Journal of evaluation in clinical practice
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More knowledge is needed regarding the complex factors and perceptions that enable the implementation of change in health care. The study aimed to examine the enabling factors and barriers encountered in the implementation of improvements in health care in order to achieve patient-centred care (PCC) and to study if there was a correlation in the extent the improvements were perceived to be implemented and the preconditions that were considered to affect them. ⋯ The PARiHS framework was appropriate to use since the three components of evidence, context, and facilitation present different important preconditions in the implementation process. Evidence was the highest rated contributor since evidence-based practices in health care are necessary. It is vital that the important role of the context and facilitators is acknowledged in the implementation process to enable a successful implementation of change. There is a need to incorporate a clear strategy involving all levels in the organization. Furthermore, leaders play an important role in the implementation by facilitating communication and support and by having trust in facilitators and health care personnel. The results are applicable to other interventions implementing change in health care.
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Falls are among the major problems occurring in hospital setting, when drugs are viewed as important modifiable risk factor of falling. The aim was to analyse the effect of pharmacotherapy on the risk of falls in hospitalized patients. ⋯ Apart from the commonly considered fall-risk increasing drugs, other groups, such as ophthalmologicals, should also be considered; however, regarding clinical practice, it is difficult to evaluate the effects of individual drugs in the context of other risk factors of falls, due to the multifactorial nature of falls.
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Clinical and research evidence suggests that family functioning is an important variable in shaping psychological well-being, despite being often overlooked in the prevailing approaches to mental health. The aim of the present study is to examine the associations between psychological distress and family functioning in a sample of patients accessing a public mental health service. ⋯ This study confirms that family functioning is significantly associated with psychological distress, also in the absence of clear and conspicuous signs of structural imbalances within family relationships.
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Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is an important public health problem. The French organization, combining OHCA basic life support (BLS) and advanced life support (ALS), has been recently questioned. The study was conducted to evaluate the association between early ALS (E-ALS) arrival and good neurological outcome at 1 month in nontraumatic OHCA patients. ⋯ This study showed that patients in the E-ALS group were less likely to have a good neurological outcome. One explanation of this unexpected result could be the total duration of resuscitation performed, which may be interrupted prematurely in cases of E-ALS.
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Most frailty assessments have been developed for people aged over 65 years. However, there is growing evidence that frailty is detectable in younger people. This paper tests the hypothesis that the Fried frailty phenotype and the CFS categories identify the same people in age-gender subgroups in community-dwelling 40 to 75-year-olds. ⋯ Frailty assessments using the two assessments became more consistent, as age increased. Pre-frailty was identified by both assessments in all age-gender groups. The validity of self-reported CFS, and of pre-frailty criteria relevant to people younger than 65 years, needs investigation.