Assessing and Addressing Family Caregiver Burden: Palliative Care Social Work Perspective

Social workers employed in end-of-life care settings are in a unique position to engage with family caregivers who are at a heightened risk for experiencing caregiver burden, which can have detrimental impacts on the caregivers’ health and wellbeing. Even though the National Association of Social Workers (2004) directs social workers specialized in palliative care to assess the complex needs of and provide helpful interventions to family caregivers, research suggests that this objective often fails to be met. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the ability for palliative care social workers to assess family caregivers for caregiver burden and to address those concerns. Through the use of a qualitative design, five palliative care social workers participated in a semi-structured interview to gain their perspective on their work with family caregivers experiencing caregiver burden. The findings from this study indicated that palliative care social workers view family caregivers as an important recipient of their services. Additionally, the findings highlighted the lack of formal assessment tools used by palliative care social workers to assess for caregiver burden and, instead, described a more observational and conversational approach to assessment. Even though the participants indicated a wide range of intervention methods for caregiver burden, the findings also indicated that there are numerous barriers that often prevent palliative care social workers from employing those interventions. Overall, this study underscores the ways in which palliative care social workers assess and address caregiver burden as well as shedding light on the barriers that often stand in their way

Assessing and Addressing Family Caregiver Burden: Palliative Care Social Work Perspective

Social workers employed in end-of-life care settings are in a unique position to engage with family caregivers who are at a heightened risk for experiencing caregiver burden, which can have detrimental impacts on the caregivers’ health and wellbeing. Even though the National Association of Social Workers (2004) directs social workers specialized in palliative care to assess the complex needs of and provide helpful interventions to family caregivers, research suggests that this objective often fails to be met. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the ability for palliative care social workers to assess family caregivers for caregiver burden and to address those concerns. Through the use of a qualitative design, five palliative care social workers participated in a semi-structured interview to gain their perspective on their work with family caregivers experiencing caregiver burden. The findings from this study indicated that palliative care social workers view family caregivers as an important recipient of their services. Additionally, the findings highlighted the lack of formal assessment tools used by palliative care social workers to assess for caregiver burden and, instead, described a more observational and conversational approach to assessment. Even though the participants indicated a wide range of intervention methods for caregiver burden, the findings also indicated that there are numerous barriers that often prevent palliative care social workers from employing those interventions. Overall, this study underscores the ways in which palliative care social workers assess and address caregiver burden as well as shedding light on the barriers that often stand in their way

Support for agricultural development and agribusiness exports in São Tomé and Principe: lessons snd policy options from mauritius

This study examines the agricultural sector in São Tomé and Príncipe, with a focus on the commercial development of its SMEs. The country faces constraints that prevent their products from accessing international markets. Combining interviews with relevant stakeholders and a benchmark of best policies using Mauritius as a case study, the paper first provides policy options in three main areas, namely access to finance, distribution channels and technology and innovation, followed by three practical policy recommendations: (i) to create incentives for cooperative development; (ii) to provide holistic business services with one-stop-shops; and (iii) to implement trade departments in diplomatic institutions. These policies are expected to provide a favorable environment for agri-business growth and facilitate access to international markets

Etat des lieux et perspectives des débouchés des petits producteurs de plantes à parfum, aromatiques et médicinales

Etat des lieux et perspectives des débouchés des petits producteurs de plantes à parfum, aromatiques et médicinales Rapport du Groupe d'Analyse d'Action Publique (GAAP) pour le master PAPDD, année 2015-2016. Pour le compte de la filière plantes à parfum, aromatiques et médicinales de FranceAgriMer Hélène FARGEON, Clélia GRANOZIO, Hortense de LA LAURENCIE, Charlotte LOGEAIS, Mehdi SAUSSI EL ALAOUI Encadré par Florence Pinton (sociologue, AgroParisTech) et Jean-Paul Lescure (ethnobotaniste, ex-IRD) Les petits producteurs de plantes à parfum, aromatiques et médicinales (PPAM) commercialisent principalement par le biais de circuits courts (circuits de commercialisation avec au plus un intermédiaire). Comment peut-on caractériser ces petits producteurs? Quelle hétérogénéité se dégage? Quels sont les circuits de commercialisation actuellement utilisés? Quelles perspectives pour le développement des circuits courts? Comment l'action publique peut-elle soutenir l'activité de ces producteurs? a montée en puissance de la phytothérapie et de l'aromathérapie ces dernières années illustre le regain d'intérêt du public pour les PPAM. Evolution des occurrences des termes « huile » + « essen-tielle » et « plante » + « soin » dans les recherches Google en France entre 2004 et 2015 Outre les 3 500 ha de lavande en Provence et les 14 organisations professionnelles qui regrou-pent 60% de la production, de nombreux petits producteurs sont dispersés sur le territoire. En plus de leur production, issue de la cueillette de plantes sauvages et/ou de la culture, ils trans-forment et commercialisent leurs produits. Ceux-ci sont très variés allant de la plante sèche (tisanes) aux huiles essentielles, en passant par les hydrolats ou les cosmétiques. Leur activité de cueillette, confrontée à un con-texte réglementaire compliqué, permet une re-vitalisation des zones rurales, et peut contribuer à la préservation de milieux menacés par la dé-prise agricole. Les ventes de ces petits producteurs de PPAM, réalisées en circuits courts, font écho au regain d'intérêt des pouvoirs publics pour ce mode de commercialisation, qui répond aux enjeux ac-tuels de développement durable : environne-mentaux (entretien des milieux), économiques L Répartition des surfaces en PPAM cultivées sur le terri-toire et part relative parfum / aromatique / médicinale

Improving Lamb Wave detection for SHM using a dedicated LWDS electronics

In the context of Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) for aircrafts, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is one main field of research. Detection and localization of damages in a structure request reliability of the equipment and repeatability of the measurements and process. An electronic device called Lamb Wave Detection System (LWDS) have been developed and manufactured to manage piezo-electric patches either in emission or reception mode with a high commutation rate. Besides, integration of the piezo patches is another crucial aspect of reliability. Several methods as modelling and dispersion curves can define the frequency range of Lamb waves to optimize the piezo-electric coupling. This work which takes part of the H2020 ReMAP project about adaptative aircraft maintenance planning, is presented in the article.Most of the results have been achieved in the framework of H2020 ReMAP Project Grant n° 769288 : Real-time Condition-based Maintenance for Adaptive Aircraft Maintenance Planning, https://h2020-remap.eu

IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND ROBUSTNESS OF STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING TECHNIQUES BASED ON LAMB WAVE DETECTION

Required improvements of piezoelectric elements actuation and measurement system efficiency and robustness are introduced as a critical feature for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. An electronic module (Lamb wave detection system: LWDS) allowing to use each piezoelectric element in an array either in emission or reception mode is presented. The high commutation rate between these two states, for each transducer separately, is a key enhancement for SHM methods. The robustness of the sensor integration is also studied considering the patches size and bonding method. Coupled dispersion curve are introduced Comparison of FEM simulation and experiments of the piezo-electric coupling are presented. This work takes part of the H2020 REMAP project about adaptive aircraft maintenance planning.H2020 ReMAP Project Grant n° 769288 : Real-time Condition-based Maintenance for Adaptive Aircraft Maintenance Planning, https://h2020-remap.eu

Impact of concomitant aortic regurgitation on long-term outcome after surgical aortic valve replacement in patients with severe aortic stenosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Prognostic value of concomitant aprtic regurgitation (AR) in patients operated for severe aortic stenosis (AS) is not clarified. The aim of this study was to prospectively examine the impact of presence and severity of concomitant AR in patients operated for severe AS on long-term functional capacity, left ventricular (LV) function and mortality.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Study group consisted of 110 consecutive patients operated due to severe AS. The patients were divided into AS group (56 patients with AS without AR or with mild AR) and AS+AR group (54 patients with AS and moderate, severe or very severe AR). Follow-up included clinical examination, six minutes walk test (6MWT) and echocardiography 12 and 104 months after AVR.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Patients in AS group had lower LV volume indices throughout the study than patients in AS+AR group. Patients in AS group did not have postoperative decrease in LV volume indices, whereas patients in AS+AR group experienced decrease in LV volume indices at 12 and 104 months. Unlike LV volume indices, LV mass index was significantly lower in both groups after 12 and 104 months as compared to preoperative values. Mean LVEF remained unchanged in both groups throughout the study. NYHA class was improved in both groups at 12 months, but at 104 months remained improved only in patients with AS. On the other hand, distance covered during 6MWT was longer at 104 months as compared to 12 months only in AS+AR group (p = 0,013), but patients in AS group walked longer at 12 months than patients in AS+AR group (p = 0,002). There were 30 deaths during study period, of which 13 (10 due to cardiovascular causes) in AS group and 17 (12 due to cardiovascular causes) in AS+AR group. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the survival probability was similar between the groups. Multivariate analysis identified diabetes mellitus (beta 1.78, p = 0.038) and LVEF < 45% (beta 1.92, p = 0.049) as the only independent predictor of long-term mortality.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data indicate that the preoperative presence and severity of concomitant AR has no influence on long-term postoperative outcome, LV function and functional capacity in patients undergoing AVR for severe AS.</p

Conception et optimisation de circuits polarisés

Design and optimization of polarized magnetic circuits - Application to contactorsConception et optimisation de circuits magnétiques polarisés - Application aux contacteur