Library News Jan/Feb 2011

Thérèse Brady Library News aura Vol 2 Is1 –Jan /Feb 2011 .................................................1 Library news & updates Short Title of Article Three.......2 Short

itle of Article Four

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Happy New Year !

In this issue; •

Library news

Belated Happy New year and welcome back to the library newsletter.

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Conference dates

This issue contains updates on new resource trials, spotlights some library titles to help you

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Resource updates

write better reports and proposals and gives a roundup of some recent research articles of

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Article overview

interest.

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Book Review

Time for your feedback

What library services do you use? do you prefer to access the library remotely or come in and browse? Here’s your chance to offer your input on current library services and how they

New titles list Click to view new titles

are working for you.

Survey responses are annonymous and information will be used to inform improvements and development of library resources and services.

CLICK HERE TO FILL IN THE LIBRARY USER SURVEY

Up coming conferences and dates February 16th – Palliative care for the older person – Our lady’s Hospice, Dublin February 16th - The Dual Process Model – latest thinking – St Christopher’s Hospice London March 3rd - 'Dying out of hours - 24/7 care at end of life' NCPC London March 11th - Dying: the Visible and Invisible Process St Christopher’s Hospice London April 6th & 7th - Moving points in Palliative care; diverse needs at end-of-life, traditions, transitions & transformations – Our Lady’s Hospice, Dublin

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Thérèse Brady Library News –Vol. 2 Is. 1 Jan/Feb 2011

Resource Updates Net Library E­book platform trial access The library is running trial access to e­book platform NetLibrary until March 7 th Net Library is one of the largest and most established academic and educational ebook publishing platforms available. The trial provides access to over 600 titles in the Health & Biomedical sciences collection as well as a range of audio books which can be downloaded for use on portable players like ipods or iphones.

Books can be downloaded by chapter and the search tool allows for in­text search within titles.

Feel free to offer any feedback on the trial and if you have any difficulties with searching or accessing titles through NetLibrary contact Laura in the library.

Resource news, trials and updates

Library Collection spotlight – Need help writing reports?

Do you have difficulty understanding the difference between a report and a proposal or an essay? These library books provide tips and guidelines to help you get to grips with the basics of formatting a report or a proposal and how to differentiate between different writing formats.

• How to write reports and proposals – Forsyth, P shelved at 808.665 FOR • Writing a report, how to prepare, write and present effective reports – Bowden, J – Shelved at 808.6655 BOW • The mature student’s guide to writing – Rose, J – shelved at 001.4 ROS Keep an eye on the ‘recommended books’ display in the library for more titles of general interest. View all recent acquisitions HERE

Coming up...

Library Ireland Week 2011 will run in libraries around the country from March 7th to 13th This years theme is ‘Smart people use libraries’ and events will focus on the ways libraries and librarians use new technology to increase access to Library resources. Stay tuned to the library blog for library related spotlights throught Library Ireland Week.

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Bereavememt

Article overviews ‘study Psychological and physical effects of bereavement examining the

In a study prepublished in Aging & mental health entitled ‘Widowhood and the risk of psychiatric care, psychotropic medication and all­cause mortality’ Moller et al indicated an increased risk of out­patient psychiatric admission and psychotropic medication use following the loss of a spouse. They reviewed a cohort of people over the age of 75 who had recently lost their partner Of the recently bereaved cohort almost 53% received some form of psychiatric treatment within one year of bereavement. The administration of psychotropic medication was also common. The most common psychotropic medication administered was sleeping pills, which were prescribed to 28.8% of the group.

Findings also indicated that women presented a higher risk for outpatient psyciatric care and for the prescription of psychotropic medication.

The association between bereavement and cardiac changes was highlighted in Buckley et al’s article ‘Haemodynamic changes during early bereavement: potential contribution to increased cardiovascular risk’ a pre publication from Heart, Lung and circulation. Results of blood pressure and cardiovascular testing on a cohort of 80 recently bereaved individuals indicated higher heart rates and systolic blood pressure in the recently bereaved than in the control group. These findings present evidence for an increased level of vigilance for cardiovascular incidents in the recently bereaved.

For regular updates on research & resources of interest subscribe to the library blog

Thérèse Brady Library News ­ Vol. 2 Is. 1 Jan/Feb 2011

Palliative Care The December issue of Annals of Emergency Medicine spotlights the meeting point of acute care and palliative medicine in emergency admissions.

In ‘Palliative care in the emergency department’ Joanne Kenen indicates that with the majority of patients presenting in emergency departments having chronic long term illnesses like dementia, there is an increasing need for palliative care training in the emergency medical environment.

The impact of working with dying patients is examined in the December edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Shane Sinclair’s article ‘Impact of death and dying on the personal lives and practices of palliative and hospice care professionals’ surveyed palliative and hospice care professionals on their exposure to death and dying.

Respondents indicated that, far from fostering a negative personal outlook on death, their work afforded a unique and positive opportunity to learn from terminal patients and gain meaning in their own lives.

Reviews An overview of selected articles and publications in bereavement palliative care, hospice and end of life care research ­All featured articles are available on

End­of­Life Issues

request from the Therese Brady

In their editorial entitled ‘As it is at the end so it is at the beginning; legal challenges and new horizons for medicalised death and dying’ from the December edition of Medical Law Review Biggs and Ost indicate that a paradigm shift in legislation regarding death and dying is underway.

Ethical, political and legal debates on End­of­life care are becoming increasingly entwined and as they argue, potentially complicating issues further.

However, despite the law relating to death and dying having been poised on the verge of change for some time the general trend from a medical, ethical and legal perspective appears to be a slow transitioning toward a model of care more closely aligned to patient preference.

Library

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Thérèse Brady Library News ­Vol. 2 Is. 1 Jan/Feb 2011

Book Review

Approaches to death and dying

The Plastic Mind

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By Sharon Begley

National

Death and dying are a common feature for nursing home staff and it is often assumed medical and general healthcare professionals working in this setting are open to discussion of death, dying and bereavement. Osterlind et al’s

The old adage ‘you cant teach an old dog new tricks’ may be officially

study ‘A discourse of silence; professional carers

debunked, at least from a neurological perspective. Anyone who has

reasoning about death and dying in nursing

watched the recent BBC4 documentary series with Dr Michael Mosley ‘The

homes’ published in the January issue of Aging

brain; a secret history’ knows the human brain is a complex beast and

and Society explodes this notion by exploring the

continues to challenge established theory. Sharon Begley’s ‘The plastic

discourse on death and dying in four Swedish

mind’ documents the new science of neuroplasticity, an exciting new chapter

nursing homes. Findings from a series of focus

in neuroscience. Until recently conventional wisdom on the brain held that

group discussions with staff indicated that far

brain cells, unlike other cells were incapable of transformation or

from being open about death and dying these

regeneration. In essence; the brain you were born with was (at least after

processes were ‘silent and silenced’ with

childhood) the one you would have for the rest of your life. Cells damaged

‘emotions pushed to the background’.

by catastrophic events like stroke or severe trauma resulting in loss of

Overall the results illustrated a culture of death

function were categorically incapable of repair. Begley charts the growing

denial which indicates the need for formal

body of evidence of neurogenesis; the birth of new neurons even in adult

palliative care training and support in developing

brains. Although the creation of new neurons following physical activities is

end­of­life communications skills for nursing

established neuroplasticity represents a new departure in the approach to

home staff.

what the brain is capable of. Mental and behavioral possesses, like thinking or meditating can exert an effect on the brain which is visible and

measurable and Begley recounts studies and case histories illustrating these journeys.

The forward by the Dalai Lama and the links with Buddhist teaching could trouble the skeptic but rest assured the findings are laid on a bedrock of hard science.

Compiled by; Laura Rooney Ferris

What ‘The plastic mind’ presents is an optimistic tearing down of

Information & Library Manager

determinism and evidence that we are in fact even at a neurological level

Thérèse Brady Library

capable of constant adaptation.

Irish Hospice Foundation Follow us on;

The plastic brain is available from the library ­ shelved at 612.82 BEG

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