12/28/2009
Helping Patients Make and Keep the Smoking Cessation ResolutionDecember 2009 – HFO E-News Issue 14
 Despite that fact that smoking rates have declined in the United States, with prevalence rates down by over 20% since 1960, smoking remains an enormous public health problem. Over 70% of all current smokers have reported a preference to stop smoking, however, only 3% to 20% of smokers succeed in achieving a sustained nicotine-free status. Importantly, clinicians can play a key role in helping their patients achieve this goal, producing marked improvements not only in their physical health but also in their quality of life.
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10/30/2009
What is a Near Death Experience and How Often does it Occur?
October 2009 – HFO E-News Issue 13
 Moody is credited with publishing the first academic research on, and coining the term, near-death experience (NDE) through his 1975 publication of Life After Life, based on case studies of patients who had reported an altered state of consciousness during a period of so-called clinical death. Each of the 150 NDE cases he documented was unique, but there were 15 key elements that kept recurring.
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8/28/2009
Grief Assessment: Relevance & Available Measures
August, 2009 – HFO E-News Issue 12
According to the DSM-IV-TR1, symptoms of bereavement are similar to symptoms characteristic of Major Depressive Episode and include sadness, insomnia, poor appetite and weight loss. All of these symptoms can vary depending on factors such as age, gender, social and cultural influences, social supports and provision of after-care services.
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6/20/2009
Overcoming Barriers in Assessing Pain among the Elderly
June, 2009 – HFO E-News Issue 11
The elderly are significantly underserved in pain treatment despite the data suggesting that community dwelling elders suffer from a high rate of pain conditions and that pain under-treatment is even greater among nursing home residents, with an estimated 45% to 80% of residents suffering from pain although a very low percentage receives analgesia. This is alarming since failure to address pain management in this population has health consequences involving disturbed sleep, poor nutritional intake, depression and anxiety, agitation and decreased activity.
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4/15/2009
Treating the Aging Traumatic Brain Injured PatientApril, 2009 – HFO E-News Issue 10
At least 5.3 million persons in the U.S., or 2% of the population, are currently living with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)-related disability. TBI is defined as a “blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating injury that disrupts the function of the brain” with a continuum of severity from mild to moderate to severe.Mild TBI (M-TBI) the most commonly diagnosed TBI accounts for approximately 75% of all TBI cases, or roughly 1.1 million new cases in the U.S. per year.
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2/15/2009
African-American Youth: The Essential Treatment Components in the HIV Arena
February, 2009 – HFO E-News Issue 9
Approximately 54% of new HIV-positive cases in the U.S. occur among African Americans, with half of these new cases among people 13-25 years of age. AIDS is the 6th leading cause of death for young people ages 16-24, primarily because sexual activity coupled with homelessness, abuse and a general lack of understanding around the needs of this demographic group puts this special population at extreme risk for contact with HIV/AIDS. Given these astounding statistics, it is imperative that healthcare professionals are aware and prepared to work with African-American (AA) youth; entailing an understanding and integration of both developmental and cultural needs into patient care.
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12/31/2008
Common Myths about Sexuality and Aging
December, 2008 – HFO E-News Issue 8
Sexuality is a critical component of one’s identity and remains an important part of life as we age. The Duke longitudinal study of aging reports that 96% of women and 98% of men aged 65 years and older are sexually active and still find this aspect of their lives pleasurable. Despite an increased focus on research in this area, several myths related to the impact of normal aging on sexuality persist.
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10/30/2008
The 7 Operations of Anticipatory Mourning in Alzheimer’s Family Caregivers
October, 2008 – HFO E-News Issue 7
Anticipatory mourning may be described as "the reaction to impending loss, as well as reactions and responses to losses already experienced within the … reality of the illness". In other words, anticipatory mourning is stimulated as a response to the awareness of life-threatening or terminal illness in oneself or a significant other and the recognition of losses marked by time; the past, present and future.
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9/29/2008
Addressing Experiential Avoidance in Patients with Eating Disorders with ACTAugust, 2008 – HFO E-News Issue 6
Experiential avoidance, defined as deliberately avoiding or escaping the experience of unwanted thoughts, feelings, or bodily sensations, may underlie eating disorder behavior. The strategy has been documented with anorectic and bulimic clients and associated with binge eating. In fact, the literature suggests that experiential avoidance is even more influential than body/weight concerns in maintenance of eating disorder behaviors.
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6/15/2008
BRCA1/2 Genetic Testing: Who’s a Candidate? June, 2008 – HFO E-News Issue 5
Since 1995, genetic testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer has been clinically available, allowing health care providers to identify individuals who carry deleterious germline mutations placing them at increased risk for developing hereditary forms of breast and ovarian cancer.
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4/30/2008
What’s the Key to Mental Health Social Security Disability Claims? April, 2008 – HFO E-News Issue 4
From 1992 to 2007, the number of annual applications for a Social Security Disability (SSD) claim has increased substantially from 1,335,139 to 2,190,196. Moreover, this figure does not likely reveal the true number of claims because benefit applications for children and widows aren’t included.
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2/15/2008
End-of-Life Theories: Enabling the Patient to be a Unique and Active Participant in Coping with Death February, 2008 – HFO E-News Issue 3
One of the most well-known models to address death and dying is the Kubler-Ross five stage theory of dying. This model postulates that that people experience five distinct psychological phases at the end-of-life: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
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12/7/2007
The Three Levels of Prevention in the Chronic Disease Context December, 2007 – HFO E-News Issue 2
In the U.S., chronic disease accounts for over 70% of deaths and up to 76% of healthcare expenditures. Never before has our society been faced with this magnitude of chronic disease burden. Although a likely result of complex interactions among genetic, behavioral, and environmental influences, the pace at which chronic disease has risen suggests that behavioral and environmental influences play a large role and as such, warrants a greater focus on disease prevention at each of its three levels; primary, secondary and tertiary.
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10/7/2007
Recognizing the Signs of Resistance to Behavior Change and Examining Clinician-Based Antecedents October, 2007 – HFO E-News Issue 1
The first step in addressing resistance is to recognize it when it happens. From a Motivational Interviewing (MI) framework, Miller and Rollnick identify four categories of client behaviors that indicate resistance.
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