The findings heighten the awareness in healthcare professionals that play is a very important part of children's life and that they need play even when they are ill.

The integrated adventure-based training and health education program was found to be

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Epidemics have the potential to severely strain intensive care resources and may require an increase in intensive care capability. Few intensivists have direct experience of rapidly expanding intensive care services in response to an epidemic. This contribution presents the recommendations of an expert group from Hong Kong and Singapore who had direct experience of expanding intensive care services in response to the epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome. These recommendations cover training, infection control, staffing, communication and ethical issues. The issue of what equipment to purchase is not addressed. Early preparations should include fit testing of negative pressure respirators, training of reserve staff, sourcing of material for physical modifications to the ICU, development of infection control policies and training programmes, and discussion of triage and quarantine issues.

BackgroundHospitalization is a stressful and threatening experience, which can be emotionally devastating to children. Hospital play interventions have been widely used to prepare children for invasive medical procedures and hospitalization. Nevertheless, there is an imperative need for rigorous empirical scrutiny of the effectiveness of hospital play interventions, in particular, using play activities to ease the psychological burden of hospitalized children. This study tested the effectiveness of play interventions to reduce anxiety and negative emotions in hospitalized children.MethodsA non-equivalent control group pre-test and post-test, between subjects design was conducted in the two largest acute-care public hospitals in Hong Kong. A total of 304 Chinese children (ages 3-12) admitted for treatments in these two hospitals were invited to participate in the study. Of the 304 paediatric patients, 154 received hospital play interventions and 150 received usual care.ResultsChildren who received the hospital play interventions exhibited fewer negative emotions and experienced lower levels of anxiety than those children who received usual care.ConclusionThis study addressed a gap in the literature by providing empirical evidence to support the effectiveness of play interventions in reducing anxiety and negative emotions in hospitalized children. Findings from this study emphasize the significance of incorporating hospital play interventions to provide holistic and quality care to ease the psychological burden of hospitalized children.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT02665403. Registered 22 January 2016.

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The aim of the study was to examine the effects of a brief stage-matched smoking cessation intervention group compared with a control group (with usual care) in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients who smoked by randomized controlled trial. There were 557 patients, randomized either into the intervention group (n = 283) who received brief (20- minute) individualized face-to-face counseling by trained nurses and a diabetes mellitus-specific leaflet, or a control group (n = 274) who received standard care. Patient follow-ups were at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months via telephone, and assessment of smoking status from 2012 to 2014. Patients smoked an average of 14 cigarettes per day for more than 37 years, and more than 70% were in the precontemplation stage of quitting. The primary outcome showed that both the intervention and control groups had similar 7-day point-prevalence smoking abstinence (9.2% vs. 13.9%; p = 0.08). The secondary outcome showed that HbA1c levels with 7.95% [63 mmol/mol] vs. 8.05% [64 mmol/mol], p = 0.49 at 12 months, respectively. There was no evidence for effectiveness in promoting the brief stage-matched smoking cessation or improving glycemic control in smokers with type 2 diabetes mellitus, particularly those in the pre-contemplation stage.

BackgroundPreoperative education may help participants to psychologically prepare themselves for surgery, but the outcomes of such preparation have rarely been assessed in patients requiring postoperative care in the intensive care unit (ICU) as well as in family members.ObjectiveTo assess the effect of a preoperative multifaceted education intervention on patient and family satisfaction levels in the ICU and measures of perioperative patients’ anxiety and depression.Trial designSingle-centre, two-armed, parallel, superiority, randomised controlled trial. Healthcare professionals in ICU and outcome assessor were blinded to treatment allocation.Participants100 elective coronary artery bypass grafting±valve surgery patients and their family members.InterventionsPreoperative education comprising of a video and ICU tour in addition to standard care (treatment), versus standard care (control).OutcomesPatient and family satisfaction levels with ICU using validated PS-ICU23 and FS-ICU24 questionnaires (0–100), respectively; change in perioperative anxiety and depression scores between 1 day presurgery and 3 days postsurgery.ResultsAmong 100 (50 treatment, 50 control) patients and 98 (49 treatment, 49 control) family members, 94 (48 treatment, 46 control) patients and 94 (47 treatment, 47 control) family members completed the trial. Preoperative education was associated with higher overall patient (mean difference (MD) 6.7, 95% CI 0.2 to 13.2) and family (MD 10.0, 95% CI 3.8 to 16.3) satisfaction scores. There was a weak association between preoperative education and a reduction in patient’s anxiety scores over time (MD −1.7, 95% CI −3.5 to 0.0). However, there was no evidence of a treatment effect on patient’s depression scores over time (MD −0.6, 95% CI −2.3 to 1.2).ConclusionProviding comprehensive preoperative information about ICU to elective cardiac surgical patients improved patient and family satisfaction levels and may decrease patients’ anxiety levels.Trial registration numberChiCTR-IOR-15006971.