Gritos de silêncio: na voz dos familiares cuidadores de portadores da doença de Alzheimer

This work is an investigation related to issues of those who take home care of people who suffer from Alzheimer disease (AD). Thus, it is justified by the need to acknowledge how these relatives perform this task and in which ways they do this. The study has is analytical and qualitative methodology with the use of a thematic oral history approach. The subjects of the research were nine relatives of those who suffer from AD that participate in the home care group in the Candelária neighborhood in the city of Natal in Rio Grande do Norte-Brazil. The data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire and interview that was booked in advance and had full support from the care takers. After information collection, three thematic axles were defined. After this procedure, three analisys subcategories were also defined. The first thematic axle emphasizes the so called movement of rite of passage, when the relative becomes a care taker of a person with AD. The second category deals with the care takers strategies, either related to their own behalf or on their relative. It is possible to infer that amongst other forms of help, the care taker needs to rely on a support network, such as health services, groups composed by multiprofessionals that enable better articulation between family and collaborators. The dimension related to faith and spirituality was also observed and pointed out as an important aspect in the emotional support process for these relatives. In the third axle the perspectives of struggle, conquests of the right to health and life quality of those who suffer from AD as well as their relatives was observed. These also deal with dreams and hope

Musik - påverkan vid demenssjukdom : En litteraturöversikt

Bakgrund: Demens är en progressiv sjukdom och antalet personer som får en demensdiagnos kommer inom några årtionden öka drastiskt. Sjukvården behöver komma fram med nya icke-farmakologiska metoder för att kunna hantera den stora ökningen av personer med demenssjukdom. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva om och på vilket sätt musiken påverkar personer med demens. Metod: Litteraturöversikt med induktiv ansats där artiklar med kvalitativ och kvantitativ metodik sammanställdes. Artikelsökning gjordes i databaserna Cinahl samt PsychInfo. De kvalitativa artiklarna analyserades med hjälp av Fribergs femstegsmodell och statistiken från de kvantitativa artiklarna sammanställdes i en tabell. Resultat: Det kvantitativa resultatet visade att musik hade en effekt med statistiskt signifikant skillnad på flera av de undersökta variablerna. Agitation och oro/ ångest minskade medan positivt engagemang/ deltagande ökade. Det kvalitativa resultatet genererade tre teman: kommunikation, sinnesstämning samt indirekt påverkan. Kommunikationen förbättrades, personer med demens upplevde glädje och personalen påverkades positivt av musiken vilket ledde till indirekt påverkan på personer med demens. Slutsats: Musik är en enkel och kostnadseffektiv intervention att använda sig av när det gäller personer med demens. Olika musikinterventioner kan användas vid olika situationer för att få den effekt som önskas. Det är även ett enkelt sätt att komma personer med demens närmare och få en större förståelse.

Smoothing a Discrete Hazard Function for the Number of Patients Colonized with Methicillin-Resistance Staphylococcus Aureus in an Intensive Care Unit

A new method for estimating the time to colonization of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) patients is developed in this paper. The time to colonization of MRSA is modelled using a Bayesian smoothing approach for the hazard function. There are two prior models discussed in this paper: the first difference prior and the second difference prior. The second difference prior model gives smoother estimates of the hazard functions and, when applied to data from an intensive care unit (ICU), clearly shows increasing hazard up to day 13, then a decreasing hazard. The results clearly demonstrate that the hazard is not constant and provide a useful quantification of the effect of length of stay on the risk of MRSA colonization which provides useful insight.