Determinants of Successful Implementation of Assistive Technologies for Dementia: Exploratory Survey.

Background: Despite positive results for the use of assistive technologies (ATs) in dementia, the uptake of ATs lags behind. It is considered important to assess determinants of successful or unsuccessful implementation of ATs.

Objective: We explored factors that influence the implementation of ATs for community-dwelling people with dementia, with the aim to better understand potentially effective implementation strategies.

Digital health technologies supporting the application of comprehensive geriatric assessments in long-term care settings or community care: A systematic review.

Objective: To provide high-quality elderly care, digital health technologies (DHTs) can potentially assist in reaching the full capacity of comprehensive geriatric assessments (CGAs) to improve communication and data transfer on patients' medical and treatment plan information and health decision-making. This systematic review aimed to describe the evidence on the feasibility and usability, efficacy and effectiveness, and implementation outcomes of DHTs developed to facilitate the administration of CGAs for long-term care settings or community care and to describe their technical features and components.

Methods: A search strategy was conducted in three databases, targeting studies evaluating the DHTs facilitating the administration of CGAs used in long-term care settings or community care.

Cultural adaptation of the iSupport online training and support programme for caregivers of people with dementia in Castilla y León, Spain.

Background: E-learning has shown to be an effective intervention in helping informal caregivers of people living with dementia. It has the potential to reach people living in remote areas, increasing service coverage. As a response to the demographic context in Spain associated with a higher percentage of ageing, depopulation, and the complexities of health service delivery in rural areas, this paper describes the cultural adaptation and co-design of the iSupport online training and support programme for Castilla y León, Spain, as a potential e-health intervention to mitigate these constraints.

Psychometric characteristics of comprehensive geriatric assessments (CGAs) for long-term care facilities and community care: A systematic review.

Background: Comprehensive Geriatric Assessments (CGAs) have been incorporated as an integrated care approach effective to face the challenges associated to uncoordinated care, risk of hospitalization, unmet needs, and care planning experienced in older adult care. As they assessed different dimensions, is important to inform about the content and psychometric properties to guide the decisions when selecting and implementing them in practice. This systematic review provides a comprehensive insight on the strengths and weaknesses of the CGAs used in long-term care settings and community care.

Insights on conducting digital patient and public involvement in dementia research during the COVID-19 pandemic: supporting the development of an "E-nabling digital co-production" framework.

Background: The rapid transition to digital working, accelerated due to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has impacted the involvement of patients and public in research. This paper presents experiences of engaging in digital Patient and Public Involvement (e-PPI) in dementia research since the lockdowns, offering recommendations regarding future digital and hybrid working. Furthermore, it introduces a co-produced framework for researchers, PPI coordinators and public contributors to identify and discuss challenges and opportunities provided by e-PPI.

The influence of the down- and upscaling of activities in long-term care facilities during the COVID-19 visitor ban on caregivers' exhaustion and ability to provide care and support: A questionnaire study.

In the Netherlands, a national visitor-ban was in place in LTCFs during the first outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020. Meaningful activities were cancelled or downscaled, while others were performed more often. It is known that a lack of activities has several negative effects on residents, while the impact on caregivers remains largely unexplored.

Determinants of Adherence to a "GRADIOR" Computer-Based Cognitive Training Program in People with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Mild Dementia.

Background: Computer-based programs have been implemented from a psychosocial approach for the care of people with dementia (PwD). However, several factors may determine adherence of older PwD to this type of treatment. The aim of this paper was to identify the sociodemographic, cognitive, psychological, and physical-health determinants that helped predict adherence or not to a "GRADIOR" computerized cognitive training (CCT) program in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild dementia.

The Effectiveness of GRADIOR: A Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Program for People with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Dementia. Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial After 4 and 12 Months of Treatment.

Background: Computer-based cognitive training programs have been developed with promising results on the maintenance/improvement of cognitive performance in people with dementia.

Objective: The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of the cognitive rehabilitation program "GRADIOR" in people with mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia.

Method: This study was a single-blind multicenter randomized clinical trial.

Predicting unplanned hospital visits in older home care recipients: a cross-country external validation study.

Background: Accurate identification of older persons at risk of unplanned hospital visits can facilitate preventive interventions. Several risk scores have been developed to identify older adults at risk of unplanned hospital visits. It is unclear whether risk scores developed in one country, perform as well in another.

Benchmarking European Home Care Models for Older Persons on Societal Costs: The IBenC Study.

This study aims to benchmark mean societal costs per client in different home care models and to describe characteristics of home care models with the lowest societal costs. In this prospective longitudinal study in 6 European countries, 6-month societal costs of resource utilization of 2060 older home care clients were estimated. Three care models were identified and compared based on level of patient-centered care (PCC), availability of specialized professionals (ASP) and level of monitoring of care performance (MCP).

The Association of Anticholinergic Drugs and Delirium in Nursing Home Patients With Dementia: Results From the SHELTER Study.

Objectives: Drugs with anticholinergic properties are associated with an increased prevalence of delirium, especially in older persons. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the use of this class of drugs in nursing home (NH) patients and prevalence of delirium, particularly in people with dementia.

Design: Cross-sectional multicenter study.

Adverse Life Events: Do Home Care Clients Have Resources for Mastering Them?

Research on life stressors and adverse life events has a long tradition. Few studies have addressed this topic in connection to very old people. Life stressors, especially major life stressors (MLSs) experienced by clients of home care services in the community have rarely been the subject of studies.

Relationship between frailty and drug use among nursing homes residents: results from the SHELTER study.

Background: 1.5-8% of older adults live in nursing homes (NHs), presenting a high prevalence of frailty and polypharmacy.

Aims: To investigate the association of frailty with polypharmacy and drug prescription patterns in a sample of European Nursing Home (NH) residents.

Development and Validation of a Prediction Model for 6-Month Societal Costs in Older Community Care-Recipients in Multiple Countries; the IBenC Study.

This study aims to develop and validate a prediction model of societal costs during a period of 6-months in older community care-recipients across multiple European countries. Participants were older community care-recipients from 5 European countries. The outcome measure was mean 6-months total societal costs of resource utilisation (healthcare and informal care).

Computer-based cognitive rehabilitation program GRADIOR for mild dementia and mild cognitive impairment: new features.

Background: The growing number of older people and, with it, the increase of neurological impairments such as dementia has led to the implementation of the use of computer programs for cognitive rehabilitation in people with dementia. For 20 years, we have been developing the GRADIOR cognitive rehabilitation program and conducted several studies associated with its usability and effectiveness. This paper describes the development of the latest version of the GRADIOR computer-based cognitive rehabilitation program for people with different neurological etiologies, especially mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia.

Use of antidepressant medications among older adults in European long-term care facilities: a cross-sectional analysis from the SHELTER study.

Background: Late-life depression is common among older adults living in nursing homes (NHs). Over the last 30 years there has been an increase in the rates of prescription of antidepressant medications across all ages, with the largest rise reported in older adults. This study aimed to describe the pattern of antidepressant medication use among NH residents from 7 European countries and Israel and to examine patient and facilities characteristics that may account for it.

The Prevalence and Persistence of Dizziness in Older European Home Care Recipients: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Objectives: The prevalence of different geriatric syndromes in older home care (HC) recipients is yet to be determined. Dizziness is often regarded as a geriatric syndrome. The natural course of dizziness in older people is still unknown, because of a lack of longitudinal studies.

Development of a novel benchmark method to identify and characterize best practices in home care across six European countries: design, baseline, and rationale of the IBenC project.

Background: Europe's ageing society leads to an increased demand for long-term care, thereby putting a strain on the sustainability of health care systems. The 'Identifying best practices for care-dependent elderly by Benchmarking Costs and outcomes of Community Care' (IBenC) project aims to develop a new benchmark methodology based on quality of care and cost of care utilization to identify best practices in home care. The study's baseline data, methodology, and rationale are reported.

Signs of Inequality? Variations in Providing Home Health Care Across Care Organizations and Across European Countries in the IBenC Study.

Most countries aim to allocate home health care to those in need in a fair and equal way. Equal allocation implies that the amount of home care a person receives would reflect the level of health impairment and the need for resources. It is not clear whether countries succeed in attaining this.

Cross-Country Validation of the Association Between Oral Health and General Health in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Objective: Oral health is known to be associated with general health, but longitudinal relationships between oral health and general health indicators have not yet been fully explored in international research.

Setting And Participants: The sample consisted of 3 longitudinal databases: a sample from Belgium from the Protocol 3 project (n = 8359), a combined sample from 6 European countries (n = 2501) from the IBenC study (Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands), and a sample from New Zealand (n = 15,012). All clients were 65 years or older and received long-term home care services.

Deprescribing in Nursing Home Residents on Polypharmacy: Incidence and Associated Factors.

Objectives: To assess 1-year incidence and factors related to deprescribing in nursing home (NH) residents in Europe.

Design: Longitudinal multicenter cohort study based on data from the Services and Health for Elderly in Long TERm care (SHELTER) study.

Setting: NHs in Europe and Israel.

Predictors of Societal Costs of Older Care-Dependent Adults Living in the Community in 11 European Countries.

Background: The objective was to identify predictors of societal costs covering formal and informal care utilization by older home care clients in 11 European countries.

Methods: Societal costs of 1907 older clients receiving home care for 12 months from the Aged in Home care (AdHoc) study were estimated using the InterRAI Minimum Data Set for Home Care's (MDS-HC) resource use items. Predictors (medical, functional, and psychosocial domains) of societal costs were identified by performing univariate and multivariate generalized linear model analyses.

Are older long term care residents accurately prognosticated and consequently informed about their prognosis? Results from SHELTER study data in 5 European countries.

Background: Informing residents in long term care facilities (LTCFs) about their prognosis can help them prepare for the end of life. This study aimed to examine which proportion of European LTCF residents, close to death, are accurately prognosticated and consequently informed about their prognosis; and to examine factors related to accurate prognostication and discussion of prognosis.

Methods: A subsample of SHELTER study data was used, consisting of: 500 residents from 5 European countries, who died within 6 months after their last assessment, and had a valid answer on the item 'End stage disease, 6 or fewer months to live'.

Polypharmacy in Home Care in Europe: Cross-Sectional Data from the IBenC Study.

Background: Home care (HC) patients are characterized by a high level of complexity, which is reflected by the prevalence of multimorbidity and the correlated high drug consumption. This study assesses prevalence and factors associated with polypharmacy in a sample of HC patients in Europe.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis on 1873 HC patients from six European countries participating in the Identifying best practices for care-dependent elderly by Benchmarking Costs and outcomes of community care (IBenC) project.