Tijdschrift voor gerontologie en geriatrie
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Tijdschr Gerontol Geriatr · Apr 2020
Review[COVID-19 outbreak in nursing homes: what can be learned from the literature about other disasters or crisis situations?]
Long-term care for older adults is highly affect by the COVID-19 outbreak. The objective of this rapid review is to understand what we can learn from previous crises or disasters worldwide to optimize the care for older adults in long term care facilities during the outbreak of COVID-19. We searched five electronic databases to identify potentially relevant articles. ⋯ Especially the experiences of older adults, informal caregivers, and nursing home staff with the care for older adults in the current situation, are important in formulating lessons about how to act before, during and after the coronacrisis. This may further enhance person-centered care, even in times of crisis. Therefore, we recommend to study these experiences in future research.
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Tijdschr Gerontol Geriatr · Dec 2005
Review Meta Analysis[A systematic review of multifactorial interventions for primary prevention of delirium in the elderly].
Delirium is a severe psychiatric syndrome that is highly prevalent in elderly patients in a general hospital. Primary prevention is important to prevent delirium. This article reviews recent developments with regard to multifactorial intervention trials for primary prevention of delirium. ⋯ In one study a reduction was found in duration and severity of duration only. One study showed no effect on delirium at all. Despite the methodological weaknesses of the studies, conclusions are that different kinds of non-pharmacological interventions can be effective in preventing delirium.
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Tijdschr Gerontol Geriatr · Sep 2005
Review[CBO guidelines to prevent accidental falls in the elderly: how can it be used in the institutionalized elderly?].
Fall incidents occur frequently in the community dwelling elderly and even more in the institutionalised elderly. Fall-related research data indicate positive effects of a multifactorial intervention targeted on prevention of falls and fall-related injuries. ⋯ The highlights for nursing homes are: all nursing home patients are at risk; perform a fall risk assessment to direct fall preventive activities; together with specific fall prevention for the patient general fall prevention for the institute has to be undertaken; a multifactorial approach is indicated. In nursing homes it is possible to perform such approach multidisciplinary.
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Delirium is a severe psychiatric syndrome that is highly prevalent in elderly general hospital patients. However, the diagnosis of delirium is often missed. The use of rating scales can be helpful in detecting and measuring delirium symptom severity. ⋯ Ten rating scales were selected for further evaluation. The Confusional Assessment Method (CAM), NEECHAM Confusion Scale (NEECHAM) and Delirium Observation Scale (DOS) appear to be most suitable as a screening instrument, depending on the type of rater (physician or nurse). The (revised) Delirium Rating Scale (DRS(-R-98)) seems to be particularly useful for measuring delirium severity or monitoring change.
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Tijdschr Gerontol Geriatr · Aug 2001
Review[Sleep and intellectual functioning in the elderly: the role of sleep quality and apnea--literature survey].
In both relatively healthy and in demented elderly people mental abilities and sleep quality decrease in becoming older and nocturnal respiratory disturbance increases. Perhaps there is an association between sleep and cognition. The hypothesis that specific sleep phenomena are necessary to assure an adequate level of cognitive functioning is called the sleep cognition hypothesis. ⋯ The findings in demented older people concerning sleep and cognition are inconsistent. In relatively healthy older people a significant correlation between nocturnal respiratory disturbance and cognitive functioning was seldom found, whereas in demented older people a clear association was shown. Therefore, in demented older people prudence is necessary in prescribing psychopharmaca because these can enhance the appearance of sleep apneas.