Showing papers by "Ercole Vellone published in 2011"

Positive and negative impact of caregiving to older adults: a structural equation model.

Abstract: Caregivers represent an important source of care for older adults. Many studies focused on the negative aspects of elder caregi ving but few studies have analyzed also the positive effects. In addition, no studies have considered contemporarily the positive and the negative impact of caregiving to elderly people on the same people using a structural equation modeling. The purpose of this study was to examine the contribution of elder care recipient factors, caregiver factors and caregiving factors in determining the positive and negative impact of informal caregiving to older adults using a structural equation model. A cross-sectional design was used to study eighty caregivers of older people. Several instruments were used to measure elder care recipient factors (functionality, cognition, behavior); caregiver factors (socio-demographics, depression, stress, quality of life, and perceived health); caregiving factors (time from caregiving, time of care, social restriction, place of living, expenses, and living with the elder care recipient); and the positive and the negative impact of caregiving. Caregivers were 59.7 years old while elderly people were 84.0. Several factors were significantly correlated with the positive and negative impact of caregiving. However, when these factors were entered in a structural equation model, only female gender and social restriction predicted the negative impact, while caregiver’s quality of life and caregiving expenses predicted both the positive and the negative impact. The results of this study suggest a new framework of caregiving to older adults where the outcomes depend more on caregiver and caregiving factors than on older person characteristics. More research is needed with a larger sample to test further the model outlined in this study.

Organizational health and quality of life: Survey among ambulance nurses in prehospital emergency care

Abstract: Summary Background: The workplace plays a central role in causing stress and different kinds of syndromes and diseases. More generally, organizational procedures and practices could have an impact on nurses’ quality of life. Although several studies have investigated this link, none of them considered nurses working in prehospital emergency care. Objectives: To investigate the role of organizational health factors that affect the quality of life and psychosomatic complaints of ambulance nurses. Method: Our sample included 411 ambulance nurses. Workers were administered two questionnaires to assess organizational health and quality of life. Descriptive and correlational analyses were used to test our assumptions. Conclusion: Several organizational health dimensions provided an explanation for the complaints reported by nurses working in prehospital emergency care in terms of quality of life and psychosomatic disorders. The results allowed identification of possible interventions focusing on specific duties and organizational aspects that would improve the quality of nurses’ health. Riassunto Introduzione: Il contesto lavorativo gioca un ruolo centrale nel determinare alti livelli di stress e nello sviluppare distubi di diversa natura. Piu in generale i processi e le pratiche organizzative possono avere un impatto sulla qualita della vita degli inferimieri. Sebbene diversi studi abbiano indagato queste relazioni causali, nessuno di questi ha approfondito tali tematiche tra gli infermieri che lavorano nelle ambulanze. Obiettivi Esaminare quanto i fattori della salute organizzativa incidano sulla qualita della vita e sui disturbi psicosomatici degli infermieri che prestano servizio nelle ambulanze. Metodi: Il nostro campione e composto da 411 infermieri che lavorano nelle ambulanze dell’emergenza territoriale. Ai lavoratori sono stati somministrati due scale: una per misurare la salute organizzativa, l’altra per valutare la loro qualita di vita. Per esaminare le ipotesi sono state effettuate un’analisi descrittiva e una correlazionale. Conclusioni: Diverse dimensioni della salute organizzativa spiegano la qualita della vita e i disturbi psicosomatici degli infermieri che lavorano nell’emergenza. I risultati consentono di identificare possibili interventi su specifici aspetti dell’organizzazione che possono contribuire a migliorare la qualita della vita degli infermieri.

Affidabilità del caregiver nel valutare la qualità di vita del paziente con ictus cerebrale: uno studio esplorativo

Abstract: Non tutti i pazienti sopravvissuti ad un ictus riescono a valutare la propria Qualita di Vita (QDV). In questi casi un caregiver potrebbe fornire dati importanti sul paziente. Obiettivo. Analizzare l’affidabilita del caregiver nel valutare la QDV dei pazienti con ictus cerebrale. Metodo. Sono state studiate 50 diadi paziente-caregiver. I pazienti, ricoverati in strutture riabilitative, sono stati valutati con la Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 (SIS 3.0) versione paziente, il Barthel Index, la Modified Rankin Scale, la National Institute of Health Stroke Scale. I caregiver compilavano la SIS 3.0 versione proxy. Risultati. I punteggi medi della SIS 3.0 compilata da paziente e caregiver erano molto simili ed andavano rispettivamente da 19.1 vs 16.2 per la Funzione della mano a 83.81 vs 81.85 per la Comunicazione. I caregiver tendevano a sottostimare la QDV dei pazienti, ma le differenze tra punteggi non erano significative. Le correlazioni intraclasse tra i domini della SIS 3.0 compilata dal paziente e dal caregiver erano tutte altamente significative (p<0.001), con coefficienti superiori a 0.80. Coefficienti piu bassi sono stati osservati per le sottoscale della Partecipazione sociale (0.58), Emozioni (0.64) e Comunicazione (0.79). Conclusioni. I caregiver sono piu affidabili nel valutare gli aspetti fisici della QDV ma meno quelli psicosociali.

[Reliability of caregivers in assessing the quality of life of stroke survivors: an explorative study].

Abstract: UNLABELLED: Reliability of caregivers in assessing the quality of life of stroke survivors: an explorative study. Introduction. Not all stroke survivors are able to assess their quality of life (QOL), thus a caregiver could provide important information on patients' QOL. OBJECTIVE: To assess caregiver's reliability in measuring QOL in stroke survivors. METHOD: Fifty (50) patient-caregiver dyads were recruited. Patients, hospitalized in rehabilitation facilities, were administered the Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 (SIS 3.0) patient version, the Barthel Index, the Modified Rankin Scale, and the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale. Caregivers completed the SIS 3.0 proxy version. RESULTS: The mean scores of the SIS 3.0 patient version were very similar to the proxy version and ranged from 19.1 vs 16.2 for the Hand function domain to 83.81 vs 81.85 for the Communication domain. Caregivers tended to underestimate patients' QOL although scores were not significantly different. Intraclass correlations between the patient version and the proxy version of the SIS 3.0 were highly significant (p<0.001), with coefficient over 0.80. Lower coefficients were observed for the Social participation (0.58), Emotion (0.64) and Communication (0.79) domains. CONCLUSIONS: Caregivers were more reliable in assessing the physical rather than psychosocial domains.