Role In Community Care Research Articles

Role of Community Care in Blood Glucose Control in Diabetic Residents

Role of Community Care in Blood Glucose Control in Diabetic Residents

Ongoing Challenges for Nursing Towards Global Demand

LETTER TO EDITOR Challenges for Education in Nursing Nursing challenges have evolved over time, but the profession itself remains true to those who are motivated to serve others. Nurses are responsible for more than just patient care; they are also responsible for the promotion of health care and personal well-being. Nursing education, the role in community care, the development of areas of specialisation, and nursing leadership all require periodic transformation in line with rapid technological change, the world's growing elderly population, and the current twists and challenges in providing the best possible care. Nurses have an impact on people of all ages, ethnic groups, backgrounds, and communities while working tirelessly to meet the sick and vulnerable's physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Nursing is a profession that requires someone who is resilient, dedicated, and empathetic in order to provide care to the community. According to WHO recommendations, nursing education should be standardised around the world, with minimum qualifications at Bachelor’s degree. Advanced degree programmes, such as a have expanded the offerings and reach of modern-day nurses, providing them with the skills needed to meet evolving nursing challenges. Nurses must brace themselves for upcoming challenges, which may worsen as the world's population grows. As a result, the specialisation curriculum should include more areas involving clinical experience for various specialties and treatment of acute and chronic diseases, and public health. This is exacerbated by an increase in the number of patients with a wide range of problems and symptoms that necessitate the specialisation of advanced clinical skills, the complexity of work, and the dedication to patient care. In the face of various challenges, a lack of nursing expertise will limit treatment to patients and even weaken treatment care. Nurses with specialisations in developing countries have been able to provide the best possible care to patients with a high rate of success. However, in order to be a successful nurse, each nurse must have certain strengths, interests, and expertise In order to prepare for becoming a developed country and facing future challenges, such nursing strategies and directions must be prepared in accordance with WHO recommendations. Today, nursing is a vast and varied field with a plethora of opportunities for those interested in pursuing it as a career. Nursing challenges are unique due to the level of investment nurses have in their work. They get to know their patients, are concerned about their needs, and contribute significantly to their patients' recovery. Despite the daily challenges of nursing, they make a difference in the lives of the many people they touch. References

Relevance of Calcium and Vitamin D in Supporting Bone Health: An Expert Panel Recommendation in Indonesia

Osteoporosis is a bone health related condition that weakens the bones, making individuals fragile and prone to breaks. Nutrients such as calcium and vitamin D are essential for bone health. Calcium helps in building and maintaining bone mass while vitamin D aids in the absorption and utilization of calcium. According to WHO, 28.8% men and 32.3% women in Indonesia have osteoporosis, and this is inspite of the international recommendations for the daily intake of calcium and vitamin D intake. This could be attributed to low community awareness on how to prevent and care for osteoporosis. Several high-risk population groups have been identified such as those with osteopenia, undergoing rehabilitation and pregnancy/lactation periods. Therefore, in this review, an expert panel comprising of specialties of dietetics, rehabilitation medicine, orthopaedic, obstetrics & gynaecology, pharmacology, and geriatrics, convened to provide an evidence-based guidance on the prevention and care for osteoporosis. The recommendations are as follows: (i) It is important to know that calcium and vitamin D work synergistically to maintain bone health. (ii) The intake of calcium and vitamin D must start early. (iii) We should be aware that our diet and lifestyle today does not allow us to meet the recommended daily intake of calcium and vitamin D required for optimal bone health. (iv) Supplementation can compensate for the deficits in both calcium and vitamin D intake, thereby strengthening bone health. This study could guide the primary health care team, who plays a critical role in community care, to encourage early bone health awareness and care in Indonesia.

Burden and psychological effects : caregiver experiences in a psychiatric outpatient unit in Lagos, Nigeria

Worldwide, research into experiences of care givers are gradually increasing and their central role in community care is being acknowledged. Caregivers experience a multidimensional range of problems, often associated with their caregiving role. It becomes important to identify these areas of burden and provide necessary support. The study sought to determine the prevalence of psychological distress and experience of burden of care among the caregivers of mentally ill patients. A cross sectional descriptive study. Eligible consecutive subjects were recruited to the study over a 6 month period. Fifty three caregiver relatives of patients diagnosed with a psychiatric illness were assessed using the General Health questionnaire version 12, an Adapted Burden of Care (BOC) Schedule and a Sociodemographic questionnaire. The caregivers were 51% male and 49% female. Most were above 35years in age (66.1%). They were either parents (38.8%), siblings (18.4%), uncle/aunt (14.3%), first cousin (12.2%) or other extended relatives (16.3%). Almost half of the relatives had psychological distress (43.8%) and most of which (63%) had more burden. The mean score on the BOC among the caregivers was 41 (±18.68SD), with scores ranging from 0.00-89.00, and 45.3% of relatives experiencing more than average burden of care. There is a significant level of burden and psychological distress experienced by caregivers in this study location. It is recommended that effectively planned interventions are targeted at alleviating this burden and at improving the ability of caregivers to cope, within the Nigerian mental health service delivery system.

The Role of Community Care in Improving the Quality of Care

The Role of Community Care in Improving the Quality of Care

Family needs and related factors in caring for a family member with mental illness: Adopting assertive community treatment in Japan where family caregivers play a large role in community care

In Japan the family plays a large role in community care for persons with mental illness; therefore the aim of the present study was to describe the needs of family caregivers related to assertive community treatment (ACT) and to analyze the relationship of these needs to underlying factors. Participants were recruited from the membership of three family associations of persons with mental illness. Of the 224 family members, 152 (67.9%) completed a self-report questionnaire consisting of the following measures: demographic variables, family life difficulty scale, global burden, general life satisfaction, subjective health status, family rejection scale, quantity of supportive behaviors, and needs for ACT. More than 70% of participants reported that service components of ACT would be beneficial, especially in the future. Functions that helped maintain the ordinary routine of family life were significantly correlated with current needs for ACT. When a person has chronic mental illness the family has many needs related to ACT. When functions that maintained the ordinary routine of family life were disturbed, the need for ACT support increased. Elderly parents or siblings were also concerned about the future, when caring for the member with mental illness would become more difficult.

'A Pair of Stout Shoes and an Umbrella': The Role of the Mental Welfare Officer in Delivering Community Care in East Anglia: 1946-1970

In this paper we describe an oral history research project which explored a little-known aspect of the history of social work: the history of mental welfare officers and their role in community care. We interviewed former MWOs and analysed both private and public documnets to explore this history in East Anglia beween 1946 and 1970. In the paper we address three themes. In the first place, we argue that MWOs,as well as carrying out their statutory function in overseeing hospital admissions, had a significant role in community care for people with learning difficulties and psychiatric problems. They began to advocate on behalf of clients, often making a case for home support and they supported parents' groups. Increasingly, they carried out case work and painstaking social work with families. In the second place, we explore the surprising finding that, among MWOs, genericism was not as new a concept in 1970 as many writers have assumed. Finally, we analyse some gender issues that emerged from the research and the way they influenced attitudes to community care held by some MWOs. The paper looks at the gradual development of a profession from one with little consistent training, to one in which specialist education began to be seen as an important aspect of the role of the MWO.

Housing: the foundation of community care?

Until the late 1980s community care was traditionally the preserve of the health and social care agencies that dominated the planning and provision of care. Since then it has increasingly been recognized that housing should also play a major role in community care. This has been apparent in official guidance and statements, in some of the more innovative forms of community care provision, and in some of the academic literature. Yet the advancement of the housing dimension of community care in the 1980s has arguably become as much of a bland truism as the idea of community care itself has always been. What has remained largely absent from the debate is a considered and critical view of the meaning and potential role of housing in community care, or - more specifically - an agreed vision of the benefits a housing orientation can bring to the quality of community care. This article draws together many strands of the argument. It critically examines the emergence and development of the idea of housing as a 'key' component - even the 'foundation' - of community care, identifying some of the reasons why the housing dimension has risen from a seriously marginalized position to the central role which it is now often suggested it should occupy. The authors conclude by arguing that, whilst some progress has been made, a fundamental shift in thinking is still required at many levels. They suggest that community care users have consistently claimed that housing is the first essential component of effective community care. What is needed is for other participants in the community care process to endorse and develop an ordinary housing approach to community care, in which housing is genuinely accepted as the vital component and which can be translated into practice. This fuller recognition of the housing contribution must embrace meanings which can be agreed, understood and operationalized by the main participants in community care.

11. Assessing and managing old age psychiatric disorders in community practice

A shortage of specialised facilities means that general practitioners have a prominent role in community care of the elderly with mental illness.

The policy and implementation of the housing role in community care—a constructionist theoretical perspective

This paper contends that academic analysts, working within the discipline of ‘housing studies’, have misrepresented the meaning and significance of the housing role in community care, and that this has resulted from their unwillingness to utilise an explicit multi‐disciplinary and theoretical approach to its study. The first half of this paper attempts to provide a new and alternative definition of housing's community care role by locating its analysis within a constructionist theoretical framework. Then, using the research findings of a study undertaken in Wales, the second part of the paper analyses the critical questions of ‘what did and did not happen and why during implementation?’, which a theory of policy and implementation must claim to be able to answer if it is to justify itself as an analytical framework. The paper relates particularly to community care for people with mental and physical disabilities, rather than older people.

Alcohol dependence: a critical look at the effects of alcohol metabolism.

This paper explores the metabolic consequences of alcohol misuse and identifies the pathophysiological reasons why alcohol, no matter what quantity is taken regularly, is not beneficial for the normal functioning of most body systems. Although moderate ethanol consumption may reduce stress and the risk of coronary heart disease, ethanol also exerts a direct toxicological effect because it interferes with hepatic metabolism and immune functions. Liver transplantation may be necessary for end-stage liver disease in alcoholics. A causal effect between alcohol intake and several cancers has been reported. Both environmental and genetic factors are involved in the susceptibility to alcoholism. An explanation of alcohol dependence as a family disease is introduced to shed light on the magnitude of its collateral effects on the family and on the community as a whole. The adverse effects of alcohol on pregnant women and the fetus are also discussed. To provide awareness of the effectiveness of community efforts, we examined the possible intervention strategies and the role of community care in this regard.

The principles of normalisation in community care

This article looks at the significance of client independence for ensuring the practice of normalisation, as well as looking at the role of community care. The relationship between these three dimensions is discussed and the clinician's role in the rehabilitation process of physically disabled clients is assessed.

Are Occupational Therapists Marketing their Services Effectively to the Fundholding General Practitioner?

Given the 1990 General Practitioner (GP) Contract and the 1992 Health of the Nation white paper, the hypothesis was put forward that, by utilising the services of occupational therapists, fundholding GPs would prevent standards falling as their workload increased, thereby enabling them to utilise their time more effectively. A questionnaire was designed to test this hypothesis. Results showed that, although the majority of GPs were interested in using most of the services offered, they were unaware of the varying roles of the occupational therapist and were, as a result, unable to recognise the benefits of such services to themselves. Results also showed the need for more effective marketing strategies to be implemented in order that fundholding GPs are made aware of the occupational therapist's changing role in community care.

Approaching Camphill: from the Boundary

The Camphil communities for children and adults in need of special care are widely known of, but little known about; often lauded, sometimes condemned but rarely understood. Stephen Baron, lecturer in sociolgy and social policy, Stirling University, and Dr Douglas Haldane, psychotherapist and consultant in St Andrews, seek to remedy this in a modest way by giving an evaluative, but non‐statistical, account of the work of the communities over the past 50 years. They also consider Camphill's future role in community care and also in special educational provision, in the context of the 1988 Education Reform Act.

Delivering long- term care: Lessons from the developed world

Many countries have now experienced the demographic revolution of an aging population and responded to it. Lessons can be derived from the similarities and differences across these nations; some similarities are attributable to ef­ forts to import and adapt approaches developed elsewhere, while some differences reflect basic national ethics and beliefs about how general issues of human services should be handled. This overview will examine the provision of services for the dependent elderly by examining a series of themes that transcend national bound­ aries. Different countries have responded to these themes differently to create a mosaic of long-term care programs; nonetheless, each country must confront these issues, which in­ clude the current and expected relationship be­ tween aging and disability, the role of govern­ ment , a strategy of providing protection through pensions or services, the implications of a mar­ keting usa service paradigm for human services, the place of nursing homes and other institu­ tions (and conversely, the role of community care), the need for care givers (both formal and informal), the links between acute and chronic care, the need for rationing and for case man­ agement, and the use of regulation.

A Need for SOCIAL SUPPORT The Chronically Mentally Ill Institutionalized Elderly

Now that nursing homes are playing a major role in community care of psychiatric patients, they must be evaluated for the extent to which they offer and provide opportunities for social reintegration. Reality orientation and therapeutic milieu are the interventions used most often with elderly institutionalized chronically mentally ill patients. Attention that the elderly chronically mentally ill patients receive in reality orientation or in therapeutic milieu is probably more beneficial than the treatment itself.