Announcement of Awards for Best Research Paper and Best Practice Paper of 2017

It is my pleasure to announce the winners of the Best Research Paper and the Best Practice Paper of 2017, based on judging by the Associate Editors of “Issues in Mental Health Nursing.” The winners receive a certificate from our publisher, Taylor and Francis Group, as well as free access to the journal for a year.

The Best Research Paper of 2017, appearing in issue 7, is “Exploring the Mechanism of the Clinical Encounter on Depressive Symptoms in Young Adults: A Path Analysis,” written by a team of authors: Melissa Pinto, Amy Greenblatt, and Bryan Williams from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia; along with Adam Kaplin from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Participants in the study were predominantly female African-American low-income single young adults (18 to 25 years of age) with depressive symptoms. The aim of the study was to elucidate how high quality clinical encounters with providers can lead to motivation for self-care behavior (i.e., patient activation), which can reduce depressive symptoms. Path analysis model testing showed that 45% of the variance in patient activation was explained by two indicators of a high quality clinical encounter (quality of patient-provider communication and self-appraisal of communication with providers). As predicted, patient activation did exert direct effects on depressive symptoms. The model explained 30% of the variance in depressive symptoms. According to the authors, “our findings provide foundational data to inform the nurse's approach to clinical encounters with young adults. Specifically, findings illustrate the potential to improve depressive symptoms through enhancing a young adult's communication skills with his or her healthcare provider and motivating young adults to engage in self-care behaviors” (Pinto, Greenblatt, Williams, & Kaplin, 2017, p. 538). Comments by the judges included “innovative, interesting, timely, and results clear.”

The Best Practice Paper of 2017, appearing in issue 11, is “Mental Health Wellness and Biofield Therapies: An Integrative Review,” written by Lucrezia Mangione of Handcrafted Health LLC in Silver Spring, Maryland, Diane Swengros of Inova Health System in Falls Church, Virginia, and Joel Anderson of University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In this integrative review paper, adhering to Whittemore and Knafl's (2005) method for integrative reviews, the authors evaluated 30 recently published articles (2014–2016) on the biofield therapies of Healing Touch and Reiki. Their paper was prepared for the special issue on mental wellness, recovery and holism that we published in November. The particular focus of this review was to critically examine contemporary scientific evidence regarding the effects of these therapies on anxiety, mood, and mental health wellness. Most of the studies addressed anxiety and/or stress and found biofield therapies to be efficacious in reducing these symptoms and increasing mood. Patients’ experiences of various aspects of well-being were improved in both Healing Touch and Reiki studies. According to the authors, “Awareness of the application of Healing Touch and Reiki as biofield therapies can inform and support the compassionate care that nurses deliver daily and may influence nurse well-care” (Mangione, Swengros, & Anderson, 2017, p. 941). Comments of the judges included “interesting and well written paper; it is encouraging to see exploration of complementary and alternative treatments; very interesting and timely topic; having the research literature reviewed is very helpful to determine scientific usefulness of these interventions.”

Congratulations to the winners of the 2017 IMHN awards for Best Research Paper and Best Practice Paper. Plan to submit your best work to compete for the 2018 awards!