PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

The role of the primary care physician in the care of children with serious heart disease.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the roles of primary care physicians and specialists in the medical care of children with serious heart disease. SETTING: Pediatric Cardiology Division; Tertiary Care Children's Hospital. SUBJECTS: Convenience sample of parents, primary care physicians, and pediatric cardiologists of 92 children with serious heart disease. DESIGN: Questionnaire study; questionnaires based on 16 medical care needs, encompassing basic primary care services, care specific to the child's heart disease and general issues related to chronic illness. RESULTS: All children had a primary care physician (PCP), and both they and the parents (P) reported high utilization of PCP for basic primary care services. However, there was little involvement of PCP in providing care for virtually any aspect of the child's heart disease. Parents expressed a low level of confidence in the ability of PCP in general or their child's own PCP to meet many of their child's medical care needs. Both PCP and pediatric cardiologists (PC) were significantly more likely than parents to see a role for PCP in providing for care specific to the heart disease as well as more general issues related to chronic illness. PC and PCP generally agreed about the role PCP should play, although PC saw a bigger role for PCP in providing advice about the child's activity than PCP themselves did. PC were less likely to see the PCP as able to follow the child for long term complications than PCP did. PC were more likely than PCP to believe that PCP were too busy or were inadequately reimbursed to care for children with serious heart disease. Only about one-third of parents reported discussing psychosocial, family, economic, or genetic issues with any provider, and PCP were rarely involved in these aspects of chronic illness. CONCLUSIONS: Primary care physicians do not take an active role in managing either the condition-specific or the more general aspects of this serious chronic childhood illness. With appropriate information and support from their specialist colleagues primary care physicians could provide much of the care for this group of children. Generalists and specialists are both responsible for educating and influencing parents about the role primary care physicians can play in caring for children with serious chronic illness.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Intercultural communication competence in family medicine: lessons from the field.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the challenges for immigrant patients and their physicians and their skills in intercultural communication (ICC). METHODS: We videotaped one clinical encounter for each of 24 psychologically distressed patients visiting their regular family physician. The physician and the patient, each separately, viewed the videotape of their clinical encounter and commented on important moments identified by the participant or the researchers. RESULTS: Patients and/or physicians lacked knowledge of the effects of culture on the doctor-patient relationship and expressions of distress as well as the effects of immigrant-specific stress on health. Most subjects were motivated to have an interpersonal, rather than an intercultural encounter. Physicians and patients demonstrated the skills needed to achieve an interpersonal encounter. Some physicians and their patients achieved intercultural meetings as a result of their interpersonal interactions over a period of years. DISCUSSION: Lack of formal training partly explains why most participants demonstrated an elementary level of ICC. In addition, Identity Management Theory and Co-cultural Theory explain some of the barriers to ICC. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Providing physicians with formal training in intercultural communication and empowerment training for patients is likely to improve the quality of care of immigrants.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Health visitors' knowledge, attitudes and practices in childhood accident prevention.

BACKGROUND: The importance of the health visitor's role in childhood accident prevention has long been recognized, although previous work suggests that many health visitors are unsure of that role, feel inadequately prepared for it and recognize significant constraints on their accident prevention activity. The Health of the nation suggested that specific accident prevention activities should be undertaken by health visitors. This study aims to assess whether those activities are currently part of routine health visiting practice, as well as the attitudes towards accident prevention and knowledge of childhood accidental injury epidemiology. METHOD: A postal questionnaire survey covering knowledge, attitudes and practices in accident prevention as well as personal characteristics was sent to all health visitors in Nottinghamshire, using the community unit trusts' list of employees as the sampling frame. RESULTS: A response rate of 88.5 per cent was obtained. The majority of health visitors were aware that accidental injuries are the most common cause of death in childhood above the age of one year. The majority of health visitors were also aware of the types of accident most likely to be fatal, and aware of the risk factors for childhood accidental injuries. Many health visitors held positive attitudes towards all accident prevention activities covered in the questionnaire. There was a positive correlation between attitude and knowledge scores (p < 0.01). There were some discrepancies between attitudes and current practices, particularly in the areas of teaching first aid to parents' groups and lobbying or campaigning on local safety issues. CONCLUSIONS: Although many health visitors hold positive attitudes towards, and currently undertake many of the accident prevention activities suggested in the Health of the nation, there are areas where practice could be improved, such as giving advice about stockists of safety equipment including local loan schemes, undertaking first aid sessions in parents' groups and lobbying or campaigning on local safety issues.

Accident Prevention↗

How can experience in clinical and community settings contribute to early medical education? A BEME systematic review.

REVIEW DATE: Review period January 1992-December 2001. Final analysis July 2004-January 2005. BACKGROUND AND REVIEW CONTEXT: There has been no rigorous systematic review of the outcomes of early exposure to clinical and community settings in medical education. OBJECTIVES OF REVIEW: Identify published empirical evidence of the effects of early experience in medical education, analyse it, and synthesize conclusions from it. Identify the strengths and limitations of the research effort to date, and identify objectives for future research. SEARCH STRATEGY: Ovid search of: BEI, ERIC, Medline, CINAHL and EMBASE Additional electronic searches of: Psychinfo, Timelit, EBM reviews, SIGLE, and the Cochrane databases. Hand-searches of:Medical Education, Medical Teacher, Academic Medicine, Teaching and Learning in Medicine, Advances in Health Sciences Education, Journal of Educational Psychology. CRITERIA DEFINITIONS EXPERIENCE: Authentic (real as opposed to simulated) human contact in a social or clinical context that enhances learning of health, illness and/or disease, and the role of the health professional. Early: What would traditionally have been regarded as the preclinical phase, usually the first 2 years. Inclusions: All empirical studies (verifiable, observational data) of early experience in the basic education of health professionals, whatever their design or methodology, including papers not in English. Evidence from other health care professions that could be applied to medicine was included. EXCLUSIONS: Not empirical; not early; post-basic; simulated rather than 'authentic' experience. DATA COLLECTION: Careful validation of selection processes. Coding by two reviewers onto an extensively modified version of the standard BEME coding sheet. Accumulation into an Access database. Secondary coding and synthesis of an interpretation. HEADLINE RESULTS: A total of 73 studies met the selection criteria and yielded 277 educational outcomes; 116 of those outcomes (from 38 studies) were rated strong and important enough to include in a narrative synthesis of results; 76% of those outcomes were from descriptive studies and 24% from comparative studies. Early experience motivated and satisfied students of the health professions and helped them acclimatize to clinical environments, develop professionally, interact with patients with more confidence and less stress, develop self-reflection and appraisal skill, and develop a professional identity. It strengthened their learning and made it more real and relevant to clinical practice. It helped students learn about the structure and function of the healthcare system, and about preventive care and the role of health professionals. It supported the learning of both biomedical and behavioural/social sciences and helped students acquire communication and basic clinical skills. There were outcomes for beneficiaries other than students, including teachers, patients, populations, organizations and specialties. Early experience increased recruitment to primary care/rural medical practice, though mainly in US studies which introduced it for that specific purpose as part of a complex intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Early experience helps medical students socialize to their chosen profession. It helps them acquire a range of subject matter and makes their learning more real and relevant. It has potential benefits for other stakeholders, notably teachers and patients. It can influence career choices.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Smoking patterns among primary health care attendees, Al-Qassim region, Saudi Arabia.

Prevalence, sociodemographic patterns and medical co-morbidity of smoking among a cross-section of primary health care (PHC) clients in Saudi Arabia were examined. We used a 44-item semistructured questionnaire to collect data from 1752 patients at 25 randomly selected PHC centres. Percentage of smoking was 52.3%. Although 85% were adult smokers, 8.6% began smoking before age 12. Smokers gave overlapping reasons to smoke including peer pressure; non-smokers gave religious and health logics against smoking. Of all smokers, 92.8% wanted to learn cessation strategies, 11.8% were ignorant of hazards and 32.4% reported manifestations of nicotine withdrawal. Besides alcohol use (13.4%), 81.8% had co-morbid physical disease.

Adolescent↗

Barriers to immunisation in general practice.

OBJECTIVE: To identify barriers to immunisation in general practice. METHOD: The study was conducted in Perth, Western Australia, as a cross-sectional postal survey between November 1996 and January 1997. Questionnaires were sent to all known GPs in three of the seven metropolitan Divisions of General Practice, of whom 301 (72%) responded. RESULTS: When a child presented with a minor illness and there were no contraindications to immunisation, 62% of GPs said they would always or frequently offer immunisation. Immunisation would be withheld incorrectly because of an upper respiratory tract infection by 43% of GPs and because of antibiotics by 50%. Combined diphtheria-tetanus vaccine (CDT) would be substituted incorrectly for diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (DTP) by 41% if there was an unexplained temperature of 38 degrees C following a previous dose of DTP. While more than half (56%) reported that vaccines were correctly stored, only 26% reported that the refrigerator temperature was checked daily. Eighty per cent reported that they completed an Australian Childhood Immunisation Register notification form. CONCLUSIONS: GPs require ongoing education about contra-indications to immunisation and when substitution of CDT for DTP is required. There is room for increased opportunistic immunisation and encouragement to notify the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register when they immunise a child. IMPLICATIONS: A major challenge is to find an innovative approach that would encourage and enable GPs to assess immunisation status and offer immunisation where appropriate at every clinical encounter.

Adult↗

Counseling smoking parents of young children: comparison of pediatricians and family physicians.

BACKGROUND: Secondhand smoke is a major cause of morbidity in young children, and exposure to smoking parents is the principal source. Physician visits for young children present an opportunity to effect behavioral change among smoking parents. OBJECTIVE: To survey pediatricians and family physicians in their knowledge and practice of smoking cessation counseling with parents. DESIGN: Cross-sectional mail survey. SETTING: Urban California. PARTICIPANTS: Pediatricians and family physicians in urban areas of California, younger than 65 years, practicing in an ambulatory setting, and randomly selected from the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Reported frequency of asking about tobacco use, using cessation counseling techniques with smokers, and perceived barriers to providing cessation services. RESULTS: Of the 1000 mailed surveys, 899 were eligible and 499 (56% response rate) were returned and completed. A higher proportion of pediatricians compared with family physicians were women (44% vs 29%; P<.01) and nonwhite (44% vs 32%; P =.01). Family physicians compared with pediatricians were more likely to report referring a parent to a smoking cessation program (41% vs 30%), giving pamphlets on smoking cessation (40% vs 28%), asking for a quit date (41% vs 18%), scheduling a follow-up visit to discuss quitting (27% vs 5%), and recommending nicotine replacement therapy (41% vs 13%) (for each comparison, P<.001). Pediatricians were more likely to report recording in the medical record smoking by a parent as a problem for the child (65% vs 48%; P<.001), but a higher proportion of pediatricians perceived that parents would ignore the advice (39% vs 24%; P<.001) and lacked interest in quitting smoking (45% vs 27%; P<.001). Pediatricians were more likely to agree that they lacked smoking cessation counseling skills (26% vs 7%; P<.001). Multivariate models showed that pediatricians were less likely to report performing 5 of 14 smoking cessation techniques in at least 50% of smoking parents. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatricians appear to lack training to implement smoking cessation counseling with smoking parents. Physicians in private practice are less likely to counsel smoking parents. Educational interventions for pediatricians are needed to decrease secondhand smoke exposure for young children.

Adult↗

Behavioral medicine in Russian family medicine.

The Russian Federation's recently adopted family medicine as a specialty, but with little or no training in psychosocial and behavioral issues, unlike many training programs in other countries. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of Russian primary care physicians regarding the practice of behavioral medicine and psychosocial methods. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with ten Russian family physicians. Examination of key words, phrases, and concepts used by the physicians revealed five themes that physicians related to their incorporation of psychosocial/behavioral medicine methods: (1) factors limiting the practice of behavioral medicine (inadequate training; cultural barriers); (2) demand for behavioral medicine services; (3) patient-doctor issues related to behavioral medicine (e.g., communication); (4) physician's role strain; and (5) intuition and experience. These findings suggest that Russia's new family physicians would benefit from residency and post-graduate curricula in behavioral sciences, tailored to their unique needs.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

"Not that sort of practice": the views and behaviour of primary care practitioners in a study of advance provision of emergency contraception.

BACKGROUND: Advance supplies of emergency contraception (EC) were made available to women aged 16-29 through general practice and family planning services in Lothian, Scotland. Although this intervention was not associated with an overall reduction in abortion rates in Lothian, it was hypothesized that some general practices may have been more successful than others in promoting and delivering the intervention. OBJECTIVE: To investigate, using comparative case studies, whether, and why, some general practices were more successful in promoting and delivering advance supplies of EC than others. METHODS: Eleven purposively sampled general practices from the 97 participating in the intervention were studied. The number of packs of advance supplies distributed was recorded and distribution rates per 100 eligible women per practice calculated. 44 semi-structured interviews with staff were used to describe the mechanisms through which advance supplies were distributed and health professionals' views of the intervention. RESULTS: Distribution rates varied from 0.9 to 32.0 per 100 eligible women. Respondents described three mechanisms through which advance supplies were distributed: passive, reactive and proactive. Views about EC, and the suitability of their patient population for advance supplies, varied and configured specific practice contexts that facilitated or hindered the delivery of advance supplies. Favourable views and pro-active mechanisms were associated with higher distribution rates, less favourable or ambivalent views and passive delivery mechanisms with lower distribution rates. CONCLUSION: If primary care professionals are to actively engage with a sexual health promotion agenda they need to develop appropriate interpersonal skills and address their values, attitudes and cultural competences.

Adolescent↗

Compliance with and understanding of advance directives among trainee doctors in the United Kingdom.

AIM: To investigate doctors' response to and understanding of the legal status of advance directives. METHODS: A vignette-based study administered at palliative medicine, oncology, general practice, and geriatric medicine specialist registrar meetings (United Kingdom). Respondents determined the treatment to provide for a patient presenting with a myocardial infarction with or without an advance directive requesting maximum therapy. RESULTS: Response rate 77% (43/56). Twenty-five percent (10/40) of respondents increased the care that they would provide in response to the advance directive (p = 0.004); 77% (33/43) support/strongly support use of advance directives; 51% (22/43) did not know the legal status of advance directives; 44% found that their medical school education was not an important influence on their decision making. CONCLUSIONS: Advance directives requesting treatment can increase the level of care provided by the physician, however, most trainees chose a level of care different from that in the advance directive. Confusion exists among doctors about the legal status of advance directives, which limits their usefulness. Medical education needs to be improved to train doctors to deal with advance directives.

Advance Directive Adherence↗

Smoking cessation interventions for dental patients--attitudes and reported practices of dentists in the Oxford region.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate various aspects of dentists' beliefs and practices with respect to helping their patients stop smoking. DESIGN: Postal questionnaire survey conducted in 1996. SETTING: The general dental practitioners on the health authority lists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. SUBJECTS: The 869 dentists registered on 1 April 1996. RESULTS: A high response rate (78%; 674/869) was obtained. The majority of respondents (82%; 95% CI: 79, 85) thought dentists should encourage their patients to stop smoking although only 37% (95% CI: 34, 41) believed dentists to be effective in smoking cessation and even fewer (18%; 95% CI: 15, 21) routinely recorded their patients' smoking status. Of respondents, 51% (95% CI: 46, 55) said they always discussed smoking with patients who had periodontal problems but only 9% (95% CI: 7, 12) always did so with patients who had no major oral health problem. Newer graduates were more likely to routinely record their patients' smoking status (P = 0.02), and to think that doctors' advice (P = 0.001) and nicotine replacement therapy (P < 0.001) were effective in promoting smoking cessation. Dentists in mainly private practices were more active than those in NHS or mixed practices in recording patients' smoking status (P < 0.001) and in discussing smoking (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Most respondents thought that dentists should encourage their patients to stop smoking but few are active in this area.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

A systematic review of the literature exploring the role of primary care in genetic services.

BACKGROUND: In response to growing demands on genetics departments and advances in genetic medicine, it has been proposed that primary care should provide a frontline service in clinical genetics. However, there are concerns that primary care may be unwilling or ill prepared to take on this new role. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to review systematically the literature exploring the role of primary care in delivering genetic services, and define potential methods of supporting primary care in the provision of genetics services. METHODS: Seven electronic databases were searched. This was complemented by contacting experts in the field and handsearching reference lists. In total, 230 papers were identified, including traditional reviews, of which 96 were examined in detail. Fifty-one papers are included in this review. On account of the heterogeneity of papers identified, we conducted a qualitative synthesis of the results, focusing on five key questions. RESULTS: GPs accept that they have an increasing role to play in genetics, but lack confidence in their ability to do so because of limited knowledge of clinical genetics. Evidence from pilot studies of cystic fibrosis screening provides the strongest evidence for the feasibility of providing genetic services in primary care. CONCLUSIONS: Although genetic issues currently constitute a relatively small part of the overall workload in primary care, this will almost certainly change in the light of new genetic discoveries. Educational programmes and referral guidelines, computer decision support and genetic nurse specialist outreach clinics may provide useful methods of supporting GPs in the new field of primary care genetics.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of mothers and knowledge of health workers regarding care of the newborn umbilical cord.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of mothers and the knowledge of health workers regarding care of the newborn umbilical cord. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SUBJECTS: Mothers with infants less than three months of age attending well child clinics and health workers (HW) in the clinics, maternity and newborn units of public health, facilities serving an urban slum area in Nairobi, Kenya. RESULTS: Of the 307 mothers interviewed, 91% and 28% of mothers knew of the need for hygiene whilst cutting and tying the cord, respectively. Regarding postnatal cord care, 40% had good knowledge and 66% good practice. Fifty-one percent of mothers knew and 54% practised postnatal cord care for the appropriate duration of time. Seventy-nine percent of mothers were afraid of handling an unhealed cord. After multivariate analysis, the following variables showed significant independent association with good maternal KAP; increased level of education (OR 2.3, p < 0.001), living in middle class areas rather than slums (OR 1.5, p < 0.03), increased maternal age (OR 1.8, p < 0.001), acquisition of knowledge from a HW rather than from other sources (OR 1.5, p < 0.001), and living in stone/brick houses rather than mud houses (p = 0.01). Fifty per cent of HW had correct knowledge on type of postnatal cord care, and 79% had correct knowledge on duration required for the same. The knowledge of 50% on type of care was incorrect by international standards, but was in keeping with Nursing Council of Kenya teaching. CONCLUSION: Mothers had good knowledge on the need for hygiene when cutting the cord, had poor knowledge and practice in other aspects of cord care, and were afraid of handling the cord. Poor KAP was associated with young, poor mothers of low education, who had acquired their knowledge from sources other than HW. The knowledge of a large proportion of HW was incorrect and outdated. We recommend that health education on cord care be given at all levels of contact with mothers and that knowledge of all primary HW on cord care be updated.

Adolescent↗

[Terminal care of patients by the general practitioner and the specialist. Results of a French survey "Attitudes and practices in palliative treatment--2002"].

OBJECTIVE: Assess the attitude of the practitioners with regard to the management of patients at the end of their lives, depending on the physician/patient communication and treatment of pain. Method Statistical analysis of the data collected among 1,000 practitioners recruited for a survey on knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding palliative care in 2002. RESULTS: The practitioners who felt "ill at ease" in the management of patients at the end of their life often had a poor opinion regarding morphine and did not systematically their patients of the therapeutic aims. CONCLUSION: Greater awareness by the practitioners of palliative care would help to improve the quality of care supplied to terminally ill patients.

Adult↗

Rural health-care providers' attitudes, practices, and training experience regarding intimate partner violence--West Virginia, March 1997.

Primary health-care providers are an important resource to women who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). IPV patients in rural areas often face obstacles to preventive services such as physical isolation from health care and a lack of adequate community services. In March 1997, a pilot project was conducted to survey the attitudes and practices of rural health-care providers (RHCPs) toward women at risk for IPV in primary-care clinics in West Virginia and to determine the training experience of RHCPs in IPV intervention and prevention during the preceding 2 years. This report summarizes the results of the survey, which indicate that most RHCPs recognized barriers to identification and referral of abused women in their practices but few screened female patients for IPV or have had recent continuing education on IPV.

Adult↗