Digital Health Service for Identification of Frailty Risk Factors in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: The SUNFRAIL+ Study Protocol.

This article reports the study protocol of a nationwide multicentric study in seven Italian regions aimed at assessing the effectiveness of a digitally supported approach for the early screening of frailty risk factors in community-dwelling older adults. SUNFRAIL+ is a prospective observational cohort study aimed at carrying out a multidimensional assessment of community-dwelling older adults through an IT platform, which allows to connect the items of the SUNFRAIL frailty assessment tool with a cascading multidimensional in-depth assessment of the bio-psycho-social domains of frailty. Seven centers in seven Italian regions will administer the SUNFRAIL questionnaire to 100 older adults. According to the answers provided by older adults, they will be subjected to one or more validated in-depth scale tests in order to perform further diagnostic or dimensional evaluations. The study aims to contribute to the implementation and validation of a multiprofessional and multistakeholder service model for the screening of frailty in community-dwelling older adult population.

Can Integrated Care Help in Meeting the Challenges Posed on Our Health Care Systems by COVID-19? Some Preliminary Lessons Learned from the European VIGOUR Project.

The COVID-19 pandemic puts health and care systems under pressure globally. This current paper highlights challenges arising in the care for older and vulnerable populations in this context and reflects upon possible perspectives for different systems making use of nested integrated care approaches adapted during the work of the EU-funded project VIGOUR ("Evidence based Guidance to Scale-up Integrated Care in Europe", funded by the European Union's Health Programme 2014-2020 under Grant Agreement Number 826640).

[Patients in chronic anticoagulation therapy: the organization of an educational program run by nurses and the assessment of patients' satisfaction]. / Le persone in Terapia Anticoagulante Orale (TAO): costruzione di un intervento gestito dagli infermieri e valutazione del gradimento.

SETTING: Six Districts of the Health Authority "ASL3 Genovese" (Genoa-Italy), where 3764 patients in Oral Anticoagulation Therapy (OAT) are followed for monitoring International Normalized Ratio (INR). AIM: To increase knowledge of patients through group health education sessions conducted by nurses. METHOD: Training of nurses and production of a draft version of a booklet. The final version was developed with the contribution of hospital cardiologists, laboratory services, risk managers and General Practitioners. A questionnaire was administered to assess patients satisfaction with clarity of the presentations, relevance of the contents, appropriateness of educational method and usefulness of the booklet. RESULTS: From September to December 2008 1074 patients (51% of those invited) attended the 96 health education sessions that involved 120 nurses. Rate of attendance varied greatly in the six districts ranging from 26% to 68%. Mean age of the participants was 74 (range 33-95). The questionnaires were completed by 1039 participants (97%). The majority rated the contents of the session and the booklet clear, useful and appropriate. Problems encountered, strengths and limitations of the intervention were identified. Plan for action for continuing educational intervention was organised. CONCLUSIONS: Educational sessions were very appreciated. One of the major strengths was the involvement of all the professionals that contribute to patients care.