Does assistive technology contribute to safety among home-dwelling older adults?

Background: Assistive technology carries the promise of alleviating public expenditure on long-term care, while at the same time enabling older adults to live more safely at home for as long as possible. Home-dwelling older people receiving reablement and dementia care at their homes are two important target groups for assistive technology. However, the need for help, the type of help and the progression of their needs differ.

Sustaining Our Relationship: Dyadic Interactions Supported by Technology for People with Dementia and Their Informal Caregivers.

Impaired memory function and challenges in communication affect the ability of people living with dementia to interact with family caregivers socially. The onset of dementia in a family member and the communication challenges that follow can lead to conflict, isolation and loss of closeness in the relationship. I-CARE is a tablet-based technology providing leisure activities specifically designed for people living with dementia to do in tandem with caregivers.

Social Isolation and the Use of Technology in Caregiving Dyads Living With Dementia During COVID-19 Restrictions.

Background: People with dementia (PwD) and their informal caregivers (caregiving dyads) face multiple impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including restricted social support services and social isolation. With limited opportunities for caregiving dyads to participate in social activities during the pandemic, the potential of social technology to support social participation and dyadic relationships should be explored. As a part of an ongoing feasibility trial, this study assesses how COVID-19 has impacted community-dwelling dyads in a dementia caregiving context.

A qualitative study on promoting reablement among older people living at home in Norway: opportunities and constraints.

Background: Healthcare services that traditionally have been provided in long-term care institutions in Norway are increasingly being delivered at home to a growing population of older people with chronic conditions and functional limitations. Fostering reablement among older people is therefore important if they are to live safety at home for as long as possible. This study examines how healthcare professionals and managers (staff) in Norwegian municipalities promote reablement among community-dwelling older people.

Technology-driven dyadic interaction in caregiving.

Background: Due to the ongoing pandemic and the resulting community lockdowns, people with dementia and their family might be at risk of social deprivation and increased relationship strains. Technological means have the potential to engage participants in meaningful positive interactions. The tablet-based activation system I-CARE offers social activities specifically designed for people with dementia and their caregivers, by offering user-specific contents adapted to their needs and sensitivities.

A Cross-European Study of Informal Carers' Needs in the Context of Caring for Older People, and their Experiences with Professionals Working in Integrated Care Settings.

Introduction: Informal carers are increasingly relied on for support by older people and the health and social care systems that serve them. It is therefore important that health and social care professionals are knowledgeable about and responsive to informal carers' needs. This study explores informal carers' own needs within the context of caregiving; and examines, from the informal carers' perspective, the extent to which professionals assess, understand and are responsive to informal carers' needs.

Does rehabilitation setting influence risk of institutionalization? A register-based study of hip fracture patients in Oslo, Norway.

Background: Reducing the economic impact of hip fractures (HF) is a global issue. Some efforts aimed at curtailing costs associated with HF include rehabilitating patients within primary care. Little, however, is known about how different rehabilitation settings within primary care influence patients' subsequent risk of institutionalization for long-term care (LTC).

Supporting Older People to Live Safely at Home - Findings from Thirteen Case Studies on Integrated Care Across Europe.

Introduction: While many different factors can undermine older people's ability to live safely at home, safety as an explicit aspect of integrated care for older people living at home is an underexplored topic in research. In the context of a European project on integrated care, this study aims to improve our understanding of how safety is addressed in integrated care practices across Europe.

Methods: This multiple case study included thirteen integrated care sites from seven European countries.

Improving Person-Centredness in Integrated Care for Older People: Experiences from Thirteen Integrated Care Sites in Europe.

Introduction: Although person-centredness is a key principle of integrated care, successfully embedding and improving person-centred care for older people remains a challenge. In the context of a cross-European project on integrated care for older people living at home, the objective of this paper is to provide insight at an overarching level, into activities aimed at improving person-centredness within the participating integrated care sites. The paper describes experiences with these activities from the service providers' and service users' perspectives.

Addressing safety risks in integrated care programs for older people living at home: a scoping review.

Background: Many older people live at home, often with complex and chronic health and social care needs. Integrated care programs are increasingly being implemented as a way to better address these needs. To support older people living at home, it is also essential to maintain their safety.

Effects of introducing a fee for inpatient overstays on the rate of death and readmissions across municipalities in Norway.

The Norwegian healthcare coordination reform (Samhandlingsreformen) was implemented from January 1, 2012. In addition to providing municipalities with funding to strengthen their health infrastructure, it required municipalities to pay hospitals a daily fee for patients who, having been declared ready for discharge and in need of municipal health services, were not received by the municipalities on time. This study examines the effects of the reform on the rate of death and readmissions occurring within 60 days of hospitalization.

The SUSTAIN Project: A European Study on Improving Integrated Care for Older People Living at Home.

Introduction: Integrated care programmes are increasingly being put in place to provide care to older people who live at home. Knowledge of how to further develop integrated care and how to transfer successful initiatives to other contexts is still limited. Therefore, a cross-European research project, called Sustainable Tailored Integrated Care for Older People in Europe (SUSTAIN), has been initiated with a twofold objective: 1.

A multilevel analysis of mortality following acute myocardial infarction in Norway: do municipal health services make a difference?

Objectives: Studies link area features such as neighbourhood socioeconomic deprivation to poor health outcomes. However, there is a paucity of research based on representative data investigating the effects of area-level health services on mortality. This study examines the extent to which municipal health services account for municipal variation in all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality.

Cross-country variation in the sociodemographic factors associated with major depressive episode in Norway, the United Kingdom, Ghana, and Kenya.

Studies based on Western samples generally show that status characteristics like gender or marital status are associated with better mental health for individuals who occupy advantageous positions, such as men or the married. However, these patterns may not hold in developing regions that differ in important ways from the West. Guided by the Stress Process Model (SPM), this study uses logistic regression to examine the effect of gender, education, and other status characteristics on major depressive episode (MDE).