Piloting a minimum data set for older people living in care homes in England: a developmental study.

Background: We developed a prototype minimum data set (MDS) for English care homes, assessing feasibility of extracting data directly from digital care records (DCRs) with linkage to health and social care data.

Methods: Through stakeholder development workshops, literature reviews, surveys and public consultation, we developed an aspirational MDS. We identified ways to extract this from existing sources, including DCRs and routine health and social care datasets.

Public Involvement to Enhance Care Home Research; Collaboration on a Minimum Data Set for Care Homes.

Introduction: Information on care home residents in England is captured in numerous data sets (care home records, General Practitioner records, community nursing, etc.) but little of this information is currently analysed in a way that is useful for care providers, current or future residents and families or that realises the potential of data to enhance care provision. The DACHA study aimed to develop and test a minimum data set (MDS) which would bring together data that is useful to support and improve care and facilitate research.

Understanding how users of home-based aged care services with cognitive impairment rate their social care related quality of life.

Background: Over the past decades, self-directed models of care have been implemented throughout the world to support older people, including those with dementia, to live at home. However, there is limited information about how self-directed home care is experienced by older people with cognitive impairment and dementia, and how their thinking informs their care choices and quality of life.

Methods: We used the ASCOT-Easy Read, a staggered reveal method, talk aloud techniques, probing questions, and physical assistance to support users of self-directed home care in Australia with cognitive impairment and dementia to discuss their Social Care Related Quality of Life (SCRQoL).

Alzheimer's Association's funding portfolio: Insights from the International Alzheimer's and Related Dementias Research Portfolio (IADRP).

Introduction: Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD) present significant health challenges. Understanding their underlying biology, advancing existing and new therapies, and enhancing care for patients and caregivers are critical priorities.

Methods: This article utilizes data from the International Alzheimer's and Related Dementias Research Portfolio (IADRP) to analyze funding patterns from the Alzheimer's Association over the past decade.

Mouse Testing Methods in Psychoneuroimmunology: Measuring Behavioral Responses.

The field of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) aims to uncover the processes and consequences of nervous, immune, and endocrine system relationships. Behavior is a consequence of such interactions and manifests from a complex interweave of factors including immune-to-neural and neural-to-immune communication. Often the signaling molecules involved during a particular episode of neuroimmune activation are not known, but behavioral response provides evidence that bioactives such as neurotransmitters and cytokines are perturbed.

National stakeholder consultation on how to measure care home residents' quality of life.

Background: The Developing research resources And minimum data set for Care Homes' Adoption and use or DACHA study aims to create a prototype minimum data set combining residents' information recorded by care homes with their data held in health and social care data sets. The DACHA minimum data set will contain information on quality of life. Internationally and in the UK, there is no consensus on collecting information on quality of life in a standardised format equivalent to the consensus for health measures.

Enhancing quality of life measurement: adapting the ASCOT easy read for older adults accessing social care.

Purpose: This study aimed to adapt and assess the content validity of the ASCOT Easy Read (ASCOT-ER) for older people accessing social care.

Methods: A co-production working group of 8 older social care users and their supporters was established to evaluate the comprehensibility and relevance of the ASCOT-ER images, wording and layout. Changes made by the working group were iteratively tested using cognitive interviewing techniques (think aloud) with 25 older social care users not able to self-complete the original ASCOT.

Incidence of lymphedema related to various cancers.

Cancer-related lymphedema (CRL) lacks internationally accepted definition and diagnostic criteria. The accurate incidence of CRL is therefore a challenge and the condition is likely underreported. Patients treated for cancer can develop CRL as a result of surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiotherapy, which can lead to considerable psychosocial and physical morbidity, and decreased quality of life.

Dental students' perceptions of the use of two-dimensional and three-dimensional vision in dental education using a three-dimensional haptic simulator: A qualitative study.

Objective: To assess the perceptions of novice and experienced undergraduate dental students of virtual learning with two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) vision.

Materials And Methods: This qualitative study involved 21 students from the second and fourth years of a 5-year BDS program. They first performed three operative tasks in virtual reality (VR) training sessions using both 2D and 3D vision.

The value of stereoscopic three-dimensional vision on dental students' performance in a virtual reality simulator.

Purpose/objectives: The aim of this study was to quantitatively investigate the impact of stereoscopic three-dimensional (3D) vision on students' performance when compared with that of two-dimensional (2D) vision in a 3D virtual reality (VR) simulator.

Methods: Twenty-four dental students (second- and fourth-year BDS) were assigned to perform three operative tasks under 3D and 2D viewing conditions on a Virteasy (HRV) simulator. Groups were crossed over and all students performed the same tasks under the alternate viewing conditions.

Exploratory factor analysis and Rasch analysis to assess the structural validity of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit Proxy version (ASCOT-Proxy) completed by care home staff.

Purpose: Rasch analysis and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were used to evaluate the structural validity of the ASCOT-Proxy measures completed by staff on behalf of older adults resident in care homes, by comparison to the ASCOT-SCT4, the measure of social care-related quality of life (SCRQoL) from which the ASCOT-Proxy was developed.

Methods: EFA was conducted on the ASCOT-SCT4 and the two ASCOT-Proxy measures (Proxy-Proxy, Proxy-Resident), to determine if they retained the single factor of the original ASCOT-SCT4 measure found in samples of older community-dwelling adults. Rasch analysis was also applied to measures with a single factor structure in the EFA.

Point-of-care ultrasound as a diagnostic tool in respiratory assessment in awake paediatric patients: a comparative study.

Background: Chest X-ray (CXR) has typically been the main investigation in children with suspected respiratory pathology. Recent advances in lung point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) have shown the potential for it to be comparative, if not better, than CXR. The objective of this study was to compare CXR with lung POCUS in children with respiratory illness in a ward-based setting at a paediatric teaching hospital.

Our approach to developing communities of practice to foster research capacities for the adult social care workforce.

Background: Efforts to build and foster adult social care research in England have historically encountered more challenges to its growth and expansion compared with health research, with a sector facing significant barriers in facilitating research activity due to a lack of resourcing, poor valuation or understanding of the profile of social care research. The landscape for supporting the social care workforce to use, engage in and undertake research in adult social care has been rather bleak, but in recent years there has been recognition of the need to foster a social care workforce research community. The National Institute for Health and Care Research in England have committed to investing in social care research capacity by funding six adult social care partnerships, with one based in Southeast England.

Exploring the structural characteristics of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT) and ASCOT-Carer.

Background: Measurement models inform the approach to assess a measure's validity and also how a measure is understood, applied and interpreted. With preference-based measures (PBMs), it is generally accepted that they are ; however, if they are applied without preferences, they may be , or . In this study, we sought to empirically test whether the , or measurement model best describes PBMs of social care-related quality of life (SCRQoL) - specifically, the ASCOT and ASCOT-Carer.

Prevalence of unmet health care need in older adults in 83 countries: measuring progressing towards universal health coverage in the context of global population ageing.

Current measures for monitoring progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) do not adequately account for populations that do not have the same level of access to quality care services and/or financial protection to cover health expenses for when care is accessed. This gap in accounting for unmet health care needs may contribute to underutilization of needed services or widening inequalities. Asking people whether or not their needs for health care have been met, as part of a household survey, is a pragmatic way of capturing this information.

Measuring quality of life in care homes when self-report is challenging: the construct validity, structural characteristics and internal consistency of the mixed-methods adult social care outcomes toolkit.

Introduction: The adult social care outcomes toolkit (ASCOT) measures social care-related quality of life (SCRQoL) using self-completion questionnaires and interviews. Many care home residents find such methods inaccessible, leading to a reliance on proxy-reporting. This study aimed to establish the psychometric properties of the mixed-methods toolkit [ASCOT-Care Homes, 4 outcome (CH4)] for measuring SCRQoL when residents cannot self-report.

Feasibility, validity and reliability of the ASCOT-Proxy and ASCOT-Carer among unpaid carers of people living with dementia in England.

Background: People with dementia living at home represent a growing group of social care services users in England. Many are unable to complete questionnaires due to cognitive impairment. The ASCOT-Proxy is an adapted version of an established measure, ASCOT, which was developed as a way of collecting social care-related quality of life (SCRQoL) data from this group of service users, either alone or alongside the ASCOT-Carer, a measure of SCRQoL for unpaid carers.

Segmentation of Arm Ultrasound Images in Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema: A Database and Deep Learning Algorithm.

Objective: Breast cancer treatment often causes the removal of or damage to lymph nodes of the patient's lymphatic drainage system. This side effect is the origin of Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema (BCRL), referring to a noticeable increase in excess arm volume. Ultrasound imaging is a preferred modality for the diagnosis and progression monitoring of BCRL because of its low cost, safety, and portability.

Piloting of a minimum data set for older people living in care homes in England: protocol for a longitudinal, mixed-methods study.

Introduction: Health and care data are routinely collected about care home residents in England, yet there is no way to collate these data to inform benchmarking and improvement. The Developing research resources And minimum data set for Care Homes' Adoption and use study has developed a prototype minimum data set (MDS) for piloting.

Methods And Analysis: A mixed-methods longitudinal pilot study will be conducted in 60 care homes (approximately 960 residents) in 3 regions of England, using resident data from cloud-based digital care home records at two-time points.

Characteristics of Atypical Sleep Durations Among Older Compared to Younger Adults: Evidence from the New Zealand Health Survey.

Background: Understanding and supporting sleep is important across the life span. Disparities in sleep status are well documented in mid-life but under-explored among older populations.

Methods: Data from 40,659 adults pooled from the New Zealand Health Surveys were used; 24.

Mobile apps for oral healthcare: recommendations for navigating uncharted terrain.

The past two years have prompted significant changes with regards to how healthcare is both taught and delivered. There has been a shift towards remote healthcare interventions where appropriate. As we return towards pre-pandemic practice, we must recognise that the healthcare environment has permanently changed.

The health, work, and retirement study: representing experiences of later life in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Older adults represent a large and growing section of Aotearoa New Zealand's population. Longitudinal research on experiences of later life enables understanding of both the capabilities with which people are ageing, and their determinants. The Health, Work, and Retirement (HWR) study has to date conducted eight biennial longitudinal postal surveys of health and well-being with older people ( = 11,601 respondents; 49.