Introduction: After terrorist attacks, media coverage of the attacks is extensive. There are some indications that there is an association between watching the media coverage and certain health reactions, both mental and somatic. Most... more
Introduction: After terrorist attacks, media coverage of the attacks is extensive. There are some indications that there is an association between watching the media coverage and certain health reactions, both mental and somatic. Most studies occur in the United States and often months after the initial attack. In the current study, we investigated the terrorist attacks in Belgium on 22 March 2016. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted one week after the attacks among the general population of Belgium. We measured hours of media watching of the terrorist attacks (hereafter media watching), adjusted scales of the Patient Health Questionaire-4 (PHQ-4) to measure mental symptoms and the Patient Health Questionaire-15 (PHQ-15) to measure somatic symptoms, proximity to Brussels (home, work and overall proximity) and background factors such as gender, age and level of education. Respondents were included if they answered the survey between 29 March 2016 and 5 April 2016....
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Background This study examines the attitudes, view of their future role, and knowledge of nursing students regarding euthanasia due to unbearable mental suffering (UMS euthanasia) in Belgium. Nurses have a key role in this situation at... more
Background This study examines the attitudes, view of their future role, and knowledge of nursing students regarding euthanasia due to unbearable mental suffering (UMS euthanasia) in Belgium. Nurses have a key role in this situation at many levels. The practice of euthanasia is expanding globally and laws are changing, making more research essential. Method A cross-sectional design and online survey were used. All nursing students at a Belgian university college participated. Results The majority of nursing students had a high degree of acceptance towards UMS euthanasia and highlighted their important role in the euthanasia decision-making process, but also reported a lack of knowledge and skills. Conclusion Nursing education at all levels needs to recognize this knowledge gap, taking into account the complexity and broader context of end-of-life care.
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Background To prevent sexual boundary violations (SBV) in mental health care institutions overall governments require these institutions to report SBV incidents to a central registry and to develop institutional guidelines how to react.... more
Background To prevent sexual boundary violations (SBV) in mental health care institutions overall governments require these institutions to report SBV incidents to a central registry and to develop institutional guidelines how to react. In Europe SBV policies are only recently developed or implemented, as is also the case in Flanders (Belgium). The implementation of a new institutional policy is always a challenge and can encounter resistance, especially when it concerns SBV, because they remain delicate and complex. Method This study evaluated the extent to which mandatory policies on SBV have been implemented in mental health care institutions in Flanders, and possible factors for (non-)implementation of these policies. An online survey was sent to the executives of all mental health care institutions in Flanders (N = 162). Results In total 56 executives of mental health care institutions filled out the survey (response rate 35%). Results showed that the implementation of an SBV p...
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The 2020 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic introduced unprecedented disruptions in both working conditions and social life. This lead to a variety of additional stressors for academics. The objective of... more
The 2020 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic introduced unprecedented disruptions in both working conditions and social life. This lead to a variety of additional stressors for academics. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the SARS-CoV-2 measures on academics, introduced during the first SARS-CoV-2 wave in Belgium, and to verify possible intervening variables in coping with these measures (stress management). The position, family and home situation of the respondents was checked. A cross-sectional study design was used. The study included 1837 respondents from the different Belgian universities. The overall mental and physical well-being amongst academics was lower during the SARS-CoV-2 measures. The results of a hierarchical regression suggest that decline in physical health is associated with an increase in tasks at home, sickness, less options to plan work and breaks, the self-perceived lower quality of teaching and resear...
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Background The international terrorism threat urges societies to invest in the planning and organization of psychosocial care. With the aim to contribute to cross-national learning, this study describes the content, target populations and... more
Background The international terrorism threat urges societies to invest in the planning and organization of psychosocial care. With the aim to contribute to cross-national learning, this study describes the content, target populations and providers of psychosocial care to civilians after terrorist attacks in Norway, France and Belgium. Methods We identified and reviewed pre- and post-attack policy documents, guidelines, reports and other relevant grey literature addressing the psychosocial care response to terrorist attacks in Oslo/Utøya, Norway on 22 July 2011; in Paris, France on 13 November 2015; and in Brussels, Belgium on 22 March 2016. Results In Norway, there was a primary care based approach with multidisciplinary crisis teams in the local municipalities. In response to the terrorist attacks, there were proactive follow-up programs within primary care and occupational health services with screenings of target groups throughout a year. In France, there was a national network ...
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Research Interests: Psychology, Palliative Care, Consciousness, Neurophysiology, Medicine, and 11 morePalliative Medicine, Death and dying, End of life care, Pain Assessment, Sedation, Hospice and Palliative care, Sedation and Analgesia, Inter-rater reliability, Observational Study, Unconsciousness, and Persistent Vegetative State
Background Compassion fatigue has not been studied among funeral directors. Yet, funeral directors have been exposed to the same risks for compassion fatigue as other caregivers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.... more
Background Compassion fatigue has not been studied among funeral directors. Yet, funeral directors have been exposed to the same risks for compassion fatigue as other caregivers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods An online survey was spread two times to 287 employees of funeral home DELA, in Belgium. Once during the height of the first wave of COVID-19 in Belgium, and a second time at the end of the first wave. The professional quality of life-scale 5 (PROQOL-5) was used to measure compassion fatigue, which includes burnout, compassion satisfaction and secondary trauma. Non-parametric tests were performed. Results In total, 104 participants answered the first survey, and 107 the second. Burnout increases from survey 1 to survey 2 (P < 0.001), while compassion satisfaction (P = 0.011) and secondary trauma decrease (P < 0.001). In survey 1, only age (P = 0.007) and gender (P = 0.040) were found to be significantly associated with secondary trauma. I...
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Background Although schools have been identified as significant settings in the response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, limited research is available on how they can accommodate Youth Living with HIV/AIDS (YLWHA) especially in resource limited... more
Background Although schools have been identified as significant settings in the response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, limited research is available on how they can accommodate Youth Living with HIV/AIDS (YLWHA) especially in resource limited countries. In this study we explored how school stakeholders in western Uganda perceived of good practices to include and support YLWHA in their schools. We conceptualized an HIV/AIDS-care and support competent school community. Methods This qualitative inquiry involved school stakeholders (parents/caretakers, school staff and students) purposively selected from 3 secondary schools in western Uganda. A total of 88 participants were involved in focus group discussions and individual interviews. Data analysis followed an inductive and deductive thematic strategy. Results We identified 7 overarching interrelated themes in which participants reported practices to include and support YLWHA: counselling and guidance; social support networks and linkages;...
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Organised by: EUPHA (PMH) Contact: johan.bilsen@vub.ac.be In some conflicting areas worldwide, terrorism has been already a daily reality for many years. Last decades however several terrorist attacks have also brought about much physical... more
Organised by: EUPHA (PMH) Contact: johan.bilsen@vub.ac.be In some conflicting areas worldwide, terrorism has been already a daily reality for many years. Last decades however several terrorist attacks have also brought about much physical casualty and death in countries previously rather exceptionally confronted with these violent actions. There is a body of scientific evidence that not only survivors, rescue workers or other direct witnesses of these actions are heavily affected by this cruelty, but also the population in general. While the directly involved are often confronted with severe physical and acute traumatic stress symptoms, longitudinal studies increasingly show that a much larger group is affected by persistent mental health problems, such as posttraumatic stress disorders, depression, or a general undermining of their mental and physical wellbeing, sometimes seriously impairing their personal and social functioning in society. Therefore, terroristic attacks can be reg...
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Background Fibromyalgia (FM) is associated with sexual dysfunction, though much less is known about the sexual desire, and especially dyadic and solitary sexual desire, among women with fibromyalgia. Aim To investigate on the one hand the... more
Background Fibromyalgia (FM) is associated with sexual dysfunction, though much less is known about the sexual desire, and especially dyadic and solitary sexual desire, among women with fibromyalgia. Aim To investigate on the one hand the global sexual desire, the dyadic sexual and solitary sexual desire, and on the other hand the association with depressive symptoms, fibromyalgia symptoms and medication use among women with fibromyalgia in Flanders, Belgium. Methods An online survey was spread through the Flemish league for Fibromyalgia Patients to be completed by women with fibromyalgia. The sexual desire inventory-2 (SDI-2) was used to measure sexual desire (global, dyadic, solitary), the VASFIQ for fibromyalgia symptoms, and the PHQ-2 for depressive symptoms, while also including questions on demographic factors (time since FM, age) and medication usage (antidepressants, pain medication, sleeping medication). Main Outcome Measure Global sexual desire, dyadic sexual desire and so...
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Aim: Guidelines on pediatric palliative care underline that care at the end of life of chronically ill children should preferably be provided in the child’s home situation. Till present, no European data at population level are available... more
Aim: Guidelines on pediatric palliative care underline that care at the end of life of chronically ill children should preferably be provided in the child’s home situation. Till present, no European data at population level are available for place of death of children. The aim of this study was to compare proportions of home death for children in six European countries and investigate relation between place of death and sociodemographic and clinical factors. Method: Data were collected from death certificates of all deceased children aged 1-17 in Belgium (BE), the Netherlands (NL), Norway (NO), England (E), Wales (W) (2003) and Italy (IT) (2002). Gender, cause (cancer, natural non-cancer and external) and place of death (home vs. outside home) and sociodemographic factors (socio-economic status (SES), degree of urbanization and number of hospital beds in the area) were included in the analyses. Data were analyzed using frequencies and multivariate logistic regression. Results: A tot...
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3. C. O Airhihenbuwa & J. DeWitt Webster (2004) Culture and African contexts of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support, SAHARA-J: Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS: An Open Access Journal, 1:1, 4-13, DOI: 10.1080/17290376.2004.9724822... more
3. C. O Airhihenbuwa & J. DeWitt Webster (2004) Culture and African contexts of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support, SAHARA-J: Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS: An Open Access Journal, 1:1, 4-13, DOI: 10.1080/17290376.2004.9724822 4. Moore, S. et al: Risk Taking and HIV/AIDS among young people in Cameroon: Predictions of vulnerability using the adolescent risk-taking questionnaire, Social Behavior &Personality, 2004, vol.32 Issue 3, p209-221
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The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic is a disaster that has impacted lives globally. The purpose of this paper is to understand the linkage between COVID-19 and its impact on mental health. To reach this aim, we reviewed the... more
The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic is a disaster that has impacted lives globally. The purpose of this paper is to understand the linkage between COVID-19 and its impact on mental health. To reach this aim, we reviewed the literature on COVID-19 and mental conditions. Based on the literature, we identified COVID-19 as an unexpected, large-scale event that disrupted communities and caused death, destruction and trauma which upended normal existence. For mental conditions, effects of the pandemic are likely to manifest in different ways: development of symptoms in previously healthy individuals, new episodes in those with predisposition to mental disorders and development of symptoms that do not meet diagnostic criteria. The level of mental health problems varies depending on the stage of the pandemic, country, population groups and types of conditions. This also applies to the level of suicide, although suicides do not seem to have increased during the pandemic. Yet, we i...
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Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may aggravate workplace conditions that impact health-care workers’ mental health. However, it can also place other stresses on workers outside of their work. This study determines the... more
Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may aggravate workplace conditions that impact health-care workers’ mental health. However, it can also place other stresses on workers outside of their work. This study determines the effect of COVID-19 on symptoms of negative and positive mental health and the workforce’s experience with various sources of support. Effect modification by demographic variables was also studied. Methods A cross-sectional survey study, conducted between 2 April and 4 May 2020 (two waves), led to a convenience sample of 4509 health-care workers in Flanders (Belgium), including paramedics (40.6%), nurses (33.4%), doctors (13.4%) and management staff (12.2%). About three in four were employed in university and acute hospitals (29.6%), primary care practices (25.7%), residential care centers (21.3%) or care sites for disabled and mental health care. In each of the two waves, participants were asked how frequently (on a scale of 0–10) they experienced pos...
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Background Although schools have been identified as significant settings in the response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, limited research is available on how they can accommodate Youth Living with HIV/AIDS (YLWHA), especially in resource... more
Background Although schools have been identified as significant settings in the response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, limited research is available on how they can accommodate Youth Living with HIV/AIDS (YLWHA), especially in resource limited countries. In this study, we explored strategies by school stakeholders (school staff, parents/caretakers, and students) in western Uganda to care for and support YLWHA in their schools. Methods The article utilizes data collected between May and October, 2019 from a qualitative inquiry based on focus group discussions and interviews with 88 school stakeholders purposively selected from 3 secondary schools in western Uganda. Textual data was analyzed thematically involving both inductive and deductive coding. Results We identified 7 overarching interrelated themes in which participants reported strategies to care for and support YLWHA: counselling and guidance; social support networks and linkages; knowledge and skills; anti-stigma and anti-discri...
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Over the past decade, the demographic composition of the population is rapidly changing. This has a huge impact on family members, especially on youth (10-25years). Youth is a formative period in which young people might be especially... more
Over the past decade, the demographic composition of the population is rapidly changing. This has a huge impact on family members, especially on youth (10-25years). Youth is a formative period in which young people might be especially vulnerable. Multiple physical, emotional and social changes, including exposure to poverty, abuse, or violence, can make adolescents vulnerable to mental health problems. Promoting psychological well-being and protecting youth from adverse experiences and risk factors that may impact their potential to thrive in later life are critical for their mental health not only during adolescence but also in adulthood. Supportive environments in the family, in the wider community and at a global level are important. Multiple factors determine mental health outcomes in youth. Violence (including wars and conflicts, child abuse and harsh parenting), and socioeconomic problems are risks to mental health of youth. In order to address the mental health needs of vulne...
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Background Mild cognitive decline in Nursing Home (NH) residents without dementia is often noted very late since cognitive demands are relatively low in this setting. Therefore, subtle cognitive changes could remain undetected. This study... more
Background Mild cognitive decline in Nursing Home (NH) residents without dementia is often noted very late since cognitive demands are relatively low in this setting. Therefore, subtle cognitive changes could remain undetected. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of mild cognitive problems in NHs. Methods First, a file study was performed to exclude residents with a diagnosis of dementia or known cognitive problems (Mini Mental State Examination-MMSE < 24) in 16 NHs. Second, remaining residents were screened for cognition with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Also, an evaluation of functionality (ADL-Questionnaire), mood (Geriatric Depression Scale), neuropsychiatric symptoms (Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire) and subjective memory complaints (Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline) was performed. Results On a total of 1339 residents, 229 persons (17.1%) had no diagnosis of dementia and an MMSE >23. Based on MoCA-cut-offs 2.7% (n = 36), 11.4% (n ...
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The world's population is aging rapidly. Globally, the population of older people will nearly double in the next 30 years, from 12% to 22%. Unfortunately, many elderly people are often vulnerable to the development of mental health... more
The world's population is aging rapidly. Globally, the population of older people will nearly double in the next 30 years, from 12% to 22%. Unfortunately, many elderly people are often vulnerable to the development of mental health problems. Besides the development of mental disorders (such as depression) or neurological disorders (such as cognitive impairment), they often experience several health ailments and loss of functionality, which negatively impacts their mental health and wellbeing. The WHO points out that mental health problems among this group of people are under-identified by healthcare professionals and by older people and their relatives themselves, and that stigma surrounding these conditions makes people often reluctant to seek help. Therefore, more scientific research and debate is needed on mental health of older persons, especially from a public health perspective. By bringing together researchers on this domain from different countries and background, this w...
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Background The globally recognized socio-economic benefits of education have stirred many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa like Uganda to promote universal access to schooling by removing fiscal barricades for those in primary and... more
Background The globally recognized socio-economic benefits of education have stirred many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa like Uganda to promote universal access to schooling by removing fiscal barricades for those in primary and secondary schools. However, the proportion of Youth Living With HIV/AIDS (YLWHA) missing school, studying with difficulties and dropping out of school in Uganda has been observed to be higher than that of other youth. This study aimed at understanding the barriers and facilitators for YLWHA in Uganda to attend school. Methods We conducted a qualitative inquiry with 35 purposively selected YLWHA aged 12 to 19 years, including 16 females at three accredited Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) treatment centres in Kabarole district in Western Uganda. Individual semi-structured interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim and subjected to thematic inductive analysis. Results We identified five main themes in which barriers to attend school were reported and fou...
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Research Interests: Social Sciences, Stigma, Quality of life, East Africa, Social Support, and 15 moreQualitative Research, Medicine, HIV, Children, Antiretroviral Therapy, Psychological Intervention, Care, Adolescents, AIDS, Psychosocial, Support, Adherence, Challenges, Sub Saharan Africa, and Medicine and Health Sciences
Background During the terrorist attacks of 22/03/2016 in Brussels, Belgium, hundreds of rescue workers were present or came to the sites to give aid to the victims. However, until now, there is little research about these first... more
Background During the terrorist attacks of 22/03/2016 in Brussels, Belgium, hundreds of rescue workers were present or came to the sites to give aid to the victims. However, until now, there is little research about these first responders’ own need for aid and support immediately after their work or later, and about how they experienced that aid. Methods Using half-structured interviews, we collected data from 31 first responders including 4 nurses, 5 soldiers, 7 firefighters, 11 airport police officers and 4 Red Cross volunteers. Interviews were transcribed, coded and analyzed by two researchers. Results Generally, debriefings were organized at hoc, informal and at the day of the event. Sometimes, an additional group conversation was organized in the week or weeks later. Further initiative was left to the rescue workers themselves to find psychosocial aid, whether inside or outside their organization. Because of many contextual factors (macho culture, no sense of normality of react...
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Monitoring medical decisions at the end of life has become an important issue in many societies. Built on previous European experiences, the survey and project Fin de Vie en France ("End of Life in France," or EOLF) was... more
Monitoring medical decisions at the end of life has become an important issue in many societies. Built on previous European experiences, the survey and project Fin de Vie en France ("End of Life in France," or EOLF) was conducted in 2010 to provide an overview of medical end-of-life decisions in France. To describe the methodology of EOLF and evaluate the effects of design innovations on data quality. EOLF used a mixed-mode data collection strategy (paper and Internet) along with follow-up campaigns that employed various contact modes (paper and telephone), all of which were gathered from various institutions (research team, hospital, and medical authorities at the regional level). A telephone nonresponse survey was also used. Through descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regressions, these innovations were assessed in terms of their effects on the response rate, quality of the sample, and differences between Web-based and paper questionnaires. The participation...
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Research Interests: Death, Family Medicine, Health, Medicine, Belgium, and 15 moreGPS, Humans, Care homes, End of life care, Europe, End of life, Netherlands, America, General practitioner, General Practitioners, Medicine and Health Sciences, Logistic Models, Home Care Services, Health Care Surveys, and Medical and Health Sciences
Research Interests: Psychology, Applied Ethics, Decision Making, Australia, Medical Ethics, and 14 moreReligion and medicine, Euthanasia, Medicine, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Humans, End of life care, Europe, End of life, Specialization, Questionnaires, Terminal care, Medical, Statistics as Topic, and languages And Literatures
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Terrorist attacks can be regarded as a major public health issue, confronting not only political leaders with adequate answers to these threats, but also the public healthcare, and especially the public mental healthcare. The impact of... more
Terrorist attacks can be regarded as a major public health issue, confronting not only political leaders with adequate answers to these threats, but also the public healthcare, and especially the public mental healthcare. The impact of terrorist attacks is mostly severe, widespread, affecting those directly exposed and their close ones, but also first responders, healthcare workers, local communities and even the society at large. While the directly involved are often confronted with severe physical and acute, often transient, traumatic stress symptoms, longitudinal studies increasingly show that a much larger group is affected by persistent mental health problems, such as posttraumatic stress disorders, depression, or a general undermining of their mental and physical wellbeing, sometimes seriously impairing their personal and social functioning. These problems may differ by severity of exposure and individual risk factors, but are also related to access to timely, appropriate an...
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The recent COVID-19 pandemic confronted many societies with profound public health challenges. Although primarily a ‘somatic’ health concern, it becomes clear that Covid-19 and its aftermath also proved to have a substantial impact on... more
The recent COVID-19 pandemic confronted many societies with profound public health challenges. Although primarily a ‘somatic’ health concern, it becomes clear that Covid-19 and its aftermath also proved to have a substantial impact on mental health and wellbeing of the population in general and on vulnerable subgroups, such as young people and the elderly, in particular. An important public mental health concern in this context is the possible adverse influence of this pandemic on suicidality. Recent studies show that during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease the suicide mortality did not rise, rather on the contrary. However, the impact of the increased number of people with mental distress related to Covid-19 on suicidal ideation as well as the long-term impact on suicide rates is unclear. Also the long-term impact of the Covid-19 restriction measures greatly hindering adequate mental healthcare services and suicide prevention initiatives is uncertain. This workshop will fo...
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Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic illness that does not have clear physical consequences, yet research shows that FM patients often have a low body image. An online cross-sectional study was conducted in Flanders, Belgium, among FM women who... more
Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic illness that does not have clear physical consequences, yet research shows that FM patients often have a low body image. An online cross-sectional study was conducted in Flanders, Belgium, among FM women who are connected to the Flemish League for fibromyalgia patients. An adjusted Body Image Scale (BIS) was used to assess body image, the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) was used for mental health, and the Visual Analogue Scale Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (VASFIQ) was used for FM symptoms. Medication use was assessed by using a 4-point Likert scale. Time since diagnosis and age was assessed. A total of 103 women with FM responded. Linear regression showed that BIS was best predicted in a model by using VASFIQ, GHQ-12, time since diagnosis, and sleep medication, wherein only the GHQ-12 was significant as a variable (B = 0.292; p = 0.009). This model explained 19.3% of the variance. The role of sleep medication use disappeared when controll...
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Research Interests: Geriatrics, Decision Making, Documentation, Health Policy, Hospitals, and 15 moreBelgium, Humans, Life, Hospital administration, Audit, Attitudes, Guidelines, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Aged, Advance Directives, Inpatients, Do Not Resuscitate, Health Care Surveys, hospital units, and Medical and Health Sciences
Purpose Incidence studies reported more end-of-life decisions with possible/certain life-shortening effect (ELDs) among cancer patients than among noncancer patients. These studies did not correct for the different proportions of... more
Purpose Incidence studies reported more end-of-life decisions with possible/certain life-shortening effect (ELDs) among cancer patients than among noncancer patients. These studies did not correct for the different proportions of sudden/unexpected deaths of cancer versus noncancer patients, which could have biased the results. We investigated incidences and characteristics of ELDs among nonsudden cancer and noncancer deaths. Methods We sampled 5,005 certificates of all deaths in 2001 (Flanders, Belgium) stratified for ELD likelihood. Questionnaires were mailed to the certifying physicians. Data were corrected for stratification and nonresponse. Results The response rate was 59%. Among 2,128 nonsudden deaths included, ELDs occurred in 74% of cancer versus 50% of noncancer patients (P < .001). Symptom alleviation with possible life-shortening effect occurred more frequently among cancer patients (P < .001); nontreatment decisions occurred less frequently (P < .001). The highe...
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Introduction While many studies have shown how terrorist attacks can have a mental health impact, there currently is little insight into how governments try to aid victims of terrorist attacks. In this study we viewed the long-term... more
Introduction While many studies have shown how terrorist attacks can have a mental health impact, there currently is little insight into how governments try to aid victims of terrorist attacks. In this study we viewed the long-term governmental psychosocial care response after the attacks of 22/03/2016 in Belgium, from both the level of the policy, as well as from the perspective of victims. Methods This study employed a qualitative design. First, we studied guidelines, reports, policy documents and other relevant grey literature concerning the governmental psychosocial care response to the terrorist attacks. Second, we interviewed 27 victims of the terrorist attacks on their experiences with terrorist attacks for the micro level. We analyzed these interviews using a reflexive thematic analysis. Results On the policy level, a problem occurred in the transfer from responsibilities from the federal level to the community's level. Furthermore, there was no proper psychotraumatology...
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To investigate the state of the mental well-being of patients from ethnic minority groups and possible related risk factors for the development of mental health problems among these patients during critical medical situations in hospital.... more
To investigate the state of the mental well-being of patients from ethnic minority groups and possible related risk factors for the development of mental health problems among these patients during critical medical situations in hospital. Qualitative ethnographic design. Oneintensive care unit (ICU) of a multiethnic urban hospital in Belgium. 84 ICU staff members, 10 patients from ethnic-minority groups and their visiting family members. Patients had several human basic needs for which they could not sufficiently turn to anybody, neither to their healthcare professionals, nor to their relatives nor to other patients. These needs included the need for social contact, the need to increase comfort and alleviate pain, the need to express desperation and participate in end-of-life decision making. Three interrelated risk factors for the development of mental health problems among the patients included were identified: First, healthcare professionals' mainly biomedical care approach (...
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This population-based study aims to investigate socio-economic factors, depression and psychosis as independent risk factors for a suicide attempt that requires hospitalization, and estimate the incidence of suicide attempts.... more
This population-based study aims to investigate socio-economic factors, depression and psychosis as independent risk factors for a suicide attempt that requires hospitalization, and estimate the incidence of suicide attempts. Individual-level administrative data were analysed that were collected for all members of the Socialist Health Insurance Schemes in Belgium during the period 2011-2013 (N = 3,156,030) in the context of the financing of the health care services provided. Bivariate and multivariate odds ratios were calculated for multiple socio-economic factors, socio-demographic factors and the presence of depression and psychosis. During the study period, 4063 persons were hospitalized due to a suicide attempt. The incidence of suicide attempts with hospital admittance was 48.0/100,000 persons/year. Being unemployed, incapable of work over a shorter or longer period with substitute income, living on social welfare, having an increased healthcare reimbursement, living alone and ...
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To explore palliative care nurses' attitudes, roles and concrete experience with regard to addressing sexual issues in their daily practice. Patients and their partners in palliative care might experience dramatic changes in their... more
To explore palliative care nurses' attitudes, roles and concrete experience with regard to addressing sexual issues in their daily practice. Patients and their partners in palliative care might experience dramatic changes in their sexuality and want nurses to provide the opportunity to address them. Moreover, it is argued that the holistic philosophy of palliative care encourages nurses working in this area to include sexual issues in their daily care. It is, however, unknown how palliative care nurses address sexual issues. A generic qualitative study was performed. In total, 21 in-depth interviews were done with nurses from different facilities of palliative care networks in Flanders. Data were collected between September 2014 - September 2016 and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. It was found that the way palliative care nurses addressed sexual issues was clearly influenced by their own interpretation of the philosophical principles underlying palliative care. T...