Antimicrobial resistance and self-reported hand hygiene awareness before and after an infection prevention and control programme: A 7-year analysis in a small animal veterinary teaching hospital.

Infection prevention and control (IPC) in veterinary medicine is crucial to protect patients, owners, staff, and the public. An IPC programme is recommended for every animal hospital. The objective of this retrospective longitudinal study was to describe the changes in bacterial and multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial isolates and self-reported hand hygiene awareness and practices after an IPC programme to assess the long-term effect of this programme in small animal veterinary medicine. The IPC programme was implemented at our veterinary teaching hospital in April 2018, which included the establishment of an infection control task force, regular IPC lectures and poster campaigns, infrastructure improvement, and manual refinement. Laboratory-based surveillance was retrospectively conducted before and after the programme (January 2016-December 2022). Level and slope changes in bacterial isolates were evaluated using interrupted time-series analysis. Self-reported hand hygiene awareness and practices were assessed using an annual questionnaire. Additionally, hygiene product purchases during the study period were investigated. The monthly number of total and MDR bacterial isolates decreased significantly after the programme (MDR level change: -0.426; 95% confidence interval: -0.744, -0.109; P = 0.009; and MDR slope change: -0.035; 95% confidence interval: -0.058, -0.011; P = 0.003). Additionally, awareness of hand hygiene before touching animals improved after the programme. Overall self-reported hand hygiene practices improved, and hygiene product purchases significantly increased. These results suggested that the IPC programme may have long-term effects regarding reducing total and MDR bacterial isolates and improving hand hygiene awareness in veterinary medicine.

Impacto de um programa educativo com tecnologia online na pessoa pós-intervenção coronária percutânea / The impact of an online education program on patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention / Impacto de un programa educativo con tecnología en línea en la persona sometida a una intervención coronaria percutânea

Resumo Enquadramento: A doença isquémica coronária constituiu uma das principais causas de morte em Portugal. Como doença crónica, é imperativo desenvolver competências de mudanças comportamentais efetivas e um maior nível de aceitação e adesão às recomendações disponibilizadas. Objetivo: Avaliar o impacto de um programa educativo de enfermagem online, tendo em conta as características sociodemográficas, fatores de risco cardiovasculares, estilo de vida, indicadores clínicos, adesão à terapêutica farmacológica, capacidade de autocuidado terapêutico, literacia e aceitação do recurso à tecnologia. Metodologia: Estudo quantitativo, descritivo, do tipo experimental, com desenho antes-após e com grupo controlo. Resultados: A intervenção educativa resultou numa diminuição do peso, perímetro abdominal, índice de massa corporal, tensão arterial, colesterol, glicemia, e no aumento da aceitação dos participantes sobre a sua condição clínica e utilização de tecnologia. Conclusão: A implementação de um programa estruturado de ensino constitui-se como uma boa metodologia na melhoria dos indicadores clínicos, aumento da adesão à terapêutica farmacológica, capacidade de autocuidado terapêutico, literacia em saúde, estilo de vida e aceitação da tecnologia por parte dos participantes.

Abstract Background: Ischemic coronary disease is one of the leading causes of death in Portugal. As a chronic disease, it is imperative to develop skills for effective behavioural change and a higher level of acceptance and adherence to the recommendations provided. Objective: To assess the impact of an online nursing education programme, considering socio-demographic characteristics, cardiovascular risk factors, lifestyle, clinical indicators, adherence to pharmacological therapy, therapeutic self-care skills, literacy and acceptance of the use of technology. Methodology: Quantitative, descriptive, experimental study, with a before-after design and control group. Results: The educational intervention resulted in a decrease in weight, abdominal circumference, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose, and in increased acceptance of the participants about their clinical condition and use of technology. Conclusion: The implementation of a structured teaching program constitutes a good methodology for improving clinical indicators, increasing adherence to pharmacological therapy, capacity for therapeutic self-care, health literacy, lifestyle and acceptance of technology by the participants.

Resumen Marco contextual: La cardiopatía isquémica es una de las principales causas de muerte en Portugal. Al tratarse de una enfermedad crónica, es imprescindible desarrollar competencias eficaces de cambio de comportamiento y un mayor nivel de aceptación y adherencia a las recomendaciones proporcionadas. Objetivo: Evaluar el impacto de un programa educativo de enfermería en línea, teniendo en cuenta las características sociodemográficas, los factores de riesgo cardiovascular, el estilo de vida, los indicadores clínicos, la adherencia al tratamiento farmacológico, la capacidad de autocuidado terapéutico, la alfabetización sanitaria y la aceptación del uso de la tecnología. Metodología: Estudio cuantitativo, descriptivo, experimental, con un diseño antes-después y un grupo de control. Resultados: La intervención educativa se tradujo en una disminución del peso, del perímetro abdominal, del índice de masa corporal, de la tensión arterial, del colesterol y de la glucemia, así como en una mayor aceptación de los participantes sobre su estado clínico y el uso de la tecnología. Conclusión: La implementación de un programa de enseñanza estructurado es una buena metodología para mejorar los indicadores clínicos, aumentar la adherencia a la terapia farmacológica, la capacidad de autocuidado terapéutico, la alfabetización sanitaria, el estilo de vida y la aceptación de la tecnología por parte de los participantes.

"I RUN CLEAN Project"-An Innovative and Self-Sustainable Approach to Develop Clean Sport Behaviours in Grassroots Athletes.

The phenomenon of doping is a public health issue that poses threats to sport and society. In recent decades, the emphasis on efforts to address the issue and reduce the incidence of doping by young people in sport has shifted from deterrence through testing and punishment to the promotion of clean sport behaviours through values-based education. The "I Run Clean project" sought to develop new and effective tools targeting grassroots athletes and those around them (coaches, medical support personnel, sport leaders, parents). These included sport-specific e-learning and in-person peer-to-peer workshops led by trained volunteer ambassadors. The aim of all "I Run Clean" measures is to go beyond the warnings and provision of factual information about early anti-doping campaigns to a more holistic educational approach that focuses participants on their personal and sport-related values in order to encourage good decision-making and resistance to doping-related behaviours. This study evaluates the efficacy of the peer-to-peer workshops and their impact on selected psycho-social variables. The collaboration of the volunteer ambassadors is shown to effectively transmit the desired reasoning, reduce doping risk factors and enhance protective factors.

Effectiveness of educational and training intervention for improving hand hygiene compliance amongst nurses: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Developing and implementing an educational and training programmes for improving hand hygiene compliance of the nursing personnel might help in increasing their knowledge, promoting positive attitude and follow adequate practice measures. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Systematic search was done in PubMed, SCOPUS, CENTRAL, EMBASE, ScienceDirect, Clinicaltrials.gov and Google Scholar databases for articles published between 1964 and December 2022. Meta-analysis was carried out using a random-effects model, and the results were reported as pooled risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), pooled standardised mean differences (SMD) or risk ratios (RR). RESULTS: Eight studies were included in the analysis. Most studies had higher risk of bias. Nurses receiving educational and training programmes had significantly higher compliance to hand hygiene practices (pooled RR of 1.69 [95% CI: 1.23-2.31; I2 = 99.1%], p = 0.001). The pooled analysis based on studies reporting the compliance to hand hygiene as continuous outcome has reported the pooled SMD as 1.28 with 95% CI: 0.62 to 1.95 and I2 = 74.5%. There were no single-study effects with respect to this outcome, since the sensitivity analysis showed no difference in either direction or strength of effect estimate. CONCLUSION: Educational and training programmes are effective in improving the hand hygiene compliance amongst the nursing professionals.

An educational programme based on salutogenesis theory on childbirth fear and delivery method among nulliparous women: A mixed methods research protocol.

AIM: Designing, executing and testing a training intervention based on enhanced concepts of salutogenesis theory for managing fear of childbirth and choice of delivery method among nulliparous women. DESIGN: A Sequential-Exploratory Mixed Methods Research. METHODS: In the first phase (qualitative approach), the determinants of childbirth fear among nulliparous women will be explored. In the second phase (systematic review), the factors of childbirth fear among them will be summarized. In the third phase, the content of the educational intervention is developed based on the common factors of childbirth fear obtained from the previous two phases of the study. In the fourth phase (randomized controlled trial), two intervention and the control groups will be compared based on primary and secondary outcomes. DISCUSSION: Using salutogenesis theory in a few interventional studies on various health areas has produced promising results. Based on the evidence, women had less sense of coherence with a strong childbirth fear. Therefore, developing an effective intervention based on this theory can probably help manage childbirth fear and reduce the costs of any potential consequences.

Impact of educational programme on patient's health outcomes following open heart surgeries.

BACKGROUND: Postcardiac surgery, numerous factors have been shown to predict postoperative harm of QoL, such as age, female sex, history of hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, education level, marital status, and also psychological factors such as the presence of mood disorders. So, the essential key to self-management is behavioural change, which is necessary to improve the quality of life of patients and Health outcomes. AIM: The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the education programme on patients' health outcomes following open heart surgeries. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Quasi-experimental research design carried out in intensive care for open heart surgery in Suez Canal university hospitals at Ismailia Governate on all available both sex patients performing open heart surgery for 6-month period (60) using the following four tools: the first tool for patient's risk stratification model Euro Scale sheet; the second tool New York Heart Association scale for assessing functional abilities; the third tool for health outcomes sheet for assessing patient's quality of life and health status; and the fourth tool for assessing Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. RESULTS: There was no significant difference found in the patient's vital signs before and after the educational programme. On the other hand, there was no statistically significant difference between overall quality of life and socio-demographic characteristics before and after the educational programme. CONCLUSION: This study concluded that the educational programme has a positive effect on patients' quality of life in patients' educational programme; improve patient's health status as indicated by improved patient outcomes. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The most important finding was the value of the educational training programme to address the needs of open heart surgery patients, indicating that after heart surgery, patient education by training can be helpful in self-care, and nurses can use a programme containing preparatory information to enhance results, alleviate patients problems, and improve the quality of life in patients with CABG.

A dissemination and education programme to improve the clinical behaviours of psychiatrists in accordance with treatment guidelines for schizophrenia and major depressive disorders: the Effectiveness of Guidelines for Dissemination and Education in Psychiatric Treatment (EGUIDE) project.

BACKGROUND: Clinical practice guidelines for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder have been published. However, these have not had sufficient penetration in clinical settings. We developed the Effectiveness of Guidelines for Dissemination and Education in Psychiatric Treatment (EGUIDE) project as a dissemination and education programme for psychiatrists. AIMS: The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the EGUIDE project on the subjective clinical behaviour of psychiatrists in accordance with clinical practice guidelines before and 1 and 2 years after participation in the programmes. METHOD: A total of 607 psychiatrists participated in this study during October 2016 and March 2019. They attended both 1-day educational programmes based on the clinical practice guidelines for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder, and answered web questionnaires about their clinical behaviours before and 1 and 2 years after attending the programmes. We evaluated the changes in clinical behaviours in accordance with the clinical practice guidelines between before and 2 years after the programme. RESULTS: All of the scores for clinical behaviours in accordance with clinical practice guidelines were significantly improved after 1 and 2 years compared with before attending the programmes. There were no significant changes in any of the scores between 1 and 2 years after attending. CONCLUSIONS: All clinical behaviours in accordance with clinical practice guidelines improved after attending the EGUIDE programme, and were maintained for at least 2 years. The EGUIDE project could contribute to improved guideline-based clinical behaviour among psychiatrists.

Empowering rare disease patients through patient education: the new BehçeTalk programme.

BACKGROUND: Educating patients and caregivers on their disease can improve their knowledge and promote the active involvement in the therapeutic decision-making process. Naturally, patient education programmes are critically important in rare systemic autoimmune diseases, where relevant knowledge and expertise still remain scattered. Behçet's disease (BD) represents a challenging rare condition, characterized by a variable spectrum of disease profile and a relapsing course. RESULTS: Recently, BehçeTalk, an educational programme tailored for BD patients, families and caregivers with, was launched. BehçeTalk, entirely co-designed with BD patients, is offering educational on-line webinars on different aspects of the disease, as well support groups for patients and caregivers coordinated by a psychologist with specific expertise in BD. CONCLUSIONS: The therapeutical management of BD is often challenging and frequently includes off-label treatments. Considering the specificities of BD, providing a specific education on the disease to patients will lead to empower them in being part of the decision-making processes, in the self-management and in improving their quality of life.

European Educational Programmes in Health Emergency and Disaster Management: An Integrative Review.

There is a need for trained health professionals who can swiftly respond to disasters occurring worldwide. Little is known about whether the currently available programmes in disaster management are in line with the recommendations of expert researchers. Our objective was to qualitatively review the characteristics of European educational programmes in health emergency and disaster management and to provide guidance to help improve their curricula. We carried out an integrative review to extract the main characteristics of the 2020/21 programmes available. We identified 34 programmes, the majority located in Spain, the UK or France. The primary qualification types awarded were master's degrees, half of them lasting one year, and the most common teaching method was in person. Almost all of the programmes used a virtual university classroom, a third offered multidisciplinary disaster management content and teachers, and half of them employed situational simulations. The quality of European educational programmes in health emergency and disaster management has improved, especially in terms of using more practical and interactive teaching methodologies and in the inclusion of relevant topics such as communication, psychological approaches and evaluation of the interventions. However, generally, the educational programmes in disaster management have not yet incorporated the skills related to the intercultural and interprofessional awareness aspects.

Positive Massage: An Intervention for Couples' Wellbeing in a Touch-Deprived Era.

COVID-19 has brought not only fear and anxiety, but also legitimate restrictions of communication and consequential touch-deprivation in our daily lives. Couples' relational wellbeing continues to be impacted by these COVID-19 related stressors. Protecting both personal and relational wellbeing is therefore particularly important at this time. Using a preventative intervention approach, the current paper argues the theoretical benefit of the Positive Massage programme and reports a qualitative analysis of stressed but healthy couples' experience of engaging in the programme. Thirty-four participants completed 3 weekly classes and home-based practice of massage exchange. Data from an open text online questionnaire completed every week of the programme and again 3 weeks afterwards were analysed using thematic analysis. The identified themes included "holistic stress relief", "relationship-promotion", and "selves-care skill". Couples perceived Positive Massage as an effective mutual support skill to relax and help one another by de-stressing, both emotionally and physically through verbal and nonverbal communication, creating gratitude, deeper connection and self-efficacy via quality time together and pleasurable touch. Theoretically and experientially, Positive Massage can be an effective preventative selves-care skill. Promoting the concept of selves-care and its practical application through Positive Massage would be beneficial for couples' personal and relational wellbeing in a touch-deprived era.

Evaluation of a specially-designed educational and interventional programme on institutionalized visually impaired children: A prospective interventional study.

AIM: The aim of this study was to design, implement, and to evaluate the success of an oral health care programme specially designed for visually impaired children over a 12-month period. DESIGN: A structured questionnaire collected information regarding oral health knowledge and practices of the study population. A specially designed oral health education programme was conducted for the children and their teachers and reinforced after 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. The oral health status of the children was assessed and scored at baseline examination and after each follow-up visit. Independent t-test and paired t-test were used for comparison of scores. Spearman's correlation test was used to measure the correlation between knowledge and practices scores with oral hygiene status. RESULTS: The study population (5-16 years) had good knowledge about oral health which, however, did not translate into everyday practices. The overall oral hygiene scores declined from 2.06 ± 1.20 at the preliminary examination to 1.24 ± 0.79 at the end of 12 months (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The customized oral-health education programme was efficacious in improving the oral health of the visually impaired children, and the repetition and reinforcement components of this dental health education programme were of significant value in enhancing their oral health.

Building capacity in times of crisis: Increasing cultural competence of healthcare professionals in the context of the COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Nurses are the frontline healthcare professionals fighting the medical and social effects of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Although they work with diverse populations, there is a lack of literature on culturally competent education during an emergency such as a pandemic. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine the effectiveness of an online education programme aimed at increasing cultural competence among rescue teams and healthcare professionals facing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN: Pre-post-web-based intervention study. METHODS: Pre-post-intervention surveys were administered to a matched sample of Israeli healthcare and rescue organisation professionals. The initial sample included 303 participants (52% women) who completed the pre-intervention survey. More than half of the sample (56%, n = 170) were paid workers or volunteers in health organisations. Of the initial sample, 154 participants completed the post-intervention survey following the online cultural competence education programme. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis were used to evaluate participants' gains in culturally competent attitudes, knowledge, skills and encounters. This study followed the STROBE guidelines. RESULTS: Participants found the online programme useful in improving their cultural competence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The highest gains were found in the attitudes domains, whereas the lowest in the knowledge domain. Pre-intervention cultural competence scores and incorporating the programme in the educational curricula predicted increased gains in cultural competence. CONCLUSIONS: Online educational interventions showed potential for increasing professionals' awareness of cultural biases, differences and attitudes, leading to more open and accepting attitudes towards patients of different backgrounds. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Recognising the need for real-time, low-cost and available training, the World Health Organization recommended using online courses for healthcare professionals struggling in the pandemic frontline. Online education programmes provide a useful platform for training health professionals in times of emergency.

Multidisciplinary educational programme for caregivers of children with atopic dermatitis- in South East Norway - an observational study.

BACKGROUND: Educational programmes for caregivers of children with atopic dermatitis (AD) are reported to reduce the severity of AD and improve quality of life (QOL). Oslo University Hospital (OUH) in Norway offers a multidisciplinary educational programme for caregivers of children with AD. We aimed to evaluate the AD educational programme by assessing QOL of the family, the severity of the disease and caregiver's fear of topical corticosteroid (TCS) before and after attending the programme. METHODS: This was a small observational prospective cohort study including 41 caregiver-child pairs. The children (mean age 3.4 years) had doctors' diagnosed AD with a difficult to treat eczema. The children's caregivers were referred from physicians to attend the AD educational programme at our hospital. At inclusion and at a 3 months follow-up QOL was assessed by Dermatitis Family Impact (DFI), the eczema severity by Patient-Orientated - SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (PO-SCORAD) and caregivers fear of TCS was recorded by asking a dichotomous "yes" or "no" question: "Are you worried about using TCS on your child?" RESULTS: Three months after caregivers attending the educational programme there was an improvement in QOL by reduced mean DFI from 9.6 (SD 6.3) to 6.8 (SD 5.4), the mean PO-SCORAD was reduced from 38.5 (SD 15.1) to 24.6 (SD13.6), the number of caregivers reporting fear of TCS use was reduced from 33/46 (72%) to 12/41 (29%). All results p < 0.001. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests beneficial effects by improving QOL of the family, the severity of the eczema and in reducing the fear of TCS when caregivers of children with difficult to treat AD attend an AD multidisciplinary educational programme. Lack of control group makes it difficult to draw definite conclusions.

The effects of an educational programme about preeclampsia on women's awareness: a randomised control trial.

AIM: To examine the effects of an interventional programme about preeclampsia on high-risk preeclampsia Jordanian women's awareness and pregnancy outcomes. BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia is a leading cause of maternal death and illness globally, and has a high rate in Jordan compared to other countries. Increasing preeclampsia awareness is recommended to prevent its serious complications. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at a public hospital in Jordan. A consecutive sample of 113 pregnant high-risk preeclampsia women was recruited and divided randomly into interventional and control groups. A questionnaire comprising seven terms on demographics and 51 questions assessing women's awareness on preeclampsia was used. The intervention group received a 2-h educational programme about preeclampsia with self-monitoring of blood pressure and urine protein and routine care, while the control group received a 2-h educational programme relevant to urinary tract infection and received routine care. A pretest was carried out at baseline and 2 weeks after the intervention, a post-test was performed for the two groups. RESULTS: The results revealed a significant difference in mean scores for awareness of preeclampsia in the interventional group compared to the control group after conducting the education programme. A significant difference was also found between both groups in terms of Apgar scores at 1st min and 5th min and mean diastolic BP. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING, HEALTH AND EDUCATION POLICY: Preeclampsia educational programme is effective in improving preeclampsia awareness and some pregnancy outcomes. Midwifery and nursing educators are highly encouraged to train midwives and nurses to be effective health professionals. Health educational programmes need to be designed by professionals based on an updated evidence and women's needs. It is of importance that these programmes focus on involving women in their health care by self-monitoring and providing women with the necessary resources to improve pregnancy outcomes.

Developing and Assessing the Effectiveness of a Nurse-Led Home-Based Educational Programme for Managing Breathlessness in Lung Cancer Patients. A Feasibility Study.

Introduction: Breathlessness is the most common and refractory symptom in lung cancer patients. Even though various educational programmes have been developed, only a few were intended for implementation in the home setting for its management. Aim: Feasibility of a study for implementing a nurse-led educational programme for breathlessness management of lung cancer patients at home. Method: A randomized feasibility study was undertaken between February 2017 and October 2018. Patients were recruited through referral from oncologists from two oncology centers in Cyprus under certain inclusion and exclusion criteria. Patients were randomized in the intervention or control group via a computer programme, and their named family caregivers (f.c.) were allocated in the same group. Participants were not blinded to group assignment. The intervention consisted of a PowerPoint presentation and implementation of three non-pharmacological interventions. The control group received usual care. Patients were assessed for breathlessness, anxiety, and depression levels, whereas f.c. were assessed for anxiety, depression, and burden levels. F.c. also assessed patients' dyspnea level. The duration of the study process for both the intervention and control group was over a period of 4 weeks. Results: Twenty-four patients and their f.c. (n = 24) were allocated equally in the intervention and control group. Five patients withdrew, and the final sample entered analysis was 19 patients and 19 family caregivers. In the intervention group n = 11 + 11, and in the control group n = 8 + 8. In the intervention group patients' breathlessness and anxiety levels showed improvement and their f.c.s in the anxiety and burden levels. Major consideration was the sample size and the recruitment of the patients by the referring oncologists. Attrition was minor during the study process. No harm was recorded by the participants of the study. Conclusions: The study provided evidence of the feasibility of the implementation of the educational programme. For the future definitive study major consideration should be patients' recruitment method in order to achieve adequate sample size. Moreover, qualitative data should be collected in relation to the intervention and the involvement of f.c. The feasibility study was registered to the Cyprus Bioethics Committee with the registration number 2016/16. There was no funding of the study.

Effectiveness of a theory-based back care intervention on spine-related behavior among pupils: a school-based randomised controlled trial (T-Bak study).

BACKGROUND: Children's health and welfare have a special place in research and policy in many countries. One of the most important concerns is the increasing rate of backache in children due to many of behavioral risk factors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational program on promoting back-related behavior as well as knowledge, skills, beliefs, and self-efficacy among fifth grade girls. METHODS: The theory-based back care (T-Bak) study was a school-based randomised controlled trial (RCT) that assessed the effectiveness of developing a back care training program based on the social cognitive theory (SCT). A total of 104 schoolchildren aged 11 ± 1.0 years were assigned to intervention (n = 52) and control (n = 52) groups. The intervention group received six sessions training on proper lifting and carrying techniques, having proper posture during daily activities, and correct backpack wearing techniques with a 1-week interval while the control group received nothing. Then, the two groups were assessed for knowledge, skills, self-efficacy, beliefs, and behavior at four points in time: baseline, immediate, three and six-months post-intervention. The changes of the outcomes investigated using univariate repeated measures analysis of variance. Partial eta squared measure (ηp2) was used to calculate effect sizes. RESULTS: A positive change was found for the intervention group back-related behavior from baseline to immediate post-intervention and follow-ups (F = 78.865, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.22). Overall there were 36.4% improvement for knowledge (ηp2 = 0.21), 53.2% for the skills (ηp2 = 0.25), 19.5% for the self-efficacy (ηp2 = 0.11), and 25.6% for the beliefs (ηp2 = 0.14) scores from baseline to 6 months' follow-up assessments among the intervention group (p < 0.001). The results also showed a significant interaction effect between group and time. CONCLUSION: The T-Bak intervention was effective in improving back-related behavior in pupils. It is now available and could be evaluated further in back-care related studies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials IRCT20180528039885N1, 30th Oct 2018, 'Prospectively registered'. https://www.irct.ir/trial/31534.

Sustaining voluntary recycling programmes in a country transitioning to an integrated solid waste management system.

Many developing countries are transitioning to integrated solid waste management systems that will likely have a recycling component for making them sustainable. There are several approaches to recycling, one being waste separation at the household level. Such an approach relies critically on the willingness of households to engage in source-separation. Many studies on recycling have been based on self-reported information on the willingness of households to participate in recycling programmes, should they be established; only few studies have been able to test what these intentions are by actual measurements of participation. The type of measurement for gauging success should be able to compare achievements against alternative approaches. This study is of particular interest to transitioning countries because it reports on a recycling programme in a small community that, even though voluntary in nature, has so far been sustained for almost three years. Available data on the amount of recycled beverage containers retrieved over a six-month period was analysed to assess the performance of the programme. A survey of households was performed among the community to understand the factors that may be contributing to such longevity. It was found that a major driver is the internal motivation of most of the community households for caring and preserving the environment. This is a necessary but not sufficient requirement, for it is doubtful whether the programme could have been sustained without an effective education programme and a system to make the process of retrieval easy. The education programme importantly linked recycling as a solution to an environmental problem plaguing the community. Moreover, the improvement in the environmental quality once the programme started was positive feedback to their recycling efforts. However, the ease at which recycled items could have been deposited was found to be the most essential factor. Inasmuch as the quantity of retrievals was a measure of the continued interest in recycling, a reliable estimate of the achieved fraction of beverage waste retrieval rates could not have been obtained with the most recent national waste characterization information. The reasons for this are explained.

Educating parents to improve parent-child interactions: Fostering the development of attentional control and executive functioning.

BACKGROUND: Parent-child interaction is essential in the development of attentional control (AC) and executive functioning (EF). Educating parents in AC and EF development may help them to respond more adaptively to their child's developmental needs. AIM: This study aimed to investigate whether parents can be educated to improve interactions with their child through a compact psycho-educational programme that focuses on fostering the development of AC and EF. SAMPLE: Parents and their children in a low-risk sample of four- to eight-year-olds were randomly assigned to either the educational programme condition (N = 34) or the control condition (N = 36). METHODS: Parental supportive presence and intrusiveness were observed during home visits, and children's performance-based AC and EF were assessed before and after the four-session programme. RESULT: Parents in the educational programme improved significantly in support ( η p 2  = .19) and intrusiveness ( η p 2  = .09) compared to controls. There was no short-term programme mediation effect on child AC and EF through parental support and intrusiveness. This study showed, however, that parents who improved after the educational programme had children who improved on AC and EF. CONCLUSION: Parent-child interaction can be enhanced in a low-risk sample of four- to eight-year-olds using a compact educational group programme within the school community. Future studies should aim at examining variations in programme responsiveness and assessing associations between parent-child interaction and AC and EF over time.

Attitudes of dental students towards patients with special healthcare needs: Can they be improved?

INTRODUCTION: Lack of knowledge and skills as well as negative attitudes towards patients with special healthcare needs may adversely affect the services available to this group. In 2010, a line on the treatment of patients with special healthcare needs has been implemented in the dental curriculum at the Medical University of Vienna, including five seminars and a practical course. In this study, we examine to what extent the programme helps improve attitudes towards persons with special healthcare needs and positively impacts the readiness to engage in treating this clientele. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 2017 and 2018, all students who were in their fourth study year participated in the study. Students' attitudes were assessed before the first seminar, after the last seminar and after the practical course. At all three time points, the same fully structured questionnaire was used, including established instruments for the assessment of emotional reactions and the desire for social distance plus ad hoc questions for assessing students' future intention to treat patients with special healthcare needs. The data were analysed by means of linear fixed models. RESULTS: At the end of the line devoted to patients with special healthcare needs, students tended less to express negative emotions and showed more positive emotional reactions than before the start of the programme. However, students' social acceptance of such patients and their readiness to engage in treating them did not change significantly. DISCUSSION: While our programme was able to improve students' emotional reactions to people with special healthcare needs, it proved unable to reduce the desire for social distance and to lower the barrier when it comes to treatment. It is planned to further develop our programme which, hopefully, will then succeed in increasing students' readiness to treat this clientele. CONCLUSION: Improving dental students' emotional reactions to patients with special healthcare needs does not necessarily translate into greater readiness to treat this clientele.

Bachelor of Nursing students' HIV and AIDS knowledge in KwaZulu-Natal province: An evaluation study.

BACKGROUND:  Currently, human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV and AIDS) education and training in nursing suffer from various inadequacies and lack any real formalisation in their governance. As a result, Bachelor of Nursing students find themselves challenged in providing effective HIV and AIDS healthcare management, largely because of the deficit in training identified. An HIV and AIDS education intervention programme was introduced at a selected KwaZulu-Natal university to assist in bridging the perceived knowledge gap. This article communicates programme evaluation findings. OBJECTIVES:  The aim of this article was to determine levels of HIV knowledge achieved following an HIV education intervention programme. METHODS:  A pure, descriptive quantitative research design was employed, using total population sampling (N = 133). A modified G3658-11 Collecting Evaluation Data: End-of-Session Questionnaire, developed by the University of Wisconsin-Extension, was administered for data collection. RESULTS:  Females predominated in the study, and most participants were African with 1 to 3 years of education programme exposure. Perceived HIV knowledge increase was evident: pathophysiology (n = 93, 70.2%); immunology (n = 97, 72.9%); transmission (n = 116, 87.5%); diagnosis (n = 109, 81.8%); prevention strategies (n = 118, 88.4%); staging and monitoring (n = 106, 80%); pre- and post-test counselling (n = 104, 78%). CONCLUSION:  Pre- and ongoing in-service HIV and AIDS training can improve perceived HIV knowledge levels for both nursing students and professionals. Mandatory HIV and AIDS healthcare management training is therefore recommended in planning for its effective impartation by nursing educators.