Can a community development model be used for health programmes in an industrialized country?

Injury resulting from accident is a serious public health problem in Sweden, as it is in the rest of the world. Theoretically, almost all incidents can be prevented. However, in practice, injury-prevention is a complex problem. A community-level intervention programme for prevention of accidents was developed in the municipality of Sollentuna, Stockholm County. The primary strategy has been to involve the community through representatives as well as through local organizations and groups. Project organization has been built up in cooperation with the municipal primary health-care department, local authorities, voluntary organizations and citizen agencies. A common opinion is that it is the actual process in a community programme which is important, that alters the type of involvement from a ‘top-down’ to a ‘bottom-up’ approach. Can a local community take over responsibility for running such a programme which has been initiated by an external authority or organization? We think that, at least for Swedish circumstances, the community development approach is far too optimistic in its expectation that community members should and can stay actively involved in programme decisions. Based on our experience, it does not seem possible to maintain a broad self-sustained programme solely with input from community members.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of a family empowerment program on family function and pulmonary function of children with asthma: A randomized control trial

BackgroundEmpowerment can be an effective strategy for changing an individual's health behaviours. However, how to empower whole families to manage their children's asthma is a challenge that requires innovative nursing intervention based on family-centred care.AimsTo evaluate the effectiveness of a family empowerment program on family function and pulmonary function of children with asthma compared to those receiving traditional self-management only.DesignA randomized control trial.MethodsSixty-five families were recruited from one asthma clinic in a medical centre in Taiwan. After random assignment, 34 families in the experimental group received the family empowerment program consisting of four counselling dialogues with the child and its family. We empowered the family caregiver's ability to manage their child's asthma problems through finding the problems in the family, discovery and discussion about the way to solve problems, and enabling the family's cooperation and asthma management. The other 31 families received the traditional care in asthma clinics. The Parental Stress Index and Family Environment Scale of family caregivers, and pulmonary function, and asthma signs of children with asthma were collected at pre-test, 3-month post-test, and one-year follow-up. We utilized the linear mixed model in SPSS (18.0) to analyze the effects between groups, across time, and the interaction between group and time.ResultsThe family empowerment program decreased parental stress (F = 13.993, p < .0001) and increased family function (cohesion, expression, conflict solving, and independence) (F = 19.848, p < .0001). Children in the experimental group had better pulmonary expiratory flow (PEF) (F = 26.483, p < .0001) and forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV1) (F = 7.381, p = .001) than children in the comparison group; however, no significant change in forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) was found between the two groups. Sleep problems did not show significant changes but cough, wheezing, and dyspnoea were significantly reduced by family caregiver's observations.ConclusionWe empowered families by listening, dialogues, reflection, and taking action based on Freire's empowerment theory. Nurses could initiate the families’ life changes and assist children to solve the problems by themselves, which could yield positive health outcomes.     

Feasibility,acceptability, and effectiveness of a decision aid versus an informational website to promote clinical trial decision-making among cancer patients: A pilot randomized controlled trial

ObjectiveTo assess intervention feasibility and acceptability, and compare the effectiveness of the CHOICES Decision Aid (DA) versus the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Clinical Trials (CCT) website to improve knowledge about CCTs and preparedness to make an informed decision.MethodsOncology patients (n = 101) with a scheduled clinic visit were enrolled and randomized. Decision-making variables were collected at two timepoints. Post-intervention scores were examined via paired t-tests and multivariate regression analyses. Predictors of the magnitudes of the change in scores were examined in multivariable regression analyses.ResultsThe interventions were feasible to implement and acceptable to participants. Both interventions increased objective and subjective knowledge, improved clarity of opinions, and reduced decisional conflict (p-values < 0.01). Improvements in the belief that one could find out about CCTs were observed in the CHOICES DA arm (p < 0.001). Multivariable analyses controlling for educational attainment showed no significant differences in the magnitude of change in outcome variables between intervention arms, but did find that improvements in some variables in the NCI arm – but not CHOICES DA arm – were associated with previous educational attainment.ConclusionsInterventions were feasible to implement and acceptable. Improvements in knowledge and decision-making outcomes were observed in both arms, supporting the view that interventions to improve CCT decision making are effective and feasible. Our results suggest that the CHOICES DA may be more effective than an informational website in improving decision-making outcomes regardless of participants’ educational attainment.Practice implicationsCCT resources should support informed decision-making among all cancer survivors, regardless of educational attainment.     

采用赋能教育模式对糖尿病足患者护理的效果分析

目的 探讨采用赋能教育模式对Wagner0级糖尿病足患者护理后的效果.方法 选择Wagner0糖尿病足患者81例,分为对照组及观察组,分别有40例、41例.对照组采用常规方法护理,观察组采用赋能教育模式进行护理.对治疗后患者ABI、TBI、VPT、DMSES及DSQL评分、血糖控制情况进行检测.结果 对照组干预后ABI、TBI、VPT较干预前略有变化但差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05),观察组干预后ABI、TBI、VPT较干预前及对照组差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05).对照组干预后DMSES较干预前差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05),观察组干预后DMSES及DSQL评分较干预前及对照组差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05).观察组干预后FBG、HbAlc、每日测血糖次数较干预前差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05),每日测血糖次数较对照组干预后有增加(P＜0.05).结论 采用赋能教育可有效缓解Wagner0级糖尿病足进展,并改善患者的自我效能量、生存质量及自我管理水平.     

‘Invisible’ young people: The paradox of participation in research

Abstract

Researchers argue that many young people are marginalized or excluded from today's consumer society and invisible to many official agencies and community services. Researchers have also more recently begun to extol the principles of involving young people in their work. Through liaison with one key support agency in the North East of England, six young people aged between 17 and 21 years who were not in employment, education or training were identified as willing to become involved and trained as co-researchers in an action research project to explore their ‘invisibility’. The young co-researchers resisted the original research plan and proposed methods, and instead established their own agenda. This alternative agenda demonstrated their considerable knowledge of and connections with ‘People, Places and Money’. The authors conclude, first, that far from being excluded, on the ‘outside’ of social life, these young co-researchers were involved, informed and thoroughly engaged with it. Secondly, the researchers questioned the ethical implications of ‘involving’ the young people as co-researchers. The significance of these issues for future research is discussed.