Exploring Experiences of Pain Management Among Family Caregivers of Community-Dwelling Older Adults With Dementia.

BACKGROUND: Pain is often underreported and under-treated in older adults with dementia. The role of family caregivers (FCGs) in managing pain for their loved ones with dementia living in community has been significantly burdensome. Surprisingly, research has not delved into the experiences of FCGs' concerning pain management in this context. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted to gain a deep understanding of FCGs' experiences in managing pain for their loved ones. Family caregivers participated in semi-structured face-to-face or telephone interviews. Inclusion criterion included being an adult providing care to community-dwelling older adults with dementia. Recruitment stopped upon reaching thematic saturation. Basic demographic characteristics was also collected. Constant comparison analytic method was employed. RESULTS: The study included 25 FCGs in central Virginia, spanning ages from 29 to 95. Participants were predominantly white, female, married, and had a minimum high school education. Most of them were adult children (52%) or the spouses (28%) of the care recipients. Four thematic categories emerged around exploring FCGs' pain management experiences: (1) Values; (2) Barriers; (3) Support; and (4) Adaptation. Each theme included sub-themes. CONCLUSION: Family caregivers follow their values to make decisions in pain management. Barriers existed for effective pain management. Adaptation and support from professional or formal caregivers greatly improved FCGs' perception of their competence in pain management. The finding underscores the need for further research and the development of interventions aimed at enhancing FCGs' perception of self-efficacy in this crucial aspect of caregiving.

Sedentary behavior and physical activity of young adult university students.

Movement and non-movement behaviors include sleep, sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity (PA). While young adults are generally perceived as healthy, the level and relationship of SB and PA in college-age students has not been greatly explored. The purpose of this study was to objectively measure the levels of SB and PA in 18-20 year-old university students, record their self-reported extracurricular activities, and explore the relationship of all these with body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). Male (n = 48) and female (n = 46) students participated in this cross-sectional study. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to examine time spent in SB, moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), number of self-reported sedentary extracurricular activities, and their relation to the dependent variables of BMI and WC. In correlation analyses, SB (p < .001) and MVPA (p = .017) both were negatively associated with BMI, and "other" race or ethnicity (African American, Hispanic, mixed; p = .013) and number of self-reported sedentary extracurricular activities (p = .006) were positively associated with BMI. In the WC regression model, SB (p = .018) was negatively associated and number of self-reported sedentary extracurricular activities (p = .006) was positively associated with WC. University students may be both highly active and highly sedentary. Future researchers should consider targeting interventions to reduce SB in addition to improving PA.

Adolescent Smoking Prevention: Feasibility and Effect of Participatory Video Production.

PURPOSE: This study tested whether a youth participatory video production program for smoking prevention is feasible and effective. DESIGN AND METHODS: A participatory video production program was implemented in eight twice-weekly sessions at a youth summer camp in a community center in a low-income neighborhood. Twenty-three youths participated. Descriptive statistics and a qualitative analysis were conducted to test the feasibility of the program by assessing attendance rates, the time and resources required, reasons for participation, and program satisfaction using checklists and interviews. Smoking intention was measured via pre- and post-intervention surveys and a quantitative analysis utilizing a Wilcoxon Signed Rank test to detect differences in intention for non-smoking. RESULTS: Participants worked in groups to produce four video clips containing anti-smoking messages. Three main themes (active engagement, participation for community health, and personal growth and healthy development) emerged from the qualitative interview data. >75% of the participants considered the program excellent and stated that it met their expectations. Significant positive changes were also found from baseline to post-intervention in intention not to smoke. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the effect of a participatory digital media production approach and confirmed its feasibility for youth health promotion and health education. Participants' active involvement in producing anti-smoking videos for a community health-promotion campaign decreased their intention to smoke and empowered them as advocates for a non-smoking community. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: These findings confirm the feasibility and utility of digital media use and interactive technology for actively engaging young people in health promotion.

South Korean Adolescents' Intention to Smoke.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine associations between intention to smoke, and 3 constructs of the Theory of Planed Behavior, including attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control related to smoking among adolescents in South Korea. METHODS: We used a cross-sectional correlational design. The survey was conducted on 13- to 15-year-old adolescents (N = 740) in Seoul, South Korea. Multilevel modeling was conducted to analyze the data. RESULTS: After adjusting for socio-demographic and economic factors, attitude toward smoking, subjective norm about smoking, and perceived behavioral control about smoking were independent statistically significant predictors of in tention to smoke. When all 3 were considered together, attitude toward smoking and perceived behavioral control remained statistically significant, but subjective norm about smoking did not. The number of licensed tobacco retailers also predicted intention to smoke. CONCLUSIONS: Attitude, perceived behavioral control, and tobacco retailers around schools need to be considered when developing tobacco prevention and control programs and policies for adolescents.

Density and Proximity of Licensed Tobacco Retailers and Adolescent Smoking.

Adolescent smoking prevention is an important issue in health care. This literature review describes the theoretical concept of ecological model for adolescent smoking and tobacco retailers and summarizes previous studies on the association between the density and proximity of tobacco retailers and adolescent smoking. We reviewed nine studies on tobacco retailer density and proximity in relation to adolescent smoking, published in peer-reviewed journals between 2004 and 2014. The tobacco retailer density and proximity were correlated with adolescent lifetime smoking, past 12-month smoking, past 30-day smoking, and susceptibility to smoking. School nurses or other school health professionals may need to include the density and proximity of tobacco retailer factors around schools in school-based tobacco-use prevention programs. Health policy makers may need to consider zoning or licensing restrictions of tobacco retailers around schools for adolescent smoking prevention.

Retail Food Store Access in Rural Appalachia: A Mixed Methods Study.

OBJECTIVE: To describe how characteristics of food retail stores (potential access) and other factors influence self-reported food shopping behavior (realized food access) among low-income, rural Central Appalachian women. DESIGN AND SAMPLE: Cross-sectional descriptive. Potential access was assessed through store mapping and in-store food audits. Factors influencing consumers' realized access were assessed through in-depth interviews. Results were merged using a convergent parallel mixed methods approach. Food stores (n = 50) and adult women (n = 9) in a rural Central Appalachian county. RESULTS: Potential and realized food access were described across five dimensions: availability, accessibility, affordability, acceptability, and accommodation. Supermarkets had better availability of healthful foods, followed by grocery stores, dollar stores, and convenience stores. On average, participants lived within 10 miles of 3.9 supermarkets or grocery stores, and traveled 7.5 miles for major food shopping. Participants generally shopped at the closest store that met their expectations for food availability, price, service, and atmosphere. Participants' perceptions of stores diverged from each other and from in-store audit findings. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study can help public health nurses engage with communities to make affordable, healthy foods more accessible. Recommendations are made for educating low-income consumers and partnering with food stores.

Indicadores de qualidade na atenção primária à saúde no brasil: uma revisão integrativa / Quality indicators in primary health care in brazil: an integrating review

Objetivo: Apresentar a síntese dos indicadores de qualidade relacionados a resultados, com foco nas condições de saúde na atenção primária, presentes na literatura internacional e, a partir destes, descrever as intervenções ou estratégias utilizadas no Brasil para alcançar melhores resultados em saúde nos últimos anos. Métodos: Estudo de revisão integrativa dividido em duas etapas. Primeiro, foi realizada revisão da literatura, buscando identificar quais os indicadores relacionados a resultados utilizados para qualificar a atenção primária, sendo selecionados 6 estudos. Na segunda etapa, realizou-se revisão sistemática nas bases de dados MEDLINE, LILACS e CINAHL, na busca de artigos publicados no período de 2011 a 2017 que descrevessem intervenções realizadas no Brasil. Foram selecionados 25 artigos. Resultados: Compilou-se 18 domínios de indicadores de qualidade para atenção primária. Destes, 4 foram selecionados para a etapa posterior: diabetes mellitus, hipertensão arterial, imunização e/ou vacinação, e tabagismo e/ou alcoolismo. As intervenções ou estratégias estudadas foram, em sua maioria, direcionadas para promoção da saúde e prevenção de agravos, e mostraram resultados positivos de forma geral, utilizando educação em saúde, orientação farmacêutica e nutricional, recursos tecnológicos, entre outros. Conclusão: Os resultados apresentados fornecem suporte adicional para o monitoramento da qualidade da atenção primária no Brasil, ressaltando quais indicadores são internacionalmente reconhecidos como essenciais para melhoria da prestação do cuidado em saúde (AU).

Aim: To present a summary of quality indicators related to results, focusing on health conditions in primary care, found in the international literature and, from these, describe interventions or strategies used in Brazil to achieve better health outcomes in recent years. Methods: An integrative review study divided into two stages. First, a literature review was conducted in order to identify the indicators related to results used to describe primary care; six studies were selected. In the second stage, there was a systematic review in the MEDLINE, LILACS and CINAHL databases, searching for articles published in the period 2011 to 2017 describing interventions in Brazil. Twenty five articles were selected. Results: Eighteen domains of quality indicators for primary care were compiled. Of these, four were selected for the subsequent stage: diabetes mellitus, hypertension, immunization and / or vaccination, and smoking and / or alcoholism. The interventions or strategies studied were mostly directed at health promotion and disease prevention and, in general, showed positive results using health education, pharmaceutical and nutritional guidance, and technological resources, among others. Conclusion: The results presented herein provide additional support for monitoring the quality of primary care in Brazil, pointing out which indicators are internationally recognized as essential to improving the delivery of health care (AU).

Assuring a strong foundation for our nation's public health systems.

BACKGROUND: A strong public health infrastructure is necessary to assure that every community is capable of carrying out core public health functions (assessment of population health, assurance of accessible and equitable health resources, and development of policies to address population health) to create healthy conditions. Yet, due to budget cuts and inconsistent approaches to base funding, communities are losing critical prevention and health promotion services and staff that deliver them. PURPOSE: This article describes key components of and current threats to our public health infrastructure and suggests actions necessary to strengthen public health systems and improve population health. DISCUSSION: National nursing and public health organizations have a duty to advocate for policies supporting strong prevention systems, which are crucial for well-functioning health care systems and are fundamental goals of the nursing profession. CONCLUSION: We propose strengthening alliances between nursing organizations and public health systems to assure that promises of a reformed health system are achieved.

Validation of Accelerometer Thresholds and Inclinometry for Measurement of Sedentary Behavior in Young Adult University Students.

Sedentary behavior (SB) is a major contributor to obesity and significant morbidity and mortality in adolescence and adulthood, yet measurement of SB is still evolving. The purpose of this study was to assess the degree of construct validity of the inclinometer function and single-axis and vector magnitude accelerometry metrics of the ActiGraph GT3X+ in objectively measuring SB and physical activity in 28 young adult university students who performed nine semi-structured activities, each for five minutes: lying, sitting, reading, seated video gaming, video watching, seated conversation, standing, stationary biking, and treadmill walking. Inclinometry and four output metrics from the ActiGraph were analyzed in comparison to direct observation by a researcher recorded each minute. For overall accuracy in measuring both SB and physical activity, all four accelerometer metrics (94.7-97.8%) outperformed the inclinometer function (70.9%). Vector magnitude accelerometry with a threshold of 150 counts per minute as the cut point for sedentary behavior was superior to other methods. While accelerometry was more accurate overall at detecting the behaviors tested, inclinometry had some advantages over accelerometry methods at detecting walking, biking, and standing. The findings support use of accelerometry as a valid objective measure of body movement, while use of inclinometry as a sole measure is not recommended. Additional research would be beneficial to improve the calibration of the inclinometer and explore ways of combining this with accelerometer data for objectively measuring SB and physical activity.

Evaluating a Quality Improvement Program for Cervical Cancer Screening at an Urban Safety Net Clinic.

This article evaluates a quality improvement program for improving guideline-consistent cervical cancer screening practices in an urban safety net clinic. Quality improvement initiatives that combine policy with practice are particularly timely in light of the alignment of cervical cancer screening guidelines released in 2012 by the most influential national organizations. A descriptive comparison design was employed using the Healthy People 2020 target of 93% screened according to guidelines. Provider-, patient-, and workflow-based strategies included (1) addition of a clinical decision support system, (2) provider educational outreach, (3) patient reminder letters, and (4) development of a clinic procedure manual. Through the application of an established quality measurement tool, three quality indicators were measured: screened according to evidence-based guidelines, not screened, and screened more frequently than recommended. Data from the sample (N = 1,032) were collected at baseline and 12 months postimplementation. Each quality indicator category was significant at follow-up. Patients screened according to guidelines nearly doubled while the number of underscreened patients was reduced by nearly half. Similarly, there was a threefold decrease in patients screened more frequently than recommended. Clinical administrators, quality improvement specialists, and health care providers in primary care settings can use the strategies implemented in this study as a starting point for continuous quality improvement initiatives for cervical cancer screening.

Aligning Provider Team Members With Polyvalent Community Health Workers.

In light of the fragmentation of health care services and the need for health promotion and disease prevention, it is time to consider the important role community health workers (CHWs) could play as part of the health care team. Globally, CHWs tend to focus on a single patient condition, resulting in fragmented, uncoordinated health care services. Polyvalent (or multimodal) CHWs can provide a comprehensive, patient-centric range of care coordination services with other members of the health care team, ultimately improving patient outcomes and decreasing the cost of care. The potential benefits of the polyvalent CHW to the health care team are not widely understood in the United States. To fill this knowledge gap, a toolkit for nurse leaders in mainstream health care settings was created. The toolkit outlines the key elements essential to a successful CHW program and offers strategies for navigating the various challenges involved when integrating this new role into existing models of care.

Cornerstone Documents, Milestones, and Policies: Shaping the Direction of Public Health Nursing 1890-1950.

The interplay of policy, milestone events, and cornerstone documents was critical in the evolution of the specialty of public health nursing (PHN) from 1890-1950. Using our contemporary lens, this article examines PHN development from an historical perspective, including events and milestones driving growth in the early 20th century. Some of the challenges faced by our founding public health nursing leadership are not unlike challenges we face today. In 1950, Ruth Hubbard, a former leader in the National Organization of Public Health Nurses and Director of the Visiting Nurse Society of Philadelphia, spoke of the value of examining the past to forge a new future. This article calls for contemporary public health nurses to act upon the lessons learned from the past, to strengthen the renewed focus on prevention, to develop policies that impact population health, and to foster a vision that will guide us into the future.

Youths as partners in a community participatory project for substance use prevention.

This community-based participatory research project aimed to develop strategies to prevent youth substance use in a rural county. This article (1) describes the project phases, (2) examines unique contributions and considerations of youth involvement, and (3) explores the youths' perspective. Twelve youths, aged 16 to 18 years, joined parents, community leaders, and research specialists on the community-based participatory research team. The youths were integrally involved in all phases including the community assessment, community leader interviews, selection of a substance use prevention program, and program implementation. Youths reported sustained enthusiasm, experiences of authentic leadership, development of research skills, and greater awareness of their community.

A model to develop nurse leaders for rural practice.

Rural health disparities are due in part to access barriers to health care providers. Nursing education has been extended into rural areas, yet a limited rural research and practice literature informs the content and delivery of these educational programs. The University Of Virginia School of Nursing through a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration developed the Nursing Leadership in Rural Health Care (NLRHC) Program. The transformational nursing leadership in rural health care (TNLRHC) model guided the development of NLRHC program content and teaching methods. This article describes the TNLRHC model and how it has steered the integration of rural content into advanced practice nursing (APN) education. The capacity of the TNLRHC model for promoting innovation in APN education is described. Recommendations regarding the future development of APN education are presented.

"Something must be done!": public health nursing education in the United States from 1900 to 1950.

This article examines public health nursing (PHN) education in the United States from 1900 to 1950. Following establishment of district nursing and the Henry Street Settlement in the late 1800s, nurses worked with families and communities in schools, homes, and with immigrant populations in tenements of industrialized cities. By the early 1900s, PHN leaders recognized that graduates needed broader education than provided by hospital training schools to prepare nurses to address social conditions and promote health and hygiene for populations. Current themes in professional nursing, such as social determinants of health, have their roots in early discourse about PHN education.

Nurses' self-efficacy and academic degree advancement.

The last decade has brought about a synergy of influences for registered nurses to advance their academic preparation. Literature indicates that there is correlation between self-efficacy and goal establishment and success. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the relationship between self-efficacy and advancing academic aspirations of registered nurses. Findings indicated that there was a trend toward a difference in the self-efficacy of nurses who began their career with a diploma or associate degree and went on for academic advancement and those who did not.

Development of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico National Protocol for the Management of Victims of Sexual Violence: Adults/Adolescents.

Sexual violence is a public health problem in Puerto Rico (PR), with an incidence of 7.4 cases for every 10,000 people during 2005-2006 (Departamento de Salud Secretaría Auxiliar de Salud Familiar y Servicios Integrados, 2007). Findings from the literature review indicated that the traditional model of care provided to the victims of sexual violence in the Emergency Department is incomplete; furthermore, it may cause revictimization because of the attitudes, behaviors, and practices of the community service providers, resulting in additional trauma. Emerging evidence demonstrates that Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs are providing effective quality care. In PR, SANEs do not intervene in sexual assault cases; nevertheless, the Department of Health of PR has recognized the importance of SANE intervention. Consequently, there is a need for current evidence-based protocols and standards of care to describe the procedures, roles, and responsibilities for the provision of quality care to victims. This project involves the implementation of the Stufflebeam's Context-Input-Process-Product Model in the creation of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico National Protocol for the Management of Victims of Sexual Violence: Adults/Adolescents.