Search

Objective: . This study aims to examine and compare changes in frailty status, well-being and quality of life in community-dwelling older adults living in Montreal (Quebec, Canada) participating in a 3-month session of weekly "Thursdays at the Museum" and in their control counterparts who did not participate in art-based activities., Methods: . 165 older community dwellers were recruited to a randomized controlled trial with two parallel groups (intervention versus control). The intervention was weekly participatory art-based activities over a 3-month period carried out at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA, Montreal, Quebec, Canada). Frailty, well-being and quality of life were assessed using standardized questionnaires completed at baseline (M0) and before the fifth (M1), ninth (M2) and twelfth (M3) workshops in the intervention group. The control group completed these questionnaires according to the same schedule. The outcomes were mean values of frailty, well-being and quality of life scores, as well as the distribution of frailty categories (vigorous versus mild, moderate and severe frailty) at M0, M1, M2 and M3., Results: . The intervention group showed significant improvements in frailty, well-being and quality of life scores (P≤0.004) when compared with the control group., Conclusion: . The results suggest that the 3-month session of weekly "Thursdays at the Museum" may improve both physical and mental health in Montreal community-dwelling older adults., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Recently, we demonstrated that the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' (MMFA) participatory art-based activity, known as "Thursdays at the Museum," improved the well-being, quality of life, and physical health (i.e., frailty) of older community dwellers by using a pre-post intervention, single arm, prospective and longitudinal experimental design. The present randomized clinical trial (RCT), known as the Art-Health RCT (A-Health RCT), aims to compare changes in well-being, quality of life, frailty, and physiological measures in older community dwellers who participate in "Thursdays at the Museum" (intervention group) and in their counterparts who do not participate in this art-based activity (control group)., Methods/design: The current unicenter, randomized, clinical, controlled, comparative trial recruits 150 older community dwellers to two parallel arms (75 participants in the intervention group and 75 participants in the control group). The intervention is a 3-month cycle of weekly "Thursdays at the Museum," which are structured 2-h-long art-based workshops performed in a group setting at the MMFA. The control group is composed of participants who do not take part in art-based activities, receive their usual health and/or social services, and commit to report any other activity practiced during the same time. Assessments of the primary outcome (well-being) and the secondary outcomes (quality of life, frailty, and physiological measures including heart rate, daily step count, sleep duration, and its phases) are performed on six occasions: at baseline, at the beginning of the second and third months, at the end of the third month, as well as 6 and 12 months after the last workshop. Statistical analyses are performed with the intention to treat and per protocol. Comparisons of changes in outcome measures between intervention and control groups use repeated measures tests., Discussion: Art-based activities carried out at museums have been receiving increased interest from researchers and policy-makers because of their benefits to mental and physical health. There are few robust studies, such as RCTs, that focus on older community dwellers or assess the efficacy of these participatory museum activities. The A-Health RCT study provides an opportunity to confirm the benefits of a participatory art-based museum activity on the elderly population and to show the key role played by museums in public health promotion., Trial Registration: NCT03679715 ; Title: A-Health RCT: Effects of Participatory Art-Based Activity on Health of Older Community Dwellers; First posted date: September 20, 2018; prospectively registered.

End-of-life discussions are essential for patients with advanced cancer, but there is little evidence about whether these discussions affect general ward patients and family outcomes. We investigated the status of end-of-life discussions and associated factors and their effects on patients' quality of death and their families' mental health. Participants in this retrospective cross-sectional observational study were 119 bereaved family members. Data were collected through a survey that included questions on the timing of end-of-life discussions, quality of palliative care, quality of patient death, and depression and grief felt by the families. Approximately 64% of the bereaved family members participated in end-of-life discussions between the patient and the attending physician, and 55% of these discussions took place within a month before death. End-of-life discussions were associated with the patients' prognostic perception as "incurable, though there is hope for a cure" and "patients' experience with end-of-life discussions with family before cancer." There was a small decrease in depression and grief for families of patients who had end-of-life discussions. Those who did not have end-of-life discussions reported lower quality of end-of-life care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The minimal clinically important differences (MID) of the Oral Health‐related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) are the benchmark to meaningfully interpret treatment outcomes. However, there is no available information regarding the factors impact the MID variations after removable partial denture (RPD) treatment. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of the pre‐treatment OHRQoL impairment on the MID in the oral health impact profile (OHIP) after RPD treatment. Methods: In this prospective study, OHIP and Self‐reported Oral Health (SROH) questionnaires were administered to patients before and 3 months after RPD treatment. The MID in each OHIP version (OHIP‐49, OHIP‐20, OHIP‐14 and OHIP‐5) was the mean score of patients who showed a minimum SROH improvement. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to determine the influence of the pre‐treatment OHIP summary score on the MID score. Results: Among 248 participants who completed both evaluations, 85 (34%) patients had minimum SROH improvements after RPD treatment. Multiple regression analysis indicated that each 10‐point increase in the pre‐treatment summary OHIP score was associated with an increase in the MID score of three points for OHIP‐49 and four points for OHIP‐20, OHIP‐14 and OHIP‐5 (P <.05), after controlling for age, sex and the number of missing teeth. Therefore, the MID increased as the pre‐treatment OHRQoL was impaired. Conclusions: The MID was accounted for by approximately one‐third of the pre‐treatment summary score, independent of the OHIP version, in the interpretation of the effects of RPD treatment on patients' OHRQoL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Participatory art-based activities enhance the well-being and quality of life of patients. Few studies have examined the effects of these activities in community-dwelling older adults. This study aims to examine changes in well-being, quality of life and frailty associated with a weekly art-based activity, known as "Thursday at the Museum", performed at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) in community-dwelling older adults.Methods: Based on a pre-post intervention, single-arm, prospective and longitudinal design, 130 community-dwelling older adults (mean age 71.6 ± 4.9, 91.5 % female) were enrolled and completed this experimental study. The intervention was a participatory art-based activity carried out at the MMFA. Groups of participants (30-45 individuals) met for 2.3 h once a week for a 12-week period (defining a session). Before and after the first (M0), the fifth (M1), the ninth (M2) and the twelfth (M3) workshops, well-being was assessed. Quality of life, frailty, physician visits and hospitalizations were also assessed.Results: The mean well-being score improved after each workshop compared with baseline (P ≤ 0.001), i.e., from M0 to M3. The magnitude of this change in well-being was significant at M3 when M0 was used as a reference value (coefficient of regression beta (ß) = 3.22 with P = 0.037). Quality of life gradually increased from M1 to M3 (ß increased from -0.50 to -2.1 with all P-values ≤0.003). The proportion of vigorous participants increased significantly, whereas the proportion of mild frail participants decreased at M3 only (ß=-0.70 with P = 0.001).Conclusion: The MMFA participatory art-based activity session had multidimensional positive effects on mental and physical health outcomes. These results suggest that museums may become key partners in public health policy initiatives for health prevention in older populations.Trialregistration: NCT03557723. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]