Editorial

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Emotional and social competencies are important skills to cultivate in developing leaders. This study examined pre-post findings from the Hay Group Emotional and Social Competence Inventory among 18 undergraduate students enrolled in a leadership programme while they concurrently completed their traditional academic courses. Correlations and paired t-tests were conducted using Statistical Package of Social Sciences 20.0 for data analysis. Statistical significance was found in students’ self-assessed functional behaviour in a number of competencies - emotional self-awareness, positive outlook, empathy, organisational awareness, coach and mentor, systems thinking, and pattern recognition. Pedagogical strategies that intentionally focus on development of emotional and social competencies aid in students’ abilities to understand, internalise, and make use of skills essential to a variety of leadership roles, specifically, how they are able to relate effectively with others. Graduating students who are better prepared to serve in leadership roles - on teams and in the community are an investment in the future of healthcare.</abstract>

Faculty Integration and Evaluation of Community Programs

Strengthening emotional and social competence: undergraduate health professions students / Stärkung emotionaler und sozialer Kompetenzen bei Bachelorstudierenden in Gesundheitsberufen

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> In Germany 1,76 million people are in need of care to live at home. Most of them (1,18 mill.) receive that care from members of their own families. German informal caregiver training programs are paid for by the compulsory long term care insurance. Nevertheless there are only very few published national curricula or evaluations of training courses. Therefore we reviewed international evaluations of group support programs for informal caregivers. Electronic databases (Medline and Cinahl) were searched for controlled trials, published in English, German or French from 2000- 2013 inclusive. The authors of this review located and scored 15 studies according to set criteria. There are five studies with more than 200 probands. These studies indicate improvement in the areas of satisfaction from the work, quality of life and level of stress. Nevertheless the admissions for nursing homes increased in one of them.Other studies show some significant findings that could improve the mood of depression, the quality of life, empowerment and the response to behavioral disorders of their family members. It is not always possible to ascertain the indirect effects on strain, distress or social support. As the researchers used different assessments, it is not possible to combine the results of the studies. We lack widely accepted sensitive assessment instruments and assessments, which target the contents of the courses. The studies show how caregiver training programs can be combined with other support offers.</abstract>

Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg

Medizinische Fakultät/Institut für Gesundheitsund Pflegewissenschaft

Medizinische Fakultät, Institut für Gesundheits- und Pflegewissenschaft

Institut für Supervision Institutionsanalyse und Sozialforschung

Characteristics and effectiveness of group support programs for informal caregivers - a systematic review / Design und Erfolg von Gruppenschulungen für pflegende Angehörige – eine systematische Übersichtsarbeit

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Background: Early specialised care is important for those with mental health problems to prevent e.g. chronic progression. Targeted professionally initiated intervention to stabilise mental health status is only possible if affected individuals actively seek support. The reasons for inadequate use of qualified services have not been sufficiently investigated from the perspectives of those affected. There is only limited insight into the help-seeking behaviour of those with mental health issues. Aim: This study sheds light on the ‘experience’ of help-seeking to time of first contact with a psychiatric institution. It specifically concentrates on the perspective of those affected and their subjective problems. Method: Using a qualitative-inductive design, patients at a crisis centre were retrospectively interviewed using a guideline-supported approach. Interview results were analysed using Saldaña (2013) opening coding (two circles). Results: The patients’ experience can be categorised as ‘real’ problems as the cause, exacerbated mental health problems and utilising mental health services. Help-seeking is determined by the need to manage causal, ‘real’ (everyday, social) problems. Many mental health problem have long not been recognised as such, and thus help-seeking is initially focussed on ‘real’ problems. At all levels of help-seeking, from recognition of a mental health Problem to overcoming barriers preventing use of specialised help, affected persons require the support of third parties. Conclusions: The results indicate the need for a patient-orientated transformation of mental health primary care to provide for more easily accessible services that take into account the everyday and social problems of those with related problems.</abstract>

Help-seeking for mental health problems from the patient perspective – A qualitative study / Das Hilfe(auf)suchen bei psychischen Gesundheitsproblemen aus der Betroffenenperspektive – Eine qualitative Studie

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Background: Currently, the debate on regional and socio-structurally related treatment gaps in psychotherapeutic care increases the interest in e-mental health interventions such as the Internet-based psychotherapy, online self-help and new approaches for self-empowerment. Thus, health professionals could support informed decision-making by knowing the latest developments. However, if the ‘digital revolution’ fails to reach patients not familiar with Web 2.0, access to psychotherapies is unlikely to improve. Therefore, the objective of this review is to clarify whether online therapies should be recommended as an effective alternative to conventional psychotherapy in primary care.Methods: To investigate the research evidence of online therapies in adults within the last decade (2004-2014), a rapid review of literature was conducted by using electronic databases (i.e. Medline/PubMed, PubMed Central, Cochrane Library) to find systematic reviews, meta-analysis and clinical trials. Furthermore, a hand search in journals and grey literature was undertaken.Results: A search in PubMed for clinical trials on ‘online psychotherapy’ resulted in a total number of 245 publications. So, eight reviews and several clinical trials were chosen. Overall, mostly positive findings on the effectiveness and acceptance of online psychotherapy, primarily in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders, were identified.Discussion: In sum, Internet-based psychotherapies have been effective in reducing symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders in clinical trials. However, due to the limited range of treatable disorders and non-representative samples (young female college graduates), external validity remains insufficient. Thus, further research is needed to determine if online therapies will be capable of improving access to psychotherapy.</abstract>

jennifer.apolinario-hagen@fernuni-hagen.de

Access to Psychotherapy in the Era of Web 2.0 – New Media, Old Inequalities? / Zugang zur Psychotherapie in der Ära des Web 2.0 – Neue Medien, Alte Ungleichheiten?

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 11 (2024): Issue 1 (January 2024)

Volume 10 (2023): Issue 1 (January 2023)

Volume 9 (2022): Issue 1 (January 2022)

Volume 8 (2021): Issue 1 (January 2021)

Volume 7 (2020): Issue 1 (January 2020)

Volume 6 (2019): Issue 1 (January 2019)

Volume 5 (2018): Issue 1 (January 2018)

Volume 4 (2017): Issue 2 (December 2017)

Volume 4 (2017): Issue 1 (June 2017)

Volume 3 (2016): Issue 2 (December 2016)

Volume 3 (2016): Issue 1 (June 2016)

Volume 2 (2015): Issue 2 (December 2015)

Volume 2 (2015): Issue 1 (June 2015)

Volume 1 (2014): Issue 1 (December 2014)

International Journal of Health Professions

The International Journal of Health Professions (IJHP) is an academic journal with principle focus on interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaboration of health professionals in research, practice and education. IJHP calls for original articles on health professions and health care issues with an interdisciplinary/ interprofessional perspective in the areas of:   patient's perspective and participation, user involvement in interprofessional health care  decision making science and evidence in health care  studies of interprofessional collaboration in practice; problem-based and case-based collaboration; error management and culture of constructive criticism in interprofessional collaboration  interfaces in sequential collaboration (patient pathways, treatment chain)  cooperation and innovation in integrated health care, managed care, case management, e-health  interdisciplinary clinical studies, assessments, outcomes  health promotion and functioning in daily life from an interdisciplinary perspective  Innovation in interdisciplinary research methods  health policy, health economics with reference to interdisciplinary/ interprofessional topics  higher education didactics and educational topics  The IJHP publishes research studies, reviews, theoretical and methodological foundations and analyses.  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process.   OTHER LINKS:Online Submission of Manuscripts - http://www.editorialmanager.com/ijhpEditorial Policy (English) - https://ijhp.info/en/author-information/Instructions for Authors (English) - https://ijhp.info/en/author-information/Journal Homepage (English) - https://ijhp.info/en/  Peer Review  Submitted manuscripts go through a two-step process:  Firstly, the editorial board will decide whether the manuscript fulfils the substantive and formal criteria for the further review process. The decision is based on the following criteria:    Relevance: the content conforms to the scope and goals of the IJHP  Originality/topicality: the content is sufficiently important and topical to merit publication in the IJHP  Formal correctness: the formal criteria are met.  Ethical Guidelines: national and international ethical standards for studies with human subjects are fulfilled (where applicable).   When the criteria are not met, the manuscript will be rejected without peer review. The authors have the opportunity to resubmit the manuscript after rigorous revision.  When the criteria are met, the manuscript is assigned to a responsible editor who will organize a double blind peer review process. Two reviewers receive the manuscript with a cover sheet excluding the names and affiliated institutions of the authors. No further measures to anonymize the document are carried out. The authors do not know the names of the reviewers.  Once all reviews have been received and considered by the responsible editor, the corresponding author receives an e-mail with the decision. The following decisions are possible:    Accepted without revision  Accepted , minor or major revision required  Rejected  Article Processing Charges APCs, publication fees  The IJHP does not charge any fees for submitting, editing, or publishing articles. The Verein zur Förderung der Wissenschaft in den Gesundheitsberufen VFWG (Association for the Promotion of Science in the Health Professions VFWG) thus promotes scientific publication activity in the academic health professions (esp. in German-speaking countries). 