Assessing sustainability of InSHAPE participants' fitness activities in a community mental health setting.

InSHAPE (Self Help Action Plan for Empowerment), an exercise and nutrition wellness program, is gaining national recognition for its success in helping individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) improve physical fitness and dietary habits. Although gains have been reported in objective measures of fitness as participants progressed through the year-long program, there is little information about what happens with participants after program completion. To address this gap in knowledge, the authors conducted a longitudinal qualitative study in which 11 InSHAPE participants were interviewed both near the end of their year in the program and 9 months later. Participants identified the trainer's ability to contain their initial feelings of distress and form a working alliance as factors that contributed to their exercise persistence. Current findings suggest that individuals with SMI may need a longer period of time working closely with fitness trainers to sustain physical activity levels achieved during the program.

Moving toward health and fitness: a collaborative academic and community mental health services partnership.

For individuals with serious mental illness, physical fitness is a health imperative. This article describes the progression of an ongoing interprofessional partnership formed between a university's school of health professions and a community mental health services agency to find ways to improve the physical health status of individuals served by the agency. Clinical and research initiatives involving nursing and physical therapy faculty and students have contributed to the establishment of a growing physical fitness and health promotion program championed by agency administrators, staff, and service users. The groundwork has been laid for future collaborative efforts. More needs to be done to turn the tide on the chronic disease tsunami that prematurely takes the lives of people struggling with mental disorders.

Facilitating students' success with their own research projects.

With a study template and adaptable plan, students were given opportunities in an introductory research course to complete small-group, original research studies from beginning to end in 1 semester. This "hands-on" assignment merges research with clinical experiences, makes use of computers and software applications in the classroom, and addresses 2 important components of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's Baccalaureate Essentials.

Social problem solving training for African Americans: effects on dietary problem solving skill and DASH diet-related behavior change.

OBJECTIVE: Hypertension continues to take its toll on millions of African Americans. Adhering to an eating plan called Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) can significantly lower blood pressure. This study examined whether problem solving training in addition to education on DASH is more effective than education alone to help African Americans in an urban community college setting solve their own dietary problems and change eating behaviors that could affect blood pressure. METHODS: A randomized, two groups, multiple post-test design was used. All participants (N=78, 59% female) completed a Problem Solving Instrument immediately post-intervention and a follow-up Telephone Interview 2 weeks later. RESULTS: Fewer than half had normal blood pressure on screening. The Experimental Group identified and implemented significantly higher quality solutions to the second of their two problems than the Control Group. The intervention effect was the greatest for participants with blood pressure screenings above normal. CONCLUSION: Problem solving training combined with nutrition information may help African Americans to deal more effectively with dietary problems especially when the problems are complex or less well-defined. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Dietary interventions that include a focus on everyday problem solving as well as knowledge acquisition can be developed in clinical, community health, school, and worksite settings.

Using Web sites on quality health care for teaching consumers in public libraries.

More and more consumers are searching the Internet for health information. Health Web sites vary in quality, though, and not all consumers are aware of the need to evaluate the information they find on the Web. Nurses and other health providers involved in patient education can evaluate Web sites and suggest quality sites for patients to use. This article describes a project we implemented in 2 public libraries to educate consumers about quality health care and patient safety using Web sites that we had evaluated earlier. Participants (n = 103) completed resources on health care quality, questions patients should ask about their diagnoses and treatment options, changes in Medicare and Medicare options or ways to make their health benefits work for them, and tips to help prevent medical errors. Most consumers were highly satisfied with the Web sites and the information they learned on quality care from these resources. Many participants did not have Internet access at home or work and instead used the library to search the Web. Information about the Web sites used in this project and other sites on quality care can be made available in libraries and community settings and as part of patient education resources in hospitals. The Web provides easy access for consumers to information about patient safety initiatives and health care quality in general.

Internet education of African American consumers on quality of care.

This article describes a study using the Internet to teach African American consumers about quality of health care. By reading information on quality of care, consumers can learn ways to assess the care they are receiving, develop strategies needed to participate effectively in communicating with their health care providers, and make informed decisions in their own best interests. We developed an educational intervention using 5 Internet documents on quality of care and evaluated its effectiveness on learning, value of the information, and satisfaction with the instruction between consumers who read the information alone and those who read the information and interacted with a nurse. Participants indicated they learned a great deal from the information at the Web sites and reported that it would be helpful in assessing their own health care. They more frequently described quality care in terms of health outcomes, self care behaviors, and patient education after the Internet instruction, reflecting important concepts contained in the documents.