Languaging the embodied experience

Original article can be found at : http://www.informaworld.com/ Copyright Taylor & FrancisThis article is based on a study (Panhofer, 2009) which explored ways of verbalizing the embodied experience and inquired into the essentially subjective undertaking of yielding meaning in the movement. In Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP), movement observation and analysis generally serves as a tool to understand, classify and interpret human movement, providing practitioners with a language for how to speak and describe movement. The study drew attention to the possibilities and limitations of wording the embodied experience, or, as Sheets-Johnstone (2007, p.1) referred to it as ‘ the challenge of languaging the experience’. Underlining nonlanguaged ways of knowing the study showed how movement replaces words in many ways and illustrated valuable possible methods of communicating the embodied experience such as the use of metaphors, images and poetry. It is suggested, as a result of the study, that the embodied word needs to be linked to a personal, emotive vocabulary rather than any technical movement observational language when practitioners communicate their practice to others.Peer reviewe

Erosion oder/ und Umbruch des Religiösen? Die Herausforderung von Markt und Medien für die Kirchen

'Der Artikel fragt nach den Veränderungen von Religion in der (post-)modernen Markt- und Mediengesellschaft. Er stellt fest, dass sich Religion von traditionellen institutionellen Bindungen löst und in ihren Ausprägungen pluralistischer wird. Zugleich wird Religion 'funktionalisiert' - das bedeutet, dass sie nicht mehr von Bezügen ausgeht, die die Welt transzendieren, sondern sich neu organisiert, indem 'Nutzenaspekte' im Vordergrund stehen. Dabei übernehmen Medien religiöse Funktionen. Mit Blick auf das Fernsehen und am konkreten Beispiel der Sendung 'Traumhochzeit' lässt sich festhalten, dass dieses einerseits ursprünglich in den Kirchen beheimatete Rituale und ihre 'Stabilisierungsfunktion' aufgreift, andererseits mit einer medialen 'Transzendenz' reale Wirklichkeit stützt und bearbeitet. Für die Kirchen entsteht durch eine derartige 'Medienreligion' eine neue Konkurrenzsituation mit der Gefahr, dass spezifische christliche Inhalte verloren gehen. Der Beitrag kommt zum Schluss, dass Kirchen einerseits das Phänomen der 'Medienreligion' ernst nehmen und in ihrer Arbeit mit Menschen dort ansetzen müssen; andererseits ist aber in einer theologischen Perspektive der Verweis auf einen Gott erforderlich, welcher der menschlichen Verfügbarkeit entzogen ist.' (Autorenreferat)'The article inquires about the change of 'religion' in a (post-)modern society of market and media. Religion loses traditional institutional ties and becomes more pluralistic. At the same time, - religion increasingly 'functionalises' - it no longer focuses on the transcendental perspective, but is primarily organized according to utility aspects. For example, referring to television, especially the TV show 'Traumhochzeit', the argument can be stressed that television, on the one hand, supplies functions of stability that are based on rituals, originally being used by the Christian churches. On the other hand, 'media transcendence' also creates reality. Churches face now a new competition by 'media religion', involving the risk that the specific Christian content gets lost. The authors conclude that churches not only should seriously integrate this 'media religion' in their practical work with people, but also, from a theological viewpoint, still must refer to a God, who is not accessible to human availability.' (author's abstract)

The development and validation of a disease-specific quality of life measure in hyperhidrosis : the Hyperhidrosis Quality of Life Index (HidroQOL©)

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and the source are credited.PURPOSE: To develop and validate a new disease-specific quality of life measure in hyperhidrosis for use in both routine clinical practice and clinical research. METHODS: Interviews and focus group discussions with hyperhidrosis patients, reported elsewhere, provided the content for the measure validated in this study (n = 71). A panel of dermatologists (n = 5) and patients (n = 7) carried out content validation. Further, item reduction and the initial construct validation were carried out in a cross-sectional study (n = 595), using the unidimensional Rasch analysis and exploratory factor analysis. Subsequently, the construct validity, reliability and responsiveness of the revised measure were assessed in a longitudinal study (n = 260). Data collection for the item reduction and the final validation phases was entirely carried out online. RESULTS: The expert panels judged the HidroQoL as content valid. Rasch analysis supported the revision of response options from five to three. Following removal of misfitting items, a set of 15 items showed optimal fit to the model (chi-squared statistic = 159.64, p = 0.07). Three additional items were retained on consideration of their importance to patients, resulting in an 18-item instrument. The items were grouped into two subscales, daily life activities and psychosocial life domains, based on results of the factor analysis. In subsequent construct validation, the HidroQoL correlated with the DLQI (r s = 0.6, p < 0.01). Reliability was high (internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha: overall scale = 0.9; test-retest reliability, Intra-class correlation = 0.9). The HidroQoL scores were sensitive to change in patients' disease severity (score change from baseline to follow-up after 15-35 days, Cohen's ES = 0.47). CONCLUSION: This study has provided the initial evidence supporting measurement properties and the use of the HidroQoL instrument in both routine clinical practice and in research, for assessing quality of life impacts in hyperhidrosis.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Adjuvant bisphosphonates in endocrine-responsive breast cancer: what is their place in therapy?

Recent advances in the treatment of early breast cancer have improved clinical outcomes and prolonged survival, especially in women with endocrine-responsive disease. However, cancer therapies including cytotoxic chemotherapy, ovarian suppression, and aromatase inhibitors can drastically reduce circulating estrogen, increasing bone loss and fracture risk. Because most women with early breast cancer will live for many years, it is important to protect bone health during cancer therapy. Several recent clinical trials combining adjuvant endocrine therapy with bisphosphonates have demonstrated efficacy for preventing cancer treatment-induced bone loss in pre- and postmenopausal women with early breast cancer. The largest body of evidence supporting the use of adjuvant bisphosphonates comes from studies with zoledronic acid; however, studies with risedronate, ibandronate, and denosumab (a biologic agent) have also demonstrated efficacy for preventing bone loss. Adding zoledronic acid to endocrine therapy prevents bone loss and improves bone mineral density (BMD). In addition, preclinical studies suggest that bisphosphonates have direct and indirect antitumor activity, such as inducing tumor cell apoptosis, reducing tumor cell adhesion and invasion, reducing angiogenesis, activating immune responses, and synergy with chemotherapy agents, among others. Clinical trials have demonstrated significantly improved disease-free survival in patients receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy plus zoledronic acid compared with endocrine therapy alone. Ongoing studies will further define the role of adjuvant bisphosphonates in maintaining bone health and improving clinical outcomes. The available evidence suggests that pre- and postmenopausal patients may receive clinical benefit from including bisphosphonates as part of their adjuvant treatment regimen for endocrine-responsive early breast cancer