Caring for others without neglecting oneself? Grandparent caregivers, gender, and perceived health-related quality of life.

In this study, we explored the impact of caregiving on quality of life and health perceptions and outlined the profile of grandparent caregivers in Andalusia (Spain) in terms of a range of sociodemographic variables related to the care of their grandchildren. A sample of 171 participants (21.6% men) completed the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) questionnaire and another ad hoc one providing sociodemographic and caregiving data. We studied the relationships between these variables and HRQoL using ANOVA, chi-square and Multiple Linear Regression. We found a mainly female profile for the care of grandchildren and interesting relationships for the physical and mental components of HRQoL. Some relationships were marked by gender: caregiving for pleasure was more often the motive for men while by imposition was more common among women. We discuss the impact of caregiving on health according to the Self-Determination Theory and suggest practical implications derived from the main findings.

[Implementation of a health promotion programme for women in social exclusion in the city of Seville (Spain)]. / Implantación de un programa de promoción de la salud de las mujeres en zonas de exclusión social de la ciudad de Sevilla.

Health promotion can contribute towards reducing inequality and ensuring equal opportunities, providing the means to enable the entire population to develop its maximum health possibilities. Women living in areas with social transformation needs (ASTN) are an especially vulnerable group due to the situation of material deprivation and social exclusion in which they live. Health promotion programmes for this group can bring about an improvement in their health. This paper describes the health promotion programme Socio-educational Groups of Primary Care for Women (SEGPC-W), and evaluates its implementation in ASTN in the city of Seville (Spain), as well as the benefits and difficulties of its development through a documentary analysis and interviews with participating professionals.

[Impact of systematic vaccination with the antimeningococcal C conjugated vaccine in a health area in Andalusia]. / Enfermedad meningocócica e impacto de la vacunación sistemática con la vacuna conjugada antimeningocócica C en un área sanitaria de andalucía.

BACKGROUND: A retrospective longitudinal study of population incidence was made to assess the effectiveness of meningococcal serogroup C conjugate vaccine, after its mass introduction in children in the geographic area of a health district, measuring its population impact, and we have studied the state of the meningococcal disease. METHODS: Vaccine coverage in children born between 1991 and 2001, and rates of incidence in declared cases of meningococcal disease in seven epidemiological seasons (1997/98 to 2003/04) were calculated. The impact of vaccination against serogroup C meningitis was assessed comparing the average annual rates of previous and later seasons to the vaccination campaigns in population younger and older than 10, using the Fisher exact test. RESULTS: In all the study period, 109 cases of meningococcal disease were declared, of which 50 were of serogroup C meningococcal disease. Starting from 2000/2001 season the incidence of serogroup C disease decreased in the population below 10. In this age group, the annual average rate of post-vaccine seasons decreases in respect to pre-vaccine (from 8.2 to 2.0 per 100,000 inhabitants) showing a statistically significant difference. In the population above 10 years, this incidence reduction was not observed. In the study period, no case of vaccine failure was declared. CONCLUSIONS: The absence of vaccine failure and the impact observed on the incidence of serogroup C meningococcal disease in children under 10 suggests the effectiveness of this new conjugate vaccine, together with suitable vaccination conditions (vaccination schedule, high catch-up, etc.) which are developing in our health district.