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Most studies examining prolonged grief disorder (PGD) in people bereaved during the COVID‐19 pandemic are focused on psychopathology. However, mental health encompasses both absence of psychopathology and presence of well‐being. This is the first study examining symptom profiles of early PGD and subjective mental well‐being in 266 Dutch adults recently bereaved during the pandemic. Early PGD and well‐being indicators were assessed with the Traumatic Grief Inventory–Self Report Plus and the World Health Organization–Five Well‐Being Index, respectively. Latent class analysis identified four classes: low PGD/high well‐being (32%), low PGD/moderate well‐being (24%), moderate PGD/high well‐being (23%) and high PGD/low well‐being class (21%). People in the poorer mental health classes were more likely to be female, lower educated, suffering from a mental disorder, have a poor health status, closer kinship to the deceased, and higher risk of severe COVID‐19. Classifying adults according to symptom profiles of negative and positive outcomes provides a more complete picture of mental health in bereaved people and offers potential intervention targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I address the experiences of family members of people with dementia, as they expressed the sensation of gradually losing the person with dementia. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in nursing homes in the Netherlands, and contributing to the anthropology of grief, I explore the co-existence of experiences of anticipatory grief and manifestations of care to maintain meaningful relations. I show how my interlocutors adapted to changing circumstances as the disease progressed, and in so doing found new ways to relate, as well as prepared for future losses and the expected end of life. I argue that anticipatory grief is temporal and relational, encompassing both present and future losses, and involving a continuous negotiation between the loss and the continuing relationship. I underscore the entanglement of loss and connection, showing how both exist parallel to, and may emerge from one another, and demonstrating how an anthropological approach to anticipatory grief can reveal the nuanced and equivocal character of experiences of illness and at the end of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this study was to evaluate the type, parameters, loss and complications of contact lenses (CLs) in the treatment of paediatric aphakia over a 10-year period. This retrospective multicentre chart review included the files of aphakic CL wearers under the age of 9 years old that were treated between 2008 and 2018. Patients with traumatic aphakia and scarring of the cornea were excluded. The following data were collected; demographic data, cataract type (congenital or secondary), CL type, parameters and wearing time, reason for replacement and discontinuation of the CLs, visual acuity (VA), prophylactic use of antibiotics (ABs), and complications. Ninety-one aphakic children (132 eyes) were fitted with soft CLs. The median age of cataract extraction was 10.50 weeks (interquartile range (IQR) 7,15) in the congenital cataract group and 112 weeks (IQR 41,285) in the secondary cataract group. At the initial fitting a silicone elastomer CL was fitted in 86 % and a silicone hydrogel CL in 12 %, the remaining 2 % were mixed CL types. The median CL power at baseline was + 29 D (IQR 25,32) and after 3 years of wear the median power had shifted significantly to + 20 D (IQR 17,26), P < 0.001. A total of 1083 extra CL replacements were needed of which 414 in the first year of wear. Of these 414 replacements almost half (46 %;n = 191) were due to loss of the CL. Complications developed in 8 (9 %) cases and 7 (8 %) patients discontinued CL wear. This paper confirms that paediatric aphakia can be successfully treated with soft CLs with low rates of complications and discontinuation encountered. Unscheduled CL replacements due to loss are a concern, especially in the first year, and are straining for both the care giver and medical system. Attentive care and clear information is advised during the first year of CL wear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In a time of ageing populations, examination of the ability of multimorbid patients to achieve well-being has become increasingly important. Social production function theory is used to characterise people's ability to achieve well-being. Whereas much research has examined the fulfilment of substantive needs, far less research has investigated the quality of production functions (being in control, avoiding a loss frame, and efficiency) to achieve well-being. Therefore, this study involved the development and validation of the Social Production Function-Quality of production functions (SPF-Q) instrument to assess the quality of production functions via the fulfilment of production needs to achieve well-being.Methods: The 12-item SPF-Q was used to assess the quality of production functions via the fulfilment of production needs to achieve well-being among patients with multimorbidity from seven health care practices in the region of Tilburg, the Netherlands. A total of 216 patients filled in the questionnaire (55% response rate). To test the validity of the SPF-Q, we used structural equation modelling to specify a measurement model by loading each item on its respective latent factor, and we examined associations between production needs and other measures.Results: Psychometric results clearly showed that the SPF-Q is a valid and reliable instrument for the assessment of the quality of production functions among multimorbid patients. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed good indices of fit for the instrument. As indicated by the high reliability coefficient, the scale also showed good internal consistency. We found support for construct validity through significant positive correlations between substantive and production well-being needs, as well as with overall well-being and life satisfaction. Moreover, production needs added to multimorbid patients' overall level of well-being in addition to the substantive needs.Conclusion: This study clearly showed that the SPF-Q is a valid and reliable instrument for the assessment of production needs among multimorbid patients. Given that multimorbidity is becoming the leading threat to population health, such an instrument can help to improve the ability to achieve well-being in this vulnerable population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homicidally bereaved individuals may experience symptoms of Complicated Grief (CG) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This Randomized Controlled Trial examined the effectiveness of an 8‐session treatment encompassing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to reduce self‐rated CG and PTSD symptoms in 85 Dutch adult homicidally bereaved men and women. We compared changes in symptoms of CG (assessed using the Inventory of Complicated Grief) and PTSD (assessed using the Impact of Event Scale) between an intervention group and a waitlist control group. The treatment was effective in reducing CG and PTSD symptoms, from pretreatment to posttreatment. It can be concluded that EMDR and CBT seem promising treatments for homicidally bereaved individuals for both men and women, and regardless of the time since the loss. Further research is needed to examine whether a combined treatment of EMDR and CBT together is of added value in situations where grief and trauma are intertwined over offering only one of the two treatment modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: A lack of prospective and longitudinal data on pre- and post-travel carriage of Blastocystis spp. complicates interpretation of a positive test post-travel. Therefore we studied dynamics of Blastocystis carriage in a cohort of Dutch travellers., Methods: From the prospective, multicentre COMBAT study among 2001 Dutch travellers, a subset of 491 travellers was selected based on travel destination to 7 subregions (70 or 71 travellers each). Faecal samples taken directly before and after travel were screened for Blastocystis with qPCR, followed, when positive, by sequence analysis to determine subtypes., Results: After exclusion of 12 samples with missing samples or inhibited qPCR-reactions, stool samples of 479 travellers were analysed. Before travel, 174 of them (36.3%) carried Blastocystis and in most of these, the same subtype was persistently carried. However, in 48/174 of those travellers (27.6%; CI95 20.8-36.6%) no Blastocystis or a different subtype was detected in the post-travel sample, indicating loss of Blastocystis during travel. Only 26 (5.4%; CI95 3.7%-8.0%) of all travellers acquired Blastocystis, including two individuals that were already positive for Blastocystis before travel but acquired a different subtype during travel., Discussion: This study shows that Blastocystis carriage in travellers is highly dynamic. The observed acquisition and loss of Blastocystis could either be travel-related or reflect the natural course of Blastocystis carriage. We demonstrate that the majority of Blastocystis detected in post-travel samples were already carried before travel., (Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)