Introducing material-discursive approaches to health and illness
Lucy Yardley in Material discourses of health and illness, 2013
An understanding of the intrinsic meaning of the symbiotic relationship between self and environment also underpins the ‘ecological psychology’ of James Gibson (1966, 1986), and in particular his concept of an ‘affordance’, a term he used to designate the ecological properties of things and events. These ecological properties are created by the relationship between active beings and their environment, and so cannot be reduced either to objective physical attributes or to subjective intentions or beliefs.5 For example, water ‘affords’ drink to a thirsty mammal, respiration to a fish, buoyant support to a competent swimmer, but immersion and death to a non-swimmer. An ecological analysis not only emphasises that many properties commonly attributed to the individual or environment actually exist at the interface between the individual and their environment, but also reveals how mutable this interface can be. For example, physical disability may be seen by observers as a stable personal performance deficit (e.g. a limited capacity for walking), but for the individual concerned it is experienced equally as a characteristic of specific physical circumstances (e.g. the need to traverse long distances or climb stairs). Moreover, the disability may vanish once either element of the person-environment interface has been appropriately modified, whether the mobility of the individual is extended by a motorised wheelchair, or the accessibility of a building is enhanced by the provision of ramps and lifts.
The Sexual Victimization of Patients with Functional Somatic Syndromes
Peter Manu in The Psychopathology of Functional Somatic Syndromes, 2020
Compared with nonabused subjects, fibromyalgia patients with a history of sexual or physical abuse reported significantly higher levels of daily stress (p = 0.001), fatigue (p = 0.004), and pain (p = 0.02). They also felt that the impact of their sickness had produced substantial psychosocial disability. In contrast, the perception of the severity of physical disability was similar in the two groups. Although pain thresholds were similar in the two groups, significant differences were noted with respect to pain perception. The abused group were much more likely to judge the experimental stimuli as painful regardless of the anatomical site (tender point versus control point) and dolorimetric pressure (mild versus moderate). Coping strategies (i.e., increasing pain behaviors, catastrophizing, and praying and hoping) and pain beliefs were similar in the two groups. The authors felt that “the willingness to consistently report pain is a modifiable behavior that is determined primarily by the large number of psychiatric disorders and high levels of stress” (Alexander et al., 1998, p. 112) associated with a history of sexual and physical abuse.
Activity, Social Role Retention, and the Multiply Disabled Aged
Diane Gibson in Evaluation and Treatment of the Psychogeriatric Patient, 2013
Just as a physical disability imposes limitations on the individual’s ability to pursue desired life activities, so does a cognitive disability. A cognitive disability presents different challenges to the adaptation of activities because the limitations that must be compensated for involve the thought patterns that are prerequisite to participation in normal life activities (Allen, 1985; Levy, 1986). Similar to activity analysis in light of physical disabilities, activity analysis here is used to determine which components in the desired activity the individual can and cannot do, and activities are adapted to maximize use of carefully assessed capabilities and to compensate for limitations. Given the nature of limitations imposed by a cognitive disability, however, therapists place particular emphasis on the “results” level of activity analysis, in contrast to emphasis placed on the “operations” level for the physically disabled.
Electrical support during outdoor cycling in patients with coronary artery disease: impact on exercise intensity, volume and perception of effort
Published in Acta Cardiologica, 2018
Dominique Hansen, An Soors, Valerie Deluyker, Ines Frederix, Paul Dendale
This study (ISRCTN registry: ISRCTN32238279) was a mono-centre, prospective, randomised cross-over clinical trial, run at Jessa Hospital (n = 15) in Hasselt, Belgium between November 2014 and May 2015 (Figure 1). Patients aged between 50 and 75 years were eligible for participation when they had recently successfully completed phase II cardiac rehabilitation for CAD and treated medically, with a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or with coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The main exclusion criteria were (i) symptomatic and/or exercise induced cardiac arrhythmias within the previous six months, (ii) physical disability related to musculoskeletal or neurological problems, (iii) severe pulmonary co-morbidity (COPD GOLD III–IV), (iv) chronic kidney disease stage IV–V (GFR: <30 ml•min−1•1.73 m−1) and (v) patients with a pacemaker, internal cardioverter defibrillator and/or cardiac resynchronisation therapy device. All patients provided written informed consent, after the nature and possible consequences of the study were explained, prior to study enrolment. The study was conducted in accordance with the principles stated in the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association, local and national regulations. The study protocol was approved by the medical ethical committee of Jessa Hospital and Hasselt University.
Participation profiles in domestic life and peer relations as experienced by adolescents with and without impairments and long-term health conditions
Published in Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 2019
Frida Lygnegård, Lena Almqvist, Mats Granlund, Karina Huus
Cluster 5 is the smallest cluster in terms of sample size and the cluster with the largest proportion of boys (significantly fewer girls, 28%, than boys, 72%). This cluster had the second highest proportion of members with physical disabilities among the clusters. King et al.24 found gender differences in a study on comparisons of recreational leisure activities for children with and without disabilities. Results demonstrated that boys participated more in physical activities than girls, whereas girls took part more in activities based on social skills and enjoyed these more than boys. McDougall et al50 found that children with chronic physical health conditions experience activity limitations restricting their participation. They also found, in another study, that boys and girls with physical disabilities participate in activities that differ from those of their typically developing peers.51 This would then be in accordance with the present study’s findings that having a physical disability may lead to restrictions on participating in activities in domestic life as well as in interacting with peers.
Daily activity and functional performance in people with chronic disease: A cross-sectional study
Published in Cogent Medicine, 2020
Erhard Næss-Schmidt, Asger Pedersen, David Christiansen, Nils-bo Andersen, John Brincks, Bernd Grimm, Jørgen Nielsen, Inger Mechlenburg
Patients are referred to the Danish free of charge physiotherapy settlement by their general practitioner or a medical specialist. The specific criteria for receiving treatment or training in the settlement include (i) having one of the 43 diagnoses defined by the Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrrelsen, 2019), (ii) having a severe physical disability, defined as “a person who cannot manage her- or himself indoors for 24 h without help or aids for daily personal living”, and iii) having a prognosis that the disease will last more than 5 years. Furthermore, patients with a progressive disease, defined as “an abnormal function of the sensor-motoric system or nervous system”, are eligible to receive training in a team-based approach. The latter group covers patients with less severity.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Activities of Daily Living
- Disability
- Perinatal Asphyxia
- Respiratory Disease
- Sleep Disorder
- Visual Impairment
- Epilepsy
- Pregnancy
- Fine Motor Skill
- Activities of Daily Living
- Genetic Disorder