A multidisciplinary network for the care of abnormal fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome in the provinces of East and West Flanders in Belgium.

The organization of care for patients with the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in tertiary care referral centres from 2002 onwards, was negatively evaluated by the Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre on the endpoint of socio-professional reintegration. Subsequently, the federal health authorities asked for the elaboration of a new and innovative model of stepped care, aiming at improved integration of diagnosis and treatment into primary care and between levels of health care for patients with CFS. The reference centre of the University Hospital Ghent took the initiative of recruiting partners in the Belgian provinces of East and West Flanders to guarantee the care for patients with medically unexplained symptoms, in particular abnormal fatigue and CFS.

Rate of accidental falls in institutionalised older people with and without cognitive impairment halved as a result of a staff-oriented intervention.

Objective: to evaluate the impact of a staff-oriented intervention on the number of accidental falls in residents with and without cognitive impairment.

Design: clustered randomised controlled trial.

Methods: ten nursing wards from 7 nursing homes were randomised in a control (5 wards) and intervention (5 wards) group.

A multi-frequency pulse EPR and ENDOR approach to study strongly coupled nuclei in frozen solutions of high-spin ferric heme proteins.

In spite of the tremendous progress in the field of pulse electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) in recent years, these techniques have been scarcely used to investigate high-spin (HS) ferric heme proteins. Several technical and spin-system-specific reasons can be identified for this. Additional problems arise when no single crystals of the heme protein are available.

Insufficient lighting in nursing homes.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to measure the level of lighting in nursing homes in a variety of areas to determine its adequacy in meeting the visual needs of elderly residents.

Design: Observational study

Participants: Eight nursing homes cooperating in an intervention study designed to prevent accidental falls.

Measurements: The amount of light was measured in eight nursing homes with a lux meter DVM 1300 Velleman.

Scoring clock tests for dementia screening: a comparison of two scoring methods.

Objective: To compare the dementia screening performance of two scoring systems of the clock drawing test.

Methods: A sample of 1199 elderly subjects was administered the clock drawing test as part of a study on aging and dementia. The clock drawings were scored using published criteria for the two scoring systems that were compared.