Well, you are being kind with "informal", and I approve, @Valentijn . Much of what I write - and all of my Math these days, it would seem - is informal.
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Yes, it's bad English, but normal Dutch "Learn" and "teach" both use the same verb, and it's one which even expert English speakers will carry over from Dutch. They do exactly the same thing with "borrow" and "lend" and it drives me batty
Though interestingly, "I was learned" or "he learned him good" is used informally in American English, especially in the rural South.
Quality of English teachers doesn't seem to consistently be very good in (non-international) public schools. All teachers basically have to speak perfect Dutch, so even the English teachers are not native speakers of the language which they are teaching. This can result in some oddities regarding accents and phrases - Dutch rules can slip in where they would not with a native speaker.It was not when I was at school. Learn you do yourself and somebody else teaches you how to do something.
Yes, it's bad English, but normal Dutch "Learn" and "teach" both use the same verb, and it's one which even expert English speakers will carry over from Dutch. They do exactly the same thing with "borrow" and "lend" and it drives me batty
Though interestingly, "I was learned" or "he learned him good" is used informally in American English, especially in the rural South.
I'm not certain, but i think this might be the study proposal, which is useful until we have access to the full published paper:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01512342
Maybe this data will be published in a separate paper, or maybe we'll never see it?the change in autonomic activity at rest and following 3 activities of daily living [ Time Frame: measured at baseline (week 1) and post-treatment (week 5) ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
The 3 activities of daily living entail writing a standardized test on a laptop computer, ironing, and climbing 26 flights of stairs. For measuring autonomic activity, the Nexus 10 device (Mind Media, the Netherlands) will be used. Skin conductance, body temperature, heart rate, blood volume pressure and heart rate variability will be measured continuously in real time during a 2 minutes period, with the patient sitting on a chair (back supported and hands resting on legs). Electrodes will be placed on the left hand in all patients.
It describes the nature of the pacing strategy they used:
Experimental: Pacing
The pacing self-management program focussed on teaching the patient to estimate their current physical capabilities prior to commencing an activity. In order to appropriately pace activities (daily activities and exercise bouts), CFS patients were learned to estimate their current physical capabilities prior to commencing an activity, keeping in mind the regular fluctuating nature of their symptoms. The activity duration used within the program was less than that reported by the patient so to account for typical overestimations made by the patient. Each activity block was interspersed with breaks, with the length of this break equating to the duration of the activity.
Intervention
Activity Pacing Self-Management.
The APSM program consists of a stabilization phase and a grading phase (Nijs, Paul, & Wallman, 2008; Nijs et al., 2009). The stabilization phase focuses on coaching clients in how to perform daily life activities within the limits of their actual capacity.Daily life activitieswere defined as all responsibilities and desired activities in the areas of personal and child care, domestic care, productivity,and leisure. To appropriately pace activities, participants were instructed to estimate their current physical and mental capabilities (in terms of activity duration) before commencing an activity, keeping in mind the fluctuating nature of their symptoms.
The activity duration advised within the program was 25%–50% lower than the capacity participants reported to account for any overestimations. Each activity block was interspersed with breaks, with the length of each break equal to the duration of the activity.Breakswere defined as relative periods of rest, with the participant just relaxing or performing a different type of light activity. The emphasis on breaks is based on the observation that recovery from physical exertion is prolonged in people with CFS (Ickmans, Meeus, De Kooning, Lambrecht, & Nijs,2014; Ickmans, Meeus, De Kooning, Lambrecht, Pattyn, & Nijs, 2014; Paul, Wood, Behan, & Maclaren, 1999). The process of restructuring activity patterns involves significant behavioral change for people with CFS, and facilitation of this process can be beneficial (Abraham & Michie, 2008). Participants received education in the form of a booklet with evidence-based information on factors influencing fatigue and strategies to cope with fatigue and pace activities. Participants were asked to keep a diary recording the type of activity and time spent on all activities throughout the day during 7 days to increase their awareness and guide implementation of coping strategies.
Once clients are able to control their daily life activities without excessive feelings of fatigue, the grading phase can start. In this phase, activity and exercise level are increased gradually. Participants conferred with the therapist to set relevant and achievable personal activity and exercise goals, based on the prioritized activities reported in the COPM and diary results (e.g., “During two of my lunch breaks next week, I will walk for 400 m” or “For 2 days next week, I will prepare a warm meal in two time slots [preparation in the morning, finalization in the late afternoon]”). Strategies to reach these goals were discussed and performed in real life between two sessions. During the next session, participants reflected on activity performance, facilitators, and barriers and adapted their strategies and goals accordingly, whenever relevant and appropriate.
The COPM is a standardized outcome measure frequently used by occupational therapists to assess clients’ perceived performance of and satisfaction with relevant daily life activities (Law et al., 2005). Using a semistructured interview, the therapist explores problems in performing daily activities in the domains of self-care, productivity, and leisure. The mean score for all activities in the Performance and Satisfaction subscales is calculated. At follow-up, clients rescore the same activities, blinded to earlier scores. The COPM is a reliable, valid, and responsive instrument, and change scores of 1.4 for Performance and 1.9 for Satisfaction are considered clinically important (Carswell et al., 2004; Dedding, Cardol, Eyssen, Dekker, & Beelen, 2004; Eyssen, Beelen, Dedding, Cardol, & Dekker, 2005; Eyssen et al., 2011).
It was to be expected that performance of daily life activities would not have reached the most optimal levels immediately after the intervention. More time than the intervention period of 3 wk used in this study may have been necessary for participants to make the practical arrangements required to maximize performance (e.g., acquisition of needed equipment, alterations in work schedules, installation of home adaptations). With a longer treatment program or a longer follow-up period, we might have observed the evolution of Performance scores. However, participants in this study entered a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program after the reassessment, and therefore follow-up scores would have been contaminated by the additional intervention.
Activity pacing self-management uses the principle of activity pacing but incorporates a grading phase to gradually increase activity and exercise levels. Still, more studies comparing the effects of activity pacing with established CFS treatments like GET and CBT are warranted. However, we advocate APSM not as a stand-alone treatment for CFS, but rather as part of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program that also includes comprehensive client education, counseling, exercise therapy, and stress management and sleep management interventions (Goudsmit et al., 2012; Nijs, Mannerkorpi, Descheemaeker, & Van Houdenhove, 2010).
Intervention
Activity Pacing Self-Management.
The APSM program consists of a stabilization phase and a grading phase (Nijs, Paul, & Wallman, 2008; Nijs et al., 2009). The stabilization phase focuses on coaching clients in how to perform daily life activities within the limits of their actual capacity.Daily life activitieswere defined as all responsibilities and desired activities in the areas of personal and child care, domestic care, productivity,and leisure. To appropriately pace activities, participants were instructed to estimate their current physical and mental capabilities (in terms of activity duration) before commencing an activity, keeping in mind the fluctuating nature of their symptoms.
The activity duration advised within the program was 25%–50% lower than the capacity participants reported to account for any overestimations. Each activity block was interspersed with breaks, with the length of each break equal to the duration of the activity.Breakswere defined as relative periods of rest, with the participant just relaxing or performing a different type of light activity. The emphasis on breaks is based on the observation that recovery from physical exertion is prolonged in people with CFS (Ickmans, Meeus, De Kooning, Lambrecht, & Nijs,2014; Ickmans, Meeus, De Kooning, Lambrecht, Pattyn, & Nijs, 2014; Paul, Wood, Behan, & Maclaren, 1999). The process of restructuring activity patterns involves significant behavioral change for people with CFS, and facilitation of this process can be beneficial (Abraham & Michie, 2008). Participants received education in the form of a booklet with evidence-based information on factors influencing fatigue and strategies to cope with fatigue and pace activities. Participants were asked to keep a diary recording the type of activity and time spent on all activities throughout the day during 7 days to increase their awareness and guide implementation of coping strategies.
Once clients are able to control their daily life activities without excessive feelings of fatigue, the grading phase can start. In this phase, activity and exercise level are increased gradually. Participants conferred with the therapist to set relevant and achievable personal activity and exercise goals, based on the prioritized activities reported in the COPM and diary results (e.g., “During two of my lunch breaks next week, I will walk for 400 m” or “For 2 days next week, I will prepare a warm meal in two time slots [preparation in the morning, finalization in the late afternoon]”). Strategies to reach these goals were discussed and performed in real life between two sessions. During the next session, participants reflected on activity performance, facilitators, and barriers and adapted their strategies and goals accordingly, whenever relevant and appropriate.
The 3 activities of daily living entail writing a standardized test on a laptop computer, ironing, and climbing 26 flights of stairs.
Participants conferred with the therapist to set relevant and achievable personal activity and exercise goals, based on the prioritized activities reported in the COPM and diary results (e.g., “During two of my lunch breaks next week, I will walk for 400 m” or “For 2 days next week, I will prepare a warm meal in two time slots [preparation in the morning, finalization in the late afternoon]”).
Yeah, I was wondering about that too.(My emphasis)
Do they really mean 26 flights of stairs? Or 26 stairs?