How to promote midwives' recognition and professional autonomy? A document analysis study.

Objective: To identify challenges associated with midwives' professional autonomy in Belgium and develop recommendations to promote midwives' recognition and professional autonomy.

Design: Through a document analysis study we identified challenges, categorized them into themes and linked them with Greenwood's sociological criteria for a profession. This involved an in-depth synthesis of findings from our published studies to comprehensively examine the challenges to optimizing midwifery autonomy and to develop corresponding recommendations.

Corrigendum: Maternity care in the Brussels Capital Region: Towards a paradigm shift?

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Using simulation to teach nursing students how to deal with a euthanasia request.

Nursing students are confronted with euthanasia during their internship and certainly during their later career but they feel inadequately prepared in dealing with a euthanasia request. This study presents a simulation module focused on euthanasia and evaluates nursing students' perceptions after they have completed the simulation practice. The 'euthanasia module' consisted of a preparatory online learning module, a good-practice video, an in-vivo simulation scenario, and a debriefing session.

Examining the Type, Quality, and Content of Web-Based Information for People With Chronic Pain Interested in Spinal Cord Stimulation: Social Listening Study.

Background: The increased availability of web-based medical information has encouraged patients with chronic pain to seek health care information from multiple sources, such as consultation with health care providers combined with web-based information. The type and quality of information that is available on the web is very heterogeneous, in terms of content, reliability, and trustworthiness. To date, no studies have evaluated what information is available about neuromodulation on the web for patients with chronic pain.

The exploration of professional midwifery autonomy: Understanding and experiences of final-year midwifery students.

Background: The concept of professional midwifery autonomy holds great significance in midwifery education. Notably, clinical placements play a crucial role in introducing students to its concept. However, the understanding and experiences of students regarding midwifery autonomy are relatively unknown.

Nursing students' view on their future role and skills regarding euthanasia due to unbearable mental suffering: A mixed-method Study.

Aim: To explore final-year bachelor nursing students' view on their future role and skills regarding euthanasia due to unbearable mental suffering (UMS-euthanasia) and to discover possible education needs.

Background: Since UMS-euthanasia is legal in Belgium, nursing students will be confronted with this issue during their future internship, or professional career. Graduated nurses believe to have an important role in the process of euthanasia where good communication skills and sufficient legal knowledge are essential.

How Do Midwives View Their Professional Autonomy, Now and in Future?

Background: Internationally, midwives' professional autonomy is being challenged, resulting in their inability to practice to their full scope of practice. This situation contrasts with the increasing international calls for strengthening the midwifery profession. The aim of this study therefore is to explore Belgian midwives' views on their current and future autonomy.

Key Maternity Care Stakeholders' Views on Midwives' Professional Autonomy.

Advancement towards the professionalism of midwifery is closely linked to midwives' professional autonomy. Although the perspectives of Belgian midwives on their professional autonomy have been studied, the views of other maternity care stakeholders are a blind spot. The aim of this study, therefore, was to explore maternity care stakeholders' views on Belgian midwives' professional autonomy.

Searching for a sense of closure: parental experiences of recontacting after a terminated pregnancy for congenital malformations.

Rapid advances in genetic testing have improved the probability of successful genetic diagnosis. For couples who undergo a termination of pregnancy (TOP) due to foetal congenital malformations, these techniques may reveal the underlying cause and satisfy parents' need to know. The aim of this qualitative descriptive research study was to explore couples' experience of being recontacted after a congenital malformation-related TOP, as well as their reasons for participation.

Healthcare professionals' perspectives on development of assistive technology using the comprehensive assistive technology model.

The implementation of technology in healthcare shows promising results and provides new opportunities in rehabilitation. However, the adoption of technology into daily care is largely dependent on the acceptance rate of end-users. This study aims to gather information from healthcare professionals on the development of new assistive technology that match users' needs using the Comprehensive Assistive Technology model.

Nursing students' attitudes regarding euthanasia due to unbearable mental suffering: Cross-sectional study using the adapted and validated Euthanasia Attitude Scale.

Aim: To explore final year nursing students' attitudes towards euthanasia due to unbearable mental suffering by using the adapted and validated Euthanasia Attitude Scale.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Methods: Explorative, descriptive cross-sectional study conducted using an e-mail survey between October 2020 and March 2021 by a sample of final-year baccalaureate nursing students (n = 273) from eight of the eleven Flemish university colleges.

Internet use and cognitive frailty in older adults: a large-scale multidimensional approach.

Unlabelled: Although research on sociodemographic correlates of internet use in older adults without and with pronounced cognitive impairment is already quite extensive, much less is known about the relationship between cognitive frailty (CF) and this behaviour. As CF is associated to multidimensional frailty aspects, this study explored the relationship between internet use and CF, operationalised as Subjective Cognitive Impairment, in older adults by means of a comprehensive explanatory model including sociodemographic factors and multiple frailty measures. The dataset included a sample of community-dwelling 60 + older adults that were included in the Belgian Ageing Studies (BAS) and that completed survey questions on (i) internet use frequency and (ii) internet activities.

Technology implementation in care practices for community-dwelling older adults with mild cognitive decline: Perspectives of professional caregivers in Quebec and Brussels.

Objective: As worldwide population aging is accelerating, innovative technologies are being developed to support independent living among community-dwelling older adults with mild cognitive decline. However, the successful implementation of these interventions is often challenging. Until now, literature on implementation issues related to the specific context of older adults with mild cognitive decline is lacking and the few studies available do not focus specifically on the perspective of professional caregivers.

Women's experiences with being pregnant and becoming a new mother during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic a national quarantine was imposed in Belgium, which led to changes in the maternity care provision. Despite emerging literature, it remains unclear how pregnant women and women who have recently given birth experienced this period. With this study we aim to explore these women's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Determinants of technology adoption and continued use among cognitively impaired older adults: a qualitative study.

Background: Technology offers opportunities to support older adults with mild cognitive impairments to remain independent and socially connected, but is often not used. Although determinants of technology use among older adults in general are well studied, much less is known about how these factors impact technology use behaviour in cognitively impaired older adults. This study aimed to bridge this gap in research by examining the factors underlying technology use in community-dwelling older adults with mild cognitive impairments.

Defining midwifery autonomy in Belgium: Consensus of a modified Delphi study.

Aims: Although there is substantial literature on autonomy of midwifery, the concept remains vague, and what it exactly constitutes is little clear. Attempts to define this have been carried out, but did not result in a communal understanding. The aim of this study therefore was to define a consistent definition of midwifery autonomy in Belgium.

Effectiveness of Psychological Interventions to Improve the Mental Well-Being of Parents Who Have Experienced Traumatic Childbirth: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Considering the adverse impact that traumatic childbirth experiences can have on parental mental well-being, studies that have investigated the potential of providing postnatal psychological support for this group of parents require evaluation. This systematic review aimed to examine the effectiveness of psychological interventions at improving the mental well-being of parents who have experienced traumatic childbirth in terms of anxiety, depression, fear of childbirth, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Seven electronic databases were searched from their respective inception dates up to January 2021.

Effectiveness of an Interprofessional Education Model to Influence Students' Perceptions on Interdisciplinary Work.

Background: To prepare students adequately for the workplace, training on interprofessional practice should be included in the curricula of future health professionals. This study evaluated the effect of an interprofessional education session on undergraduate students' attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration.

Methods: A total of 225 medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, and nutrition and dietetics students were randomized to either an intervention (working together interprofessionally, = 111) or control group (working together with their own profession, = 114).

The Development of the DDads Questionnaire: Awareness, Knowledge and Attitudes of the General Population Towards Paternal Depression.

Paternal perinatal depression affects ~10% of new fathers and is known to have a negative impact on men's relationship with their partner as well as with their baby. The attitudes of the general population toward paternal depression have received scant attention in the scientific literature. A better understanding of paternal depression might improve the health literacy of the population and also assist professionals and policy makers to adequately address this issue, to ultimately refine the existing health care alternatives for them.

Midwifery students' satisfaction with perinatal simulation-based training.

Background: Simulation-based training has proved to be an effective teaching and learning approach in healthcare. Nevertheless, any assessment of its effectiveness should also take the students' perspective into account.

Aim: To validate the Satisfaction with Simulation Experience Scale (SSES) for use with midwifery students and evaluate midwifery students' satisfaction with perinatal simulation-based training.

The state of professionalisation of midwifery in Belgium: A discussion paper.

Aim: To describe the state of the professionalisation of midwifery in Belgium, and to formulate recommendations for advancing the midwifery profession.

Methods: A descriptive overview of maternity care in Belgium and the professionalisation of midwifery through an analysis of relevant policy and academic texts, underpinned by Greenwood's sociological criteria for a profession: (1) own body of knowledge, (2) recognised authority, (3) broader community sanctions, (4) own code of ethics and (5) professional culture sustained by formal professional associations. From these insights, recommendations for advancing the midwifery profession in Belgium are formulated.