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Background: A psychosocial problem faced by people with early-stage dementia (PwESD) is the perception of threats to personal dignity. Insights into its dynamics are important for understanding how it changes as dementia advances and to develop suitable interventions. However, longitudinal studies on this change in PwESD are lacking. Aims: To determine how perceptions of dignity and selected clinical and social factors change over 1 year in home-dwelling PwESD and the predictors associated with changes in perceptions of dignity over 1 year. Research design and methods: A longitudinal study was conducted. The sample included 258 home-dwelling Czech PwESD. Data were collected using the Patient Dignity Inventory (PDI-CZ), Mini-Mental State Examination, Bristol Activities of Daily Living Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale and items related to social involvement. Questionnaires were completed by the PwESD at baseline and after 1 year. Ethical considerations: The study was approved by the ethics committee and informed consent was provided by the participants. Results: People with Early-Stage Dementia rated the threat to dignity as mild and the ratings did not change significantly after 1 year. Cognitive function, self-sufficiency, vision, and hearing worsened, and more PwESD lived with others rather than with a partner after 1 year. Worsened depression was the only predictor of change in perceived personal dignity after 1 year, both overall and in each of the PDI-CZ domains. Predictors of self-sufficiency and pain affected only some PDI-CZ domains. Conclusions: Perceptions of threat to dignity were mild in PwESD after 1 year, although worsened clinical factors represented a potential threat to dignity. Our findings lead us to hypothesise that perceived threats to personal dignity are not directly influenced by health condition, but rather by the social context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Dignity is a multidimensional construct that includes perception, knowledge, and emotions related to competence or respect. Attitudes to aging are a comprehensive personal view of the experience of aging over the course of life, which can be influenced by various factors, such as the levels of health and self-sufficiency and social, psychological, or demographic factors. Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes to aging of home-dwelling and inpatient older adults, and whether dignity and other selected factors belong among the predictors influencing attitudes to aging in these two different groups of older adults. Research design: Cross-sectional study using a set of questionnaires: Patient Dignity Inventory, Attitudes to Aging Questionnaire, and Barthel Index. Pearson and Spearman correlation analyses and multivariable linear regression were used for statistical processing. Participants and research context: 233 inpatients and 237 home-dwelling older adults participated in the research in two regions of the Czech Republic. Ethical considerations: Institutional Review Board approval was received from the authors' university. Findings: The inpatients had more negative attitudes to aging (M = 74.9±10.9; P <0.0001). The predictors of their attitudes to aging were gender and dignity. Women (β = −2.969, P = 0.045) and inpatients with poor dignity ratings (β = −0.332, P <0.0001) had more negative attitudes to aging. The predictors for home-dwelling older adults were education, living arrangement, and dignity. More negative attitudes to aging were found in older adults with lower levels of education (β = 2.716, P = 0.007) who lived alone (β = 2.163, P = 0.046) and rated their dignity as low (β = −0.325, P <0.0001). Discussion and Conclusions: The results of this study add to the understanding that a sense of dignity is an important predictor of attitudes to aging for both home-dwelling older adults and inpatients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to identify any differences in the dignity evaluation of geriatric inpatients after 1 month of hospitalization in a long-term care wards (LTC) and predictors of this change. This follow-up study included 125 geriatric inpatients who filled the Patient Dignity Inventory (PDI-CZ), Geriatric Depression Scale, Barthel Index, and Mini-Mental State Examination. In the initial measurement, the patients rated of PDI-CZ item "Not able to perform tasks of daily living" the worst. One month after, the items "Not able to perform tasks of daily living," "Not able to attend to bodily functions," and "Not feeling worthwhile or valued" were improved. Patients with higher education, for whom self-sufficiency improved and depression decreased, rated their dignity more positively 1 month after the hospitalization in LTC. Our findings suggest that these factors are important for the maintenance of the dignity of older adults hospitalized in LTC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the quality of life (QoL) and attitudes to aging in older adults with and without dementia, and ascertained the main factors that predict QoL and attitude to ageing. A cross-sectional study involving 563 community-dwelling adults with (PwD) and without dementia (PwoD) >60 years of age was conducted in three Czech regions. A tools battery including the Quality of Life-Alzheimer's Disease Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale, Patient Dignity Inventory, Attitude to Aging Questionnaire (AAQ), Short Physical Performance Battery, and Barthel Index, were administered. PwD had worse scores in QoL and AAQ (both p = 0.0001). Less depression (p < 0.001), better sense of dignity (p < 0.05), and lower pain (p < 0.05) in PwoD predicted better scoring for QoL and AAQ. Physical ability in PwoD (p < 0.05), living alone (p < 0.05) and self-sufficiency (p < 0.001) in PwDwere predictors influencing QoL.Age (p < 0.01) in PwoD, gender (p < 0.05) and physical ability (p < 0.001) in PwD influenced AAQ. This research is the first study to show that dignity can influence the QoL and attitude to aging in community-dwelling older adults. Our findings suggest that depression and dignity are common predictors of QoL and AAQ in older adults with and without dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PURPOSE To determine the frequency of the Nursing Intervention Classification Dying Care activities performed by nurses with end-of-life (EOL) patients. METHODS A cross-sectional, descriptive study using a structured questionnaire to determine the frequencies of Dying Care activities performed by 201 Czech nurses. FINDINGS Nurses reported more frequent use of activities focused on the physical comfort of EOL patients. Significant relationships were found between frequencies in some activities and the nurses' education level, length of work experience, and the department type. CONCLUSIONS Nurses reported infrequent use of communication activities with patients and relatives, which is related to the length of practice. CLINICAL RELEVANCE It is necessary to focus on communication and psychosocial needs of EOL patients in both pregradual and lifelong nursing education. CÍL Zjistit frekvenci aktivit NIC intervence Péče o umírající mezi českými sestry u pacientů v závěru života. METODY Průřezová deskriptivní studie využívající strukturovaného dotazníku pro určení frekvence aktivit Péče o umírající prováděné 201 sestrou. VÝSLEDKY Sestry u pacientů v závěru života častější využívají aktivity zaměřené na fyzický komfort. Významné vztahy byly nalezeny mezi frekvencí některých aktivit a úrovní vzdělání sester, délkou praxe a typem pracoviště. ZÁVĚRY Sestry uváděly nepříliš časté používání komunikačních aktivit s pacienty a příbuznými, což souvisí s délkou jejich praxe. KLINICKÁ RELEVANCE Je třeba se zaměřit na komunikaci a psychosociální potřeby pacientů v závěru života jak v pregraduálním tak celoživotním vzdělávání sester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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