Commentary on: Kuld PB, Frielink N, Zijlmans M, et al. . Promoting self-determination of persons with severe or profound intellectual disabilities: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Intellect Disabil Res. 2023 Jul;67(7):589–629. doi: 10.1111/jir.13036. Epub 2023 May 11.
Nurses can promote self-determination of people with severe and profound intellectual disabilities through relationship building and learning to read a person’s communication cues to determine their preferences. Future research should use an ecological approach to optimise environments for self-determination and consistent measures to strengthen the evidence base.
Self-determination is a key dimension of quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities, that is, acting freely and willfully to make things happen in one’s own life.
Commentary on: Eglseer D. Development and evaluation of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for healthcare professionals on malnutrition in older adults. Nurse Educ Today. 2023 Apr;123:105741. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2023.105741. Epub 2023 Feb 4.
Massive open online course (MOOCs) can improve health professionals (HPs)’ knowledge and nutritional care skills for malnutrition in older adults efficiently. Implementation science studies are necessary to effectively change HPs’ behaviours and attitudes towards malnutrition by considering organisational, cultural and self-efficacy aspects. Future research should focus on identifying effective strategies for implementing evidence-based nutritional care for older adults, emphasising HPs’ attitudes and self-efficacy.
Malnutrition is a prevalent condition among older adults in acute hospital settings that can result in adverse clinical outcomes such as increased pressure ulcer development, reduced wound healing, increased infections and higher mortality rates.
Commentary on: Calderón-Larrañaga S, Greenhalgh T, Clinch M, Robson J, Dostal I, Eto F, Finer S. Unravelling the potential of social prescribing in individual-level type 2 diabetes prevention: a mixed-methods realist evaluation. BMC Med. 2023 Mar 13;21(1):91. doi: 10.1186/s12916-023-02796-9.
Integrating social prescribing (SP) in primary care increases opportunities to deliver holistic care and facilitate clinic-community partnerships. Research examining the effect of SP on prediabetes-related clinical outcomes is needed.
Recent data suggest that 464 million adults worldwide have pre-diabetes and are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D).
Commentary on: Barker N, Sinha A, Jesson C, Doctor T, Narayan O, Elphick HE. Changes in UK paediatric long-term ventilation practice over 10 years. Arch Dis Child. 2023 Mar;108(3):218-224. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2021-323562. Epub 2022 Nov 29.
Up-to-date information on the use of long-term ventilation (LTV) in the UK paediatric population helps LTV centres to plan services and support healthcare needs. The future development of a national LTV children database could advise clinical guidelines and assist resource allocation planning.
LTV consists in the delivery of respiratory support provided on a daily basis for a minimum period of 3 months through various mechanical interventions.
Commentary on: Al-Hammouri MM, Rababah JA. Work family conflict, family work conflicts and work-related quality of life: The effect of rotating versus fixed shifts. J Clin Nurs. 2023 Aug;32(15–16):4887–4893. doi: 10.1111/jocn.16581. Epub 2022 Nov 11.
Given this study’s findings of the negative impact of rotating shifts on nurses’ work and family life, the use of rotating shifts in hospitals should be reconsidered. Since this is the first study to be conducted on the topic, more research is needed.
Rotating shifts are a common way for hospitals to distribute night shift work instead of keeping nurses in fixed night shifts.
Commentary on: Ulvund I, Dadi GB, Sundal H. Nurses benefit from international clinical placement as nurse students: a qualitative study. Nurse Educ Today 2023; 121:105663. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2022.105663. Epub 2022 Nov 25.
International clinical placements benefit nurses’ personal and professional development and these skills may be applied in their future careers. More research is needed to assess the long-term outcomes of international clinical placements among nurses in the workforce.
Globalisation and diversity require that nurses develop the skills and knowledge to become culturally safe and competent both locally and globally and in all clinical contexts.
Commentary on: Williamson SP, Moffitt RL, Broadbent J, Neumann DL, Hamblin PS. Coping, wellbeing, and psychopathology during high-risk pregnancy: A systematic review. Midwifery. 2023 Jan;116:103556. doi: 10.1016/j.midw.2022.103556. Epub 2022 Nov 14.
Awareness of negative impacts of high-risk pregnancies on mental health will help to identify women in need of support. Strategies can be created to improve coping and well-being for high-risk pregnant women.
Pregnancy is a period of major physiological changes. Psychological adjustments occur, more so with a high-risk diagnosis in pregnancy. In their systematic review, the authors outlined the state of the science of pregnant women’s psychopathology, coping and well-being when high-risk conditions including hypertension, diabetes and kidney disease develop during pregnancy. Pregnant women with these conditions can experience ineffective coping, poor well-being, anxiety and depression among other negative symptoms. Provider’s awareness, culturally appropriate education and support can reduce...
Commentary on: MacHale R, Ffrench C, McGuire B. The experiences and views of adults with intellectual disabilities accessing digital mental health interventions: A qualitative systematic review and thematic synthesis. J Appl Res Intellect Disabil. 2023 May;36(3):448-457. doi: 10.1111/jar.13082. Epub 2023 Feb 13.
Digital mental health interventions may be useful to complement in-person mental health services, with sufficient supports for meaningful use. User-centred design research with adults with intellectual disabilities and supporters is needed at all phases of digital mental health intervention development and evaluation.
Providers report that digital interventions are effectively being delivered to adults with intellectual disabilities; there is less research about how digital health interventions are received and experienced by people with intellectual disabilities.
Commentary on: Ulupınar F, Erden Y. Intention to leave among nurses during the COVID-19 outbreak: A rapid systematic review and Meta-Analysis. J Clin Nurs. 2022 Nov 27. doi: 10.1111/jocn.16588. Epub ahead of print.
During COVID-19, nurses experienced stress, anxiety and fear. Psychological support will help retain staff. Further longitudinal studies on the long-term psychological impacts of the pandemic are needed.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nurses was unprecedented with high volumes of critically ill patients. This strain on direct care nurses included an increased workload, long hours, separation from family, potential exposure and patient death.
Commentary on: Yanbei R, Dongdong M, Yun L, Ning W, Fengping Q. Does perceived organization support moderate the relationships between work frustration and burnout among intensive care unit nurses? A cross-sectional survey. BMC Nurs. 2023 Jan 23;22(1):22. doi: 10.1186/s12912-023-01180-5.
Providing intensive care unit (ICU) nurses with organisational supports by showcasing that the organisation cares about their well-being, gives importance to their opinions, is proud of their achievements will decrease their work frustration. Future research and auditing of programmes and events to monitor organisational support to ICU nurses in reduction of work frustration and burn-out. Such monitoring systems could translate into better patient outcome.
The psychological strain of caring for very ill patients causes significant mental stress for all ICU healthcare professionals. When stress is prolonged, it might eventually cause burn-out and deterioration of patient...
Commentary on: Böhmer MN, Oppewal A, Valstar MJ, Bindels PJE, van Someren EJW, Maes-Festen DAM. Light up: an intervention study of the effect of environmental dynamic lighting on sleep-wake rhythm, mood and behaviour in older adults with intellectual disabilities. J Intellect Disabil Res. 2022 Oct;66(10):756–781. doi: 10.1111/jir.12969. Epub 2022 Aug 25.
Increasing light exposure in care facilities improves mood and behaviour in older adults with intellectual disability (ID). Light exposure protocols should be implemented and investigated to determine the optimal intervention parameters.
Sleep problems are frequently experienced by older adults with ID living in residential care facilities
Commentary on: Ćwirynkało K, Parchomiuk M. Support as described by fathers with intellectual disabilities. J Appl Res Intellect Disabil. 2023 Mar;36(2):320-332. doi: 10.1111/jar.13061. Epub 2022 Dec 9
Fathers with intellectual disabilities require informal and formal supports to successfully navigate parenthood. The voices of fathers with intellectual disabilities should be prominent in future disability research.
Men with intellectual disabilities become good fathers with appropriate supports in place. Some fathers with intellectual disabilities were underestimated by partners, relatives and professionals, with their abilities to parent continually questioned. While formal and informal supports were viewed as helpful and necessary, there were differences between the support required and those provided. To develop their parenting skills and competence, fathers with intellectual disabilities require additional support.
This study explored the lived experiences of social support of 20 Polish fathers with intellectual...
Commentary on: Shields GE, Rowlandson A, Dalal G, Nickerson S, Cranmer H, Capobianco L, Doherty P. Cost-effectiveness of home-based cardiac rehabilitation: a systematic review. Heart. 2023 Feb 27:heartjnl-2021-320459. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2021-320459. Epub ahead of print.
Home-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a cost-effective alternative/supplementary model to increase CR accessibility, improve health benefits and reduce health service use. More robust clinical trials are needed as the heterogeneity in design, particularly the intervention dosage, staffing models, telehealth features, hybrid approach and individual costs, challenges the evidence base. The psychological care component is missing in the current cost-effectiveness analysis of home-based CR.
Despite evidence that exercise-based cardiovascular rehabilitation (CR) is an effective intervention, patient uptake and adherence are uncertain. Recent research suggests that home-based CR interventions are as effective and safe as those supervised in a centre.