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Kennett C, Payne M. Palliative care patients' experiences of healthcare treatmentInt J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 262–271 © 2009 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare.This article reports on a thematic analysis of the opinions of 34 palliative care patients about medical and healthcare treatment expressed in comments, narratives and discussions during a series of facilitated group discussions undertaken as part of training events for medical students. Palliative care patients often have long healthcare careers, which enables them to compare different professionals and services, thus offering a more powerful and complex analysis of patient experience than that obtainable from analysis of complaints or satisfaction surveys, and permits some understanding to be obtained of the attitudes that condition evaluations of services. The patients balanced negative views with positive experiences. They appreciated open, listening, equal and friendly relationships with professionals in which careful explanation fostered their confidence in the overall service. They criticised inflexible services that did not consider their broad needs, and in which relationships with professionals were characterised by busy‐ness and professional distance.

A roadmap to behavioral intervention research in hospice and palliative care -- The foundations of behavioral intervention research in hospice and palliative care -- Defining and analyzing the problem -- Designing an intervention -- Planning, pilot-testing, and refining the intervention -- Conducting a clinical trial -- Disseminating findings and translating the intervention.

"Melanoma is one of the most common types of malignancy in the world, and one known to carry a very poor prognosis until recent years. This review aims to outline the events in the history of the disease and the impact made by the discoveries along the way, as well as the modern-day consensus by referencing the updated literature regarding the present approach and future directions. In the last two decades, several studies and research have brought significant improvement in the diagnosis and clinical management of melanomas. The development of sentinel lymph node biopsy has brought major changes to the surgical approach to the disease, and modern therapies based on recently developed knowledge changed the death sentence this diagnosis once meant to a manageable condition despite its aggressiveness, keeping in mind that early diagnosis and safe margin excision remain the best and most optimistic course of treatment. "

This article reviews the history of substance abuse treatment and its evaluation. The authors comment on key aspects of this history and its implications for the future. Research has been a key factor in the support of substance abuse treatment and the expansion and improvement of treatment options. Despite the progress in the field, organizational structure and functioning, ambivalence on the moral/medical basis of addiction, and narrow perspectives on evidence-based practice have presented barriers for advancement. Future improvement of treatment is seen as dependent on the partnership of researchers and real world providers, studies of evidence- based practice in a wide variety of community based settings and the consideration of complex and changing real-world environments, particularly for rural, uninsured and under-served populations.