Wgeorge Kernohan

University of Ulster · Institute of Nursing and Health Research

Introduction A palliative care approach can improve quality-of-life for people with dementia. It is the preference of many people with dementia to remain living at home until death, with the appropriate care. To develop a successful model for dementia palliative care in the community, it is essential to assimilate the perspectives and experiences o...

Minimal research has explored the personal experience of burnout in doctors from any medical speciality. Consequently, we aimed to provide a relatable description and understanding of this globally recognised problem. We employed an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) of face-to-face interviews with seven general practitioners (GPs) in N...

There is a reported high prevalence of anxiety in people with autism spectrum disorder. This mini review appraises existing research investigating heart rate variability biofeedback to help manage symptoms of anxiety in people with autism spectrum disorder. A thorough search of electronic databases was conducted to find relevant literature. Consult...

Background Myanmar has a high maternal mortality rate. Evidence about pregnancy and antenatal care experiences of women in more remote areas, where Covid and conflict have increased poverty and restricted travel, is limited. Understanding how women in a camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) navigate pregnancy and antenatal care may inform str...

Background Living with a life-limiting illness, people with dementia benefit from palliative care which considers the holistic needs of the person and their family. However, little is known about how palliative care may be best provided to people living with dementia at home in the community. We examined four exemplary dementia palliative care serv...

Aim To evaluate emergency obstetric care education and training within a medical assistant training program, being delivered in a remote, fragile region of Southeast Asia. This will aid in the identification of potential areas of enhancement to improve the management of obstetric emergencies. Design An ethnographic study, adopting a multi‐methods...

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Introduction Atrial Fibrillation (AF) affects 30% of the world’s population and accounts for 3 million deaths annually, and current management pathways often result in poor outcomes in recurrence of AF with up to 50% reoccurring post pulmonary vein isolation cardiac ablation (PVICA). Epicardi...

Background: The prevalence of dementia is increasing, bringing a range of challenges, such as eating, drinking and swallowing (EDS) difficulties, that are associated with aspiration, which can be fatal. Early identification of EDS difficulty in early-stage dementia could prevent complications, but reliable indicators are needed to help develop pat...

Background: Eating, drinking and swallowing (EDS) difficulties are important to identify early. Awareness of EDS changes starts with those living with dementia or their family carers. However, little is known about early identification from the perspective of people with dementia. Aim: The aim of this study was to understand the experience of ED...

Background: Jordanian pregnant women report high prevalence of antenatal depressive symptoms, compared to their counterparts internationally. One potential nonpharmacological intervention is Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), accessed by telephone. Aim: The aim of this study is to compare the depressive symptom level(s) among Jordanian pregnant...

Burnout in family doctors (FDs) affects their well-being, patient care, and healthcare organizations, and is considered common worldwide. However, its measurement has been so inconsistent that whether the widely divergent prevalence figures can be meaningfully interpreted has been questioned. Our aim was to go further than previous systematic revie...

Background Blogging can help to maximise the impact of one’s work in academia and beyond by making research findings accessible for multiple knowledge users. As part of the knowledge exchange and dissemination activities of the Model for Dementia Palliative Care Project, this study explored stakeholders’ views of blogs as a means to translate resea...

Background Dementia is a life-limiting illness, requiring a Palliative Care (PC) approach from diagnosis. In Ireland, People with Dementia (PwD) and their families rarely receive PC in a timely manner. This study aimed to evaluate five exemplar community-based dementia PC services across Ireland and the UK (as identified by key stakeholders), to in...

Background People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently experience high levels of anxiety. Despite this, many clinical settings do not provide specialist ASD mental health services, and demand for professional support frequently outstrips supply. Across many sectors of health, investigators have explored digital health solutions to mitigat...

Background For outcome measures to be useful in health and care decision-making, they need to have certain psychometric properties. The ICECAP-Supportive Care Measure (ICECAP-SCM), a seven attribute measure (1. Choice , 2. Love and affection , 3. Physical suffering , 4. Emotional suffering , 5. Dignity , 6. Being supported , 7. Preparation ) develo...

Background: Blogging can help to maximise the impact of one's work in academia and beyond by making research findings accessible for multiple knowledge users, such as healthcare professionals and the public, as well as other researchers. As part of the knowledge exchange and dissemination activities of the Model for Dementia Palliative Care Projec...

Background: Blogging can help to maximise the impact of one’s work in academia and beyond by making research findings accessible for multiple knowledge users, such as healthcare professionals and the public, as well as other researchers. As part of the knowledge exchange and dissemination activities of the Model for Dementia Palliative Care Project...

Background Palliative care is identified internationally as a priority for efficacious dementia care. Research into “effective models” of palliative care for people with dementia has been recommended by several European countries. To build an effective service-delivery model we must gain an understanding of existing models used in similar settings....

Older people with dementia have multiple palliative care needs, with pain, agitation, dyspnoea, aspiration and pressure ulcers being common and persistent in advanced dementia. Anticipating the person’s possible symptoms requires knowledge of the whole person, including the type of dementia, which is problematic when the dementia type is often not...

Fear of infection and measures taken to mitigate infection, such as social distancing, lockdown and isolation can lead to anxiety and depression across the life course, but especially in pregnancy. We set out to identify the prevalence of depression in pregnancy, using Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) during national quarantine and to ex...

Aim: The aim of this scoping review is to map the range of policy-related evidence influencing maternal health outcomes and determine the cultural and contextual factors influencing maternal health in Myanmar, a low-income, fragile setting. Design: Eligible studies identified will include maternal health-related policies, policy documents and re...

Research protocol for my upcoming Umbrella review

Background: Speech and language therapy involves the identification, assessment, and treatment of children and adults who have difficulties with communication, eating, drinking, and swallowing. Globally, pressing needs outstrip the availability of qualified practitioners who, of necessity, focus on individuals with advanced needs. The potential of...

BACKGROUND Speech and language therapy involves the identification, assessment, and treatment of children and adults who have difficulties with communication, eating, drinking, and swallowing. Globally, pressing needs outstrip the availability of qualified practitioners who, of necessity, focus on individuals with advanced needs. The potential of v...

Background Speech problems are common in people living with Parkinson disease (PD), limiting communication and ultimately affecting their quality of life. Voice-assisted technology in health and care settings has shown some potential in small-scale studies to address such problems, with a retrospective analysis of user reviews reporting anecdotal c...

Background Palliative care day services provide a safe environment for people with palliative care needs, enabling them to access a range of services while acting as a respite services for family caregivers. Viewed as marginal services, they are often under resourced and under researched. The aim of this study was to understand how palliative day c...

Background Palliative care is suitable for anyone with a life‐limiting illness, and addresses their physical, psychological, spiritual and social needs. People with dementia and their families can greatly benefit from a palliative approach to their care. The Model for Dementia Palliative Care Project is developing a new service delivery model for d...

Background: Palliative Care Day Services (PCDS) offer supportive care to people with advanced, progressive illness who may be approaching the end of life. Despite the growth of PCDS in recent years, evidence of their costs and effects is scarce. It is important to establish the value of such services so that health and care decision-makers can mak...

BACKGROUND Speech problems are common in people living with Parkinson disease (PD), limiting communication and ultimately affecting their quality of life. Voice-assisted technology in health and care settings has shown some potential in small-scale studies to address such problems, with a retrospective analysis of user reviews reporting anecdotal c...

Purpose The Model for Dementia Palliative Care Project will develop a service-delivery model for community-based dementia palliative care. Many countries provide dementia palliative care services, albeit with considerable variability within these. However, little is known about what service providers consider to be the most important components of...

Background: Breastfeeding is a normal physiological behaviour influenced by layers of internal and external factors. Motivational and cultural influences play an important role in maternal decision making and behaviour, impacting both the initiation and duration of breastfeeding. Aim: The aim of this study was to identify and analyse cultural and m...

Background: Home-based self-monitoring has failed to show intended savings to healthcare budgets yet it continues to emerge and gain popularity. Objective: We set out to verify stakeholders' perspectives of remote vital sign telemonitoring. Design: An observational design was adopted by devising a survey for distribution to service users and t...

Background: Awake craniotomy with electrical stimulation has become the gold standard for tumour resection in eloquent areas of the brain. Patients' speech during the procedure can inform the intervention and evidence for language experts to support the procedure is building. Within the UK a burgeoning speech and language therapist awake craniotom...

The number of people requiring palliative care is increasing sharply (Etkind et al., 2017). Forty per cent more people will need palliative care by 2040. Recommendations are that palliative care should be initiated at diagnosis, even concurrently with curative treatment (Guo et al., 2012). In response, Palliative Care Day Services are designed to s...

Background The Model for Dementia Palliative Care Project will develop a service delivery model for community-based dementia palliative care in Ireland. This responds to palliative care now being recognised as a priority in care for people with dementia. Various dementia palliative care services exist internationally, however little is known about...

Knowledge transfer is recognized as a vital stage in evidence-informed nursing with several models available to guide the process. Although the main components commonly involve identification of messages, stakeholders, processes and contexts, the underpinning models remain largely unrefined and untested; and they need to be evaluated. We set out to...

Background: Postnatal depression (PND) is common, affects the health of the mother, the development of the infant and places a large financial burden on services. Genetic and epigenetic biomarkers for PND could potentially improve the accuracy of current antenatal screening approaches. The aim of this systematic review is to report on the evidence...

The recording of 12 lead electrocardiograms (ECG) is one of the most useful and commonly performed medical procedures. ECGs are used in diagnosis, risk-stratification management decision-making, and assessment in response to therapy. The correct interpretation of 12 lead ECG recordings is complex and clinically challenging with misinterpretation ha...

Supplementary_file_4 – Supplemental material for Quality indicators for Palliative Day Services: A modified Delphi study

Supplementary_file_2 – Supplemental material for Quality indicators for Palliative Day Services: A modified Delphi study

Supplementary_file_1 – Supplemental material for Quality indicators for Palliative Day Services: A modified Delphi study

Supplementary_file_3 – Supplemental material for Quality indicators for Palliative Day Services: A modified Delphi study

Dementia is causing global concern with its massive impacts on affected individuals, families, society, and national economies. As the disease progresses, patients’ needs increase in number, depth, and breadth, covering physical, psychological, social, and spiritual domains. Care varies from place to place, from country to country and from east to...

Background:: The goal of Palliative Day Services is to provide holistic care that contributes to the quality of life of people with life-threatening illness and their families. Quality indicators provide a means by which to describe, monitor and evaluate the quality of Palliative Day Services provision and act as a starting point for quality impro...

Aims To identify the key common components of knowledge transfer and exchange in existing models to facilitate practice developments in health services research. Background There are over 60 models of knowledge transfer and exchange designed for various areas of health care. Many of them remain untested and lack guidelines for scaling‐up of succes...

Lung cancer is common in males as well as females and is one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. To gain an in-depth understanding of the 'pedagogy of suffering' (Frank, 1995, p. 145), the lived experiences of twelve adult patients in Northern Ireland diagnosed with advanced lung cancer were captured during two qualitative...

Background Dementia is a terminal illness but often isn’t recognised as such. The Model for Dementia Palliative Care Project will develop a service delivery model for dementia palliative care for use in the Irish Healthcare System. Research methods include reviewing the research evidence and conducting site evaluations of existing services in the R...

Introduction Palliative care day services (PCDS) is a popular if variable palliative intervention provided on a routine basis in many hospices. Aim and method To understand PCDS within Marie Curie hospices we set out to identify the structure process and outcome associated with the service. We present preliminary data on quality of life from the E...

In order to ensure the effective transfer of research knowledge to those who can effect positive changes in practice, models of knowledge transfer and exchange (KTE) are required. Limited evidence exists as to how palliative care researchers use existing models to support their practice and to what extent they are perceived as effective. We set out...

Introduction Nepal is beginning to develop palliative care services across the country. Most people live in rural areas, where the Mid-Level Health Workers (MHWs) are the major service providers. Their views on providing palliative care are most important in determining how the service is organized and developed. Aim This study aims to ascertain t...

Aim To explore the experience and the preparedness of family carers in their caregiving role as best interest decision‐makers of a relative living with advanced dementia. Background The prevalence of dementia is a global issue. The role of being a carer of a relative living with dementia does not necessarily lessen once they are admitted to a nurs...

To examine the Concept of bullying in the workplace

Objectives To discover if healthcare professionals working within an ED are able to make a diagnosis of female genital mutilation (FGM) in those patients who have previously undergone the procedure and report it as per UK law. Design A retrospective analysis of patients’ notes who were assigned an FGM code during the period of May 2015 to August 2...

Background Dementia is a leading cause of death worldwide. Often, people with moderate to advanced dementia are admitted to nursing homes for specialist care. When a person with dementia no longer has the capacity to make decisions about their care, nursing home staff, in combination with family members, may have to make decisions based on a person...

Introduction Quality indicators are explicitly defined and measurable items that evaluate and describe healthcare (Campbell, 2002). They can provide care users, staff, providers, and purchasers with feedback in relation to the quality of care, sometimes against benchmarks or previous quality assessments. In addition, by providing a valid and reliab...

Introduction Marie Curie Palliative Care Day Services have been developed to support people with life-limiting illness who live in their own home. Patients attend on a regular basis, typically receiving a mix of clinical and social care. Despite their popularity and general satisfaction (Kernohan et al, 2006), there is ambiguity concerning the cont...

Background: In dementia care, a large number of treatment decisions are made by family carers on behalf of their family member who lacks decisional capacity; advance care planning can support such carers in the decision-making of care goals. However, given the relative importance of advance care planning in dementia care, the prevalence of advance...

Background: Dementia is the most common neurological disorder worldwide and is a life-limiting condition, but very often is not recognised as such. People with dementia, and their carers, have been shown to have palliative care needs equal in extent to those of cancer patients. However, many people with advanced dementia are not routinely being ass...

Background. Motivation and goal setting can play a significant role in breastfeeding behaviour. Effective antenatal education has been recognised as a key component within breastfeeding decision-making. The inclusion of specific and relevant goals can increase self-efficacy and improve performance. Aim. To observe motivational influences communicat...

Background: Bullying has been identified as one of the leading workplace stressors, with adverse consequences for the individual employee, groups of employees, and whole organisations. Employees who have been bullied have lower levels of job satisfaction, higher levels of anxiety and depression, and are more likely to leave their place of work. Or...

Purpose: The efficacy of one remote monitoring system was reviewed in order to explore if optimal self-management of diabetes was achieved. Methods: Medical records of 214 patients with diabetes were reviewed from seven diabetes clinics within a single Health & Social Care trust using a remote monitoring solution to help patients self-manage their...

Background: The world’s population is aging, and more people are living with chronic conditions including diabetes mellitus. Healthcare providers are moving towards the use of telemonitoring to identify patient self-management approaches and ensure the delivery of health care at their home. Aim: to explore three telemonitoring technologies that in...

Objectives To report on the feasibility and acceptability of an ACP model for individuals living with dementia in a sample of care homes in the United Kingdom. Method As part of a cluster randomised controlled trial including 25 Care Homes, carers of residents living with dementia in 13 of these homes were exposed to an ACP intervention. This compr...

Palliative care must change, grow and mature in response to the growing number and complexity of needs of community patients. Such demands particularly challenge conventional delivery of day hospice. In response our hospice redesigned day service provision to modernise bespoke day facilities, appoint a day hospice sister and introduce several novel...

Background: Palliative care is recommended for non-malignant illnesses, including Parkinson’s disease. However, past research with healthcare workers highlights unmet palliative needs in this population and referral rates to Specialist Palliative Care are low. Some healthcare workers perceive a ‘fear’ in their patients about introducing palliative...

Introduction Evaluating quality of palliative day services is essential for assessing care across diverse settings, and for monitoring quality improvement approaches. Aim To develop a set of quality indicators for assessment of all aspects (structure, process and outcome) of care in palliative day services. Methods Using a modified version of the...

An integrated palliative care approach is recommended in all life-limiting diseases, including Parkinson’s disease (PD). However research shows that people with PD have unmet palliative care needs. The study aimed to explore multidisciplinary healthcare workers’ (HCWs) views on palliative care for people with PD, identifying perceived barriers and...

Background: The prevention of suicide is a key aim for health care authorities and society in general and family members have a principal role in caring for suicidal people. However, the support needs of these essential family carers are relatively unknown. Aim: To explore the support needs of family members of suicidal people. Method: Eightee...

Background: The Internet is widely used by women to guide infant feeding decisions and practice, but there is no clear understanding of women’s self-directed use of the Internet to support breastfeeding. Aim: To conceptualise online breastfeeding support. Methods: With ethical approval, a mixed methods triangulated study was undertaken based on a...

Background. Breastfeeding is recognised as a complex behaviour that is influenced by many factors. This creates challenges for all breastfeeding mothers and health professionals seeking to support women in their breastfeeding journey. Personal, psychosocial, cultural and economic factors create a complicated interplay that affects breastfeeding pra...

“If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” – Albert Einstein. Since type 2 diabetes (T2D) is critically prevalent worldwide, recent research has been focusing on the at-risk population to prevent or delay the development of their diabetes by lifestyle interventions or some medications. Clinical trials and re...

Introduction The mental well-being of internationally deployed disaster-relief workers has become an issue of concern. The psychological consequences for the relief worker being exposed to trauma and threats have been well documented; however, the role of pre-deployment preparation in supporting mental well-being has not received due attention, des...

Background/Aims: Midwives who volunteer as aid workers overseas need to be equipped with knowledge of the local culture and customs prior to their deployment. However, this information is not always easily accessible. The aim of this study was to address the need for knowledge prior to departure by interviewing expatriate workers about their experi...

This systematic review aims to evaluate evidence for viability and impact of Web-based telemonitoring for managing type 2 diabetes mellitus. A review protocol included searching Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, the Cochrane Library, and PubMed using the following terms: telemonitoring, type 2 diabetes mellitus, self-management, and web-based Internet...

The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and previous training of Irish health care workers (HCWs) in palliative care in end-stage Parkinson's disease (PD). A survey was distributed to HCWs, including neurologists, geriatricians, general practitioners, nurses, and allied health professionals, in acute and community setting...

To review knowledge transfer and exchange frameworks used in health, to analyse the core concepts of these frameworks and appraise their potential applicability to palliative care. Although there are over 60 different models of knowledge transfer and exchange designed for various areas of the fields of health care, many remain largely unrefined and...

Objective: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition often resulting in significant disability and impacting on one’s ability to participate in an occupation. The present study aimed to explore how people with advanced Parkinson’s disease experience the phenomenon of occupation in their daily lives in order to inform the...

Background: The palliative care clinical nurse specialist (PC-CNS) is a core member of the specialist palliative care team. According to professional policy, the role has four specific components: clinical practice, education, research, and leadership and management. Little is known about how to support staff in this role. Aim: The aim of this s...

Aim: The aim of this paper is to report on a study that compared ambulance clinicians’ views of two different types of patient coverings, focusing on core caring concepts such as comfort, dignity, and safety. Design: Ambulance clinicians’ views were gathered in respect of two types of patient coverings, and 128 ambulance patients were randomly dis...