The Health Care Needs of the Physically Disabled Patient in a Home-Based Care Environment: Implications for the Training of Ancillary Health Care Workers

According to existing literature; ancillary health care workers (AHCWs) often do not meet the health care needs of patients with physical disabilities (physically disabled patients) in a home-based environment; because of inadequate training programmes. The purpose of this research study was to explore the health care needs of physically disabled patients in long-term; home-based care in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg and; based on results; to offer recommendations for the training of AHCWs. Qualitative; exploratory; descriptive and contextual means were employed in data collection and analysis. The population consisted of eight physically disabled participants who employed an AHCW to assist them with their long-term home care. Purposive sampling was used with subsequent snowballing to identify further participants for the study. Individual interviews were conducted; where participants had to answer the questions (1)'What are your health care needs?' and (2) 'How should these be met?' Data saturation was ensured; after which Tesch's method of data analysis was followed. Three categories of health care needs were identified (1) physical health care needs; (2) interpersonal relationship needs and (3) social needs; and 12 themes were derived from these categories. These categories of health care needs should be addressed in the training of AHCWs. From the themes; recommendations were described for the training of AHCWs on the health care needs of the home-based physically disabled patients. The AHCW should assist in the adaptation of the environment to the patient's individual needs; and should use knowledge and critical thinking skills to ensure a patient-centred care setting

Macroinvertebrados bentónicos del humedal de Palo Verde, Costa Rica / Benthic macroinvertebrates of the Palo Verde wetland, Costa Rica

Benthic macroinvertebrates of the Palo Verde wetland, Costa Rica. Palo Verde, Costa Rica, is one of the most important wetlands in the region now recovering from some invasive plants, especially Typha domingensis, and monitoring programs were started, including studies on the aquatic macoinvertebrate fauna. We sampled benthic macroinvertebrates monthly for more than a year with artificial substrates, and identified 116 taxa from 57 families and 18 orders, with 90 morfospecies of insects. The highest abundances were in the class Conchostraca (typical in seasonal wetlands) and in the family Chironomidae (Diptera, Insecta), which together represent almost half of all individuals collected. In contrast, 97 taxa were less than 1% of total abundance each. Number of individuals and number of species were higher at lower water levels (dry season). Cumulative species curves indicate that more species would be found if sampling had continued for more time. Rev. Biol. Trop. 57 (Suppl. 1): 275-284. Epub 2009 November 30.

El humedal de Palo Verde es uno de los más importantes de Centro America para aves acuáticas. Durante el período 2002 y 2005, se llevaron a cabo actividades de manejo para controlar la invasión de Typha domingensis. Con el fin de establecer una línea base para monitoreos futuros, en el 2003 se realizó una evaluación de macroinvertebrados acuáticos. Se efectuó un muestreo mensual durante un año, usando el método de sustratos artificiales. Se identificaron 116 táxones pertenecientes a 47 familias y a 18 órdenes. La mayor abundancia se encontró en la clase Conchostraca y la familia Chironomidae que juntas representaron casi la mitad de todos los individuos colectados. En contraste, el 97% de los táxones tuvieron, cada uno, menos del 1% del total de la abundancia. La diversidad de táxones, así como la abundancia de individuos y el número de especies, fueron mayores en la época seca que en la lluviosa. La curva acumulada de especies indicó que se hubiera registrado una mayor cantidad de táxones si los muestreos se hubieran extendido por más tiempo. Con este trabajo damos a conocer la primera lista de macroinvertebrados para el humedal de Palo Verde.