Setting the bar

Had a meeting today with a senior colleague to set my 'performance objectives' (urgh) for the coming year. As the achievement (or otherwise) of these now has an impact on whether we get our annual salary increments the process has become even more anxiety-provoking than ever...

Had a nice first lecture today with students on the masters in health psychology. We were focusing on theory and terminology related to disability, impairment and chronic illness.  After I highlighted the specific conditions we will be studying in more detail over the coming weeks (see yesterday) one student asked for more info on dementia.  This used to be a specific lecture which we covered in depth, but due to time restrictions we had to remove it in favour of diabetes (tough choice - kind of wish there was more time).  So here is the reading I recommended to him:

Banerjee, S., Samsi, K., Petrie, C. D., Alvir, J., Treglia, M., Schwam, E. M., & de Valle, M. (2009). What do we know about quality of life in dementia? A review of the emerging evidence on the predictive and explanatory value of disease specific measures of health related quality of life in people with dementia. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24(1), 15-24. doi:10.1002/gps.2090

Caddell, L. S., & Clare, L. (2010). The impact of dementia on self and identity: A systematic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(1), 113-126. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2009.10.003

De Boer, M. E., Hertogh, C. M. P. M., Dröes, R. -., Riphagen, I. I., Jonker, C., & Eefsting, J. A. (2007). Suffering from dementia - the patient's perspective: A review of the literature. International Psychogeriatrics, 19(6), 1021-1039. doi:10.1017/S1041610207005765

Deep, K. S., Hunter, A., Murphy, K., & Volandes, A. (2010). "It helps me see with my heart": How video informs patients' rationale for decisions about future care in advanced dementia. Patient Education and Counseling, 81(2), 229-234. doi:10.1016/j.pec.2010.02.004

Hamilton-West, K. E., Milne, A. J., Chenery, A., & Tilbrook, C. (2010). Help-seeking in relation to signs of dementia: A pilot study to evaluate the utility of the common-sense model of illness representations. Psychology, Health and Medicine, 15(5), 540-549. doi:10.1080/13548506.2010.487109

O'Connor, D. W., Ames, D., Gardner, B., & King, M. (2009). Psychosocial treatments of behavior symptoms in dementia: A systematic review of reports meeting quality standards. International Psychogeriatrics, 21(2), 225-240. doi:10.1017/S1041610208007588

O'Connor, D. W., Ames, D., Gardner, B., & King, M. (2009). Psychosocial treatments of psychological symptoms in dementia: A systematic review of reports meeting quality standards. International Psychogeriatrics, 21(2), 241-251. doi:10.1017/S1041610208008223

Seignourel, P. J., Kunik, M. E., Snow, L., Wilson, N., & Stanley, M. (2008). Anxiety in dementia: A critical review. Clinical Psychology Review, 28(7), 1071-1082. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2008.02.008

Van Der Roest, H. G., Meiland, F. J. M., Maroccini, R., Comijs, H. C., Jonker, C., & Dröes, R. -. (2007). Subjective needs of people with dementia: A review of the literature. International Psychogeriatrics, 19(3), 559-592. doi:10.1017/S1041610206004716