Development of Podcasts in a Hospital Setting: A User-Centered Approach

Patient information plays a pivotal role in preparing individuals for hospital visits and empowering them to actively participate in decision-making processes regarding their healthcare. However, many patients face challenges related to reading comprehension. In response, podcasts have become a popular, user-friendly medium for sharing essential and easily understandable information in an engaging format.The aim of the present project was to use a user-centered approach to develop podcasts providing patient information prior to hospital visits. We aimed to describe the steps of the development in detail with the purpose of inspiring podcast development in the future.In Phase 1 we conducted interviews with patients and focus groups with clinicians based on the "empathy map" method, with the purpose of exploring patients' needs on which to subsequently build the podcasts' content and format. In Phase 2 we produced and refined the podcasts on the basis of feedback from clinician- and patients representatives.Our results indicated the importance of clear and concise language, personalization of communication, and content alignment with patients' needs. Our project resulted in a description of each step of the development that can be used as inspiration for others who wish to take a user-centered approach to podcast development.

An exploration of gender and prolonged grief symptoms using network analysis

BACKGROUND

Gender has been proposed as a potentially important predictor of bereavement outcomes. The majority of research in the field has explored this issue by examining gender differences in global grief severity. Findings have been mixed. In this study, we explore potential gender differences in grief using network analysis. This approach examines how individual symptoms relate to and reinforce each other, and so offers potential to shed light on novel aspects of grief expression across genders.

METHOD

Graphical lasso networks were constructed using self-report data from 839 spousally bereaved older participants (584 female, 255 male) collected at 2- and 11- months post-bereavement. Edge strength, node strength and global network strength were compared to identify similarities and differences between gender networks across time.

RESULTS

At both time points, the strongest connection for both genders was from yearning to pangs of grief. Yearning, pangs of grief, acceptance, bitterness and shock were prominent nodes at time 1. Numbness and meaninglessness emerged as prominent nodes at time 2. Males and females differed in the relative importance of shock at time 1, and the female network had greater overall strength than the male network at time 2.

CONCLUSIONS

This study identified many similarities and few differences in the relationships between prolonged grief symptoms for males and females. Findings suggest that future studies should examine alternate sources of variation in grief outcomes. Limitations are discussed.

Psychological interventions for grief in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND

The present meta-analysis evaluates the efficacy of psychological interventions for grief in bereaved adults and explores the possible moderating influence of various study characteristics.

METHODS

A systematic literature search was conducted by two reviewers who independently searched electronic databases, reviewed and selected eligible studies, and evaluated their methodological quality.

RESULTS

A total of 31 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included in the meta-analysis. Statistically significant pooled effects of psychological intervention on grief symptoms were found for both post-intervention (Hedges's g = 0.41, p > .001, K = 31) and follow-up (g = 0.45, p > .001, K = 18). While generally robust, the effect was smaller at post-intervention when adjusting for possible publication bias (g = 0.31). Compared with the remaining studies, larger post-intervention effect sizes were found for studies with (1) individually delivered interventions (Beta = 0.49, p < .001), (2) the ICG-(R)/PG-13 questionnaire as the grief instrument (Beta = 0.46, p < .001), (3) participants who were ≥6 months post-loss (Beta = 0.58, p < .001), (4) participants included based on high baseline symptom levels (Beta = 0.40, p = .002) and (5) higher study quality (Beta = 0.06, p = .013).

LIMITATIONS

The included studies were methodologically heterogeneous and their methodological quality varied considerably. Moreover, there were some indications of publication bias.

CONCLUSIONS

Given the recent introduction of Prolonged Grief Disorder in the ICD-11, the results of the present meta-analysis are timely and of clinical relevance. Based on our results, psychological intervention appears efficacious for alleviating grief symptoms in bereaved adults, with several study characteristics as possible moderators of the effect. The interpretability of the results, however, is challenged by some limitations of the available research, including possible publication bias.