Effects of home visits on quality of life among older adults: a systematic review protocol

Background Home visiting services for older adults have been offered for decades to maintain and promote health and independent functioning, thus enhancing quality of life. Previous systematic reviews have provided a mixed picture of the benefits of home visiting programmes in older adults, primarily because of heterogeneity in study designs, targeted populations, and intervention strategies. These reviews may also become out of date; thus, an updated synthesis of relevant studies is warranted. Our objective is to perform a systematic review of recently published primary studies on the effectiveness of multi-professional home visits on quality of life among older adults. Methods We will perform a comprehensive search for studies investigating the effect of a multi-professional home visit approach on quality of life among older adults. We will conduct the literature search in selected electronic databases and relevant research websites from January 2010 onwards. We will include randomised controlled trials (RCTs), cluster randomised controlled trials (cluster RCTs), and observational studies that enrolled older adults without dementia over 60 years old, along with studies involving multi-professional preventive–promotive home visit approaches not related to recent hospital discharge. We will report our planned review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. We will retrieve and record relevant data in a standardised data extraction form and evaluate the quality of the included articles using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and the quality assessment tool for studies with diverse designs (QATSDD). Where appropriate, outcomes will be pooled for meta-analysis using a random-effects model. The main outcomes include quality of life, incidence of falls, depression, dementia, and emergency department admissions. Discussion This review may provide evidence for the effectiveness of home visits in improving older adults’ quality of life. It will potentially benefit health care professionals, policymakers, and researchers by facilitating the design and delivery of interventions related to older generations and improve service delivery in future. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42021234531.

2020 Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology Membership Survey

The Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology (AACS) was formed in 2005 by the merger of the Society for Applied Sociology and the Sociological Practice Association giving name recognition to both applied and clinical sociology, and a professional home for all sociological practitioners. In an effort to provide greater benefit and value to members, and to better meet the needs of its members, the AACS conducted a membership survey. On October 9, 2020, a membership survey was sent to AACS members to gather data. While the current survey results could have benefited from a greater response rate, the data gathered provides some degree of insight to members’ characteristics and attitudes toward the AACS. It is recommended that the AACS consider conducting future membership studies periodically to determine how to better meet member needs, and to estimate the value of AACS to its members.

The Mentor’s Role From the Perspective of Marginalized Young Women Becoming Mentors: Photovoice-Based Research

This paper examines the perspective of marginalized young women, training to become mentors for marginalized girls, with respect to the role of the mentor. Taking a critical feminist perspective, this article gives expression to the research participants’ unique knowledge, based on life experience as marginalized girls and their lived experiences. Based on a photovoice research project with 13 participants, all marginalized young women, the findings of this paper identify three main narratives regarding the mentoring role: (1) Mentoring as a relationship; (2) Mentoring as an action for the future; and (3) Organizational belongness—the organization hosting the participants serving as an ideological, value-based, and professional home, enabling the growth of the mentor in her role. The conclusions of the article argue that marginalized young women experience mentoring as a practice that expands beyond its rational aspects, embodying within it a corrective experience of relationships and an opportunity for social change.

Who are the beneficiaries and what are the reasons for non-utilization of care respite and support services? A cross-sectional study on family caregivers

Background Family caregivers assume substantial caregiving responsibilities for persons with chronic conditions, such as individuals with spinal cord injury, which leads to negative impacts on their lives. Respite care and other services are provided as a temporary relief and support for them. Design of appropriate respite care programs depends on identification of beneficiary subgroups for the different types of service. This study aimed to quantify the uptake of different respite and support services for family caregivers, the reasons for non-use, and to explore the respective predictors. Methods A cross-sectional survey of family caregivers of persons with spinal cord injury was conducted nationwide in Switzerland. The use of 11 different respite and support services during the previous 12 months was investigated, along with caregivers’ reasons for not using any respite. Classification trees were used to characterize the beneficiaries and reasons for not using respite. Results About a third of family caregivers used at least one type of respite or support service during the previous 12 months. Utilization of respite care was greater among those who employed professional home care (57% vs 24% of those without professional home care). Marked cantonal differences were also observed in utilization of respite care. The primary reason for not using respite services was “no demand” (80% of non-users of respite services), mainly among caregivers who were less emotionally affected by their caregiving tasks. Conclusions Utilization of respite and support services depends more on place of residence and use of home care services than on functional status of the care recipient. Accordingly, programs should be tailored to the cultural context of their potential users. This is best achieved through coordination with local health care professionals who can identify needs, provide information, initiate referrals, and integrate the care into a larger support plan.

Assessing Authentic Diversity in the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society: Part 1

This article is Part 1 of a two-part series reflecting on diversity within the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) and how the pursuit of “authentic” diversity is essential to HFES’s overarching goals for inclusion and equity. In Part 1, authentic diversity is discussed – what it means and what it might look like. Through this lens of authentic diversity, recent member demographics are reported. Part 1 concludes with a discussion about HFES’s growth potential, as a professional home for future scholars and practitioners, and the importance of measuring, documenting, and tracking organizational diversity and inclusion efforts across time.

The Insider Looking Out: Discovering the Real Me

This article is an autoethnographic performative account based on my story as a transnational adopted academic disabled scholar of color finding my own sense of personal and professional “home.” The format was constructed based on my previous work of specific movie scenes and corresponding dialogue appearing throughout the text. The resulting piece showcases the journey and the struggles to find and to intentionally build my home in the academy using my complex identities as the foundation.

Early Start of Anti-Dementia Medication Delays Transition to 24-Hour Care in Alzheimer’s Disease Patients: A Finnish Nationwide Cohort Study

Background: Dementia is one of the strongest predictors of admission to a 24-hour care facility among older people, and 24-hour care is the major cost of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of early start of anti-dementia medication and other predisposing factors with 2-year risk of transition to 24-hour care in the nationwide cohort of Finnish AD patients. Methods: This was a retrospective, non-interventional study based on individual-level data from Finnish national health and social care registers. The incident cohort included 7,454 AD patients (ICD-10, G30) comprised of two subgroups: those living unassisted at home (n = 5,002), and those receiving professional home care (n = 2,452). The primary outcome was admission to a 24-hour care facility. Exploratory variables were early versus late anti-dementia medication start, sociodemographic variables, care intensity level, and comorbidities. Results: Early anti-dementia medication reduced the risk of admission to 24-hour care both in patients living unassisted at home, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.58 (p < 0.001), and those receiving professional home care (HR, 0.84; p = 0.039). Being unmarried (HR, 1.69; p < 0.001), having an informal caregiver (HR, 1.69; p = 0.003), or having a diagnosis of additional neurological disorder (HR, 1.68; p = 0.006) or hip fracture (HR, 1.61; p = 0.004) were associated with higher risk of admission to 24-hour care in patients living unassisted at home. Conclusion: To support living at home, early start of anti-dementia medication should be a high priority in newly diagnosed AD patients.

Sociometric analysis of the structure of interpersonal interactions between the members of Ukrainian Antarctic expeditions

Introduction. The author analyzes the problems of organizing and conducting long-term Antarctic expeditions related to the structure of interpersonal interaction in small groups of specialists of different profiles. Aim: to determine the structure of intra-group relationships and to analyze the interpersonal interaction between the members of Ukrainian Antarctic expeditions. Methods: J. Moreno "Sociometry" (intra-group relationship). Results. Based on the obtained sociometric data, the author determined the indicators of the Antarctic expedition members' sociometric statuses, the structure of their relationships in relation to their activities (professional, home, leisure) as well as revealed the seasonal cycle of these relationships. Conclusions. The organization and conduct of polar expeditions should be based on the determined structure of intra-group relationships, as well as the psychological, interpersonal and season-dependent features of intra-group interaction (activation and recession).

Who are the beneficiaries and what are the reasons for non-utilization of respite care? A cross-sectional study on family caregivers

BackgroundFamily caregivers assume substantial caregiving responsibilities for persons with chronic conditions, which leads to negative impact on their lives. Respite care is provided as a temporary relief for them. The design of appropriate respite care programs requires the identification of beneficiary subgroups for different types of services. The objectives of the study were to quantify the uptake of respite care services by family caregivers of persons with spinal cord injury, and to identify the main beneficiaries of the respective offers and the reasons for non-use.MethodsA cross-sectional survey of family caregivers of persons with spinal cord injury was conducted nationwide in Switzerland. The use of 11 different respite care services during the last 12 months was investigated, along with caregivers’ reasons for not using any respite service. Classification trees were used to characterize the beneficiaries and reasons for not using respite services.ResultsOne-third of family caregivers used at least one type of respite care service during the last 12 months. Utilization of respite care was found to be greater among those who employed professional home care (57% vs 24% among those without professional home care). There were marked cantonal differences in the utilization of respite care. The primary reason for not using respite services was “no demand” (80% among non-users of respite services), mainly among caregivers who were less emotionally affected by their caregiving tasks. Conclusions Utilization of respite care services primarily depends on living arrangements and place of residency and less on the functional status of the care recipient. Programs should thus be tailored to the cultural context of their potential users. This is best achieved through coordination with local health care professionals who can identify the needs, provide information, initiate referrals, and integrate the care into a larger support plan.