Long-Term Effects of the Multicomponent Program BrainProtect on Cognitive Function: One-Year Follow-Up in Healthy Adults.

Background: Age-related neuronal changes impact cognitive integrity, which is a major contributor to health and quality of life. The best strategy to prevent cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease is still debated.

Objective: To investigate the long-term effects of the eight-week multicomponent training program BrainProtect on cognitive abilities compared to general health counseling (GHC) in cognitively healthy adults in Germany.

Effects of yoga versus hydrotherapy training on health-related quality of life and exercise capacity in patients with heart failure: A randomized controlled study.

Aims: The aims of this study were to determine whether yoga and hydrotherapy training had an equal effect on the health-related quality of life in patients with heart failure and to compare the effects on exercise capacity, clinical outcomes, and symptoms of anxiety and depression between and within the two groups.

Methods: The design was a randomized controlled non-inferiority study. A total of 40 patients, 30% women (mean±SD age 64.

Sense of coherence and social support in relation to recovery in first-episode patients with major depression: a one-year prospective study.

Major depression is a common illness, with a lifetime prevalence rate of 10-13% for men and 21-24% for women. The experience of having a serious illness such as major depression affects the individual's quality of life and requires significant adaptation in order to cope. The aim of this study was to explore sense of coherence and social support in patients treated for a first episode of major depression in a 1-year follow up.

Women's conceptions of coping with major depression in daily life: a qualitative, salutogenic approach.

The experience of having a severe disease such as major depression affects all aspects of the individual's life, including family, work, and social functioning. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe, from a salutogenic approach, women's conceptions of coping with major depression in daily life with the help of professional and lay support. Thirteen women, previously hospitalized for major depression, were included in the study.

A salutogenetic perspective on how men cope with major depression in daily life, with the help of professional and lay support.

Worldwide, major depression is one of the main causes of premature death and lowered functional capacity, and its importance will increase in the coming years. At the same time, there is a gap in service provision, and the needs of depressed patients are often not met. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe how men (N=12) with major depression (DSM-IV) cope with daily life with the help of professional and lay support.

Subjective lack of social support and presence of dependent stressful life events characterize patients suffering from major depression compared with healthy volunteers.

The aim of this study was to characterize and compare patients with major depression and healthy volunteers concerning stressful negative life events, social support and social network occurring during a 12-month period. Forty outpatients who fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for major depression and 19 healthy volunteers were included in the study. The results showed no significant differences between the patients and the volunteers concerning the number of independent life events, perceived sufficient persons in the network, the number of family members, having a partner, and perceiving family members as offering the best support.

Comprehensive local muscle training increases aerobic working capacity and quality of life and decreases neurohormonal activation in patients with chronic heart failure.

Background: Beneficial training outcomes have been reported in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) following leg exercise training. However, data from more comprehensive training programs are limited. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that exercise training applying the concept of comprehensive local muscle training can improve aerobic and functional working capacity as well as quality of life in patients with CHF.

Aerobic training involving a minor muscle mass shows greater efficiency than training involving a major muscle mass in chronic heart failure patients.

Background: Beneficial training outcomes have been reported in sedentary patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) after exercise training. However, data on training effects in previously trained patients, as well as comparisons of different exercise modes, are lacking. The aim of this study is to compare exercise training on a cycle ergometer (major muscle mass) and aerobic knee-extensor training (minor muscle mass) in previously trained patients with CHF.

The experience of social support in patients suffering from treatment-refractory depression--a pilot study.

The purpose of this study was (1) to ascertain to what extent a group of patients with treatment-refractory depression perceive that they have received sufficient social support, and (2) to define clinical variables that differentiate such patients from those who perceive that they have not received sufficient social support. Twenty-seven treatment-refractory patients with major depression were included in the study. The result showed that only 37% had what was judged as insufficient social support.

Social activities in elderly patients with severe mental illness. Lessons from a mental hospital in Sweden.

Mental hospitals offer their patients many different kinds of social activities/facilities. One-hundred-and-twenty-seven patients in the long-term care unit at a mental hospital were included in the study. They were divided into three subgroups on the basis of diagnosis: dementia disorder (n = 65), chronic psychotic disorder (n = 38), and chronic non-psychotic disorder (n = 24).

Activities of daily living ratings of elderly people using Katz' ADL Index and the GBS-M scale.

Instruments for measuring activities of daily living (ADL) are useful in estimating institutionalized elderly ill people's need of care. The aim of the present study was to investigate to what extent the GBS-M scale measures ADL status, as determined by Katz' ADL Index. Forty-two elderly patients in long-term care in a psychiatric hospital were rated independently using each of the two scales.

The need for quality assurance for a better compliance and increased quality of life in chronic schizophrenic patients.

In many places in the world community care facilities for chronic schizophrenic patients are insufficient, leading to a series of complications which can even be fatal. The lack of facilities contributes to a decrease in patients' compliance. The establishing of a good community care programme for the whole disease period will also considerably increase the efficacy of relapse prevention and give the patient an acceptable quality of life, and hopefully increase the patient's compliance.

The closure of a mental hospital in Sweden. 5 years of transition to district-based long-term care.

A political decision to decentralize psychiatric care in a county of Sweden was made in October 1984. This will lead to the closure of the county's only large psychiatric hospital. Short-term psychiatric care will be provided by three smaller hospitals in the county, while long-term care in hospital will cease completely and be replaced by district-based psychiatric services.

The closure of a major psychiatric hospital. Characterization of the long-term population over one year at an early stage of deinstitutionalization.

A political decision to decentralize psychiatric care in a county in Sweden was arrived at in October 1984. This will lead to the closure of the only large psychiatric hospital in the area, which will be replaced by three smaller units. The long-term care in the hospital will cease completely and be replaced by district-based psychiatric services.

The closure of a major psychiatric hospital: can psychiatric patients in long-term care be integrated into existing nursing homes?

Nursing homes are important alternatives to large hospitals when psychiatrically ill patients are relocated in the community, but their suitability for this type of patient is being questioned. This study compared patients in two traditional Swedish nursing homes (n = 66) and patients in long-term care at a large psychiatric hospital (n = 106). The results showed that both types of institutions housed patients with organic dementia and psychiatric symptoms.

The closure of a mental hospital in Sweden: characteristics of patients in long-term care facing relocation into the community.

A political decision to decentralize psychiatric care in a county of Sweden was made in October 1984, leading to the closure of the only large mental hospital in the area (290,000 inhabitants). The hospital is of the traditional type, with 490 beds and 1,294 staff members. It has units for long-term care, short-term care and rehabilitation and a unit for research and education.

The closure of a major psychiatric hospital. Reactions of the psychogeriatric nursing staff.

A political decision to decentralize psychiatric care in a province in Sweden was arrived at in October 1984, leading to the closing down of the only psychiatric hospital in the area (290,000 inh.). The hospital is of the traditional type with 490 beds and 1,294 staff.