Raising Reading Rates in Foreign Languages

I have long been interested in applying rate-reading techniques to the reading of foreign languages. At one time a student who had made an excellent record in Reading Workshop brought her French books into the reading laboratory and succeeded in raising her French reading rate. But I had my first opportunity to apply these techniques to a group during our 1966 winter term. Although we were handicapped by a lack of material and by my own inexperience in working with languages other than English, results were encouraging

Preferências pelas decisões compartilhadas em pacientes com depressão

Neste estudo, analisaram-se os processos psicológicos associados com as preferências dos pacientes com depressão na tomada de decisão sobre seu tratamento psiquiátrico. Participaram 462 pacientes diagnosticados com um transtorno depressivo agudo ou recorrente. A maior parte preferiu assumir um papel colaborativo-passivo ou totalmente passivo. Os resultados não mostraram diferenças significativas entre pacientes em função de sua cronicidade na preferência por tomada de decisões, embora um maior tempo de tratamento tenha sido associado com um estilo mais passivo. O MANCOVA aplicado ao total de participantes, controlando a idade, o nível educativo e o tempo de tratamento, indicou que os pacientes colaborativos e passivos mostraram maior lócus de controle centralizado na confiança no psiquiatra do que os ativos. Constataram-se diferenças de gênero que mostraram nos homens maior lócus de controle interno e reatância psicológica, e, nas mulheres, maior lócus centralizado no aleatório, o lócus centralizado no psiquiatra e uma percepção de menor autoeficácia. Os achados indicam a necessidade de estudar, sob uma perspectiva diferencial, a participação dos pacientes na tomada de decisão de acordo com os processos psicológicos e a repercussão que esta tem na aderência ao tratamento médico.En el presente estudio se analizaron los procesos psicológicos asociados con las preferencias de los pacientes con depresión en la toma de decisión sobre su tratamiento psiquiátrico. Participaron 462 pacientes diagnosticados con un trastorno depresivo agudo o recurrente. La mayor parte prefirió asumir un rol colaborativo-pasivo o totalmente pasivo. Los resultados no mostraron diferencias significativas entre pacientes en función de su cronicidad en la preferencia por la toma de decisiones, aunque un mayor tiempo de tratamiento se asoció con un estilo más pasivo. El MANCOVA aplicado al total de participantes, controlando la edad, el nivel educativo y el tiempo de tratamiento, indicó que los pacientes colaborativos y pasivos mostraron mayor locus de control centrado en la confianza en el psiquiatra que los activos. Se encontraron diferencias de género mostrando en los hombres mayor locus de control interno y reactancia psicológica, y en las mujeres, mayor locus centrado en el azar. Los análisis de regresión indicaron que en el caso de los hombres, la preferencia pasiva por la toma de decisión es explicada por el locus centrado en el psiquiatra. Sin embargo, en las mujeres tuvo mayor peso la edad, seguida del locus centrado en el azar, el locus centrado en el psiquiatra y una percepción de menor autoeficacia. Los hallazgos señalan la necesidad de estudiar desde una perspectiva diferencial la participación de los pacientes en la toma de decisión de acuerdo con los procesos psicológicos, así como la repercusión que esta tiene en la adherencia al tratamiento médico.This study analyzed the role of psychological processes predicting depressed patients’ preferences in clinical decision-making about psychiatric treatment. 462 patients diagnosed with depressive disorders, acute or recurrent, participated in a crosssectional survey. Most participants preferred collaborative-passive or totally passive roles. Results showed no significant differences between acute and recurrent patients in their preference of participation in decision-making, but longer treatment duration was associated with a more passive style. MANCOVA, controlling age, educational level and treatment duration variables, showed that collaborative and passive patients had a greater locus of control focused on their psychiatrist than active patients. Gender differences were found. Men showed greater internal locus of control and psychological reactance, while women showed greater external locus of control focused on chance. Regression analysis indicated that, for men, passive preferred role was explained by external locus centered on their psychiatrist. However, age registered the highest weight for women’ passive decision-making, followed by the locus focused on chance, locus focused on the psychiatrist and lower self-efficacy. Our findings suggest the need to study shared decision-making from a differential perspective that involves psychological processes and the impact of these processes in adherence to medical treatments

Experiences With Chiropractic Care for Patients With Low Back or Neck Pain.

BackgroundMusculoskeletal disorders are the second leading cause of disability worldwide.ObjectiveExamine experiences of chiropractic patients in the United States with chronic low back or neck pain.MethodObservational study of 1853 chronic low back pain and neck pain patients (74% female) who completed an online questionnaire at the 3-month follow-up that included Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) items assessing their experiences with care.ResultsWe found similar reports of communication for the chiropractic sample and patients in the 2016 CAHPS National Database, but 85% in the database versus 79% in the chiropractic sample gave the most positive response to the time spent with provider item. More patients in the CAHPS database rated their provider at the top of the scale (8 percentage points). More chiropractic patients reported always getting answers to questions the same day (16 percentage points) and always being seen within 15 minutes of their appointment time (29 percentage points).ConclusionsThe positive experiences of patients with chronic back and neck pain are supportive of their use of chiropractic care

Coping and Management Techniques Used by Chronic Low Back Pain Patients Receiving Treatment From Chiropractors.

OBJECTIVES:The purpose of this study was to describe coping strategies (eg, mechanisms, including self-treatment) that a person uses to reduce pain and its impact on functioning as reported by patients with chronic low back pain who were seen by doctors of chiropractic and how these coping strategies vary by patient characteristics. METHODS:Data were collected from a national sample of US chiropractic patients recruited from chiropractic practices in 6 states from major geographical regions of the United States using a multistage stratified sampling strategy. Reports of coping behaviors used to manage pain during the past 6 months were used to create counts across 6 domains: cognitive, self-care, environmental, medical care, social activities, and work. Exploratory analyses examined counts in domains and frequencies of individual items by levels of patient characteristics. RESULTS:A total of 1677 respondents with chronic low back pain reported using an average of 9 coping behaviors in the prior 6 months. Use of more types of behaviors were reported among those with more severe back pain, who rated their health as fair or poor and who had daily occurrences of pain. Exercise was more frequent among the healthy and those with less pain. Female respondents tended to report using more coping behaviors than men, and Hispanics more than non-Hispanics. CONCLUSION:Persons with chronic back pain were proactive in their coping strategies and frequently used self-care coping strategies like those provided by chiropractors in patient education. In alignment with patients' beliefs that their condition was chronic and lifelong, many patients attempted a wide range of coping strategies to relieve their pain

Persons with acquired profound hearing loss (APHL): how do they and their families adapt to the challenge?

The study examined the impact of acquired profound hearing loss (APHL) on the relationship between the hearing impaired person and their normally hearing close family member, usually a partner, and identified the kinds of adjustment leading to maintenance or deterioration of the relationship. The participants were 25 people with APHL and 25 family members, interviewed separately in their own home. Analysis of the interview transcripts adopted a grounded theory methodology. The different levels of analysis were linked in terms of a core category based on the social construction of a committed relationship. The conceptual codes were grouped as: (a) aural impairments giving rise to the need for adjustment; (b) pragmatic adjustments to spoken communication and family activities; (c) managing the adjustments without negative consequences; (d) adjustments leading to negative interaction. The results suggest that APHL places considerable strain on relationships and increases their vulnerability to failure, consistent with previous research. They highlight the need for professional support and suggest that a systemic conceptual framework is needed that includes the public response to profound hearing impairment

Engagement in mental health treatment among veterans returning from Iraq

Objectives: Many veterans return from combat experiencing a variety of mental health concerns. Previous research has documented a stigma associated with seeking treatment that interferes with the decision to seek treatment. This study, conceptualized using the theory of planned behavior, assessed beliefs about mental health treatment in order to understand mental health treatment seeking behavior among a group of returning National Guard soldiers who served in the war in Iraq. Methods: Participants were one hundred and fifty Operation Iraqi Freedom National Guard soldiers who screened positive for depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder or alcohol abuse disorder on the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing beliefs about mental health treatment and treatment-seeking behavior. Results: Beliefs related to symptom reduction and work were significantly related to mental health treatment-seeking behavior. Conclusions: Interventions developed to engage veterans into care must be directed toward cognitive factors that motivate treatment seeking in addition to traditionally targeted structural barriers

Namibian telecommunication sector performance review

Namibia fares well when comparing the cheapest prepaid product available, occupying the middle of the field in a comparison of 18 African countries. However, for the cheapest product available from dominant operators, ‘MTC' Namibia is the third most expensive prepaid operator, surpassed only by Cameroon and Burkina Faso. This is significant since it means the majority of people pay high prices, with MTC having a market share of around 80%. Meanwhile Telecom Namibia struggles to deliver returns that would be expected from any owner other than government. The Namibian ICT Sector Performance Review (SPR) analyzes sector developments for policy makers and regulators