Implementation difficulties and solutions for a smart-clothes assisted home nursing care program for older adults with dementia or recovering from hip fracture.

BACKGROUND: Wearable devices have the advantage of always being with individuals, enabling easy detection of their movements. Smart clothing can provide feedback to family caregivers of older adults with disabilities who require in-home care. METHODS: This study describes the process of setting up a smart technology-assisted (STA) home-nursing care program, the difficulties encountered, and strategies applied to improve the program. The STA program utilized a smart-vest, designed specifically for older persons with dementia or recovering from hip-fracture surgery. The smart-vest facilitated nurses' and family caregivers' detection of a care receiver's movements via a remote-monitoring system. Movements included getting up at night, time spent in the bathroom, duration of daytime immobility, leaving the house, and daily activity. Twelve caregivers of older adults and their care receiver participated; care receivers included persons recovering from hip fracture (n = 5) and persons living with dementia (n = 7). Data about installation of the individual STA in-home systems, monitoring, and technical difficulties encountered were obtained from researchers' reports. Qualitative data about the caregivers' and care receivers' use of the system were obtained from homecare nurses' reports, which were explored with thematic analysis. RESULTS: Compiled reports from the research team identified three areas of difficulty with the system: incompatibility with the home environment, which caused extra hours of manpower and added to the cost of set-up and maintenance; interruptions in data transmissions, due to system malfunctions; and inaccuracies in data transmissions, due to sensors on the smart-vest. These difficulties contributed to frustration experienced by caregivers and care receivers. CONCLUSIONS: The difficulties encountered impeded implementation of the STA home nursing care. Each of these difficulties had their own unique problems and strategies to resolve them. Our findings can provide a reference for future implementation of similar smart-home systems, which could facilitate ease-of-use for family caregivers.

A randomized controlled trial of a home-based training programme to decrease depression in family caregivers of persons with dementia.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to explore distinct trajectories of caregivers' depressive symptoms and the effects of a training programme on these trajectories over 18 months after the programme. BACKGROUND: Overall effects of caregiver-training programmes on family caregivers' depressive symptoms have been reported, but few studies explored distinct courses of changes in caregivers' depressive symptoms and followed up intervention effects on these distinct courses. DESIGN: Randomized clinical trial. METHODS: Family caregivers (n = 116) were randomly assigned into experimental (n = 57) and control (n = 59) groups. The experimental group received the training programme with telephone consultation and the control group received written educational materials and social telephone follow-ups. Caregivers' depressive symptoms were assessed from June 2009 - March 2012 by self-completed questionnaires before, at 2 weeks and 3, 6, 12 and 18 months after the intervention. Groups of individual trajectories were distinguished using group-based trajectory modelling. RESULTS: Caregivers' depressive symptoms fell into three stable trajectories: non-depressed, mildly blue and depressed. After controlling for covariates, caregivers who received the caregiver-training programme were less likely than those who did not experience persistent depressive symptoms (b = -1·92, odds ratio = 0·15, P < 0·05). CONCLUSION: Depressive symptoms of family caregivers of persons with dementia were relatively stable and followed three distinct courses: non-depressed, mildly blue and depressed. Therefore, caregivers' depressive symptoms should be assessed as early as possible. Caregivers in the experimental group had a lower probability of persistent depressive symptoms than caregivers in the control group. Therefore, this training programme can be used by healthcare providers for persons with dementia and their caregivers. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02667951.

Effects of Tongmai oral liquid in femoral ateriovenous fistula.

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to investigate the protective effect of Tongmai oral liquid on arteriovenous fistula function and to provide an effective method to promote fistula maturation. METHODS: Fifteen female and fifteen male SPF New Zealand rabbits were randomly allocated into 3 groups including control, Aspirin and Tongmai oral liquid groups. A side-to-side femoral arteriovenous fistula was established in each rabbit and then animals were treated with Aspirin or Tongmai oral liquid for 2 weeks. The concentrations of circulating ET-1 and NO were determined before and after operation (on preoperative day, operative day, post-D1, post-D3, post-D7 and post-D15), respectively. Blood flow of the fistula stoma and contralateral artery and vein was determined on the 15th postoperative day. Last, the fistula stoma was dissected to observe patency, thrombosis and adhesion with surrounding tissues. RESULTS: 28 rabbits survived during the surgical process and the following 15-day observational period. Tissue adhesion of arteriovenous fistula with surrounding tissues was improved and fistula thrombosis was reduced by treatment with Tongmai oral liquid. NO concentration decreased to a different extent after vascular surgery. Tongmai oral liquid failed to regulate the equilibrium between NO and ET-1, but it improved blood flow of fistula stoma, as compared to control and Aspirin groups. Blood flow of fistula stoma in the three groups was lower than that of the contralateral femoral artery. CONCLUSIONS: Tongmai oral liquid improved the function of femoral ateriovenous fistula in the rabbit model by increasing blood flow and reducing thrombosis, probably not by regulating the dynamic equilibrium between NO and ET-1.