Becoming a “Vulnerable Senior” in the Days of COVID-19

As the COVID-19 crisis unfolded, older people in the Netherlands were framed as essentially vulnerable. In the public discourse, the figure of the “vulnerable senior” rose to unprecedented prominence. Taking a critical-phenomenological approach, we combine an empirical study with philosophical reflection, drawing on phenomenological and post-structuralist work on vulnerability and precarity to interpret quotes from daily newspapers and other media. This approach leads us to distinguish three forms of vulnerability: (1) vulnerability as discursive effect; (2) vulnerability as unrealizable; and (3) vulnerability as creative appropriation. We conclude that the COVID-19 crisis has reinforced the entanglement of age and vulnerability and has led to novel social distinctions and labels. These labels harbor harmful stereotypes and are in constant need of critical evaluation. Still, the people who are affected by them are not passively dominated; rather, they exhibit a certain freedom in re-interpreting and challenging their situation. It is this attention to the entanglement of discourse and lived experience that situates our research in the broader field of critical phenomenology. Peer review process: Guest edite

Transforming maternity care:obstetric partnerships as a policy instrument for integration

Increasing continuity in Dutch maternity care is considered pivotal to improve safety and client-centeredness. Closer collaboration between the historically relatively autonomous professionals and organizations in maternity care is deemed conditional to reach this goal, both by maternity care professionals and policy makers. Governmental policy therefore strives for organizational and financial integration. One of the policy measures has been to stimulate interprofessional and interorganizational collaboration through local obstetric partnerships. This study aimed to gain insight into whether this policy measure supported professionals in reaching the policy aim of increasing integration in the maternity care system. We therefore conducted 73 semistructured interviews with maternity care professionals in the region Northwest Netherlands, from 2014 to 2016. Respondents expressed much willingness to intensify interprofessional and interorganizational collaboration and experienced obstetric partnerships as contributing to this. As such, stimulating integration through obstetric partnerships can be considered a suitable policy measure. However, collaborating within the partnerships simultaneously highlighted deep-rooted dividing structures (organizational, educational, legal, financial) in the maternity care system, especially at the systemic level. These were experienced to hinder collaboration, but difficult for the professionals to influence, as they lacked knowledge, skills, resources and mandate. A lack of clear and timely guidance and support from policy, counterbalancing these barriers, limited partnerships' potential to unify professionals and integrate their services. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Longitudinal association between child emotion regulation and aggression, and the role of parenting: a comparison of three cultures

Background: The ability to regulate emotions is a key developmental achievement acquired during social interactions and associated with better behavioral and social outcomes. We examined the influence of culture on child emotion regulation (ER) and aggression and on early parenting practices, and the role of parenting in child ER. Methods: We assessed 48 mother-infant dyads from three cultures (1 UK, 2 South African) at infant age of 3 months for maternal sensitivity during face-to-face interactions and responses to infant distress during daily life, and at 2 years for child ER strategies and maternally reported aggression. Results: There were cultural differences in child ER, and these were associated with differences in levels of aggression. Maternal strategies in response to early infant distress also differed by culture and predicted later child ER. Maternal sensitivity during face-to-face interactions was not associated with culture and showed no clear relationship with child ER. Conclusion: Cultural differences in maternal responses to infant distress mediated differences in child ER that are, in turn, related to differences in child aggression

Effective treatment of liver metastases with photodynamic therapy, using the second-generation photosensitizer meta-tetra(hydroxyphenyl)chlorin (mTHPC), in a rat model

The only curative treatment for patients with liver metastases to date is surgery, but few patients are suitable candidates for hepatic resection. The majority of patients will have to rely on other treatment modalities for palliation. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) could be a selective, minimally invasive treatment for patients with liver metastases. We studied PDT in an implanted colon carcinoma in the liver of Wag/Rij rats, using the photosensitizer meta-tetra(hydroxyphenyl)chlorin (mTHPC). mTHPC tissue kinetics were studied using ex vivo extractions and in vivo fluorescence measurements. Both methods showed that mTHPC kinetics were different for liver and tumour tissue. After initial high levels at 4 h after administration (0.1 and 0.3 mg kg−1) mTHPC in liver tissue decreased rapidly in time. In tumour tissue no decrease in photosensitizer levels occurred, with mTHPC remaining high up to 48 h after administration. Both concentration data and fluorescence data showed an increase in tumour to liver ratios of up to 6.3 and 5.0 respectively. Illumination with 652 nm (15 J) resulted in extensive damage to tumour tissue, with necrosis of up to 13 mm in diameter. Damage to normal liver tissue was mild and transient as serum aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels normalized within a week after PDT treatment. Long-term effects of mTHPC-PDT were studied on day 28 after treatment. Regardless of drug dose and drug–light interval, PDT with mTHPC resulted in complete tumour remission in 27 out of 31 treated animals (87%), with only four animals in which tumour regrowth was observed. Non-responding tumours proved to be significantly larger (P < 0.001) in size before PDT treatment. This study demonstrates that mTHPC is retained in an intrahepatic tumour and that mTHPC-PDT is capable of inducing complete tumour remission of liver tumours. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Continuity of care is an important and distinct aspect of childbirth experience: findings of a survey evaluating experienced continuity of care, experienced quality of care and women’s perception of labor

Background: To compare experienced continuity of care among women who received midwife-led versus obstetrician-led care. Secondly, to compare experienced continuity of care with a. experienced quality of care during labor and b. perception of labor. Methods: We conducted a questionnaire survey in a region in the Netherlands in 2014 among 790 women after they gave birth. To measure experienced continuity of care, the Nijmegen Continuity Questionnaire was used. Quality of care during labor was measured with the Pregnancy and Childbirth Questionnaire, and to measure perception of labor we used the Childbirth Perception Scale. Results: Three hundred twenty five women consented to participate (41%). Of these, 187 women completed the relevant questions in the online questionnaire. 136 (73%) women were in midwife-led care at the onset of labor, 15 (8%) were in obstetrician-led care throughout pregnancy and 36 (19%) were referred to obstetrician-led care during pregnancy. Experienced personal and team continuity of care during pregnancy were higher for women in midwife-led care compared to those in obstetrician-led care at the onset of labor. Experienced continuity of care was moderately correlated with experienced quality of care although not significantly so in all subgroups. A weak negative correlation was found between experienced personal continuity of care by the midwife and perception of labor. Conclusion: This study suggests that experienced continuity of care depends on the care context and is significantly higher for women who are in midwife-led compared to obstetrician-led care during labor. It will be a challenge to maintain the high level of experienced continuity of care in an integrated maternity care system. Experienced continuity of care seems to be a distinctive concept that should not be confused with experienced quality of care or perception of labor and should be considered as a complementary aspect of quality of care

A qualitative research on co-creating care pathways for Sarcoma and GIST by stimulating reflection

Introduction: Care Pathway Management intends to enhance the quality of care by restructuring care services. As recipients of care, patients have relevant experiential knowledge on the provision of care, but they are rarely involved in Care Pathway Management due to various barriers. This study aims to acquire insights into how patients can be meaningfully involved in Care Pathway Management. Methods: A case study was cond

Photodynamic therapy: A promising new modality for the treatment of cancer

The first reports on photodynamic therapy (PDT) date back to the 1970s. Since then, several thousands of patients, both with early stage and advanced stage solid tumours, have been treated with PDT and many claims have been made regarding its efficacy. Nevertheless, the therapy has not yet found general acceptance by oncologists. Therefore it seems legitimate to ask whether PDT can still be described as "a promising new therapy in the treatment of cancer". Clinically, PDT has been mainly used for bladder cancer, lung cancer and in malignant diseases of the skin and upper aerodigestive tract. The sensitizer used in the photodynamic treatment of most patients is Photofrin, (Photofrin, the commercial name of dihematoporphyrin ether/ester, containing > 80% of the active porphyrin dimers/oligomers (A.M.R. Fisher, A.L. Murphee and C.J. Gomer, Clinical and preclinical photodynamictherapy, Review Series Article, Lasers Surg. Med., 17 (1995) 2-31). It is a complex mixture of porphyrins derived from hematoporphyrin. Although this sensitizer is effective, it is not the most suitable photosensitizer for PDT. Prolonged skin photosensitivity and the relatively low absorbance at 630 nm, a wavelength where tissue penetration of light is not optimal, have been frequently cited as negative aspects hindering general acceptance. A multitude of new sensitizers is currently under evaluation. Most of these "second generation photosensitizers" are chemically pure, absorb light at around 650 nm or greater and induce no or less general skin photosensitivity. Another novel approach is the photosensitization of neoplasms by the induction of endogenous photosensitizers through the application of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA). This article addresses the use of PDT in the disciplines mentioned above and attempts to indicate developments of PDT which could be necessary for this therapy to gain a wider acceptance in the various field