Influence of Gerontology Services on the Physical and Psychological Health of Elderly in the City of Zagreb.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) defines the quality of life as an individual perception of personal position in the cultural and social system within an individual's environment. Elderly people, in general, prefer to live in their own home as much as possible, and moving means for them losing social relationships, changing routines and lifestyles and losing independence. The research aimed to gain insight into the use of gerontology services for the elderly people, their availability, diversity of information, a range of services they provide, and impact of these services on quality of life. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study population is defined as persons residing in Zagreb, 65 years of age or older, with no physical disability or severe bodily, cognitive or mental illnesses who are users of the gerontology center. The survey was conducted using a customized questionnaire survey on a total sample of 103 respondents. RESULTS: The most significant number of respondents, since they use the facilities, feel satisfied (68%) and very satisfied (28.2%) in their life. More than half of the participants (52.4%) rated their quality of life as very good and excellent, 46.6% of respondents rated their quality of life as good. Issues that effect on quality of life point to the dissatisfaction of the respondents are their financial resources, inadequate health services, and the lack of a positive social network. CONCLUSIONS: Community services, such as gerontology centers, enable social network development, new learning, physical activity, which have an impact on physical and psychological health and thus on the quality of life of elderly people. The satisfaction of the respondents using these services was rated above the average (3.71), which indicates that the society is moving in the right direction, encouraging this form of care for the elderly.

Mental disorders/difficulties in the postpartum period.

INTRODUCTION: Mental difficulties are common in the postpartum period. They can manifest in a mild form, but also as serious disorders which need to be treated in a timely manner. The most common psychological problem is "Baby blues" characterized by relatively short duration without consequences and treatment is largely unnecessary. Postpartum depression is characterized by a sense of sadness, loss of interest, insomnia, discomfort, loss of energy, reduced concentration. Postpartum psychosis is the most serious disorder but is also rare and may have serious consequences for the mother and child. Important factors in the postpartum mental problems/difficulties are genetic factors, situation of unwanted pregnancy, a feeling of discomfort with the role of motherhood and sudden hormonal changes. AIM: to investigate the frequency and type of mental problems in postpartum period, as well as possible type of help needed by the women in postpartum period. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: One hundred (112) respondents participated in the survey. The survey was conducted from November to December 2017 through a "google docs" application. The survey was placed on different social networks, and the participation in the survey was voluntary and anonymous. A series of 14 questions with the offered answers was used in the survey. RESULTS: The results of the survey have shown that psychological difficulties and disturbances in the postpartum period to be common problems encountered by almost 50% of women (44.46%). The most common difficulty is Baby blues, followed by postpartum depression and anxiety disorders. Age and the mode of birth did not affect the emergence of changes, while social factors such as family support had a great impact. CONCLUSION: The provision of information to the mothers can help, but inaccurate information can do the opposite. Thus, the role of health care professionals is important for helping mothers in that period to prevent certain difficulties as well as in identifying and referring mothers to seek help in a timely fashion.

Biofeedback and neurofeedback application in the treatment of migraine.

INTRODUCTION: Biofeedback is a non-invasive method of measurement of physiological functions. Precise instruments measure the slightest changes of different body functions-which are then in a clear and understandable manner shown in the form of feedback. Person gets an insight into what is going on inside the body and thus learns to change the patterns of behavior to improve health and performance. Any changes that are wanted are rewarded, which leads to learning of the new patterns of behavior. Neurofeedback is a type of biofeedback which uses electrical activity in the brain. Certain disorders are associated with specific patterns of brain activity, and through neurofeedback it is possible to reduce or even remove symptoms of some disorders. In the treatment of migraine different biofeedback methods- such as breathing, training of vasoconstriction/vasodilatation and neurofeedback, may be applied. METHODS: This paper will describe the successful treatment of 25 years old girl who suffered for many years from painful migraine. She had in total 25 treatments during which listed biofeedback methods were used. The first part of the treatment was neurofeedback training on the central sensorimotor area, followed by respiration training and at the end by biofeedback training of vasoconstriction/vasodilatation. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The final result of the treatment was significant reduce in the frequency of migraine attacks and the pain reduction. Further study, have to be done with more patients and with placebo group to scientifically prove the effectiveness of the method.

Attitudes and knowledge of parents of preschool children about specific learning disabilities.

INTRODUCTION: Specific learning disorders include dyslexia - reading disorder, dysgraphia - writing disorder, dyspraxia and discoloration - difficulties with mathematical tasks. Along with these disorders, hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit are often associated with these disorders. According to available data, 2/3 of children who have difficulty reading, writing, and counting have a lack of attention. Diagnosing these disorders is an important task for parents, preschools and schools, because it is prerequisite for understanding and treatment. The aim of the research was to gain information how the parents of preschool children get information and knowledge about learning disabilities at children, were they able to recognize the symptoms, what was the main source of their information and whether information was understandable and reliable. METHODS: Five hundred (510) respondents participated in the survey. The survey was conducted from July to August 2016 and was conducted through a "google" application. The survey was placed at different social networks, and the participation in the survey was voluntary and anonymous with the note that parents of preschool and school children were participating. A survey of 10 questions with the offered answers was used in the survey. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results have shown that parents majority of information get from Internet /which is understandable for this sample, because the survey was done through Internet/. Most parents received information through online pages, which did not always mean getting the correct information. They expressed a need for expert education and more public talk about children's learning disabilities. Parents have been interested in this topic, so it is necessary to organize different workshops and lectures that will be led by experts to provide reliable and useful information and to put more professional information on Internet for parents.

Neurofeedback application in the treatment of autistic spectrum disorders (ASD).

The aim of this paper is to describe neurofeedback (NFB) treatment in Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) children. There is no specific cure for autism and therapeutic guidelines are directed to improve the quality of life of people with autism by reducing the symptoms and by increasing their functioning. Neurofeedback is a computerized method based on tracking electrical activity of the brain (EEG) and giving a feedback about it. The method has been developed in neurophysiological labs of scientific institutes in USA and has been used very successfully for over last 20 years. It has proven its efficacy in practise, but also in scientific and clinical research. During 2010 and 2011 neurofeedback treatment was administered to 10 children (N=10, 7 males and 3 females) age range 4 to 7 years which have been diagnosed as autistic spectrum disorder (highly functional) with an unspecific impairment of speech development and trouble communicating. An evaluation of treatment was done according to estimation of changes in functioning (parents, teachers and therapists' ratings and all other experts that were monitoring the child before, during and after the treatment) and tracking of changes in electrophysiology. The results have shown most changes in behaviour (less aggressive, more cooperation, better communication), attention span and sensory motor skills. According to the assessment of parents, teachers, therapists and other experts all children have accomplished a certain degree of improvement in the level of daily functioning. Our experiences in usage of neurofeedback in Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) children confirmed previous data that this method can be applied to this category of patients.

Determination of the Personal Nutritional Status of Elderly Populations Based on Basic Foodomics Elements.

Nutritional status is a series of related parameters collected using different available methods. In order to determine the nutritional status of elderly populations and ensure nutritional support based on an individual approach, the implementation of the increasingly used foodomics approach is available; this approach plays a key role in personalized diets and in the optimization of diets for a population group, such as an elderly population. The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) method and the Nottingham Screening Tool (NST) form were used on 50 users in a home for the elderly in northwest Croatia. A loss of body mass (BM) was statistically significantly higher for those who had the following: decreased food intake in the last week and users who had complete and partial feeding autonomy. Additionally, the obtained data on drug intake, fluid, individual nutrients, and physical activity are based on an individual approach. The available documentation provides insight into nutritional values and food preparation in an attempt to satisfy a holistic approach in the evaluation of exposure while trying to achieve as many elements of foodomics as possible.