Edmond Robaye

Motor evaluation in vascular hemiplegia.

In vascular hemiplegia, motricity of the upper and lower limbs can be assessed from the examination of a limited number of movements which have been selected by a statistical procedure. For these movements the scores may be weighted on the basis of progress achieved over 2, 4 and 6 months. From the weighted, summed and averaged scores, a motricity index may be derived. This index gives a rapid overall indication of a patient’s progress in motor recovery, permits comparisons between different patients and the establishment of correlations with other clinical data and the values obtained by paraclinical techniques.

Immediate effectiveness of brief psychological training for health professionals dealing with terminally ill cancer patients: A controlled study

The usefulness of a psychological training for health professionals dealing with terminally ill cancer patients is beginning to be widely recognized, but little has been done to elaborate its content and form. The study of the effectiveness of brief psychological training groups is of special interest for the quality of treatment to be achieved. The principal aim of the training group, assessed here, was to develop a better understanding of death and dying issues and ways to cope with them. Subjects (n = 122) who attended the training groups were compared to a control group (n = 43). Attitudes about oneself, toward illness and death, occupation, personal growth, and professional relationship were assessed with a semantic differential questionnaire before and after training. Results show a significant change in attitudes for the trained subjects. Subjects reporting more negative attitudes at the beginning of the training were those which benefit the most. The attitude change is a first step aimed at assessing the effectiveness of psychological training; it will be completed by the assessment of long term attitudes and behavior modifications of the health care professionals trained.

Brief psychological training for health care professionals dealing with cancer patients: A one-year assessment ☆

The usefulness of psychological training for health professionals dealing with terminally ill cancer patients is becoming more widely recognized, but little has been done to elaborate its content and form. Of special interest is the study of the effectiveness of brief psychological training groups and the quality of treatment to be achieved. The principal aim of the training group assessed here was to develop a better understanding of death and dying issues and ways to cope with them. The present study reports the attitudes of participants, assessed 1 year after the end of training in order to investigate the possible consolidation of the immediate posttraining effectiveness reported previously. Subjects (n = 78) who attended the training groups were compared to a control group (n = 42). Attitudes about oneself, illness and death, occupation, personal growth, and professional relationships were assessed with a semantic differential questionnaire before training, after training, and 1 year later. Results show a significant reduction of the positive effect assessed just after the training. While attitudes moved significantly to the positive pole immediately after the end of the training, 1 year later the reverse phenomenon is noted. These data suggest the necessity for improving the effectiveness of short psychological training proposed to help health care professionals dealing with terminally ill cancer patients.

Quantitative evaluation of aphasia resulting from a cerebral vascular accident

Abstract One hundred and seven cases of aphasia due to cerebral vascular accident were investigated by means of a range of tests and an evaluation of spontaneous speech. Mathematical processing of the results enabled the severity of the aphasia to be quantified by means of an index of comprehension, an index of expression and an overall index. These indices enable the patients progress to be followed and his clinical progress to be compared with that of other parameters.

The Effectiveness of a Psychological Training Designed for Health Care Professionals Dealing with Terminal Cancer Patients

The medical and nursing staff can, through their listening attitude and their interventions, contribute to the psychosocial adaptions of the patient, as well as to maintaining the quality of life, in the terminal stage. In cancer care, as well as in terminal care, Stressors are numerous. These Stressors are summarized in Table 1.