Palliative Care Professionals' Inner Lives: Cross-Cultural Application of the Awareness Model of Self-Care.

Compassionate professional qualities traditionally have not received the most attention in either critical or end of life care. Constant exposure to death, time pressure and workload, inadequate coping with personal emotions, grieving, and depression urge the development of an inner curricula of competences to promote professional quality of life and compassionate care. The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the universality of these problems and the need to equip ourselves with rigorously validated measurement and monitoring approaches that allow for unbiased comparisons. The main objective of this study was to offer evidence on the generalizability of the awareness model of self-care across three care systems under particular idiosyncrasy. Regarding the sample, 817 palliative care professionals from Spain, Argentina, and Brazil participated in this cross-sectional study using a multigroup structural equation modeling strategy. The measures showed good reliability in the three countries. When testing the multigroup model against the configural and constrained models, the assumptions were fulfilled, and only two relationships of the model revealed differences among contexts. The hypotheses posited by the awareness model of self-care were supported and a similar predictive power on the professional quality of life dimensions was found. Self-care, awareness, and coping with death were competences that remained outstanding no matter the country, resulting in optimism about the possibility of acting with more integrative approaches and campaigns by international policy-makers with the consensus of world healthcare organizations.

A Brief Measure for the Assessment of Competence in Coping With Death: The Coping With Death Scale Short Version.

CONTEXT: The coping with death competence is of great importance for palliative care professionals, who face daily exposure to death. It can keep them from suffering compassion fatigue and burnout, thus enhancing the quality of the care provided. Despite its relevance, there are only two measures of professionals' ability to cope with death. Specifically, the Coping with Death Scale (CDS) has repeatedly shown psychometric problems with some of its items. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a short version of the CDS. METHODS: Nine items from the original CDS were chosen for the short version. Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted in Spanish (N = 385) and Argentinian (N = 273) palliative care professionals. The CDS and the Professional Quality of Life Scale were used in this study. Statistical analyses included two confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs), followed by a standard measurement invariance routine. Reliability estimates and evidence of validity based on relations with other measures were also gathered. RESULTS: CFA models had excellent fit in both the Spanish (χ2(27) = 107.043, P < 0.001; Comparative Fit Index [CFI] = 0.978; Tucker-Lewis Index [TLI] = 0.970; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation [RMSEA] = 0.093 [0.075, 0.112]; Standardized Root Mean Square Residual = 0.030) and Argentinian (χ2(27) = 102.982, P < 0.001; CFI = 0.963; TLI = 0.950; RMSEA = 0.106 [0.085, 0.128]) samples. A standard measurement invariance routine was carried out. The most parsimonious model (χ2(117) = 191.738, P < 0.001; CFI = 0.987; TLI = 0.992; RMSEA = 0.046 [0.034, 0.058]; Standardized Root Mean Square Residual = 0.043) offered evidence of invariance across countries, with no latent mean differences. Evidence of reliability and evidence of validity based on relations with other measures were also appropriate. CONCLUSION: Results indicated the psychometric boundaries of the short version of the CDS.

Health professionals' quality of life in relation to end of life care.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Palliative care professionals are frequently exposed to stressful and demanding situations in the assistance of patients and their families, therefore research related to their quality of life is a relevant topic to provide evidence on interventions oriented to professional self-care. RECENT FINDINGS: Research about professionals' quality of life is having a profuse development with core concepts being under review. SUMMARY: Currently, burnout syndrome and compassion fatigue are considered relevant determinants of professionals' quality of life. Self-awareness-based interventions could bring positive influence on the context of a multidimensional approach to professionals' self-care. Self-care topics should be considered to be included in professional training programmes.

Prevalence of a zoonotic parasite, dioctophyma renale (goeze, 1782), among male canines in a wild riverside area of la plata river, province of Buenos Aires, republic of Argentina

Dioctophymosis is an helminthiasis with an indirect life cycle caused by Dioctophyma renale. It mayaffect both humans and other mammals. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalenceof the parasite in male canines of different ages, living in a wild riverside area of La Plata River with favourable characteristics for the development of eggs, intermediate or paratenic hosts and completionof the life cycle of D. renale. 171 animals were surveyed and samples were collected through urethral catheterization. The samples were processed by means of centrifugation at a relative centrifugal force of 700 g and microscopic observation of sediments. 42.1 percent of canines exhibitedpatent Dioctophymosis in their kidneys. Male canines between the ages of 2 and 5 showed the highest frequency of positive results. Several epidemiological risk factors are discussed that, whenassociated, might favour the high prevalence of this parasite in the area. The need for equipment for the indirect diagnosis of the disease in canines and other animals prone to infection is clearly demonstrated.

La Dioctofimosis es una helmintiasis de ciclo de vida indirecto causada por Dioctophyma renale. Puede afectar a los seres humanos y diferentes mamíferos. El propósito de este estudio fue determinar la prevalencia del parásito en caninos machos de diferentes edades, que viven en una zona rivereñaal Río de la Plata con características favorables para el desarrollo de los huevos, los huéspedes intermediarios o paraténicos y para el ciclo vida de D. renale. Fueron encuestados 171 animales, se recogieron muestras por medio de sondaje uretral. Las muestras se procesaron por centrifugación a una fuerza centrífuga relativa de 700 g y se observaron los sedimentos microscópicamente. El 42,1 por ciento de los caninos exhibió Dioctofimosis patente en sus riñones. Los caninos de sexo masculino con edades comprendidas entre 2 y 5 años presentaron la mayor frecuencia de resultados positivos. Se discuten varios factores de riesgo epidemiológico que asociados, podrían condicionar la elevada prevalencia de parasitosis en la zona. Se hace evidente la necesidad de equipos para el diagnósticoindirecto de la enfermedad en los caninos y otros animales propensos a infectarse.