Volunteer Service and Service Learning: Opportunities, Partnerships, and United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

PURPOSE: This article explores approaches to service involvement and provides direction to nurse leaders and others who wish to begin or further develop global (local and international) service or service learning projects. APPROACH: We review types of service involvement, analyze service-related data from a recent survey of nearly 500 chapters of the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI), make recommendations to guide collaborative partnerships and to model engagement in global and local service and service learning. FINDINGS: This article offers a literature review and describes results of a survey conducted by the STTI International Service Learning Task Force. Results describe the types of service currently conducted by STTI nursing members and chapters, including disaster response, service learning, and service-related responses relative to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The needs of chapter members for information about international service are explored and recommendations for promoting global service and sustainability goals for STTI chapters are examined. CONCLUSIONS: Before engaging in service, volunteers should consider the types of service engagement, as well as the design of projects to include collaboration, bidirectionality, sustainability, equitable partnerships, and inclusion of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: STTI supports the learning, knowledge, and professional development of nurses worldwide. International service and collaboration are key to the advancement of the nursing profession. Culturally relevant approaches to international service and service learning are essential to our global organization, as it aims to impact the health status of people globally.

Pillars for the care of older persons in the Caribbean.

Pillars for the Care of Older Persons in the Caribbean: A Comprehensive Community-Based Framework (Pillars) is a hybrid of multiple public health frameworks developed through community-based participatory research processes. Health and social service professionals, governmental organizations, elderly persons, and others from across the English-speaking Caribbean countries developed the Pillars framework to address the growing elderly population and with an aim to increase the number of healthy and active years of life. The Pillars framework consists of four interrelated pillars organized across multiple sectors of society: primary care with care management; integrated services coordination; population-based health promotion and disease prevention; and planning and accountability. Pillars is enabled by an envisioned integrated system of information technology that will increase community-based services delivery, interprofessional communication and coordination, and will aggregate data with all identifiers removed for surveillance, planning, forecasting, policy making, evaluation, and research.

A survey of knowledge, attitude, practice and perception of Diabetics on insulin therapy in St. Thomas, Jamaica

This cross sectional survey of diabetics on insulin therapy sought to identify the level of knowledge of patients on insulin regarding diabetes and insulin therapy and to ascertain the preception, attitudinal and behavioural practices of these clients as it relates to insulin therapy and self administration in St. Thomas, Jamaica. A total of 107 clients were interviewed using a structured questionnaire which was administered as an interview schedule. Three focus group discussions were also conducted. Knowledge was high in the area of responses to whether or not insulin lowers the blood sugar, what is to be done if the respondents felt bad after taking insulin and also where insulin is injected. The highest percentage response to the question assessing knowledge was found in clients who used insulin between 5-9 years. There was poor knowledge in the questions addressing identification of insulin by type and brand and in addition most persons felt it was alright to miss insulin for a day. This could influence the practices being carried out by diabetics and quite likely place them at high risk for hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia. Most respondents had a fair attitude towards insulin therapy when compared to the length of use of insulin. Most persons also showed a fair attitude towards their treatment particularly those with over ten years of use. The role of health education and other types of support for diabetics on insulin therapy were identified among factors that could facilitate better as it impacts readily on these clients especially the elderly and the indignet in their ability to care for themselves (AU)

A survey of knowledge, attitude, practice and perception of diabetics on insulin therapy in St. Thomas, Jamaica

This cross-sectional survey of diabetics on insulin therapy sought to identify the level of knowledge of patients on insulin regarding diabetes and insulin therapy and to ascertain the perception, attitudinal and behavioural practices of these clients as it relates to insulin therapy and self administration in St. Thomas, Jamaica. A total of 107 clients were interviewed using a structured questionnaire which was administered as an interview schedule. Three focus group discussions were also conducted. Knowledge was high in the area of responses to whether or not insulin lowers the blood sugar, what is to be done if the respondents felt bad after taking insulin and also where insulin is injected. The highest percentage response to the question assessing knowledge was found in clients who used insulin between 5-9 years. There was poor knowledge in the questions addressing identification of insulin by type brand and in addition most persons felt it was alright to miss insulin for a day. This could influence the practices being carried out by the diabetics and quite likely place them at high risk for hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia. Most respondents had a fair attitude towards insulin therapy when compared to the length of use of insulin. Most persons also showed a fair attitude towards their treatment particularly those with over ten years of use. The role of health education and other types of support for diabetics on insulin therapy were identified among factors that could facilitate better practices. Keen attention should be paid to the socio economic environment as it impacts readily on these clients especially the elderly and the indigent in their ability to care for themselves.(Au)