Managing HIV-positive sero-status in Ghana’s most HIV concentrated district: self-perceived explanations and theoretical discourse

As of December 2015 there were 37 million persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs), 70% of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana, which contributes a relatively small number to Africa’s HIV burden, has a generalised HIV epidemic. The current national prevalence is 1.47%. Agormanya, one of the HIV sentinel sites in the county and where this study was conducted, has current prevalence of 11.6%. This makes it critical to explore how persons infected with HIV manage their lives, especially in the midst of entrenched stigma and discrimination. However, available information on how PLWHAs in sub-Saharan Africa handle their day-to-day lives mostly dwell on food and nutrition. Thus, there is dearth of information on how PLWHAs in Ghana particularly handle the circumstances of their daily lives which are mostly coloured by their HIV-positive statuses, given their stigmatised identity. We explore how PLWHAs respond to the experiences and challenges of living with HIV/AIDS in Lower Manya Krobo, consistently most HIV-infected district in Ghana. Data were collected from 38 combined purposive and randomly selected HIV-positive persons in two leading hospitals (St Martins Depores Agormanya and Atua Government hospitals which provide specialised HIV care in the district. Using in-depth interviews, we studied how PLWHAs managed their routine livelihoods in the midst of extreme stigma. We combined the social capital and resilience theoretical frameworks to show that our respondents were mostly resilient and strategically mostly drew upon extended family social support to cope with their livelihood challenges. We recommend that community opinion leaders and other stakeholders sensitise community members in Lower Manya Krobo to better understand the mode of HIV infection and encourage/strengthen family and community cohesion and social support.     

Self-management tasks to improve mobility and reduce fall risk are not leading to lower research participation in older adults

Purpose of studyThe first aim is to evaluate, in a sub-study, the recruitment process of the Senior Step Study, which was an intervention study on the self-management of mobility and fall risk; the second aim is to explore the reasons mentioned by older people, from three different settings, for (not) participating.MethodsSubjects were community-dwelling older persons, residents of homes for the elderly, and older persons regularly visiting community centres. The effectiveness of different recruitment procedures was analysed for each setting separately. We also analysed reasons for accepting and declining participation between the settings.ResultsThe total inclusion rate was 27.9%. A personal initial approach (i.e., first contact was face-to-face or in a group meeting) did not improve the inclusion rate. More subjects consented to participate after an introductory meeting (which was planned after the first face-to-face contact) compared to persons not having one (p < 0.01). At different settings, subjects gave different reasons for participation. No differences were found in the reasons for refusing participation. Especially in homes for the elderly, people refused to participate because the research was too burdensome.ConclusionsThe inclusion rates in this study are comparable to other self-management studies with older people. An introductory meeting during which the study design and benefits of participating are explained and formal interim evaluations of the recruitment process may benefit recruitment. Recruiting older persons for self-management tasks is possible with the appropriate recruitment process, enabling more research on this increasingly important research topic.     

A case study of the long-term sustainability of an oral health program for persons experiencing homelessness

Stakeholders engaged in funding health programs and investing in human capital are concerned that their investments lead to beneficial long-term outcomes and do not fade from existence when funding streams dry up. However, dissemination and implementation researchers often pay little attention to what happens after programs are implemented. An essential function of the public health nurse operating at the executive management or leadership level is to evaluate overall effectiveness, quality, and sustainability of programs and to design systems-level quality initiatives and evaluation plans that foster program sustainability. This article applies a conceptual framework for sustainability to an oral health program serving persons experiencing homelessness, exploring the essential programmatic, community, and organizational factors that have positively impacted the long-term sustainability of the program. Lessons learned from a model program that has thrived in a political and economic resource poor climate may assist the public health nurse in planning and developing health programs that can withstand the test of time even in the most challenging of circumstances.     

Education in a homeless shelter to improve the nutrition of young children

OBJECTIVE: To improve the nutritional status of homeless children by implementing an educational program for their mothers and the cafeteria staff at a homeless shelter. DESIGN: Program evaluation including before and after measures of mothers' nutritional knowledge and nutritional quality of foods served in the cafeteria. SAMPLE: Fifty-six mothers with children aged 18 months to 6 years and 3 cafeteria staff. INTERVENTION: Four nutrition classes developed by a registered nutritionist were taught to mothers by clinic nurses; 3 nutrition classes were taught to the cafeteria staff by the nutritionist. RESULTS: Mothers scored higher on posttests than on pretests, indicating improved nutritional knowledge. Minimal differences in the nutritional quality of foods served to residents were observed after staff education. CONCLUSIONS: This project demonstrates the challenges of altering the nutritional status of children in a homeless shelter. Despite mothers showing better knowledge of nutritional requirements for children, the types of food served in the cafeteria were an obstacle to them in practicing what they had learned. The cafeteria staff's ability to demonstrate their learning was impeded by the constraints of food donations. Educational strategies may need to be augmented by policies to improve the nutritional status of children in homeless shelters.     

123例健康中老年人左心室重量的超声测值

目的建立健康中老年人超声心动图测定的左心室重量(LVM)和左心室重量指数(LVMI)及左心室室壁相对厚度(RWT)的正常值。方法对123例中老年健康体检者,以超声心动图测定舒张末期室间隔厚度(IVST)、左心室后壁厚度(PWT)及左心室内径(LVIDd),计算LVM、LVMI以及RWT。结果123例健康中老年人的LVMI男女分别为(85.60±15.52)g/m     

Ultrasonographic findings in metatarsophalangeal and talocrural joints in healthy persons

The objective of this study was to establish whether healthy persons have effusions detectable by ultrasonography (US) in metatarsophalangeal (MTP) and talocrural (TC) joints. Fifty consecutive healthy persons without symptoms in ankles and feet were studied. Thirty-eight of them were women, and their mean age was 47.4 (range 23–62) years. Eighteen of the 500 MTP joints studied in nine persons and four of the 100 TC joints in three persons showed effusions upon investigation. One person had effusion in five MTP joints, one in four, two in two, and the remaining five in one MTP joint. None of the studied joints yielded pathological findings in Doppler US examination. These results indicate that the detection of effusion by grayscale US in the absence of Doppler US in MTP and TC joints can be found in healthy persons.     

急性百草枯中毒后MODS患者血清TNF-α和IL-10的变化及意义

目的探讨急性百草枯中毒（APP）后多器官功能障碍综合征（MODS）患者血清TNF-α、IL-10的变化及临床意义。方法应用放射免疫技术测定32例APP后MODS患者与30名健康人血清TNF-α、IL-10水平,分析APP后MODS患者血清TNF-α、IL-10水平和急性生理学与慢性健康状况Ⅱ（APACHEⅡ）评分、动脉血氧分压（PaO2）、血尿素氮（BUN）、血肌酐（Scr）等指标的关系。结果APP后MODS患者血清TNF-α、IL-10水平较正常对照组明显升高（P〈0.05）,但死亡组与存活组比较差异无统计学意义（P〉0.05）;血清TNF-α、IL-10水平与APACHEⅡ评分、BUN、Scr呈正相关（P〈0.05）,与Pa02呈显著负相关（P〈0.01）。结论TNF-α、IL-10参与了APP后MODS的发病过程,且与APACHEⅡ评分呈正相关;血清TNF-α、IL-10水平可作为APP后MODS患者多器官功能损害程度评估与预后判断的临床指标之一。