ABSTRACT
The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of young persons using their hemiplegic hand in daily life activities following upper extremity surgery (UES). Ten persons, aged 12-24 years, were interviewed individually five to seven years after surgery. The analysis was guided by a comparative method. The findings show that the participants during this period had experienced changes which they related both to the treatment and to development. Data resolved into three main themes. Functional improvements are interwoven into daily life, the hand is easier to use and is used more, and changes in the appearance and in the internal feeling of the arm are of importance. This study reflects the patients' experiences of living with the outcome of UES and yields an important complement to objective, quantitative outcome studies.
Subject(s)
Cerebral Palsy/physiopathology , Hand/physiopathology , Hemiplegia/surgery , Outcome Assessment, Health Care , Upper Extremity/surgery , Activities of Daily Living , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Esthetics , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Hand/surgery , Hand Strength/physiology , Hemiplegia/physiopathology , Humans , Male , Patient Satisfaction , Upper Extremity/physiopathologyABSTRACT
This article presents the results from a longitudinal study of retirement. Data were collected through interviews with 12 Swedish participants over a 7-year period, beginning when they were still working and continuing through their early years of retirement. The findings show that the participants' narrative anticipations of retirement interacted with the events of ongoing life. Sometimes these events influenced the outcomes of the retirement process unpredictably. Consequently, retirement was often full of surprises and temporary periods of turbulence. Although some participants managed a transition into a satisfying pattern of retirement, others found it an ongoing process of frustration and dissatisfaction. Evidence from this longitudinal study indicates that a special type of occupation--engaging occupation with six constituents--was an important determinant of retirement satisfaction. This key finding is discussed with regard to its implications for theory development as well as its practical implications related to the importance of differentiating occupations and attending to the interaction between internal motivation and external expectations in the occupational pattern.
Subject(s)
Retirement , Aged , Female , Humans , Longitudinal Studies , Male , Middle Aged , Retirement/psychology , Social Adjustment , SwedenABSTRACT
This paper presents results from the second phase of a longitudinal study of retirement. Data were gathered through interviews with 29 participants (65 to 66 years of age) who had previously been interviewed when they were 63 to 64 years of age and still working. Data were analyzed by characterizing each subject's narrative about retirement in terms of its narrative slope--progressive, stability, or regressive. These current narratives also were compared with the earlier narratives these participants told. It was found that, while anticipatory narratives may predispose persons toward action, they are not so much a fixed "script for action" as an orientation to act within circumstances. While participants' narratives anticipating retirement often turned out as expected, they were sometimes reshaped as a consequence of personal action, external events, and unexpected experiences within new retirement occupations. The study suggests that, while narratives play a role in shaping the direction of persons lives, they also interweave with and change directions as a result of ongoing life events and experiences.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Aged/psychology , Attitude , Life Change Events , Personal Satisfaction , Retirement/psychology , Activities of Daily Living , Female , Humans , Interpersonal Relations , Leisure Activities/psychology , Longitudinal Studies , Male , Occupational Therapy , Occupations/statistics & numerical data , Social Isolation , Surveys and Questionnaires , Sweden , Work/psychologySubject(s)
Activities of Daily Living/psychology , Alzheimer Disease/therapy , Behavior Therapy/methods , Dementia/therapy , Aged , Alzheimer Disease/psychology , Caregivers/education , Caregivers/psychology , Dementia/psychology , Geriatric Assessment , Humans , Quality of Life , Social Environment , Social SupportABSTRACT
The generalizability of the results from a case study on the effects of an imagery mnemonic on face-name recall in dementia was examined (Hill, Evankovich, Sheikh, & Yesavage, 1987). Seven patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 1 patient with multi-infarct dementia (MID) were trained by using the method devised by Hill et al. Application of the mnemonic increased the time during which face-name associations could be held in memory for 1 AD patient, and this improvement was maintained in a 1-month follow-up assessment. However, no training gains were observed for the remaining 7 patients, thus questioning the generalizability of this method in enhancing memory in dementia.
Subject(s)
Alzheimer Disease/psychology , Dementia, Multi-Infarct/psychology , Generalization, Psychological , Imagination , Mental Recall , Paired-Associate Learning , Retention, Psychology , Verbal Learning , Aged , Face , Female , Form Perception , Humans , Male , Names , Neuropsychological TestsABSTRACT
The human interferon-alpha 2 subvariants 2a, 2b and 2c differ by only one or two amino acids at positions 23 and/or 34 of the mature protein. In this study, the coding regions of the three interferon-alpha 2 subvariants were derived from the cDNA of interferon-alpha 2c by site-directed in vitro mutagenesis. The interferon-alpha subvariants were synthesized using the same Escherichia coli strain for production and were subsequently purified. Comparative studies revealed that they differ significantly in their biological and antigenic properties. Therefore, amino acid positions 23 and 34 seem to be crucial for structure/function of human interferon-alpha. Furthermore, the study points to the importance of defining, whether such minor structural variants of naturally occurring polypeptides represent functional variants.
