The role of a clinical nurse consultant dementia specialist: A qualitative evaluation.

Delay in diagnosis and difficulties in accessing appropriate health care services plague dementia care delivery in the community setting, potentiating the risk for misdiagnosis, inappropriate management, poor psychological adjustment and reduced coping capacity and ability to forward plan. We evaluated a clinical nurse consultant role with a speciality in dementia to provide person-centred pre-diagnosis support in the community. Clients, with a six-month history of cognitive and functional decline in the absence of delirium but no formal diagnosis of dementia, were recruited from a Home Care Nursing Service and an Aged Care Assessment Service located in the Western Suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The role of a clinical nurse consultant was highly regarded by clients and other health professionals. This paper discussing the CNC role and the outcomes of the role suggests it was successful in providing timely assistance and support for consumers and support for other health professionals.

Health professionals' and students' perceptions of elder abuse.

AIM: This study aimed to compare perceptions about elder abuse among health professionals and students in the same health disciplines. METHODS: The Caregiving Scenario Questionnaire (CSQ) was disseminated to Australian health professionals from two metropolitan health services and to university health care students. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty health professionals and 127 students returned surveys. Significantly more students than health professionals identified locking someone in the house alone all day and restraining someone in a chair as abusive. CONCLUSION: There is a need for further definition clarification and education about detection and management of elder abuse for health students and professionals in Australia. Student education should include consideration of the real-life situations likely to be encountered in practice. Education for both students and health professionals should include strategies for carers to manage difficult situations such as the one described in the CSQ.

Hospital discharge: recommendations for performance improvement for family carers of people with dementia.

UNLABELLED: BACKGROUND; It is acknowledge that discharge planning benefits both consumers and hospitals. What is not widely understood is the experience that the family carer of a person with a dementia has and whether the hospitals meet their in-hospital and post-hospital needs. OBJECTIVE: To explore whether metropolitan and rural hospital discharge practices meet the needs of the family carer of a person with dementia. RESULTS: Although this and other research indicates that a continuum of care model is beneficial to family caregivers, no evidence has been identified that family carers currently experience this type of quality planning. Family carers were often unaware of the existence of a hospital discharge plan and were rarely engaged in communication about the care of their family member with a dementia or prepared for discharge. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS; Discharge planning processes for family carers of people with dementia could be substantially improved. It is recommended that hospitals develop policy, process and procedures that take into account the family carer's needs, develop key performance indicators and adopt best practice standards that direct discharge planning activities and early engagement of the family carer in healthcare decisions. It is recommended that health professionals be educated on communication, consultation and needs of family carers.

Simultaneous occurrence of mycotoxins in human food commodities from Cameroon.

Eighty-two samples of dried food commodities from Cameroon were screened and quantified for different mycotoxins, including fumonisin B1 (FB1), zearalenone (ZEA), deoxynivalenol (DON), aflatoxin (AF) and ochratoxin A (OTA), by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), respectively. The percentage of positive samples was as follows: FB1 41%, AF 51%, ZEA 57%, DON 65% and OTA 3%. High FB1 contents were found in maize, averaging 3,684 µg/kg (range: 37-24,225 µg/kg), whereas the highest average ZEA level was found in peanuts (70 µg/kg), followed by maize (69 µg/kg), rice (67 µg/kg) and beans (48 µg/kg) with no ZEA was detected in soybeans. DON contents were low, ranging from 13 to 273 µg/kg, and for AF the average content was 2.6 µg/kg with peanuts and maize as principal substrates. The incidence of OTA was low, with a mean level of 6.4 µg/kg recorded. The majority (79%) of samples contained more than one mycotoxin and the most frequent co-occurrence found was FB1 + ZEA + DON, detected in 21% of samples (mainly maize) analysed. Co-contamination with FB1 + ZEA + DON + AF was found in 11% of the samples. Although a large proportion of samples had fairly low levels of individual mycotoxins, this should be of concern as the co-occurrence of mycotoxins may generate additive or synergistic effect in humans, especially if the respective commodities are consumed almost on a daily basis.