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Health professionals witness pain and suffering when they care for sick people and their families. Compassion is a necessary quality in their work as it combines the will to help, alleviate suffering and promote the well-being of both the people they are attending and the professionals themselves. The aim of the study was to design and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Capacity for Compassion Scale (CCS).
A quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out to evaluate the psychometric properties of the scale (reliability, temporal stability, content validity, criterion validity and construct validity).
The study was carried out in two phases: pilot study and final validation. The data were collected between April and May 2022. The sample was selected by convenience sampling and was made up of a total of 264 participants, 59 in the pilot phase and 205 in the final validation.
The Capacity for Compassion Scale has been shown to have good psychometric properties in relation to reliability, temporal stability, and content, criterion, and construct validity. Factor analysis showed that there were four subdimensions of the scale: motivation/commitment, presence, shared humanity and self-compassion. The results also indicate that compassionate ability is significantly correlated with age and work experience.
The Capacity for Compassion Scale shows adequate psychometric properties. This instrument measures the compassion capacity of health professionals, which is a valuable discovery for new lines of research in this field.
Through this scale, low levels of capacity for compassion can be detected that negatively influence the quality of care provided by health professionals. The Capacity for Compassion Scale can therefore contribute to the identification of needs and promote training around compassion for health professionals.
No patient or public contribution.
Compassion in health professionals has positive effects on improving the quality of care, the satisfaction of professionals and the work environment. There are compassion cultivation programmes whose validity has been proven for the development of the dimensions of compassion. There is no specific instrument that measures capacity for compassion in healthcare professionals.
A scale is designed to measure capacity for compassion in health professionals. This is the only such scale available up until now. The scale measures four dimensions of compassion: motivation/commitment, presence, shared humanity and self-compassion.
The development of specific programmes that can increase the compassion of health professionals with all the benefits that this can bring to health care is encouraged. It will be possible to analyse the effects of training programmes on the cultivation of compassion.
To explore the potential of a structured active play intervention to promote social and personal development in preschoolers during cancer treatment.
A hermeneutic-phenomenological inspired explorative study.
Participant observations were conducted on 15 consecutively sampled children (aged 1–5 years) from April 2021 to April 2022. Observations were written as narrative scenic descriptions from field notes and were analysed inspired by hermeneutic-phenomenological analysis and using a thematic analysis structure.
Observations were carried out during 67 group or individual structured active play sessions, resulting in 129 scenic descriptions. Observations of the children's emotional, verbal and bodily expressions and social interactions resulted in three main themes: (1) wanting to play, (2) gaining confidence in movement and (3) being part of a group. The findings showed how children, irrespective of age and the severity of their illness, wanted to play and expressed joy of movement. The children's daily physical state fluctuated and influenced their motivation to participate as well as their confidence in their physical abilities. Through structured active play and with support from their parents and healthcare professionals, the children had successful movement experiences and regained confidence in movement, supporting their personal development. Playing together with other children and accompanied by their parents, healthcare professionals supported the children's opportunities to practice social skills, such as turn-taking, waiting and taking charge. Familiarity, recognizability and fun were key motivational components for the children.
Participating in structured active play during treatment has the potential to promote personal and social development in preschoolers with cancer. Parents play a crucial role in supporting the participation of their children.
The healthcare system and healthcare professionals should provide opportunities for preschoolers with cancer and other illnesses to participate in structured active play.
What problem did the study address? Cancer treatment affects the development of preschoolers’ gross motor-, personal and social skills—essential skills in childhood development. This study aimed to explore the potential for social and personal development through structured active play. What were the main findings? This study found that preschoolers want to play, and participating in structured active play can support their personal and social development through regained confidence in movement and becoming part of a group. Where and on whom will the research have an impact? The research impacts healthcare professionals working with preschoolers in the healthcare system. Creating opportunities for preschoolers to participate in structured active play throughout treatment can promote personal and social development.
The study adheres to relevant EQUATOR guidelines and is reported according to the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) checklist.
Participants in this study were preschoolers with cancer and their parents. No public or patient involvement in the design of this study.
ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04672681. Registered on December 17, 2020. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04672681.
To psychometrically assess the Spanish version of the Self-Care of Chronic Illness Inventory (SC-CII-Sp) in community-dwelling older adults with chronic multimorbidity.
A methodological study.
A total of 1260 older adults participated in the study between May 2020 and February 2022. The data were analysed using SPSS Statistics® 26 and AMOS® 24. The items' content validity index and the Fleiss' kappa were calculated to assess the SC-CII-Sp's content validity. Convergent validity was assessed by calculating the Pearson correlation coefficient between the participants' scores on the SC-CII-Sp and their scores on the Spanish Chronic Disease Self-Efficacy scale (SCD-SE). Construct validity was tested by performing a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The SC-CII-Sp's reliability was tested by computing the Cronbach's alpha.
The SC-CII-Sp showed good content and convergent validity. The CFA showed that the SC-CII-Sp has three sub-scales. The 8-item Self-Care Maintenance sub-scale has good internal consistency and is comprised of two dimensions: illness-related and health-promoting behaviour. The Self-Care Monitoring sub-scale had excellent internal consistency and its five loaded items belonged to a single dimension. The 6-item Self-Care Management sub-scale has adequate internal consistency and two dimensions: autonomous and consulting behaviour.
The Spanish version of SC-CII is a valid and reliable instrument to be used in the assessment of self-care behaviours amongst Spanish-speaking, community-dwelling older adults with chronic multimorbidity.
Nurses need valid and reliable tools to assess self-care behaviours in Spanish-speaking community-dwelling older adults with chronic multimorbidity. This study provides a 19-item tool that allows for the comprehensive evaluation of self-care behaviours in healthy and ill states.
Using the SC-CII-Sp in clinical or research settings could help nurses to examine the effects of different interventions on self-care behaviours amongst Spanish-speaking, community-dwelling older adults with chronic multimorbidity.
None to be reported.
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