Ageing, Chronicity and End of Life Care

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032). This special issue belongs to the section "Chronic Care".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 2844

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Nursing, Mind, Brain and Behaviour Research Institute, University of Granada, 18016 Granada, Spain
Interests: palliative care; nursing homes; qualitative research; end-of-life
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria (ibs), Granada, Spain
Interests: palliative care; end-of-life care; chronicity; ageing; elderly care; nursing homes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Although many people live long, healthy lives, many will eventually be confronted with frailty, multi-morbidity, and serious illnesses. Older people develop different physical, psychological, and/or social difficulties in later life. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring high-quality end-of-life care for all older people in the world has become increasingly important. The pandemic has sharpened the vulnerable position of older people in our society, in nursing homes, in the community and in hospitals.

Papers highlighting the importance of an integrated palliative, geriatric, and rehabilitative care approach for older people, as well as setting-specific and cross-setting interventions, are welcome.

Dr. Rafael Montoya Juárez
Dr. Daniel Puente-Fernández
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • palliative care
  • end-of-life care
  • chronicity
  • ageing
  • elderly care
  • nursing homes

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 296 KiB  
Article
Clinical Simulation in Palliative Care for Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Randomized Clinical Trial and Complementary Qualitative Study
by Ana Alejandra Esteban-Burgos, Jesús Moya-Carramolino, Miriam Vinuesa-Box, Daniel Puente-Fernández, María Paz García-Caro, Rafael Montoya-Juárez and Manuel López-Morales
Healthcare 2024, 12(4), 421; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12040421 - 06 Feb 2024
Viewed by 759
Abstract
Background: a lack of adequate training in palliative care leads to a greater emotional burden on nurses. Purpose: to assess the effect of a simulation using standardized patients on self-efficacy in palliative care, ability to cope with death, and emotional intelligence among nursing [...] Read more.
Background: a lack of adequate training in palliative care leads to a greater emotional burden on nurses. Purpose: to assess the effect of a simulation using standardized patients on self-efficacy in palliative care, ability to cope with death, and emotional intelligence among nursing students. Methods: a randomized clinical trial and qualitative study. A total of 264 nursing students in a palliative care module completed the Bugen, trait meta-mood, and self-efficacy in palliative care scales after active participation in the simulation (n = 51), watching the simulation (n = 113), and the control group (n = 100). An ANOVA with a multi-comparative analysis and McNemar’s tests for paired samples were calculated. Active participants were interviewed, and a thematic analysis was conducted. Results: there was an improvement after the assessment in all three groups assessed for coping with death (p < 0.01), emotional intelligence (p < 0.01), and self-efficacy (p < 0.01). In addition, the active group improved more than the observer group and the control group in coping with death, attention, and repair. The students in the interviews identified sadness and an emotional lack of control. Conclusions: the simulation improved nursing students’ self-efficacy in palliative care. This effect was partially stronger in the active group. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ageing, Chronicity and End of Life Care)
10 pages, 245 KiB  
Article
Does the Response to a Stressful Condition in Older Adults with Life Rhythm Dysregulations Provide Evidence of the Existence of the “Dysregulation of Mood, Energy, and Social Rhythms Syndrome”?
by Diego Primavera, Cesar Ivan Aviles Gonzalez, Ferdinando Romano, Goce Kalcev, Samantha Pinna, Luigi Minerba, Alessandra Scano, Germano Orrù and Giulia Cossu
Healthcare 2024, 12(1), 87; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12010087 - 29 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 737
Abstract
Objective: The COVID-19 lockdown periods have given rise to the “Dysregulation of Mood, Energy, and Social Rhythms Syndrome” (DYMERS). This syndrome is characterized by a poor regulation of biological, social, and behavioral rhythms, including sleep, nutrition, and social contacts. The purpose of this [...] Read more.
Objective: The COVID-19 lockdown periods have given rise to the “Dysregulation of Mood, Energy, and Social Rhythms Syndrome” (DYMERS). This syndrome is characterized by a poor regulation of biological, social, and behavioral rhythms, including sleep, nutrition, and social contacts. The purpose of this cohort study was to examine whether older adults with pre-existing DYMERS had a more negative perception of their health-related quality of life (H-QoL) during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, regardless of the presence of concurrent mood disorders. Method: The entire study population (N = 93; age > 65 year) was categorized based on whether they exhibited dysregulated rhythms at the outset of the study. A comparison was made between DYMERS-positive individuals and DYMERS-negative individuals, and we assessed their H-QoL at the conclusion of the study. We also compared the H-QoL of individuals in the cohort who did not have a positive depression score to understand the impact of the rhythm dysregulation alone. Results: The frequency of individuals with a critical health-related quality of life score (SF12 < 25) was higher in the cohort with pre-existing DYMERS during lockdown (33.33% vs. 6.17%). This difference remained significant even when only individuals without depressive symptomatology were considered (27.27% vs. 2.60%). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that DYMERS can exert a substantial influence on health-related quality of life (H-QoL), even when mood disturbances are not present. Additional research is required to investigate the relationship between DYMERS and other psychiatric conditions as well as its nature as a standalone disorder. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ageing, Chronicity and End of Life Care)
12 pages, 1416 KiB  
Article
Preferred versus Actual Place of Care and Factors Associated with Home Discharge among Korean Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Retrospective Cohort Study
by In Young Hwang, Yohan Han, Min Sun Kim, Kyae Hyung Kim, Belong Cho, Wonho Choi, Yejin Kim, Shin Hye Yoo and Sun Young Lee
Healthcare 2023, 11(13), 1939; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11131939 - 05 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 745
Abstract
Respecting the preference for a place of care is essential for advance care planning in patients with advanced cancer. This retrospective study included adult patients with cancer referred to an inpatient palliative care consultation team at a tertiary acute care hospital in South [...] Read more.
Respecting the preference for a place of care is essential for advance care planning in patients with advanced cancer. This retrospective study included adult patients with cancer referred to an inpatient palliative care consultation team at a tertiary acute care hospital in South Korea between April 2019 and December 2020. Patients’ preference for place of care and demographic and clinical factors were recorded, and the actual discharge locations were categorized as home or non-home. Patients discharged home but with unintended hospital visits within 2 months were also investigated. Of the 891 patients referred to the palliative care consultation team, 210 (23.6%) preferred to be discharged home. Among them, 113 (53.8%) were discharged home. No significant differences were found between patients who preferred home discharge and those who did not. Home discharge was higher among female patients (p = 0.04) and lower in those with poor oral intake (p < 0.001) or dyspnea (p = 0.02). Of the 113 patients discharged home, 37 (32.8%) had unintended hospital visits within 2 months. Approximately one-quarter of hospitalized patients with advanced cancer preferred to be discharged home, but only half of them received the home discharge. To meet patients’ preferences for end-of-life care, individual care planning considering relevant factors is necessary. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ageing, Chronicity and End of Life Care)
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