Van Heilig-Kruisklooster tot Sint-Bernardusabdij in Bornem (prov. Antwerpen). Een bouwhistorisch onderzoek met het oog op herbestemming

Naar aanleiding van een mogelijke herbestemming van de gebouwen van de Sint-Bernardusabdij in Bornem tot woongelegenheid, voert het Vlaams Instituut voor het Onroerend Erfgoed (VIOE) op verzoek van het Agentschap R-O Vlaanderen, Onroerend erfgoed (prov. Antwerpen) voorafgaande onderzoeken uit. Die betreffen het volledige, als monument beschermde abdijcomplex (abdijkerk, kloostervleugels, bijgebouwen, tuin en park), dat thans nog door een kleine gemeenschap van cisterciënzers wordt bewoond. Deze studie moet toelaten om een herbestemming, aangepast aan de historische eigenheid van de abdij, mogelijk te maken

Participation and healthcare: a survey investigating current and desired levels of collaboration between patient organizations and hospitals

Participation and healthcare: a survey investigating current and desired levels of collaboration between patient organizations and hospitalsBackground: Patient participation is widely seen as a way of improving the quality of healthcare. It is encouraged by public health policies, but the systematic development and implementation of these policies in practice is still lacking.Objective: To facilitate a structural approach to the involvement of patient organizations at the meso level, we conducted an explorative survey to gain an understanding of the current state of collaboration between patient associations and hospitals, and to gain an insight into the needs and wishes of these patient organizations.Design: 111 patient organizations participated in our cross-sectional web-based survey. The results were analysed using a quantitative and qualitative approach.Results: The majority of the patient organizations in the survey aspired to “advise” healthcare professionals regarding service development and evaluations. They wish to participate in hospital processes, produce brochures to inform their peers and provide support for peers. The aim of their collaboration with hospitals is fourfold: to offer complementary services to patients of the hospital, increase patient satisfaction, facilitate patient empowerment and increase the quality of care. In general, the organizations reported a need for increased support.Discussion and conclusion: The ultimate ambition of patient organizations is to collaborate more closely with professionals and become an acknowledged partner in patient care networks. After all, successful collaboration can produce synergies and establish a complementary type of care and information for both patients and caregivers. Participatie en gezondheidszorg: een surveyonderzoek naar de huidige en gewenste samenwerking tussen patiëntenorganisaties en ziekenhuizen Patiëntenparticipatie is één van de manieren om de kwaliteit van de gezondheidszorg te verbeteren. Het wordt dan ook gepromoot door verschillende beleidsinstanties, maar een systematische ontwikkeling en implementatie in de praktijk ontbreken voorlopig nog. Om een structurele aanpak van patiëntenparticipatie op mesoniveau uit te werken werd een exploratieve studie uitgevoerd om de huidige stand van zaken en de wenselijkheden op het vlak van samenwerking tussen patiëntenverenigingen en ziekenhuizen in kaart te brengen. In totaal namen 111 patiëntenorganisaties deel aan onze “cross-sectionele online enquête”. De resultaten werden geanalyseerd door middel van een kwantitatieve en kwalitatieve analyse. Uit de resultaten bleek dat de meerderheid van de patiëntenorganisaties ernaar streeft om ziekenhuizen en hun medewerkers te “adviseren”. Daarnaast willen patiëntenorganisaties samenwerken om brochures te ontwikkelen en hun lotgenoten te informeren en ondersteunen. Het doel van hun samenwerking is viervoudig: het aanbieden van aanvullende diensten aan patiënten in het ziekenhuis, het vergroten van de tevredenheid, het bevorderen van empowerment bij patiënten en het verbeteren van de zorgkwaliteit. In het algemeen signaleren de patiëntenorganisaties een behoefte aan meer ondersteuning tijdens participatieactiviteiten. De conclusie is dat de patiëntenorganisaties nauwer willen samenwerken met professionals om zo een erkende partner te worden in het zorgnetwerk van de patiënt. Succesvolle samenwerking tussen beide partijen kan immers leiden tot synergiën en een complementair type van zorg en informatie voor zowel patiënten als professionals

Serodiagnosis of Echinococcus spp. Infection: Explorative Selection of Diagnostic Antigens by Peptide Microarray

Crude or purified, somatic or metabolic extracts of native antigens are routinely used for the serodiagnosis of human helminthic infections. These antigens are often cross-reactive, i.e., recognized by sera from patients infected with heterologous helminth species. To overcome limitations in antigen production, test sensitivity and specificity, chemically synthesized peptides offer a pure and standardized alternative, provided they yield acceptable operative characteristics. Ongoing genome and proteome work create new resources for the identification of antigens. Making use of the growing amount of genomic and proteomic data available in public databases, we tested a bioinformatic procedure for the selection of potentially antigenic peptides from a collection of protein sequences including conceptually translated nucleotide sequence data of Echinococcus multilocularis and E. granulosus (Plathyhelminthes, Cestoda). The in silico selection was combined with high-throughput screening of peptides on microarray and systematic validation of reactive candidates in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Our study proved the applicability of this approach for selection of peptide antigens with good diagnostic characteristics. Our results suggested the pooling of several peptides to reach a high level of sensitivity required for reliable immunodiagnosis

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Ervaringsdeskundigen zorgen voor meer kwaliteit in ziekenhuizen

status: Published onlin

Patient empowerment, patiëntenparticipatie en patiëntgerichtheid: gelijkenissen en verschillen

status: publishe

Van Heilig-Kruisklooster tot Sint-Bernardusabdij in Bornem (prov. Antwerpen). Een bouwhistorisch onderzoek met het oog op herbestemming

status: publishe