Collaboration between Public Health and Schools: An Example of an Integrated Community Social Care Model.

Introduction: There is a need to improve public health interventions to promote youth social and emotional development in close collaboration with schools, families and local communities. A close intersectoral collaboration between the regional public health, schools and school boards was established to co-construct and implement "Positive Intervention (PI)" in the Eastern Townships region (Quebec, Canada). This paper describes its implementation according to the "Integrated Community Care (ICC)" framework. Description: PI is a collaborative and personalized intervention leaning toward an integrated community social care model. In fact, PI relies on the close proximity between Public Health and their educational counterpart as well as their individual temporality. However, PI offered mainly social services and its relationships with Primary Care services was not yet a priority. Discussion: The results show that it is possible to develop and implement an intervention promoting positive mental health in children, with and for local organisations. The level of integration between schools and Public Health services achieved after only 6 months of implementation is encouraging. Conclusion: More research is needed to thoroughly document the implementation, social validity, and effects of such an intervention by taking in the point of view of all stakeholders.

Introduction: Il est nécessaire d'améliorer les interventions de santé publique pour promouvoir le développement social et émotionnel des jeunes en étroite collaboration avec les écoles, les familles et les communautés locales. Une telle collaboration intersectorielle entre la santé publique régionale, les écoles et les commissions scolaires a été mise en place pour coconstruire et mettre en œuvre l'Intervention positive (IP) en Estrie (Québec, Canada). Cet article décrit sa mise en œuvre initiale selon le cadre conceptuel des soins de santé et services sociaux intégrés en proximité des communautés. Description: L'IP est une intervention collaborative et personnalisée qui s'inscrit dans un modèle de services sociaux intégrés en proximité des communautés. En fait, l'IP s'appuie sur une forte proximité entre les services de santé publique et les milieux scolaires, ainsi qu'un ajustement à la temporalité des partenaires. Cependant, l'IP offre principalement des services sociaux et ses relations avec les services de soins primaires n'étaient pas encore une priorité. Discussion: Les résultats montrent qu'il est possible de développer et de mettre en œuvre une intervention de promotion de la santé mentale positive chez les enfants, avec et pour les organisations locales. Le niveau d'intégration entre les écoles et les services de santé publique atteint après seulement six mois de mise en œuvre est encourageant. Conclusion: Des recherches supplémentaires sont nécessaires pour documenter de manière approfondie la mise en œuvre, la validité sociale et les effets d'une telle intervention en prenant en compte le point de vue de toutes les parties prenantes.

Randomized controlled trial of physiotherapy for postpartum stress incontinence: 7-year follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the long-term effect of intensive, 6-week physiotherapy programs, with and without deep abdominal muscle (TrA) training, on persistent postpartum stress urinary incontinence (SUI). METHODS: The study was a single-blind randomized controlled trial. Fifty-seven postnatal women with clinically demonstrated persistent SUI 3 months after delivery participated in 8 weeks of either pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) (28) or PFMT with deep abdominal muscle training (PFMT + TrA) (29). Seven years post-treatment, 35 (61.4%) participants agreed to the follow-up; they were asked to complete a 20-min pad test and three incontinence-specific questionnaires with an assessor blinded to each participant's group assignment. RESULTS: Of the 35 (61.4%) who agreed to the follow-up: 26 (45.6%) took the 20-min pad test (12 PFMT and 14 PFMT + TrA) and 35 (61.4%) completed the questionnaires (18 PFMT and 17 PFMT + TrA). The baseline clinical characteristics of the follow-up and non-follow-up participants were not significantly different; nor did they differ between PFMT and PFMT + TrA participants enrolled in the follow-up study. At 7 years, the pad test scores for the PFMT group did not differ statistically from those of the PFMT + TrA group. When combining both treatment groups, a total of 14/26 (53%) follow-up participants were still continent according to the pad test. CONCLUSION: The addition of deep abdominal training does not appear to further improve the outcome of PFM training in the long term. However, benefits of physiotherapy for postpartum SUI, although not as pronounced as immediately after the initial intervention, is still present 7 years post-treatment.

Subjective experience after stroke.

To assess subjective experience after stroke, 214 patients completed the 63-item European Brain Injury Questionnaire. The same questionnaire was also completed by a close relative of each patient and by 214 control participants matched for gender and age. A principal component analysis showed 3 factors: depressive mood, cognitive difficulties, and difficulties in social interactions. In self-assessment, whereas the first 2 factors were scored higher by patients than by controls, the level of difficulty in social interactions did not differ between these 2 groups. In hetero-assessment, relatives scored patients' difficulties higher than patients did, especially for items suggesting the impact of stroke on themselves. Psychological difficulties of stroke patients and the consequences on their relatives need to be taken into account in rehabilitation programs.