Scopus scopus - exported 1/8/16

A study was undertaken to investigate the views of professional staff and paid and informal carers' views of a new integrated mental health service for people with learning disabilities.

Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted and transcribed. Most staff and carers were generally satisfied with the in-patient facility. However, information exchange, ward rounds and the ward environment were identified as areas requiring improvement.

Introduction: The suggestion has been made that modern medicine has diverted attention from preparing for death and helping people to die a good death. The branch of medicine which has addressed the care of the dying, palliative medicine, has seemed to give the impression that dying can be dignified through the management of terminal pain. However, many patients dying from cancer and non-cancer diagnoses have a range of symptoms which are less easily managed in old age.

Objective and research questions. Dementia is a growing challenge in our aging society. Often, persons close to older people at some point in time sense that ‘something is wrong’ (long) before dementia is actually diagnosed, but do not know how to act upon it. This may lead to situations where dementia progresses unnoticed, until it escalates, and people need sudden admission to a hospital or nursing home.

Dementia is one of the major causes of disability and dependence amongst older people and previous research has highlighted how the well-being of people with dementia is inherently connected to the quality of their relationships with their informal carers. In turn, these carers can experience significant levels of emotional stress and physical burden from the demands of caring for a family member with dementia, yet their uptake of formal services tends to be lower than in other conditions related to ageing.

This paper reports findings from a recent attitudinal survey into the implementation of telecare. Providing older people with increased independence to better meet their needs forms a key part of the care policy agenda in the UK. In this respect, telecare is perceived to be an important new weapon in the armoury of support services, which should result in fewer older people requiring institutional care and more remaining independent in their own homes for longer than would otherwise be the case.

The selfhood of a person with dementia can be undermined not simply as a result of biological factors, but to a far greater degree by psychosocial factors. In order to support and maintain the selfhood of the person with dementia to the greatest possible degree after the diagnosis is given and for the balance of the person's life, it is crucial to understand three fundamentally important and interrelated issues that affect the person with dementia as well as his or her formal and informal carers.

Background: Care from the family physician is generally interrupted when patients with cancer come under the care of second-line and third-line healthcare professionals who may also manage the patient’s comorbid conditions. This situation may lead to fragmented and uncoordinated care, and results in an increased likelihood of not receiving recommended preventive services or recommended care.

Objectives: To classify, describe and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions aiming to improve continuity of cancer care on patient, healthcare provider and process outcomes.