Challenges to therapeutic footwear usage for foot ulcer prevention among type 2 diabetes patients: A qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: Many contemporary designs solely prioritize the therapeutic function of footwear, neglecting other crucial social and environmental considerations. The study aimed to explore challenges to therapeutic footwear usage for foot ulcer prevention. METHODS: A qualitative critical ethnography design was used in this study. Fourteen participants were recruited at the local hospital in Baise City, China. Data were collected through in-depth interview. A thematic analysis approach was conducted for data analyzing. RESULTS: This study identified two themes: (1) workplace and physical condition, (2) diverse cultural practice. It was worth noting that slipper as a convenient and cheap wearing choice, decreased the usage of therapeutic footwear. The emerging activity of modern square dancing resulted in more requirements for its design. And the symbolic meaning of hard working in barefoot was also challengeable to therapeutic footwear utilization to some extent. CONCLUSIONS: Therapeutic footwear intervention design should not only focus on the therapeutic functionality, but also consider about individuals' demands towards working environment and physical status, and particular insights regarding culture and social background. We expected these findings could be evidence for improving therapeutic footwear usage in the future.

The Value of Sports and Functional Exercise on Preventing Falls in Elderly Patients with Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: To explore the value of sports and functional exercises in preventing falls in elderly patients with cognitive impairment. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP, Wanfang Database, and China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), from inception to January 2023, were used to search the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of sports and functional exercises in elderly patients with cognitive impairment. Two independent researchers extracted the data and evaluated the quality of the included literature. RevMan5.4 software was adopted for data analysis. Results: The results indicated that exercise combined with functional exercise could noticeably enhance the fall effect score and shorten the Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT) time of elderly patients with cognitive impairment compared to simple drug treatment (P < .05). Our results showed that the exercise combined with functional exercise can noticeably prolong the standing time of elderly patients with cognitive impairment upon monocular eye closure. Our results also showed that exercise combined with functional exercise can noticeably improve the fear of falls in elderly patients with cognitive impairment. Conclusion: Sports and functional exercise intervention can promote the balance ability and fall self-efficacy of elderly patients with cognitive impairment and have a positive effect on enhancing patients' fear of falls. The findings need to be further verified and methodological quality needs to be improved. In addition, longer intervention times are required to verify the findings.

Community-based flood disaster management for older adults in southern of Thailand: A qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: This study explored the approaches for community-based flood disaster management for older adults in Southern Thailand. It sought to understand community culture for supporting older adults and promoting community strength in case of flood disaster. METHOD: This was a qualitative content analysis study using data from observation, in-depth interviews, secondary data, and focus group discussion. One hundred and twenty-seven people in total were selected specifically for the study, including Local Administration Organization (LAO), community leaders, public sector officers, civil groups, and older adult groups and family caregivers. RESULTS: The results of this study were two main themes, focusing on 1) approaches to community-based flood disaster management for older adults as follows: eight approaches in the phase of prevention and preparedness in flood disaster management for older adults, eight approaches in the phase of response in flood disaster management for older adults, and six approaches in the phase of recovery and rehabilitation in flood disaster management for older adults; and 2) factors contributing to success in flood disaster management for older adults has four factors, including the human factor, the work factor, the data factor, and the resource factor. CONCLUSION: The findings showed significant roles in improving the potential and strength in community-based flood disaster management for older adults and providing suggestions for community nurses and health practice personnel involving in flood disaster management to mitigate the potential influence on older adults in the community.

Investigating the experience of local community networks of disaster self-management: A qualitative study in Thailand.

BACKGROUND: Thailand is exposed to multiple climate-related hazards. Those cause disaster, instability and destruction to human life and property. People affected by disasters need self-help capabilities. Therefore, local administration organizations (LAOs) and local community networks are critical. They act as social capital in communities who can contribute meaningfully to disaster management systems. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to assess procedures and activities of community networks focusing on disaster management and how social capitals are utilized. METHODS: The qualitative study was conducted with 65 informants recruited through purposive sampling and snowball techniques from six outstanding LAOs. We analyzed data from in-depth interviews, observations, and focus group discussions with key informants. An inductive thematic analysis was performed to identify themes on procedures and activities related to social capital. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: We identified three main outcomes. The social capital involved and collaborated with LAOs included civil groups, community organizations, community leaders, and other public and private organizations. Procedures and activities related to social capital working in disaster management in communities included predisaster phase, disaster phase, and postdisaster and recovery phase. The overall local community network was key to help disaster affected people in communities effectively. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that social capital participation builds up a sustainable community self-management. The potential enhancement of the local community self-management is strongly based on relationships within the community structure. Community disaster self-management and is likely reducing risk factors and mitigate vulnerability.

Roles of mutual help of local community networks in community health activities: Improvement for the quality of life of older people in Thailand.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to describe work and activities of community networks focusing on the improvement of the quality of life (QOL) of older people in Thailand. The understanding of the work can help enhancing the community development and strengthening of local communities and their networks. METHODS: Qualitative methods including in-depth interview, observation, and focus group discussion were employed to the study. 64 participants participated to the study and were recruited from 4 key actors within the community. Content analysis was used to analyze the obtained data. This study was conducted in 6 local administrative organizations (LAOs) which selected from the outstanding areas of the project. Each LAO represents one sub-district of the regions of Thailand namely; (1) the upper north, (2) the lower north, (3)the upper eastern, (4) the lower eastern, (5) the central and (6) the south. RESULTS: The findings of this study were categorized into three main themes: (1) Social capital including people in the community, social groups, and organizations, (2) Mutual help/collaboration activities composed of six sets of activities related to social capitals working on the improvement of QOL of older people, and (3) Impacts of the mutual help/collaboration activities on older people and local communities who help to improve of QOL of older people. CONCLUSION: The findings are important features for the community development. These themes should be recommended for community nurses, health related groups and organizations for the improvement of QOL of older people in the community.

Care of patients with schizophrenia in the community.

There has been a worldwide paradigm shift for community care in Psychiatric treatment, and it has been successfully implemented in many developing countries, including Thailand. This qualitative study aimed to explore the care of patients with schizophrenia in the rural areas of Northeastern Thailand based on the community context. Eighty-three informants were interviewed and group discussions were conducted. Five themes were identified from the caregivers' perspectives, which reflected the practices of the caregiving for patients with schizophrenia within the community as follows: (1) care assistance, (2) care services, (3) strengthening, (4) potential development, and (5) welfare and other services. This study highlights the importance of developing and implementing community-based care for patients with schizophrenia within the community.

Community social capital on fighting dengue fever in suburban Surabaya, Indonesia: A qualitative study.

PURPOSE: Dengue hemorraghic fever (DHF) is a communicable disease that is difficult to manage, especially in tropical countries. Social capital is believed to be able to improve the ability of entire communities to work together to solve a collective health problem. This study aimed to describe the existing social capital in a community and how it was used to fight DHF. METHODS: Qualitative descriptive methods were used, and in-depth interviews were conducted with 13 participants. This study was conducted in the Sawahan sub-district, Surabaya, Indonesia, an endemic area that combats DHF every year. FINDINGS: Results showed that social capital as a community feature provides the main cornerstone of collective action. The creation of social groups, intersectoral collaboration, mutual assistance in cleaning, and voluntary work were visible forms of social capital in the prevention and control of DHF. Support from strong leaders also had significant implications. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that social capital was an important feature, which, if managed, used and accessed properly, would be able to provide ideas for solving community problems.