Carolina Pinazo-Clapés

According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2024), suicide is currently the third leading cause of death worldwide and the second leading cause of death in Spain, with rates showing a steady i...

Aim: To assess the impact of high‐fidelity simulation on enhancing nursing and psychology students’ communication abilities, knowledge, and attitudes in managing suicidal ideation. Design: A mixed‐method approach, utilizing pre‐ and postsimulation assessments along with structured interviews and thematic evaluation. Methods: The study included 370 participants from nursing and psychology programs who took part in 26 simulation sessions. Pre‐ and postintervention questionnaires measured changes in communication, empathy, and knowledge about suicide. Qualitative data were gathered through interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Students reported significant increases in their perceived competence and assertiveness, as well as changes in their emotional responses to suicidal patients. Significant decreases in self‐assessments of empathy, informative communication, and self‐reported knowledge were observed immediately after the simulation. Qualitative results suggest that exposure to a realistic scenario increased the awareness of personal limitations and deepened their appreciation of the complexity of suicide intervention. Participants also reported high levels of satisfaction and perceived educational value. Conclusion: The simulation fostered reflective learning about suicide prevention, increasing students’ perceived professional capacity and assertiveness while also prompting a more critical self‐assessment of their communication skills and knowledge. Qualitative findings further highlighted how the experience enhanced students’ awareness of the complexity of suicide intervention and their own professional limitations. Overall, while students reported high educational value and increased critical awareness, the impact on self‐reported skills varied and should be interpreted with caution.

Introduction: Suicide among older adults living in care homes is a major public health challenge. This study analyses the perceptions and attitudes of professionals working in care homes towards suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in this population.Method: A total of 338 nursing home professionals from Spain participated in the study. A vignette‐based methodology was used, in which cases of suicidal ideation or suicide attempts were described, varying the gender of the actor. Responses to a questionnaire assessed perceived frequency, attention‐seeking behaviour, ageism, experienced anxiety, perceived risk and likelihood of future suicide.Results: Professionals perceived suicidal ideation to be more common and normative in older adults, particularly women. However, they attributed a higher risk and likelihood of suicide to cases involving suicide attempts, which also elicited more anxiety. No significant differences were found in the perception of these situations as ‘attention‐seeking behaviour'.Discussion: Acceptance of suicidal ideation as normal behaviour of suicidal ideation in older adults may reduce the perceived urgency to intervene, highlighting the need for specialised training to help identify risk signals and act promptly. This study highlights the importance of addressing age and gender bias in suicide prevention in care homes and advocates the development of evidence‐based strategies.

Older adults in nursing homes represent a highly vulnerable group regarding suicidal ideation. Despite its prevalence, validated screening tools adapted to institutionalized older adults are scarce. This study aimed to validate the Paykel Suicide Scale (PSS) by assessing its psychometric properties of in a Spanish sample of institutionalized older adults. A total of 231 participants aged 60-97 years (M = 78.99, SD = 8.83) from nine long-term care facilities completed the PSS alongside other measures of suicidal ideation (SSI), hopelessness (BHS), and life satisfaction (SWLS). Factor structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, and measurement invariance by age group were tested. The unidimensional model of the PSS showed acceptable fit indices (CFI = 0.991, SRMR = 0.078; RMSEA = 0.089 [0.037-0.146]), with high internal consistency (ordinal α = 0.917). Items 1 and 2 discriminated across all levels of suicidal ideation, while Items 3-5 were informative at higher severity. The PSS correlated significantly with suicidal ideation (r > 0.58), hopelessness (r = 0.33), and life satisfaction (r = -0.37). Measurement invariance was supported across age groups (60-80 vs. 81+ years). The Paykel Suicide Scale is a brief, valid, and reliable screening instrument for suicidal ideation among institutionalized older adults and is recommended for use in residential care settings.

Objectives: To analyze the impacts of the restrictions implemented in LTCF during the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological and functional status of older adults. Design: A retrospective multicentre study is designed. We hypothesize that the negative effects of the restrictions will lead to a higher rate of decline between the measures taken immediately before and after the lockdown than between the two measures taken before the lockdown. Setting and participants: 365 participants recruited in four Spanish LTCFs in Galicia and Valencia. Methods: Impacts of restrictions on cognitive (MMSE), affective (GDS) and functional status (Barthel index, Tinetti) were analyzed by Linear Mixed Models with random intercepts, random slopes, and personal and contextual factors as covariates. Results: Social measures covaried significantly with the cognitive and functional status but did not predict longitudinal change. MMSE, Barthel index and Tinetti scores decreased significantly across pre- and post-lockdown measurement times, but only the Tinetti scores showed a specific impact of the restrictions. Conclusions: Only performance-based functional measures showed the real impact of restrictions. The findings highlight the importance of having data from several pre-lockdown measurements to enable identification of changes that can be causally attributed to the restrictions. The findings also support the resilience of older adults in mitigating the effect of the restrictions.

This pilot study aims to analyze the effectiveness of a type of non-pharmacological intervention such as the educating and training of professional caregivers on behavioral alterations and prescription of psychotropic drugs of older adults in nursing homes. One hundred and forty-five people from two nursing homes were randomized to either treatment (educational training program for healthcare professionals) or a no-treatment group. Twenty-two professional caregivers in the experimental group received 20 h of a training program. Five data collection points were collected (pre and post, and three follow-ups, all six months apart). Intervention consisted of the behavioral alterations and psychopharmacological treatment. The analysis of variance for repeated measures showed significant differences in the time-group interaction for the educational program’s effectiveness in reducing behavior alterations and psycho-pharmaceuticals’ record. The results show that an improvement in the educating and training of professional caregivers can reduce behavioral alterations (F3,407 = 9.29, p < 0.001, η²= 0.063) and prescription of psychotropic drugs (F2,10 = 18.90, p < 0.001, η² = 0.117). In addition, these effects are maintained over time. Educating health professionals on ways to care for residents who present behavioral alterations may be one alternative for improving the quality of care that residents receive. Non-pharmacological interventions, besides being individualized and adapted to the needs and experiences of individuals, achieve effects that last longer at low cost. An educational program shows new alternatives to pharmacological intervention, achieving a reduction in behavioral alterations without the costs and effects that psychopharmaceuticals entail.

There is a need to redefine and improve the treatment and care given in residences for the elderly from a non-pharmacological perspective that fosters person-centred care. In particular, the psychological and behavioural symptoms associated with dementia require a multidisciplinary evaluation to design appropriate interventions. The objective is to evaluate behavioural disorders in a group of residing elderly people and analyse whether the gender of the participants influences the presence of these behaviours. In the methodology, the group is consisted of 450 people, 73.6% women and 26.4% men with an average age of 86.82 (WD=8.22). The results show that women have a greater risk of presenting behavioural disorders. Men tend to present higher levels of anxiety, lack of inhibition, sleeping disorders, and loss of appetite; while women present more affective symptoms such as anxiety, euphoria, or apathy, or more psychotic symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations, and more aberrant motor behaviours. This influence is only significant for delusions and aberrant motor behaviour. The discussion and conclusions of the study show that gender influences behavioural disorders. This type of research work is very scarce because may be of great interest to develop and improve preventive strategies and non-pharmacological use of these symptoms in residence for the elderly settings.

En el ámbito educativo se han puesto en marcha proyectos intergeneracionales, pero pocos de ellos con personas mayores institucionalizadas. Se diseñó un proyecto de apadrinamiento lector que, conservando como eje central la transmisión de conocimientos literarios, posibilitase una integración participativa e inclusiva de las personas mayores para poner en valor las historias de vida y los libros que les han marcado. Este trabajo se propuso aumentar la motivación y el hábito lector al establecer un diálogo sobre literatura clásica entre personas de distintas generaciones a partir de un apadrinamiento lector. Con ello, se pretendió aumentar la autoestima, la afectividad positiva y disminuir el afecto negativo y sintomatología depresiva de las personas mayores participantes. La intervención duró seis meses con sesiones semanales y contó con 27 alumnos y 17 personas mayores institucionalizadas. La evaluación fue cuantitativa y cualitativa con cuestionarios en fase pre-test y post-test y entrevistas semiestructuradas al finalizar. Se obtuvieron resultados significativamente positivos en todas las áreas evaluadas con lo que se concluyó que los proyectos intergeneracionales benefician a todos los participantes. El aprendizaje y el diálogo sobre las obras literarias atemporales puede motivar a la lectura, aportar bienestar y valores positivos a ambas generaciones.