Exploring the impact of Covid-19 on the care and quality of life of people with dementia and their carers: A scoping review

This article reports on findings of a scoping review aimed to map the published literature concerning the impact of Covid-19 on the care and quality of life of people living with dementia and their carers. Twenty-nine articles were included in the review. Three overarching themes were identified: (1) Impact on people with dementia – unmet and increased care needs; (2) Impact on carers – increased stress and burden and (3) Impact according to demographics. Overall, findings show that Covid-19 has led to a reduction in support from health and social services and to a move towards technology-based support. Furthermore, Covid-19 has had a negative impact on the care and quality of life of people living with dementia and their carers, and that this impact was influenced by the severity of dementia

Focus group: aspectos teóricos y metodológicos

A utilização do focus group tem vindo a alargar o seu campo de aplicação a diferentes disciplinas e com diferentes finalidades, como é o caso, por exemplo, na investigação da educação para a saúde. O presente trabalho começa por descrever o que se entende por este instrumento metodológico bem como as suas principais aplicações, especialmente ao nível de projectos de investigação. De seguida são apresentadas as principais potencialidades e limitações do focus group face a outras técnicas de recolha de dados. Na segunda parte, são descritas as principais fases conducentes ao processo de implementação do focus group, designadamente, planeamento, preparação, condução, análise dos dados e divulgação dos resultados. Na descrição e apreciação de tais fases do ponto de vista metodológico, será dada particular ênfase aos aspectos relacionados com o grau de estruturação do projecto, o guião da entrevista, o papel do moderador, a composição e a dimensão dos grupos, o recrutamento dos participantes e às estratégias de divulgação dos resultados. Com base na experiência de aplicação desta metodologia pelas autoras e autor, o trabalho é concluído com uma apreciação das principais dificuldades e vantagens ao nível das diversas fases do processo de aplicação.The use of focus group has extended its field of application to different disciplines and for different purposes, such as, for example, in the health education research. This work starts off describing how this methodological tool is understood, as well as its main applications, especially within the framework of research projects. Then it describes the main potentialities and limitations of its use, compared to other methods of data collection. The second part of this work describes the principal stages leading to the implementation process of focus group, namely, planning, preparation, conducting, data analysis and dissemination of results. From the methodological point of view, when describing and assessing those stages, the focus will be particularly put on the aspects related to the degree of structuration of the project, the interview guide, the moderator role, the dimension and composition of the groups, the recruitment of participants, and the strategies of data dissemination. Based on the authors’ experience in applying this methodology, the work concludes with an assessment of the principal advantages and difficulties across the various stages of the application process.L’utilisation du focus group est venue élargir son champ d’application à différentes disciplines et ce, avec différentes finalités, comme c’est le cas, par exemple, dans la recherche de l’éducation pour la santé. Le présent travail commence par décrire ce que l’on comprend par le biais de cet outil méthodologique ainsi que ses principales applications, tout particulièrement en ce qui concerne les projets de recherche. Ensuite, on présentera les principales potentialités et les limitations du focus group face à d’autres techniques de collecte de données. Dans la seconde partie, on décriera les principales phases favorisant la procédure de mise en oeuvre du focus group, notamment, la planification, la préparation, la conduite de la discussion avec le groupe, l’analyse des données et la divulgation des résultats. Dans la description et l’appréciation de telles phases du point de vue méthodologique, on mettra l’accent sur les aspects en relation avec le degré de structuration du projet, le déroulement de l’entrevue, le rôle du modérateur, la composition et la dimension des groupes, le recrutement des participants, ainsi que sur les stratégies de divulgation des résultats. Sur la base de l’expérience de l’application de cette méthodologie par les auteurs, on parlera aussi des difficultés et des avantages au niveau des différentes phases du processus d’application.La utilización de focus group ha alargado sus aplicaciones a diferentes disciplinas, y con diferentes objetivos, como por ejemplo, en la investigación de la educación para la salud. Este trabajo comienza describiendo el significado de esta metodología, así como sus principales utilizaciones, especialmente en proyectos de investigación. A continuación se presentan las principales potencialidades y limitaciones de los focus group relativamente a otras técnicas de recogida de datos. En la segunda parte se describen las principales fases de organización de los focus groups, como la planificación, preparación, realización, análisis de datos y la difusión de los resultados. En la descripción y evaluación de dichas fases del punto de vista metodológico, se prestará especial atención a los aspectos relacionados con el grado de estructuración del proyecto, el guión de la entrevista, el papel del moderador, la composición y el tamaño de los grupos, el reclutamiento de los participantes y las estrategias para difundir los resultados. Con base en la experiencia en la aplicación de esta metodología por los autores, se analizó las diversas etapas del proceso de aplicación a nivel de sus dificultades y beneficios.(undefined

Trabalho por turnos e vida familiar e social: Perspetivas do trabalhador(a) e do cônjuge

Research on the impact of shift work on family and social life tends to privilege the perspective of workers, being rare the research that compares the perspective of third parties. Considering this limitation, the present study includes the perspective of the spouses of rotating shift workers in the understanding of the impact of shift work on family and social life dimensions, trying to assess whether there are differences in the perception of impacts on the dyad. 51 couples participated in the study. There was a moderate agreement in the analyses of differences of dyads with regard to the impact of shift work. On the other hand, considering the different working hours of each member of the couple, the results showed a significant difference among the two groups of dyads in the correlations between the spouse's point of view and the worker's point of view on the “Life of Couple “dimension.A investigação sobre o impacto do trabalho por turnos na vida familiar e social tende a privilegiar apenas a perspetiva dos trabalhadores, sendo rara a investigação que compara a perspetiva de terceiros. Considerando esta limitação, o presente estudo contempla a perspetiva dos cônjuges de trabalhadores por turnos rotativos na compreensão do impacto do trabalho por turnos em dimensões da vida familiar e social, procurando avaliar se existem diferenças na perceção dos impactos na díade. Participaram no estudo 51 casais. Verificou-se um acordo moderado nas análises de diferenças das díades, no que diz respeito ao impacto do trabalho por turnos. Por outro lado, tendo em conta os diferentes horários de trabalho de cada membro do casal, os resultados mostraram uma diferença significativa, entre os dois grupos de díades, nas correlações entre o ponto de vista do cônjuge e o ponto de vista do trabalhador sobre a dimensão “Vida de Casal”.- (undefined

High-performance electrochemical immunomagnetic assay for breast cancer analysis

Despite the evolution of targeted therapies in oncology, some challenges such as screening and early diagnosis of cancer-related biomarkers still remain. The analysis of the Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2 (HER2) in biological fluids provides essential information for effective treatments. In this work we report the development of an electrochemical immunomagnetic bioassay for the analysis of the extracellular domain of HER2 (HER2-ECD) in human serum and cancer cells. Biomodified carboxylic acid functionalized magnetic beads (COOH-MBs) were used as the capture probe and an antibody labelled with alkaline phosphatase (AP) as the signalling probe. In the presence of HER2-ECD a sandwich complex was formed on the MBs, which were magnetically attracted to the surface of a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE). After the addition of 3-indoxyl phosphate and silver ions, used as the enzymatic substrate, the immunological interaction was detected by linear sweep voltammetry. Two linear concentration ranges were established: one between 5.0 and 50 ng/mL and another between 50 and 100 ng/mL. The developed assay provided a clinically useful detection limit (2.8 ng/mL) and has an adequate precision (Vx0 < 5%). The assay provided accurate results and was selective towards the target biomarker. Additionally, CTCs were analysed in human serum and a detection limit of 3 cells/mL was achieved for the HER+ breast cancer cell line SK-BR-3.The authors are grateful for the financial support from the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) / the Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (MCTES) through national funds (Portugal) (LAQV - UID/QUI/50006/2019 and CINTESIS - UID/IC/4255/2019). Maria Freitas is grateful to FCT for her PhD grant (SFRH/BD/111942/2015), financed by POPH- QREN-Tipologia 4.1-Formação Avançada, subsidized by Fundo Social Europeu and the MCTES. The authors are also thankful to Rui Rocha and CEMUP “Centro de Materiais da Universidade do Porto” for the SEM workinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sustainable HRM as a pathway to sustainability—HRMS relevance on affective commitment through organizational trust

Human resource management system (HRMS) is an organizational instrument that sends organizational messages to employees. If we consider that HRMS can be an indicator of organization’s involvement towards employees’ it is relevant to understand its impact in employees’ organizational commitment and study indicators that can help unravel the black box between HRMS and positive results, associating an emerging approach, sustainable HRMS that relates HRMS with sustainability, having as common features the association with positive results for employees. Recent literature has tested organizational trust (OT) as a relevant indicator in the understanding of this process. There have been studies that have debated and tested OT in managers as a mediator or moderator of HRMS on affective commitment (AOC) and support for both have been found. In this study, we attempt to contribute to the development of the field, by considering the terminological, conceptual and statistical distinction between moderator and mediator, testing two alternative models that may elucidate the relationship between these variables. 1328 valid responses with employees and managers from 21 Portuguese organizations were collected. A factor analysis, a cluster analysis, moderation tests using hierarchical linear regression, pos hoc tests and mediation tests with sequential regressions were performed. HRMS dimensions are mediated (partially or totally) by OT in manager towards AOC. HRMS dimensions (HR relationship with employees, comprehensibility, utility, visibility and distributive justice) influences OT in manager, which, in turn, influences AOC. Regarding moderation, the interaction between distributive justice and OT, pos-hoc tests showed that when distributive justice increases and levels of OT in manager is high, OAC increases rapidly. It seems that the importance of the distributive justice of HRMS only becomes relevant on OAC, if OT in manager is present. This empirical test of the HRMS model also suggests its reframing in two meta-dimensions: A. the agents of HR system, the HR relationship with employees based on their competence, consistent behavior, ability to solve problems and listening to people; and B. the effects of the system itself, possibly Visibility is the most relevant attribute. We suggest that these interactions between HR agents and employees are relevant and may lead to generalizations about the HRMS.This research was funded by FCT, grant number SFRH/BD/60939/2009

Exploring the impact of Covid-19 on the care and quality of life of people with dementia and their carers: A scoping review

This article reports on findings of a scoping review aimed to map the published literature concerning the impact of Covid-19 on the care and quality of life of people living with dementia and their carers. Twenty-nine articles were included in the review. Three overarching themes were identified: (1) Impact on people with dementia – unmet and increased care needs; (2) Impact on carers – increased stress and burden and (3) Impact according to demographics. Overall, findings show that Covid-19 has led to a reduction in support from health and social services and to a move towards technology-based support. Furthermore, Covid-19 has had a negative impact on the care and quality of life of people living with dementia and their carers, and that this impact was influenced by the severity of dementia

Confiança organizacional: teste de um modelo

Apresentam-se os resultados da avaliação da validade do modelo de confiança organizacional de Mayer, Davis e Schoorman (1995), utilizando uma versão portuguesa desta escala com 903 pessoas. Os resultados iniciais mostram problemas com a escala de Confiança e com o próprio modelo teórico. É sugerida a necessidade de desenvolver estratégias diferentes para a medida da confiança organizacionalFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Luto e vinculação

As autoras apresentam duas perspectivas sobre a integração do trabalho de luto, após a morte de um filho. Reflectindo sobre a sua experiência como psicólogas actuando numa Maternidade, propõem-se abordar algumas formas possíveis de intervenção do Psicólogo neste contexto institucional.ABSTRACT: The authors present two perspectives upon the process of grief and mourning after the death of a child. Miscarriage, perinatal death and death of an older child followed by a new pregnancy are some of the situations discussed. Based on their clinical experience in maternity ward, the authors consider different psychological interventions after perinatal death and during a new pregnancy after a child’s death

Stiffness changes during low temperature thermal treatment of Scots pine, assessed by acoustic NDT

The change, over time, in density, longitudinal modulus of elasticity, shear modulus and chemical structure of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) under thermal treatment (110, 120 and 140ºC) was evaluated. The determinations of the specific changes were carried out by means of impulse excitation, ultrasonic time-of-flight and near infrared spectroscopy. The results show, that the stiffness and density decrease was linear with time, with no evidence of a slowing rate of degradation even at 140ºC, after loss of more than half the original wood stiffness and more than a quarter of the original mass. At all temperatures the ratio between the longitudinal modulus and shear modulus was unchanged by the treatment for individual samples and the stiffness change was proportional to mass loss irrespective of the temperature and time. Examination of the NIR spectra revealed modifications in the amorphous carbohydrates structure and small changes in the lignin structure

Shiftwork: effects on health, social and organizational life

Amongst the varied work schedules, shiftwork is the one which enables organizations to extend operating hours. Shiftwork, particularly shift systems involving night work in a fixed or alternate work schedule, is associated with several disorders which, in a generic way, can be classified in three interconnected domains: i) health (e. g. circadian and sleep disturbance), ii) family and social life (e.g. conflict between parental and/or conjugal roles); iii) occupational/organizational (e.g. disturbance in performance and safety). The present study examines the possible differences between three work shifts – morning, afternoon and night – in dimensions related to health, social and family life, social support and evaluation of one's work schedule, in a particular sector of activity (textile industry). 903 workers from five textile companies participated in this study. 66% were male workers and they were predominant in the night shift. The mean age was 39.7 (SD=10.62) and the mean time working in the shift was 14.15 years (SD=11.84). Besides the gender distribution, no differences were found among the three shifts. These shifts were compared according to the following variables: health (digestive and sleep problems), evaluation of shift schedule (satisfaction and intention to leave), social support (supervisor, co-workers and family) and satisfaction in the interface between the shift schedule and family or social activities. Data were collected by means of published questionnaires (e.g. Standard Shiftwork Index) and especially designed ones. When compared with the morning and the afternoon shifts, the night shift was significantly associated with higher sleep disturbance and less satisfaction with shift schedule. In its turn, the morning shift was significantly associated with less intention to leave it and with a greater satisfaction with the interface between the shift schedule and extra-organizational life. Finally, the morning shift was significantly associated to a higher perception of family support in managing the work schedule, when compared with the night shift. Results show that the night shift is the most negatively evaluated work schedule. Moreover, the payment of a shift bonus to night shift workers represents in some way that the legislator recognizes the hardship of working this shift. The bonus in that sector of activity consists of 40% of the monthly salary. In spite of this compensation (frequently the only form of compensation offered), workers evaluated more negatively their shift schedule as they also presented greater sleep problems. Results also suggest that the night work, even if it is a fixed one (and therefore more regular from a social point of view) and it involves experienced shiftworkers, would hardly be positively evaluated when compared with other work schedules. In spite of this conclusion, the implementation of other intervention strategies (e.g. educational programmes, longer holidays) may have an impact on the work schedule evaluation