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PubMedDate not supplied

The effectiveness of family planning clinics in serving adolescents.

Data from surveys conducted by The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) in 1981 have been used to create three indicators of the effectiveness of family planning clinics in serving teenagers: the mean delay between first intercourse and first clinic visit (which for teenage clinic patients is 13.2 months); teenage patient retention (67 percent; and the average excess of patient satisfaction over dissatisfaction with clinic policies and services (33 percent). Clinics run by Planned Parenthood are more effective than other types of facility, according to the mean delay indicator, whereas other clinics, such as those associated with community action programs and neighborhood health centers, rank highest in levels of patient satisfaction and patient retention. All three measures indicate that clinics serving 1,000-2,499 family planning patients per year are more effective in serving teenagers than either smaller or larger clinics, and that nonmetropolitan clinics are more effective in providing services than those in cities. Regression analysis shows that clinic administrators might take a number of actions to shorten the mean delay among teenagers between first intercourse and first clinic visit. These include offering community education programs for teenagers, enlisting the support of local churches, developing relationships with local youth groups, opening the clinic during evenings and weekends, accepting more teenagers as walk-in patients and locating a clinic in or near neighborhoods where many teenagers live. Two of the same factors--developing an active relationship with youth groups and opening the clinic to teenagers on evenings and weekends--were also found to be particularly effective in keeping teenagers as clinic patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Tween consumers: catalog clothing purchase behavior.

The purpose of this study was to compare the catalog shopping behavior of students in their tween years (i.e., between childhood and adolescence; ages 12-14) with that of older students (ages 15-18). Junior high and high school students who had purchased clothing from a catalog in the past 12 months responded to a questionnaire that examined the label information sought and product-specific attributes considered. Results indicated that tweens were more concerned with style, brand names, and the latest fashion than were older students. This finding was especially interesting, as these attributes all relate to status; the tweens were more interested than the older students in wearing the latest fashions, being in style, and gaining the prestige of wearing brand-name clothing. This supports previous findings indicating that the tween years are a time when peer pressure and "fitting in" are very important.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Importation of prescription medications: experiences, opinions, and intended behaviors of U.S. community pharmacists.

OBJECTIVE: To describe community pharmacists' experiences with consumer demand for imported pharmaceuticals and their opinions about economic, policy, and patient care issues surrounding importation of medications and their willingness to procure these products from international sources, if legally permitted. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Four states in the United States (Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, and Florida). PARTICIPANTS: Community/outpatient pharmacists. INTERVENTIONS: Telephone-based survey conducted in March 2004. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Self-reported opinions of pharmacists on importation of prescription drugs. RESULTS: Of 401 respondents, approximately 90% agreed that the Medicare prescription drug benefit would not diminish consumer interest in importation of medications, and a similar proportion agreed that interest was not limited to the elderly. A majority of pharmacists (69%) agreed that their primary concern about importation was the quality (i.e., purity) of the drugs. However, 57% of pharmacists agreed that drugs purchased through Canada would not pose a greater risk of medication-related problems if U.S. pharmacists oversaw the process and were available to provide patient monitoring and education. Pharmacists strongly favored regulatory actions that might decrease counterfeiting. Nearly one third (32%) of pharmacists believed that consumers should be allowed to purchase medications from Canada legally, while 44% of pharmacists believed that pharmacies should be able to procure prescription drugs from Canada legally. Almost 70% of pharmacists said that they would consider ordering medications from Canada, if legally permitted. Approximately one half of the pharmacists surveyed were concerned about job security as a result of the trend toward importation. This concern was significantly higher among pharmacy owners (chi-square [df= 1] = 9.82; P < .01). CONCLUSION: Pharmacists expressed concern about safety, liability, and the economic ramifications of prescription drug importation. More favorable opinions were expressed for situations in which imported drugs would be channeled through U.S. pharmacies.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1985

A survey of patient satisfaction, knowledge and compliance.

A survey was carried out by telephone on 201 patients receiving continuing care from internists for commonly occurring chronic conditions. Although 90% of patients knew the names and therapeutic purposes of the drugs prescribed for them, only 30% could name any side effects to watch for. Almost 90% were satisfied with their physicians' explanations but only 58% actually had a good understanding of their condition. More than 90% complied with their drug regimen but only 39% adhered to the prescribed low-sodium diet and only 55% of diabetic patients tested their urines as instructed. Overall, degree of satisfaction and knowledge of their own condition did not correlate with degree of compliance. Patients need more adequate education regarding their condition and potential side effects of drugs. More systematic attention should also be given to methods of motivating patients to comply with regimens that require a change in behavior.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMed1995

[Voluntary, controlled limited reproduction in humans--a conflict to modern evolutionary biology?].

In western industrialized countries it is widespread to limit individual reproduction voluntarily and deliberately. This phenomenon of minimizing reproduction conflicts with the maximization of biological fitness, expected on the basis of sociobiology. Some positions and attitudes of demography and sociobiology that appear to be contradictive are critically discussed, and with several examples it is expounded that we are dealing with misunderstanding rather than inconsistencies in many cases. The majority of misunderstandings can be put down to an inadequate differentiation between proximate and ultimate levels of causation. However, proximate interpretations of the problem of minimizing reproduction from a sociobiological perspective are frequently unsatisfactory. Therefore, the demographic model of "competing pleasures of life" (Konkurrenz der Genüsse) was connected with evolutionary biology. Combining demographic and biological aspects reveals that human striving for material and non-material values (pleasures of life), originally was highly adaptive and fitness-enhancing as behaviors to acquire resources and secure social status. Not until a society offered a variety of behavioral and consumer alternatives and simultaneously sophisticated methods of contraception these behavioral patterns dissociated from their function of survival and became independent.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Psychosocial and demographic variables associated with consumer intention to purchase sustainably produced foods as defined by the Midwest Food Alliance.

OBJECTIVE: To examine psychosocial and demographic variables associated with consumer intention to purchase sustainably produced foods using an expanded Theory of Planned Behavior. DESIGN: Consumers were approached at the store entrance and asked to complete a self-administered survey. SETTING: Three metropolitan Minnesota grocery stores. PARTICIPANTS: Participants (n = 550) were adults who shopped at the store: the majority were white, female, and highly educated and earned >or= 50,000 dollars/year. Participation rates averaged 62%. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The major domain investigated was consumer support for sustainably produced foods. Demographics, beliefs, attitudes, subjective norm, and self-identity and perceived behavioral control were evaluated as predictors of intention to purchase them. ANALYSIS: Descriptive statistics, independent t tests, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson product moment correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression analyses (P <.05). RESULTS: Consumers were supportive of sustainably produced foods but not highly confident in their ability to purchase them. Independent predictors of intention to purchase them included attitudes, beliefs, perceived behavioral control, subjective norm, past buying behavior, and marital status. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Beliefs, attitudes, and confidence level may influence intention to purchase sustainably produced foods. Nutrition educators could increase consumers' awareness of sustainably produced foods by understanding their beliefs, attitudes, and confidence levels.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

HealthStyles: a new psychographic segmentation system for health care marketers.

HealthStyles is a new psychographic segmentation system specifically designed for the health care industry. This segmentation system goes beyond traditional geographic and demographic analysis and examines health-related consumer attitudes and behaviors. Four statistically distinct "styles" of consumer health care preferences have been identified. The profiles of the four groups have substantial marketing implications in terms of design and promotion of products and services. Each segment of consumers also has differing expectations of physician behavior.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1997

Consumer reports in health care. Do they make a difference in patient care?

CONTEXT: Consumer reports in health care are a relatively recent phenomenon. Primarily designed to assist consumers in making more informed decisions about their personal health care, they appear to have an important by-product-they led to positive changes in the behavior of clinicians and health care delivery organizations. While there has been much speculation on their impact on health care consumer behavior, consumer reports offer an effective strategy in improving the quality of patient care. OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of an obstetrics consumer report developed and issued by the Missouri Department of Health on hospital behavior. DESIGN AND SETTING: A retrospective study of hospital behavior using both primary survey and secondary clinical data. PARTICIPANTS: Consumer reports were issued in 1993 to all Missouri hospitals providing obstetrical services (n=90). A survey was conducted a year later, and the results were analyzed with other available data to determine the effect of the report. Two hospitals discontinued obstetrical services by the time of the survey; of the remaining 88 hospitals, 82 (93%) responded to the survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The following outcomes were examined: (1) number and percentage of hospitals that previously did not have services at the time report was issued, but had, or planned to have, services after a guide was published; (2) the percentage of obstetrical policies that were changed, planned to change, or are under discussion for change (car seat program, obstetrical follow-up services, formal transfer agreement, nurse educator for breast-feeding, and availability of tubal ligations); and (3) clinical outcomes, including satisfaction, appropriateness of charges, and the rates of cesarean delivery, high-risk infant transfer, ultrasound, vaginal birth after cesarean, very low birth weight, and newborn death. RESULTS: Within 1 year of the report, approximately 50% of hospitals that did not have car seat programs, formal transfer agreements, or nurse educators for breast-feeding prior to the report either instituted or planned to institute these services. Hospitals in competitive markets that did not offer one of these services at the time of the report were more likely to institute a service and/or were about twice as likely to consider improving several indicators. Clinical outcome indicators all improved in the expected direction. CONCLUSION: Public release of consumer reports may be useful not only in assisting consumers to make informed health care choices, but also in facilitating improvement in the quality of hospital services offered and care provided. Changes occur especially in competitive markets.

Cesarean Section↗
PubMed1995

Associations between diet and health behavior: results from the 1992 Rhode Island Behavioral Risk Factor Survey.

The 1992 Rhode Island Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System was used to assess self-reported health behaviors of consumers of finfish and raw shellfish. We hypothesized that consumers of finfish, foods considered to be healthy, were more likely than nonconsumers of finfish to partake in health-promoting behaviors. Similarly, we postulated that consumers of raw molluscan shellfish, foods linked to an elevated risk of acquiring various illnesses, were more likely than nonconsumers of raw-shellfish to partake in risk-taking behaviors. Finfish eaters were significantly more likely than abstainers to report recent exercise, efforts to lose weight, periodic monitoring of serum cholesterol, and not currently being smokers. Raw shellfish eaters were significantly more likely than abstainers to report recent acute and chronic alcohol consumption. The results suggest that inquiry into dietary patterns may be an avenue for exploring other health behaviors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Satisfaction with health services: some policy implications.

Although consumer satisfaction with health services is a frequently measured variable in health services research, the relevance of this variable for health policy is not always clear. The present paper suggests two criteria for specifying the relevance of satisfaction with health services for policy at the organizational level. First, it should be shown that consumer satisfaction is the result of organizational behaviors that are manipulable by policy. second, where he has a choice, it should be shown that satisfaction affects the organizationally relevant behavior of the consumer. Data are presented that support both criteria. Several suggestions are made for maximizing the policy relevance of future studies of satisfaction.

Appointments and Schedules↗
PubMed2005

Predicting participation and outcomes in out-of-school activities: similarities and differences across social ecologies.

The majority of research on out-of-school-time activity participation has focused on its relation to academic and social development, presumed to be consequences of participation, rather than on antecedents or predictors of participation. Understanding who participates in these programs can assist program directors in improving and sustaining youth involvement. This chapter uses data from two research study samples to examine differences in children's activity participation based on family social ecology and child gender and how the relations between participation and outcomes vary based on sample, gender, and activity type. Although children in both samples were of roughly the same age and were assessed for similar outcomes, their family incomes, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and neighborhoods were very different. Findings suggest that participation in activities varies depending on the young person's social ecology, age, and gender. Furthermore, participation in activities was typically associated with positive youth outcomes, but these relations varied depending on the level of youth participation, type of activity, and social ecology.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Recruitment and retention strategies for out-of-school-time programs.

Many out-of-school-time (OST) practitioners seek ways to maximize enrollment, enhance frequency of participation, and ensure retention in OST programs, so that the multiple potential benefits of these programs are realized. Three critical areas of program quality are important underpinnings for success in recruitment and retention of youth in OST programs: a sense of safety and community; committed program staff; and challenging, age-appropriate, and fun activities. In addition, a review of over sixty OST evaluations reveals five promising recruitment strategies to boost enrollment: (1) matching the program to participants' needs (offering activities not readily available elsewhere or offering flexible schedules), (2) demonstrating the importance of participation to young people and their families, (3) reaching out directly to youth and their families in their homes and communities, (4) recruiting in peer circles, and (5) making a special effort to recruit at-risk youth. Finally, the evaluation literature points to five promising strategies to enhance regular participation and longterm program retention: (1) sending a clear message that regular attendance is important; (2) setting realistic goals to promote regular attendance, especially as youth grow older; (3) finding a balance among academic and other activities; (4) using incentives; and (5) keeping teens involved with opportunities for leadership, community service, and paid employment.

Adolescent↗