Digital Health Service for Identification of Frailty Risk Factors in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: The SUNFRAIL+ Study Protocol.

This article reports the study protocol of a nationwide multicentric study in seven Italian regions aimed at assessing the effectiveness of a digitally supported approach for the early screening of frailty risk factors in community-dwelling older adults. SUNFRAIL+ is a prospective observational cohort study aimed at carrying out a multidimensional assessment of community-dwelling older adults through an IT platform, which allows to connect the items of the SUNFRAIL frailty assessment tool with a cascading multidimensional in-depth assessment of the bio-psycho-social domains of frailty. Seven centers in seven Italian regions will administer the SUNFRAIL questionnaire to 100 older adults. According to the answers provided by older adults, they will be subjected to one or more validated in-depth scale tests in order to perform further diagnostic or dimensional evaluations. The study aims to contribute to the implementation and validation of a multiprofessional and multistakeholder service model for the screening of frailty in community-dwelling older adult population.

[What, how and why people fall in hospital? Study in a Northern Italian Hospital]. / Quanto, come e perché si cade in ospedale? Indagine in un'ASL piemontese.

INTRODUCTION: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), falls and falls related-injuries are a main issue for health and social systems in Europe and all over the world, particularly considering that life is lengthening. OBJECTIVE: To describe incidence, causes and falls modalities in a Northern Italian Hospital following the organizational changes set up in 2008. METHODS: The survey consists of two steps: 1. definition of expected situation according to the literature and other similar contexts; 2. examination of the fall report forms between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011. RESULTS: In this period the incidence of falls has been 0.8% and in 69% of cases patients' intrinsic factors have been identified to be the cause, followed by extrinsic factors (7.4%), organizational factors (5.4%) and inter-professional communication difficulties (3.1%). CONCLUSION: Falls have a multi-factorial etiology, therefore the most effective approach should be multidimensional. A simultaneous action on three levels, organizational, staff/communication and patient, would be needed.

[Nursing managers: study to assess the expectations of nursing coordinators in a Northern Italian Hospital]. / Il dirigente del Servizio Infermieristico: inchiesta sulle attese dei coordinatori infermieristici di un'ASL piemontese.

In modern health-care , nursing managers play a strategic role in improving the quality of care and the skills of carers, since management and leadership strategies are known to be decisive in the deployment of resources and professional development. The aim of this study is to present the opinions and expectations of nursing coordinators regarding their managerial role. During the creation of a nursing service unifying the management of 3 local health authorities in Northern Italy, with different organizational and professional features, nursing coordinators were asked to fill in a questionnaire. Results showed that a priority aspect of the managerial role is to assess the appropriateness of care and the use of resources Their answers showed that they hoped for a style of management founded on aspects related to clinical government. For the style of leadership, they emphasized dedication to work, participation of staff in decision-making, group information and providing support in areas needing improvement. Although the study was territorial , it confirmed international guide-lines regarding the policies which give value to investments in the quality of organization and can be considered a point of reference for planning and creating future nursing services.