Development and psychometric testing the Health of Body, Mind and Spirit Scale for assessing individuals who have drug abuse histories.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To develop the Health of Body, Mind and Spirit Scale (HBMSS), which was designed to assess drug abusers' health condition. BACKGROUND: Helping drug abusers to become healthy is important to healthcare professionals. However, no instrument exists to assess drug abusers' state of health. DESIGN: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was implemented to examine the validity of the HBMSS. METHODS: Data were collected from 2015-2016 at one drug abuse prevention centre in Taiwan. Participants (N = 320) who had abused drugs were invited to complete a preliminary 64-item version of the HBMSS. An item analysis, criterion-related validity analysis (using the Relapse Prediction Scale [RPS] score), split-half reliability testing and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the HBMSS. RESULTS: The final version of the HBMSS contained 15 items that were divided into three subscales: the health of the body, mind and spirit. Cronbach's α and split-half reliability coefficients were all above .85. The factor loading of each item was between .74-.95. The HBMSS had satisfactory criterion-related validity with the RPS score (r = -.50, p < .001). A second-order CFA was conducted on the HBMSS. The fit indexes were good, χ2  = 184.060, df = 94, χ2 /df = 1.958 (p = .000). CONCLUSIONS: The entire HBMSS and the subscales had satisfactory reliability and validity. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Healthcare professionals could use the HBMSS to evaluate the condition of the health of individuals with a drug abuse history.

Development and Psychometric Testing of the Suicidal Recovery Ability Scale (SRAS) for Assessing Individuals Who Have Attempted Suicide.

Assessing the recovery ability of individuals who have attempted suicide is crucial for psychiatric health nurses. The purpose of this study was to develop and test a psychometric Suicidal Recovery Ability Scale (SRAS). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated that three subscales with 15 items best fit the data. The global SRAS score showed significant negative correlation with the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) score. The Cronbach's α and test-retest reliability scores for the global SRAS and the subscales all exceeded 0.70. Nurses can use the SRAS to assess the recovery ability of individuals who have attempted suicide and provide proper care to help them.

Category 3 and 4 Controlled Drugs Users' Perceptions of Participating in Drug-Abuse-Health Prevention Lectures in Taiwan.

This study was designed to explore Category 3 and 4 controlled drug users' perceptions of participating in health-prevention lectures. A phenomenological approach was used. Twelve participants were interviewed after completing the lectures. Findings revealed five themes (1) mixed emotions; (2) self-development; (3) finding the lectures lacked practicality and relevance; (4) highlighting three stages for discontinuing drug-usage; and, (5) suggesting tips for the advancement of lectures. These findings could be used as a map to help health professionals understand drug users' perceptions of attending health prevention lectures and provide insight into how young people might stop using drugs.

A suicide education programme for nurses to educate the family caregivers of suicidal individuals: a longitudinal study.

Family members lack the ability to care for suicidal relatives. Nurses have a responsibility to improve family members' ability to care for their suicidal relatives. The aims of this study were to design a suicide education programme for nurses to educate family caregivers and to evaluate the longitudinal (12 months after the educational programme) effects of a suicide care education programme on the ability of families to care for suicidal relatives. A randomised controlled trial was conducted. The study population (n=61) was composed of the family caregivers of suicidal individuals. Several caregivers (n=26) were randomly allocated to an experimental group who attended a two-hour suicide care education programme, and the other caregivers (n=35) represented a control group who did not attend the education programme. All of the participants were given a questionnaire at baseline, 3 months, and 12 months during the period from 2009 to 2011. The results of the longitudinal effects of the suicide care education programme demonstrated that there were statistically significant differences after the educational programme as compared to before the programme with regard to "seeking assistance from resources" and the ability to care for those who were once suicidal. The longitudinal results of both groups showed that there was a significant difference in terms of "caring ability" at 12 months. The results of a multiple linear regression analysis indicated that evaluations performed at the three-month time point were able to effectively predict success in "seeking assistance from resources", "caring ability"; caring ability was also significantly improved among those who engaged in the educational programme at the 12-month time point. The suicide care education programme had long-term effects for family caregivers caring for their suicidal relatives. Nurses could employ this suicide care education programme to improve the ability of family caregivers to care for their suicidal relatives.