Methods: A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted on a group of Universiti Sains Malaysia medical students who had finished the Community and Family Case Study (CFCS) program. Data were gathered through focused group discussions and student reflective journals. Participants were sampled using the maximal variation technique of purposive sampling. Three steps of thematic analysis using the Atlasti software were employed to identify categories, subthemes, and themes.
Results: Personal, role, social, and research identities were generated that contribute to the PID of medical students through the CFCS program. The results indicate that the CFCS program nurtured personal identity through the development of professional skills, soft skills, and personal values. Pertaining to role identity, this is related to patient care in terms of primary care and interprofessional awareness. Pertaining to social identity, the obvious feature was community awareness related to culture, society, and politics. A positive outcome of the CFCS program was found to be its fostering of research skills, which is related to the use of epidemiology and research methods.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that the CFCS program promotes PID among medical students. The current data highlight and provide insights into the importance of integrating CBE into medical curricula to prepare future doctors for their entry into the profession.
METHODS: All fourth-year undergraduate dental students (n = 69, response rate = 100%) participated in the Photodentistry learning activity developed by specialists from the areas of dentistry, arts, education, and psychology. A survey using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) was conducted both pretest and posttest, followed by an open-ended written survey of their reflection towards the learning activity. Quantitative data were analyzed via paired t-test (P < 0.05), while qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
RESULTS: There was a significant increase in both students' total mean empathy score and the individual scores for 8 (out of 16) items of the TEQ after the learning activity. Students stated that they had an improved understanding of managing patients in a comprehensive manner (e.g., managing medically compromised patients, performing treatment planning, communication with patients who have special health care needs). Students also reported the development of skills (e.g., observation, critical thinking) and positive attitudes (e.g., empathy, responsibility) towards patients.
CONCLUSION: Photodentistry is an effective learning approach for improving dental students' empathy and learning experience in comprehensive patient care.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study involving IC attending a PCU. Caregiver burden and psychological manifestations were measured using previously translated and validated Zarit Burden Interview and DASS-21 questionnaires respectively. Two hundred forty-nine samples were selected for analysis.
RESULT: The mean ZBI score was 23.33 ± 13.7. About half of the population 118(47.4%) was found to experienced caregiver burden whereby majority have mild to moderate burden 90(36.1%). The most common psychological manifestation among IC is anxiety 74(29.7%) followed by depression 51(20.4%) and stress 46(18.5%). Multiple logistic regression demonstrated that women who are IC to patients with non-malignancy were less likely to experience caregiver burden. IC who were highly educated and spent more than 14 h per day caregiving were at least twice likely to experience caregiver burden. Finally, those with symptoms of depression and anxiety were three times more likely to suffer from caregiver burden.
CONCLUSION: Caregiver burden among IC to palliative patients is prevalent in this population. IC who are men, educated, caregiving for patients with malignancy, long hours of caregiving and have symptoms of depression and anxiety are at risk of developing caregiver burden. Targeted screening should be implemented and IC well-being should be given more emphasis in local policies.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from October to December 2019 among 178 hospital workers at the Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The study utilized a self-administered questionnaire that consisted of items on sociodemographics, work characteristics, sources of bullying, and the validated Malay version of the 23-item Negative Acts Questionnaire - revised to determine the prevalence of bullying. Descriptive and inferential statistics were analyzed using SPSS 22.0. Statistical significance was set at P<0.05.
Results: The prevalence of workplace bullying in this sample was 11.2%. Superiors or supervisors from other departments and colleagues were the main perpetrators. In the multivariate model, working for 10 years or less (aOR 4, 95% CI 1.3-12.3; P=0.014) and not being involved in patient care (aOR 5, 95% CI 2.5-10; P<0.001) were statistically significant attributes associated with workplace bullying.
Conclusion: Workplace bullying in the current study was strongly associated with occupational characteristics, particularly length of service and service orientation of the workers. Hospital directors and managers could undertake preventive measures to identify groups vulnerable to bullying and subsequently craft appropriate coping strategies and mentoring programs to curb bullying.