My Home Life: promoting quality of life in care homes

A new report from JRF outlines the findings from the My Home Life project. My Home Life is a collaborative initiative between Age UK, City University, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Dementia UK promoting quality of life in care homes. This study found: - positive relationships in care homes enable staff to listen to older people, gain insights into individual needs and facilitate greater voice, choice and control; - relationship-centred care is at the heart of many examples of best practice; - care home managers play a pivotal role in promoting relationships between older people, staff and relatives; - care home providers and statutory agencies should consider how their attitudes, practices and policies can create pressure and unnecessary paperwork which ultimately reduce the capacity of care homes to respond to the needs of older people; and - negative stereotypes of care homes have an impact on the confidence of staff and managers

Quality of Life (QoL) in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): a Literature Review

Purpose: To describe the definition of quality of life (QoL) and identify the most appropriate tool for QoL assessment used in patients with TBI.Method: Searching was conducted from PubMed, CINAHL, EBSCO, and ProQuest during 2000-2011. A total of 33 studies were analyzed for this review consisting of 9 review studies, 2 intervention studies, and 22 descriptive studies.Result: Two important definitions of QoL were used in studies related to TBI namely achievement and subjective well-being. Although varieties of generic measurements have been used to measure QoL in TBI patients, there was a lack of TBI-specific Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) instrument. Despite the different approach and time measured either short or long outcomes, appropriate domains of QoL tool seem essential particularly among those with moderate and severe TBI.Conclusion: QoL is a wide concept which can be defined in several dimensions. The QOLIBRI as a new disease-specific QoL measurement in TBI seems a feasible and valid approach for the assessment of QoL in TBI. However, the application across cultural remains a challenge and needs a validation

Determinants of quality of life in children with psychiatric disorders

Objective: To assess factors that, in addition to childhood psychopathology, are associated with Quality of Life (QoL) in children with psychiatric problems. Methods: In a referred sample of 252 8 to 18-year-olds, information concerning QoL, psychopathology and a broad range of child, parent, and family/ social network factors was obtained from children, parents, teachers and clinicians. Results: Poor child, parent, and clinician reported QoL was associated with child psychopathology, but given the presence of psychopathology, also with child factors, such as low self-esteem, and poor social skills, and family/social network factors, such as poor family functioning, and poor social support. In multiple linear regression analyses the importance of parent factors, such as parenting stress, was almost negligible. Conclusion: To increase QoL of children with psychiatric problems, treatment of symptoms is important, but outcome might improve if treatment is also focussed on other factors that may affect QoL. Results are discussed in relation to current treatment programs. © Springer 2005

Nutritional Status and Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Patients in Karawaci General Hospital

Cancer is related to a deterioration of nutritional status and quality of life (Qol), but the extent of these conditions in patients with breast cancer has not been studied well. Malnutrition is prevalent among cancer patients and maybe correlated with altered quality of life. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association of QoL and nutritional status after breast cancer diagnosed. Nutritional status was evaluated with Patient Generated Subjective Global Assessment and QoL using Short form 36 (SF-36) and also with the specific module for breast cancer patients. A consecutive sampleof twenty two patients diagnosed with breast cancer was evaluated. The associations of QoL with stadium and nutrition status were evaluated using T-test analysis. The mean of body mass index was 21.3 kg/m2. Fifty percent patient have menopause. Most patients were stage II (77.3%), the others stage III (18.2%) and stage I (4.5%). Sixty eight point two percent had risk of malnutrition. The stadium of tumor was significantly related to physical functioning (p < 0.000), physical limitation (p < 0.024), emotional limitation (p < 0.013), well-being (p < 0.020), health changes (p < 0.010). Thestatus of nutrition was significantly related to physical functioning (p < 0.001), loss of energy (p < 0.010) and general health (p <0.005). For Conclusion, the status of nutrition breast cancer patients were related to QoL especially physical functioning, loss of energy and general health after they were diagnosed

Evaluation of Quality of Life Using Short Form-36 and Visual Analogue Scale After Posterior Instrumentation and Fusion in Tuberculous Spondylitis Patients at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital

Introduction.Tuberculous spondylitis is a devastating health problem in Indonesia. The goal of treatment is to relieve pain, so the patients can do their daily activities. The instrument used to assess quality of life and perceived pain scale is Short Form-36 and visual analogue scale. The objective of this study is to comprehend the changes in quality of life and pain scale in tuberculous spondylitis patients before and after surgery. Materials and methods. Forty five patients with tuberculous spondylitis in Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital were asked to fill Short Form-36 and visual analog scale before and after surgery. The data was analyzed and compared before and after surgery in 8 aspects, which is physical function, physical health, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social function, emotional problems, and mental health.Results.Surgery significantly improved patients' quality of life in all aspects with average physical component summary from 23 to 70 and mental component summary from 35 to 75 (p &lt; 0.001). There was significant decrease in visual analog scale from seven to one. Significant correlations were seen between American Spinal Injury Association status and physical component summary, between American Spinal Injury Association status and mental component summary after surgery (r = 0.46 and r = 0.48). We categorized the patients into three groups based on duration follow up. There was increased physical component summary and mental component summary for each group. Increased quality of life was shown by improvement of Short Form-36 score. VAS score decreased significantly in post-operative group.Conclusions.Fusion and posterior instrumentation surgery improves patient's quality of life and decrease the perceived pain scale