Ageing and Cognitive Health: A Preventive Approach

Ageing often leads to a decline in cognitive abilities. Significant cognitive impairment leads to functional impairment, loss of independence and need for long term care. A cognitive reserve is a functional ability that helps to prevent cognitive decline. Identifying the modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline with advancing age is crucial. Research has shown that cognitive exercise and cognitive training in older adults can slow down or resist cognitive decline. Continuous cognitive engagement, adequate and rich cognitive stimulation and complex mental activity can foster neuroplasticity in the brain and, therefore, may be utilized to mitigate age-related changes in cognition. Therefore, adopting a preventive approach to healthy ageing will benefit the ageing population and the community

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education of medical, dental and non-medical healthcare professionals in Bangladesh : findings and connotation

Lockdown measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic had an appreciable impact on the education of all medical, dental, and non-medical healthcare professional (HCP) students. These included the closure of universities necessitating a rapid move to e-learning and new approaches to practical’s. However initially, there was a lack of knowledge and expertise regarding e-learning approaches and the affordability of internet bundles and equipment. We initially con-ducted two pilot studies to assess such current challenges, replaced by a two-stage approach including a full investigation involving 32 private and public universities during the early stages of the pandemic followed by a later study assessing the current environment brought about by the forced changes. Top challenges at the start of the pandemic included a lack of familiarity with e-learning approaches, cost of the internet, lack of IT equipment and the quality of the classes. Universities offered support to staff and students to a varying degree to address identified challenges. Since then, e-learning approaches have widened the possibilities for teaching and learning at convenient times. However, challenges remain. In conclusion, there were considerable challenges at the start of them pandemic. Several key issues have been addressed with hybrid learning here to stay. Remaining challenges include a lack of ICT equipment. However, new innovations will continue

Association between cognition and personality factors among female harmful substance users: A cross-sectional study

Introduction: Harmful pattern of substances use is increasing in females in recent times. The harmful use of substances may affect the cognitive functioning and personality traits of the person may act as a maintaining factor. In this background, the present study is trying to focus on the impact of harmful patterns of substances uses among adult women and find out the association between cognitive ability and personality factors in them. Methods: The study included total 60 females, 30 in each group of harmful substance users and healthy controls, aged between 18 and 40 years, from urban and semiurban areas of Kolkata, India. It is a cross-sectional study and followed the purposive sampling technique. Results: Results suggest that moderate risky pattern of using substances consecutively for 4 years may impact cognitive functioning (working memory, set shifting ability and learning ability) and distress appraisal in the studied sample. On the contrary, significantly higher psycho-motor speed was found among harmful substance users. Conclusion: It is very important and significant to identify the harmful use of substances in females in the initial stage to control adverse impact and to improve awareness and prevent them from more adverse addictive effect on cognitive and everyday functioning

Efficacy of brief cognitive behavioural intervention for the treatment of psychosis: a case report

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has been found to have strong empirical evidence for the treatment of anxiety and mood disorders. However, its applicability to schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders have posed as a challenge to clinicians and researchers for a long time. In the recent years, there has been a growing body of literature on the effectiveness of CBT on psychosis. The present study attempts to highlight the role of brief CBT in the management of a 23-year-old Bengali speaking, unmarried male, hailing from a rural extended family, with a diagnosis of schizophrenia with prominent symptoms of hallucinations and delusions for the past three years. He was treated with brief CBT approach, resulting in improvement after eight sessions

Stress and psychological well being status among health care professionals

Stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that “demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize” (Lazarus)1. It could be debatable whether stress is inevitable, but most professionals report stress at work place and in general. A common perception prevails regarding high stress level amongst professionals in particular industries like the information technology, professionals with fieldwork (medical representatives, insurance agents) that is also backed by study findings. However, stress among health care professionals is less explored. The present study aims to explore and assess psychological well being and stress levels among health care professionals. 50 health professionals, including doctors, paramedical and nursing staffs from different multi-specialty hospitals in Kolkata were assessed on the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ 12) and the Professional Life Stress scale, and Medico Psychological Questionnaire. Majority of the subjects had evidence of psychological distress. Stress level was present in varying degree among all professionals, while nurses and technicians had stress level at severe level. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijosh.v3i1.9099 International Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, Vol 3 No 1 (2013) 32-35 &nbsp

Neurocognitive psychotherapy for adult attention deficit hyperactive disorder

Previously thought as a childhood disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is reported to be spreading at an increasing rate and affecting 4% to 5% of the adult population. It is characterized by persistent problems of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. We present the case of an adult ADHD patient intervened with neurocognitive psychotherapy

Possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on language and speech development and autistic behavior in children

The COVID pandemic had a disabling effect on people of all ages and sexes. The enforced lockdown to curb infection rates is hypothesized to have affected toddlers and young children in the developmental phase. The authors report this observation of a significant increase in the consultation numbers of children with speech and language issues and autistic-like behavior postpandemic from Kolkata, West Bengal, and India. There were striking similarities in the profile of these child cases, adding to the doubt whether the COVID pandemic and subsequent lockdown facilitated in the development of language and speech deficits as well as autistic-like features in developing children. It would be of important to know if the effects are temporary in nature or improve with time. Appropriate intervention strategies are suggested

Mental Health at Work Place

Mental health denotes a symptom free mind and fair level of emotional well being. Be it home or workplace; mental health of an individual is subjected to environmental stressors that may reduce one’s state of well being. The workplace in particular can be a very tiring environment for anyone. The stress of long working hours, ever increasing targets, managing coworkers and subordinates can take a toll on a persons mind and prove very toxic to one's mental and physical health in long run. It is difficult for persons with full blown mental illness to continue at work; but it generally takes a gradual course, before an individual shows full blown symptoms of a particular illness. Thus it becomes necessary to constantly check mental health and stress level of workers. The article discusses mental health, particularly in work place occupational stress and the related issues.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijosh.v2i1.5915 International Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, Vol. 2 No. 1 (2012) 2-

Memory, verbal fluency, and response inhibition in normal aging

Background: The concepts of aging-related cognitive changes have appeared to be a major challenge in the society. In this context, the present study was planned to find out the functioning of aging population on different neurocognitive measures. Aims: The aim of the study was to find out the neurocognitive functioning, namely memory, verbal fluency, and response inhibition of normal aging population. Materials and Methods: Following purposive sampling technique, a total of 50 healthy subjects (30 males and 20 females) in the age range of 60-70 years were recruited from Jaipur city of Rajasthan. Mini-mental state Examination, PGI memory scale, animal names test, and Stroop test were administered. Results: The findings reveal dysfunction in almost all the domains of memory, namely mental balance, attention and concentration, delayed recall, verbal retention for dissimilar pairs, visual retention and recognition, immediate recall, verbal retention for similar pairs, and visual retention. In domain of verbal fluency, all subjects gave low responses on the animal names test. In domain of response inhibition, all the subjects took less time in color test as compared to color word test on the Stroop task. Conclusions: Findings suggest that there are dysfunction in the area of memory, verbal fluency, and response inhibition in persons aged 60-70 years. However, recent and remote memory were found to be intact