Posts by: Patrick van Dun

The state of women’s health during pregnancy and in the post-natal period can have profound and long-term effects on their own health and that of their children. Women are increasingly seeking complementary and alternative therapies during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of women who received osteopathic treatment during pregnancy … ABSTRACT

Limited information is available regarding the profile and clinical practice characteristics of the osteopathy workforce in Australia. This paper reports such information by analysing data from a nationally-representative sample of Australian osteopaths … MORE

This research aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of cancer patients receiving osteopathic treatment as a complementary therapy when it is used in addition to conventional treatment for cancer pain … ABSTRACT

Clinical teaching evaluations are common in health profession education programs to ensure students are receiving a quality clinical education experience. Questionnaires students use to evaluate their clinical teachers have been developed in professions such as medicine and nursing. The development of a questionnaire that is specifically for the osteopathy on-campus, student-led clinic environment is warranted. Previous work developed the 30-item Osteopathy Clinical Teaching Questionnaire. The current study utilised Rasch analysis to investigate the construct validity of the Osteopathy Clinical Teaching Questionnaire and provide evidence for the validity argument through fit to the Rasch model … MORE

A number of clinical reasoning models, including hypothetico-deductive, pattern recognition and narrative reasoning have been identified in both novice and experienced medical, nursing and allied health professionals. The aim of this project was to explore clinical reasoning in osteopathy from the perspectives of both experienced practitioners and novice practitioners … ABSTRACT

Recent media reports have highlighted the risks to patients that may occur when practitioners in the chiropractic, osteopathy and physiotherapy professions provide services in an unethical or unsafe manner. Yet research on complaints about chiropractors, osteopaths, and physiotherapists is limited. Our aim was to understand differences in the frequency and nature of formal complaints about practitioners in these professions in order to inform improvements in professional regulation and education … MORE

Urinary incontinence (UI) may be defined as a storage symptom of the lower urinary tract resulting in the involuntary loss of urine. UI is common in women, but many of those affected do not mention symptoms to healthcare providers. The prevalence of the condition makes it likely that a large proportion of women attending for osteopathic care will be affected by symptoms of UI. It is not known whether osteopaths routinely ask about urinary UI, or provide advice. The primary aim of this research was to explore osteopaths’ views and experiences regarding the identification of UI in women … ABSTRACT