Search Results (13)

Objective: In this study, we aimed to examine the healing trend of hepatic encephalopathy after transplantation surgery in patients with liver failure. Method: We conducted this descriptive and cross-sectional study with the participation of liver transplant recipients. A personal information form, the West Haven Criteria (WHC), the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS), and the Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (RASS) were used for data collection. The data were analyzed using Chi-squared tests, ANOVA, and paired-samples t-tests. Results: As time progressed after liver transplantation, hepatic encephalopathy stages regressed (p < 0.01). We found that liver transplant recipients with end-stage hepatic encephalopathy were mostly within the first 6 months after transplantation, while patients with first-stage hepatic encephalopathy had received liver transplants more than 2 years ago (p < 0.01). Conclusions: The results of our study revealed that hepatic encephalopathy stages regressed after transplantation, but there was no complete recovery. This highlights the need to develop new treatment strategies other than liver transplantation for the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy. Full article

Evidence from studies in the global north has shown the beneficial effects of green spaces (GS) for our psychological and physiological health. In this study, we examine whether the connection between GS, wellbeing, and restoration is also applicable to low/middle-income countries (LMICs), using Tanzania as a case study. During May–July 2021, an online survey was conducted among 108 students and/or staff of the University of Dar es Salaam. Information was provided regarding exposure to campus’s green spaces (CGSs) measured by the NDVI and subjective questions relevant to accessibility/availability of CGS, duration and frequency of visits, as well as perceived greenness. Self-reported questions were also used for assessing the quality of CGSs and motives for using them. Mental wellbeing and restoration were measured with the Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Short Scale ((S)WEMWBS) and the Restoration Outcome Scale (ROS), respectively, while the Nature Relatedness Scale (NR-6) was used to determine the feelings and thoughts of our participants towards nature. Generalized linear regression indicated a positive relationship between the need to be close to nature and relaxation as motivators for visiting CG; (S)WEMWBS (p < 0.05). The same correlation was observed for the ROS (p < 0.01). The ROS was also positively associated with the NDVI (p < 0.01), age group of 18–25 (p < 0.05), and employment status (full time p < 0.01, part time p < 0.05). Our findings confirm that GS can be considered an effective tool for promoting SDG 3 and SDG 11 in LMICs. More importantly, urban planners should focus on the motives for using such places in order to make them inclusive and multifunctional. Full article

Whilst recognizing the abundantly positive aspects within the different domains of the veterinary profession, the challenging socio-economic and cultural working climate has been identified as a source of veterinary mental wellbeing issues. This mixed methods study provides an overview of the mental state of veterinarians across Europe via two cross-sectional surveys in 2018/2019 (n = 14,559 veterinarians) and in 2022/2023 (n = 12,393 veterinarians). Mental wellbeing was assessed using 3 indicators: self-reported stress levels, the need for medical leave due to reduced mental wellbeing (22% and 23%, resp., in 2018/2019 and 2022/2023) and the seven-question Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (2018/2019: 25, 2022/2023: 24.8). In both surveys, important differences were spotlighted between countries, but early-career veterinarians and female veterinarians were most at risk of decreased mental wellbeing all over Europe for all indicators. In conclusion, stress levels and need for medical leave due to reduced mental wellbeing remained at comparatively high levels across the two surveys and standardized mental wellbeing scores remained equally low. Notwithstanding the increased attention given to veterinary wellbeing in the last decade, our results underline that major efforts remain necessary, by creating more supportive and attractive workplaces that prioritize wellbeing, a good work/life balance, and providing job satisfaction. Full article

(1) Background: Adolescent refugees in Lebanon and Lebanese youth are both at high risk of suffering from reduced psychological well-being. Sport is an evidence-based strategy for improving mental and physical health, and climbing is a type of sport that may positively impact both. The aim of this study is to test the effect of a manualized, psychosocial group climbing intervention on the well-being, distress, self-efficacy, and social cohesion of adolescents in Lebanon. In addition, the mechanisms behind psychological changes will be investigated. (2) Methods: In this mixed-methods waitlist-controlled study, we are allocating a minimum of 160 participants to an intervention (IG) or a control group (CG). The primary outcome is overall mental well-being (WEMWBS) after the 8-week intervention. Secondary outcomes include distress symptoms (K-6 Distress Scale), self-efficacy (General Self-Efficacy Scale; GSE), and social cohesion. Potential mechanisms of change and implementation factors are being investigated through qualitative interviews with a subgroup of 40 IG participants. (3) Conclusions: The results may contribute to knowledge of sports interventions and their effects on psychological well-being and will provide insights regarding low-intensity interventions for supporting adolescent refugees and host populations in conflict-affected settings. The study was prospectively registered at the ISRCTN platform (current-controlled trials). ISRCTN13005983. Full article

Parents of children with disabilities face challenges in their daily lives, but little is known about their experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of the study was to explore the experiences of parents of children with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec, Canada. Forty parents of children with disabilities from Quebec, Canada (mean [SD] age: 41.2 [6.7]; 93% women) were selected from the Ma Vie et la pandémie (MAVIPAN) study. All 40 parents completed the MAVIPAN online questionnaires including the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing short 7-item scale (WEMWBS), Social Provisions Scale-10 item (SPS-10), and the UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS). A multi-method analysis was used to summarize questionnaires and thematically explore parents’ experiences. Parents reported deterioration in their mental (50.0%) and physical (27.5%) health, with moderate levels of depression, stress, and anxiety, yet moderately positive well-being. Additional experiences included reduction in available supports (71.4%) and feelings of social isolation (51.4%). Our results highlighted reduced mental and physical health, limited and modified access to certain services, and reduction of social supports for some parents of children with disabilities. Health professionals, policymakers, and governments should be mindful of these challenges experienced by parents of children with disabilities. Full article

Introduction: The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) is a commonly used scale of mental wellbeing focusing entirely on the positive aspect of mental health. It has been widely used in a broad range of clinical and research settings, including to evaluate if interventions, programmes or pilots improve wellbeing. We aimed to systematically review all interventions that used WEMWBS and evaluate which interventions are the most effective at improving wellbeing. Methods: Eligible populations included children and adults, with no health or age restrictions. Any intervention study was eligible if the wellbeing outcome was measured using the 7 or 14-item WEMWBS scale assessed both pre- and post-intervention. We identified eligible intervention studies using three approaches: a database search (Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, PyschInfo and Web of Science from January 2007 to present), grey literature search, and by issuing a call for evidence. Narrative synthesis and random-effects meta-analysis of standardised mean differences in the intervention group were used to summarise intervention effects on WEMWBS score. Results: We identified 223 interventions across 209 studies, with a total of 53,834 participants across all studies. Five main themes of interventions were synthesised: psychological (n = 80); social (n = 54); arts, culture and environment (n = 29); physical health promotion (n = 18); and other (n = 28). Psychological interventions based on resilience, wellbeing or self-management techniques had the strongest effect on wellbeing. A broad range of other interventions were effective at improving mental wellbeing, including other psychological interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapy, psychoeducation and mindfulness. Medium to strong effects were also seen for person-centred support/advice (social), arts-based, parenting (social) and social prescribing interventions. However, a major limitation of the evidence was that only 75 (36%) of studies included a control group. Conclusions: WEMWBS has been widely used to assess wellbeing across a diverse range of interventions, settings and samples. Despite substantial heterogeneity in individual intervention design, delivery and groups targeted, results indicate that a broad range of intervention types can successfully improve wellbeing. Methodological changes, such as greater use of control groups in intervention evaluation, can help future researchers and policy makers further understand what works for mental wellbeing. Full article

The objective of this study was to compare the mental well-being of French women who were and were not pregnant during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. We performed a nationwide online quantitative survey including all women between 18 and 45 years of age during the second and third weeks of global lockdown (25 March–7 April 2020). The main outcome measure was mental well-being measured by the Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS). This study analysed 275 responses from pregnant women and compared them with those from a propensity score–matched sample of 825 non-pregnant women. In this French sample, the median WEMWBS score was 49.0 and did not differ by pregnancy status. Women living in urban areas reported better well-being, while those with sleep disorders or who spent more than an hour a day watching the news reported poorer well-being. During the first lockdown in France, women had relatively low mental well-being scores, with no significant difference between pregnant and non-pregnant women. More than ever, health-care workers need to find a way to maintain their support for women’s well-being. Minor daily annoyances of pregnancy, such as insomnia, should not be trivialised because they are a potential sign of poor well-being. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic has had global effects on all industries and on people around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has had repercussions both politically and economically, as well as on society and the individual, i.e., on the human psyche. Although the effects on the human psyche have been highlighted in research, the well-being of the individual in correlation with social perception have not been addressed in this context but in different situations. The review of the relevant literature has also identified a knowledge gap concerning online vs. face-to-face learning, from the perspective of psychological, pedagogical and managerial factors. The present study aims to address the relationship of well-being—social perception—academic performance during the COVID-19 pandemic on a group of students from the Faculty of Engineering in Sibiu, Romania. Three types of instruments were used to evaluate the studied characteristics: the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS), the SKS method for generating feedback and the grid for assessing knowledge. The results showed the increase of the three parameters studied, after quarantine. The conclusions of the research are that, despite the greater variation in mood, caused by stress, anxiety and tension, the well-being of the subjects increased and the positive feedback provided increased significantly. The results lead to the formation of a positive self-image of students, which also has an impact on learning outcomes. Full article

Many studies have proved that having nature experiences in forests is conducive to human physiological and psychological health. However, currently there is little research focusing on the effects of forest characteristics and the experiential characteristics of nature experiences on changes in health. In the study, three types of forest (mixed forest; deciduous forest; coniferous forest) and an urban site were used to measure the effects of these environments on participants’ physiological and psychological restoration after nature experience activities (sitting and walking activities). The study participants were 30 young adult students from Beijing Forestry University. Restorative effects were measured by physiological indicators (blood pressure and heart rate) and four psychological questionnaires (Profile of Mood States (POMS); Restorative Outcome Scale (ROS); Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS); Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS)). Results demonstrated that all types of forest were beneficial to lower blood pressure and heart rate as well as to reduce negative feelings while boosting positive emotions. The mixed forest was more effective in lowering blood pressure and heart rate as well as increasing vitality. The levels of restoration and positive mental health increased significantly, while all subscales of the POMS (with the exception of vigor) decreased greatly in the coniferous forest. Relative to the sitting activity, obvious decreases in blood pressure and negative emotions were observed, while significant increases in restoration, vitality and positive mental health were observed after the walking activity. In conclusion, the impact on subjects’ health restoration varied with different forest characteristics, and the experiential characteristics of exposure may be helpful for creating supportive interventions and lifting the benefits of forest therapy as people interact with the forest. Full article

Background: Despite an alarming rise in the global prevalence of dementia, the available modalities for improving cognition and mental wellbeing of dementia patients remain limited. Environmental enrichment is an experimental paradigm that has shown promising anti-depressive and memory-enhancing effects in pre-clinical studies. However, its clinical utility has remained limited due to the lack of effective implementation strategies. Objective: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the usability (tolerability and interactivity) of a long-term virtual reality (VR)- based environmental enrichment training program in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild dementia. A secondary objective was to assess the effect of VR-based environmental enrichment on stabilization of cognitive functioning and improvement of mental wellbeing in older adults with MCI and mild dementia. Methods: A total of seven participants (four patients with MCI and three with mild dementia) received biweekly VR-based environmental enrichment over a course of 6 months. The tolerability and interactivity of the participants in the VR training was serially assessed via virtual reality sickness questionnaire (VRSQ) and recording of input-error ratio. Cognitive functioning was assessed through Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) before and after the study. Mental wellbeing was assessed through Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well Being Scale (WEMWBS). Results: VR-based environmental enrichment was well-tolerated by the patients with significant decrease in VRSQ scores (p < 0.01) and input-error ratio (p < 0.001) overtime. VR training was also effective in stabilization of MoCA scores over the course of therapy (non-significant difference in the MoCA scores before and after the therapy) and was associated with a trend (p < 0.1) towards improvement in WEMWBS scores between the first and the last assessments. Qualitative observations by the care-givers further corroborated a noticeable improvement in mental wellbeing of patients. Conclusions: This pilot study shows that VR can be a feasible, tolerable, and potentially effective tool in long-term support of older adults with MCI and mild dementia. Full article

The benefits of mindfulness meditation among clinical and non-clinical populations have been largely reported in literature. Existing mindfulness-based programs are particularly useful in targeting specific populations while researchers have pointed out the possibility of developing programs adapted to the audience and the context. In this two-groups pre-post experimental design we developed a mindfulness-based social intervention program to target individuals from the general population. Here we present a two-groups pre-post experimental design to investigate its effectiveness on participants’ psychological functioning assessed by eight self-reported questionnaires (CORE-OM, FFMQ, SWLS, PANAS, PSS, SCS, WEMWBS, SHS) which encompass different domains of well-being, mindfulness and emotional functioning. Participants, recruited on voluntary basis, were randomly allocated to treated or passive control groups and were aware of group allocation. The intervention comprises a 12-week meditation training in a big group that represents the social aspect of meditation. Data were analysed via a linear mixed effect model and intention to treat. Statistically significant results were obtained for global score of CORE-OM (β = −0.20 [−0.30; −0.10], p = 0.0002), FFMQ (β = 0.20 [0.12; −0.28], p < 0.0001), SWLS (β = 1.43 [0.42; 2.45], p = 0.006), positive PANAS (β = 1.99 [0.95; 3.04], p = 0.0002), negative PANAS (β = −1.67 [−2.92; −0.43], p = 0.009), PSS (β = −2.98 [−4.25; −1.71], p < 0.0001), WEMWBS (β = 4.38 [2.93; 5.83], p < 0.0001) and SHS (β = 1.43 [0.42; 2.45], p = 0.006). Our intervention is causally associated with an improvement of the psychological functioning and hence can be considered as a preventive measure that may potentially reduce the risk of developing psychological problems and improve the subject’s general well-being. Given the voluntary recruitment, our inference only applies to those individuals who have decided to experience meditation as a way to well-being and not to a random person from the general population. Full article

The association between physical activity (PA) and mental well-being in individuals with a cardiovascular disease (CVD) is poorly studied. The objective of this study was to assess the association between mental well-being and adherence to the recommended guidelines for PA in a Scottish adult population with CVD. The study used data from 3128 adults who had CVD conditions (1547 men and 1581 women; mean age 63.29 years) who participated in the Scottish Health Survey between 2014 and 2017. The Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) was used as a surrogate measure of mental health. PA was classified as “met” or “unmet” on the basis of the recommended PA guidelines (150 min of moderate activity or 75 min of vigorous activity per week). The relationship between PA guidelines being met and the WEMWBS score was explored using hierarchical linear regression accounting for a set of health and sociodemographic characteristics. Of the participants, ~41.8% met the recommended PA levels. Among those with CVD, the mean (SD) WEMWBS scores of individuals who did not have a long-standing illness (51.14 ± 7.65 vs 47.07 ± 9.54; p < 0.05), diabetes (48.44 ± 9.05 vs 46.04 ± 10.25; p < 0.05), or high blood pressure (48.63 ± 9.08 vs 47.52 ± 9.47; p < 0.05) were significantly higher than those of individuals with such conditions. Meeting PA recommendations was significantly associated with a higher mean WEMWBS score (50.64 ± 7.97 vs 46.06 ± 9.75; p < 0.05). Multiple regression analysis of health-related behaviors improved the prediction of mental well-being over and above meeting the recommended PA levels. Mental well-being was strongly correlated with PA adherence in CVD patients. It seems that for patients with CVD, PA should be tailored to meet patients’ health conditions in order to promote mental well-being and improve overall health. Full article

In times of rapid urbanization, health and well-being of citizens is increasingly recognized as a challenge. A remarkable amount of research on relations between urban environments and health or well-being has been conducted. To get an insight about the existing measurements on both health combined with well-being, a systematic literature search was conducted using the databases PubMed and ScienceDirect including references until July 2017. To classify the references a conceptual model describing interrelationships between factors that may be associated with health-related urban well-being was used. The keywords “urban”, “well-being”, and “health” were applied together with factors described in the model. Twenty-four articles met the inclusion criteria. Of these, most studies focused on associations between urban green, health and well-being showing the great importance of green space usage in urban settings to promote better health and well-being. Health was mostly assessed by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12); to measure well-being, the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) was mostly used. There are still only a few studies investigating the great complexity of urban health and well-being. More specifically, there is a lack in interdisciplinary approaches that highlight the complexity of urban structures and dynamics and their possible influence on urban health and well-being. Full article