Perfil dos cuidadores informais de idosos dependentes, no Concelho de Santana – Ilha da Madeira

Machado, S.; Fragoeiro, I.; Reis, G.(2013) Perfil dos cuidadores informais de idosos dependentes, no Concelho de Santana – Ilha da Madeira ”In V Congresso Português de Avaliação e Intervenção em Gerontologia Social, UP/ UNIFAI, maio, Porto. 1 Enfrª Especialista S. Comunitária, Mestre em Gerontologia Social; 2 PhD Saúde Mental; 3 PhD Ciências de Enfermagem 1 [email protected]; 2 [email protected]; 3 [email protected] Resumo: O processo de cuidar do idoso dependente é multidimensional e executado por cuidadores formais e informais. Sempre teve a família uma função particular. No entanto, face às mudanças na sociedade verificamos que as pessoas e famílias enfrentam a necessidade de cuidar dos seus familiares mais frágeis, concretamente do idoso dependente mas também o desafio de o fazer em circunstâncias mais adversas. Afinal quem é que ainda se mantem a cuidar dos idosos em casa? Foi o desejo de conhecer os cuidadores que desencadeou este estudo pois os enfermeiros da comunidade devem prever e antecipar cuidados aos seus clientes. Os objetivos foram os seguintes: Identificar o perfil dos cuidadores informais de idosos dependentes e determinar a população idosa dependente acompanhada no domicílio, do Concelho de Santana Com a colaboração dos Enfermeiros de Família identificaram-se os idosos dependentes. A população de cuidadores acessível foi constituída por 69 cuidadores informais. O estudo foi transversal, quantitativo e descritivo. Usou-se um formulário para identificar o perfil do cuidador. Foi importante conhecer a dependência dos idosos recorrendo à Escala de Barthel modificada (Mahoney; Barthel,1965; Lima, 1995). Os dados foram tratados utilizando-se estatística descritiva com recurso ao Programa PASW 19. Resultados: A idade dos cuidadores varia entre 34 anos a mais de 74 anos. Observa-se que a maioria (36,3%) tinha entre 44-54 anos, seguindo-se o grupo dos que tinham entre 64-74 anos (23,2%) e os de 54-64 anos (20,3%). A maioria dos cuidadores era mulher (84,5%), casada (59,4%) com nenhuma (20,3%) ou baixa escolaridade: 4º ano (24,6%) e 6º ano (42,0%); baixo (59,4%) ou médio (37,8%) nível socioeconómico e familiar. Os cuidadores eram maioritariamente membros da família (81,2%) ocupando as filhas (37,7%) o lugar cimeiro seguido das esposas (18,8%). A maioria, 68,1%, referiu que não tinha período de descanso ou não usufruía do apoio de outro familiar na partilha da função. Mais de um terço (38%) desempenhavam a função de cuidador entre um a quatro e realçamos que 72,5% dos cuidadores primários cuidavam do seu familiar durante 12 horas por dia o que se liga à elevada dependência dos idosos (68%) que são alvo dos cuidados. Estes resultados são idênticos aos de outros estudos nacionais (Pimenta, et al, 2005; Sequeira, 2010) e internacionais Martín et al (2000). Conclusões: É fulcral reconhecer as características e o perfil dos cuidadores domiciliários dos idosos dependentes, para que os programas e políticas de intervenção na área da saúde e do bem-estar social sejam ajustados. O cuidado aos idosos tem influência (impacto) na saúde e bem-estar dos cuidadores, que necessitam organizar suas tarefas diárias, de modo a reservarem tempo para si e devem usufruir de apoios e suporte dos profissionais a fim de se minimizarem riscos para a pessoa cuidada e para o cuidador

Crossing genetic and swarm intelligence algorithms to generate logic circuits

Genetic Algorithms (GAs) are adaptive heuristic search algorithm based on the evolutionary ideas of natural selection and genetic. The basic concept of GAs is designed to simulate processes in natural system necessary for evolution, specifically those that follow the principles first laid down by Charles Darwin of survival of the fittest. On the other hand, Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a population based stochastic optimization technique inspired by social behavior of bird flocking or fish schooling. PSO shares many similarities with evolutionary computation techniques such as GAs. The system is initialized with a population of random solutions and searches for optima by updating generations. However, unlike GA, PSO has no evolution operators such as crossover and mutation. In PSO, the potential solutions, called particles, fly through the problem space by following the current optimum particles. PSO is attractive because there are few parameters to adjust. This paper presents hybridization between a GA algorithm and a PSO algorithm (crossing the two algorithms). The resulting algorithm is applied to the synthesis of combinational logic circuits. With this combination is possible to take advantage of the best features of each particular algorithm

Combining genetic and particle swarm algorithms for the design of combinational circuits

Evolutionary computation (EC) is a growing research field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and is divided in two main areas: the Evolutionary Algorithms (EA) and the Swarm Intelligence (SI). This paper presents an algorithm that combines an EA algorithm - the Genetic Algorithm (GA) with a SI algorithm - the Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm (PSO). The new algorithm is applied to the synthesis of combinational logic circuits. With this combination is possible to take advantage of the best features of each particular algorithm.N/

Towards near 100% renewable power systems: Improving the role of distributed energy resources using optimization models

The envisioned near 100 % renewable Power Systems, crucial in attaining the sustainability goals aspired by society, will call for the active and multifaceted participation of all the actors involved in the energy systems. Time-varying renewable energy systems (vRES), such as solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind, will play a decisive role in meeting the ambitious renewable targets. This is due to the large availability of natural resources and the rapid decrease in investment costs observed in the last two decades. In fact, most of the scenarios to achieve near 100% RES in Europe strongly rely on these two energy sources. However, the high temporal and spatial variability of the power generated by these technologies represents a challenge for preserving the high-security standards of supply, quality of service, and the robustness of current power systems, especially with the foreseen contributions from vRES. With an emphasis on the vital role these renewable technologies play in this process, this work aims to develop new methods and tools that may assist different players in different stages of this transition. The three leading contributions are: 1. A Multiyear Expansion-Planning Optimization Method (MEPOM) to be used in the planning processes carried out by system operators and governmental entities. 2. An Optimal Design and Sizing of Hybrid Power Plants (OptHy) decision-support tool to be used in accessing investment decisions and other managing actions led by renewable power plant owners and investors. 3. A Decision-aid Algorithm for Market Participation and Optimal Bidding Strategy (OptiBID) that market agents may adopt to operate and value their renewable energy assets in the electricity markets

An evolutionary approach to the synthesis of combinational circuits

This paper proposes a genetic algorithm for designing combinational logic circuits and studies four different case examples: 2-to-1 multiplexer, one-bit full adder, four-bit parity checker and two-bit multiplier. The objective of this work is to generate a functional circuit with the minimum number of gates.N/

Determination and Uncertainty Propagation of Sensitivity Coefficients in Rockwell Hardness Measurements

In the field of hardness measurements, a problem arises when trying to understand how different measurement parameters (such as speed of the indenter, force, maximum displacement, thermal drift, etc.) affect the outcome of the measurement itself. Because the mathematical model defining hardness scales do not consider such factors, the simplest way to include additional influence parameters in the mathematical model is to introduce them linearly via sensitivity coefficients, which are obtained experimentally and thus characterized by uncertainties. However, uncertainties of the sensitivity coefficients are in general not considered in the evaluation of the combined standard uncertainty of the hardness measurements. In this paper a general procedure is presented and applied to practical case-studies on HRA and HRC hardness measurements. In this field, the international definitions (standards) state each sensitivity coefficient for influence parameters about specific reference values: additional (generally neglected) uncertainty contributions reflect how much the measurements fail to be performed at exactly the prescribed reference values. Indeed, in the second case-study presented in this paper, we have found that the expanded uncertainty obtained via the proposed method is about 50 % larger than the one reported in the example of the international guidelines. This result highlights the importance of considering the uncertainties of the sensitivity coefficients when evaluating the combined standard uncertainty of any measurement

Can cooperation within the vaginal microbiome lead to the development of bacterial vaginosis?

Our well-being and our microbes - Annual Meeting of the New Zealand Microbiological Society[Excerpt] Despite being a controversial topic over the past few decades, Gardnerella vaginalis has been attributed a central role in bacterial vaginosis (BV) development. An important milestone in BV research was the discovery that the different species involved in BV were associated in a structured polymicrobial biofilm, dominated by G. vaginalis. Subsequent studies demonstrated that G. vaginalis biofilms display a high resistance to the protective mechanisms of normal vaginal microflora, as well as an increased tolerance to antibiotics. Despite the increased evidence of the pivotal role of G. vaginalis in BV biofilm development, the importance of the other BV-associated anaerobes should not be neglected. There are some observational studies that correlate bacterial co-colonization between G. vaginalis and some other specific BV-associated bacteria during BV. Furthermore, synergistic interactions can occur between BV-associated species and G. vaginalis, leading to increased biofilm formation in dual-species biofilms. We hypothesized that differential bacterial interactions can occur during BV development. To test our hypothesis, we examined the ecological interactions between G. vaginalis and other 15 BV-associated anaerobes that we had previously shown to enhance biofilm formation by G. vaginalis, using a dual-species biofilm model. [...]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio