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AIMS: Finding out whether there are differences in the levels of stress and burnout between workers providing care to dependent adults and those caring for independent older adults would provide comparative information about two different models of care. During the COVID-19 pandemic, workers caring for older adults were subjected to maladaptive situations that produced stress and burnout. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey design using the STROBE checklist. METHODS: A total of 900 nursing home and égidas workers were assessed for stress and burnout. Data were collected online from October 2020 to February 2021, when Puerto Rico was experiencing the peak of the third wave of COVID-19. MANOVAs were performed to study the interactions between the workplace and having had COVID, the workplace and the size of institution and the workplace and position held. DATA SOURCES: October 2020 to February 2021. RESULTS: All interactions were significant. Nursing homes showed higher levels of stress and burnout when workers had undergone COVID, when the size of the institution was larger and for technical staff other services; in égidas, having undergone COVID did not influence stress or burnout, which increased when the institution was smaller and for executive staff. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic affected nursing home workers more significantly than those working in other types of residential models with independent older adults. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE: Applying preventive interventions aimed at reducing stress and burnout would facilitate the adaptation of workers caring for older adults and help to improve the quality of care. IMPACT: This study analysed the impact of COVID-19 on the stress and burnout of workers providing services to older adults. Nursing home workers who have had COVID-19 have higher stress and burnout. The size of the institution has a different effect depending on whether older adults are dependent or independent. Workers in institutions dedicated to the care of the older adults. REPORTING METHOD: This study has adhered to the relevant EQUATOR guidelines: STROBE. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: During the different waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was difficult to establish direct contact with workers providing care to older adults; this reason made it necessary to apply online systems to obtain information. The workers appreciated the fact that the implications for stress and burnout of the situation experienced during this difficult process were investigated.
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Esgotamento Profissional , COVID-19 , Humanos , Idoso , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Pandemias , Estudos Transversais , Esgotamento Profissional/epidemiologia , Casas de Saúde , Esgotamento PsicológicoRESUMO
Loneliness significantly impacts the mental well-being of older adults, prompting an examination of psychological predictors and buffering factors associated with it in this demographic. A cross-sectional study involving 246 community-dwelling older adults was conducted. The UCLA Loneliness Scale identified predictors of loneliness, including negative mood, hopelessness (negative future expectations and loss of motivation), and despair. Buffering factors included ego-integrity, personal growth, and purpose in life. Regression analysis revealed that negative mood, negative future expectations, and despair increased loneliness, with negative mood showing a strong association. Conversely, ego-integrity, personal growth, and purpose in life reduced loneliness. The study underscores the complex interplay of psychological factors shaping loneliness in older adults, highlighting the importance of addressing both risk and protective factors. Social work practitioners in healthcare settings can play a pivotal role in addressing loneliness among older adults by leveraging these factors.
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Caregivers experience great stress, and coping can be one of the factors, which determine the extent of stress. The aim of the present paper is to analyze the effects of coping strategies on distress of the older adult's caregiver, including guilt as a mediating factor in those maladaptive strategies. The sample consisted of 201 informal caregivers of institutionalized older adults. The three constructs measured were: stress, guilt, and coping strategies. Results showed that strategies that have a better ability to reduce stress are active, positive reframing and acceptance; on the contrary, behavioral disengagement, self-distraction, self-blame and venting positively predicted the feeling of guilt that facilitated the perception of stress. Given the important association obtained between the experience of guilt and psychological distress in caregivers, it could be relevant to develop psychoeducational interventions with caregivers including techniques to reduce this feeling of guilt and develop cognitive behavioral strategies that facilitate adaptation.
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Cuidadores , Estresse Psicológico , Humanos , Idoso , Cuidadores/psicologia , Estresse Psicológico/psicologia , Adaptação Psicológica , Culpa , EmoçõesRESUMO
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This paper aims to examine the satisfaction and depressed mood experienced by nursing home workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and associated variables. Specifically, to analyse the factors that may contribute to nursing home workers developing adaptive behaviours that promote satisfaction or, on the contrary, show characteristics associated with a negative mood. BACKGROUND: Nursing homes have faced unprecedented pressures to provide appropriately skills to meet the demands of the coronavirus outbreak. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey design using the STROBE checklist. METHODS: Professionals working in nursing homes (n = 165) completed an online survey measuring sociodemographic and professional characteristics, burnout, resilience, experiential avoidance, satisfaction with life and depression. Data were collected online from April to July 2021, the time in which Spain was experiencing its fifth wave of COVID-19. Two multiple linear regression models were performed to identify salient variables associated with depressive mood and satisfaction. RESULTS: Resilience, personal accomplishment and satisfaction had a significant and negative relationship with depression and emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and experiential avoidance had a positive relationship with depression. However, emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and experiential avoidance had a negative and significant relationship with satisfaction and personal accomplishment, and resilience had a positive and significant relationship with satisfaction. In addition, it was found that accepting thoughts and emotions when they occur is beneficial for developing positive outcomes such as satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Experiential avoidance was an important predictor of the effects that the COVID-19 pandemic can have on nursing home workers. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Interventions focusing on resources that represent personal strengths, such as acceptance, resilience and personal accomplishment, should be developed. NO PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: The complex and unpredictable circumstances of COVID's strict confinement in the nursing home prohibited access to the centres for external personnel and family members. Contact with the professionals involved could not be made in person but exclusively through online systems. However, professionals related to the work environment have subsequently valued this research positively as it analyses 'How they felt during this complicated process'.
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Personality traits of older adults and their contribution to life satisfaction and generative interest were assessed. A total of 342 older participants (66% women), mean age = 67.89 years old ( SD = 6.52, range = 55-84 years old), who attended the University of the Experience in Salamanca (Spain), were evaluated. Information on sociodemographic data, perceived health and activity, personality traits, generativity, and life satisfaction was collected using self-reported questionnaires. Results confirmed a relation between personality traits, life satisfaction, and generativity. In addition, generative concern, neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness predicted life satisfaction at this stage. Moreover, the role of personality on generativity was confirmed. Individuals with interest and agreeableness toward others, who are organized, persistent, and motivated, are more predisposed to generativity. These results open the way to develop intervention programs that enhance positive personality traits and generative interest to improve quality of life of older people.
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Envelhecimento/fisiologia , Satisfação Pessoal , Personalidade/fisiologia , Estudantes , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Espanha , UniversidadesRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) stands as the prevailing type of dementia, marked by gradual memory loss and cognitive decline. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive method used to regulate cortical brain function and has been explored as a potential treatment for cognitive impairment. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the effects of daily home-based active or sham tDCS on cognitive function in patients with early-stage AD and its follow-up after one month. METHODS: The study involved a randomized, blinded, and controlled-placebo design, with 18 participants enrolled. The primary outcome measures were general cognitive function, immediate, and delayed recall, and executive function. Participants included in the study were randomly assigned to the anodal and sham tDCS groups. Participants were assessed before and after the intervention and one month after the end of treatment. The home-based intervention was applied for 5 consecutive days, daily. RESULTS: The results showed a significant interaction between the active and sham groups; in particular, improvements in MMSE scores, immediate memory and delayed recall were observed at one-month follow-up in the active group. CONCLUSIONS: The positive effects of tDCS on cognitive function in AD patients observed suggest that tDCS may induce long-term neuroplastic changes, leading to sustained improvements in cognitive abilities.
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Doença de Alzheimer , Estimulação Transcraniana por Corrente Contínua , Humanos , Estimulação Transcraniana por Corrente Contínua/métodos , Doença de Alzheimer/psicologia , Seguimentos , Cognição , Memória de Curto PrazoRESUMO
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: The experience of family caregivers after nursing home admission has received much less attention, probably because many caregivers experience an initial sense of initial emotional relief. However, for some caregivers nursing home admission is a stressor despite the reduced physical burden of caregiving. Caregiver distress following institutionalization has been related to the new burdens and challenges encountered in the nursing home. Ambivalence and guilt related to the institutionalization decision have been identified as sources of stress. Therefore, this study examined the effect of guilt and well-being on the perceived stress of family caregivers of institutionalized dependent persons. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred and one family caregivers of institutionalized persons in a nursing home (La Rioja, Spain) participated. Perceived stress, caregiving guilt and subjective well-being, sociodemographic and caregiving-related variables were assessed. Linear regression analyses and correlations between variables were performed. RESULTS: Guilt and five dimensions of well-being (anxiety, vitality, self-control and depression, except general health) significantly predicted stress (R2adj=.552 (F (6, 198)=41.71, P<.001)). The effect size was large (95% CI=.461). CONCLUSIONS: Paying attention to family caregivers' feelings of guilt during institutionalization is important. This will enable the design and implementation of psychosocial interventions that improve caregiver adjustment immediately after institutionalization.
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Cuidadores , Culpa , Humanos , Idoso , Cuidadores/psicologia , Casas de Saúde , Institucionalização , AnsiedadeRESUMO
Care staff in nursing homes work in a challenging environment, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated those challenges in an unprecedented way. On the other hand, the sense of coherence (SOC) is a competence that could help these professionals perceive the situation as understandable, manageable and meaningful. This study aims to analyse the extent to which potential risk and protective factors against burnout have affected nursing home workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and to assess the contribution of these factors to their burnout. Three hundred forty professionals who worked in nursing homes in Spain completed a survey and reported on their sociodemographic characteristics and their organisational characteristics of the job related to COVID-19, SOC and burnout. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed. The results showed that the SOC is highly related to the dimensions of burnout and is a protective factor against this. In addition, the increase in hours has a negative effect, facilitating inadequate responses to stressful situations; and whereas perceived social support and availability of resources have a protective effect, the deterioration in mental and physical health is the most important risk factor. This study could help better understand the psychological consequences of the effort that nursing home workers and can also help design mental health prevention and care interventions for workers that provide them with resources and supports that foster their coping skills.
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Esgotamento Profissional , COVID-19 , Senso de Coerência , Esgotamento Profissional/epidemiologia , Pessoal de Saúde , Humanos , Casas de Saúde , Pandemias , SARS-CoV-2 , Espanha/epidemiologia , Inquéritos e QuestionáriosRESUMO
The current study presents a rapid review of the psychometric features of the standard Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and the proposal for a modified version of the test, informed by the methodology of the Boston Process Approach to neuropsychological assessment. In order to aid the process of identification of the primary underlying neurocognitive mechanism responsible for defective test performance, the MoCA-Process-Based Approach (MoCA-PA) adds complementary or satellite test conditions in some of its subtests, includes "new" qualitative indices to capture the cognitive processes involved in each cognitive task, and incorporates new qualitative classifications of error subtypes. It provides concurrent assessment of multiple cognitive processes within each task, without significantly increasing administration time or placing significant additional burden upon the respondent. We present preliminary results obtained from an initial sample of 45 community-dwelling older adults attending a University program for seniors. Results suggest the usefulness of additional indices in providing additional information on cognitive deterioration that may be overlooked with the only consideration of quantitative scores. Future research will aim to collect normative data for different clinical populations using the newly developed indices in order to determine the validity and clinical utility of the relatively novel qualitative process-based methods used in the MoCA-PA.
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Disfunção Cognitiva , Idoso , Cognição , Disfunção Cognitiva/diagnóstico , Humanos , Testes de Estado Mental e Demência , Testes Neuropsicológicos , Psicometria , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Sensibilidade e EspecificidadeRESUMO
This work compared two common variants of a lexical decision task (LDT) through two different analysis procedures: first, the classical ANOVA method, and second, by fitting the data to an ex-Gaussian distribution function. Two groups of participants (old and young university students) had to perform, blocks of go/no-go and yes/no tasks. Reaction times and error rates were much lower in the go/no-go task than in the yes/no task. Changes in the ex-Gaussian parameter related to attention were found with word frequency but not with the type of LDT tasks. These findings suggest that word frequency shows an attentional cost that is independent of age.