BACKGROUND It is widely accepted that infertility and involuntary childlessness, and the decision to engage with assisted reproduction technology (ART) services as a patient, donor or surrogate can entail wide-ranging psychosocial issues. Psychosocial counselling has, therefore, become valued as an integral element of ART services. The objective of this study was to begin to map out what exists...

BACKGROUND Counselling human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive mothers on safer infant and young child feeding (IYCF) options is an important component of programmes to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV, but the quality of counselling is often inadequate. The aim of this study was to determine the effect the World Health Organization HIV and infant feeding cards on the quality of ...

BACKGROUND Individual counselling from a smoking cessation specialist may help smokers to make a successful attempt to stop smoking. OBJECTIVES The review addresses the following hypotheses:1. Individual counselling is more effective than no treatment or brief advice in promoting smoking cessation.2. Individual counselling is more effective than self-help materials in promoting smoking cessat...

OBJECTIVES To describe the HIV counselling and testing practices for children presenting to an emergency department (ED) in a low-income country. SETTING The ED of a large east African national referral hospital. PARTICIPANTS This retrospective review of all paediatric (<18 years old) ED visits in 2012 enrolled patients who had an HIV test ordered and excluded those without testing. Files w...

Even though patient counselling is considered one of the main duties for community pharmacists, studies have indicated that there is room for improvement in counselling performance. In order to enhance patient counselling practise in Finland, a four-year project TIPPA was launched in 2000. A need for patient counselling specific instruments became evident in order to implement new behaviours an...

How to cite this article: Louw, D.J., 2011, ‘Philosophical counselling: Towards a “new approach” in pastoral care and counselling?’, HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies 67(2), Art. #900, 7 pages. DOI: 10.4102/hts.v67i2.900 The practice of pastoral counselling was dominated for several decades by the Rogerian techniques of empathetic listening. To a large extent, healing was predominatel...

This study explored the counselling self-efficacy of students in a counsellor education programme, in regard to age, gender, and ethnicity characteristics. To assess counselling self-efficacy, the Counselling Self-Estimate Inventory (COSE) of Larson et al. (Counsellor Education & Supervision 41: 120-130, 1992) was administered at the end of a semester to counselling students engaged in differen...

BACKGROUND A substantial minority of individuals who initially apply for genetic counselling for breast/ovarian cancer withdraw at an early stage from the counselling process. This study investigated the self-reported reasons for early withdrawal and the factors associated significantly with such withdrawal. METHODS Self-report questionnaires were mailed to 83 women who had applied for geneti...

This article provides an overview of the psychological and social implications of infertility. After describing the evolution of current theoretical understanding in this area, it outlines typical emotional and gender-specific reactions as well as the impact of infertility on the concept of identity and loss. Key questions are presented that medical professionals can use in order to facilitate ...