Involving mental health service users and carers in curriculum development: moving beyond 'classroom' involvement.

Recent policy statements that address the future priorities for nurse education have emphasized that service users and carers should be actively engaged in partnerships with education professionals in all aspects of the curriculum. The development of this agenda is well advanced; however, examples of 'how to do it' are sparse. The development of a strategy to involve users and carers in the design and delivery of the Diploma of Higher Education in Nursing at Napier University provided an opportunity to evaluate the process of developing partnerships in this area of nurse education. This paper presents the findings from a process evaluation from the various standpoints of the key interest groups. The overall project and evaluation is outlined, along with methodological and practical issues surrounding this type of 'collaborative' evaluation. The importance and satisfaction of practical aspects of the project are examined. The issues of representativeness, expertise in 'involvement' and the importance of the 'process' of involvement are explored. Finally, the challenges to developing 'meaningful involvement' that goes beyond 'classroom involvement' in nurse education are identified and discussed.

Sources of infection among persons with acute hepatitis A and no identified risk factors during a sustained community-wide outbreak.

CONTEXT: Hepatitis A is a common vaccine-preventable disease in the United States. Most cases occur during community-wide outbreaks, which can be difficult to control. Many case-patients have no identified source. OBJECTIVE: To identify foodborne and household sources of hepatitis A during a community-wide outbreak. DESIGN: Serologic and descriptive survey. SETTING: Salt Lake County, Utah. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 355 household contacts of 170 persons reported with hepatitis A during May 1996 to December 1996, who had no identified source of infection; and 730 food handlers working in establishments where case-patients had eaten. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Prevalence of immunoglobulin M antibodies to hepatitis A virus (IgM anti-HAV) among household and food service contacts. RESULTS: Overall, 70 household contacts (20%) were IgM anti-HAV-positive, including 52% of children 3 to 5 years old and 30% of children <3 years old. In multivariate analysis, the presence of a child <3 years old (odds ratio [OR]: 8.8; 95% confidence limit [CL]: 2.1,36) and a delay of >/=14 days between illness onset and reporting (OR: 7. 9; 95% CL: 1.7,38) were associated with household transmission. Of 18 clusters of infections linked by transmission between households, 13 (72%) involved unrecognized infection among children <6 years old. No food handlers were IgM anti-HAV-positive. CONCLUSION: During a community-wide outbreak, HAV infection among children was common, was frequently unrecognized, and may have been an important source of transmission within and between households. Transmission from commercial food establishments was uncommon. Ongoing vaccination of children may prevent future outbreaks.

Mental health service user involvement in nurse education: exploring the issues.

This paper reports on findings and issues arising from a study designed to promote mental health service users' involvement in a preregistration nursing curriculum. Users' views about the knowledge, skills and attributes required by mental health nurses were explored to inform the curriculum design. Strategies that would facilitate long term, active user involvement in the design and delivery of the curriculum were also explored. Findings are presented with concurrent discussion of issues arising from the research process in relation to user involvement in education. The issue of 'conflict' explores findings relating to users' views of a 'good' mental health nurse and inherent conflicts between user and professional views are highlighted. The representativeness of the research participants is explored and debated in relation to service user involvement in nurse education. Finally, the concepts of 'involvement' and 'tokenism' are discussed and recommendations made about how active user involvement in nurse education can be achieved.

Emergency department vaccination of preschool-age children during a measles outbreak.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of an emergency department vaccination program for preschool-age children during a measles outbreak. DESIGN: Cross-section study. SETTING: Urban pediatric ED with an annual census of 24,000. PARTICIPANTS: Children, 12 to 59 months old, who presented to our ED between April 1 and April 30, 1994. INTERVENTION: Staff trained in rationale for and protocol of ED vaccination offered measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, free of charge, to all eligible children. RESULTS: Of the 541 children seen, 7% lacked measles vaccination; MMR vaccination status could not be determined in 10%. From history it was determined that all the others had been vaccinated. Of the vaccination-eligible children, 25% were vaccinated in the ED. Of the eligible children who were not vaccinated, parents declined in half of the cases and physicians did not offer vaccination in the other half. Eligible children with physical injury were more likely to be vaccinated, and those with upper respiratory tract infections were less likely to be vaccinated than were eligible children with other diagnoses (P < .05). CONCLUSION: During a measles outbreak, few children receiving care at a busy pediatric ED were definitively identified as vaccination eligible. Only a few children identified as eligible for vaccination were vaccinated. Significant logistic barriers to effective ED vaccination exist.

Partner notification for control of HIV: results after 2 years of a statewide program in Utah.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to evaluate the utility of partner notification for control of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and to identify subgroups in which it may be most effective. METHODS: All persons reported to be HIV-positive during a 2-year period were interviewed. Outcome measures included proportion of index patients cooperating; number of partners named, located, counseled, and tested; number of persons newly testing positive; and costs. RESULTS: Of 308 index patients, 244 (79%) cooperated. They named 890 partners; 499 (70%) of in-state partners were located. Of these, 154 (34%) had previously tested HIV-positive. Of 279 partners tested for the first time, 39 (14%) were HIV-positive. Injecting drug users were significantly more likely to cooperate than persons in other risk groups (93% vs 76%) and named more partners (median 4 vs 1). Women and persons choosing confidential testing were more likely to cooperate and named more partners. The estimated cost of the program was $62,500 per year. CONCLUSIONS: Partner notification identified a group with a high seroprevalence of HIV. It was not successful among populations that may be difficult to reach with other interventions.