Publications by authors named "Conceicao Balsinha"

Introduction: The intermediate stages of dementia are relatively under-researched, including in Portugal. The Actifcare (ACcess to TImely Formal Care) EU-JPND project studied people with mild-moderate dementia, namely their needs, access to and use of community services (e.g.

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Background: Portugal has a Dementia Strategy that endorses care coordination in the community, but the strategy is not implemented despite there being a network of multidisciplinary primary care clinics that could support it. Recent research into barriers to dementia management in primary care has focused essentially on general practitioners' (GPs) factors and perspectives. A comprehensive triangulated view on the barriers to dementia management emphasising teamwork is missing.

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Article Synopsis
  • The ICECAP-O is a tool designed to measure quality of life capabilities in older individuals, particularly those with dementia and their informal carers, but it lacks proper linguistic validation.
  • A study involving 15 people with dementia and 23 informal carers from Germany and Portugal revealed issues in understanding the translated items of ICECAP-O, with misinterpretations and difficulties in differentiating between items.
  • The findings suggest that revisions to the translations are needed to ensure clarity and capturing of capability dimensions, highlighting the necessity for larger studies to validate these insights further.
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Background: Governments are being challenged to integrate at least part of dementia care into primary care. However, little is known about the current role of general practitioners (GPs) regarding dementia care, especially in countries that do not have dementia strategies in place. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of GPs, persons with dementia and their family carers in Portuguese primary care settings, to better understand GPs' contribution to dementia care.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study uses the Anderson model to assess equitable access to dementia care across Europe, focusing on factors such as predisposing, enabling, and need variables.
  • It involved 451 individuals with middle-stage dementia and their caregivers from eight countries, aiming to identify predictors for various types of formal care services.
  • Key findings highlight that disease severity, unmet needs, informal care hours, and demographic factors like age and gender are significant predictors of access to dementia care, suggesting that these elements should be addressed to improve service availability.
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Introduction: People with dementia and their relatives should have timely access to formal care in the community. The EU-Actifcare project analysed access to and use of formal services, as related to unmet needs for care. We describe the cohort study implementation and baseline results in Portugal, with a focus on needs for care and service use assessments.

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Assessments of need may contribute to identifying health problems associated with functional deterioration in older people. A shorter version of the Camberwell Assessment of Need for the Elderly was developed for routine use in primary care, focusing on five domains: Senses, Physical ability, Incontinence, Cognition, and Emotional distress (SPICE). We aimed to explore its usefulness and feasibility in primary care.

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