Attitudes of Healthcare Workers towards Older People in a Rural Population: A Survey Using the Kogan Scale

With the global trend towards an increasingly ageing population, it is clear that nurses need to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to fulfil significant roles in responding to future health and support needs. This paper reports the results of a survey that aimed to identify and evaluate the attitudes of nurses, healthcare assistants, and nursing students towards older people. The survey was undertaken in a rural county in the Republic of Ireland. It is reassuring that in our study, we found that these healthcare workers hold positive attitudes towards older people. In addition, we found that study to a higher level at university appears to mitigate towards holding more positive attitudes, and this is an important finding in light of the shift towards nursing as an all-graduate profession

Haematological nurses' experiences about palliative care trajectories of patients with life-threatening haematological malignancies: A qualitative study

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Aims: To explore haematological nurses' experiences about the palliative care trajectories of patients with life-threatening haematological malignancies. Design: A qualitative study with a descriptive and explorative design. Methods: Data were collected through 12 individual semi-structured interviews of nurses who work with patients with haematological malignancies from four hospitals in Norway. The data were analysed using systematic text condensation. The study was reported according to the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist. Results: Three categories emerged from the data analysis: focus on a cure delays integration of palliative care, dialogue with patients facilitates palliative care and the need for enhanced interdisciplinary understanding. Patient or public contribution: No patient or public contribution since nurses' experiences were explored.publishedVersio

Qualitative evaluation of web-based digital intervention to prevent and reduce excessive alcohol use and harm among young people age 14-15 years:A ‘Think-Aloud’ study

BACKGROUND: In the United Kingdom, despite some downward trends in alcohol use among young people, over one-fifth of young people reported excessive alcohol use in the past month, which is associated with short- and long-term harm to health. Digital interventions to reduce alcohol use, such as websites, among young people present an appealing and cost-effective mode of intervention that can be integrated into the education system. However, relatively few school-based digital alcohol-focused interventions have been developed and evaluated for young people in the United Kingdom. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to develop a novel web-based intervention, Rethink Alcohol, to prevent and reduce excessive alcohol use and related harm among young people aged between 14 and 15 years, and explore the views of young people, teachers, and youth workers in relation to the content, design, and usability of the intervention. METHODS: Intervention development followed the person-based approach, using theories of social norms and social influence. Qualitative "Think-Aloud" interviews, either one-to-one or paired, were conducted while participants perused and worked through the web-based intervention, talking aloud. Participants included 20 young people (12 female, 8 male), 5 youth workers (4 female, 1 male), 3 teachers (2 male, 1 female), and 1 (male) clinical professional, recruited via youth groups and professional networks. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed thematically. RESULTS: The prototype web-based intervention included normative feedback, information, a quiz, interactive activities, and scenarios. On a rating scale of impressions from poor (1) to excellent (5), participants gave an average score of 3.6/5. A total of 5 themes were identified: content, credibility of the website, making the website easy to understand, design and navigation, and suitability for the audience. These themes reflected views that the content was interesting, credible, informative, and embodied a neutral and nonjudgmental tone, but stronger messaging was needed regarding social pressures and short-term risks regarding safety and risk behavior alongside clarity around pathways of risk; credibility and trustworthiness of information were critical features, determined in part, by the professionalism of design and referencing of sources of information provided; and messages should be succinct and come to life through design and interactive features. CONCLUSIONS: Together, the data illustrated the importance and challenge of communicating nuanced alcohol-focused public health messages to young people in concise, clear, nonjudgmental, and appealing ways. Young people report interest in clear, credible, neutral, and interactive messages regarding social pressures and short-term risks of alcohol use via a web-based intervention. There is scope for optimization and feasibility testing of the Rethink Alcohol intervention

Chemotherapy drugs cyclophosphamide, cisplatin and doxorubicin induce germ cell loss in an <i>in vitro</i> model of the prepubertal testis

Abstract Long term survival rates for childhood cancers is steadily increasing, however cancer survivors can experience fertility problems as a consequence of chemotherapy treatment. This is particularly problematic for young boys, for whom no fertility preservation treatment is yet established. Here, we have determined the effects on prepubertal mouse testis of three commonly used chemotherapy drugs; cyclophosphamide (using its active metabolite phosphoramide mustard), cisplatin and doxorubicin, exposing testicular fragments to a clinically relevant range of concentrations in vitro. All three drugs induced a specific and highly significant loss of germ cells, including spermatogonial stem cells. In contrast, there was no significant effect on somatic cells, for either Sertoli or interstitial cells. Time course analysis of cleaved Caspase-3 expression showed a significant increase in apoptosis eight hours prior to a detectable decrease in germ cell numbers following exposure to phosphoramide mustard or cisplatin, although this pattern was not seen following doxorubicin-exposure. Moreover, analysis of DNA damage at 16 h showed increased γH2AX expression in response to all three drugs. Overall, results show that cisplatin, doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide all specifically induce loss of germ cells, including of spermatogonial stem cells, in the prepubertal mouse testis at concentrations relevant to human therapeutic exposures

Predictive capacity of COVID-19-related risk beliefs on weight management behaviors on a commercial weight loss program and speed of COVID-19 vaccination uptake: prospective cohort study

Background: Recent work has shown that obesity may be a risk factor for severe COVID-19. However, it is unclear to what extent individuals have heard or believe this risk factor information, and how these beliefs may predict their preventive behaviors (e.g., weight management behaviors or COVID-19 preventive behaviors). Previous work has primarily looked at overall risk likelihood perceptions (i.e., not about obesity as a risk factor) within general populations of varying weight and concentrated on COVID-19-related preventive behaviors. Therefore, this prospective cohort study explored whether beliefs about obesity as a risk factor and overall risk likelihood perceptions predicted weight management and COVID-19 preventive behaviors over the next 16 weeks in individuals with obesity or overweight. Methods: Participants were 393 individuals in the US who joined a commercial weight management program in January, 2021. We leveraged the mobile program’s automatic measurement of real-time engagement in weight management behaviors (e.g., steps taken), while surveys measured risk beliefs at baseline as well as when individuals received COVID-19 vaccination doses (asked monthly) over the next 16 weeks. Mixed effects models predicted engagement and weight loss each week for 16 weeks, while ordinal logistic regression models predicted the month that individuals got vaccinated against COVID-19. Results: We found that belief in obesity as a risk factor at baseline significantly predicted greater engagement (e.g., steps taken, foods logged) in program-measured weight management behaviors over the next 16 weeks in models adjusted for baseline BMI, age, gender, and local vaccination rates (minimally adjusted) and in models additionally adjusted for demographic factors. Belief in obesity as a risk factor at baseline also significantly predicted speed of COVID-19 vaccination uptake in minimally adjusted models but not when demographic factors were taken into account. Exposure to obesity risk factor information at baseline predicted greater engagement over 16 weeks in minimally adjusted models. Conclusions: The results highlight the potential utility of effective education to increase individuals’ belief in obesity risk factor information and ultimately promote engagement or faster vaccination. Future research should investigate to what extent the results generalize to other populations

A Randomized, Crossover Study of the Acute Cognitive and Cerebral Blood Flow Effects of Phenolic, Nitrate and Botanical Beverages in Young, Healthy Humans

Background: In whole foods, polyphenols exist alongside a wide array of other potentially bioactive phytochemicals. Yet, investigations of the effects of combinations of polyphenols with other phytochemicals are limited. Objective: The current study investigated the effects of combining extracts of beetroot, ginseng and sage with phenolic-rich apple, blueberry and coffee berry extracts. Design: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design investigated three active beverages in 32 healthy adults aged 18&ndash;49 years. Each investigational beverage comprised extracts of beetroot, ginseng and sage. Each also contained a phenolic-rich extract derived from apple (containing 234 mg flavanols), blueberry (300 mg anthocyanins) or coffee berry (440 mg chlorogenic acid). Cognition, mood and CBF parameters were assessed at baseline and then again at 60, 180 and 360 min post-drink. Results: Robust effects on mood and CBF were seen for the apple and coffee berry beverages, with increased subjective energetic arousal and hemodynamic responses being observed. Fewer effects were seen with the blueberry extract beverage. Conclusions: Either the combination of beetroot, ginseng and sage was enhanced by the synergistic addition of the apple and coffee berry extract (and to a lesser extent the blueberry extract) or the former two phenolic-rich extracts were capable of evincing the robust mood and CBF effects alone