Talking Cancer-Cancer Talking: A Linguistic and Thematic Analysis of Patient Narratives.

To explore "the lived experience" of patients with cancer through narratives, in-depth interviews with 20 patients were conducted in the patients' homes-"at the kitchen table." Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed following the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) methodology. Thematic Analysis was used to explore themes in the narratives.

Perceived autonomy support in individuals with Parkinson's disease requiring emergency care: a cross-sectional pilot study.

Background: Individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) report a diminished perceived functional autonomy as their condition progresses. For those seeking emergency care, it is unknown whether the patient-physician relationship is instrumental in respecting patient autonomy. This study evaluated patient autonomy ideals in individuals with PD requiring emergency care and the perceived support for autonomy from emergency department physicians.

Business case for psychosocial interventions in clinics: potential for decrease in treatment discontinuation and costs.

Research Question: From a value-based healthcare (VBHC) perspective, does an assessment of clinical outcomes and intervention costs indicate that providing cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or mindfulness to women seeking fertility treatment add value compared with no such intervention?

Design: Proof-of-concept business case based on a VBHC perspective that considers clinical outcomes and costs. Potential effects on psychological and fertility outcomes were based on existing research. Cost outcomes were estimated with a costing model for the Dutch fertility treatment setting.

Narrative medicine pinpoints loss of autonomy and stigma in Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease characteristics can create a self-perceived sense of stigmatization and disapproval by others, thereby affecting self-perceived autonomy. This study investigated the metaphors related to the loss of autonomy and stigma in stories and drawings of Parkinson's disease. We compare a contemporary first-person illness narrative and -drawing from a person with Parkinson's disease, with two novels (Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections and Claudia Piñeiro's Elena Knows), a graphic novel (Peter Dunlap-Shohl's My Degeneration: A Journey Through Parkinson's), a non-fiction book (Oliver Sacks' Awakenings) and a first-person illness narrative (John Palfreman's The Bright Side of Parkinson's).

Torn between two lovers - on being a psychologist in a university medical centre.

Background: Psychology as applied to health and illness has a relatively short history. Nevertheless, that history shows a rapid development of the theoretical models that guide the field over the past 60 years. Core theoretical approaches are concisely reviewed, in the context of Kaplan's paper 'Behavior as the central outcome in health care' (1990), which is used as a model to examine the extent to which these approaches embrace Kaplan's notions.

Comparable effectiveness of 45- and 20-min post-infusion scalp cooling time in preventing paclitaxel-induced alopecia - a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: Scalp cooling can prevent chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA). Previously, the post-infusion cooling time (PICT) could be successfully reduced in docetaxel-treated patients from 90 to 45 and 20 min. Therefore, it seems plausible that the PICT can be shortened for paclitaxel-treated patients as well.

Looking bad: Female patients drawing their representation of chemotherapy-induced alopecia.

This study explored the experienced impact of alopecia using patient's drawings. Forty patients made drawings of their feelings about appearance of their head and hair before and during chemotherapy. Patients also reported illness perceptions (B-IPQ).

"Dear hair loss"-illness perceptions of female patients with chemotherapy-induced alopecia.

Objective: Chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA) is one of the most common and distressing side effects of chemotherapy treatment. This study aims to assess the illness perceptions of female patients dealing with CIA, and their associations with demographic and clinical characteristics, coping strategies, and quality of life. The secondary aim was to compare the illness perceptions of patients with CIA with other samples, to help elucidate the specific perceptions of patients with CIA.

Patients Prioritize a Low-volume Bowel Preparation in Colitis-associated Colorectal Cancer Surveillance: A Discrete Choice Experiment.

Background: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) undergo surveillance colonoscopies at fixed intervals to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). Taking patients' preferences for determining surveillance strategies into account could improve adherence and patient satisfaction. This study aimed to determine patient preferences for CRC surveillance in IBD.

Novels as data: Health humanities and health psychology.

Novels represent a corpus of data that offers innovative opportunities for research and theory in health psychology. This article discusses how adding 'health humanities' to health psychology opens up a potentially rich domain for research and clinical application. The concept of 'health humanities' is discussed and put into a context of related fields.

Writing cancer.

Purpose: Novels and autopathographies that employ cancer as a central theme offer a wealth of opportunities for researching the way patients with cancer make sense of their illness and its treatment. Such literatures can also inform clinical care, because they can support patients in living with their illness. The use of novels and autopathographies for research and care in persons with cancer fits within the framework of 'Health Humanities', the interdisciplinary field where medicine and social science meet.

Quality of life and illness perceptions in patients with breast cancer using a fasting mimicking diet as an adjunct to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the phase 2 DIRECT (BOOG 2013-14) trial.

Purpose: In the phase II DIRECT study a fasting mimicking diet (FMD) improved the clinical response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy as compared to a regular diet. Quality of Life (QoL) and illness perceptions regarding the possible side effects of chemotherapy and the FMD were secondary outcomes of the trial.

Methods: 131 patients with HER2-negative stage II/III breast cancer were recruited, of whom 129 were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either a fasting mimicking diet (FMD) or their regular diet for 3 days prior to and the day of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Giving A Face to Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia: A Feasibility Study on Drawings by Patients.

Objective: Individuals with cancer experience the impact of chemotherapy on hair loss in different ways. The aim of this pilot study was to explore patients' experiences of alopecia through patients' drawings.

Methods: Fifteen female patients diagnosed with cancer and treated with chemotherapy were recruited at the oncological day-care unit of a teaching hospital in the Netherlands.

Teamwork and Safety Attitudes in Complex Aortic Surgery at a Dutch Hospital: Cross-Sectional Survey Study.

Background: Improving teamwork in surgery is a complex goal and difficult to achieve. Human factors questionnaires, such as the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ), can help us understand medical teamwork and may assist in achieving this goal.

Objective: This paper aimed to assess local team and safety culture in a cardiovascular surgery setting to understand how purposeful teamwork improvements can be reached.

Illness Perceptions and Quality of Life in Patients with Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A 3-Month Follow-Up Pilot Study.

Purpose: Examine illness perceptions, functional health and quality of life of lung cancer patients throughout chemotherapy treatment.

Patients And Methods: Longitudinal design with baseline measure 12 days after the first chemotherapy and follow-up measure 3 months later, where illness perceptions (BIPQ), functional health, and quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C-30) were measured. A total of 21 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer took part.

Heart in art: cardiovascular diseases in novels, films, and paintings.

Background: Understanding representations of disease in various art genres provides insights into how patients and health care providers view the diseases. It can also be used to enhance patient care and stimulate patient self-management.

Methods: This paper reviews how cardiovascular diseases are represented in novels, films, and paintings: myocardial infarction, aneurysm, hypertension, stroke, heart transplantation, Marfan's disease, congestive heart failure.

Illness perceptions, risk perceptions and worries in patients with early systemic sclerosis: A focus group study.

Objectives: This study explores illness perceptions, risk perceptions and degree of worry in patients with recently diagnosed systemic sclerosis (SSc). Specifically, it aims to answer whether and how early diagnosis in a stage that disease is relatively mild can impact patients' lives, and if and how disease severity associates with illness perceptions and risk perception.

Methods: Patients with a diagnosis of SSc <2 years were invited to participate in a focus group discussion for in-depth exploration of illness perceptions, risk perceptions and worry.

Artistic representations of infectious disease.

Artistic representations of disease are widespread yet largely ignored in health psychology research. In this paper we use two infectious diseases, tuberculosis and the plague, as tracers to study how infectious diseases are represented in novels, films, paintings, and songs. They were represented especially in terms of their causes and seriousness.

Risk factors of unmet needs among women with breast cancer in the post-treatment phase.

Objective: Unmet health care needs require additional care resources to achieve optimal patient well-being. In this nationwide study we examined associations between a number of risk factors and unmet needs after treatment among women with breast cancer, while taking into account their health care practices. We expected that more care use would be associated with lower levels of unmet needs.

Health care use and remaining needs for support among women with breast cancer in the first 15 months after diagnosis: the role of the GP.

Background: The number of women with breast cancer in general practice is rising. To address their needs and wishes for a referral, GPs might benefit from more insight into women's health care practices and need for additional support.

Objective: To examine the prevalence of health care use and remaining needs among women with breast cancer in the first 15 months after diagnosis.

Asthma control and quality of life in adolescents: The role of illness perceptions, medication beliefs, and adherence.

Asthma control and quality of life (QoL) are important disease outcomes for asthma patients. Illness perceptions (cognitive and emotional representations of the illness) and medication beliefs have been found to be important determinants of medication adherence, and subsequently disease control and QoL in adults with asthma. In adolescents, this issue needs further elucidation.

A systematic review of patients' drawing of illness: implications for research using the Common Sense Model.

Recent research has examined patients' drawings of their illness as a means to identify patients' illness representations. The aim of this systematic review was to examine which representations are evident in patients' drawings, and whether drawing assessments are associated with patient outcomes. Ten electronic databases were searched for published journal papers in English up to 1 July 2017.