Catatonia is a psychomotor syndrome which has historically been associated with schizophrenia. Many clinicians have thought that the prevalence of this condition has been decreasing over the past few decades. This review reminds clinicians that catatonia is not exclusively associated with schizophrenia, and is still common in clinical practice. Many cases are related to affective disorders or are of an idiopathic nature. The illusion of reduced prevalence has been due to evolving diagnostic systems that failed to capture catatonic syndromes. This systemic error has remained unchallenged, and potentiated by the failure to perform adequate neurological evaluations and catatonia screening exams on psychiatric patients. We find that current data supports catatonic syndromes are still common, often severe and of modern clinical importance. Effective treatment is relatively easy and can greatly reduce organ failure associated with prolonged psychomotor symptoms. Prompt identification and treatment can produce a robust improvement in most cases. The ongoing prevalence of this syndrome requires that psychiatrists recognize catatonia and its presentations, the range of associated etiologies, and the import of timely treatment.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic has posed unprecedented challenges for nurse faculty. The purpose of this article is to describe a model for the integration of HIV/AIDS content into health professions' curricula over time, specifically into baccalaureate nursing programs. The model was developed through nurse faculty experience with a professional AIDS education project over five years, with over 16,000 trainees. The model includes three stages: the imported guest speaker, mainstreaming, and integration. In the last stage, it is noted that HIV/AIDS serves as a vehicle for curricular development that prepares nurses to meet care problems beyond those limited to HIV. It is hoped that this model will be useful for nurse educators now facing the complexities of curriculum development necessary in response to HIV/AIDS.
Fear o f HIV contagion may be a problem among health care providers, including mental health workers. The grounded theory method o f analytic induction has generated a four-stage model to explain how clin icians manage the threat o f HIV exposure. Understanding this process, called Finding a Comfort Zone, may help mental health workers monitor their reactivity in HIV care and encourage others to take more active roles in the HIV epidemic.HIV presents unprecedented challenges to the health and mental health care community, not the least of which is fear of susceptibility to an infec tious and life-threatening disease. HIV/AIDS has followed the social history of other sexually-transmitted diseases by igniting exaggerated fears of casu al transmission and virulent contagiousness (Brandt, 1985), and fear of HIV is a well-documented, significant problem for health care workers (Gerbert, Maguire, Badner, Altman, & Stone, 1989), including mental health workers (Brown, Etemad, Brenman, & Durght, 1991). In order to mitigate the adverse effects it has on health care workers and those they care for, suc cessful models of managing the threat of occupational exposure to HIV infection are needed. The goal of the present study was to identify, describe, and provide a theoretical analysis of strategies used by providers to success fully handle, or cope with, the threat of HIV exposure in clinical care. The research questions were: 1) How do providers manage the threat of occupa tional HIV infection? 2) What specific strategies are used? 3) What factors, conditions, and changes over time are associated with this behavior? The process that was discovered, called Finding a Comfort Zone, may be useful in preparing providers for clinical service and confident role-taking in the HIV epidemic. This model for mental health clinicians can be used in thera py, consultation/liaison work, and continuing education programs aimed at managing the threat of HIV. DESIGN AND METHODSThe management of fear of HIV contagion by providers was addressed by a technique of analytic induction known as the grounded theory method designed to reveal patterns of human behavior used to solve complex prob This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
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