Aims and objectives: To explore how nurses, across various health systems, describe their role in providing palliative care for patients with life-threatening illnesses.Background: Despite the fact that nurses make up the largest group of healthcare

BackgroundThe use of music as therapy in multidisciplinary end-of-life care dates back to the 1970s and nowadays music therapy (MT) is one of the most frequently used complementary therapy in in-patient palliative care in the US. However existing research investigated music therapy’s potential impact mainly from one perspective, referring to either a quantitative or qualitative paradigm. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the users’ and providers’ perspectives on music therapy in palliative care within one research article.MethodsA systematic literature search was conducted using several databases supplemented with a hand-search of journals between November 1978 and December 2016. Inclusion criteria were: Music therapy with adults in palliative care conducted by a certified music therapist. Both quantitative and qualitative studies in English, German or a Scandinavian language published in peer reviewed journals were included. We aimed to identify and discuss the perspectives of both patients and health care providers on music therapy’s impact in palliative care to forward a comprehensive understanding of it’s effectiveness, benefits and limitations. We investigated themes mentioned by patients within qualitative studies, as well as commonly chosen outcome measures in quantitative research. A qualitative approach utilizing inductive content analysis was carried out to analyze and categorize the data.ResultsTwelve articles, reporting on nine quantitative and three qualitative research studies were included. Seven out of the nine quantitative studies investigated pain as an outcome. All of the included quantitative studies reported positive effects of the music therapy. Patients themselves associated MT with the expression of positive as well as challenging emotions and increased well-being. An overarching theme in both types of research is a psycho-physiological change through music therapy.ConclusionsBoth quantitative as well as qualitative research showed positive changes in psycho-physiological well-being. The integration of the users´ and providers´ perspectives within future research applicable for example in mixed-methods designs is recommended.

Persons with dementia are at risk of malnutrition, evidenced by low dietary intake, which has consequences for nutritional status, activity of daily living and disease progression. The effects of oral nutrition supplements (ONS) on nutritional intake, nutritional status, and cognitive and physical outcomes in older persons with dementia were evaluated. Methods: PubMed, Medline, Embase, CINAHL and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched in December 2017, and this was repeated in May 2019. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Analysis (PRISMA) checklist was used. Papers were considered if they presented experimental clinical trials using oral nutritional supplements to persons diagnosed with dementia, including Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment, and conducted in hospitals, nursing homes or homes. Results: We included ten articles reporting nine clinical trials. A total of 407 persons with dementia were included, of whom 228 used ONS for 7 to 180 days. Nutritional intake improved by 201 to 600 kcal/day. Energy intake from ordinary foods was not affected, thus ONS improved the persons daily intake of energy and protein. Body weight, muscle mass, and nutritional biomarkers in blood improved in the intervention groups compared with the control groups. No effects on cognition or physical outcomes were observed. Conclusion: ONS increases the intake of energy and protein and improves nutritional status in persons with dementia; however, RCTs with longer intervention periods are needed to investigate the impact on cognitive and functional outcomes.

No abstract

The article discusses the pedagogical background on which the design of the online tutorial Søk & Skriv ('Search and Write') is based. The tutorial Søk & Skriv is specially designed for distance learning students, but can also be used by students on campus. Søk & Skriv aims at increasing students' information and digital literacy with the ultimate goal of empowering them to gradually become legitimate members of the academic community, as well as lifelong learners. Further, the tutorial sets out to make a contribution to the pedagogical development of user education at the academic library. The article shows how a general didactical model, namely the didactical relationship model (Hiim & Hippe, 1998), has been applied to enrich information literacy education practice, and in this case specifically, to enrich the design of online education.