Digital Commons Network^™

Modeling The Effects Of Quality In A Transformative Health Service, Shahriar Akter, Umme Hani

Shahriar Akter

Understanding the effects of service quality on economic (i.e., continuance intentions) and social (i.e., quality of life) outcomes is critical to extend the focus of transformative service research. This study specifies mHealth as a transformative service and models the impact of its overall quality on satisfaction, continuance intentions and quality of life. Based on cognition - affective - conation chain, the conceptual model explicitly identifies convenience, confidence, cooperation, care and concern as the primary dimensions of mHealth service quality. The study validates the higher-order quality model and its association with subsequent latent variables using PLS path modeling. The findings confirm …

The Effect Of Yoga Postures On Balance, Flexibility, And Strength In Healthy High School Females, Betsy Donahoe-Fillmore, C. Brahler, Mary Fisher, Kelly Beasley

C. Jayne Brahler

Objective: The purpose of this study was to document the effects of yoga interventions on balance, flexibility, and strength in adolescent girls 14 to 18 years. Study Design: Quasi-experimental, nonrandomized. Background: Research on the effects of yoga on balance, flexibility, and strength has focused on adults, although yoga is being marketed to all ages. Methods and Measures: A convenience sample of 33 female adolescents participated in yoga training 2 times per week and a walking program 3 times per week, for 7 weeks. The instructor-led group received instruction from a registered yoga therapist in person, while the video-led group watched …

A Systematic Review Of The Public’S Knowledge And Beliefs About Antibiotic Resistance, Amanda Mccullough, Sanjoti Parekh, John Rathbone, Christopher Del Mar, Tammy Hoffmann

Amanda McCullough

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to systematically review quantitative and qualitative studies on the public's knowledge and beliefs about antibiotic resistance. METHODS We searched four databases to July 2014, with no language or study design restrictions. Two reviewers independently extracted data. We calculated the median (IQR) of the proportion of participants who agreed with each statement and synthesized qualitative data by identifying emergent themes. RESULTS Of 3537 articles screened, 54 studies (41 quantitative, 3 mixed methods and 10 qualitative) were included (55 225 participants). Most studied adults (50; 93% studies) and were conducted in Europe (23; 43%), Asia …

What Do You Think Overdiagnosis Means? A Qualitave Analysis Of Responses From A National Community Survey Of Australians?, Ray Moynihan, Brooke Nickel, Jolyn Hersch, Jenny Doust, Alexandra Barratt, Elaine Beller, Kirsten Mccaffery

Jenny Doust

Objective: Overdiagnosis occurs when someone is diagnosed with a disease that will not harm them. Against a backdrop of growing evidence and concern about the risk of overdiagnosis associated with certain screening activities, and recognition of the need to better inform the public about it, we aimed to ask what the Australian community understood overdiagnosis to mean. Design, setting and participants: Content analysis of verbatim responses from a randomly sampled community telephone survey of 500 Australian adults, between January and February 2014. Data were analysed independently by two researchers. Main outcome measures: Analysis of themes arising from community responses to …

Implications Of Racial And Ethnic Relations For Health And Wellbeing In New Latino Communities: A Case Study Of West Columbia, South Carolina, C. Barrington, Deanne Messias, Lynn Weber

Lynn Weber

No abstract provided.

The Physiologic And Behavioral Implications Of Playing Active And Sedentary Video Games In A Seated And Standing Position, Gabriel Sanders, Michael Rebold, Corey Peacock, Megan Williamson, Antonio Santo, Jacob Barkley

Jacob E Barkley

International Journal of Exercise Science 7(3) : 194-201, 2014. Previous studies have assessed physiologic response while playing video games per manufacturer instructions with participants standing during active video game play and seated during sedentary game play. It is not known whether an assigned seated or standing position affects positional preference and oxygen consumption (VO2) while gaming. The purpose of the study was to assess VO2 and preference of playing active and sedentary video games in a seated and standing position. VO2 was assessed in 25 participants during four, 20-minute conditions; resting, PlayStation 2 Madden NFL Football 2011, Nintendo Wii-Sports Boxing …

The Effect Of Yoga Postures On Balance, Flexibility, And Strength In Healthy High School Females, Betsy Donahoe-Fillmore, C. Brahler, Mary Fisher, Kelly Beasley

Betsy Donahoe-Fillmore

Objective: The purpose of this study was to document the effects of yoga interventions on balance, flexibility, and strength in adolescent girls 14 to 18 years. Study Design: Quasi-experimental, nonrandomized. Background: Research on the effects of yoga on balance, flexibility, and strength has focused on adults, although yoga is being marketed to all ages. Methods and Measures: A convenience sample of 33 female adolescents participated in yoga training 2 times per week and a walking program 3 times per week, for 7 weeks. The instructor-led group received instruction from a registered yoga therapist in person, while the video-led group watched …

The Benefits And Risks Of Storytelling And Storylistening Over Time: Experimentally Testing The Expressive Writing Paradigm In The Context Of Interpersonal Communicatio, Jody Koenig Kellas, Haley Kranstuber Horstman, Erin K. Willer, Kristen Carr

Jody Koenig Kellas

The overarching goal of the current study was to determine the impact of talking interpersonally over time on emerging adults’ individual and relational health. Using an expres- sive writing study design (see Frattaroli, 2006), we assessed the degree to which psychological health improved over time for college students who told and listened to stories about friends’ current difficulties in comparison with tellers in control conditions. We also investigated the effects on tellers’ and listeners’ perceptions of each other’s communication competence, com- municated perspective-taking, and the degree to which each threatened the other’s face during the interaction over time to better …

Access To Hospital Interpreter Services For Limited English Proficient Patients In New Jersey: A Statewide Evaluation, Glenn Flores, Sylvia Torres, Linda Holmes, Debbie Salas-Lopez, Mara Youdelman, Sandra Tomany-Korman

Debbie Salas-Lopez MD, MPH

CONTEXT/OBJECTIVES: We surveyed New Jersey (NJ) hospitals to assess current language services and identify policy recommendations on meeting limited English proficiency (LEP) patients' needs.

METHODS: Survey with 37 questions regarding hospital/patient features, interpreter services, and resources/policies needed to provide quality interpreter services.

RESULTS: Sixty-seven hospitals responded (55% response rate). Most NJ hospitals have no interpreter services department, 80% provide no staff training on working with interpreters, 31% lack multilingual signs, and 19% offer no written translation services. Only 3% of hospitals have full-time interpreters, a ratio of 1 interpreter:240,748 LEP NJ residents. Most hospitals stated third-party reimbursement for interpreters would …

Public Health Marketing: Is It Good And Is It Good For Everyone?, Stephen Holden, Damian Cox

Damian Cox

We define public health marketing broadly as the use of marketing tools (segmentation, targeting, position­ing, and the four Ps) to encourage behaviour change that will deliver the social good defined as public health. We explore the ethical challenges and risks that confront public health and social marketers. In particular, we note that public health marketers with a self-defined goal of delivering a social good face two major ethical challenges: the first is establishing the ethicality of the social good itself; the second is distributing the social good in an ethically defensible way. In particular, we draw attention to the central …

Action Research In Emerging Technologies In Health Information Systems: Creating A Mobile Information Environment In A Hospital Ward, Linda Dawson, Julie Fisher, Stephen Weeding, Liza Heslop, Andrew Howard

Associate Professor Linda Dawson

Wireless networks, mobile devices and associated applications are key emerging technologies ideal for nomadic workers such as clinicians in hospital ward settings. These mobile information environments can potentially enhance clinicians' use of patient management and clinical systems by providing decision support and clinical information at the bedside or point of care. Such technologies need to be critically assessed in a hospital environment for their wider potential and application for delivery of information at the point of care. This paper describes the use of action research methods in a project which analysed an existing clinical Information Communication Technology (ICT) environment in …

Social Support, Material Circumstance And Health Behaviour: Influences On Health In First Nation And Inuit Communities Of Canada, Chantelle Richmond, Nancy Ross

Chantelle Richmond

An expansive literature describes the links between social support and health. Though the bulk of this evidence emphasizes the health-enhancing effect of social support, certain aspects can have negative consequences for health (e.g., social obligations). In the Canadian context, the geographically small and socially interconnected nature of First Nation and Inuit communities provides a unique example through which to explore this relationship. Despite reportedly high levels of social support, many First Nation and Inuit communities endure broad social problems, thereby leading us to question the assumption that social support is primarily health protective. We draw from narrative analysis of interviews …

Engaging Young People In Mental Health Services: Overcoming Barriers To Appropriate Help-Seeking., Coralie Wilson, Frank Deane

Coralie J Wilson

No abstract provided.

A Preliminary Investigation Of Complex Adaptive Systems As A Model For Explaining Organisational Change Caused By The Introduction Of Health Information Systems, Kieren Diment, Ping Yu, Karin Garrety

Dr Ping Yu

This paper documents the preliminary development of a framework for evaluating organisational change processes during the implementation of an electronic nursing documentation system in residential aged care facilities. It starts with a brief outline of organisational change processes. This is followed by a more detailed exposition of the principles underlying complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory, where we explain how mathematical concepts can be used to illuminate qualitative research approaches. Finally we present some preliminary findings on the facilitators and barriers for the introduction of the electronic documentation system, explained with reference to the CAS theory, based on analysis of interviews …

Enhancing Patient Adherence: Outcomes Of Medication Alliance Training On Therapeutic Alliance, Insight, Adherence, And Psychopathology With Mental Health Patients, Mitchell Byrne, Frank Deane

Mitchell K Byrne

The results of interventions to enhance patient adherence to medication have been inconsistent. This research investigated the utility of an enhanced adherence training programme to ascertain its effectiveness and the possible mechanisms of that effect. Forty-six clinicians were trained in 'medication alliance', and data were collected from 51 patients matched to the clinician. Data on clinician changes in skills, knowledge, and attitudes, in relation to enhancing patient adherence and patient changes in adherence, insight, and psychopathology were collected at baseline and at 6 and 12 months. The quality of the therapeutic relationship between the clinician and the patient was also …

Mental Health Clinicians' Beliefs About Medicines, Attitudes, And Expectations Of Improved Medication Adherence In Patients, Mitchell Byrne, Peter Caputi, Frank Deane

Mitchell K Byrne

Nonadherence to antipsychotic medications remains a major factor in poor clinical outcomes. This study sought to identify clinician beliefs about patients who do not adhere to treatment, the clinicians' own beliefs about medicines, and the impact of beliefs on efforts to enhance patient adherence. In total, 292 clinicians responded to an anonymous questionnaire that included questions about their beliefs and their efforts to enhance adherence. Results indicated that clinicians' beliefs about their own adequacy to enhance adherence significantly predicted actual efforts to enhance adherence. Both pessimism about outcomes and empathy for the patient predicted outcome expectancy. It was concluded that …

Explainer: Anorexia And Bulimia, Peta Stapleton

Peta B. Stapleton

Eating disorders are an increasing problem in children and adolescents. Recent Australian studies have indicated eating disorder behaviour has increased twofold in Australia in the last five years and 9% (men and women) will suffer from one at some point in their lives.

An analysis by the American Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality shows that hospitalisations for eating disorders increased most sharply (119%) for children aged 12 and younger between 1999 to 2006.

The Impact Of Husband’S Job Loss On Partners’ Mental Health, Silvia Mendolia

Silvia Mendolia

The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of job loss on family mental well-being. The negative income shock can affect the mental health status of the individual who directly experiences such displacement, as well as the psychological well-being of his partner; also, job loss may have a significantly detrimental effect on life satisfaction, self-esteem and on the individual’s perceived role in society. This analysis is based on a sample of married and cohabitating couples from the first 14 waves of the British Household Panel Survey. In order to correct for the possible endogeneity of job loss, data …

Research In School Health Education: A Needs Assessment, Lloyd Kolbe, Donald Iverson

Don C. Iverson

No abstract provided.

Federal Data Bases For Health Education Research, Ronald Wilson, Donald Iverson

Don C. Iverson

Described are some of the national health related databases which are useful in conducting health education research. Among areas covered by the projects are hypertension, myocardial infarction, neighborhood health centers, alcoholism, and over the counter drugs.

Worksite Health Promotion In Colorado, Mary Davis, Karen Rosenberg, Donald Iverson, Thomas Vernon, Jeff Bauer

Don C. Iverson

No abstract provided.

An Overview And Analysis Of The Health Style Campaign, Mary Davis, Donald Iverson

Don C. Iverson

In 1981, the Office of Health Information and Health Promotion of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched a national health promotion media campaign titled Health Style. The purposes of the Health Style campaign were: (1) to increase public awareness of the effects of life-style on health; (2) to enable persons to assess which life-style changes would be most conducive to their health; (3) to stimulate information-seeking behavior and; (4) to foster the development of local health promotion activities and referral networks. The campaign was implemented in nine test communities across the United States. This article: (1) provides …

Implementing Comprehensive Health Education: Educational Innovations And Social Change, Lloyd Kolbe, Donald Iverson

Don C. Iverson

The effectiveness of health education is ultimately determined by whether it is implemented, and how it is implemented. Although a given health education innovation may be designed and experimentally assessed to promote well-being with some measure of effectiveness and efficiency, the actual impact of the innovation will depend upon the manner in which it is disseminated, initiated, and maintained. The implementation of health education programs in schools or elsewhere is a function of the types of innovations available, certain characteristics of those innovations that influence their use, and the manner in which the innovations are brought into practice. This paper …

Utilizing A Health Behavior Model To Design Drug Education/Prevention Programs, Donald Iverson

Don C. Iverson

The underlying philosophical and practical problems encountered when designing drug education/prevention programs are reviewed. The necessity for utilizing a health behavior model as the basis for any prevention program is discussed and the Health Belief Model is proposed as the model of choice. The Health Belief Model is described and its most relevant components are outlined. The drug education material and teaching methodology which complement the model are reviewed as well as specific suggestions regarding selection of the most appropriate material for inclusion in the program.

The Cumulative Impact And Associated Costs Of Multiple Health Conditions On Employee Productivity, Donald Iverson, Kate Lewis, Peter Caputi, Sascha Knospe

Don C. Iverson

Objective: This study investigates and provides comparative data on the relative contributions of multiple physical and psychological health conditions on work productivity. Methods: A total of 667 employees from the headquarters office of a multinational consumer goods manufacturing firm in Germany completed a purpose-designed self-report questionnaire addressing the presence of 13 common health conditions, and associated absenteeism and presenteeism. Adjustments for comorbidity and self-report bias were made using an innovative approach. Results: A total of 34.8% of participants experienced absenteeism and 78.4% experienced presenteeism for at least one health condition. The overall annualized productivity loss due to the 13 health …

The School Health Curriculum Project: Its Theory, Practice, And Measurement Experience, Lawrence Green, Phil Heit, Donald Iverson, Lloyd Kolbe, Marshall Kreuter

Don C. Iverson

The School Health Curriculum Project(SHCP), initiated over a decade ago to provide a health education curriculum package for elemen tary students, has been widely and variously evaluated. In analyzing studies designed to assess the effectiveness of the SHCP, it was recognized that the measured impact of this project (or any health education intervention) would derive from the adequacy of the theory upon which the program is based, the adequacy of its implementation, and the adequacy of its measurement. Hence, an examination of the theoretical base of the SHCP and its variance in practice was conducted. In addition, a metaevaluation of …

Statistical Design Of The Women's Health Trial, Steven Self, Ross Prentice, Donald Iverson, Maureen Henderson, Donovan Thompson, David Byar, William Insull, Sherwood Gorbach, Carolyn Clifford, Susan Goldman, Nicole Urban, Lianne Sheppard, Peter Greenwald

Don C. Iverson

The National Cancer Institute has initiated a randomized trial to determine whether a low fat diet can reduce the incidence of breast cancer among women at increased risk for this disease. A feasibility trial involving 303 women has been conducted to examine recruitment strategies, study short-term compliance and, more generally, develop and refine trial procedures. The feasibility trial group also developed a detailed full-scale trial design plan, and randomization of participants to such a trial is currently underway. The purpose of this report is to describe the major design features of this Women's Health Trial, with particular emphasis on the …

Fluoride's Role In Health Promotion: A National Perspective, Donald Iverson

Don C. Iverson

No abstract provided.

Prestige Of Health Educators Within The Health Care Delivery System, Raymond Nakamura, Donald Iverson

Don C. Iverson

No abstract provided.

An Assessment Of Student Health Needs: Implications For The Planning And Utilization Of College Health Services, Lloyd Kolbe, Donald Iverson

Don C. Iverson

Since many students plan to utilize college health services, it is important that the services offered are adequate to meet the needs of the students.