Experiencing a traumatic spinal cord injury—Analysis on the view of the theory of Watson’s transpersonal caring

This is an inquiry that seeks to understand the meaning of experiencing a spinal cord injury for hospitalized Brazilian and Portuguese patients. A quailtative study was achieved in two care services to spinal cord injury in Fortaleza-Brazil and Lisboa-Portugal. The subjects were 30 patients with complete spinal cord injury. The findings were obtained through a semi-structured interview, which took place at different times and it was used the following guiding question: What does it mean for you to experience a spinal cord injury? The data were organized by Bardin technique and analysis based on the assumptions of the theory of Jean Watson’s care. The speeches of the patients show a diversity of meanings such as: to lose the freedom of going and coming, sexuality and to become dependent on others. It is concluded that this situation of loss overbalances the person’s existence, which is expressed by feelings of sadness, grief, discontent, isolation, anxiety, crying, pain and emotional suffering. These feelings were expressed by the two groups despite being from different cultures. The research enabled the description of multiple dimensions of the meaning of spinal cord injury. It fills the theoretical gap, not yet sufficiently addressed to the practice of caring people with spinal cord injury.

Chocolate Milk with Sucrose and Stevia Preference by Pre- and Post-Menopausal Women

The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the preference of chocolate milk products sweetened with sucrose and stevia by pre- and post-menopausal women and to examine their concerns about bone health. Women panelists were divided into two groups according to age: pre- menopausal (from 18 to 47 years old) and post-menopausal (over 48 years old) and answered the frequency of white and chocolate milk consumption during a week and their concerns about bone health. For preference, five kinds of chocolate milk were used: 1) Non Sucrose Added [NSA] with stevia and NutraFlora?, 2) NSA with stevia, 3) with sucrose and stevia, 4) with sucrose, stevia, and NutraFlora?, and 5) control with sucrose. The results showed that both groups (pre- and post- menopausal women) prefer chocolate milk to white milk. Pre-menopausal women prefer the chocolate milk with NSA stevia and NutraFlora?, while post-menopausal women prefer the chocolate milk NSA with stevia without NutraFlora?. For comparisons between chocolate milk with sucrose and stevia vs. chocolate milk with sucrose and stevia and NutraFlora? and chocolate milk with sucrose vs. chocolate milk with sucrose and stevia, there were no visible differences between pre- and post-menopausal women. Both groups were concerned about bone health, fiber, and calories, and their concerns about which influenced their milk choices. Pre-menopausal women showed a greater positive impact on milk choice when being informed the amount of fibers in the sample than post-menopausal women. Therefore, this study suggests that milk sweetened with stevia needs to be produced as calcium resources without increasing calories.