Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

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

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

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.

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

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

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% …

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

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

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 D. Bonney, Lyn Phillipson, Sandra C. Jones, Donald Iverson

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

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 …

Contribution Of Australian Cardiologists, General Practitioners And Dietitians To Adult Cardiac Patients' Dietary Behavioural Change, Sylvia Pomeroy, Anthony Worsley

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Aim: To investigate the use of behavioural change techniques by cardiologists, general practitioners and dietitians in adult cardiac patients within 12 months of their cardiac event. Method: Quantitative cross-sectional surveys. Frequency analyses were conducted on the respondents’ answers to questionnaire items. Chi-squared test of independence compared responses of the three professional groups on the questionnaire items. Analyses of variance were conducted to explore the impact of the independent variables: age, sex and time worked on the behavioural change techniques used by the respondents. Results: The respondents included 248 general practitioners (30% response), 189 cardiologists (47% response) and 180 dietitians (60% …

Mental Health Education For Nurses In General Practice, Kathryn Godwin

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Over the last seven years practice nurse numbers have grown across Australia to over 7,824 (est.) in 2007, with at least 60% of general practices now employing a practice nurse (APNA 2008). Nurses hav~ helped many GPs with overwhelming workloads which include dealing with complex mental health complaints, such as depression and anxiety related to chronic disease conditions. Practice nurses are a key component in primary health care with one nurse to every 2.3 GPs in 2007 (APNA 2008

The Relevance Of The Heart Foundation Of Australia's Dietary Recommendations For Adult Australians: A Comparison Of Views Of General Practitioners, Cardiologists And Dietitians, Francis A. Worsley, Sylvia Pomeroy

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Purpose: To compare the views of general practitioners, cardiologists and dietitians about the relevance of the Heart Foundation of Australias dietary recommendations for adult cardiac patients. Basic procedures: Quantitative-cross sectional study. Postal questionnaires were self-completed by 248 Victorian general practitioners (30% response), 189 Australia-wide cardiologists (47% response) and 180 Victorian dietitians (45% response). Responses were represented as percentages and analyses of variance were conducted to explore the impact of the independent variables: age, work status and gender on the dependent variable: dietary recommendation. Main findings: Approximately half of the recommendations were viewed as strongly important to implement; these related to …

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

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

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 …

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

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

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 D. Ashbury, Donald C. Iverson, Boris Kralj

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

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 …