SEARCH · PubMed Health
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.
An approach to preconception health promotion by obtaining a history and through physical examination and laboratory investigation is outlined. The controversies are explained, and the current programs that have been developed in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States are described. All women of childbearing age should have access to prepregnancy intervention; however, presently, barriers to its comprehensive implementation exist.
Voluntary cooperation is crucial in determining the effectiveness of a health promotion strategy. The Triandis model, a theoretical model with the advantages of the Fishbein model, is useful in directly explaining health behavior. The purpose of this study was to perform a comprehensive evaluation of behavioral tendency related to health promotion and to examine the interrelationship amongst factors related to health behavior. This study uses the Triandis model to examine the structural relationship between explaining variables of health promotion. Five-hundred and nine residents were selected by multi-stage random sampling from the province of Kyungi-do, Korea. A structured questionnaire based on the Triandis model was developed. This questionnaire was distributed to the selected residents and their responses were collected via face-to-face interviews. The results showed that expectation of behavioral consequence, social norm and age variables were significantly related to health behavioral tendency. In addition, facilitating factors, affect variable and education level were indirectly related to health behavior. The results suggest that integrating behavioral subsets may be useful for understanding the mechanism of individual health promotion behavioral tendency.
The tasks of the Public Health Service with particular reference to children and teenagers in the German Federal Land of Saxonia are laid down by legislation enacted by the Ministry for Culture on health care in schools (30.7.92). It is the main task of health promotion in schools to prevent health disorders and disturbed development in children and teens. The following tasks must be performed, among others: medical examination before admittance to school and in the classes 2, 5 and 9; public hours of consultation; and statistical documentation. All the essential demands on modern public health service for children and teens are part of current legislation in Saxonia.
This qualitative study was undertaken at two neuro-rehabilitation centres in England, with the aim of exploring the nurses' understanding of health education and health promotion and their role within it, and their perception of illness and wellness related to disability. The principle of methodical triangulation was employed using questionnaires, group interviews and content analysis of client care plans. Although the nurses had difficulty distinguishing between health promotion and health education, differences did emerge which were supported by the literature. The nurses generally identified their role as being one of health promotion. However, they tended to equate wellness with physical independence. As a result of the study a health promotion model based on the principles of self-empowerment is suggested, which could be used as a framework for rehabilitation nurses and other professionals to enable them to focus on health and wellness rather than illness and disability.
A two stage health promotion programme is in progress in the Vale of Leven in Dunbartonshire. The first stage has been completed within a local factory (Polaroid UK Limited), the largest private employer in the district. A total of 1205 employees, representing 87% of the workforce, took part in the programme and were initially screened for coronary artery risk factors. Blood pressure, serum cholesterol, body composition and aerobic fitness were measured and smoking habits determined. Aspects of lifestyle were assessed by questionnaire. All employees whose initial cholesterol concentration was greater than 6.5 mM were given simple dietary advice and their cholesterol concentration thereafter remeasured. Eighty-two per cent of these men and 72% of these women succeeded in reducing their cholesterol, the men by a mean of 1.3 mM, the women by a mean of 0.7 mM. The health initiatives undertaken within the factory at the same time as screening are also described in this paper.
Health promotion is the desired objective of dialysis treatment. Achieving the highest level of functioning not only improves the life of the patient but rewards the staff through the positive feedback that improvement produces. The facility is rewarded by a stable population producing a more secure stream of income. The therapeutic environment is improved through better communication, positive attitudes, and more active participation of patients in their care. When maximum health is the focus of care, activities to achieve health are part of routine clinical contact, not additional effort requiring more staff. Fundamental to achieving health is adequate dialysis, control of anemia, good nutrition, and attention to comorbid conditions. The "Five Es" Life Options model of rehabilitation is a pattern for pursuing health and life enhancement. Encouragement is the positive attitude and expectations for each patient. Evaluation is individualized planning and periodic assessment of progress. Education prepares the patient for participation and responsibility. Exercise (on dialysis and off) improves physical capacity and well being. Employment is sought for those of working age and capability. A number of facilities have shown the effectiveness and benefits of these practices. In addition, using health status/quality of life measures to obtain patient-reported assessment of condition allows objective scoring. Comparisons and compilations can be made to evaluate the effect of interventions or illness on status. This can be accomplished for groups or individuals to document the effect of health promotion.
AIM: This paper reports a study evaluating the comparative effects and costs of a proactive nursing health promotion intervention in addition to usual home care for older people compared with usual home care services alone. BACKGROUND: An ageing population, budget constraints and technological advances in many countries have increased the pressure on home care resources. The result is a shift in nursing services from health promotion to meet the more pressing need for postacute care. For frail older people with long-term needs, these changes combine to create a fragmented system of health service delivery, characterized by providing nursing on demand rather than proactively. METHODS: A two-armed, single-blind, randomized controlled trial was carried out with older people > or =75 years and eligible for personal support services through a home care programme in Ontario, Canada. Participants were randomly allocated either to usual home care (control) or to a nursing (experimental) group. In addition to usual home care, the nursing group received a health assessment combined with regular home visits or telephone contacts, health education about management of illness, coordination of community services, and use of empowerment strategies to enhance independence. The data were collected in 2001-2002. RESULTS: Of the 288 older people who were randomly allocated at baseline, 242 (84%) completed the study (120 nursing group; 122 control group). Proactively providing older people with nursing health promotion, compared with providing nursing services on-demand, resulted in better mental health functioning (P = 0.009), a reduction in depression (P = 0.009), and enhanced perceptions of social support (P = 0.009) at no additional cost from a societal perspective. CONCLUSIONS: Home based nursing health promotion, proactively provided to frail older people with chronic health needs, enhances quality of life while not increasing the overall costs of health care. The results underscore the need to re-invest in nursing services for health promotion for older clients receiving home care.
OBJECTIVE: To identify potentially successful strategies, barriers, and facilitators for health promotion in preschool child care settings. METHODS: We conducted 6 focus groups including each of the following: parents of children attending child care centers and home-based family child care (2 in English, 1 in Spanish) and directors of child care centers and family child care providers (2 in English, 1 in Spanish). Systematic thematic analysis was conducted to generate themes to address study questions. RESULTS: A total of 24 parents and 45 child care providers, serving predominantly urban, low-income children in Boston, participated. Parents and child care providers agreed that in-person group discussions would be the most effective strategy for providing health education information to parents. Several barriers that could affect implementation emerged. First, some providers expressed frustration toward parents' attitudes about child safety and health. Second, there was diversity of opinion among providers on whether conducting health promotion activities was consistent with their training and role. In addition, literacy, language, and cultural barriers were identified as potential barriers to health promotion in child care. CONCLUSIONS: In order to be successful, health promotion strategies in child care settings will need to overcome tensions between providers and parents, allow professional growth of child care providers to serve in a health promotion role, and better integrate external health resources and personnel. Group sessions and peer learning opportunities that are culturally and linguistically sensitive are potentially successful strategies for implementation of health promotion interventions for many parents.
The authors recognize the emergence of health and productivity management as an important stage in the evolution of workplace health promotion and describe how health promotion professionals should take the lead in redirecting their employers' efforts to work together.
OBJECTIVE: The Virtual Naval Hospital (VNH) is a digital library designed to meet the information needs of U.S. Navy medical professionals. The goal of this study was to determine whether the VNH promoted health and improved patient care in a cost-effective manner. DESIGN AND MEASUREMENTS: An economic analysis determining the costs and benefits from the perspective of the U.S. Navy was conducted. As part of this analysis, medical professionals were surveyed from February to August 2000. RESULTS: Respondents used the VNH for a variety of professional activities (average, 8.2 h/wk). Respondents (70%) thought that VNH usage improved patient care. Medical providers thought it improved their diagnosis (70%) and treatment (60%). Respondents stated that the VNH affected 81 medical evacuations and 668 sick-in-quarter days. Overall content satisfaction was 94%. The VNH had a net savings of $143,848/yr and a cost/benefit ratio of 55.9%. CONCLUSIONS: The VNH has a beneficial impact on the Navy's health care system by improving health promotion and patient care and by being economically cost-effective.
ISSUE ADDRESSED: The increase in mental health disorders worldwide makes it important to recognise health promotion interventions that are effective, accessible and affordable. Although natural spaces are coming to be recognised as health-promoting settings for general populations, little is understood about the use of nature-contact in treatment and care for individuals experiencing ill-health. METHODS: This paper provides a summary of key research findings and presents a case study examining the self-reported health and well-being benefits of nature contact for a small clinical sample. The 'Spectrum of Interventions for Mental Health Problems and Mental Disorders' provides a conceptual framework for ordering current and future information relating to nature-based interventions. RESULTS: Evidence demonstrates that separately, physical activity, social connection, and contact with nature enhance human health and well-being. The case example illustrates how 'active', 'social' and 'adventurous' contact with nature may be combined within a treatment intervention to protect and enhance the health of individuals experiencing chronic mental, emotional and physical health difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: 'Contact with nature' constitutes a health promotion strategy with potential application in prevention, early intervention, treatment and care. Recommendations include further research to investigate the benefits of nature contact within existing interventions, and the impacts of 'active' and 'social' nature contact within tailored interventions for targeted individuals and communities.
The subject of this article is employee and his family, employer, the state in all aspects and health as a profit and a lack of health as a loss. Healthy employee brings a profit to himself, to the employer and to the state. Up to these times nobody has thought about the health value. Work is a commodity. Prophylaxis and health promotion are work. Health can be sold as each commodity. Prophylaxis and health promotion incur expenses but they must be compared with illness results expenses (including immeasurable ones). Having analysed the literature the author claims that the thesis is right so it means that the effects of prophylaxis and health promotion determine the profit to employees and their families, to employers and to the state--which means to all of us.
With health care costs raging out of control, a search for ways to decrease them is emerging. The terms self-care, wholistic health care, prevention, and high level wellness are becoming popular. The terms and their modes of practice are incorrectly intermingled, creating much confusion among consumers and health care practitioners. This article examines the differences between them in relation to concepts and practice as well as in relation to the healthy and chronically ill. The dilemmas facing health promotion are examined. Problems such as the media, ethics, laws, funding, and research are reviewed. Consumerism and consumer responsibility versus the health care provider's responsibility are explored. Health promotion is a viable concept and method of health care practice for the consumer as well as the health care care practitioner.
This paper presents the results of a survey conducted with representatives (n = 283) of community health agencies linked to heart health activity in Ontario in order to: 1) describe their levels of involvement in heart health promotion, 2) describe the nature and extent of partnering undertaken in the context of community-based heart health promotion, and 3) assess the extent to which community development approaches vis-à-vis partnering are being employed in Ontario heart health promotion. The survey included a series of questions regarding level of agency involvement in heart health promotion activities organized around four areas: tobacco, nutrition, physical activity and general heart health. Respondents were also asked to report the nature and extent of partnering that took place. Results indicate that levels of involvement varied significantly across activity area and by organization, although every agency type reported some level of involvement in each of the four activity areas. Overall, agencies surveyed continue to employ traditional settings (i.e., schools and community) as well as strategies (i.e., public education) but report a substantial amount of partnering and collaboration when undertaking community-based heart health promotion activities.
This article describes the essential components of oral health information systems for the analysis of trends in oral disease and the evaluation of oral health programmes at the country, regional and global levels. Standard methodology for the collection of epidemiological data on oral health has been designed by WHO and used by countries worldwide for the surveillance of oral disease and health. Global, regional and national oral health databanks have highlighted the changing patterns of oral disease which primarily reflect changing risk profiles and the implementation of oral health programmes oriented towards disease prevention and health promotion. The WHO Oral Health Country/Area Profile Programme (CAPP) provides data on oral health from countries, as well as programme experiences and ideas targeted to oral health professionals, policy-makers, health planners, researchers and the general public. WHO has developed global and regional oral health databanks for surveillance, and international projects have designed oral health indicators for use in oral health information systems for assessing the quality of oral health care and surveillance systems. Modern oral health information systems are being developed within the framework of the WHO STEPwise approach to surveillance of noncommunicable, chronic disease, and data stored in the WHO Global InfoBase may allow advanced health systems research. Sound knowledge about progress made in prevention of oral and chronic disease and in health promotion may assist countries to implement effective public health programmes to the benefit of the poor and disadvantaged population groups worldwide.
This article discusses the findings of a retrospective study looking at the outcomes, in terms of health promotion of health interviews with children aged ten to 11, between 1989 and 1991. A total of 59 children cared for by three school nurses were available for follow-up. It was found that overall, the health promotion given to children was effective in nearly three quarters of the children seen. Problems with feet were the most commonly reported complaint. The author suggests that other districts should consider introducing health interviews into school nurses' work.
To examine health promotion in a primary-care context, we studied perceived and actual communication in 271 consultations between general practitioners and patients in Oxford (England). Although health promotion is a term usually reserved for public-health or wellness programs, a health promotion perspective enriches the examination of communication in physician-patient interactions by emphasizing issues of empowerment, competence and control. Accordingly, we are interested in how communication during medical encounters can improve patients' abilities to exercise appropriate control over their health. A major factor in enabling patients to increase control over their health involves developing their competencies for making decisions and enacting behaviors that can lead to desired, and attainable, health outcomes. This report focuses on communication and decision making about prescription medications, since whether and how to use medications are among the most common and important decisions in which patients can participate. Five instruments were employed to collect data about physicians, patients and their consultations: a Video Analysis, which allowed assessment of actual communication behavior; a Patient Questionnaire designed to gauge perceptions of the encounter and collect demographic information; a Medical-Record Review, which provided information on utilization, diagnosis and treatment; a Telephone Interview, conducted 14 days after the consultation to obtain follow-up information (e.g. experience with the prescribed medication); and a Doctor Questionnaire that focused on attitudes toward consultations and patients. With respect to communication about prescription medications, physicians most frequently mentioned product name (78.2% of consultations) and instructions for use (86.7% of consultations). Patients were extremely passive, rarely offering their opinion or initiating discussion about any aspect of the treatment. We suggest that improving patients' decision-making competencies may require more discussion of benefits and risks, as well as discussion of patients' opinions about the prescribed medications and their abilities to follow through with the treatment plans. The research design proved useful in highlighting discrepancies between perceived and actual communication. Physicians tended to overestimate the extent to which they discussed patients' ability to follow the treatment plan, elicited patients' opinion about the prescribed medication and discussed risks of the medication. And, 24.3% of the patients left the consultation with an 'illusion of competence', a belief that important topics had been discussed when, in fact, they had not been mentioned at all. The pattern of results illustrates the complexity of health promotion in primary care, and underscores the importance of attending to both perceived and actual communication in medical encounters.
OBJECTIVES: If prenatal health promotion and psychosocial support services are to remain accessible to Medicaid eligible women, evidence is needed as to whether the services improve care and benefit women in ways that matter to health plans. The aims of this study are to determine whether prenatal health promotion and psychosocial services are associated with better interpersonal care and greater satisfaction with care; and whether the effects on interpersonal care help explain satisfaction with care. RESEARCH DESIGN: A telephone survey of 363 African American, Latina (US and nonUS-born) and White women receiving prenatal care in four Medicaid public health plans in California in 2001. Multivariate regression analyses were done with adjustments for potentially confounding variables. MEASURES: Independent variables included dichotomous variables for health promotion advice (five separate areas) and composite scales for psychosocial assessment (six areas combined). Dependent variables included satisfaction with care, and indices for interpersonal care (communication, decision-making, and interpersonal style). RESULTS: Women who report receiving health promotion or psychosocial services also report receiving better interpersonal care and rate their satisfaction with care higher. Receiving either type of support service is associated with higher quality communication, decision-making and interpersonal style. The effects of the support services on satisfaction are, in turn, explained by the effects on interpersonal care. CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal health promotion and psychosocial services have associated benefits to enrollees that should matter to Medicaid health plans and their providers.