Prevalence of Opioid Use in Nursing Homes Over the Last Decade: A Systematic Literature Review.

Despite global concerns of an opioid epidemic, there is no systematic literature review on how frequently these drugs are used in nursing home (NH) populations, including those living with dementia. This systematic review aims to describe the prevalence and incidence of opioid use in NHs. A secondary objective is to describe the use of these drugs in a subset of NH residents, namely among persons living with dementia.

Healthcare professionals' perceived challenges and solutions when providing rehabilitation to persons living with dementia-A scoping review.

Aim: This review aimed to map studies related to healthcare professionals' perceptions and attitudes towards the rehabilitation for persons living with dementia and extract what they perceive are the barriers and solutions.

Background: Rehabilitation can improve the quality of life and integration of persons living with dementia into society. However, there are several barriers to accessing rehabilitation services.

Nurses' Experiences of Caring for Long-Term Care Residents With Dementia During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on older persons who reside in long-term care settings, especially residents living with dementia. The physical and psychological burden of the current pandemic has also been felt by frontline caring staff including nurses caring for persons living with dementia. The aim of the study was to explore the experiences of nurses while caring for residents with dementia who resided in long-term dementia care units during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dementia knowledge, attitudes and training needs of speech-language pathology students and practitioners: A countrywide study.

Background: Due to dementia-related communication difficulties, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) play a significant role in supporting individuals with dementia and their caregivers. Nevertheless, SLP practitioners may not have received adequate dementia training during their undergraduate programme and skills updating post-qualification. Investigating the knowledge, attitudes and training needs of SLP students and practitioners would provide evidence on the need of enhancing training in dementia care and management at both the undergraduate level and through continuous professional development programmes.

Formal caregivers' perceptions and experiences of using pet robots for persons living with dementia in long-term care: A meta-ethnography.

Aim: To explore the formal caregivers' perceptions and experiences of using pet robots for persons living with dementia residing in long-term care settings and the factors influencing their perceptions by evaluating, integrating, and synthesizing findings from relevant international research articles using a meta-ethnography.

Design: Noblit and Hare's interpretative meta-ethnography.

Data Sources: Eight articles, published between 2013-2018, were identified following a systematic search of four databases (Scopus, ProQuest Central, EBSCO, and Google Scholar) between June 2019-February 2020.

Punching Above its Weight: Current and Future Aging Policy in Malta.

Malta has been at the forefront in aging policy and healthy aging development. It was the first country to highlight the need of a United Nations-led international action plan aimed at meeting the needs of an emerging global aging population. Through a number of initiatives, Malta has managed to put aging as a top priority on its national policy agenda.

Dementia care in acute hospitals-A qualitative study on nurse managers' perceived challenges and solutions.

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the perceived challenges of nurse managers when caring for patients with dementia in acute hospitals and identify possible solutions to address these challenges.

Background: Although dementia care in acute hospitals is suboptimal, few solutions have been identified. Multi-level factors need to be considered to promote changes in practice.

Person-centered dementia care in acute hospital wards-The influence of staff knowledge and attitudes.

Person-centered dementia care practices in acute hospital wards are suboptimal and not commonly measured. Although previous research has indicated that the work environment of staff influences their perceptions of person-centeredness, few studies have examined how their personal attributes, such as their level of dementia knowledge and attitudes, influence their person-centered dementia care practices. A questionnaire was distributed to test the relationship between staff perceptions of person-centered dementia care and their dementia knowledge and attitudes in general medical wards.

Non-coding RNA influences in dementia.

Dementia is a complex clinical syndrome characterised by progressive decline in cognitive function. It usually presents itself as impairment in memory, loss of judgement, abstract thinking and other disturbances that are severe enough to interfere with activities of daily living. It has long been considered as one of the major challenges at present posing an ever-increasing demand on global health and social care systems.

The perceived and observed needs of patients with dementia admitted to acute medical wards.

It is acknowledged that the needs of persons living with dementia admitted in acute hospitals are not always met. Previous studies have focused on the perceived needs of professional caregivers or family members whilst the voices of patients with dementia in acute hospitals have not been extensively reported. This may have contributed to the under-recognition of the needs of persons living with dementia.

Outcomes in knowledge, attitudes and confidence of nursing staff working in nursing and residential care homes following a dementia training programme.

Dementia training programmes for staff working in long-term care settings have been found to be effective in improving staff outcomes. This study investigated the impact of a dementia training programme for all Maltese nursing staff working in public nursing/residential homes on their knowledge, attitudes and confidence. Additionally, we identified the predictors of these domains before and after the programme.

Strategic roadmap for an early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease based on biomarkers.

The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease can be improved by the use of biological measures. Biomarkers of functional impairment, neuronal loss, and protein deposition that can be assessed by neuroimaging (ie, MRI and PET) or CSF analysis are increasingly being used to diagnose Alzheimer's disease in research studies and specialist clinical settings. However, the validation of the clinical usefulness of these biomarkers is incomplete, and that is hampering reimbursement for these tests by health insurance providers, their widespread clinical implementation, and improvements in quality of health care.

The biomarker-based diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. 1-ethical and societal issues.

There is great interest in the use of biomarkers to assist in the timely identification of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in individuals with mild symptoms. However, the inclusion of AD biomarkers in clinical criteria poses socioethical challenges. The Geneva Task Force for the Roadmap of Alzheimer's Biomarkers was established to deliver a systematic strategic research agenda (aka roadmap) to promote efficient and effective validation of AD biomarkers and to foster their uptake in clinical practice.

Using appreciative inquiry to implement person-centred dementia care in hospital wards.

The quality of care of persons with dementia in hospitals is not optimal and can be challenging. Moreover, staff may find difficulty in translating what they have learned during training into practice. This paper report the development and evaluation of a set of workshops using an appreciative inquiry approach to implement person-centred dementia care in two hospital wards.

Dementia training programmes for staff working in general hospital settings - a systematic review of the literature.

Objectives: Although literature describing and evaluating training programmes in hospital settings increased in recent years, there are no reviews that summarise these programmes. This review sought to address this, by collecting the current evidence on dementia training programmes directed to staff working in general hospitals.

Method: Literature from five databases were searched, based on a number of inclusion criteria.

Knowledge and pharmacological management of Alzheimer's disease by managing community pharmacists: a nationwide study.

Background Managing community pharmacists can play a leading role in supporting community dwelling individuals with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers. Objective The main purpose of this study was to assess knowledge of managing community pharmacists towards Alzheimer's disease and its pharmacological management. Setting Community pharmacies in the Maltese islands.

Living with dementia in hospital wards: a comparative study of staff perceptions of practice and observed patient experience.

Aims And Objectives: To ascertain the experiences, attitudes and knowledge of staff working in two Maltese hospital wards and the observed experiences of people with dementia living there. To examine the impact of recommendations made in October 2011 for improving the psychosocial and physical environments of the wards 1 year later.

Background: There is an increasing policy recognition of the need for a better trained and educated dementia care workforce and of ensuring that the environmental design of care settings meets the needs of people with dementia.

Discovering what works well: exploring quality dementia care in hospital wards using an appreciative inquiry approach.

Aims And Objectives: To explore the quality dementia care in two geriatric hospital wards using appreciative inquiry with formal care workers and family members of inpatients with dementia.

Background: Care models such as person-centred and relationship-centred care have been developed to explain what 'quality' dementia care should be. However, their usefulness and relevance to clinicians has been questioned.

Practices in diagnosis, disclosure and pharmacotherapeutic management of dementia by general practitioners--a national survey.

Objectives: To explore the practice patterns of general practitioners (GPs) for the diagnosis, disclosure and pharmacological management of individuals with dementia. We also investigated whether the number of years working in general practice is a determinant factor associated with the responses obtained.

Method: A national survey was sent to all registered GPs in the Maltese islands.

Nursing students' knowledge and attitudes towards dementia - a questionnaire survey.

Background: In line with population ageing, the number of individuals with dementia is expected to increase. Nursing students are more likely to care for dementia patients during their clinical placements and once they qualify. Nevertheless, they may not be adequately prepared during their undergraduate programme.

Mediterranean diet and dementia of the Alzheimer type.

Dementia of the Alzheimer type is the most common form of dementia affecting mostly the elderly population. It is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder with characteristic neuropathology and clinical symptomology. In the coming years, the number of individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) will increase as the elderly population worldwide is expected to grow significantly thus putting an added strain on national health care systems as well as caregivers who will inevitably carry most of the care burden.

Polyphenolic compounds are novel protective agents against lipid membrane damage by α-synuclein aggregates in vitro.

Cumulative evidence now suggests that the abnormal aggregation of the protein α-synuclein (αS) is a critical factor in triggering neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD). In particular, a fundamental pathogenetic mechanism appears to involve targeting of neuronal membranes by soluble oligomeric intermediates of αS, leading to their disruption or permeabilisation. Therefore, a model assay was developed in which fluorophore-loaded unilamellar vesicles were permeabilised by soluble oligomers, the latter formed by aggregation of human recombinant αS protein.

Nicotine modifies in vivo and in vitro rat hippocampal amyloid precursor protein processing in young but not old rats.

Previous studies have shown that administration of nicotine modifies the expression and secretion of amyloid precursor protein (APP) in various cell lines. The present study investigated the extent to which chronic subcutaneous nicotine administration influences APP levels and processing in cerebral cortex, striatum and hippocampus of young and old rat brains. The results showed that constant nicotine infusion (0.

Identification of polyphenolic compounds and black tea extract as potent inhibitors of lipid membrane destabilization by Aβ₄₂ aggregates.

Amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregation is a recognized key process in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Misfolded Aβ peptides self-assemble into higher-order oligomers that compromise membrane integrity, leading to synaptic degeneration and neuronal cell death. The main aim of this study was to explore whether small-molecule compounds and black tea extract can protect phospholipid membranes from disruption by Aβ aggregates.

The effects of chronic nicotine on spatial learning and bromodeoxyuridine incorporation into the dentate gyrus of the rat.

Rationale: Nicotine is reported to improve learning and memory in experimental animals. Improved learning and memory has also been related to increased neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampal formation. Surprisingly, recent studies suggest that self-administered nicotine depresses cell proliferation in the DG.