Beyond the heart: The role of psychological factors and coping strategies in cardiovascular rehabilitation.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is associated with several risk and protective factors, including psychological variables, such as anxiety and depressive symptoms, stress and coping strategies. These factors may be either a cause or a consequence of CVD and are thought to influence the cardiac rehabilitation (CR) process after acute cardiac event, a multifaceted intervention that is crucial for reducing rehospitalisation and mortality. The main aim of this study was to correlate such psychological components with cardiac outcomes in a sample of 315 CVD referred to an in-hospital CR program.

Cross-cultural adaptation and multicentric validation of the Italian version of the Simplified Evaluation of CONsciousness Disorders (SECONDs).

Introduction: The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) is the recommended tool to assess consciousness in patients with prolonged Disorders of Consciousness (pDoC). However, the time needed to administer it may limit its use. A shorter tool has been validated: the Simplified Evaluation of CONsciousness Disorders (SECONDs).

The social and family evaluation (SAFE) scale for caregivers of individuals with disorders of consciousness: preliminary results.

Background: Caregivers' involvement in the diagnostic and monitoring processes of the level of consciousness of patients with Disorders of Consciousness (DoC) is strongly encouraged by international guidelines, as current literature suggests a better chance to detect behavioural responses when caregivers are involved in clinical assessments. Since caregivers' involvement during clinical assessments can be difficult, the Social And Family Evaluation (SAFE) scale has been recently proposed as a standardised tool that caregivers can autonomously use to collect their opinions about the level of consciousness of patients with DoC, based on the behaviours manifested by the patients in a given time-window.

Objective: Providing preliminary results concerning SAFE adoption.

Does Body Memory Exist? A Review of Models, Approaches and Recent Findings Useful for Neurorehabilitation.

Over the past twenty years, scientific research on body representations has grown significantly, with Body Memory (BM) emerging as a prominent area of interest in neurorehabilitation. Compared to other body representations, BM stands out as one of the most obscure due to the multifaceted nature of the concept of "memory" itself, which includes various aspects (such as implicit vs. explicit, conscious vs.