A conceptual approach to enhance the well-being of elderly people

The number of elderly people living alone is increasing. Consequently, a lot of research works have been addressing this issue in order to propose solutions that can enhance the quality of life of elderly people. Most of them have been concerned in dealing with objective issues such as forgetfulness or detecting falls. In this paper, we propose a conceptual approach of a system that intends to enhance the daily sense of user’s well-being. For that, our proposal consists in a system that works as a social network and a smartwatch application that works unobtrusively and collects the user’s physiological data. In addition, we debate how important features such as to detect user’s affective states and to potentiate user’s memory could be implemented. Our study shows that there are still some important limitations which affect the success of applications built in the context of elderly care and which are mostly related with accuracy and usability of this kind of system. However, we believe that with our approach we will be able to address some of those limitations and define a system that can enhance the well-being of elderly people and improve their cognitive capabilities.The work presented in this paper has been developed under the EUREKA - ITEA3 Project PHE (PHE-16040), and by National Funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) under the projects UID/EEA/00760/2019 and UID/CEC/00319/2019 and by NORTE-01-0247-FEDER-033275 (AIRDOC - “Aplicação móvel Inteligente para suporte individualizado e monitorização da função e sons Respiratórios de Doentes Obstrutivos Crónicos ”) by NORTE 2020 (Programa Operacional Regional do Norte)

Burnout syndrome in Cypriot physiotherapists: a national survey

Background. Burnout in the healthcare workers is formally defined as a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion caused by long-term involvement in situations that are emotionally demanding. Methods. Using a random stratified sampling method and taking into account geographical location, specialty and type of employment, 172 physiotherapists working both in the private and public sectors completed an anonymous questionnaire that included several aspects related to burnout; the MBI scale, questions related to occupational stress, and questions pertaining to self image. Results. Almost half (46%) of the 172 participants believed that their job is stressful. Approximately 57% of the physiotherapists who worked in the public sector and 40% of those who worked in the private sector (p = 0.038) reported that their job is stressful. In total, 21.1% of participants met Maslach's criteria for burnout. The point prevalence of burnout was as follows: (1) 13.8% of those who worked in the public sector and 25.5% of those in the private sector (2) 22.2% of males and 20% of females (3) 21.6% who were married, 18% who were single and 33.3% who were separated. Gender was found to be associated with the level of personal accomplishment (chi-squared test; p = 0.049), as 17.8% of men compared with 24.3% of women reported high personal accomplishment. The number of years of working as a physiotherapist correlated negatively (r = -0.229, p = 0.004) with the total depersonalization score. Regression analysis showed that the perception that the job is stressful (p < 0.001) and the low salary (p = 0.016) were significant predictors of high emotional exhaustion scores, while age group (p = 0.027) predicted high scores of depersonalization and the employment sector (p = 0.050) as well as the low salary predicted high personal accomplishment scores. Conclusions. Burnout levels in physiotherapists in Cyprus ranged from low to moderate

A study of a couple with type 2 diabetes: dyadic adjustment and psychological morbidity

Objective: this study assessed dyadic adjustment and psychological morbidity in type 2 diabetic patients and their partners, focusing on the role of gender. Methods: 214 diabetic patients and their partners participated in the cross-sectional study and were assessed on psychological morbidity (HADS) and marital adjustment (RDAS). Data was analyzed using dyadic analysis, a statistical process that studies the patient/partner dyads simultaneously. Results: results revealed that the negative relationship between dyadic adjustment and psychological morbidity in female patients was stronger than in male diabetic patients or in partners of male diabetic patients. On the other hand, the relationship between dyadic adjustment and psychological morbidity in partners of diabetic men was stronger than the same relationship in partners of diabetic women. Conclusion: since gender is a moderator, it is important to attend to the different needs of female and male patients and the education of diabetic patients should be centered on the patient/partner dyad.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

The influence of advertising messages on the smoking habits of teenagers

Smoking is a significant cause of deaths that could be prevented Active and passive smoking both contribute to the development of chronic diseases and increased mortality. The early initiation of smoking habits and constant exposure to tobacco products increase the relative risk factor in the occurrence of serious acute or chronic health disorders. In addition to the negative health effects, smoking has a discernible economic impact on the smokers themselves and on the health system of the country and detrimental effects on the social aspects of the population. The mass media and the internet appear to have an important role in increasing the smoking habits of the population. Encouragement of individuals to smoke is accomplished through advertisements which exculpate the negative smoking effects, displaying pictures of health, psycho-emotional balance and feelings of independence and social acceptance. It appears that the recipients of this kind of message are mainly adolescents, who are more susceptible to be influenced towards developing smoking habits, in the absence of anti-smoking advertisements and messages. The effects of smoking in adolescence and the influence of the mass media on the development of smoking habits constitute a multiactorial problem with immediate and long-term socio-economic effects. The coordinated efforts of public and private organizations, with the support of health professionals, could contribute greatly to increasing the awareness of the dangers and to combatting the problem

Awareness of human papilloma virus and cervical cancer prevention among Greek female healthcare workers

The incidence rate of cervical cancer varies by geographic region, with less developed regions showing the highest rates. All risk factors for cervical cancer are actually preventable if appropriate lifestyle changes are adopted. In addition, vaccines protecting against the majority of human papilloma virus (HPV) high-risk types have been developed. Even though cervical cancer is preventable, not all women are aware of this or how it can be prevented. Thus, it is essential for every nation to assess the level of knowledge among women of cervical cancer and HPV prevention. In this work, we assessed the level of awareness and attitudes of Greek female healthcare workers on cervical cancer and HPV prevention through the delivery of a validated questionnaire between March and June 2012 in three hospitals in Greece. Our results show that there exist gaps in the knowledge of women on this topic, especially in terms of the newest information on cervical cancer prevention through HPV testing and vaccination. In fact, only 80% of surveyed women knew about the existence of HPV testing. We propose that more information needs to be transmitted to Greek women and men on HPV testing and vaccination. Even though the incidence of cervical cancer is not extremely high in Greece, this number can easily change, especially in the face of the economic crisis and the increasing rates of migration, which can result in higher rates of HPV infection in the population if no measures for HPV prevention are implemented. © 2017 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc

Telemetry and telecare in patients with respiratory diseases

Information technology (IT) plays a crucial role in helping health professionals improve their clinical practice, disease management, treatment strategy and patient follow-up, aiming at anthropocentric health care. Its applications include detection, surveillance, testing and patient treatment, as well as the IT education of medical, nursing and paramedical personnel. Telecare (also referred as telehealth) includes patient usage of telecommunication technology and transmission of biological data and medical signals to a health care centre for specialist consultation. The services provided are based on "smart devices" adapted to the needs of patients. Certain patient subgroups, such as the elderly and those with chronic diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (CO PD), are in great need of continuing contact with the health care team. Introduction of IT in the primary health care (PHC) setting can improve patient access to care, and chronic respiratory diseases are a good example of telecare application. Most telecare programmes continue to be operated alongside the face to face scheduled visits

Leukotriene antagonists: As firstline asthmatic therapy: A review

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by airflow obstruction. The development of leukotriene receptor antagonists and synthesis inhibitors in briefly described; and acute exercise, allergen, and aspirin challenge, studies with these agents are reviewed. Clinical studies with leukotriene antagonists and inhibitors have confirmed the central role leukotrienes of in asthma. The new generation of leukotriene receptor antagonist may be suitable as first-line therapy in patients with mild to moderate asthma

Social influence and smoking habit in adolescent

Introduction: Adolescence presents a range of physical, mental, psychosexual and social changes. Teenagers influenced by endogenous or exogenous psychosocial factors, resort to using hard drugs or other addictive substances. The nicotine intake of cigarettes is the most common form of addictive substance among teenagers. Material and Method: The sample of the study consisted of high school students aged 13-18 years old, from two cities of central Greece (Lamia-Larisa). Data were collected during the period 01/10/2011-25/02/2012. The questionnaire includes questions on the demographic data of participants and their smoking habits as well as 20 questions relating to social influence, as expressed through and shaped by the social environment and the media. Results: From data analysis the frequency of smoking was 19.2%.The regular smoking of the sample was 10%. The friends of students who smoke are mostly girls (22%) with the percentage of boys standing at 2.6%. The Pearson correlation between the number of cigarettes and number of friends who smoke tested positive for both boys and girls. Conclusion: In conclusion the social influence of tobacco, emerging as one of the most decisive factors promoting smoking activity. The study results indicate that a careful design and a comprehensive smoking policy (and not simply informing young people) about the dangers of smoking are needed. © iMedPub