Pro-active monitoring and social interventions at community level mitigate the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic on older adults' mortality in Italy: A retrospective cohort analysis.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 epidemic in Italy has severely affected people aged more than 80, especially socially isolated. Aim of this paper is to assess whether a social and health program reduced mortality associated to the epidemic. METHODS: An observational retrospective cohort analysis of deaths recorded among >80 years in three Italian cities has been carried out to compare death rate of the general population and "Long Live the Elderly!" (LLE) program. Parametric and non-parametric tests have been performed to assess differences of means between the two populations. A multivariable analysis to assess the impact of covariates on weekly mortality has been carried out by setting up a linear mixed model. RESULTS: The total number of services delivered to the LLE population (including phone calls and home visits) was 34,528, 1 every 20 day per person on average, one every 15 days during March and April. From January to April 2019, the same population received one service every 41 days on average, without differences between January-February and March-April. The January-April 2020 cumulative crude death rate was 34.8‰ (9,718 deaths out of 279,249 individuals; CI95%: 34.1-35.5) and 28.9‰ (166 deaths out of 5,727 individuals; CI95%:24.7-33.7) for the general population and the LLE sample respectively. The general population weekly death rate increased after the 11th calendar week that was not the case among the LLE program participants (p<0.001). The Standardized Mortality Ratio was 0.83; (CI95%: 0.71-0.97). Mortality adjusted for age, gender, COVID-19 weekly incidence and prevalence of people living in nursing homes was lower in the LLE program than in the general population (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: LLE program is likely to limit mortality associated with COVID-19. Further studies are needed to establish whether it is due to the impact of social care that allows a better clients' adherence to the recommendations of physical distancing or to an improved surveillance of older adults that prevents negative outcomes associated with COVID-19.

Dying well in nursing homes during COVID-19 and beyond: The need for a relational and familial ethic.

This paper applies a relational and familial ethic to address concerns relating to nursing home deaths and advance care planning during Covid-19 and beyond. The deaths of our elderly in nursing homes during this pandemic have been made more complicated by the restriction of visitors even at the end of life, a time when families would normally be present. While we must be vigilant about preventing unnecessary deaths caused by coronavirus outbreaks in nursing homes, some deaths of our elders are inevitable. Thus, it is essential that advanced care planning occurs in a way that upholds the familial and relational aspects of elders' lives that often matter to them the most. We invoke concepts from feminist ethicists like Hilde Lindemann and Eva Kittay and introduce Avery Weisman and Thomas Hackett's concept of "appropriate death" to suggest better ways of planning for those deaths of our elderly that cannot be avoided. Our hope is to allow for deaths that are as meaningful as possible for both the elderly and the family members who survive them.

Ethical care during COVID-19 for care home residents with dementia.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on care homes in the United Kingdom, particularly for those residents living with dementia. The impetus for this article comes from a recent review conducted by the authors. That review, a qualitative media analysis of news and academic articles published during the first few months of the outbreak, identified ethical care as a key theme warranting further investigation within the context of the crisis. To explore ethical care further, a set of salient ethical values for delivering care to care home residents living with dementia during the pandemic was derived from a synthesis of relevant ethical standards, codes and philosophical approaches. The ethical values identified were caring, non-maleficence, beneficence, procedural justice, dignity in death and dying, well-being, safety, and personhood. Using these ethical values as a framework, alongside examples from contemporaneous media and academic sources, this article discusses the delivery of ethical care to care home residents with dementia within the context of COVID-19. The analysis identifies positive examples of ethical values displayed by care home staff, care sector organisations, healthcare professionals and third sector advocacy organisations. However, concerns relating to the death rates, dignity, safety, well-being and personhood - of residents and staff - are also evident. These shortcomings are attributable to negligent government strategy, which resulted in delayed guidance, lack of resources and Personal Protective Equipment, unclear data, and inconsistent testing. Consequently, this review demonstrates the ways in which care homes are underfunded, under resourced and undervalued.

[Aging and dying in diversity-implications of an intersectional perspective for analyzing care policy discourses]. / Altern und Sterben in Diversität ­ Implikationen einer intersektionalen Perspektive für die Analyse pflegepolitischer Diskurse.

In view of the growing population, which is increasingly aging in diversity, questions of social justice and of avoiding discrimination in end of life nursing care become increasingly more relevant from an ethical point of view. This article addresses the discrepancies between normative claims of an equitable approach to provision of nursing services and the sources of structural barriers. In particular at the end of life, often already vulnerable groups are subjected to discrimination in nursing care. Further reflections refer to implications of intersectionality for care-ethical approaches and for the methodology of discourse analysis. This study investigated how diversity and justice are formed in the care policy discourse. It becomes evident how parts of the care policy discourse largely ignore individual ethical implications. Accordingly, critical reflections on inequalities in nursing care remain unconsidered in the discourses. Starting points for processes of change that begin from concepts of individual care ethics are presented.

End-of-life care conferences in Japanese nursing homes.

End-of-life (EOL) care conferences have an important role in promoting EOL care in nursing homes. However, the details of the conferences remain poorly understood. A Japanese prefecture-wide survey was conducted to investigate the factors involved in such conferences that contribute to an increase in the amount of EOL care. One hundred fifty-three nursing homes performed the conferences. The outcome was the amount of EOL care provided in nursing homes after adjusting for the facility beds in 2014. We investigated the factors of staff experience with EOL care, frequency of the conferences, years the conferences were conducted, review conferences after EOL care, and professional participants in the conferences. The multivariate analysis revealed significant associations between EOL care in nursing homes and nurses' experience with EOL care (adjusted ß coefficient 2.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.52 ~ 5.22, p = 0.017), more than 5 years of continuous conferences (adjusted ß coefficient 3.8, 95% CI 0.46 ~ 7.05, p = 0.026), and family participation (adjusted ßcoefficient ‒4.0, 95% CI ‒7.5 ~ ‒0.48, p = 0.026). In conclusion, the continuation of conferences and enrollment of the nurse with experience in EOL care may promote EOL care in nursing homes, while family enrollment in conferences may decrease EOL care in nursing homes. EOL care conferences in nursing homes should be continuously performed by staff, with an experienced nurse undertaking the task of information sharing before discussing EOL care with the patients' families.

The "Violent Resident": A Critical Exploration of the Ethics of Resident-to-Resident Aggression.

Resident-to-resident aggression is quite prevalent in long-term care settings. Within popular and empirical accounts, this form of aggression is most commonly attributed to the actions of an aberrant individual living with dementia characterized as the "violent resident." It is often a medical diagnosis of dementia that is highlighted as the ultimate cause of aggression. This neglects the fact that acts of aggression are influenced by broader structural conditions. This has ethical implications in that the emphasis on individual aberration informs public policy strategies for prevention with a focus on restricting the freedom of individuals using behavioural modification, drugs, or other restraints with the intent to protect others from harm. A more ethical approach requires attention to the structural conditions of long-term care that both foster aggression and constrain prevention efforts. To this end, we turn to a model of relational citizenship that offers a theory of embodied selfhood and relationality as essential to human dignity, thus entailing human rights protections. The application of an ethic based on this model offers a more holistic prevention strategy for resident-to-resident aggression by drawing attention to the critical need and obligation to promote human flourishing through system level efforts.

Caracterización de las condiciones de salud de los adultos mayores en Centros Geriátricos de la ciudad de Loja. Ecuador, 2017 / Characterization of the health conditions of the elderly in geriatric centers of the city of Loja. Ecuador, 2017

Introducción: Los cambios demográficos que ocurren a nivel mundial no son ajenos a Ecuador, donde la esperanza de vida de la población ha aumentado. Objetivo: Caracterizar las condiciones de salud de los adultos mayores que asistieron a centros geriátricos en la ciudad de Loja en el año 2017. Material y Métodos: Estudio descriptivo de corte transversal, donde se utilizaron técnicas cuantitativas, aplicándose diferentes escalas geriátricas a 87 adultos mayores que asistían al Centro Municipal de Atención al Adulto Mayor No.1 y a los centros Daniel Álvarez y San José, de la ciudad de Loja, Ecuador. Resultados: El 59.1% de los adultos mayores estudiados fueron mujeres, el 59,7 por ciento apenas tenían escolaridad básica o primaria, con un promedio de edad de 84,01 años. Se precisó que el 62,1 por ciento de ellos no presentaron comorbilidad. Fue identificado déficit neurosensorial visual (64,4 por ciento y auditivo (50,6 por ciento). Se constató fragilidad en el 54,0 por ciento de los casos e indicadores de dependencia funcional para las actividades básicas (73,5 por ciento) y para las actividades instrumentales (93.1 por ciento). El déficit cognitivo fue evaluado en el 50,6 por ciento y la depresión fue diagnosticada en el 56,3 por ciento de ellos. Conclusiones: Los adultos mayores estudiados fueron predominantemente mujeres, con escolaridad básica o primaria y con un promedio de edad superior a los 80 años. Prevalecieron los sujetos que tenían ausencia de comorbilidad, déficit visual y auditivo, fragilidad física, dependencia funcional para realizar las actividades básicas e instrumentales de la vida diaria, deterioro cognitivo y depresión(AU)

Introduction: The demographic changing on a worldwide scale are not unfamiliar to Ecuador where the life expectancy of the population has increased. Objective: To characterize the health conditions of the elderly who attended geriatric centers in the city of Loja in 2017. Material and Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study where quantitative techniques were used applying different geriatric scales to 87 older adults who attended the Municipal Elderly Care Center No. 1, and Daniel Álvarez and San José Centers in the city of Loja, Ecuador. Results: The 59.1 percent of the older adults studied were women; 59.7 percent had just basic or elementary education and the average age was 84.01 years. It was specified that 62.1 percent of them did not present comorbidity. Visual neurosensory (64.4 percent) and auditory (50.6 percent) deficits were identified. Fragility was found in 54.0 percent of the cases as well as indicators of functional dependence on basic activities (73.5 percent) and instrumental activities (93.1 percent). Cognitive deficit was evaluated in 50.6 percent of the cases, and depression was diagnosed in 56.3 percent of them. Conclusions: The older adults included in the study were mainly women with basic or elementary education and an average age of over 80 years. Subjects who did not have comorbidity, those who presented visual and auditory deficit, physical fragility, dependence to perform the basic activities of daily life and the instrumental ones, cognitive deficit, and depression prevailed in the study(AU)

The Admission of Older People Into Residential Care Homes in Argentina: Coercion and Human Rights Abuse.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There is very little information about the appropriateness of procedures for admitting older people into care homes in low and middle-income countries like Argentina. This study provides the first systematic study of practice and assesses the extent to which current practice respects fundamental human rights. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We apply different methods, including document review and national survey analysis. The study also includes a case study of a single city, La Plata, which draws on local key informant interviews, focus group discussions in different neighborhoods, and a clandestine surrogate patient survey led by local pensioners. This innovative design provides a highly triangulated and contextualized data set. RESULTS: Many older people admitted to care homes did not have high levels of care dependency. Care homes did not usually require or even seek the informed consent of older people, regardless of their cognitive status. There were indications of coercive admission by family members, sometimes in order to obtain access to older people's homes and other property and finances. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: The study indicates the widespread abuse of the fundamental human rights of tens of thousands of older people in Argentina. There is a need for researchers, policy-makers, and civil society to acknowledge the scale of abuse and develop safeguards.

Relational autonomy in action: Rethinking dementia and sexuality in care facilities.

BACKGROUND: Caregivers and administrators in long-term facilities have fragile moral work in caring for residents with dementia. Residents are susceptible to barriers and vulnerabilities associated with the most intimate aspects of their lives, including how they express themselves sexually. The conditions for sexual agency are directly affected by caregivers' perceptions and attitudes, as well as facility policies. OBJECTIVE: This article aims to clarify how to approach capacity determinations as it relates to sexual activity, propose how to theorize about patient autonomy in this context, and suggest some considerations for finding an ethically responsible and practically feasible way to respect the sexual rights of this population. RESEARCH DESIGN: The focus is on residents with early to moderate dementia in states of daily dependency on professional caregivers. The article critically examines existing empirical research on sexuality among persons with dementia, caregivers' attitudes, and institutional roadblocks to enabling residents' sexuality. A relational lens and insights from disability studies are used in the philosophical analysis. PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT: No research participants were part of this analysis. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: This article offers a conceptual analysis and normative framework only. FINDINGS: The analysis highlights the delicate balance that capacity assessments for sexual activity have to strike; while caregivers should protect those who cannot give adequate consent, the denial of sexuality among residents can cause deep, long-ranging harms. Sexual agency features into an ongoing sense of self for many individuals with dementia, and the imposition of inappropriate standards and expectations for sexual autonomy can lead to unwarranted obstacles to sexual activity. DISCUSSION: Recommendations include developing clear and inclusive institutional policies and practices of care, providing education for caregivers on how to discuss and document residents' sexual preferences over time, and taking advantage of ethics consultation services. CONCLUSION: This analysis establishes the need for more research and discussion on this sensitive topic. Future research should investigate the specific responsibilities of caregivers in furthering the sexual interests of residents, how exactly to modify existing capacity instruments, and how best to support historically marginalized patients in their sexual identities.

[Ethical attitudes Scale in residences for the elderly. Development of a tool for social and healthcare professionals]. / Escala de actitud ética en residencias. Desarrollo de un instrumento para profesionales asistenciales sociosanitarios.

INTRODUCTION: In Spain, there is very little institutional training in bioethics for healthcare professionals, and even less tools for measuring ethical attitudes. The objective of this study was the design and validation of a brief measure of ethical attitudes, collecting general attitudes of healthcare professionals in their daily practice with the dependent elderly. MATERIAL AND METHODS: After drawing up a list of 42 items around the principles of bioethical autonomy, beneficence, confidentiality, justice, and non-maleficence, a committee of experts selected 31 items. A total of 191 health care professionals with a mean age of 43.8 years (SD=11.3), including 150 (78.5%) women and 41 (21.5%) men, and with experience in the field of dependence. responded to the online questionnaire. Model fit was studied using confirmatory factor analysis. Cronbach's alpha was used for the analysis of internal consistency. RESULTS: A model of 2independent scales with adjusted goodness-of-fit index was observed. Autonomy scale (4 items related to this principle) explained 83% of the variance (P=.005), with χ2/gl=1.782; RMSEA=0.064; GFI=0.991; CFI=0.958. The beneficence, confidentiality and non-maleficence scale (9 items including these 3principles), explained 82% (P<.001) with goodness-of-fit index: χ2/gl=2.194; RMSEA=0.079; GFI=0.931; CFI=0.627. The Cronbach Alphas were 0.525 and 0.748, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: An ethical attitudes scale (EAS) is presented for professionals in the field of caring for dependent adults, including 13 items related to the observance, in daily practice, of the 4 principles of bioethics, autonomy, beneficence, confidentiality and non-maleficence.

Evaluación de la calidad de la atención en salud y enfermería en un Hogar de Ancianos / Evaluation of the quality of health care and nursing in a Nursing home

RESUMEN Introducción: El envejecimiento poblacional es un fenómeno demográfico de trascendencia mundial. Objetivo: Evaluar la calidad de la atención en salud y de enfermería que se brinda a los adultos mayores. Métodos: Investigación descriptiva longitudinal en el Hogar de Ancianos de Pinar del Río, durante 2013. Universo de 80 ancianos y 17 enfermeras relacionadas con la atención a los ancianos. Se evaluó la estructura, proceso y resultados. Para obtener la información se aplicó un instrumento diseñado por los autores y validado por expertos. El procesamiento de los datos se efectuó con frecuencias absolutas y porcentajes. Resultados: Existe buena cobertura de recursos humanos, siendo las asistentes para la atención de servicios de enfermería el más bajo porcentaje. El equipamiento técnico representó el 93,10 por ciento ocasionado por roturas, están los recursos materiales suficientes para atender a los adultos mayores. Existen procesos aplicados según morbilidad que aunque evaluados de aceptable se encuentran por debajo del 100 por ciento. Conclusión: La estructura no presenta insuficiencias en lo relativo a recursos humanos y materiales, lo que unido a la no presencia de problemas organizativos y de calidad de las historias clínicas, y en la instrumentación y aplicación del PAE, influyen positivamente en la calidad del proceso de atención; existe satisfacción con la calidad de la atención al adulto mayor(AU)

ABSTRACT Introduction: Population aging is a demographic phenomenon of global significance. Objective: To evaluate the quality of health care and nursing the elderly is provided. Methods: A longitudinal descriptive research in the Nursing Home of Pinar del Rio, in 2013. Universe 80 elderly and 17 nurses related to elderly care. the structure, process and results were evaluated. For information an instrument designed by the authors and validated by experts applied. The data processing was carried out with absolute frequencies and percentages. Results: There is good coverage of human resources, with the care assistants nursing the lowest percentage. The technical equipment accounted for 93.10 percent caused by breakage, material resources are sufficient to meet the elderly. There are processes applied according morbidity but acceptable are evaluated below 100 percent. Conclusion: the structure has no shortcomings in terms of human and material resources, which together with the non-presence of organizational problems and quality of medical records, and in the implementation and application of SAP positively influence the quality of the process of attention; There is satisfaction with the quality of care for the elderly(AU)

Conflicting rationales: leader's experienced ethical challenges in community health care for older people.

BACKGROUND: Ethical challenges arise in all types of care, and leaders need to be aware of how to resolve these challenges. Healthcare systems tend to be organised around medical conditions, and the patient is often faced with a series of uncoordinated visits to multiple specialties. Ideally, care should be organised around the patient's needs. AIM: The purpose of this article was to highlight some ethical challenges perceived by leaders with responsibility for management and service distribution, finance and ensuring quality of community health services for older people. METHOD: This study had a qualitative design with a qualitative content analysis of one focus group with six leaders that met four times in total. Leaders from the community healthcare sector in one Norwegian municipality were included, representing both nursing homes and home-based health care. The study followed the intentions of the Declaration of Helsinki and standard ethical principles. The Norwegian Social Science Data Services approved the study. All participants voluntarily gave written informed consent. FINDINGS: The main theme that emerged from this study was the ethical challenge leaders felt in the form of an inherent conflict between a caring rationale versus economic or technological rationales. Four categories emerged: (i) Management: quality versus economy; (ii) Prioritisation: fair distribution of healthcare services; (iii) Responsibility: considering individuals' needs versus the needs of the whole community; and (iv) Welfare technology: possibilities and challenges. CONCLUSION: Leaders' responsibilities in community health care for older people need to strike a balance between ethical principles in the management of limited resources.

Sexual Consent Capacity: Ethical Issues and Challenges in Long-Term Care.

More than two million Americans live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Available research suggests that the majority of older nursing home residents, including those with some degree of cognitive impairment, place significant value upon a variety of sexual activities. With nearly half of all residents suffering from dementia, psychologists and other mental health professionals often face significant challenges in the assessment of their patients' sexual consent capacity. A primary ethical issue is to balance an individual resident's rights to autonomy and privacy with a facility's need to protect residents from harm. Sexual consent capacity functions on a continuum across time and behavior. It also cannot be predetermined by proxy, in which an individual prepares legal documents ahead of time to identify a surrogate decision maker; sexual consent capacity must be determined by information obtained in the present moment. In this paper, an approach to the assessment of residents' sexual consent capacity, encompassing knowledge, reasoning, and voluntariness, along with a brief overview of sexual activity among long-term care residents, will be presented. A case example is offered to illustrate complex clinical dilemmas involving staff attitudes, residents' rights, and family dynamics.

Medication Refusal: Resident Rights, Administration Dilemma.

Occasionally, residents actively or passively refuse to take medications. Residents may refuse medication for a number of reasons, including religious beliefs, dietary restrictions, misunderstandings, cognitive impairment, desire to self-harm, or simple inconvenience. This action creates a unique situation for pharmacists and long-term facility staff, especially if patients have dementia. Residents have the legal right to refuse medications, and long-term care facilities need to employ a process to resolve disagreement between the health care team that recommends the medication and the resident who refuses it. In some cases, simple interventions like selecting a different medication or scheduling medications in a different time can address and resolve the resident's objection. If the medical team and the resident cannot resolve their disagreement, often an ethics consultation is helpful. Documenting the resident's refusal to take any or all medications, the health care team's actions and any other outcomes are important. Residents' beliefs may change over time, and the health care team needs to be prepared to revisit the issue as necessary.

Defining Ethical Placemaking for Place-Based Interventions.

As place-based interventions expand and evolve, deeper reflection on the meaning of ethical placemaking is essential. I offer a summary account of ethical placemaking, which I propose and define as an ethical ideal and practice for health and for health justice, understood as the capability to be healthy. I point to selected wide-ranging examples-an urban pathway, two long-term care settings, innovations in refugee health services, and a McDonald's restaurant-to help illustrate these ideas.