Protecting children from myopia: a PMT perspective for improving health marketing communications

This research examined the predictive utility of the protection motivation theory (PMT) model for myopia prevention amongst children. An integrative model for myopia prevention behavior of parents was first developed in the context of theory and survey instruments then refined using information gathered from two focus groups. Empirical data then was collected from parents of primary school children in Singapore, a country with one of the highest rates of myopia in the world, and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Our findings revealed that coping appraisal variables were more significantly associated with protection motivation, relative to threat appraisal variables. In particular, perceived self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of parental intention to enforce good visual health behaviors, while perceived severity was relatively weak. Health marketing communications and public policy implications are discussed.     

Preparation for elective surgery: does it make a difference

This study postulated that children prepared for elective surgery would show less stress in physiological terms while in the hospital and fewer postdischarge behavior changes than children in a control group not being systematically prepared for pending surgery. It was also postulated that younger children would be more anxious than older children. Actual findings supported only a few of the original hypotheses, but the study itself raises major questions for those interested in the overall impact of hospitalization and the reduction of psychological trauma for children who may be particularly vulnerable to stress.     

Long-term campaign. Nursing: the power to make a difference

Although many recruiting campaigns focus on quick results, an effort by the North Carolina Center for Nursing is taking a decidedly long-term approach. Posters are directed at middle school students and even elementary-grade kids.     

Public attitudes to government intervention to regulate food advertising,especially to children

The World Health Organization has called on governments to implement recommendations on the marketing of foods and beverages to children. This study describes high public support for government intervention in marketing of unhealthy food to children and suggests more effort is needed to harness public opinion to influence policy development.     

Energy and nutrient intakes of disabled children: do feeding problems make a difference?

We examined the effect of feeding problems and alternative feeding practices on the energy and nutrient intakes of disabled children. Subjects were 221 disabled children aged 1 to 16 years from seven diagnostic groups: a 4-day food record was obtained for 166 children. The children's energy and nutrient intakes were examined in relation to the presence or absence of four feeding problems (gross motor/self-feeding impairment, oral-motor dysfunction, lack of appetite, food aversions) and two alternate feeding practices (prolonged assisted feeding and use of pureed foods). Cross-sectional analyses showed that children with feeding problems or alternative feeding practices had lower energy and nutrient intakes than did children without these factors. The presence of oral-motor dysfunction or prolonged assisted feeding significantly reduced relative energy intake. In general, differences in energy and nutrient intakes between children with and without other feeding problems or practices were small, and few statistically significant differences were found. The findings indicate that some feeding problems may reduce food intake in disabled children, although this effect is lessened by the conscientious efforts of parents. Parents and families of disabled children should receive dietary counseling to prevent deteriorative effects on the physical growth and health of children with long-standing feeding problems.     

Mammography referrals for elderly women: is Medicare reimbursement likely to make a difference?

Data from a survey of primary care physicians practicing in Long Island, New York in 1990 show that physicians report that they are less likely to refer all of their elderly female patients--those 75 years of age and older--for routine screening mammograms than their patients age 50 to 75. According to physicians' self-reports, out-of-pocket costs to the patient for screening mammography are not considered a major deterrent to referrals in this age group. Physicians' decisions to refer elderly patients are affected by the patients' state of health and are associated with the specialty of the physician: obstetrician/gynecologists (OBGYNs) are more likely to make routine referrals of elderly patients for screening mammography than are family practitioners and general internists. The results of this analysis suggest that the new Medicare reimbursement for biennial screening mammograms will not result in immediate increases in utilization by elderly women, unless their physicians become more convinced of the utility of widespread mammographic screening for the elderly patient.     

Nursing process: sequences in care make a difference

The emphasis of this qualitative investigation was to get to know the significance system, its values and beliefs through the male nurse's perspective in his confrontation with the new methodological proposal of care in a Hospital Institution. Ethnographic interview and data analysis, which was fundamental in James Spradley's studies, were the methods used for collecting data. From data immersion and inventory approach immerged the following theme: "Sequence in care makes the difference", which constitutes the main purpose of this study, providing us with opportunities to reflect about and reveal an activity that up until now ha been nebulous and reticent in the Brazilian nursing scenario. In this way, the male nurses are taken into a perspective concerning the understanding and action of the methodology of assistance.     

Does choice make a difference to contraceptive use? Evidence from east Java.

This study investigates sustained use of contraceptives among women in East Java, Indonesia. Interest is focused on the effect of whether the client's choice of contraceptive method was granted or denied, and the interaction between whether choice was granted or denied and husband-wife concurrence concerning method choice. Data were collected twice in a panel survey. The first round was conducted in family planning clinics among women initiating contraceptive use; the second was a follow-up household survey carried out 12 months later. Whether the user was granted her choice of method was found to be a very important determinant of sustained use of contraceptives. The interaction between whether choice was granted and whether there was husband-wife concurrence on method choice was also important. The highest rate of discontinuation occurred when method choice was denied in the presence of husband-wife agreement on method choice, and the lowest rate occurred when method choice was granted in the presence of such concurrence. The results imply that contraceptive continuation can be enhanced either when family planning workers pay more attention to the stated desires of their clients, or when policy is instituted allowing clients to use their method of choice.     

Using a research framework to identify knowledge gaps in research on food marketing to children in Australia

Objective: Research in the field of food marketing to children requires a better understanding of the research gaps in order to inform policy development. The purpose of this paper was to propose a framework for classifying food marketing research, using Australian research on food marketing to children to demonstrate how this framework can be used to determine knowledge gaps.
Approach: A literature review of research databases and 'grey' material was conducted to identify research from the previous 10 years. Studies were classified according to their research focus, and media type, as either: exposure, including content analyses; effects of exposure, including opinions, attitudes and actions resulting from food marketing exposure; regulations, including the type and level of regulation that applies to food marketing; or breaches of regulations, including instances where marketing regulations have been violated.
Conclusion: The majority of Australian research on food marketing to children has focused on television advertising and exposure research. Research has consistently shown that the content of food marketing directed at children is predominately for unhealthy foods. There is a lack of research on the effects of food marketing, which would be valuable to inform policy.
Implications: The development of a logical framework for food marketing research allows for the identification of research gaps and enables research priorities to be identified.     

Physicians' recommendations for mammography: do tailored messages make a difference?

OBJECTIVES. Message tailoring, based on individual needs and circumstances, is commonly used to enhance face-to-face patient counseling. Only recently has individual tailoring become feasible for printed messages. This study sought to determine whether printed tailored recommendations addressing women's specific screening and risk status and perceptions about breast cancer and mammography are more effective than standardized printed recommendations. METHODS. Computer-assisted telephone interviews were conducted with 435 women, aged 40 to 65 years, who had visited family practice groups within the previous 2 years. Subjects were randomly allocated to receive individually tailored or standardized mammography recommendation letters mailed from physicians to patients' homes. Follow-up interviews were conducted 8 months later. RESULTS. Tailored letter recipients were more likely to remember and to have read more of their letters than standardized version recipients. After controlling for baseline status, tailored letter receipt was associated with more favorable follow-up mammography status for women with incomes below $26,000 and for Black women. CONCLUSIONS. Tailored messages are a more effective medium for physicians' mammography recommendations; tailoring may be especially important for women of low socioeconomic status.     

Perceptions of fashion images from youth magazines: does a cigarette make a difference?

This paper reports the findings of the first study which hasinvestigated young people's perceptions of non-advertising smokingimages in youth magazines. A self-completion questionnaire wasadministered to a total of 897 people from three age groups(12–13, 15–16 and 18–19 years). Respondentsrated perfectly matched (other than the presence/absence ofa cigarette) smoking and non-smoking pictures taken from youthand style magazines on a range of attributes. They also ratedtheir self, ideal and socially desirable images on the sameattributes. It was found that the presence of a cigarette affectedhow the pictures were rated and that the nature of this effectdiffered between pictures. In general, smoking images were ratedas being more druggy, wild and depressed. In contrast the matchednon-smoking images were rated as being more healthy, rich, nice,fashionable, slim and attractive. Smokers and non-smokers differentiallyrated themselves in the same way that they differentiated betweensmokers and non-smokers in the photographs. It is argued thatthese magazine images of smoking may be acting to reinforcesmoking among young people.     

Food marketing to children in the context of a marketing maelstrom

Childhood obesity is a major public health problem in the United States, yet US children are targeted as never before with marketing for foods high in sugar, fat, salt, and calories. Food marketing to children is highly sophisticated, increasingly well-funded, and takes place within the context of a barrage of other kinds of child-targeted marketing. The proliferation and sophistication of electronic media, the escalation of marketing in schools, changing families, and a political climate that favors deregulation have allowed marketers unprecedented access to children, including babies and toddlers. The notion--promulgated by the food industry--that parents can "just say no" to requests for highly marketed snacks and junk food is simplistic at best and cynical at worst. Instead of being viewed as a familial problem, the current marketing maelstrom should be viewed as a societal issue and addressed as such. Restriction of advertising to children is common in industrial democracies other than the United States--and is just one of many corrective actions that could be taken by our governments.