Developing Evidence for Football (Soccer) Reminiscence Interventions Within Long-term Care: A Co-operative Approach Applied in Scotland and Spain.

Loneliness is a common experience within long-term care and, to promote well-being and quality of life among people with dementia, it is important to draw upon a repertoire of strategies that provide social stimulation, companionship, and enjoyment. This paper describes and reflects on a program of co-operative social participatory research that sought to introduce football-focused (ie, soccer-based) reminiscence based in 4 community settings within Spain and Scotland. Findings are reported and inform an original conceptual model that supports the introduction of sustainable approaches to the development of football-focused reminiscence with and for people with dementia.

The therapeutic use of doll therapy in dementia.

Over the next 15 years, the number of people with dementia in the UK will increase significantly. There are clear limitations associated with the sole use of pharmacological interventions to address the cognitive decline and related problems that people with dementia and their carers will experience. As a result, health professionals, including nurses, need to consider the development and use of nonpharmacological therapies to help resolve the distress and decline in social function that people with dementia can experience. The use of doll therapy in dementia care appears to be increasing, even though there is limited empirical evidence to support its use and therapeutic effectiveness. It is suggested by advocates of doll therapy that its use can alleviate distress and promote comfort in some people with dementia. Despite these encouraging claims, the theoretical basis for the use of doll therapy in dementia is poorly understood and morally questionable. The purpose of this article is to provide healthcare professionals with a succinct overview of the theory behind the therapeutic use of dolls for people with dementia, a presentation and appraisal of the available empirical evidence and an appreciation of the potential ethical dilemmas that are involved.

Expectations and voluntary attrition in nursing students.

This paper presents a series of findings generated during a larger study which aimed to develop a theoretical understanding of the reasons why nursing students voluntarily leave pre-registration nursing programmes. In this study, significant incongruence was found to exist between student expectations of pre-registration nursing programmes and the reality of these programmes following entry. The resulting dissonance was identified as an important factor in student decisions to voluntarily withdraw. A single case study design was selected to explore the causes of voluntary attrition in nursing students within a School of Nursing and Midwifery. The study population was obtained through purposeful sampling and consisted of 15 students who had previously voluntarily withdrawn from pre-registration nursing programmes. A semi-structured interview method was used to collect data from study participants. The interview schedule developed for use in the study reflected the key components of the conceptual model of higher education (HE) student attrition (Tinto, 1975, 1987, 1993). All interviews were tape recorded to facilitate later transcription. The Cyclical or Interactive Model of Qualitative Research (Miles and Huberman, 1994) was used to analyse data collected from study participants. This paper describes the unrealistic range of expectations which nursing students have of nursing, the information sources and experiences which inform student expectations and how ambiguous expectations contributed to voluntarily attrition.

Graduate-only pre-registration mental health nursing programmes.

This article examines the perceived benefits of graduate-only pre-registration programmes in mental health nursing, and the potential social aspiration and attrition problems that may result. A number of strategies are identified to assist student integration into higher education and minimise any increase in attrition rates.

The emotional impact of nursing student attrition rates.

Nursing student attrition continues to attract political, organizational and social interest for a number of reasons including: persistent nursing shortages, the age profile of the current nursing population and the economic cost of attrition. While attrition in nursing students is not a new phenomenon, it is surprising that this issue has attracted such little research attention obtained from students who persist, rather than the experiences of students who have withdrawn from pre-registration nursing courses. The emotional impact on students who decide to voluntarily leave has attracted limited theoretical analysis, so a single case study design was selected to help explain the causes of voluntary attrition in nursing students within a School of Nursing and Midwifery. A semi-structured interview method was used to collect data from study participants. The study population was obtained through purposeful sampling and consisted of 15 students who had previously voluntarily withdrawn from pre-registration nursing programmes. The articles describes the range of emotions which many students experienced and the process of gradual disengagement which may precede student decisions to formally withdraw.

Natural progression of an unresected supratentorial ependymoma.

Ependymomas are rare gliomas that have been associated with a poor outcome despite aggressive therapy including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. We present a case report of a 16-year-old male with an untreated supratentorial ependymoma that lay dormant for 15 years without significant morbidity. Supratentorial ependymomas are thought to have a better outcome than infratentorial ependymomas, primarily because of the increased likelihood of achieving a gross total resection in the supratentorial space. Our case report suggests that the improved outcome may be due in part to the biologically benign nature of some supratentorial ependymomas. This highly unusual case illustrates the unpredictable heterogeneity of pediatric ependymomas.