Women's Health Commons^™

Ethnic Differentials In Parental Health Seeking For Childhood Illness In Vietnam, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, James F. Phillips

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The recent introduction of user fees for Vietnam’s primary healthcare services has generated concern that economic policies may adversely affect health-seeking behavior and health outcomes of the poor, particularly among impoverished families who are members of socially marginalized minority groups. This Population Council working paper examines this debate by analyzing parental recall of illness and care-seeking for sick children under age 5 recorded by the 2001–02 Vietnam National Health Survey. Ethnic differentials are evident in all geographic and income levels, although adverse effects of minority status are most pronounced among poor households in remote areas. Results suggest that social equity …

Strategies For Encouraging The Abandonment Of Female Genital Cutting In West Africa: Experiences From Senegal, Burkina Faso, And Mali, Nafissatou J. Diop, Ian Askew

Reproductive Health

This article explores efforts to encourage abandonment of female genital cutting (FGC) in Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Mali. The strategy of encouraging traditional practitioners to stop performing FGC is not effective as community-level support for the practice remains high. Training health staff significantly improved healthcare providers' levels of knowledge about FGC and its complications. Consequently, it was recommended that such training be incorporated into preservice medical training. The use of community-based strategies like the Village Education Program (VEP) showed the most promise, as their multifaceted approach addresses knowledge, attitudes, actions, and communal support in an integrated manner. The way forward …

Analyse De L'Evolution De La Pratique De L'Excision Au Burkina Faso: L'Environment Institutionel, Politique Et Programmatique De La Lutte Contre La Pratique De L'Excision, Nafissatou J. Diop, Zakari Congo, Aina Ouedraogo, Alphosine Sawadogo, Lydia Saloucou, Ida Tamini

Reproductive Health

La présente analyse du projet Frontiers du Population Council fait un tour historique des événements majeurs de la lutte contre la pratique de l’excision au Burkina Faso avant d’aborder les conventions internationales auxquelles le pays a adhéré ainsi que les textes nationaux adoptés en ce qui concerne les droits de l’homme, spécifiquement le droit des femmes et des enfants. Elle analyse également l’application de la loi à travers l’évolution des cas de condamnation depuis l’adoption de la loi. Enfin, elle s’intéressera à quelques programmes d’intervention mis en place en identifiant les acquis et les limites. Ce travail fait partie d’une …

Effects Of A Tailored Follow-Up Intervention On Health Behaviors, Beliefs, And Attitudes, Alissa D. Jacobs, Alice S. Ammerman, Susan T. Ennett, Marci K. Campbell, Katherine W. Tawney, Semra Aytur, Stephen W. Marshall, Julie C. Will, Wayne D. Rosamond

Health Management & Policy

Background: The high rates of relapse that tend to occur after short-term behavioral interventions indicate the need for maintenance programs that promote long-term adherence to new behavior patterns. Computer-tailored health messages that are mailed to participants or given in brief telephone calls offer an innovative and time-efficient alternative to ongoing face-to-face contact with healthcare providers.

Methods: Following a 1-year behavior change program, 22 North Carolina health departments were randomly assigned to a follow-up intervention or control condition. Data were collected from 1999 to 2001 by telephone-administered surveys at preintervention and postintervention for 511 low-income, midlife adult women enrolled …

Decreasing Barriers For Teens: Evaluation Of A New Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Strategy In School-Based Clinics, Abbey C. Sidebottom, Amanda Birnbaum, Sarah S. Nafstad

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Sidebottom et al seek to evaluate the effects of the change in distribution systems on students' receipt of requested contraceptives and demand for contraceptive school-based clinics (SBC). The result of the study reveals that the average number of requests per student was higher under the voucher system, possibly as a consequence of expires vouchers resulting in repeated requests. The findings also suggest that SBCs could go a step further in reducing adolescents' barriers to accessing contraceptives by adopting an on-site direct delivery system..

Zimbabwe: Cbd Roles Modified To Address Zimbabwe's Hiv/Aids Crisis, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

In September 1999, the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) and the Population Council initiated a one-year study to assess the performance of ZNFPC’s community-based distribution (CBD) program. A continual decline in the program’s productivity, combined with the expanding HIV/AIDS epidemic, indicated a need to reconsider ZNFPC’s objectives and revise the roles and responsibilities of its full-time, salaried CBD agents. The study examined the productivity, costs, and potential sustainability of the CBD program. Researchers gathered information by reviewing program documents through 1999. They also interviewed program managers, district and community nurses, and community leaders and CBD agents from eight regions. …

A Participatory Evaluation Of The Life-Skills Training Programme In Myanmar, Unicef, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In 1993 UNICEF/Myanmar launched an innovative project aimed at preventing the further spread of HIV/AIDS through the promotion of reproductive health. One of the activities undertaken was life-skills training for women and youth, conducted in collaboration with the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) and the Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association (MMCWA). The objective of the training activities was to encourage and promote informed decision-making and care-seeking behavior among youth and women. The training aims to provide detailed and accurate information concerning sexuality, birth spacing, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV/AIDS, and to provide skills for youth and women to enable …

Risk Factors Associated With Infant Mortality Among Very Low Birthweight Infants Of Teenage Mothers In San Bernardino County, C. Letitia Henry

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Background. Typically, infant mortality decreases as maternal age increases in teenagers. In contrast to these national data, San Bernardino County (SBC) experienced a different phenomenon in 1989-1994 among very low birthweight (VLBW) infants. The infant mortality rate (IMR) of VLBW infants born to mothers under 17 years old (283 per 1000 live births) was significantly lower than the IMR of VLBW infants born to mothers between the ages of 17-19 years old (430 per 1000 live births) (p = .02).

Purpose. The purpose of the study was to explain the discrepancy between IMRs of VLBW infants of younger teenage mothers …

Condom Availability In New York City Public High Schools: Relationships To Condom Use And Sexual Behavior, Sally Guttmacher, Lisa D. Lieberman, David Ward, Nick Freudenberg, Alice Radosh, Don Des Jarlais

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

OBJECTIVES: This study examines the impact of the condom availability program in New York City public high schools by comparing rates of sexual activity and condom use for New York students and similar students in Chicago. METHODS: A total of 7119 students from 12 randomly selected New York schools and 5738 students from 10 Chicago schools participated in a cross-sectional survey. RESULTS: New York students, compared with Chicago students, reported equal rates of sexual activity but higher rates of condom use at last intercourse (odds ratio [OR] = 1.36). For higher-risk students (those with three or more sexual partners in …

Integrando La Sexualidad En La Planificación Familiar: La Experiencia De Tres Proyectos De Vih/Ets En América Latina Y El Caribe, Julie Becker, Elizabeth Leitman, Mahmoud F. Fathalla

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Esta edición de Quality/Calidad/Qualité relata la experiencia de tres asociaciones de planificación familiar afiliadas con la International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region que han tratado de incorporar una estrategia de prevención del VIH/SIDA en su esquema de trabajo cotidiano. Se examina cómo BEMFAM/Brasil, ASHONPLAFA/Honduras, y FAMPLAN/Jamaica han logrado una transición hacia una oferta de servicios de planificación familiar más enfocada en los clientes mismos y más explícita en el tratamiento de temas sexuales. En cada uno de los tres países, el personal recibió capacitación especial que no sólo los habilitó para proveer información sobre el VIH/SIDA, sino que también les …

Introducing Sexuality Within Family Planning: The Experience Of Three Hiv/Std Prevention Projects From Latin America And The Caribbean, Julie Becker, Elizabeth Leitman, Mahmoud F. Fathalla

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This edition of Quality/Calidad/Qualité relates the experience of three family planning associations affiliated with the International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region that have tried to incorporate an HIV/AIDS prevention strategy into their existing family planning programs and services. It examines how BEMFAM/Brazil, ASHONPLAFA/ Honduras, and FAMPLAN/Jamaica have made a transition toward a range of family planning services more focused on the clients themselves and more explicit in the treatment of sexual themes. In each of the three countries, the staff received special training that not only enabled them to provide information on HIV/AIDS, but also helped them adopt a broader …

Integrating Rti Services In Primary Health Care System: Observations From An Operations Research In Uttar Pradesh, India, M.E. Khan, Saumya Ramarao, R.B. Gupta, Bella C. Patel, Leila Caleb-Varkey, Jayanti Tuladhar, Sanjeev Kumar, John Townsend

Reproductive Health

Evidence from community studies indicates that significant proportions of Indian women (30 percent) may have reproductive tract infections (RTIs). Given that women are in general asymptomatic and that even symptomatic women may not seek care, the estimates are the minimum levels of prevalence. Most women do not seek treatment for RTIs for such reasons as lack of awareness, acceptance that RTIs are part of women's lives, and lack of treatment facilities. On the supply side, in the public sector the treatment for RTIs is limited with most services provided through STD clinics in urban areas. Seeking treatment at STD clinics …

Ua12/2/1 Magazine, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Special magazine edition of the College Heights Herald:

• Poore, Chris. Silent Escape – Amy Deputy, Bulimia

Evaluation Of The Impact Of A Health Education Program On The Rate Of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections In A Selected Female Outpatient Population, Lo Lumsden

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

The present study attempted to assess the impact of a health education program focused on those preventive measures or avoidance behaviors an individual could incorporate. into daily living to reduce the incidence of urinary tract . infections. An experimental group, consisting of seventeen volunteers was exposed to a health. education program, and then compared to a seventeen member control group. A statistically significant reduction in the incidence of cystitis, occurred within the experimental group after health education intervention. The results were not statistically significant when the experimental post-test was compared with the control post-test.

Factors Influencing The Use Of Health Services: By Four Wards In The Taipei Taiwan Stake Relief Society Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Candace Sheila Gutzman Hsiao

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine what sociocultural, sociodemographic, and sociopsychological factors the Sisters in four Wards in the Taipei Taiwan Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints perceived as keeping them from using the health services during the period from June 1975 to May 1976.

Forty-five Sisters, age twenty-one and older, were surveyed by a written questionnaire during Relief Society meetings during the last week in June and the first week in July 1966.

A majority of the Sisters were found to have experienced times when they did not avail themselves of the existing …