Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is today the fourth most frequent diagnosis issued within psychiatry. OCD can be quite incapacitating for the affected person and often becomes chronic. The purpose of the present study has been to help illuminate the character of the quality of life among the members of the Danish OCD Association. The data was compiled from 406 questionnaires sent out to all those members of the Danish OCD Association who had reported to suffer from OCD. The level of response was 54.4%. Persons with OCD signalled striking influences on their academic, occupational and social functions and thereby a corresponding influence on their quality of life in general. Emerging were significant levels of comorbidity and suicidal tendency. The time interval between symptom onset and the establishment of a correct diagnosis was found to be 13 years in average in this study. There appeared to be a marked tardiness in treatment as a consequence of the latency period between onset of symptoms and the establishment of a diagnosis. This has proven to be of importance in relation to the provision of proper treatment, the developmental course of the OCD condition, and not least in the quality of life for the person with OCD as well as his/her family members.
In 2007, the German health-care system was once again subject to reform. Demographic changes and a rising demand for health-care services on the one hand and technological progress with increased medical-technological possibilities on the other lead to questions about organising and financing health care. Moreover, with the German health care being a mixture of a public insurance systems and private insurances, the extent, quality and equality of access is constantly under debate. In an empirical study, 1 604 patients were asked about their satisfaction with medical services and their insurance as well as their views on the recent reform. 90 physicians were questioned about their job satisfaction and their views on the health care system and the recent reform. Patients, irrespective of their type of insurance, on average were very satisfied with the physicians' services. Privately insured patients on average were more satisfied with their insurance than publicly insured. Patients were not well informed about the reform. Physicians' job satisfaction was markedly lower, they anticipate problems with health-care provision and they judge the health-care reform as inappropriate. Thus, patients on average are very satisfied with medical services, physicians on average are not satisfied with their situation, and the health-care reform is not perceived as a great success.
Introduction: To offer citizens with frailty or dementia living in nursing homes or other institutions a less stressful and anxious X-ray examination, a Danish hospital offers to perform the examination in the citizen's residence. This has changed the working procedure for the radiographers performing the examination. The aim of this study was to explore if the radiographers self-perceived competencies have changed whilst working in the mobile X-ray unit and if so, how these competencies are utilised within the department-based medical imaging team. Method: This study had a qualitative design following a hermeneutic approach. Individual semi structured interviews included nine radiographers, four radiographers working in the mobile X-ray unit and five radiographers working exclusively in the medical imaging team. Results: Radiographers who worked in the mobile X-ray unit did acquire new competencies such as better communication and creative positioning skills. All nine participants recognised the advantage of sharing experiences and competencies with colleagues, and recommended a formal forum to do so. They sought opportunities for the use of the mobile X-ray unit to be more widespread within their own region, and within the profession.
Conclusion:This study indicates that radiographers working with mobile X-ray unit gained new competencies in communication and positioning, but without spread of new knowledge to colleagues in the medical imaging team. Implication for practice: The use of home-based mobile X-ray is a new way to provide health care services and gain new competencies for the radiographers to focus on patient centred care.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.