Sexual revictimization prevention: an outcome evaluation

This investigation tested a program to reduce women's risk for sexual revictimization. Participants were 66 women with histories of sexual victimization as adolescents or adults who were randomly assigned to a preventive intervention group or a no-treatment control group. They completed initial measures assessing history of sexual assault, self-efficacy, and psychological functioning, returning approximately 2 months later for follow-up assessment using the same measures. Results suggest that the prevention program may be effective in reducing the incidence of sexual assault revictimization in this population. In addition, participants in the intervention group displayed significant improvement in psychological adjustment and self-reported self-efficacy.     

Implementation of violence prevention education in clinical settings

Clinical settings provide excellent opportunities for educating adolescent patients about violence prevention. This paper reports on the experience of the Violence Prevention Project of Boston in implementing comprehensive violence prevention activities in different clinical settings. The project's evaluation revealed that staff training, specialized educational materials and staff commitment are required for both initial and sustained implementation of the education. Waiting room brochures and videos are inadequate to address the problem. Conversely, clinical settings can host a variety of educational experiences that generate significant response from patients, families and friends. Clinical settings can also be integrated into broader community-based efforts.     

Bystander education: Bringing a broader community perspective to sexual violence prevention

Recent research documents the problem of sexual violence across communities, often finding its causes to be embedded in community and cultural norms, thus demonstrating the need for community‐focused solutions. In this article we synthesize research from community psychology on community change and prevention with more individually focused studies of sexual violence prevention programs and bystander behavior in emergency and crime situations. The purpose of bringing together this research is to outline a new area of focus for sexual violence prevention: the mobilization of prosocial behavior on the part of potential bystanders. This approach has utility for increasing community receptivity to prevention messages, by decreasing resistance to them, and for increasing the likelihood of community members taking an active role in prevention and intervention. The specific case of sexual violence prevention on college campus communities illustrates this approach. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 32: 61–79, 2004.     

Dating violence prevention with at-risk youth: a controlled outcome evaluation

This study evaluated a community-based intervention to help at-risk teens develop healthy, nonabusive relationships with dating partners. Participants were 158 14-16-year-olds with histories of child maltreatment who were randomly assigned to a preventive intervention group or a no-treatment control group. They completed measures of abuse and victimization with dating partners, emotional distress, and healthy relationship skills at bimonthly intervals when dating someone. Intervention consisted of education about healthy and abusive relationships, conflict resolution and communication skills, and social action activities. Growth curve analyses showed that intervention was effective in reducing incidents of physical and emotional abuse and symptoms of emotional distress over-time. Findings support involvement of youths in reducing the cycle of violence as they initiate dating in midadolescence.     

Injury and violence prevention: a primer

Unintentional and intentional injuries cause a great deal of human suffering throughout the world. They exact a huge toll on societies in terms of mortality, years of potential life lost, disability, and health care costs. The good news is that great strides have been made in understanding the causes of injuries and how to prevent them. Using seat belts and car seats, installing air bags in cars, replacing dangerous playground equipment, enforcing drinking and driving laws are but a few examples of modifying behavior, products, and environments to reduce injury risk. This paper provides an overview of the science of injury control and selected examples of how professionals in the field of patient education and counseling can contribute to enhancing the safety of the public.     

An experimental study on prevention of postlaminectomy scar formation

In repeat lumbar surgery for failed back syndrome, well organized fibrous scar tissue is often noted, binding together the dura, nerve roots, and paraspinal muscles. An animal experimental study was done to investigate the prevention of scar formation after lumbar laminectomy by using dacron and sodium hyaluronate. The experimental animals consisted of three groups: 1) control group, 2) D group (covering the laminectomy defect with dacron sheet), and 3) H group (covering the laminectomy defect with sodium hyaluronate gel). Animals were sacrificed at varying intervals (3-12 weeks) and the lumbar spines were evaluated with histologic preparations. Scar adhesion to the dura was most significantly suppressed in the D group, followed by the H group and the control group.     

Community violence: causes, prevention, and intervention.

This article presents some pragmatic schemata for understanding various types and motivations for violence. This understanding is essential to frame prevention, intervention, and postvention strategies designed to reduce the phenomena of violence in our society. Each category of violence lists examples of prevention, intervention, and postvention strategies. This article is intended to broaden the understanding of violence so that strategies to address violence will become more specific and measurable.     

An explanation of prevention and suppression of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis

An explanation of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis prevention and suppression is presented based upon evidence that the active unit in disease induction is an encephalitogen-adjuvant complex. The stereochemical complementarity in structure of the encephalitogen and adjuvant is mirrored in complementarity in the recognition sites of lymphocyte populations activated against encephalitogen and adjuvant. Since two complementary lymphocyte populations are necessary for disease induction, any procedure that prevents the development of one of these populations will prevent disease induction. Any procedure that eliminates one population after induction has occurred will suppress the disease. We argue that all extant data support the hypothesis. Several new experiments are proposed to further test it.     

An evaluation of a high school dropout prevention program

A primary preventive, community-based program designed to facilitate high school transition and reduce dropout and an evaluation of the program are described. Participants in the study were 154 ninth-grade, predominantly Hispanic, inner-city students. Students were assessed on midyear and end of 9th-grade academic achievement, grade averages, course failures, absences, class cutting, class rank, number of counseling referrals, and leave rate. Control group students were found to exhibit significantly higher Iowa Math Test Scores compared to experimental students. Significant time effects were found indicating experimental and control students' decreases in grades and overall class rank, and increases in course failures, absenteeism, and class cutting. Limitations of the study are discussed based on the program's comparison to the similar, yet effective, project conducted by Felner, Ginter, and Primavera (1982).     

比较中外高等教育以完善我国医学教育评估体系

建立与国际接轨的高等医学教育评估体系,对提高我国高等医学教育的质量具有重要作用.本文对国内外高等教育评估的目的 、评估体系的比较和对各国评估体系的特征进行了分析,对完善我国建立合理、公正的高等教育评估具有重要的参考意义.     

An experimental tool essential for the evaluation of insecticides: the testing huts

The following study analyses the potentialities of the experimental huts built in M'be Valley (C?te d'Ivoire) where the evaluations of the insecticide products have been carried out for many years in line with the WHOPES protocol on the methodology of stage 2 assays. Starting a testing station first requires a good knowledge of the sensitivity of Anopheles gambiae to the main insecticide families. Then thanks to the experimental huts the efficacy of the various means of treatment can be compared with the one in untreated huts; this study focuses on house spraying using 100 mg a.i./m2 and bednets impregnated with lambda-cyhalothrin at a dose of 15 mg a.i./m2. The fipronil used in house spraying doesn't show any repellent effect, however it does have an irritating effect that increases the natural exophily of An. gambiae females entering the testing huts. The blood-feeding rate recorded in the treated huts was reduced to 24% and to 38% mortality rate consisting mainly of a 24 hours delayed mortality. The bednets treated with lambda-cyhalothrin have greatly reduced the contact between man and vector since the entry rate of An. gambiae females was cut down by 68% compared to the control. The exophily of this anopheles was twofold greater with the impregnated bednets and the blood-feeding rate reduced to 47%. Finally the global mortality rate, two thirds of immediate mortality, one third of delayed mortality, reached 35%. The experimental huts in the M'be Valley therefore provide essential information regarding the selection of the most efficacious insecticides against An. gambiae. This experimental method must be extended to other sites in order to finalize ever more selective and appropriate means of control against nuisance and disease-vector mosquitoes.     

An intravascular test device for thromboresistant materials: Analysis and preliminary experimental evaluation

The interaction of artificial materials with the process of thrombus formation in blood depends on geometric and fluid-mechanical factors as well as the proximity of even slightly injured tissue. A test device that takes account of these factors and is suitable for intravascular implantation is described. The device effects a division of total flow between a tube oriented on the vessel axis, whose diameter is less than that of the vessel, and the annular space between the tube and vessel. Dimensions are chosen to effect thrombogenesis preferentially within the tube. The division of flow is calculated as a function of dimensional ratios and Reynolds number. Other aspects of the fluid dynamical performance of the device are discussed. Results of experimental evaluations in an extracorporeal shunt are reported; they show preferential deposition where expected, small variations among similar experiments, and good ability to distinguish among different materials.     

Family violence prevention programs in immigrant communities: perspectives of immigrant men

The Strengthening Families in Canada Family Violence Prevention Project was aimed at engaging immigrant and refugee communities in family violence prevention. The project, which received support from the Community Mobilization Program, National Crime Prevention Strategy, involved a partnership of four community health and education organizations. The project had three streams: women's, youth, and men's. The women's and youth streams were composed of educational sessions on violence prevention. The third stream consisted of a qualitative research project examining immigrant and refugee men's views of family violence and their suggestions for prevention education. The authors present findings from this research and offer suggestions for future implementation of prevention programming for immigrant and refugee families. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Teaching nurses how to teach: An evaluation of a workshop on patient education

Objective

To evaluate the effects of a patient education workshop on nurses: (1) communication skills; (2) Knowledge of patient-centered model, patient education process, and sense of preparedness to provide patient education.

Methods

Fourteen nurses attended a 2-day workshop on patient education based on a patient-centered model. Data on communication skills were collected by means of pre-/post-written dialogues and analyzed with the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS). Data of nurses’ knowledge and sense of preparedness were collected through a post questionnaire comprised of 5-point Likert scale items.

Results

Post-dialogues showed an increase in patient talking (P < 0.001) and in patient-centered communication as indicated by the increase in Psychosocial exchanges (P = 0.003) and Process exchanges (P = 0.001). Nurses reported that the workshop increased “very much” their knowledge of the patient-centered model (mean = 4.19) and patient education process (mean = 4.69), and their sense of preparedness to provide patient education (P = 0.001).

Conclusions

Data suggest the efficacy of the workshop in developing patient-centered communication skills and improving nurses’ knowledge and preparedness to deliver patient education.

Practice implications

Trainings based on a patient-centered model and interactive learning methods should be implemented for nurses to improve their ability to deliver effective patient education.     

An evaluation of PGD in clinical genetic services through 3 years application for prevention of beta-thalassaemia major and sickle cell thalassaemia

PGD represents an alternative within prenatal diagnosis services, which avoids terminating affected on-going pregnancies. In Greece, prevention programmes for haemoglobinopathies, including the option of prenatal diagnosis, are well established. Following optimization of a single-cell genotyping strategy (designed to be applicable for the majority of beta-thalassaemia major or sickle thalassaemia genotype interactions) along with close collaboration with an IVF unit, we integrated the option of PGD for at-risk couples with a problematic reproductive history. A total of 59 couples requesting PGD were counselled, of whom 41 initiated 63 PGD cycles. Following standard assisted reproduction treatment for oocyte retrieval, 20 cycles were cancelled (too few oocytes and/or poor quality embryos), but in 43 cycles single blastomeres were biopsied from 3 day embryos and genotyped (total 302). Diagnosis was achieved for 236 embryos, and 100 of 125 unaffected embryos were transferred. Sixteen pregnancies were established, although six were lost within the first trimester. Ten pregnancies underwent second trimester prenatal diagnosis, with nine pregnancies (13 babies: six singletons, two twins and one triplet) confirmed unaffected, although one singleton was a PGD misdiagnosis and terminated. The triplet pregnancy was selectively reduced to twins, and nine pregnancies went to term, with 12 healthy babies born. This report highlights advantages, limitations and approaches towards improvement when incorporating PGD within genetic services for a common recessive disease.     

Consequences of client-initiated workplace violence: the role of fear and perceived prevention

The authors suggested and tested a model of the consequences of client-initiated workplace violence, introducing perceived prevention of violence and perceived coping ability as factors that reduce fear of future violence and mitigate negative personal and organizational consequences. Survey data from 330 frontline staff from job centers and social security offices were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The data supported the model and confirmed the central role of the fear of violence with regard to outcomes such as psychological and physical well-being or irritability. Results point further to perceived prevention of violence as an important factor that influences fear levels in different ways, predicts turnover intentions, and should therefore be considered when managers aim to address the consequences of client-initiated violence and threats.     

Enhancing regular physical activity and relapse prevention through a 1-day therapeutic patient education workshop: A pilot study

OBJECTIVE: Physical activity (PA) is important for managing chronic diseases, such as diabetes and obesity. Yet over half of patients who adopt PA programs do not maintain them at 6 months. To encourage regular PA among our patients, we developed a 1-day outpatient motivational workshop based on well-known theoretical frameworks. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the motivational workshop in terms of total and activity-specific energy expenditures (EE) and body mass index (BMI). METHODS: This workshop is an integrative model of multiple theoretical frameworks for therapeutic education and behavior change, alternating individual sessions and group sessions in a multidisciplinary setting. Patients completed a validated, self-administered, quantitative PA frequency questionnaire at baseline and at 1 year. Stages of change and relapse risk were identified at baseline. RESULTS: Twenty-five subjects, mean age 48 years and BMI 34.1kg/m(2), completed pre-/post-evaluations. At baseline, 73% of subjects reported regular activities of daily living and 52% reported regular formal exercise. Using total and activity-specificEE, we identified 69.2% as sedentary. A relapse risk was recognized in 76%. Paired t-tests showed significant (P=0.048) reductions in weight and BMI and a significant (P=0.015) increase in high-intensity exerciseEE. Total EE showed no difference. Among baseline sedentary subjects, 39% became active. CONCLUSION: This workshop may be effective in modifying PA patterns, thereby decreasing sedentarism and fostering PA maintenance. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The theory-based workshop for increasing motivation to maintain optimal PA behavior provides an example of translational intervention from theoretical models to clinical practice.