Sharla King

Bio: Sharla King is an academic researcher from University of Alberta. The author has contributed to research in topics: Interprofessional education & Health care. The author has an hindex of 16, co-authored 40 publications receiving 959 citations.

The effects of exercise and education, individually or combined, in women with fibromyalgia.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To examine the effectiveness of a supervised aerobic exercise program, a self-management education program, and the combination of exercise and education for women with fibromyalgia (FM). METHODS: One hundred fifty-two women were randomized into one of 4 groups: exercise-only, education-only, exercise and education, or control. The duration of the study was 12 weeks. All subjects were analyzed at 3 times: before study, immediately upon completion, and 3 months after completion of the intervention program on measures of disability, self-efficacy, fitness, tender point count, and tender point tenderness. Of the 152 women, complete data were available for 95 and 69 who complied with the protocol. In order to determine the group time interaction, a 2 way analysis of variance with repeated measures was used for each measure. RESULTS: The only significant group time interaction was reported with the compliance analysis for the Self-Efficacy Coping with Other Symptoms subscale and the Six Minute Walk. If the program was followed, the combination of a supervised exercise program and group education provided persons with FM with a better sense of control over their symptoms. Fitness improved in the 2 groups undergoing supervised aerobic exercise programs. However, the improvement in fitness was maintained at followup in the exercise-only group and not the combined group. Conclusion. Subjects receiving the combination of exercise and education and who complied with the treatment protocol improved their perceived ability to cope with other symptoms. In addition, a supervised exercise program increased walking distance at post-test, an increase that was maintained at followup in the exercise-only group. Results demonstrate the challenges with conducting exercise and education studies in persons with FM.

Integration of e-learning technologies in an interprofessional health science course

Abstract: Background: Advances in information and communication technology are influencing instructional formats and delivery modes for post secondary teaching and learning.Aims: The purpose of this study wa...

Validity and reliability of the 6 minute walk in persons with fibromyalgia.

Abstract: Objective. To assess the reliability and construct validity of the 6 minute walk (6MW) in persons with fibromyalgia (FM) and to determine an equation for predicting peak oxygen consumption (pVO 2 ) from the distance covered in 6 minutes. Methods. Ninety-six women who met the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for FM were tested on the 6MW and the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ). A subset (n = 23) were tested on a separate day for pVO 2 during a symptom-limited, incremental treadmill test. Twelve subjects repeated the 6MW five times over 10 days. Heart rate and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded for each walk. Intraclass correlations were used to determine the reliability of the 6MW. Validity was examined by correlating the 6MW with pVO 2 and the FIQ. Body mass index (BMI) and 6MW were independent variables in a stepwise regression to predict pVO 2 . Results. A significant increase in distance occurred from Walk I to Walk 2 (p = 0.000) with the distance maintained on the remaining walks (p = 0.148) The correlations of the 6MW with the FIQ and pVO, were -0.325 and 0.657, respectively. The regression equation to predict pVO 2 from 6MW distance and BMI was: pVO 2 (ml/kg/min)=21.48 + (-0.4316×BMI)+[0.0304×distance(m)] (R=0.76, R 2 =0.66). Conclusion. When using the 6MW it is necessary to conduct a practice walk, with the second walk taken as the baseline measure. It was determined from the correlations that the 6MW cannot replace the FIQ as a measure of function. The 6MW may be used as an indicator of aerobic fitness, although obtaining VO 2 by means of a graded exercise test is preferable.

Socialization in health education: encouraging an integrated interprofessional socialization process.

Abstract: There is limited research on how health professionals are currently socialized to work interprofessionally. As part of a large-scale initiative funded by Health Canada, this report adds to our understanding of socialization and how it can prepare the health care student for an interprofessional health care environment. Data were collected through semistructured individual and group interviews with 83 respondents (i.e., faculty, students, health care and academic administrators, and health care providers) at seven clinical sites and five academic institutions throughout Alberta. Respondents indicated that socialization prepares health care students for interprofessional environments by "building a professional identity" and through what we are labeling "interprofessional familiarization" (i.e., where the goal is to introduce students to the roles and function of other professionals outside their own discipline). While there is interprofessional familiarization, it is neither consistently espoused as important nor systematically embedded in curriculum and clinical placements. Interprofessional competency building is lacking during this preparatory phase, leaving students ill prepared to work in interprofessional health care environments. We argue there is a need for greater interprofessional socialization in education. By creating a deliberate, planned, and integrated interprofessional socialization process that is consistent across the health professions, barriers to interprofessional practice could be mitigated.

Developing interprofessional health competencies in a virtual world.

Abstract: Background: Virtual worlds provide a promising means of delivering simulations for developing interprofessional health skills. However, developing and implementing a virtual world simulation is a challenging process, in part because of the novelty of virtual worlds as a simulation platform and also because of the degree of collaboration required among technical and subject experts. Thus, it can be difficult to ensure that the simulation is both technically satisfactory and educationally appropriate. Methods: To address this challenge, we propose the use of de Freitas and Oliver’s four-dimensional framework as a means of guiding the development process. We give an overview of the framework and describe how its principles can be applied to the development of virtual world simulations. Results: We present two virtual world simulation pilot projects that adopted this approach, and describe our development experience in these projects. We directly connect this experience to the four-dimensional framework, thus validating the framework’s applicability to the projects and to the context of virtual world simulations in general. Conclusions: We present a series of recommendations for developing virtual world simulations for interprofessional health education. These recommendations are based on the four-dimensional framework and are also informed by our experience with the pilot projects. Keywords: virtual worlds; simulation; interprofessional education; development framework (Published: 16 November 2012) Citation: Med Educ Online 2012, 17 : 11213 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/meo.v17i0.11213

Evidence for prescribing exercise as therapy in chronic disease.

Abstract: Considerable knowledge has accumulated in recent decades concerning the significance of physical activity in the treatment of a number of diseases, including diseases that do not primarily manifest as disorders of the locomotive apparatus. In this review we present the evidence for prescribing exercise therapy in the treatment of metabolic syndrome-related disorders (insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, obesity), heart and pulmonary diseases (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary heart disease, chronic heart failure, intermittent claudication), muscle, bone and joint diseases (osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome) and cancer, depression, asthma and type 1 diabetes. For each disease, we review the effect of exercise therapy on disease pathogenesis, on symptoms specific to the diagnosis, on physical fitness or strength and on quality of life. The possible mechanisms of action are briefly examined and the principles for prescribing exercise therapy are discussed, focusing on the type and amount of exercise and possible contraindications.

Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge.

Abstract: When the red harvester ant is threatened, nestmates rush to its assistance. The message is a chemical one. Distress is communicated and help summoned by the potential victim ejecting a tiny cocktail of alkanes and terpenoids. Professor E 0 Wilson, who made this discovery, is a distinguished zoologist whose writings have twice been awarded Pulitzer Prizes. His interests extend far beyond entomology, however. Why should human communication be qualitatively different from that of the ant, in being achieved by definable, physicochemical processes? And, if this is the case, surely the same must be true of other social phenomena? Having conceded so much, on what grounds can we exclude other products of human activity such as the social sciences, arts, humanities and ethics? In a mechanistic universe, the whole of human civilization is the ultimate product of the interaction between genes and environment, incredibly complex, as Wilson admits, but susceptible to fundamentally the same analytic techniques as communication in the harvester ant. Consilience (literally, a 'jumping together') is the notion that a common groundwork of explanation applies not only to the sciences but also to the arts, ethics and religion. In his book Consiliencel Wilson applies a combination of broad learning and a style of baroque exuberance to put the case for such a unity of knowledge. Wilson is thus, as he makes clear, a child of the Enlightenment, paying homage to Bacon and Newton but most of all to Condorcet, who trod the same intellectual path (and who came to grief in the Revolution for reasons probably not unrelated to his philosophy). He mourns the triumph at the end of the eighteenth century of revelatory religion fearful of the outcomes of science, and most of all of Romanticism although regrettably overlooking the

Management of Fibromyalgia Syndrome

Abstract: ContextThe optimal management of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is unclear and comprehensive evidence-based guidelines have not been reported.ObjectiveTo provide up-to-date evidence-based guidelines for the optimal treatment of FMS.Data Sources, Selection, and ExtractionA search of all human trials (randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials) of FMS was made using Cochrane Collaboration Reviews (1993-2004), MEDLINE (1966-2004), CINAHL (1982-2004), EMBASE (1988-2004), PubMed (1966-2004), Healthstar (1975-2000), Current Contents (2000-2004), Web of Science (1980-2004), PsychInfo (1887-2004), and Science Citation Indexes (1996-2004). The literature review was performed by an interdisciplinary panel, composed of 13 experts in various pain management disciplines, selected by the American Pain Society (APS), and supplemented by selected literature reviews by APS staff members and the Utah Drug Information Service. A total of 505 articles were reviewed.Data SynthesisThere are major limitations to the FMS literature, with many treatment trials compromised by short duration and lack of masking. There are no medical therapies that have been specifically approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for management of FMS. Nonetheless, current evidence suggests efficacy of low-dose tricyclic antidepressants, cardiovascular exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy, and patient education. A number of other commonly used FMS therapies, such as trigger point injections, have not been adequately evaluated.ConclusionsDespite the chronicity and complexity of FMS, there are pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions available that have clinical benefit. Based on current evidence, a stepwise program emphasizing education, certain medications, exercise, cognitive therapy, or all 4 should be recommended.