No abstract

Various sources of data provided different perspectives on resident's QoL. Each perspective is relatively independent and somewhat unique. In those patients with mild to moderate cognitive impairment, direct measures of QoL should be considered.

The QoL perception by persons with dementia living in a nursing home is mainly affected by their emotional state (depression level), while proxies' perceptions (both family and staff) are mainly associated with patients' functional autonomy in daily living. Therefore, perspectives of persons with dementia and their informants are not congruent. Moreover, facility features and family and staff members' personal features do not affect QoL ratings.

Several researchers have found that caring for relatives with dementia has negative consequences on the caregiver’s physical and emotional health during the caregiving period. However, less attention has been paid to caregiver´s emotional state after the patient´s death. The aims of this study are 1) to evaluate the emotional state of the Spanish former caregivers after the care recipient death, and 2) to analyze the patient’s death circumstances and their influence in the current emotional state of caregivers. The sample was composed of 50 former caregivers of relatives diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The dependent variables were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory and the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief. Most of the caregivers did not develop a complicated grief or depressive symptoms. However, caregivers are not uniform in their responses to bereavement. Specifically, grief was higher in spouses than in adult child, even after controlling the effect of gender and age. Furthermore, this study provides first evidence of the positive relationship between saying good-bye to the patient and caregivers’ emotional status.

Exposure to violence from patients or relatives causes problems in emergency departments. To assess the development of posttraumatic symptoms in pre-hospital emergency care professionals assaulted by patients and/or relatives, it may be crucial to establish preventive measures at different levels. This study examined 358 pre-hospital emergency care professionals assaulted by patients and/or relatives. The aims of the present study were (a) to assess the presence of posttraumatic symptoms and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and (b) identify compliance diagnoses for PTSD depending on the experience of aggression (presence of fear, helplessness, or horror during the aggression), the perceived severity of aggression, and socio-demographic variables (gender, age, profession, employment status, and work experience). The results show that the experience of aggression with fear, helplessness, or horror is associated with the presence of posttraumatic symptoms related to re-experiencing but is not related to avoidance and emotional numbing and arousal. Furthermore, the perception of aggression as severe was associated with the presence of symptoms related to re-experiencing. These results are presented and discussed.