Quality of Life and Health Promotion in Chronic Illness or Critical Medical Conditions: Implications for Integrated Health Care Delivery

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 1438

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Psychology Research Center (CIPsi), School of Psychology, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
Interests: impact of chronic illness in patients, family and/or caregivers; health and iIlness processes in vulnerable groups; individual and family health promotion; integrated health care
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue seeks to address the impact of chronic disease or critical medical conditions across an individual’s lifespan. The goal is to bring together researchers addressing quality of life and health promotion in chronic illness in order to inform high-quality integrated care programs to facilitate adaptation and treatment in patients, families and caregivers.

The current Special Issue welcomes research papers in the area of clinical health informed by all disciplines including, but not limited to, psychology, public health sciences, behavioral medicine, epidemiology, family therapy, and nursing, addressing patients, couples, families and caregivers. Research based on the integration between primary care and secondary care as well as between health care and community care are particularly welcome.

Dr. M. Graça Pereira
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • quality of life
  • health promotion
  • integrated healthcare
  • family
  • caregivers

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 631 KiB  
Article
Perceptions and Experiences of Parents of Burn-Injured Children during Hospital Stay: A Need for Integrated Care
by Martim Santos, Ana Ferraz, Maria Garcia and M. Graça Pereira
Healthcare 2024, 12(6), 614; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12060614 - 8 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1086
Abstract
Pediatric burn injuries are a critical medical condition that triggers a series of ongoing multifactorial stressors that affect both children and their families. To inform healthcare research and clinical practice, this study aimed to understand and describe the perceptions and experiences of the [...] Read more.
Pediatric burn injuries are a critical medical condition that triggers a series of ongoing multifactorial stressors that affect both children and their families. To inform healthcare research and clinical practice, this study aimed to understand and describe the perceptions and experiences of the parents of burn-injured children during hospital stay. Forty-six parents (thirty-eight mothers) of forty-six children (eighteen girls) with a mean age of 2.28 years (SD = 1.52) answered ten open-ended questions. This qualitative study was conducted in a referral hospital in the northern region of Portugal. Qualitative data were analyzed using an inductive content analysis. Five key themes emerged from the data analysis: diving into the crisis of the child burn injury, being together and in good hands, becoming aware of an uncertain future, enhancing supportive care and environment, and finding ways to guide parents. Qualitative findings underlined the pressing need for integrated care within this context. Parents were significantly burdened and distressed during the inpatient phase. These parents should be included in the integrated care plan starting from admission. Understanding and addressing parents’ healthcare needs and psychosocial adjustment difficulties is paramount to the development of future intervention programs and the delivery of suitable integrated healthcare. Full article
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