Barriers and facilitators of older adults for professional mental health help-seeking: a systematic review

Background: Older adults are at an increased risk for mental health issues, yet they are less likely to seek professional help. This systematic review aims to identify and summarize literature on the barriers and facilitators that older adults face when seeking professional mental health help. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted using multiple databases including PubMed-Medline, EMBASE, ProQuest central, CINAHL and Scopus to identify relevant studies published between 2010 and 2021 that focused on barriers and/or facilitators to seeking help for depression, anxiety, and psychological distress among older adults aged 65 years or older. Studies' risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and results of studies were synthesized guided by the methodological framework of Rodgers and colleagues. Results: A total of eight cross-sectional studies, from Australia, United States, Mexico, Netherlands, and Malaysia met the inclusion criteria for this review. Included studies reported that the majority of their participants had anxiety or depression, yet they exhibited a preference for informal mental health help over professional help. Stigma, negative beliefs about mental health professional services, and cost were the most reported barriers. Main reported facilitators were prior positive experience with mental health services and high socioeconomic status. Conclusion: Older adults are in need of interventions normalizing mental health help seeking and ensuring these services are accessible in terms of costs. This should be the focus of policy makers, healthcare providers, and public health practitioners working with older adults. Protocol registration: PROSPERO 2021 CRD42021238853.Scopu

A scoping review of the risk factors and strategies followed for the prevention of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases during sports mass gatherings: Recommendations for future FIFA World Cups

ObjectiveSports mass gatherings of people pose particular concerns and place an additional burden on the host countries and the countries of origin of the travelers. It is imperative to identify how countries dealt with various communicable diseases in the context of previous world cups and identify possible advice for protection from outbreaks.MethodsA scoping review was employed in this study and a PRISMA extension for scoping reviews was employed to guide the reporting of this study. A systematic search was performed using PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, SCOPUS, SportDiscus, and Google scholar. The search strategy included two main strings viz “communicable disease” AND “sport” AND “setting” as keywords for each string. A total of 34 studies were included in this review.ResultsInformation on risk factors for infectious diseases during FIFA, and recommendations for disease prevention in various stages of the event: pre-event, during, and post-event were charted. These strategies can be achieved with the empowerment of the public by enhancing their social responsibility and the coordination between the healthcare system, the ministry of public health, and other stakeholders.ConclusionThe findings will support planning for protection strategies to prevent any outbreak while having the FIFA World Cup or any other sports gatherings. A model was constructed to present the findings and recommendations from this review

Barriers and Facilitators to Mental Health Help-seeking among Older Adults: A Systematic Review

Background: Older adults are very unlikely to seek mental health help. There are multiple factors that contribute to a person's final decision to seek formal help. The aim of this study is to systematically review and summarize quantitative literature on the barriers and facilitators that influence older adult's mental health help-seeking behaviors. Methods : Four databases including PubMed-Medline, EMBASE, ProQuest central, and Scopus were searched to identify barriers and/or facilitators to mental health help-seeking behaviors. Studies were included if they satisfied the following criteria: Articles that were quantitative studies published during the period between 2015-2021, that address barriers and/or facilitators to mental health help seeking among older adults aged 65 years old or older and examining depression, anxiety, and psychological distress disorders. Help-seeking was defined as receiving a consultation from health professionals such as a general practitioner, clinical psychologist, councilor, or social worker. Study quality and risk of bias was assessed using The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Results: Five cross-sectional studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. These studies were from Australia, United States, and Malaysia, and were carried out during the period 2015-2021. Two studies examined both facilitators and barriers while three studies examined barriers only. Neither of the studies examined facilitators only. The prevalence of seeking mental health help among elderly people ranged between 77% to 82%. Cost, stigma, and beliefs of the effectiveness of mental health counseling, were the most reported key barriers. Main reported facilitators included prior positive experience with mental health services, high level of education, and a high-income level. Conclusion: The findings reported in this systematic review can be used in future research and practical implications to assess the barriers and facilitators among older adults

Development and Evaluation of the International Council of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (ICCPR) Program Certification for Low-Resource Settings.

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a proven model of secondary prevention, but new sites, providing quality care, are needed in low-resource settings. This study (1) described the development of International Council of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation's (ICCPR) Program Certification and (2a) tested its implementation, considering (b) appropriateness of quality standards for these settings. The Steering Committee finalized 13 standards, requiring 70% be met. They are assessed initially through International CR Registry (ICRR) program survey and patient data; if Certification appears possible, a two-hour virtual site assessment is arranged to corroborate. Standard operating procedures for Assessor training were developed. A multi-method pilot study was then undertaken with a quantitative (description of quality indicators) and qualitative (focus groups on MS Teams) component. ICRR sites with post-program data by April 2022 were invited to participate. Two team members independently analyzed focus group transcripts, using a deductive-thematic approach with NVIVO. Five CR programs from the Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asian and American regions participated. Upon application, with some data cleaning, initially four programs were eligible to proceed to virtual site assessment. Ultimately, all five programs were certified, each meeting a minimum of 12/13 standards (peak MET increase and program completion rate were not met by some centres). Four themes resulted from the two focus groups of 13 site data stewards: motivation and benefits (eg, international recognition, additional program resources), logistics (eg, communication, cost, site visit process), the standards and their assessment (eg, balance of rigor and feasibility), and suggestions for improvement (eg, website). ICCPR's Program Certification has been demonstrated to be feasible, rigorous, and acceptable. Standards are attainable in low-resource settings. Certified programs reap benefits including additional resources. This first international Certification is suitable for low-resource settings, to complement that from the American and European CR Societies.The International Cardiac Rehab Registry was co-funded by Qatar University, grant number (IRCC-2020-005), and York University (no grant number). E.E.T. is funded by a fellowship from the National Heart Foundation of Australia (105215). The findings achieved herein are solely the responsibility of the authors

The relationship between smartphone use and dry eye disease: A systematic review with a narrative synthesis.

Emerging research findings suggest a potential relationship between smartphone use (SPU) and dry eye disease (DED), which has not been systematically reviewed. The aim of this study was to systematically review and synthesize evidence on the relationship between SPU and DED. A systematic search of Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsychINFO bibliographic databases from their inception to January 15, 2021. Study screening, full-text assessment, study selection and exclusion, data extraction, and quality assessment was performed independently by at least two review authors. Four studies were included in the review (3 cross-sectional studies and 1 nonrandomized clinical trial). A narrative synthesis of findings was used due to heterogeneity among study designs and measures of association summarizing the relationship between SPU and DED. All included studies were conducted in South Korea and included school children, college students, or young adults. Three of the 4 included studies showed an association between SPU and DED. There is some evidence that SPU is associated with DED. However, this evidence is limited by a small number of studies of satisfactory methodological quality. There is a great need for high-quality studies to further investigate the relationship between SPU and DED and identify mechanisms underlying this potential relationship. This information is important for raising public awareness about the negative effect of SPU on eye health and development of clinical guidelines for this potentially emerging SPU-driven eye condition.This research was funded by Qatar National Research Fund, Undergraduate Research Experience Program (UREP26-074-3-026). The funder had no role in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing the report; and the decision to submit the report for publication