1942-01-24, Frederick to Family

https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/fhecht_collection/1001/thumbnail.jp

1942-09-01, Frederick to Marie

https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/fhecht_collection/1002/thumbnail.jp

1942-11-25, Frederick to Family

https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/fhecht_collection/1003/thumbnail.jp

1941-02-07, Military Appointment Card

https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/fhecht_collection/1000/thumbnail.jp

Intervention Integrity in Mindfulness-Based Research

Assessing program or intervention fidelity/integrity is an important methodological consideration in clinical and educational research. These critical variables influence the degree to which outcomes can be attributed to the program and the success of the transition from research to practice and back again. Research in the Mindfulness-Based Program (MBP) field has been expanding rapidly over the last 20 years, but little attention has been given to how to assess intervention integrity within research and practice settings. The proliferation of different program forms, inconsistency in adhering to published curriculum guides, and variability of training levels and competency of trial teachers all pose grave risks to the sustainable development of the science of MBPs going forward. Three tools for assessing intervention integrity in the MBP field have been developed and researched to assess adherence and/or teaching competence: the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy-Adherence Scale (MBCT-AS), the Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention-Adherence and Competence Scale (MBRP-AC), and the Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI:TAC). Further research is needed on these tools to better define their inter-rater reliability and their ability to measure elements of teaching competence that are important for participant outcomes. Research going forward needs to include systematic and consistent methods for demonstrating and verifying that the MBP was delivered as intended, both to ensure the rigor of individual studies and to enable different studies of the same MBP to be fairly and validly compared with each other. The critical variable of the teaching also needs direct investigation in future research. We recommend the use of the "Template for Intervention Description and Replication" (TIDieR) guidelines for addressing and reporting on intervention integrity during the various phases of the conduct of research and provide specific suggestions about how to implement these guidelines when reporting studies of mindfulness-based programs

Bias control in bodywork therapies: a review of methodological issues

OBJECTIVE: To review and summarize the methodological challenges in clinical trials of bodywork or handson mind-body therapies such as Feldenkrais Method, Alexander Technique, Trager Work, Eutony, Body Awareness Therapy, Breath Therapy, and Rolfing, and to discuss ways these challenges can be addressed. DESIGN: Review and commentary. METHODS: Search of databases PubMed and EMBASE and screening of bibliographies. Published clinical studies were included if they used individual hands-on approaches and a focus on body awareness, and were not based on technical devices. RESULTS: Of the 53 studies identified, 20 fulfilled inclusion criteria. No studies blinded subject to the treatment being given, but 5 used an alternative treatment and blinded participants to differential investigator expectations of efficacy. No study used a credible placebo intervention. No studies reported measures of patient expectations. Patient expectations have been measured in studies of other modalities but not of hands-on mind-body therapies. Options are presented for minimizing investigator and therapist bias and bias from differential patient expectations, and for maintaining some control for nonspecific treatment effects. Practical issues with recruitment and attrition resulting from volunteer bias are addressed. CONCLUSIONS: Rigorous clinical trials of hands-on complementary and alternative therapy interventions are scarce, needed, and feasible. Difficulties with blinding, placebo, and recruitment can be systematically addressed by various methods that minimize the respective biases. The methods suggested here may enhance the rigor of further explanatory trials

Physicians' communication with patients about adherence to HIV medication in San Francisco and Copenhagen: a qualitative study using Grounded Theory

BACKGROUND: Poor adherence is the main barrier to the effectiveness of HIV medication. The objective of this study was to explore and conceptualize patterns and difficulties in physicians' work with patients' adherence to HIV medication. No previous studies on this subject have directly observed physicians' behavior. METHODS: This is a qualitative, cross-sectional study. We used a Grounded Theory approach to let the main issues in physicians' work with patients' adherence emerge without preconceiving the focus of the study. We included physicians from HIV clinics in San Francisco, U.S.A. as well as from Copenhagen, Denmark. Physicians were observed during their clinical work and subsequently interviewed with a semi-structured interview guide. Notes on observations and transcribed interviews were analyzed with NVivo software. RESULTS: We enrolled 16 physicians from San Francisco and 18 from Copenhagen. When we discovered that physicians and patients seldom discussed adherence issues in depth, we made adherence communication and its barriers the focus of the study. The main patterns in physicians' communication with patients about adherence were similar in both settings. An important barrier to in-depth adherence communication was that some physicians felt it was awkward to explore the possibility of non-adherence if there were no objective signs of treatment failure, because patients could feel "accused." To overcome this awkwardness, some physicians consciously tried to "de-shame" patients regarding non-adherence. However, a recurring theme was that physicians often suspected non-adherence even when patients did not admit to have missed any doses, and physicians had difficulties handling this low believability of patient statements. We here develop a simple four-step, three-factor model of physicians' adherence communication. The four steps are: deciding whether to ask about adherence or not, pre-questioning preparations, phrasing the question, and responding to the patient's answer. The three factors/determinants are: physicians' perceptions of adherence, awkwardness, and believability. CONCLUSION: Communication difficulties were a main barrier in physicians' work with patients' adherence to HIV medication. The proposed model of physicians' communication with patients about adherence – and the identification of awkwardness and believability as key issues – may aid thinking on the subject for use in clinical practice and future research

Cortisol patterns are associated with T cell activation in HIV.

ObjectiveThe level of T cell activation in untreated HIV disease is strongly and independently associated with risk of immunologic and clinical progression. The factors that influence the level of activation, however, are not fully defined. Since endogenous glucocorticoids are important in regulating inflammation, we sought to determine whether less optimal diurnal cortisol patterns are associated with greater T cell activation.MethodsWe studied 128 HIV-infected adults who were not on treatment and had a CD4(+) T cell count above 250 cells/µl. We assessed T cell activation by CD38 expression using flow cytometry, and diurnal cortisol was assessed with salivary measurements.ResultsLower waking cortisol levels correlated with greater T cell immune activation, measured by CD38 mean fluorescent intensity, on CD4(+) T cells (r = -0.26, p = 0.006). Participants with lower waking cortisol also showed a trend toward greater activation on CD8(+) T cells (r = -0.17, p = 0.08). A greater diurnal decline in cortisol, usually considered a healthy pattern, correlated with less CD4(+) (r = 0.24, p = 0.018) and CD8(+) (r = 0.24, p = 0.017) activation.ConclusionsThese data suggest that the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis contributes to the regulation of T cell activation in HIV. This may represent an important pathway through which psychological states and the HPA axis influence progression of HIV