Israeli nursing home staff perspectives on challenges to quality care for residents with dementia

Translation and psychometric validation of the Chinese version of the meaningful and enjoyable activities scale for mild dementia

Objectives

To translate 20-item Meaningful and Enjoyable Activities Scale into Chinese and evaluate its psychometric properties amongst Chinese with mild dementia.

Methods

A cross-sectional study of 450 people with mild dementia recruited from a memory disorders clinic was conducted with the C-MEAS. Raw data were randomly divided into two parts for exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, to evaluate the construct validity. Content validity and reliability were tested by content validity index and Cronbach’s α coefficients, respectively.

Results

Adaptation results showed that the Chinese version of the scale is adequate for linguistic and content validation. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a significantly good fit for a three-factor model. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.84 for the overall scale.

Conclusion

The C-MEAS for people with mild dementia is a reliable and valid instrument with satisfactory psychometric properties. Future studies should recruit a more representative sample of people with mild dementia in China to verify the applicability of the scale.

The impact of COVID-19 on long-term care facilities and their staff in Israel: Results from a mixed methods study

AIMS

We examined the impact of COVID-19 regarding organizational and management issues at Israeli long-term care facilities.

BACKGROUND

Residents in facilities were very vulnerable to significant disease and mortality during COVID-19.

METHODS

A survey of 52 facilities in Israel was conducted in 2020, consisting of closed- and open-ended questions. Mixed methods were used to analyze data both quantitively and qualitatively.

RESULTS

Three main effects emerged: worsened financial status of long-term-care facilities resulting from high expenditures for preventive measures and reduced revenue due to deaths and fewer resident admissions; increased workload due to decreased workforce and additional duties; and negative mental health effects on staff because of increased workload and the conflict between maintaining good clinical practice and following COVID-19 regulations.

CONCLUSION

The development of government directives needs to take into account potential conflicts between the directives and quality care principles and to provide a balanced approach that assures humane care. Facilities and their staff lacked adequate pandemic-related guidance and support.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

The results highlight the need to address staff shortages and training, to provide more support and clearer guidance to facilities and their staff, and to devise a framework and strategies for future health crises.