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Measuring Help Seeking Intentions: Properties Of The General Help Seeking Questionnaire, Coralie J. Wilson, Frank P. Deane, Joseph V. Ciarrochi, Debra Rickwood

Frank Deane

This articles describes the theoretical underpinnings, development and psychometric properties of the General Help-Seeking Questionnaire: a measure of help-seeking intentions that is being used as the central outcome variable in a number of national and international help-seeking studies.

Physician Communication Skills: Results Of A Survey Of General/Family Practitioners In Newfoundland, F Ashbury, Donald Iverson, Boris Kralj

Don C. Iverson

Purpose: To describe the attitudes related to communication skills, confidence in using commnication skills, and use of communication skills during the physician-patient encounter among a population-based sample of family physicians. Procedures: A mailed survey, distributed to all family physicians and general practitioners currently practicing in Newfoundland. The questionnaire was designed to collect data in five general areas participant demographics, physician confidence in using specific communication strategies, perceived adequacy of time spent by physicians with their patients, physician use of specific communication strategies with the adult patients they saw in the prior week, and physician use of specific communication strategies during …

Patients' Attitudes To General Practice Registrars: A Review Of The Literature, Andrew Bonney, Lyn Phillipson, Samantha Reis, Sandra Jones, Donald Iverson

Don C. Iverson

Introduction With the population ageing, it is imperative for training practices to provide GP registrars with sound experience in managing the health problems of older persons, especially chronic conditions. However, it is reported that a significant proportion of these patients will be resistant to consulting registrars, with concerns regarding disruption of continuity of care being a significant factor. The challenge for training practices is to identify approaches to engage registrars in the management of older patients whilst maintaining patient satisfaction. This paper presents a review of the literature on patient attitudes to general practice registrars to better understand the nature …

Older Patients' Attitudes To General Practice Registrars: A Qualitative Study, Andrew Bonney, Lyn Phillipson, Sandra Jones, Donald Iverson

Don C. Iverson

Background Research suggests that older patients may be reluctant to engage general practice registrars (GPRs) in their care. The authors undertook a qualitative study of the attitudes of older patients to GPRs to investigate this issue. Method Thirty-eight patients aged 60 years and over from three training practices participated in semistructured telephone interviews, which explored patients responses to GPRs. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using a template analysis approach. Results Analysis of the interviews produced five major themes concerning patient attitudes to GPRs: desire for continuity, desire for access, openness, trust and a desire for meaningful communication. Discussion …

The Conference For General Practice 2009, Andrew Bonney, Lyn Phillipson, Sandra Jones, Donald Iverson

Don C. Iverson

Objectives The medical literature suggests that older patients may be reluctant to engage general practice registrars in their medical care. This can lead to distortions in the clinical caseload of general practice registrars and dissatisfaction for older patients when seeing general practice registrars. The authors undertook a qualitative study of older patients to investigate their attitudes to having general practice registrars involved in their medical care to address this issue. Methods The study was conducted in three general practice (GP) training practices in southeast NSW, Australia. Appropriate ethics approval was obtained before commencing the research. Reception staff handed patients invitations …

General Practice Registrars: Attitudes Of Older Patients, Andrew D. Bonney, Sandra C. Jones, Lyn Phillipson, Donald C. Iverson

Don C. Iverson

Previous research indicates that older patients may be less willing to consult general practice registrars (GPRs), reducing training opportunities in chronic/complex care. This survey explores older patients’ attitudes in order to inform models of interaction that would be acceptable to patients. METHODS Ten training general practices distributed questionnaires for self completion to 50 patients aged 60 years and over. Chi-square, Spearman’s rho and logistic regression were used for analysis. RESULTS The response rate was 47%. Ninetysix percent wanted ongoing contact with their general practitioner if they saw a GPR. Twenty-four percent were comfortable with GPR chronic/complex care, increasing to 73% …

Preparing For An Ageing Population: A Survey Of Older Patients' Attitudes To General Practice Registrars, Andrew D. Bonney, Sandra C. Jones, Lyn Phillipson, Donald C. Iverson

Don C. Iverson

The ageing population makes it imperative to provide appropriate training for general practice registrars (GPRs) in the community-based care of older patients. However, data suggest that older patients may be less willing to consult GPRs for chronic/complex care; adversely affecting training opportunities and potentially the satisfaction of older patients in training practices. This cross-sectional study was undertaken to investigate this concern in the Australian context and develop models of older patient-GPR interaction that are acceptable to patients.

Process-Evaluation Of Tropospheric Humidity Simulated By General Circulation Models Using Water Vapor Isotopologues: 1. Comparison Between Models And Observations, Camille Risi, David Noone, John Worden, Christian Frankenberg, Gabriele Stiller, Michael Kiefer, Bernd Funke, Kaley Walker, Peter Bernath, Matthias Schneider, Debra Wunch, Vanessa Sherlock, Nicholas M. Deutscher, David W. Griffith, Paul O. Wennberg, Kimberly Strong, Dan Smale, Emmanuel Mahieu, Sabine Barthlott, Frank Hase, Omar Garcia, Justus Notholt, Thorsten Warneke, Geoffrey Toon, David Sayres, Sandrine Bony, Jeonghoon Lee, Derek Brown, Ryu Uemura, Christophe Sturm

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

[1] The goal of this study is to determine how H2O and HDO measurements in water vapor can be used to detect and diagnose biases in the representation of processes controlling tropospheric humidity in atmospheric general circulation models (GCMs). We analyze a large number of isotopic data sets (four satellite, sixteen ground-based remote-sensing, five surface in situ and three aircraft data sets) that are sensitive to different altitudes throughout the free troposphere. Despite significant differences between data sets, we identify some observed HDO/H2O characteristics that are robust across data sets and that can be used to evaluate models. We evaluate …

The Hollow-Face Illusion: Object Specific Knowledge, General Assumptions Or Properties Of The Stimulus, Harold C. Hill, Alan Johnston

Harold Hill

The hollow-face illusion, in which a mask appears as a convex face, is a powerful example of binocular depth inversion occurring with a real object under a wide range of viewing conditions. Explanations of the illusion are reviewed and six experiments reported. In experiment 1 the detrimental effect of figural inversion, evidence for the importance of familiarity, was found for other oriented objects. The inversion effect held for masks lit from the side (experiment 2). The illusion was stronger for a mask rotated by 90° lit from its forehead than from its chin, suggesting that familiar patterns of shading enhance …

Dementia And Driving: An Approach For General Practice, John Carmody, Victoria Traynor, Donald C. Iverson

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background As our population ages, the proportion of drivers with dementia will continue to rise. Increasingly, health professionals are faced with the clinical dilemma of determining fitness to drive. Unfortunately, the management of drivers with dementia is fraught with hazards.

Objective This article attempts to provide an overview of the complex issue of driving and dementia as it relates to general practitioners in Australia. In addition, an evidence based management strategy is proposed.

Discussion When determining an individual’s fitness to drive, a clinician’s input may have legal, ethical, emotional and social ramifications. At present, a clear consistent national protocol detailing …