Nutrition counseling and monitoring via tele-nutrition for healthy diet for people with spinal cord injury: A case series analyses.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of a tele-nutrition counseling program on diet quality, weight, waist circumference, and quality of life in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN: Prospective observational study. PARTICIPANTS: Fifteen participants with SCI were enrolled from an acute inpatient rehabilitation unit and outpatient SCI clinic; ten participants completed the intervention. INTERVENTIONS: Six tele-nutrition counseling sessions over 3 months, utilizing videoconferencing and a photographic food diary. OUTCOME MEASURES: Weight, waist circumference, Life Satisfaction Index A (LSIA), Knowledge and Nutrition Evaluation with Supplement on Eating Behavior, and Program Satisfaction Survey (PSS). RESULTS: Ten participants completed both baseline and 3-month follow-up evaluations and were used in this analysis. There were no statistically significant changes from baseline to 3-month follow up in weight, waist circumference, Knowledge and Nutrition Evaluation, and LSIA (P > .48). Using the Supplement on Eating Behavior total score to measure overall changes in healthy food choices, 9 out of 10 participants rated their healthy food choices as improving (P = .008). A post-hoc exploratory itemized analysis on the Supplement on Eating Behavior revealed significant improvements from baseline to 3-month follow-up in participant's self-reported choice of balanced meals (P = .008), reading food labels (P = .031), logging meals (P = .007), and monitoring portions of eating favorite foods (P = .031). Participants endorsed a 97-100% satisfaction rating in relation to perceived health benefits, equipment, and program satisfaction. CONCLUSION: This study provides preliminary data suggesting that tele-nutrition is an efficacious intervention that may improve diet quality for individuals with SCI.

Live-case demonstrations: putting patients first.

Live-case demonstrations have become essential teaching tools. Debate about their added educational value and risk-benefit considerations vis-à-vis patient safety demand that major interventional cardiology meetings offering live-case demonstrations carefully define and monitor the objectives and quality of the cases included at their meetings. To this end, Europa Organisation, the content-providing group that supports EuroPCR and other PCR conferences internationally, has convened the PCR VITAL-Live Workshop, bringing together senior interventional cardiologists and experienced live-case operators with the aim of defining and reviewing the key components and goals of valuable live-case demonstrations. The Vital-Live participants unanimously agreed that live cases provide an educational experience with an immediacy and intensity that is unmatched by taped cases, through audience engagement with unfiltered reality and participation in real-time decision-making. Best practices regarding case selection, preparation, objectives, delivery, and discussion of the demonstrations were designed to ensure that the lessons learned would be clear and implementable by audience members, leading to improved patient care and safety in their own practices. Today's on-line accessibility of live-cases underscores the need for operators, hospitals, panels, and meeting chairs to insure that the content, quality, and intent anticipate any public scrutiny. This requires putting patient outcomes first, both at the level of the live demonstration itself and its broader educational worth.

[Cardiology online: impact and pitfalls of Internet medical news]. / Cardiologia online: importanza ed insidie dell'informazione medica su Internet.

Twenty years ago, the main sources for physicians seeking information on new procedures, drugs, or devices were meetings and medical journals. The dawn of the Internet radically transformed how news and information is delivered and absorbed, beginning with the launch of online journals back in the mid-1990s. A decade and a half later, physicians can learn about new innovations the moment they are made public, and they can get that news from their phones and tablets, their Twitter or Facebook accounts, or via their favorite blog or medical news web site. Along with the clear advantages of accessing new medical information any time of day comes the need for physicians to be aware of the pitfalls of online medical content and to have a heightened sense of responsibility when it comes to integrating information gleaned online into their medical practices.