counselling psychology practice and identifying potential areas for future research

Hospital-Based Palliative Care Programs: Perspectives Regarding Conceptualization and Accreditation

Palliative care has been shown to improve symptoms and increase quality of life in people with a life-limiting illness. Despite growth in hospital-based palliative care programs throughout the United States, only 91 hospitals have obtained The Joint Commission’s Advanced Palliative Certification. The purpose of this descriptive study was to identify how programs that do not have The Joint Commission’s Advanced Palliative Care Certification defined and conceptualized palliative care. An additional focus was to identify the barriers these programs perceived or experienced that prevented them from obtaining the advanced palliative care certification. This research program began with an evolutionary concept analysis that identified how palliative care has changed through time. Following this was a review of existing definitions and theories of palliative care. Following a comparison of various standards for palliative care, the Trajectory of Quality Palliative Care Model was developed and used to guide this research study. Hospital-based palliative care programs listed as active on the Center to Advance Palliative Care’s (CAPC) National Palliative Care Registry were eligible. A total of 21 programs across the United States participated. Data collection was completed via phone interviews guided by the Hospital-Based Palliative Care Survey. Definitions of palliative care used by the programs within the data set were inconsistent but did follow components of the definitions used by the CAPC, National Quality Forum (NQF), National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), and The Joint Commission. Findings also identified perceived barriers to achieving The Joint Commission Advanced Palliative Care Certification: (a) not meeting the seven-days-per-week and on-call criteria, (b) recruitment and retention of staff, (c) allocating funding necessary to reach minimum staffing standards, and (d) hospital staff and consumer misunderstanding about palliative care. Evidence from this study provides a basis upon which further actions can be taken to address barriers to obtaining The Joint Commission’s Advanced Palliative Care Certification. Finally, this research informs potential policy implication shifts related to education and research in palliative care along with workforce training, staffing standards, and financial resources to support high-quality palliative care