Recognising ill health in patients is a multifaceted skill. Nurses can use aneclectic mix of assessment tools to differentiate between the severity of acute illness and to grade chronic illness. The end point of such assessment is an appropriate and individualised patient management plan.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia is a common illness in intensive care unit patients. The costs of management are increased when infection involves resistant organisms, as well as unnecessary and prolonged therapy. Efforts at accurate diagnosis, therapy and prevention can reduce the cost impact of this illness.

Patients with serious mental illness (SMI) and diabetes often seek care in primary care settings and have worse health outcomes than patients who have either illness alone. Individual, provider, and system-level barriers present challenges to addressing both psychiatric and medical comorbidities. This article describes the feasibility, acceptability, and implementation of Targeted Training and ...

BACKGROUND We examined whether diabetes-related psychosocial factors differ between African American and white patients with type 2 diabetes. We also tested whether racial differences in glycemic control are independent of such factors. METHODS Baseline glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA(1c)) and survey measures from 79 African American and 203 white adult participants in a diabetes self-management...

Patients with chronic respiratory disease commonly experience comorbid mental illness. This study aimed to explore associations between illness and health, as well determine access uptake of health treatment. Mental conditions were highly prevalent, long-standing associated worse outcomes. Active treatment psychotropic drugs was common; however, acceptance non-pharmacological interventions poor...

BACKGROUND Traditional health practitioners (THPs) have been identified as a key local resource in the fight against human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in South Africa. However, their approaches to the treatment of people living with HIV (PLHIV) have been met with scepticism by some biomedical practitioners amid increasing access to antiretroviral therap...

BACKGROUND Chronic disease self-management programmes are now an important adjunct to the treatment and care of Australians with chronic illnesses. Most programmes are delivered in English and cater for 'Anglo' views of health and illness. The Peer-Led Self-Management of Chronic Illness Project was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to test the hypothesis that th...

BACKGROUND Current management in primary care of depression, with or without comorbid physical illness, has been found to be suboptimal. We therefore conducted a systematic review to identify clinician perceived barriers to and facilitators for good depression care. METHODS We conducted a systematic literature search to identify qualitative and quantitative studies published in the UK since 2...

Objective The association of offender mental illness (including those on probation) with crime has long been the subject of social interest; however, systematic management has been insufficient. The study purpose was to analyze mental illness prevalence, proportion of first offenses and recidivism with the mental illness of those on probation. Methods A total of 206 adults on probation were d...

This article reviews an emerging area of research on patients with asthma: namely, illness perceptions and their relationships with various aspects of outcome. The article briefly introduces the Common Sense Model, outlining the relevance of how "lay" patients conceptualize symptoms, illness, and treatment. On the basis of a comprehensive literature search, nine empirical studies illustrating t...