Efeitos de um programa de atividade física sobre os sintomas depressivos e a qualidade de vida de idosos com demência de Alzheimer

O objetivo do estudo foi analisar os efeitos de um programa de exercícios físicos sobre os sintomas depressivos e a percepção da Qualidade de vida (QV) de pacientes com Doença de Alzheimer (DA) e de seus cuidadores. Seis idosas realizaram um programa de exercícios físicos durante seis meses, outras seis compuseram o grupo controle. O Mini-Exame do Estado Mental, a Escala de Qualidade de Vida e a Escala de Depressão em Geriatria foram aplicados para avaliação das variáveis. Os dados foram analisados através de uma ANOVA "two-way" e correlação de Pearson, com nível de significância de 5% (p El objetivo del estudio fue analizar los efectos de un programa de ejercicios en los síntomas depresivos y la percepción de calidad de vida (CV) de los pacientes con Demencia de Alzheimer (DA) y sus cuidadores. Seis personas ancianas realizaran un programa de ejercicio físico por un periodo del seis meses, otro grupo estaba formado por el grupo de control. El Mini Examen del Estado Mental, la Escala de Calidad de Vida y la Escala de Depresión Geriátrica fueran utilizados para evaluar las variables. Los datos fueron analizados por análisis de varianza de dos entradas (ANOVA de dos vías) y la correlación de Pearson, con un nivel de significancia de 5% (p The aim of the study was to analyze the effects of a physical exercises' program on depressive symptoms and quality of life (QL) in elderly with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and QL of their caregivers. Six elderly women performed a physical exercises' program with six months of duration, and the other six composed the control group. The Mini-Mental State Examination, the Quality of Life Scale and the Geriatric Depression Scale were applied to evaluate the variables. Data were analyzed by Analyze of Variance (Two-way) and Pearson's correlations. The level of significance was set at 5% (p < 0.05). The results showed that the physical exercises' program proposed could aid on the reduction of depressive symptoms of AD patients. However less worsening was observed on QL of patients and caregivers from the physically active group

Development of the combined assessment of residential environments (CARE) profiles

Aim: This paper reports the development and initial testing of the combined assessment of residential environments (CARE) profiles, which identify the frequency of positive events over a specified time based on the perceptions of residents, relatives and staff in care home settings. Background: Despite the well-known benefits of positive events for subjective well-being, little is known about the nature of positive events experienced by residents, relatives and staff in care homes. There is also a dearth of tools capable of systematically evaluating how frequently these events occur in this context. Methods: The CARE profiles were developed and tested between February 2004 and June 2005 with a combined sample of 372 residents, relatives and staff drawn from 11 care homes. An Event Frequency Approach was adopted to create three questionnaires (residents, relatives and staff), each containing 30 consensually valid positive events. The thematic content of these events was balanced for each questionnaire using the Senses Framework as a theoretical model. Once completed, the CARE profiles were tested in four care homes. Results: Test data from the CARE profiles were used to produce a bar chart showing median frequencies of positive events experienced by residents, relatives and staff during the timeframe in question (e.g. 1 month). These profiles were shown to be internally consistent, with alpha scores ranging from 0·70 to 0·89 for residents, 0·91 to 0·94 for relatives and 0·78 to 0·92 for staff. Conclusion: We envisage that feedback from the CARE profiles will both reinforce good care home practice and identify areas for change based on the experiences of all major stakeholders. However, further development of the profiles is needed if the experiences of cognitively impaired residents are to be included in the assessment process.</p

Group support during caring and post-caring - the role of carers groups

This article discusses the findings about the role of face-to-face carers groups which emerged from a qualitative, interpretive study of 37 former carers’ experiences. The study was informed by grounded theory and semi-structured in-depth interviews were used as the main method of data collection. The advantages and disadvantages of carers groups during caring and post-caring that were identified are presented. These include the nature of the support they provided for their members, their limitations and ways in which they can be developed in order to meet the needs of carers and former carers. The concepts of social integration and social support are used to supplement the interviewees’ explanations of the beneficial effects of carers groups. Following the discussions, suggestions are made about further research into increasing the effectiveness of carers groups’ in meeting the needs of those who are caring and their previously unrecognized role in meeting post-caring needs