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We aimed to examine family quality of life (FQOL) of Northern Israeli families having a child with a severe neurodevelopmental disability and its relation to socio-demographics. The cohort included caregivers of 70 children ages (mean ± standard deviation) 5.36 ± 3.53 years. Families were two-parent (85.7%), lived in the periphery (67.1%) and included Jews (60%), Muslims (18.6%), Druze (14.3%) and Christians (7.1%). Religiosity included: secular (38.6%), traditional (31.4%), religious (30%). Children's diagnosis included autistic spectrum disorder (41.4%), intellectual disability (21.4%), cerebral palsy (17.1%), genetic syndromes (17.1%) and sensorineural hearing loss (2.9%). Degree of support (1-minimal,5-greatest) required by the child was 3.67 ± 1.28 for physical and 3.49 ± 1.36 for communication. Primary caregivers completed the FQOL Survey. Domain scores were highest for family relations and lowest for financial well-being. Dimension scores were highest for importance and lowest for opportunities. Overall FQOL approximated average. Jewish families and residents of a major urban area reported higher and more religious families reported lower overall FQOL. Regression analysis found ethnicity contributing to overall FQOL and domain scores with residence contributing to support from services. Ethnicity and child dependence contributed to dimension scores. Northern Israeli families having a child with a severe neurodevelopmental disability report average FQOL scores. However, family and child dependence characteristics affect FQOL scores. Professionals working with these families should consider FQOL information when making recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The high prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among patients with cancer can be explained by reasons such as growing scientific evidence and improved regulation. However, subjective considerations are also relevant for practicing CAM and perceiving its effectiveness. The current study aimed at qualitatively estimating patients' prior beliefs and expectations, as well as their level of satisfaction after the treatment. Patients and methods: Patients with cancer who received six weekly sessions of CAM during their oncologic treatments participated in the study. They detailed their prior expectations and their level of posttreatment satisfaction. The open-ended answers were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. In addition, the contents before and after the intervention were compared. Results: Over a 2-year period, 163 patients entered the study, 135 of whom completed all six CAM sessions. The content analysis of the pretreatment expectations revealed four main categories: emotional, physical, external, and aspects related to the practice of CAM. After the intervention, patients referred to the therapeutic encounter as a significant aspect, in addition to the emotional and physical ones. Conclusion: CAM sessions encouraged emotional and relational aspects in patients' perspectives, which may be highly relevant for their coping process. Encouraging personal motives may increase treatment efficacy and ensure optimal use of health care resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Child Maltreatment (CM) is a worldwide phenomenon. Literature suggests that children with disabilities are at increased risk for CM. However, limited information exists regarding if such increased risk is noted in community primary care clinics.Aim: To report on the incidence of CM in children with and without disabilities attending community primary care clinics.Method: This was a cohort study of children belonging to a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) in Israel. The study group consisted of children with disabilities and the control group consisted of children without disabilities. Formal reports to child protection services, medical and sociodemographic data were extracted from designated documentation and medical records.Results: The odds to be identified as suspected CM, after adjusting for sociodemographic variables, was 6.2 times higher among children with disabilities compared to children without disabilities and 5.0 times higher among children with severe vs. mild disability.Conclusions: Developmental disability is a risk factor for CM, and is noted even more seriously in community primary care clinics. CM positively correlated with the severity of disability. The presented data marks higher figures than previously reported, enhancing understanding of the scope of the problem and its relation to the type of organization being examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]