Parents and Mobile Devices, from Theory to Practice: Comparison between Perception and Attitudes to 0-5 Year Old Children's Use.

Pediatrics associations recommend avoiding the use of mobile devices (MDs) in children aged 0-2 years and limiting them to one hour per day for children aged 3-5 years. This study aimed to explore public risk perception on MDs use by children aged 0-5 years and attitudes of parents to children's use. Participants were recruited on a voluntary basis by social media using a self-administered survey. The study included 3115 participants, most of whom were parents of children aged under 5 years (n = 1901; 61%). Most of the respondents (74%) considered that MDs use could be harmful for children's health. The awareness on a correct use did not always translate into avoiding MDs use as recommended, especially in parents of children aged 0-2 years. Half of the sample (54%) received or sought information on risks related to MDs use. The most consulted information sources were the web (78%), and pediatricians in only 22% of cases. Understanding the determinants of parents' risk perception and behavior is necessary to design effective family-based interventions in order to guide parents to a moderate and more careful use of MDs by their children. To do so, public health actions must aim to strengthen awareness about conscious use of MDs.

[Current provision of cardiac rehabilitation intervention in the Lombardy Region, Italy: a benchmark study]. / Dai grandi registri osservazionali dati utili al benchmarking aziendale: il caso della cardiologia riabilitativa in Lombardia.

BACKGROUND: Benchmarking is a process of comparison between the performance characteristics of separate, often competing organizations, intended to enable each participant to improve its own performance in the marketplace. Benchmarking could be translated to the health system from the management field, in order to improve quality and health outcomes. METHODS: This benchmarking study focused on structural and process aspects regarding the current delivery of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) interventions in the Lombardy Region. Data for analysis were derived from the ISYDE-2008 (Italian Survey on Cardiac Rehabilitation) project of the Italian Association for Cardiovascular Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Epidemiology. Thirty-eight CR units accepted to provide open information about types of supply of CR interventions, organization, location, number of active beds, personnel, duty services, expectancy days before admission, and complexity of patient populations. RESULTS: As a major finding, in-hospital programs actually represent the largest part of CR interventions delivered in the Lombardy Region, generally in well-defined cardiovascular departments, and patients are mostly referred in the short period after a major cardiovascular event. CONCLUSIONS: This model could help healthcare organizations to understand where they have strengths and weaknesses depending upon changes in supply, demand and market conditions.

[Proposal for optimal use of resources in the hospital treatment of heart failure by an increased utilization of cardiac rehabilitation]. / Proposta di ottimizzazione delle risorse nel trattamento ospedaliero dello Scompenso Cardiaco attraverso l'utilizzo dell'U.O. di Riabilitazione Cardiologica.

INTRODUCTION: Cardiac failure has an important economic weight on social cost. An improved resources utilization could promote a reduction of the new hospitalization and a of medical costs. WORKING HYPOTHESIS: To analyze a model of increased utilization of our Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR) Unit, aiming at improving the cost/profit ratio through a better use of resources and a better assignment of care. With a reduction of average length of stay in the Operative Units for acute patients, we could promote a demand of post-acute hospitalization of 950.7 days of hospitalization that could be assigned to Cardiologic Rehabilitation Unit. RESULTS: With the transfer of patients the utilization rate of CR would increase to 97%. With a mean period in bed of 15.3 days we could hospitalize 62 additional patients and the total margin of contribution would became positive: 69.817 euro. The break even analysis applied to costs and returns of the Unit shows a further indication to increase the hospitalization number in CR Unit with patients transferred from acute patient units. Under the same costs the recovery of efficiency leads to a reduction of variable costs. In the same time there is an increase of returns due to an increase of mean value for case and an increase of services. CONCLUSION: The increase in the efficiency in the utilization of CR Unit leads to an increase of the Hospital efficiency. The transfer of patients from acute units to CR Unit would allow an increased hospitalization rate for acute patients without requiring additional resources.