Feasibility of school students Skyping care home residents to reduce loneliness

Background Intergenerational friendship has proved useful for older people in increasing socialisation. We explored the feasibility of school students Skyping older people in care homes with the long-term aim of reducing loneliness. Methods Six school students from one secondary school and twenty older people, including seven with mild to moderate dementia, from three care homes, engaged in Skype video-calls over six weeks. A conversational aid aimed to help school students maintain conversations was employed. Students and care staff completed feedback forms after each session on video-call usage, usefulness of the conversational aid, and barriers and benefits of video-calls. Six care staff provided further feedback on residents’ experiences through unstructured interviews. Interviews and field notes were thematically analysed. Results Residents enjoyed Skype-calls with school students. Over six weeks, video-calls became longer, and more residents participated. Analysis revealed four themes. First, the intervention led to increased mobility for three older people and improved self-care in regard to personal appearance for five residents. Second, school students and older people formed friendships which inspired the need to meet in person. Third, the use of video-calls enabled participants to view each other’s environments in real time. Last, directly experiencing the intervention was important for the continued participation of the care staff in the study. Skype-calls between schools and care homes are feasible and may help reduce loneliness. Conclusions Institutional collaboration between educational settings and care homes through cost effective video-calls can be useful to increase socialisation for older people, and promote later on-going use with other external organisations to help reduce loneliness and social isolation

Sarcopenic obesity and risk of new onset depressive symptoms in older adults: English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

We examined the role of sarcopenic obesity as a risk factor for new-onset depressive symptoms over 6-year follow-up in a large sample of older adults

Strategy to prevent neonatal early-onset group B streptococcal (GBS) disease in the Netherlands

Early-onset group B streptococcal (GBS) infection can be prevented by intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis. In the USA the effectiveness of this strategy was demonstrated after the introduction of formal guidelines in 1996. In Europe prevention strategies for early-onset GBS infection have not been implemented universally. In 1998 the Dutch Society of Paediatrics and the Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology posted conjoint guidelines for the prevention of early-onset GBS disease based on currently available knowledge and the local situation. These guidelines will be discussed in this overview

Strategy to prevent neonatal early-onset group B streptococcal (GBS) disease in the Netherlands

Early-onset group B streptococcal (GBS) infection can be prevented by intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis. In the USA the effectiveness of this strategy was demonstrated after the introduction of formal guidelines in 1996. In Europe prevention strategies for early-onset GBS infection have not been implemented universally. In 1998 the Dutch Society of Paediatrics and the Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology posted conjoint guidelines for the prevention of early-onset GBS disease based on currently available knowledge and the local situation. These guidelines will be discussed in this overview