Research findings reveal the need to create changes within clinical practice, regarding how to take care of the family involved in a death process in an emergency service. From the needs detected by the participants, it could be possible to implement an interventional program, which offers to the relatives the emotional support they may need. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Objective To assess the effectiveness of Problem-Solving Therapy (PST) on family caregivers through the use of scales to measure anxiety, depression and emotional distress; and to explore facilitating factors and obstacles for its use based on the narrative of nurses. Method A clinical trial and an exploratory focus group with the use of mixed analysis methodology. The study was conducted in a primary health care center in Tarragona, Spain, and the sample consisted of 122 family caregivers who were included in the home care service, and 10 nurses who participated in the intervention group. Family caregivers with evident symptoms of anxiety, depression and emotional distress received PST in the intervention group. The intervention group also consisted of a discussion with eight nurses, which was transcribed and submitted to content analysis. Conclusion Problem-Solving Therapy proved to be effective in reducing perceived anxiety, depression and emotional distress. We identified its strong points and obstacles as described by nurses.

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New reperfusion therapies have improved the clinical recovery rates of acute ischemic stroke patients (AISP), but it is not known whether other factors, such as the ability to cope, might also have an effect. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of endovascular treatment (EVT) on coping strategies, quality of life, and neurological and functional outcomes in AISP at 3 months and 1 year post-stroke. A multicenter, prospective, longitudinal, and comparative study of a sub-study of the participants in the Endovascular Revascularization with Solitaire Device versus Best Medical Therapy in Anterior Circulation Stroke within 8 Hours (REVASCAT) clinical trial was conducted after recruiting from two stroke centers in Catalonia, Spain. The cohort consisted of 82 ischemic stroke patients (n = 42 undergoing EVT and n = 40 undergoing standard best medical treatment (BMT) as a control group), enrolled between 2013–2015. We assessed the coping strategies using the Brief Coping Questionnaire (Brief-COPE-28), the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) with the EQ-5D questionnaire, and the neurological and functional status using the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Barthel Index (BI), modified Rankin Scale (mRS), and Stroke Impact Scale-16 (SIS-16). Bivariate analyses and multivariate linear regression models were used. EVT patients were the ones that showed better neurological and functional outcomes, and more patients presented reporting no pain/discomfort at 3 months; paradoxically, problem-focused coping strategies were found to be significantly higher in patients treated with BMT at 1 year.