International journal of geriatric psychiatry
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Int J Geriatr Psychiatry · Jan 2003
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyA comparative study of stress and burnout among staff caregivers in nursing homes and acute geriatric wards.
To compare levels of stress and burnout among staff caregivers in nursing homes and acute geriatric wards of general hospitals. ⋯ These results appear to show that levels of stress and burnout among staff caregivers are moderate in acute geriatric wards, but significantly higher than in nursing homes. This suggests that increasing the rate of trained staff and improving staff support-for instance by the implementation of Consultation-Liaison (C-L) Psychiatry and/or continuing education programmes-could be needed mostly in acute geriatric wards.
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Int J Geriatr Psychiatry · Jan 2003
Differences in community mental health literacy in older and younger Australians.
Depression has been traditionally considered to increase with age, although that may be due to sampling of those who have presented with depressive conditions. It is now recognised that patients' understanding of depression and beliefs about its appropriate treatment, mental health literacy, influences treatment-seeking behaviour. ⋯ Depression was not more common among older than younger members of the community. Despite recognising depression in a vignette less often and perceiving less likelihood of help from several different mental health professionals, those in the older group were more likely to receive antidepressant medication and to have recently consulted a medical practitioner.
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Int J Geriatr Psychiatry · Jan 2003
Multicenter StudyPsychopathology and autobiographical memory in stroke and non-stroke hospitalized patients.
Psychopathology and autobiographical memory were investigated in a cohort of stroke and non-stroke hospitalized patients. Both these cohorts have been identified as having high levels of psychopathology (Katon and Sullivan 1990; Burvill et al., 1995). Difficulties recalling specific autobiographical memories (overgeneral memory) have been identified as important psychological variables in depression and predictors of outcome (Williams and Scott 1988; Brittlebank et al., 1993). Intrusive autobiographical memories have also been found to be associated with depression and overgeneral memory in depressed women (Kuyken and Brewin, 1995) and depressed cancer patients (Brewin et al., 1998a). This study looked at levels of psychopathology and autobiographical memories in stroke and non-stroke hospital patients. ⋯ Significant levels of psychopathology were identified in this cohort. However, there were no significant differences in the levels of depression, anxiety, PTSD symptoms and autobiographical memory between stroke and non-stroke hospitalized patients. Of particular interest was the finding that PTSD-like symptoms did not appear to be influenced by the nature of the person's illness. In combined data (stroke and non-stroke) autobiographical memories (intrusive images of their illness, intrusive memories of other events and overgeneral memory recall variables) were significant predictors of depression in this cohort. This suggests that psychological intervention of memory processes may be a worthwhile target in psychological intervention for depression in these cohorts. Gender, cognitive impairment, antidepressant medication, and estimated IQ were significant predictors of overgeneral memory recall and further investigation into the validity of these findings are warranted. Suggestions for further research and limitations of the study are also discussed.