Education on Vaccination Competence: an Intensive Course for Skillful Health Science Students.

Background: Vaccination is one of the most successful and cost-effective interventions for public health. Studies have shown that health professionals who have good knowledge and positive attitudes towards vaccination are more likely to provide effective vaccination protection to people, including themselves. Therefore, health science students must acquire evidence-based knowledge during their education to meet the challenges of healthcare. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and feedback of health science students who participated in the Educating Vaccination Competence (EDUVAC) Intensive Course. Methods: A five-day Intensive Course was implemented for health science students, which included a pre-assignment. The EDUVAC Intensive Course used different teaching methods (lectures, workshops, interactive games, discussions), group work, study visits, and cultural programs to encourage students' motivation. For the purpose of the study, students filled out an online questionnaire after giving informed consent. Results: Sample consisted of 31 health science students from five European Higher Institutions. They had very good knowledge on most knowledge questions. In the post measurement it was significantly greater and equal to 81%, p<0.001. Almost all students (93.5%) totally agreed that "It is important for adults to receive all recommended vaccines according to national guidelines". The statement "I have had an active attitude and participation in the Intensive Course" received 80.6% total agreement. Over 90.3% rated the Intensive Course as "excellent" or "above average". Conclusions: After completing the EDUVAC Intensive Course, students felt confident in their vaccination knowledge and skills, which benefited their professional development.

Identificación de necesidades de los cuidadores informales: estudio exploratorio / Identification of the needs of informal caregivers: an exploratory study

Introducción: El envejecimiento de la población es uno de los principales retos de la salud pública en los países desarrollados. Los cuidadores informales emergen como uno de los principales actores en este escenario, y esto puede afectarlos de forma negativa. Objetivo: El presente estudio tiene como objetivo identificar las necesidades de los cuidadores informales relacionadas con el cuidado de una persona dependiente de una zona básica de salud. Método: Estudio cualitativo y fenomenológico. Participaron en él cuatro cuidadores informales de pacientes no institucionalizados, a quienes se le realizó una entrevista semiestructurada. Posteriormente se realizó un análisis deductivo del discurso. Resultados: El análisis mostró tres temas clave: efecto del cuidar (cuidar tiene efectos negativos en la salud global de los cuidadores), dificultades relacionadas con el cuidado (relacionadas con las adaptaciones en el domicilio, la prevención de heridas, accidentes y movilizaciones) y estrategias de aprendizaje del cuidar (por lógica, observación y formación) Conclusiones: Cuidar tiene un efecto negativo sobre la salud global de los cuidadores. Estos presentan dificultades a la hora de cuidar, y manifiestan utilizar diferentes metodologías para el aprendizaje de los cuidados. Las intervenciones dirigidas a los cuidadores informales deberían incluir aspectos relacionados con la mejoría de su salud y su formación en cuidados. (AU)

Introduction: Population aging is one of the main issues in public health within developed countries. Informal caregivers play a central role in this scenario, which can affect them negatively. Objective: The aim of this study is to identify the needs of informal caregivers related to the care of dependent persons of a Basic Health Area. Method: Qualitative and phenomenological study. Four informal caregivers in charge of non-institutionalized patients took part. These patients expressed their opinions in a semi-structured interview, that was deductively analyzed afterwards. Results: The analysis showed three key subjects: the effects of caregiving (how this task negatively affects the global health of the caregivers); difficulties related to care (related to the process of adaptation once at home, prevention of wounds, accidents and mobility issues), and caregiving learning strategies (by deductive reasoning, observation and formation). Conclusions: Caregiving has a negative effect on the caregivers’ global health. They show some difficulties in the execution of their tasks, and they declare that they are using various caregiving learning methods. Interventions directed at informal caregivers should include aspects related to health improvement and caregiving training. (AU)

Early Physiotherapy Intervention Program for Preterm Infants and Parents: A Randomized, Single-Blind Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND: The early developmental interventions might be designed with a preventative approach to improving the development of at-risk preterm infants. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an early physiotherapy intervention on preterm infants' motor and global development, and on parents' stress index. METHODS: 48 infants were enrolled and randomized into two groups. Infants allocated to the intervention group received an early physiotherapy intervention, based on parental education sessions and tactile and kinesthetic stimulation during the NICU period, as well as a home-based activity program. The intervention commenced after 32 weeks post-menstrual age and ended at 2 months corrected age. Infants allocated to the control group received the usual care based on the NIDCAP-care. RESULTS: No differences were found between groups on the Alberta Infant Motor Scale at 2- or 8-months corrected age. Infants in the intervention group showed more optimal fine motor, problem-solving, personal-social, and communication development at 1 month corrected age. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed no effect on the early physiotherapy intervention. Results might be related to the dose or intensity of the intervention, but also to the poor parental compliance. CLINICALTRIALS: gov NCT03313427.

High hiring rate of nurses in Catalonia and the rest of Spain hides precarious employment from 2010 to 2019: A quantitative study.

AIM: This study aims to describe the hiring of nurses in Catalonia and the rest of Spain over 10 years. BACKGROUND: Precarious employment (PE) has negative consequences for nurses' quality of life and work performance. METHODS: Quantitative study using a retrospective, longitudinal, descriptive design. We analysed publicly available employment data from Catalonia and the rest of Spain. RESULTS: Nurses are among the health professionals with the lowest proportion of open-term (permanent) contracts, 25% during the first 4 years of employment. During the study period, each nurse hired had an average of 3.44 contracts per year. The proportion of nurses with a fixed-term (non-permanent) contract shrank from 25.3% in 2006 to 20.5% in 2012 and grew rapidly to 38.7% in 2018. We estimate that 14,800 nurses signed fixed-term contracts in 2018 without ever having registered as unemployed in nursing. CONCLUSION: High rates of fixed-term hiring and the high number of contracts per nurse are evidence of a high level of PE for nurses in Catalonia. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: When policymakers and workforce planners design recruitment and retention programmes for nurses, they should consider improving working conditions by extending more open-term contracts to combat PE and, indirectly, the shortage of nurses.

Psychological Distress, Burnout, and Academic Performance in First Year College Students.

BACKGROUND: The first years of university can be very challenging for students. Previous research has focused on the study of the prevalence of burnout and of psychological distress in medical students. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of psychological symptoms and burnout reported by first-year students, the relationship between these variables and their academic performance, and the differences between health and non-health sciences students. METHODS: An observational study with a cross-sectional design was performed. Students of health sciences (medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, psychology), and non-health sciences (biology, social sciences, business management, and engineering) undergraduate programs completed the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS). Students' grades for the first semester were collected. RESULTS: A sample of 506 students participated. Prevalence of psychological distress was 27.1% and burnout was 7.3%. Academic performance was unaffected in relation to either psychological distress or burnout. Non-health sciences students showed a greater risk of depression. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence of the high prevalence of psychological distress in the first year of college. Even when burnout prevalence was low, the results suggest the need to introduce prevention programs to improve the psychological wellbeing of these students.

Experiences and coping strategies of preterm infants' parents and parental competences after early physiotherapy intervention: qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Birth before term is a stressful experience for parents because of the unexpected delivery or admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. OBJECTIVE: This research aimed to evaluate the impact of the early PT intervention on preterm infants' parents' experiences, and also to obtain knowledge about parents' experiences and perceived difficulties during preterm infants' care. METHODS: This qualitative study is based on the methods of phenomenology. In the first phase, open interviews were developed to allow researchers to immerse themselves in the context of the study and refine the questions for the semi-structured interviews. Data collected from the semi-structured interviews were analyzed through content analysis. RESULTS: The results were summarized around three themes: 1) parental competence; 2) difficulties during preterm infants' care; and 3) coping strategies. Each theme was divided into two sub-themes. CONCLUSION: Mothers and fathers of preterm infants experienced difficulties when caring for their babies. Parents that received the early physiotherapy intervention felt empowered to take care of their babies and to enhance infants' development. These parents were more capable of developing coping strategies after the intervention. Parents that did not receive the early physiotherapy intervention expressed difficulties when caring for their preterm babies.

Disfunciones ejecutivas del lóbulo frontal en el control de la atención a corto plazo tras el remate de cabeza en el fútbol femenino / Executive dysfunctions of the frontal lobe in the control of short-term attention after the heading in women’s football players

INTRODUCCIÓN: El fútbol es actualmente el deporte más popular y de más rápido crecimiento en todo el mundo. El fútbol femenino no para de crecer y despierta en la actualidad un gran interés, pero la mayoría de las recomendaciones científicas para el juego femenino se han basado hasta ahora en investigaciones realizadas en hombres. El aumento creciente de la práctica del fútbol femenino hace necesario incluir estos tipos de estudios. OBJETIVO: Fue valorar las funciones ejecutivas del lóbulo frontal en el control de la atención a corto plazo después de haber realizado 6 remates de cabeza con un balón inteligente, en jugadoras de futbol adultas no profesionales. METODOLOGÍA: El diseño de estudio fue experimental de un grupo intervención con evaluación pre y post. El estudio constó de dos fases, en la primera fase se realizó la recogida de datos personales, la historia deportiva, las medidas antropométricas y se realizó el Test Stroop para evaluar las funciones ejecutivas del lóbulo frontal. En la segunda fase, se realizaron 6 remates de cabeza consecutivos desde una distancia de 28 metros y se volvió a realizar el test de Stroop. La muestra estuvo formada por 12 jugadoras, con una media de edad de 25,3 (DE = 6,5 años) y un rango entre los 18 y 40 años. La media de años que llevaban jugando al futbol en equipos federados fue de 6,5 (DE=2,35 años), practicando entre 7 y 10 horas semanales al futbol. RESULTADOS Y CONCLUSIONES: Los impactos repetidos al realizar los remates de cabeza con un balón de fútbol, cuando la velocidad es superior a los 62 km/h, producen cambios cognitivos significativos y específicos en jugadoras de fútbol femenino, inmediatamente después del remate; indicando una disrupción en las funciones cerebrales voluntarias, provocando alteraciones negativas en las funciones ejecutivas

INTRODUCTION: Football is currently the most popular and fastest growing sport in the world. Women's football players does not stop growing and currently arouses great interest, but most of the scientific recommendations for the female game have been based so far on research conducted in men. The increasing increase in the practice of women's football makes it necessary to include these types of studies. OBJECTIVE: To assess the executive functions of the frontal lobe in the control of short-term attention after having performed 6 heading shots with an intelligent ball, in non-professional adult football players. METHODOLOGY: The study design was experimental of an intervention group with pre and post evaluation. The study consisted of two phases, in the first phase the collection of personal data, sports history, anthropometric measures was performed, and the Stroop Test was performed to evaluate the executive functions of the frontal lobe. In the second phase, 6 consecutive head shots were made from 28 meters and the Stroop test was carried out again. The sample consisted of 12 players, with an average age of 25.3 (SD = 6.5 years) and a range between 18 and 40 years. The average number of years they had been playing football in federated teams was 6.5 (SD = 2.35 years), practicing between 7 and 10 hours per week in football .Results and conclusions: The repeated impacts when football heading, when the speed is higher than 62 km / h, produce significant and specific cognitive changes in female football players, immediately after the auction; indicating a disruption in voluntary brain functions, causing negative alterations in executive functions