Correlational study: illness representations and coping styles in caregivers for individuals with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Caring for individuals with schizophrenia can create distress for caregivers which can, in turn, have a harmful impact on patient progress. There could be a better understanding of the connections between caregivers' representations of schizophrenia and coping styles. This study aims at exploring those connections. METHODS: This correlational descriptive study was conducted with 92 caregivers of individuals suffering from schizophrenia. The participants completed three questionnaires translated and validated in French: (a) a socio-demographic questionnaire, (b) the Illness Perception Questionnaire for Schizophrenia and (c) the Family Coping Questionnaire. RESULTS: Our results show that illness representations are slightly correlated with coping styles. More specifically, emotional representations are correlated to an emotion-focused coping style centred on coercion, avoidance and resignation. CONCLUSION: Our results are coherent with the Commonsense Model of Self-Regulation of Health and Illness and should enable to develop new interventions for caregivers.

[The French version of Symptom Management Theory and its application]. / Version Française de la Théorie de Gestion des Symptômes (TGS) et son application.

Patients with chronic diseases remain a challenge for patient centered care in terms of symptom management. In advancing the nursing profession in this respect, organizing and providing such care in a structured and systematic way benefits from being grounded in a sound theoretical framework. Since 1994, University of California in San Francisco's Symptom Management Theory (SMT) holds promise to provide such theoretical foundation. This paper aims at presenting a French version of the SMT, the "théorie de gestion des symptômes (TGS)" as well as at discussing its application in research and practice. The paper illustrates how different concepts of SMT interrelate for different symptoms or symptom clusters in light of the current state of knowledge. Furthermore, a selection of symptom assessment scales available in French are presented to inform practice, education and research. We believe that providing a French version of the SMT will foster a systematic and structured development of symptom management in nursing practice and research in francophone regions or countries.

[Local resources in management of adult victims of violence and abuse: a method of presentation and diffusion]. / Ressources locales en matière de prise en charge des patients adultes victimes de violence et de maltraitance: une méthode de présentation et de diffusion.

Always more health problems require integrated care. So professionals needs to be aware of local and regional network resources (social, legal, home care, etc.) and specific offers of each individual institution. This article present a method used for creating a register of institutions involved in adults violence and elder abuse, for health professionals. Dates collected by interviewing professionals permitted to class institutions by intervention domain and offer. Five utility indicators (POUCE method) were selected for the register. A score has been attributed to each institution according to their problematic-related offers. Professional in charge of each institution validated information. This map, available in paper or CDrom, affords general practitioneer a quick and targeted access to a large number of dates, according to patient needs. This method could be useful for other health problems requiring exhaustive and targeted information about local and regional community resources (alcoholism, addiction, palliatives care, etc.)