Quality of life in caregivers of a family member with serious mental illness: Evidence from China

Purpose

To evaluate the quality of life (QoL) and social support among family caregivers of a family member with a mental illness and to identify factors associated with the QoL.

“We see each other from a distance”: Neighbourhood social relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic matter for older adults’ social connectedness

IntroductionWe extend previous research to illustrate how individual, interpersonal and neighbourhood factors in a high-density urban setting in Vancouver, Canada, shape social connectedness experiences of community-dwelling older adults during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe conducted 31 semi-structured interviews and collected objective measures of loneliness and social connectedness (surveys).ResultsThree dimensions of the neighbourhood environment influenced social connectedness: (i) interactions with neighbours, (ii) involvement with neighbourhood-based organizations, and (ii) outdoor pedestrian spaces. Seventy-one percent of participants felt a strong sense of belonging to their local community, while 39% were classified as high or extremely lonely.SummaryMany participants leveraged pre-existing social ties to maintain connections during the pandemic. However, volunteer outreach was vital for more isolated older adults. Although many participants felt lonely and isolated at times, the relative ease and accessibility with which they could connect with others in their neighbourhood environment, may have helped mitigate persistent loneliness.ConclusionStrategies that foster social connectedness over the longer term, need to prioritize the needs of older adults who face multiple barriers to equitable social participation.     

Opening the black box of the relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic status and mental health: Neighborhood social-interactive characteristics as contextual mechanisms

Previous studies have linked low neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES) to mental health problems. However, few studies have investigated the mechanisms underlying this association and most focused on the association with negative indicators of mental health, such as symptoms of depression or anxiety. This paper investigated whether neighborhood social characteristics (social interaction, trust, safety, organization participation, and attachment) mediate the association between NSES and mental health. We combined Danish register data with survey data from the North Denmark Region Health Survey 2017. Mental health was assessed with the Rand 12-item Short-form Survey (SF-12). The sample consisted of 14,969 individuals nested in 1047 neighborhoods created with an automated redistricting algorithm. We fitted multilevel structural equation mediation models and used a Monte Carlo simulation method to estimate confidence intervals for the indirect effects. NSES was positively associated with mental health. Neighborhood trust significantly mediated this relationship, accounting for 34% of the association after controlling for other mediators. These results indicate that higher levels of mental health in more affluent neighborhoods are partially explained by higher levels of trust. Improving neighborhood trust could mitigate sociogeographic inequalities in mental health.     

Fathers of children with autism spectrum disorder: Their perceptions of paternal role a predictor of caregiving satisfaction,self-efficacy and burden

BackgroundThe positive effect of a father’s involvement in children’s upbringing is now recognised. However, research on fathers raising children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are still few. This study examines the relationship between the perception, fathers of children with ASD have of the importance of their role in the development of their children and the feelings (self-efficacy, caregiving burden, satisfaction) they express about their parenting experience.MethodSixty-three Swiss Italian fathers of children with ASD completed The Role of the Father Questionnaire (ROFQ), three sub-scales of the Caregiver Survey, a subtest of the Child Adjustment and Parent Efficacy Scale and a home-made questionnaire measuring Perceived Social Support.ResultsThe results from hierarchical multiple regression analyses show that the importance that fathers attach to the paternal role predicts positively their caregiving satisfaction and their feeling of self-efficacy. The children’s challenging behaviours predict positively the caregiving burden whereas the assessment of social support predicts it negatively.ConclusionsThe perception of the importance of the paternal role needs to be considered in the support offered to families with a child with ASD. A better understanding of the fathers’ feelings could be of value for the programmes.     

“1+5”式支持教育联合体表感官刺激在住院精神分裂症患者中的应用

目的"1+5"式支持教育即1名辅导员负责5例患者,本研究探讨其联合体表感官刺激在住院精神分裂症患者中的应用效果。方法选择医院2019年1月—2020年3月住院精神分裂症患者80例为研究对象,按照组间年龄、病程、婚姻状况、住院时间、干预前简明精神病评定量表(BPRS)具有可比性的原则分为对照组和观察组,每组40例。对照组采取常规护理,观察组在对照组基础上加以"1+5"式支持教育联合体表感官刺激,比较两组患者的精神症状及社会功能状况。结果观察组患者精神症状严重程度低于对照组,社会功能评定量表(SSPI)各因子评分均高于对照组,差异比较有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论"1+5"式支持教育联合体表感官刺激在住院精神分裂症患者中的应用,能改善其精神症状及社会功能,促进疾病康复。     

Limitación auditiva y fragilidad social en hombres y mujeres mayores

ObjectiveTo explore the association between hearing loss and social frailty in a sample of Spanish older adults recruited from primary health care network.MethodCross-sectional study on a sample of 445 non-institutionalized adults aged 65 or more years (190 men and 255 women), recruited from primary care centers in Spain. Three self-reported hearing impairment questions were used to assess hearing loss. Social frailty was deemed to exist when the person presented two or more of the following conditions: living alone, absence of a person to provide help, infrequent contact with family, infrequent contact with friends, lack of confident and lack of help for daily activities in the last 3 months. To study the association between hearing loss and social frailty we used logistic regression models adjusted for potential confounders, including physical frailty.ResultsThe mean age of participants was 76.2 years (77.5 years for women). More than half of the participants (54.4%) reported hearing loss and the frequency of social frailty was 23.2%. Hearing loss was associated with social frailty (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.78; 95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 1.04-3.06). However, the association was sex-dependent (p for interaction = 0.041). In stratified analysis, the association was only found in women (aOR = 3.21; 95%CI: 1.44-7.17).ConclusionsHearing loss was associated with social frailty in women, but not in men. Longitudinal studies are needed to confirm this association and to understand the differential effect of gender.