A Qualitative Focus Group Study for the Exploration of Knowledge and Attitudes of Informal Caregivers Toward Breast Cancer: Perceptions of Informal Caregivers and Healthcare Professionals in Three European Countries

Breast cancer (BC) early screening and detection is a main component for the outcome of the treatment and overall survival. Informal caregivers (ICGs) are less likely to initiate early BC screening methods and utilize health services. The purpose of this study was to explore ICGs' knowledge and perceptions, including educational and training opportunities or barriers, in promoting early detection practices for BC, as well as healthcare professionals' (HCP) respective perceptions concerning ICGs in order to identify the need of selected health literacy interventions. A qualitative focus group study was implemented in 3 European countries, using a purposive sampling technique. In total, 26 ICGs and 18 HCPs were involved. The themes that emerged from the focus groups interviews included knowledge, perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs concerning BC; motivational factors and barriers that influence early screening practices and personal involvement. Motivators and barriers concerning BC screening adherence were linked to knowledge, beliefs and perceptions. Health promotion strategies and user-friendly tools should be developed, targeting on the implementation of BC early detection practices among informal caregivers

Review and Selection of Online Resources for Carers of Frail Adults or Older People in Five European Countries: Mixed-Methods Study

17.06.2020. BACKGROUND: Informal carers have a crucial role in the care of older people, but they are at risk of social isolation and psychological exhaustion. Web-based services like apps and websites are increasingly used to support informal carers in addressing some of their needs and tasks, such as health monitoring of their loved ones, information and communication, and stress management. Despite the growing number of available solutions, the lack of knowledge or skills of carers about the solutions often prevent their usage. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to review and select apps and websites offering functionalities useful for informal carers of frail adults or older people in 5 European countries (Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Sweden). METHODS: A systematic online search was conducted from January 2017 to mid-March 2017 using selected keywords, followed by an assessment based on a set of commonly agreed criteria and standardized tools. Selected resources were rated and classified in terms of scope. Focus groups with informal carers were conducted to validate the list and the classification of resources. The activities were conducted in parallel in the participating countries using common protocols and guidelines, a standardization process, and scheduled group discussions. RESULTS: From a total of 406 eligible resources retrieved, 138 apps and 86 websites met the inclusion criteria. Half of the selected resources (109/224, 48.7%) were disease-specific, and the remaining resources included information and utilities on a variety of themes. Only 38 resources (38/224, 17.0%) were devoted specifically to carers, addressing the management of health disturbances and diseases of the care recipient and focusing primarily on neurodegenerative diseases. Focus groups with the carers showed that almost all participants had no previous knowledge of any resource specifically targeting carers, even if interest was expressed towards carer-focused resources. The main barriers for using the resources were low digital skills of the carers and reliability of health-related apps and websites. Results of the focus groups led to a new taxonomy of the resources, comprising 4 categories: carer's wellbeing, managing health and diseases of the care recipient, useful contacts, and technologies for eldercare. CONCLUSIONS: The review process allowed the identification of online resources of good quality. However, these resources are still scarce due to a lack of reliability and usability that prevent users from properly benefiting from most of the resources. The involvement of end users provided added value to the resource classification and highlighted the gap between the potential benefits from using information and communication technologies and the real use of online resources by carers.This study was co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union, under the Project “Apps for carers”, Grant Agreement n. 2016-1-SE01-KA204-022067. This study was partially supported by Ricerca Corrente funding from the Italian Ministry of Health to IRCCS INRCA

Supporting Caregivers of Patients with Childhood Malignancies

Parenting a child with malignancy can be demanding. The shift from parenting to caregiving for a child with cancer comes with the emotional, financial, and social burden that accumulates. Caregivers can often be diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Syndrome -PTSS, depression, and anxiety. The needs of caregivers of children with malignancies differ according to the diagnosis, the disease stage, the family structure, and their cultural and religious beliefs. Supporting these needs is essential for ensuring the continuity of the child’s therapy. Support methods have been described extensively in the literature. Healthcare providers in the field of pediatric cancer should be able to recognize the needs of caregivers and provide or guide them toward adequate and proper support. Supporting caregivers' needs has an immediate impact on the child’s treatment trajectory and outcome

Η αναγνώριση των παραγόντων που συμβάλλουν στη συστηματική χρήση του προφυλακτικού, για την πρόληψη ανεπιθύμητης εγκυμοσύνης και σεξουαλικώς μεταδιδομένων νοσημάτων με βάση το μοντέλο πεποιθήσεων για την υγεία

Human behavior plays a more important role than the development of medical science and improvement of living conditions in the reduction of health problems and premature deaths. Changes in human behavior can occur as the result of many factors. Inappropriate behavior and mistaken health perceptions increase the likelihood of diseases. Every intervention aimed at prevention should focus on knowledge of the factors that define people's behavior. In order to discover the factors that are implicated in a preventive behavior such as the use of condoms, the Health Belief Model (HBM) can be used, which constitutes a valuable tool in predicting health behaviors. Based on this model, the adoption of specific behaviors is the result of the expectations and the perceived value of the positive consequences that this behavior will produce. The HBM, however, has certain limitations, such as the fact that it fails to take into consideration factors such as habits, social activities, the environment, and the apathy demonstrated by many people for health issues. It lacks an appropriate function which would enable linkage between the six constituents of the model. The limitations of use of the model in this particular context include the controversial opinions in terms of the association between the model and unprotected sexual intercourse and the fact that the model does not include the emotional dimensions of sexual intercourse

The impact of globalization in the healthcare arena and the development of a supernational prescriptive framework

Το φαινόμενο της παγκοσμιοποίησης προέκυψε κυρίως από τη συνάρτηση της ανάπτυξης της οικονομίας, της τεχνολογίας και της κουλτούρας, ενώ αποτέλεσε θέμα αντιτιθέμενων απόψεων, επέδρασε και στον τομέα της υγείας σε κάποιες περιπτώσεις θετικά, είχε όμως και επιβλαβείς συνέπειες σε ορισμένες πληθυσμιακές ομάδες. Το επίπεδο υγείας του πληθυσμού εξαρτάται από πολλούς παράγοντες, στους οποίους η παγκοσμιοποίηση ασκεί έμμεση και άμεση επίδραση. Από μια άποψη υποστηρίζεται ότι βοήθησε στην εξάλειψη της φτώχιας, ενώ από την άλλη υπάρχει και ο ισχυρισμός ότι, αντίθετα, η παγκοσμιοποίηση της οικονομίας δημιουργεί ανισότητες και αποκλεισμούς, κατατάσσει τους ανθρώπους σε κατηγορίες και συντηρεί συνθήκες αθλιότητας στην υγεία των πτωχών. Γενικά, θεωρείται ότι η εκμηδένιση των αποστάσεων, η πρόοδος στην πληροφορική και στην τεχνολογία θα έχει θετικές επιδράσεις στον τομέα της υγείας. Ωστόσο, η κατάργηση των συνόρων αύξησε τους κινδύνους μεταφοράς και εξάπλωσης λοιμωδών νοσημάτων. Εξάλλου, η όξυνση των περιβαλλο- ντικών προβλημάτων επιδείνωσε την κατάσταση στον τομέα της υγείας. Η επίδραση της παγκοσμιοποίησης στον τρόπο χρηματοδότησης των υπηρεσιών υγείας επαναπροσδιορίζει το ρόλο του κράτους και καθιστά αναγκαία τη συμμετοχή διεθνών οργανισμών στη χάραξη νέας πολιτικής υγείας. Η προσέγγιση της υγείας ως παγκόσμιου αγαθού σε διεθνές επίπεδο αποτελεί μια αναγκαιότητα. Η προσπάθεια προστασίας της υγείας από τις αρνητικές επιπτώσεις της παγκοσμιοποίησης βρίσκει έκφραση στον Παγκόσμιο Οργανισμό Υγείας, ο οποίος έθεσε στόχους για την επίτευξη του υψηλότερου δυνατού επιπέδου υγείας, για όλους τους ανθρώπους σε διεθνές επίπεδο. Η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση με τις συνθήκες του Μάαστριχτ και Άμστερνταμ έθεσε τα θεμέλια για την ανάπτυξη της δημόσιας υγείας, δεν έγινε όμως ακόμη εφικτή η υιοθέτηση ενιαίας πολιτικής στα συστήματα υγείας των κρατών-μελών

The effect of complementary therapies on parents' anxiety of children undergoing cancer treatment a systematic review

To explore the effectiveness of Complementary and Alternative interventions in reducing stress in parents of children with cancer

How family caregivers of cancer patients manage symptoms at home: a systematic review

Introduction Cancer affects not only the patient, but also the whole family, especially when a member of the family assumes the role of the family caregiver. This puts an additional emotional, social and financial strain on the family caregivers. Family caregivers of cancer patients are actively involved in the care provided at the home setting through various ways including practical tasks, symptom management and care coordination. The focus of preceding studies on family caregivers and symptom management was either on pain or the patients’ and family caregivers’ experience of symptom management and coping. The aim of this review was to provide evidence on how family caregivers manage symptoms and side effects at home, in adult cancer patients throughout the disease trajectory. Methods A systematic literature review was performed in PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials with a combination of keywords and MeSH terms for family caregivers, cancer, symptoms, side effects and management. Based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 1270 articles were screened and 20 studies were included in the analysis. A descriptive analysis was performed due to the heterogeneity of the findings. Results The results showed that only a limited number of studies (3/20) explored how and what family caregivers do in symptom management as a primary outcome. Family caregivers provided psychosocial support, such as supporting and motivating the patient and maintaining social engagement. Caregivers provided physical support such as with the administration of medicine and tube feeding. As an integral part of managing the symptoms, family caregivers actively monitored and assessed symptoms to timely recognize any treatment related side effects, assess the response to therapeutic interventions and recognize possible deterioration in physical status. Furthermore, family caregivers were often the decision maker – being alert, watching and waiting and decided when to act and when not to act. Conclusions Family caregivers are doing work similar to healthcare professionals, when managing symptoms and side effects at home in patients with cancer. Advanced tasks such as assessing, monitoring and deciding when and how to act are included in the daily routine of family caregivers

Complementary and alternative medical interventions for the management of anxiety in parents of children who are hospitalized and suffer from a malignancy: a systematic review of RCTs

Introduction: This paper reports the findings of a systematic review which evaluates the evidence from RCTs regarding the effectiveness of complementary and alternative medical interventions (CAM) in reducing anxiety in parents whose children suffer from malignancies. Method: CINAHL, COCHRANE, EMBASE, PUBMED, SCOPUS and PSYCINFO electronic databases were searched, based on the following search terms: parent*, child*, anxiety, complementary, psychological, cognitive, behavioral, interventions, cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, ‘brain tumors’. Results: In total 9 studies met the eligibility criteria. Six RCT’s were pilot studies. Five trials targeted parents of children undergoing bone marrow transplantation, two studies targeted parents of children with various cancer diagnoses and two others targeted parents of children with leukemia. A variety of stress reduction techniques were reported. Overall, 5/9 of the studies reported the use of massage therapy. In two out of the five studies which used massage therapy on children as an intervention, massage was accompanied with relaxation/imagery in the first and in the second, parents delivered acupressure to their children. Two other studies used breathing techniques/guided imagery, another one used relaxation training and the last one used inhalation aromatherapy. Conclusions: The methodological quality of reviewed RCT’s studies was low and many failed to provide sufficient information in order to assess their quality on many of the methodological indicators. Although, the review did not provide strong evidence in favor of CAM interventions, the results were encouraging. The studies showed promising results and some positive trends such as the feasibility and acceptability of CAM interventions in pediatric oncology/hematology unit