Teaching young consumers in Europe: a multicentre qualitative needs assessment with educators on food hygiene and food safety.

AIM: Foodborne illnesses have a significant global burden and can be life-threatening, with higher risk in vulnerable groups such as children. SafeConsume is an EU-funded, transdisciplinary project aiming to improve consumers' food safety behaviour. Developing educational resources on food safety for use in schools has potential to improve teaching of our young consumers. The aim of this study was to explore school educators' attitudes, behaviours and knowledge towards food hygiene, safety and education. METHODS: Focus groups and interviews in England, France, Portugal and Hungary explored educator knowledge, skills, intentions and beliefs around educating young people (11-18 years) about food safety. Data were analysed using NVivo and emerging themes were applied to the Theoretical Domains Framework. RESULTS: A total of 48 educators participated. Knowledge, confidence and skills to teach food safety to young people varied depending on background and training. Educators reported they had a role to teach food safety to young people, were positive about delivering education and optimistic they could improve students' food safety behaviour. Barriers to teaching included lack of national curriculum coverage, limited time and money, and lack of facilities. Educators reported that social influences (family, celebrity chefs, public health campaigns and social media) were important opportunities to improve young peoples' awareness of food safety and consequences of foodborne illness. CONCLUSION: Educator food safety expertise varied; training could help to optimise educator knowledge, confidence and skills. Ministries of Health and Education need encouragement to get food safety incorporated further into school curricula across Europe, so schools will be motivated to prioritise these topics.

Health-related quality of life of a very special population: monks of Holy Mountain Athos, Greece.

PURPOSE: The investigation of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) of Orthodox Christian monks who live at the Holy Mount Athos in Greece, and its correlation with demographic characteristics and Sense of Coherence (SOC-13). METHODS: A cross-sectional study was designed. The seven monasteries and five scetes with the largest number of monk population were invited to participate. Two monasteries and 1 scete gave their permission for the study. The final monks sample was formed by 166 monks from 215 who participated to the study. HRQOL was assessed using the SF-12 and Sense of Coherence the SOC-13 scales that were completed by monks from May to August 2012. Μultiple linear regression analyses were conducted to explore the association of the HRQOL subscales with the demographics and SOC-13. RESULTS: The mean age was 45.5 ± 13.0 years; 83.7% lived in communal monasteries, and the mean number of years in monasticism was 18.4 ± 12.1. The mean value of their Physical Component Summary (PCS) score was 47.3 ± 5.3, which is lower than in the general Greek men population, while their Mental Component Summary (MCS) score was 56.4 ± 5.8, which is higher than in the general Greek men population. The mean value of SOC-13 was 65.7 ± 6.5. Positive association for PCS appeared for place of living (ß = 5.43, SE = 1.27, p < 0.001) and negative association for age (ß = -0.16, SE = 0.03, p < 0.001) while for MCS for number of years in monasticism (ß = 0.07, SE = 0.06, p = 0.023) and sense of coherence (ß = 0.47, SE = 0.06, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that monks had better mental health but worse physical health compared to the general Greek male population. More studies are required to validate the above findings.

Beliefs and practices of Greek doctors in relation to patients' adherence to antihypertensive medication.

Although it has been proven that decreasing the arterial blood pressure decreases cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, <25% of hypertensive patients receiving antihypertensive treatment achieve target values, which are mainly attributed to failure of the patients to comply to treatment. Ensuring patient compliance to antihypertensive treatment, to prevent the development of hypertension-associated complications, has proven to be challenging in several countries. The aim of the present study was to investigate the knowledge, perceptions and practices applied by doctors treating hypertensive patients regarding patient compliance to the prescribed treatment. We also aimed to assess the possible barriers physicians face to using reinforcement methods and currently available guidelines. A total of 202 doctors from the Serres and Drama prefectures of Greece participated in this study. The data collection comprised a quantitative method questionnaire and the data were processed using Stata 8.0 statistical software. The results demonstrated that 84.7% of the participating doctors do not use the current guidelines for compliance, whereas only 10.1% have consultations lasting >15 min when discussing the medication with their patients. In addition, the majority (84.7%) of the doctors do not practice peer mentoring and consider the most effective interventions to be providing information and discussing the medication with their patients. In conclusion, the level of patient compliance to antihypertensive medication is unsatisfactory and the main reason is considered to be the non-use of guidelines by the treating physicians. Patients may benefit from further education of health professionals in this field.

Group patient education: effectiveness of a brief intervention in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus in primary health care in Greece: a clinically controlled trial.

This study aims to assess the impact of a brief patient group education intervention in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The sample, 193 people with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were patients at the diabetic clinic of a primary health care setting in Attica, was assigned to two groups, intervention (138 individuals) and control group (55 individuals). The intervention group, instead of receiving standard care, attended a structured group educational programme using Conversation Maps while the control group had standard care. The main outcome measures were HbA1c, body mass index (BMI), triglycerides, high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), measured at baseline and 6 months after the intervention. After 6 months, significant differences in changes of the studied parameters were observed between the groups in HbA1c, 1.4 (95% CI: 1.1, 1.7), (P < 0.001) and HDL -4.4 (95% CI: -8.1, -0.8), (P < 0.001) in favour of group education. Within the groups, the intervention group presented a significant reduction in HbA1c, -0.6 (95% CI: -0.8, -0.3), (P < 0.001), in BMI, -0.7 (95% CI: -0.9, -0.1), (P = 0.007), in triglycerides, -21.1 (95% CI: -47.1, -9.9), (P = 0.003) and LDL, -10.0 (95% CI: -22.5, -5.7), (P < 0.001), while in the control group significant reductions were observed in HbA1c, -0.5 (95% CI: -0.5, -0.3), (P = 0.003), in HLD, -4.1 (95% CI: -7.7, -2.3), (P = 0.001) and in LDL, -9.4 (95% CI: -19.9, -3.9), (P = 0.018). Group-based patient education using Conversation Maps for people with type 2 diabetes is more effective, compared with individual education, in diabetes self-management.

Sense of coherence in people with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus: an observational study from Greece.

Background Antonovsky's concept of sense of coherence (SOC) has been suggested to relate to health, especially mental health and preventive health behaviours. Psychological distress has been identified as a risk factor for pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The study of SOC and diabetes has not received much attention in Greece. This study aims to explore the extent to which type 2 diabetes mellitus can affect the SOC score. Methods An observational design was used to test the study hypothesis that individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus would have a lower SOC than those without diabetes mellitus. A total of 202 individuals were studied, consisting of 100 people with diabetes mellitus (the study group) and 102 people with non-chronic orthopaedic conditions (the control group). All of the participants were patients of the Diabetic Clinic or the Orthopaedic Clinic of Livadia Hospital in Central Greece. SOC was assessed using a 29-item SOC questionnaire that had been translated into Greek and validated. Results Patients without type 2 diabetes mellitus had 2.4 times higher odds of having a high SOC score than patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (P = 0.036; odds ratio [OR] = 2.35, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06-5.23). Male patients had 3.9 times higher odds of having a high SOC score (P < 0.001; OR = 3.85, 95% CI = 1.71-8.67) than female patients. With regard to education, patients with a lower level of education had almost three times higher odds of having a high SOC score than patients with a higher level of education (P = 0.024; OR = 2.97, 95% CI = 1.15-7.67). Conclusions This study adds to the existing literature and indicates that SOC is a health asset. A study with an experimental design would clarify the interesting hypothesis of this study.

Satisfying patients' rights: a hospital patient survey.

The aim of this project was to study the way in which patients' rights are being exercised in everyday hospital practice in Greece. Data were collected by using questionnaires and structured interviews with 600 patients. These patients were found to ignore the fact that special regulations exist regarding their rights. They considered their right to information was being respected, albeit to different degrees. Many patients allowed their doctors to make decisions. The right to confidentiality was not considered as a major priority by these patients because they doubted its applicability. They hesitated to protest when their rights were being violated. They thought that the most effective way of protecting their rights is either through the existence of someone with specialized knowledge or an internal hospital committee. These Greek patients appeared to be relatively satisfied with the way in which their rights were being exercised in hospital. However, a number of improvements could increase patient satisfaction regarding this issue.