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During the pandemic, restrictive measures were implemented at Portuguese residential care facilities (PRCF), such as isolating residents and ceasing collective activities. It is important to understand how PRCF are implementing activities that allow residents to occupy their time and fight isolation. As such, we aim to analyze whether: 1. new activities were implemented for residents (identifying which were carried out); 2. occupation activities were provided to isolated residents in their rooms (identifying which were carried out); 3. the implementation of activities is associated with variables like the amount of staff. This is an exploratory, quantitative, and cross-sectional study. An online questionnaire was sent by email to 2325 PRCF and entities were asked to share it with their workers. The study was also divulged on social networks. Data collection occurred between July 8th and October 18th, 2020. The study had 784 staff members participating and 90.8% reported that new activities were implemented at their facilities, predominantly videocalls. Concerning isolated residents most respondents (64.4%) stated that providing activities was impossible. Results showed that those PRCF that expanded teams had a higher percentage of new activities and activities with residents isolated in bedrooms. These results are alarming because while residents should have had more resources to cope with the pandemic, higher risks of unoccupied time and isolation existed, a dramatic situation for its potentially harmful consequences. Focusing on sanitary issues (and less on older adults) may reinforce traditional care models that had shown negative impacts before the pandemic. This highlights the need to evolve the care paradigm during and beyond the pandemic at PRCF: with Person-Centered Care as an option.

Residential care facilities (RCF) for older people are facing high demands due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to explore the workers’ perspectives on the changes in work and care dynamics amidst the first wave of the pandemic at Portuguese RCF. This is a descriptive, quantitative, and cross-sectional study. An online questionnaire about pandemic-induced changes in work and care dynamics was sent to 2325 RCF. These entities were then asked to share it with their workers. The participants (n = 784) were mostly women (92.7%) and mostly composed of technical directors (41.6%) and direct-care workers (17.1%). The respondents reported that during the first wave of the pandemic, when compared to the pre-pandemic period, there were greater difficulties in providing care related to the basic necessities of older people (52.7%); direct-care workers were required to work more consecutive hours in each shift (69.95%); direct-care workers had to live at RCF (14.8%), and there were changes concerning the possibility of promoting person-centered care (PCC) practices. It also revealed that focusing on disease prevention and sanitary measures alone facilitates practices that reinforce the traditional model of procedure-centered care and have negative consequences on the rights and well-being of those living and working at RCF, exposing and accentuating preexisting vulnerabilities. This study considers the pandemic’s serious implications and alarming questions about basic care, dignity, living, and working conditions at Portuguese RCF. These notions reinforce the need for change through redefining care policies and practices in Portuguese RCF beyond the pandemic. The current situation provides an opportunity to adopt a formal PCC model., Maria Miguel Barbosa received a PhD grant for Programa Doutoral em Gerontologia e Geriatria (PDGG, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; University of Porto) from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) under grant SFRH/BD/138897/2018, financed by national funds from Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (MTCES) and Fundo Social Europeu (FSE-EU) through the Programa Operacional Regional Centro (PORC-UE). The APC was funded by Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto.

Person-centered care aims to increase and guarantee the quality of care at residential care facilities for older adults. The implementation and development of this approach requires validated assessment tools, which are still lacking in Portugal. This study aims to adapt and validate for the Portuguese population the internationally and widely used essential instrument that is the Staff Assessment Person-Directed Care (SAPDC). The adaptation of the SAPDC included its translation, back translation, and a pilot-study. For validation, staff members were recruited by distributing the study via email and on social media. Respondents included 546 native Portuguese-speaking staff members working at residential care facilities for over 6 months. The mean score of SAPDC was 165.74 (SD = 36.78). The exploratory factor analysis showed eight conceptually distinct dimensions, considered adequate by the expert team. The total scale showed a very good internal consistency (α = .96) and excellent temporal stability assessed by Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (> .90). Providing a Portuguese version of the SAPDC is useful to substantiate technical and scientific advancements and define policies with implications on evolving care approaches. This tool helps optimize the quality and dignification of gerontological practices, which is urgent at Portuguese residential care facilities., Maria Miguel Barbosa holds a PhD grant to PDGG ICBAS-UP, from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia [FCT, SFRH/BD/138897/2018], financed by national funds from Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (MTCES) and Fundo Social Europeu (FSE-EU) through the Programa Operacional Regional Centro (PORC-UE).

Additional file 1. SPIRIT 2013 Checklist for recommended items to address in a protocol

Additional file 2. Participant information form and consent form

Supplemental material, Appendix_1 for StressadaMente: Mental health promotion program for direct care workers of older people by Margarida Figueiredo, Laetitia Teixeira and Constança Paúl in SAGE Open Medicine

Aim of this paper is to describe the protocol of the study “Impact of a Community-based Program on Prevention and Mitigation of Frailty in communitydwelling older adults” developed in the framework of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing. This proposal has been developed by the Partnership Action groups on frailty, fall prevention and polypharmacy in older. The proposal wants to assess the impact of community-based programs aimed to counteract three main outcomes related to frailty: hospitalization, institutionalization and death. Bringing together researchers from seven European countries, the proposal aims to achieve the critical mass and the geographical extension enough to provide information useful to all older European citizens. An observational study will be carried out to calculate the incidence of the different outcomes in relation to the various interventions that will be assessed; results will be compared with data coming from already established national, regional and local dataset using the observed/expected approach. The sample will be made up by at least 2000 citizens for each outcome. All the citizens will be assessed at the baseline with two multidimensional questionnaires: the RISC questionnaire and the Short Functional Geriatric Evaluation questionnaire. The outcomes will be assessed every six-twelve months.

La funcionalidad cobra un lugar relevante en la independencia de los mayores, situación que se pretende se mantenga el mayor tiempo posible de la vida. La funcionalidad es un construto multidimensional medido a través de las actividades personales e instrumentales de la vida. El objetivo primordial del estudio es validar una escala de actividades de la vida, para la población portuguesa, de mediana edad y envejecida (n = 1.322). De los resultados del estudio verificamos la existencia de tres factores con características psicométricas adecuadas: movilidad, actividades instrumentales de la vida diaria y actividades personales de la vida diaria, con una variación explicada del 64,75%, teniendo un interés específico para la población que vive en la comunidad.

A avaliação das redes sociais na investigação e prática gerontológica requer o uso de instrumentos válidos e eficazes que sejam simples, concisos e de fácil aplicação na população idosa. A Escala de Redes Sociais de Lubben (LSNS) é um dos instrumentos mais utilizados para avaliar a integração social e o risco de isolamento social em idosos residentes na comunidade. Este artigo debruça-se sobre a tradução e validação da versão abreviada da escala (LSNS-6) para o Português Europeu e expõe as suas principais características psicométricas.

A maioria das pessoas, à medida que envelhece, vai sofrendo modificações estruturais e funcionais no sistema sensorial, que mediante a sua gravidade, podem limitar a independência e desempenho na realização das atividades de vida diária e participação social. O objetivo desta revisão consiste em analisar as principais disfunções do sistema sensorial, focando sucintamente as alterações mais comuns de cada sentido e suas implicações na vida dos idosos. Procedeu-se à pesquisa da bibliografia, durante o mês de dezembro de 2011 e janeiro de 2012, na base de dados PubMed, Lilacs, Google Schoolar e livros de medicina, para textos e estudos transversais e longitudinais, sobre o envelhecimento sensorial na globalidade ou em parte. O envelhecimento sensorial, pode assumir, importantes consequências psicológicas e sociais, com repercussões no funcionamento das atividades intelectuais. Por isso, os estudos tendem a explorar as alterações da função sensorial no tempo e nos padrões de conduta dos idosos.