Sobreviure a un càncer infantil ensenya a viure Sobrevivir a un cáncer infantil enseña a vivir

Malgrat que el càncer infantil suposa només un 2% dels casos oncològics a Espanya, actualment s'està incrementant l'interès per avaluar la qualitat de vida d'aquests joves pacients, després de superar la malaltia. La mostra estudiada és de 34 adolescents espanyols que van superar un càncer i els resultats apunten a una normalització de la seva vida, amb una qualitat de vida similar a la població general. Fins i tot s'ha observat un major benestar psicològic que altres adolescents amb els quals es van comparar els resultats del qüestionari. L'experiència d'haver sobreviscut a una malaltia tan amenaçadora com el càncer, pot comportar un canvi en l'escala de valors i en la perspectiva que té el malalt sobre la vida.A pesar de que el cáncer infantil es tan sólo un 2% de los casos oncológicos en España, actualmente se está incrementando el interés por evaluar la calidad de vida de estos jóvenes pacientes, tras superar la enfermedad. La muestra estudiada es de 34 adolescentes españoles que superaron un cáncer y los resultados apuntan a una normalización de su vida, con una calidad de vida similar a la población general. Incluso se ha observado un mayor bienestar psicológico que otros adolescentes con los que se compararon los resultados del cuestionario. La experiencia de haber sobrevivido a una enfermedad tan amenazadora como el cáncer, puede comportar un cambio en la escala de valores y en la perspectiva que sobre la vida tiene el enfermo

Optimismo, afrontamiento y cáncer pediátrico: un estudio descriptivo

Purpose and methods: This study is aimed to assess optimism in the worst self-reported moments of the oncological process in a sample of adolescent survivors of childhood cancer (N=41). It will also explore whether this optimism is associated with coping in such situations as well as with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in survival.Results: Up to 70.7% of the sample referred to be optimistic in the worst situations of the illness. Those adolescents considered as “pessimistic” showed greater use of “self-blame” and “seek for spiritual support” strategies. However, it could not be observed a significant relationship between optimism and coping in the worst self-reported situations, and only one significant relationship was identified between optimism and the “physical well-being” dimension of HRQoL.Conclusions: It could not be identified a clear effect of optimism displayed during cancer and HRQoL in survival period. Thus, it is possible that optimism might be a necessary condition to face difficulties in a more adaptative manner during the illness, but not sufficient to have a significant effect on resulting HRQoL after cancer remission. It is even probable that optimism may facilitate the occurrence of other variables that could have a more significant effect on HRQoL in survivorship. More research with childhood population is needed to further clarify these relationships.Objetivo y métodos: El presente trabajo tiene por objetivo evaluar los niveles de optimismo en los peores momentos del proceso oncológico (auto-referidos) en una muestra de adolescentes oncológicos en remisión (N=41). Asimismo, se explorará si dicho optimismo se asocia con el afrontamiento llevado a cabo en esos momentos y; por otra parte, con la calidad de vida (CVRS) resultante en periodo de supervivencia.Resultados: Un 70,7% de adolescentes se manifestaron optimistas en los peores momentos de su enfermedad. Los adolescentes considerados “pesimistas” mostraron hacer un mayor uso de las estrategias de “auto-inculparse” y “buscar apoyo espiritual” que los “optimistas”. Por último, sólo se observó una relación significativa entre el optimismo durante los momentos más difíciles del proceso oncológico y la dimensión de “bienestar físico” de la CVRS resultante en periodo de remisión.Conclusiones: No ha podido observarse un efecto claro del optimismo durante el cáncer y la CVRS resultante. Así, podría ser que el optimismo fuese una condición necesaria para sobrellevar la enfermedad de un modo más adaptativo, pero quizás no es suficiente como para suponer una mayor CVRS una vez el cáncer ha remitido. Incluso es probable que el optimismo pueda facilitar la ocurrencia de otro tipo de variables que sí tengan un efecto más significativo sobre dicha CVRS en periodo de supervivencia. Son necesarios más trabajos en población infanto-juvenil para clarificar tales cuestiones

Gamification for Mental Health and Health Psychology : insights at the first quarter mark of the 21st Century

The concept of gamification, originally rooted in digital media and game design, has increasingly emerged as a pivotal element in psychology and engagement strategies. Its application spans diverse domains within healthcare, offering innovative solutions to transform patient care through behavior modification and heightened engagement. This contemporary perspective explores theoretical frameworks and provides a critical interdisciplinary examination of current advancements in gamification for mental health and health psychology, identifying existing knowledge gaps and projecting future trends and research directions within these contexts. Based on this, concise criteria for designing, implementing, and evaluating gamification in healthcare, aligned with acknowledged best practices to promote ethical, fair, and trustworthy systems, are outlined, establishing a robust theoretical framework to design gamified interventions and scientifically evaluate their impact

Non-Pharmacological Interventions for the Management of Chronic Health Conditions and Non-Communicable Diseases

A chronic health condition has been defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a disease being of long duration, generally slow in progression and not passed from person to person; that is to say, a non-communicable disease (NCD) [...]

Optimism, coping and childhood cancer: A descriptive study

Purpose and methods: This study is aimed to assess optimism in the worst self-reported moments of the oncological process in a sample of adolescent survivors of childhood cancer (N=41). It will also explore whether this optimism is associated with coping in such situations as well as with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in survival.Results: Up to 70.7% of the sample referred to be optimistic in the worst situations of the illness. Those adolescents considered as “pessimistic” showed greater use of “self-blame” and “seek for spiritual support” strategies. However, it could not be observed a significant relationship between optimism and coping in the worst self-reported situations, and only one significant relationship was identified between optimism and the “physical well-being” dimension of HRQoL.Conclusions: It could not be identified a clear effect of optimism displayed during cancer and HRQoL in survival period. Thus, it is possible that optimism might be a necessary condition to face difficulties in a more adaptative manner during the illness, but not sufficient to have a significant effect on resulting HRQoL after cancer remission. It is even probable that optimism may facilitate the occurrence of other variables that could have a more significant effect on HRQoL in survivorship. More research with childhood population is needed to further clarify these relationships.</p

Els beneficis del suport social durant el càncer

Aquest article explora i descriu l'associació entre el suport social que reben nens i joves amb un diagnòstic de càncer i la qualitat de vida resultant un cop superen la malaltia. Els resultats obtinguts mostren com el suport social, en concret el suport emocional que proporciona el col·lectiu d'infermeria, afavoreix la qualitat de vida a mitjà i llarg termini d'aquests joves. Així mateix, aquells que descriuen haver buscat activament suport social són precisament els que millor qualitat de vida mostren una vegada finalitza la seva malaltia.Este artículo explora y describe la asociación entre el apoyo social que reciben niños y jóvenes con un diagnóstico de cáncer y la calidad de vida resultante una vez superan la enfermedad. Los resultados obtenidos muestran cómo el apoyo social, en concreto el soporte emocional que proporciona el colectivo de enfermería, favorece la calidad de vida a medio y largo plazo de estos jóvenes. Asimismo, aquéllos que describen haber buscado activamente apoyo social son precisamente los que mejor calidad de vida muestran una vez finaliza su enfermedad.This article explores and describes the association between social support perceived by children and young people diagnosed with cancer, and health-related quality of life once they overcome the oncological illness. Results showed how social support, specifically the emotional support provided by nursing staff, promoted health-related quality of life at mid/long-term. Also, those who had actively sought social support were precisely those that showed better health-related quality of life at cancer remission

Unveiling Associations of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance, Hesitancy, and Resistance: A Cross-Sectional Community-Based Adult Survey

COVID-19; Encuesta en línea; ResistenciaCOVID-19; Online survey; ResistanceCOVID-19; Enquesta en línia; ResistènciaCOVID-19 vaccines are essential to limit and eliminate the infectious disease. This research aims to identify strong vaccination resistance profiles and/or hesitation considering health, psychosocial, and COVID-related variables. A cross-sectional online survey (N = 300) was conducted in the context of strict COVID-related gathering and mobility restrictions (January–March 2021). Data collected were vaccine acceptance, hesitancy and resistance rates, general psychosocial status, and preventive practices and beliefs regarding COVID-19 and its vaccination, among other factors. Logistic regression was applied to a real-world data set and a significant model (χ2 (7, N = 278) = 124.548, p < 0.001) explaining 51.3% (R2 Nagelkerke) of attitudes towards vaccination was obtained, including the following predictors for acceptance: to have greater confidence in the COVID vaccine security (OR = 0.599) and effectiveness (OR = 0.683), older age (OR = 0.952), to be a healthcare professional (OR = 0.363), to have vulnerable individuals in charge (OR = 0.330), and sustain the belief that the vaccine will end the pandemic situation (OR = 0.346) or not being sure but give some credence to that belief (OR = 0.414). Findings could help understand the rate and determinants of COVID-19 vaccine resistance/hesitancy among a Spanish population sample and facilitate multifaceted interventions to enhance vaccine acceptance.This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors

(Mis)Information, Fears and Preventative Health Behaviours Related to COVID-19

Social and mass media platforms (SMM) are essential tools for keeping people informed about health-promoting practices. However, the potential to spread misinformation or false rumors exists. These might influence preventive health behaviours and incite anxiety and/or fear among the population. A sample of 300 adults participated in a survey to understand information needs, fears and preventive health behaviours related to COVID-19 while analyzing differences in COVID-19 ac-ceptance rates. Descriptive-correlational, between-group comparisons and regression analyses were applied. Most of the sample revealed a willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccines (65.4% vs. 34.5%) and was prone to use and trust different SMM without experiencing significant obstacles in managing COVID-19-related information except for the need to ration it from time to time (x(2, N = 298) = 6.654, p = 0.036). Preventive behaviours/measures carried out were similar among the people re-sistant, hesitant or willing to get vaccinated for COVID-19. However, higher self-efficacy was ob-served in resistant vaccine individuals (F(2) = 3.163, p = 0.044). Psychological impact (need for psychological support due to COVID-19 situation) in accepting (F(5, 189) = 17.539, p < 0.001, R = 0.317) and hesitant individuals (F(5, 77) = 17.080, p < 0.001, R = 0.526) was explained by female gender, younger age, threat susceptibility and differential characteristics in terms of psychological symptoms experienced and SMM trust. No explanatory model was obtained for the resistant individuals. SMM could be effective tools to promote COVID-19 health preventive behaviours. However, psychographic characteristics might modulate information-seeking and management as well as self-perceived threat susceptibility and severity. All these factors must be accurately considered when designing different health preventive campaigns for the general public

Ejercicio físico y calidad de vida en adolescentes supervivientes a un cáncer

Purpose and methods: The regular practice of physical exercise (PE) is one of the main behaviours related with a healthy lifestyle that has demonstrated to yield benefits both on physical and psychological health-related quality of life’ domains (HRQoL). However, in Spain, studies exploring such association in pediatric survivors of childhood cancer are scarce. For that reason, this descriptive study examines the relationship between the pattern of PE performance and self-rated HRQoL in a sample of adolescent survivors of childhood cancer (ASCC), compared to a normative group from the general population (NG). All participants filled in the SF-12v2 questionnaire and the AECEF. Results: In both groups, a significantly higher percentage of male active survivors was found and they also showed significantly higher mean scores in MCS. However, HRQoL between groups was equivalent and even higher in the case of MCS for the GS. Only 12% of explained variance for MCS was accounted in the NG, considering PE, gender and age at the assessment. Conclusions: Considering these results, we believe it’s needed to explore other factors not addressed in the present work, such as PE intensity or type of physical activity performed that might be mediating the association between PE and HRQoL in adolescent cancer survivors. It is also discussed the suitability of using specific tools to assess HRQoL in adolescent survivors of childhood cancer populations.Objetivo y métodos: La práctica regular de ejercicio físico (EF), es una de las principales conductas relacionadas con un estilo de vida saludable que ha demostrado reportar beneficios tanto físicos como psicológicos sobre la calidad de vida en relación a la salud (CVRS) de las personas. Sin embargo, en España son escasos los trabajos que exploren dicha asociación en población infanto-juvenil superviviente a un cáncer. Por ello, el presente estudio descriptivo mediante encuesta analiza la relación entre el patrón de realización de EF y la CVRS en una muestra de adolescentes oncológicos en remisión (GS), en comparación con un grupo normativo de referencia (GN). Todos los participantes cumplimentaron el cuestionario de salud SF-12v2 y el Autoinforme del Estadio de Cambio para el Ejercicio Físico (AECEF).Resultados: En ambos grupos había un porcentaje significativamente mayor de varones activos para EF que, además, presentaban puntuaciones significativamente superiores en MCS. No obstante, la CVRS entre ambos grupos era similar e incluso significativamente superior para el GS en MCS. El EF sólo explicó un 12% de la varianza de MCS en el GN, en conjunción con el género y la edad del superviviente. Conclusiones: A partir de los resultados, creemos necesario seguir explorando otros factores no contemplados en el presente trabajo, tales como la intensidad o el tipo de actividad física llevada a cabo, que puedan mediar la asociación entre EF y CVRS en supervivientes. También se discute la necesidad de utilizar instrumentos específicos de CVRS para población adolescente superviviente a un cáncer

Analysis of Effectiveness and Psychological Techniques Implemented in mHealth Solutions for Middle-Aged and Elderly Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: A Narrative Review of the Literature

Diabetis; Gent gran; Tècniques psicològiquesDiabetes; Elderly; Psychological techniquesDiabetes; Ancianos; Técnicas psicológicaBackground: in diabetes, multiple mHealth solutions were produced and implemented for self-management behaviors. However, little research on the effectiveness of psychological techniques implemented within these mHealth solutions was carried out, and even less with the elderly population where technological barriers might exist. Reliable evidence generated through a comprehensive evaluation of mHealth interventions may accelerate its growth for successful long-term implementation and to help to experience mHealth benefits in an enhanced way in all ages. Objective: this study aimed to review mHealth solutions for diabetes self-management in older adults (adherence to treatments and glycemic control) by analyzing the effectiveness of specific psychological techniques implemented. Methods: a narrative review was conducted following preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. PubMed (Medline) and American Psychological Association (APA) PsycInfo databases were searched for published papers that addressed eHealth solutions’ effectiveness for diabetes self-management. Studies in English, Spanish, and/or German of any design were screened, with no time constraints regarding the year of publication. A qualitative analysis of the selected papers was conducted in several steps. Results: this review found 38 studies setting up and analyzing mHealth solutions for older adults. Most research showed improvements in HbA1c, self-management behaviors, and medication adherence in T2DM patients post intervention. However, different mid-to-long term effects were found across studies, specifically concerning the maintenance and adherence to healthy behaviors. The most employed psychological framework was CBT, including techniques such as self-monitoring of outcome behaviors (mostly targeting glycemia measurements and healthy habits as physical activity and/or diet), tailored motivational feedback from medical staff, and psychoeducation or health coaches. The most successful mHealth intervention combined the feature of tailored feedback messages, interactive communication with healthcare professionals, and multifaceted functions. Conclusions: there is a lack of elaborate and detailed information in the literature regarding the factors considered in the design and development of mHealth solutions used as interventions for T2DM self-management in the elderly. Documentation and inclusion of such vital information will foster a transparent and shared decision-making process that will ultimately lead to the development of useful and user-friendly self-management apps that can enhance the quality of life for diabetes patients. Further research adapting mHealth solutions to older adults’ sensory deficits is necessary.This research received no external funding