Rehabilitation Blogs 
This is an OPML file. It can be used to export all the MedWorm RSS feeds on this topic into your personal RSS reader (usually you have to save this file to your own computer before clicking on an Import OPML command in your own feed reader to upload the file which will then import all the feeds) or it can be used by webmasters to integrate MedWorm feeds with their own website. 
This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader, such as GoogleReader, or to display this data on your own website or blog. 
Subscribe to this data using MyMedWorm.
Subscribe to this data using GoogleReader.
Subscribe to this data using Bloglines.
Subscribe to this data using MyYahoo.
Find the best Christmas presents and January Sales in the UK with this simple shopping directory.
This page shows you the most recent publications within this specialty of the MedWorm directory. This is page number 30.
How Much for Access to APA Mtg Talks?
Email this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Discussion Chair: Paul O'Leary, M.D., Co-Chair: Hind Benjelloun, M.D. IW21. Tips for Effective Communication About Genetics and Mental Illness With Patients and Their Families Chair: Jehannine Austin, Ph.D., Co-Chair: Holly Peay, M.S. IW22. Clinical and Forensic Issues Concerning Infanticide, the Murder of a Child in the First Year of Life by Its Mother Chair: Malkah Notman, M.D., Co-Chair: Carl Malmquist, M.D. IW23. Extended Treatments for Alcohol Use Disorders National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; Chair: James McKay, Ph.D. IW24. Cognitive Therapy for Personality Disorders Chair: Judith Beck, Ph.D. ...
Source: Shrink Rap - May 24, 2009 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Tags: medical education poll APA Source Type: blogs
Something to Smile AboutEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Yes, I’m easily excitable, but I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see mainstream newspapers publishing articles on hedonic research! Lame (terribly clever) puns aside, there is a promising trend afoot.
In the last couple weeks, the New York Times and the Boston Globe have published articles exploring the implications of research on human happiness.
In the NYT, Situationist friend Dan Gilbert sought to shed light on “new survey results from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index showing that Americans are smiling less and worrying more than they were a year ago, that happiness is down and sadness is up, that ...
Source: The Situationist - May 23, 2009 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Adam Benforado Tags: Emotions Law Legal Theory positive psychology Happiness hedonic psychology Source Type: blogs
Confronting the Backlash against Implicit BiasEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Below you will find some excerpts from an important paper by Situationist Contributor John T. Jost and six distinguished co-authors (Laurie A. Rudman, Irene V. Blair, Dana R. Carney, Nilanjana Dasgupta, Jack Glaser, Curtis D. Hardin). The paper is titled “The Existence of Implicit Bias is Beyond Reasonable Doubt: A Refutation of Ideological and Methodological Objections and Executive Summary of Ten Studies that No Manager Should Ignore.” The paper will be published in Research in Organizational Behavior. Many thanks to Julian Darwal for putting this post together.
* * *
In this chapter, we respond to recent criti...
Source: The Situationist - May 22, 2009 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: The Situationist Staff Tags: Abstracts Choice Myth Implicit Associations Social Psychology implicit associations test Source Type: blogs
Peter Ashenden On the DBSA, Blueprint for Hope, and PassionEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
“We’ve been there. We know what it’s like.”
– DBSA President Peter Ashenden on one of the organization’s most crucial weapons for combating mental health stigma and misinformation.
In addition to currently serving as the president of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA), Peter Ashenden is a dynamic keynote speaker, a member of several mental health boards and committees, and acted as both a commissioner of the Certification Commission of the United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (USPRA) and the executive director for the Mental Health Empowerment Project (MHEP).
Simply put, As...
Source: World of Psychology - May 21, 2009 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Alicia Sparks Tags: Depression Mental Health and Wellness Policy and Advocacy Advocacy Organization Dbsa Dbsalliance Health Boards Keynote Speaker Managing Depression Mental Health Advocacy Mental Health Care Mental Health Education Mental Health Stig Source Type: blogs
Playing computer games improves children’s attention allocationEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
There is more evidence of the neuropsychological benefits of playing action video games in a new paper to be published in July by Matt Dye and colleagues in Neuropsychologia. This paper shows that playing action video games resulted in improvmenets in attention allocation in children and young people. The authors used the Attention Network Test (ANT) which measure “how well attention is allocated to targets as a function of alerting and orientating cues, and to what extent observers are able to filter out the influence of task irrelevant information flanking those tasks”. The subjects were children and yo...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - May 21, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: Uncategorized brain development brain training computer games neurogames neuroscience rehabiliatation working memory Source Type: blogs
HealthSouth's "Digital Hospital," from the "Era of Cyber Hospitals" to an Unfinished "Pipe Dream"Email this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
The trial for a civil law-suit against Richard Scrushy, the former CEO of for-profit rehabilitation hospital chain HealthSouth, is currently in progress. One bit of testimony provided a reminder about how supposed "innovations" in health care are uncritically accepted. As reported by the Birmingham (Alabama, US) News:HealthSouth Corp. Chief Executive Jay Grinney has concluded his testimony in the Richard Scrushy civil trial, ending with a devastating critique of the so-called 'digital hospital.''It was a very bad business decision that made no sense,' Grinney said of the half-completed Scrushy brainchild on U.S. 280 he inh...
Source: Health Care Renewal - May 20, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: propaganda imperial CEO information technology HealthSouth hospital systems Source Type: blogs
The Phoney War on DrugsEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
from the think tank Centre for Policy Studies suggests the government has deliberately shifted from tackling illegal drug use to cutting the cost of drug use, looking more at managing the addition of problem drug users (PDUs) rather than helping them to stop. Cannabis was declassified and spending on methadone treatment increased threefold between 2003 and 2008. The result is that 147,000 people have become trapped in state-sponsored (mainly methadone) addiction. Addicts leaving government treatment programmes clean of drug use are at the same level as if there had been no treatment programme at all, the report said.
They...
Source: Fade Library - May 20, 2009 Category: Medical Librarians Authors: western4uk Tags: Drugs of Abuse Grey Literature Mental Health Financial Management Methadone Strategy Source Type: blogs
Tell me what you want, what you really, really wantEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
A theme in almost any reading about health is that treatment should be patient-focused, typically goal-directed and have some sort of measureable impact. Over the past few weeks I’ve been reading about the process of goal setting and motivation, finding that there can be quite some differences between what a therapist sees as a suitable goal for therapy, and what the patient/participant sees as ‘the goal’.
Today I thought to ponder the types of goals we might see during pain management treatment.
On the one hand, each therapist will identify several areas to target on the basis of clinical reasoning (in m...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - May 19, 2009 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Clinical reasoning Coping Skills Motivation research therapy assessment Chronic pain goal-setting goals health importance pain management Source Type: blogs
Doctor DeathEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
I belong to this quirky group of docs that gets together once a month --- we have a few adult beverages followed by two of us giving a talk. The talks have to be 10 minutes long, with no notes or visual aids (I said it was quirky). My turn comes around every two years or so --- I have posted some of the talks I have given a while back here and here. The last few weeks were light on blogging because my turn was up again, so time not spent working was frequently spent trying to put together a talk that would be entertaining and pass along something that the docs in the room had never heard. This rather long post is that talk...
Source: Aggravated DocSurg - May 19, 2009 Category: Surgeons Source Type: blogs
Goal intentions or implementation intentions: which one works?Email this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
This study, which isn’t recent, examined goal intentions – or ‘what people want to do within a certain time period’ – and implementation intentions – or ‘action plans’ refer in more detail to the when, where, and how of future action. People do not forget their implementation intentions easily when they are specified in a when, where, and how manner, and an implementation intention is thought to be more proximal to (ie occur closer to the time when) behaviour or action than goals.
The setting for this study was an outpatient physiotherapy centre where patients were attending ...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - May 18, 2009 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Chronic pain Cognitive behavioral therapy Motivation research health CBT rehabilitation pain management Clinical reasoning goals goal-setting theory Source Type: blogs
Heard of Wiihab? Some people are taking it to Wiidiculous heights…Email this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Ok I’ll admit it upfront – I have one. And yes, it’s fun. But as I’ve watched a wave of Wii-fanaticism come over the Hospital campus where I work, I will also admit to some reservations about it. Clever marketing or marvellous motivation tool?
Rod Henderson, self-acknowledged ‘Board Certified Orthopedic Super-Freak’ and physiotherapist put this fabulous post up on his blog today, and I simply had to link to it, and the YouTube video he referred to. Ask yourself: is the Wii anything more than yet another form of activity?
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - May 18, 2009 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: News gadgets rehabilitation Wii Wii-hab Source Type: blogs
Autism Blog lbrb: Left Brain, Right Brain Maybe But Not an Ounce of Common SenseEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
I am not a fan of Kevin Leitch author of Left Brain, Right Brain, father of an autistic child and a devoted follower of Ari Ne'eman and other Neurodiversity ideologues. In a recent post Mr. Leitch posted his answers to what he described as Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Neurodiversity. His answers left me scratching my head and wondering if Mr. Leitch knows what he is talking about or whether there is any consistent meaning or substance to the Neurodiversity ideology.If there is one constant that has existed in ND ideology it is that expressed so dogmatically by ideologues from Jim Sinclair to Ari Ne'eman: "WE, mea...
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - May 18, 2009 Category: Autism Authors: Autism Reality NB Tags: newtag Source Type: blogs
Why I didn’t make it: goals and reasons for nonachievementEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Part of most therapy, especially in chronic pain, involves setting goals. A major part of moving from ‘patient’ to ‘person’ means refocusing life from a round of appointments ‘to get better’ to actually doing things that matter in life – being ‘better’. Some of the people we work with achieve these goals and feel more in control, start to focus on interesting things in life rather than pain, and hopefully won’t need to come back and see us again! Others find it much more difficult to achieve the goals they’ve set and need more intervention.
This paper explor...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - May 17, 2009 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Chronic pain Clinical reasoning Cognitive behavioral therapy Coping Skills research biopsychosocial CBT rehabilitation pain management treatment goals goal-setting cognitive behavioural therapy coping strategies Source Type: blogs
New Guidelines to Treat Low Back PainEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Discussion of risks and benefits of spinal cord stimulation and shared decision making, including reference to the high rate of complications following stimulator placement for patients with persistent and disabling radicular pain following surgery for herniated disc and no evidence of a persistently compressed nerve root.
Let’s see if this makes any difference to those of us who know how painful life is with a painful lower back.
~~~~
Image: iStock.com
Share and Enjoy:
Post from: Blisstree
New Guidelines to Treat Low Back Pain
Source: A Hearty Life - May 13, 2009 Category: Nurses Authors: Marijke Durning, RN Tags: Diseases & Conditions back-pain compressed nerve root health blog lower back pain treatment lower-back-pain Source Type: blogs
Talking about psychosocial issues…Email this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
A couple of days ago I wrote about how to raise psychosocial issues with someone who has pain, hopefully without that person thinking you’re saying it’s ‘all in your head’.
I thought today I’d cover some more about ways to find out about psychosocial factors, with some simple questions you can reword to fit your style.
My first point is repeated from last time – it’s not about ’cause’ and trying to identify whether psychosocial factors are ‘causing’ the pain problem.
Not only is this unhelpful because often the patient is very sensitive to any suggestion tha...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - May 13, 2009 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Chronic pain Clinical reasoning Low back pain assessment health biopsychosocial healthcare occupational therapy pain management physiotherapy psychology rehabilitation Resources treatment Source Type: blogs
British Government to Open Multiple "Polyclinics" in LondonEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
I have posted a number of previous notes about the topic of wellness including the following: Wellness, Preventive Medicine, and the Classic Disease Model, Adding a DAT Option to Corporate Wellness Programs, Moving LISs Toward Greater Support for Preventive and Predictive Medicine. I include the fields of preventive and predictive medicine within the pursuit of wellness. I believe that hospitals and physicians alike need to include wellness in the bundle of services that they provide to patients and healthcare consumers. This approach will benefit both providers and recipients. Apparently this same idea is taking hold in t...
Source: Lab Soft News - May 13, 2009 Category: Pathologists Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Healthcare Business Hospitals and Healthcare Delivery Medical Consumerism Source Type: blogs
Who really suffers when a prison sentence is given?Email this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
At this very moment in time there are 82,813 people in prisons in the UK (weekly updates of prison UK populations) whereas in February 2004 there were only 69,122. We are punishing more-and-more people every year with prison but is it effective (a topic for another post) and does it only punish those who were at fault?
In the first known study of its kind, University of Michigan researchers found that people with a family member or friend in prison or jail suffer worse physical and mental health and more stress and depressive symptoms than those without a loved one behind bars. Moreover, these symptoms worsen the closer th...
Source: PsychBLOG.co.uk - May 13, 2009 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Jamie Davies Tags: Applied Psychology Forensic Psychology crime prison punishment newtag Source Type: blogs
the Prozac momentEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Mark Willenbring dreams of the day that addiction is treated by primary care docs:...Dr. Willenbring, an expert on treating alcohol addiction, predicts that the day is not far off when giving a pill and five minutes of advice to an alcohol abuser will be all that is needed to keep drinking under control....“We’re at the same place with alcohol abuse that the treatment of depression was at 40 years ago, when only psychiatrists treated it and most people with depression were never treated at all,” said Dr. Willenbring, the director the Division of Treatment and Recovery Research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abu...
Source: Addiction and Recovery News - May 12, 2009 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs
Alcoholism Cannot Be Cured Without DetoxEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Alcohol recovery is impossible without alcohol detox. Alcoholism is at root a physiological disease, and alcohol rehabilitation must always begin with physiological healing. The doctors and therapists in alcohol detox facilities help patients weather the symptoms of withdrawal, and prepare them to meet the challenges of primary alcohol treatment. Under the circumstances, you can’t afford to settle for any other course of action.
Alcoholism is a ruinous disease—you shouldn’t need to be told that. The good news is that a pain-free alcohol detox program administered by compassionate professionals really can help to sol...
Source: Cliffside Malibu - May 12, 2009 Category: Addiction Authors: christa Tags: Detox Resources for Alcohol and Drugs/Opiates Source Type: blogs
Goal setting: no easy taskEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
This study demonstrates how complex the task is – and details how the ‘dance’ can develop.
The limitations of a very small study (only three physiotherapy interactions were recorded and analysed), and one in which the participants were aware their dialogue was going to be used for training purposes later are clear. On the other hand, it is within this type of detail-rich study that we can observe the specific elements that go to make up what at face value looks like a relatively simple four-step process. Oh if it were only that easy!
Here’s a thought: what if you sought permission and recorded a...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - May 12, 2009 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Clinical reasoning assessment research therapy Chronic pain goal-setting goals health pain management physiotherapy Source Type: blogs
Lessons Of Medicare For The New Public Health Insurance PlanEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Editor’s Note: The post below by E. Richard Brown, Gerald F. Kominski, and Steven P. Wallace discusses the lessons of Medicare for the new public health insurance that Congress is considering creating as part of comprehensive health reform. It complements a study published today in Health Affairs by Commonwealth Fund researchers discussing how consumers rate Medicare and employer-sponsored coverage, as well as the implications of those ratings for a possible new public health plan.
Biographical information for Brown can be found by clicking on his name above. Kominski is a Professor of Health Services in the UCLA Sc...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - May 12, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: E. Richard Brown Tags: All Categories Health Reform Insurance Medicare Policy Spending Source Type: blogs
Overweight heart patients see benefits from walking often and farEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
“Walk often and walk far.” That’s the message for heart patients from researchers at the University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington. According to a study published today in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation, overweight patients with coronary heart disease who walked longer at a slower pace improved heart health much more effectively than patients who walked a shorter distance at a brisk pace.
In a first-of-its-kind study, 74 overweight cardiac rehabilitation patients were divided into two groups: One group walked for 45 to 60 minutes a day at a moderate pace for five to six days a we...
Source: Consumer Reports Health Blog - May 11, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: ConsumerReports.orgConsumer Reports Health Blog Tags: Conditions & treatments Diabetes Exercise fitness Healthy living Heart Source Type: blogs
Habit at WorkEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
I don’t know how I managed to miss linking into this web-based resource all about the aches and pains we get while we work! Take a look at Habit at Work – and yes, it’s developed by ACC, but don’t hold that against it.
It’s a nice, simple web design, with a choice of either office or industrial workplace to select. Once you’ve clicked into the workplace, you’re able to choose a quiz (with some surprising facts for some people!), how to work in comfort, how to assess yourself, and what to do if you’re feeling sore. I especially liked the interactive nature of the site, the lo...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - May 10, 2009 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Coping Skills Education/CME Return to Work pain Chronic pain coping strategies function health pain management rehabilitation Resources treatment Source Type: blogs
AACOM gpa calculation?Email this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
by dangit (Posted Fri May 08, 2009 3:26 am)Yes, you are correct. AACOMAS will replace any repeated classes you have. AMCAS, on the other hand will average the two grades from repeated classes. AACOMAS will replace the lower grade with the higher grade.AACOMAS includes all classes you have taken from any college/university. Even if you took classes from a community college during high school, those grades will count towards your gpa. Now, certain classes will count towards your science GPA, while every class you take will count towards your overall GPA. This is acutally the same for allopathic schools. I'm not sure why your...
Source: Med Student Guide - May 8, 2009 Category: Medical Students Source Type: blogs
Alcohol Rehabilitation Requires Strength And CourageEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Whoever you are, however tough you believe yourself to be, alcohol treatment will break you down. That’s the point of the alcohol treatment process, after all: to help clients eradicate the roots of their addictive impulses, and to rebuild themselves from the bottom up. The catch, of course, is that no one ever completes an alcohol treatment program without being severely tested along the way. Under those circumstances, it should go without saying that you’ll need to find an alcohol treatment center that can support you at every step of your journey to recovery.
Luxury alcohol treatment facilities are more effective th...
Source: Cliffside Malibu - May 7, 2009 Category: Addiction Authors: christa Tags: Alcohol Rehab Information Source Type: blogs
New technology to improve neurological and physical disabilityEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
One of the most distressing symptoms for many of the children and young people I see clinically after a traumatic brain injury or stroke is the physical disability caused by the neurological injury. Most parents, children and young people hold out most hope for a physical recovery. The physical disability is the most visible symptom to the patient, their families and to other people. At present the main therapy to help with this is physiotherapy. Physiotherapy requires repeated exercise to try and improve physical function. Recent research has shown that physiotherapy is more effective in treating adult stoke ...
Source: Child Neuropsychology - May 7, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Jonathan Tags: brain injury brain training computer games neuroscience physical disability physiotherapy rehabiliatation technology Source Type: blogs
Job Gods, do you hear me?Email this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Dear Job Gods, I am counting on you with all my heart and soul to help me find an appropriate job, with great mentorship so I can expand my learning horizons, a job that will help me grow as an occupational therapist and person, and a job I will look forward to going to each day. This would most likely be in an inpatient pediatric setting, ESPECIALLY with the babies. Job Gods, I've worked extra hard these last few years to get merit-based scholarships, keep a 4.0 GPA, be in honor societies, volunteer a lot, socially network, get published, share my passion of OT with the world at large, and I like to think that means I...
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - May 7, 2009 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
Arab, Athens, Atmore, Attalla and Boaz, Alabama Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation OpportunitiesEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Arab, Athens, Atmore, Attalla and Boaz, Alabama each offer one location for drug and alcohol rehabilitation for those with substance abuse problems at various drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers. Source: Deborah AndersonPublished: May 06, 2009
Source: Most Recent Health Wellness - Associated Content - May 6, 2009 Category: Other Conditions Source Type: blogs
"Why Neuroscience Matters for a Rational Drug Policy"Email this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Recently posted to SSRN:
"Why Neuroscience Matters for a Rational Drug Policy" Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology, 2010
DAVID M. EAGLEMAN, affiliation not provided to SSRNMARK A. CORRERO, affiliation not provided to SSRN
Drug addiction reflects abnormal operation of normal neural circuitry. More than physical dependence, addiction represents changes in the brain that lead to increased craving and diminished capacity for the control of impulses. Given the growing biological understanding of addiction, it is critical for scientists to play an active role in drug policy because, as neuroscien...
Source: Neuroethics & Law Blog - May 6, 2009 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Adam Kolber Source Type: blogs
Brain plasticity principles, in the words of a leading therapistEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
I strongly encourage our readers to check out the newly published book “Move Into Life”, authored by a highly distinguished therapist (and personal friend) Anat Baniel. Anat was originally trained by Moshe Feldenkrais, who developed a novel empirical perspective about physical/cognitive/perceptual rehabilitation that is broadly consistent with the principles of brain plasticity neuroscience. She has very significantly elaborated those practices, and has gradually encorporated a richer scientific perspective into them. Anat summarizes this deeper understanding in this important book — which is full of good...
Source: On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. - May 6, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Dr. Michael Merzenich Tags: Aging and the Brain Alzheimer’s Autism Origins, Treatments Brain Fitness Brain Fitness Program Brain Plasticity Brain Science Brain Trauma, Injury Childhood Learning Cognitive Impairment in Children Cognitive impairments InSight Source Type: blogs
CMS Releases Proposed 2010 Payment Changes for Acute Care and Long-Term Care HospitalsEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a display copy of a Proposed Rule that would update the payment rates and policies for inpatient services in acute care hospitals under the Medicare inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) for fiscal year (FY) 2010. In brief, some of the IPPS highlights of the Proposed Rule include:
Market Basket Update. CMS proposes to rebase and revise the structure of the operating and capital market baskets using data from FY 2006. Using the rebased and revised market basket, CMS projects an operating market basket update of 2.1 percent for FY 2010. Howev...
Source: Medicare Update - May 6, 2009 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Authors: Michael Apolskis Source Type: blogs
Where pain management meets vocational rehabilitationEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
I had a conversation with a case manager yesterday. The pain management team had asked for the inclusion of several sessions with me to look at coping with pain at work, along with some anxiety management and some exercise extension for a chap who has been off work for about two years with chronic low back pain. The case manager seemed mystified as to why I might need to work with this man, saying ‘but we’ve already got a vocational plan in place’.
I asked about the plan they had - it involved developing a good working CV/resume, obtaining a work trial, supervising that work trial, helping him devel...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - May 5, 2009 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Cognitive behavioral therapy Coping Skills Return to Work occupational therapy pain health Chronic pain CBT pain management Clinical reasoning treatment physiotherapy psychology RTW coping strategies Source Type: blogs
Attention to pain: A neurocognitive modelEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Something that really frustrates me is the way psychology can be seen as ‘woolly’ or ’soft’ simply because the constructs being studied can’t be touched or visualised. So although I don’t think that neuroimaging represents ‘psychological’ constructs in any sort of a one-to-one sense, it is nice to be able to point to research that provides an underlying biological explanation for some of the abstract concepts that are commonly used to explain psychological aspects of the experience of pain.
While physics, mathematics and allied sciences have developed a technology to measur...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - May 4, 2009 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Chronic pain Cognitive skills psychology research health therapy biopsychosocial Motivation science Source Type: blogs
Eggs for breakfast for easier weight lossEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Do you remember those photos they used to put on cereal boxes, showing the cereal "as part of a complete breakfast." Invariably, they would include a bowl of cereal, topped with a few photogenic banana slices, a glass of milk, a glass of orange juice, and (inexplicably) a slice of toast with a pat of butter or margarine perched on top.
In the current era of carb-consciousness, few would think of this as a healthy breakfast today. Instead, eggs are back in favor, having been rehabilitated from their undeserved bad rap as artery-clogging cholesterol bombs.
The latest resea...
Source: The ND Blog: Notes from the Nutritionista by Monica Reinagel, L.D.N., C.N.S. - May 1, 2009 Category: Nutritionists and Food Scientists Authors: Monica Reinagel, M.S., LD/N Tags: Heart Health Nutrition Research Weight Loss Source Type: blogs
A New Brunswick Autism Dad's Open Letter to Dr. Susan Bryson re Nova Scotia's Immoral Autism LotteryEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
May 1, 2009Dr. Susan Bryson, PhDJoan and Jack Craig Chair in Autism Research Pediatrics, Dalhousie UniversityDear Dr. BrysonI am writing you this open letter (also posted on my blog site Facing Autism in New Brunswick) to express my concerns about Nova Scotia's lottery system of autism service delivery a system which, in my respectful opinion, is immoral. I do not believe that something of such importance to the life and well being of a child with a serious neurological disorder should depend upon a system of chance. I do not believe that such a system can be rationalized in a country like Canada which recognizes the desi...
Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - May 1, 2009 Category: Autism Authors: Autism Reality NB Tags: newtag Source Type: blogs
You May Have More Than Just An Addiction ProblemEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Depression treatment is very often a fundamental part of the drug recovery process. The reason is a simple one: Drug addiction is at root a psychological disease, and drug rehabilitation must entail meaningful psychological healing. Any drug rehab facility that fails to recognize as much does a tremendous disservice to the clients it promises to heal.
The practical implication here should be obvious. In choosing a drug rehab center, you have to find a place that incorporates depression treatment into its rehabilitation programs. The best rehab facilities are those which employ dual diagnosis techniques in evaluating their ...
Source: Cliffside Malibu - April 30, 2009 Category: Addiction Authors: christa Tags: Dual Diagnosis and Eating Disorder Treatment Source Type: blogs
CMS Proposes FY 2010 Payment and Policy Updates for Inpatient Rehabilitation FacilitiesEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
On April 29, 2009, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a display copy of a Proposed Rule that would update the Medicare payment rates and policies for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRF) for fiscal year (FY) 2010.
In the Proposed Rule, CMS proposes updates to IRF payment rates for FY 2010. In brief, CMS proposes:
A market basket update of 2.4 percent, which would increase total payments to IRFs by $140 million in FY 2010.
To update the case mix group relative weights and average length of stay values using FY 2007 data, which CMS believes reflects recent changes in IRF patient popula...
Source: Medicare Update - April 30, 2009 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Authors: Michael Apolskis Source Type: blogs
Paralysis deniers could be helped by seeing video of themselvesEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
People with limb paralysis caused by a recent stroke or brain injury often deny that they have a problem - a condition known as "anosognosia". As well as being a neurological curiosity, anosognosia has serious practical implications. Such patients often won't cooperate in rehabilitation exercises or will deny they need certain medications. Now Aikaterini Fotopoulou and colleagues think they may have stumbled on a way to ameliorate the condition.The intervention involves the patient watching a video of themselves attempting to perform a given movement instruction. Fotopoulou's team tested this on a 67-year-old women who for...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - April 30, 2009 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Digest Source Type: blogs
How To Lay The Groundwork For Successful Alcohol RehabilitationEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Alcohol recovery is impossible without alcohol detox. But that isn’t to say that just any alcohol detox program is sufficient for healing. On the contrary, only gentle alcohol detox administered by caring detox professionals can lay the groundwork for successful alcohol rehabilitation.
There are plenty of alcohol detox centers in Los Angeles. Some of them understand the importance of compassion in the healing process. Many more of them don’t. In making an alcohol detox decision, it’s vital that you be able to distinguish the former from the latter. Alcohol treatment is always a delicate undertaking. If you’re going...
Source: Cliffside Malibu - April 27, 2009 Category: Addiction Authors: christa Tags: Detox Resources for Alcohol and Drugs/Opiates Source Type: blogs
Maintain Your Brain and Stay Sharp: An Upcoming Guide and ResourceEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
You may be reading all about brain fitness and brain training. It seems every week brings a new barrage of articles and studies which often contradict what you read the month before: Does Gingko Biloba help delay Alzheimer’s Disease? Can physical exercise help you stay sharp as you age? Which computer-based “brain fitness programs”, if any, are worth your money?
All this coverage reflects very exciting scientific findings but also poses a key dilemma: How to become an informed lifelong learner and consumer when there are few and contradictory authoritative guidelines?
The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness (to be pub...
Source: SharpBrains - April 24, 2009 Category: Neurologists Authors: Alvaro Fernandez Tags: Uncategorized Cognitive Neuroscience Education Health & Wellness Brain Fitness Industry aging Alzheimer’s disease biofeedback brain exercise brain fitness programs brain fitness software brain functions brain maintenance Br Source Type: blogs
Biofeedback Helps Military Personnel Cope with WarEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
I’ve long been a believer of the benefits of biofeedback, a simple technique anybody can learn to help control their own physiological responses, such as your breathing or muscle tension. I know because I spent 3 years in graduate school heading up the biofeedback program at my graduate school, sitting in countless supervisions watching young therapists learn to effectively wield the technique to help hundreds of clients.
So it was no great surprised to read about a new study in the journal Biofeedback that describes the successes achieved in North Carolina at the Wounded Warrior Barracks, the first rehabilitation f...
Source: World of Psychology - April 24, 2009 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: John M. Grohol, Psy.D. Tags: Anxiety and Panic Brain and Behavior Depression Disorders General PTSD Research Technology Treatment Anxiety Disorders Brainwaves Combat Medic Depression Anxiety Heart Rate Variability Muscle Tension Neurofeedback Optimal P Source Type: blogs
Psych Med Polypharmacy Incapacitates Elderly ManEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
There's apparently a real trend in our land toward excessive polypharmacy in our elders and this account from Peter Gott's "Family Doctor" syndicated column provides a spooky example of the trend and the overuse of psych meds to "calm" patients. The man was 79 and was diagnosed with multisystem atrophy and also has dementia.
"He fell last May, breaking his arm and hitting his head. Within one day, he was unable to feed himself, walk or do anything. He was hospitalized for eight days and then spent two months in a rehabilitation facility. During his hospitalization, he became extremely agitated and was given Ativan. A few ...
Source: Furious Seasons - April 23, 2009 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Philip Dawdy Tags: Atypical Nation Source Type: blogs
What goes into a pain management plan?Email this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Today’s post is a practical one. The scientific evidence for interdisciplinary pain management using a cognitive behavioural approach is pretty strong now (e.g. Guzman, Esmail, Karjalainen et al. 2001; Guzman, Esmail, Karjalainen et al. 2002; van Geen, Edelaar, Janssen et al. 2007) although the components that make it effective are not yet known.
One suggestion for why these programmes work is that they help people develop a new attitude towards their pain - it’s no longer a frightening, dominating experience that controls life, rather the person becomes more aware of their options, develops a sense of optimi...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - April 22, 2009 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Chronic pain Coping Skills Resilience therapy CBT cognitive behavioural therapy coping strategies health healthcare pain management Source Type: blogs
Anecdotal EvidenceEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Gulshan Sharma and colleagues, writing in the new JAMA, tell us that the likelihood that Medicare beneficiaries -- which means approximately all people over 65 -- will see their primary care physician while they are hospitalized declined from about 44% in 1996 to 32% in 2006. The likelihood is even lower in New England -- in 2006, only 16.2% of patients were seen by any physician they had seen on an outpatient basis in the past year. (Abstract here, but you don't belong to the private club that lets you read the article.)Tell me about it. My mother recently fell and injured her back, and was hospitalized in an academic med...
Source: Stayin' Alive - April 22, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
Next Generation of Ossur Power Knee in ActionEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Ossur, a developer of prosthetic implants, announced that last week its second generation Power Knee bionic prosthesis was implanted in a patient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
The Power Knee uses sensor and actuators, coupled with artificial intelligence to better mimic natural walking with less effort by the patient.
In 2006, working in partnership with Victhom Human Bionics, Ossur introduced the POWER KNEE, representing the most advanced technology of its kind with the ability to replace lost muscle function and provide increased safety. Used mostly within the Department of Defense and the Veterans Healthcare Ad...
Source: Medgadget - April 22, 2009 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Martin Neumann Source Type: blogs
Few Luxury Drug Rehab Facilities Really Commit Themselves To Providing For Each Individual Client’s NeedsEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
All drug rehabs pay lip service to the importance of client comfort in the healing process. But only some of them actually put the principle into practice. Indeed, only a handful of luxury drug rehab facilities in Los Angeles really commit themselves to providing for each and every one of their clients’ individual needs. Given the arduous nature of the drug rehabilitation process, it should come as no surprise that these exclusive drug rehab centers are widely regarded to be the most successful in California.
Drug rehab is always hard. Those individuals who complete the process successfully are invariably the ones who ge...
Source: Cliffside Malibu - April 21, 2009 Category: Addiction Authors: christa Tags: Drug Rehab Information Source Type: blogs
Fourth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Under Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986Email this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Congratulations to my partners, Rick Jones and David Givens for successfully defending Charleston Area Medical Center, Inc. before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in the matter of Wahi v. Charleston Area Medical Center, Inc., et al., Slip Op. No. 06-2162 (4th Cir. April 10, 2009). Rick argued the case against well known lawyer, Kenneth Starr, who represented Rakesh Wahi, M.D., the appellant in the matter.Following is a summary and some of the significant points regarding the impact on peer review privileges.Wahi v. Charleston Area Medical Center, Inc., et al., Slip Op. No. 06-2162 (4th Cir. April ...
Source: Health Care Law Blog - April 21, 2009 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Authors: RCoffield at fsblaw.com Tags: HCQIA 4th Circuit Source Type: blogs
THE POLIITICAL LEFT: UNITED IN HATE WITH AMERICA'S FOESEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Cliff May reminds us that there is a reason why the political left in this country has made common cause with Militant Islamists:Ask those on the Left what values they champion, and they will say equality, tolerance, women’s rights, gay rights, workers’ rights, and human rights. Militant Islamists oppose all that, not infrequently through the application of lethal force. So how does one explain the burgeoning Left-Islamist alliance?[...]In a new book, United in Hate: The Left’s Romance with Tyranny and Terror, Jamie Glazov takes a hard look at this unholy alliance. A historian by training, Glazov is the son of dissid...
Source: Dr. Sanity - April 21, 2009 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Source Type: blogs
The walking accident zone…Email this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Luke (not his real name - you know I disguise details to protect confidentiality) is a man in his mid-20’s who is a walking accident zone. He tells me he’s broken ‘every bone’ in his body - and while it’s not exactly true, he has certainly broken a few of them! The reason he came to see me was because he has neck and shoulder pain. He describes it as burning, tingling, deep and aching pain over his neck and down the back of his arms to his elbow. Sometimes he has tingling in his fingers, and sometimes he has headaches.
The story is that he loves high risk sports - rock climbing, sky di...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - April 20, 2009 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Chronic pain Clinical reasoning Coping Skills Return to Work therapy activity biopsychosocial coping strategies health pain management rehabilitation Source Type: blogs
The Spark: A Tale of Two BallparksEmail this article to a colleague.
Save this article to My Clippings.
Discuss or comment on this article.
Fenway Park in 1914
April 20 is a momentous day for baseball history mavens. It was on this day in 1912 that two of the most perfect ballparks ever built -- Detroit's Tiger Stadium and Boston's Fenway Park -- were opened.In the almost-century since, however, the fates of those parks couldn't be more different. While Red Sox fans have filled their stadium in good times and bad (even if there were periods in the 1960s when attendance was less than 500 per game), in the late 1990s, the Red Sox' owners announced plans to tear down the park and replace it with a near-duplicate, adding such "modern" features as luxury boxes (tha...
Source: The Spark of Yahoo! - April 20, 2009 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
