Exploring adolescents' experiences of continuing to wear face masks during COVID-19: A qualitative descriptive study in Barcelona (Spain).

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the use of face masks as a social distancing measure. Although evidence supports their effectiveness in preventing infection, it remains unclear why some adolescents choose to continue wearing them postpandemic, even when it is no longer mandatory. This study aims to explore adolescents' experiences of wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic when their use was no longer mandatory. METHOD: In this exploratory qualitative study, data were collected from 16 adolescents through face-to-face semistructured interviews. The participants were asked about the reasons and feelings associated with continuing to wear masks, as well as the contexts in which they felt safe without a mask. The collected data were analysed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis. RESULTS: Three main themes were identified: (1) Navigating complex decision-making: balancing safety and self-image, (2) peer influence dynamics and (3) managing the future: weather dynamics and pandemic evolution. DISCUSSION: The potential implications of withdrawing COVID-19 preventive measures, such as mask-wearing, beyond the pandemic remain understudied. It is crucial to further investigate the perceptions related to wearing masks and its cessation, especially amongst vulnerable individuals. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Due to methodological constraints associated with participants' age, they were not engaged in the design, data analysis, data interpretation or manuscript preparation phases of the study.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Adolescents' Mental Health in Catalonia (Spain): A Qualitative Study.

This study aimed to understand the experiences of adolescents regarding the perceived impact of COVID-19 on their mental health in Catalonia (Spain). A qualitative exploratory methodology was used with a purposive sample of 30 high-school students regarding their experiences of the self-perceived impact of COVID-19 on their mental health. Data were thematically analyzed using Braun and Clarke method. Three main themes emerged from the data: (a) the challenge of living confined, (b) the footprint of COVID-19 on adolescents' mental health, and (c) school dynamics during the lockdown. The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted adolescents' mental health, and adolescents perceived a lack of emotional support from educational centers. Therefore, incorporating emotional support in educational centers and offering emotional self-management tools to young students should be a priority. School nurses can play an essential role in recognizing and managing emotional needs and being the natural link between educational and primary care centers.

Sexuality in people living with a serious mental illness: A meta-synthesis of qualitative evidence.

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT: A serious mental illness influences sexual life and people affected have worries about their sexual health. People living with a serious mental illness can and want to participate in interventions related to sexual health. WHAT THE PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE: People who suffer a serious mental illness are interested in maintaining an active sex life. People who suffer a serious mental illness experience rejection when they open up and they lose intimate relationships or possibilities of meeting other people because of ignorance and prejudices surrounding mental health. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Mental health services must respond to this need, that is including sexual needs assessment among routine standard practices or training nurses on sexual education to allow them to advise patients and their families and friends. Health systems should promote awareness programmes and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health and sexuality. ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: Sexuality-related nursing care is scarce and mainly focuses on biological issues. There is also a lack of knowledge about how serious mental illnesses affect sexuality. AIM: To explain how people with a serious mental illness perceive and experience their sexuality. METHOD: A meta-synthesis was conducted to integrate qualitative studies. Four databases were used to perform the search, focused in the last ten years. Nine articles were included, and their results analysed thematically. RESULTS: Four categories were identified: "Pathologized sexuality," which explains how the disorder and treatment affect sexuality; "Not my sexuality anymore," which describes feelings emerging from the perceived limitations and the role of self-acceptance; "Learning to manage intimate relationships," which explains the desire to establish intimate personal relationships and define their meaning; and "Reconstructing my sexuality," which elucidates the influence of the environment on sexuality. DISCUSSION: Sexuality is influenced by several factors, the main ones being: the clinical complications, the side effects of drug treatment, the social support, the relationship with the health sector and stigma. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Having a serious mental illness affects sexuality and can provoke suffering and social isolation. Mental health services should address this issue and carry out community interventions to reduce stigma.

Nurses' Experiences of Care at Crisis Resolution Home Treatment Teams: A case study research.

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: There are many international studies on CRHTTs; however, there has been little research on nurses' experiences of working with CRHTTs. Earlier studies focused on the nurses' gatekeeping role but did not explore nurses' perception of care as a construct. WHAT DOES THE PAPER ADD TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: This study provides information based on mental health nurses' experiences. It explains the home environment, the therapeutic relationship and the process of mental health nursing care during a crisis. Also, the study explains nurses' satisfaction with care provided at patients' home. Unlike other studies, this study focused on nurses' experiences while providing care, rather than on nurses' general responsibilities and the services they provide. This study is the first of its kind in Spain with such a focus. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Acknowledging nurses' experiences and their perspectives about the care they provide could help shift mental health nursing paradigms from those based on biomedical models to newer perspectives found in recovery models. Furthermore, this knowledge could improve the quality of care in mental health settings due to its potential to guide nursing practices. Raising mental health care providers' awareness of mental health nurses' personal and professional care constructs would help implement support systems to meet the professional's needs. Meeting the needs of nurses related to the care they provide is likely to impact patient care positively. ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: Crisis resolution home treatment teams (CRHTTs) provide short-term, intensive home treatment to people experiencing mental health crises. There is limited research on nurses' experiences with CRHTTs. While earlier studies mainly focussed on mental health nurses' gatekeeping responsibilities, more investigation is needed in this field. AIM: To explore nurses' perceptions and constructions about care in CRHTT services. METHOD: A qualitative case study was employed. Ten semi-structured interviews were performed to nursing staff working in CRHTT services. RESULTS: Three main categories emerged from the data analysis: nurses' perspectives of the care provided, nursing setting of care at home and nursing care plan at home. DISCUSSIONS: Findings revealed that nurses experienced greater satisfaction providing care in the home settings, and therefore, it positively impacted the quality of care and reduced patient's stigma. This study also relates the value of developing care plans centred on patients' environments increasing Mental Health Nursing (MHN) work satisfaction. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Knowledge of the intrinsic experiences of care provided by nurses in CRHTTs may help facilitate the development of the nursing role in CRHTT by improving understanding of care in mental health settings.

Treating mental health crises at home: Patient satisfaction with home nursing care.

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Most studies have focused on whether hospital admissions have been reduced by the introduction of crisis services, rather than focusing on how these services are employed. Research has also shown that home assistance decreases costs and increases the level of patient satisfaction, thereby being more efficient in terms of the cost/effectiveness ratio than is traditional hospital care. Patient satisfaction with nursing care has long been identified as a key element of quality of care; however, satisfaction with nursing care among patients and families receiving crisis resolution at home has not been studied yet. WHAT THE PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: There is limited research on patient satisfaction with CRHTTs. This study provides new insights and data including that on relationships between patient satisfaction and the teams' attention to person-centred mental health care. The difference between this study and other studies on patient satisfaction with crisis resolution home treatment teams is that this study focused on patients' and families' satisfaction with the nursing care provided by crisis resolution home treatment teams rather than with the general service provided. This study is the first of its kind with such a focus. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: This research has both academic and clinical implications. Patients' and their families' satisfaction with nursing care is an integral aspect for evaluating mental health services, and this is especially important regarding services provided by crisis resolution home treatment teams because such teams are currently being introduced in countries such as Spain. Closely examining patients and families' satisfaction with nursing care can also foster improvements in current practices. Nurses in crisis teams might need to focus on equalizing power relations, which the data gathered in this study suggests is most important to patient satisfaction. ABSTRACT: Introduction Crisis resolution home treatment teams (CRHTT) provide short-term, intensive home treatment to people experiencing mental health crises. Patient satisfaction has long been identified as a key element of quality of care; however, satisfaction with nursing care as part of this service has not been studied yet. Aim To assess patients' and their families' satisfaction with the nursing care provided through a home care program offered by a hospital in Catalonia which administers person-centred care. Method A mixed methods research design was conducted. A cross-sectional study including quantitative survey data and qualitative interview data with a phenomenological focus was conducted. Results Twenty interviews were conducted. Patients and relatives reported high satisfaction that seems to be related to the person-centred nature of the care. Discussion The findings provide new insights, including how home treatment tends to equalize power relations between nurses and patients/the patient's family members, and how nurses increase sensitivity when focusing on service users' needs and priorities, leading to high patient and family satisfaction. Implications for practice This research has both academic and clinical implications. It highlights what mental health patients and their families value most about home care and interactions with nurses, and also drives improvements in current practices.