Advice For Health Research Articles

Telephone sexual counselling and current technologies: Are helplines still effective in the social media era?

Summary Helplines are common counselling services for men and women seeking advice for health, psychological and sexual problems. With the advent of the social media era, users have now more possibilities to search for information about sexual health than before. Comparing the recent data of a long-standing telephone counselling service on sexual health by the Institute of Clinical Sexology of Rome, we aimed to investigate the range of sexual concerns reported by users, to describe the differences, if any, between male and female callers, and the changes in contents and usage in the last years. The study included selected records of the calls received during the 8-year period between 2010 and 2017 (n = 1865). Users were more often men than women (respectively 1253 vs. 612), aged between 26 and 45 years, medium to high education, employed, and who had not sought any previous help for their sexual concerns. The most frequently reported reasons to call were “male sexual dysfunctions” and “relational problems”. Comparing with previous data, a decrease of requests about specific sexual dysfunctions and sexual general information is noted. Moreover, some gender peculiarities are reported, and the counsellor actions to the user request are analysed. Although the service registered a decrease of calls in after the social media spreading, in the last years a new increase of calls and a switch in requests’ contents has been showed. Telephone counselling is still an important and effective resource to elicit requests that otherwise might remain hidden; therefore, it can be a useful link between health-care system and callers.

Attitudes and self-reported practices of New Zealand osteopaths to exercise consultation

BackgroundExercise-based interventions are commonly utilised within many healthcare modalities, although their role in New Zealand (NZ) osteopathy is unclear. ObjectivesInvestigate osteopaths' attitudes and practices of exercise consultation, in the context of general health and wellbeing (GH) and specific medical conditions (SMC); and identify factors associated with these practices and attitudes. MethodsCross-sectional survey of NZ practicing osteopaths. ResultsResponse rate was 38% (n = 125/332). Degree of positive attitude towards advice for GH, 75 ± 9% (mean ± SD), and prescription for SMC, 73 ± 6%, were similar. The most commonly reported exercise consultation provided was advice for SMC (75 ± 24%), followed by advice for GH (63 ± 30%), prescription for SMC (63 ± 30%) and for GH (52 ± 32%). Practices of exercise consultation were associated with positive attitudes (p < 0.05 for all) and osteopathic training institution with attitudes towards exercise prescription (p = 0.03). Level of academic qualification was associated with practice of advice for SMC (p < 0.001) and osteopathic practice style with practice of prescription for SMC (p = 0.03). Increased personal exercise duration was weakly predictive of positive attitudes towards exercise advice (r2 = 0.04 for regression model) and associated with practice of advice for GH (p = 0.01). Common forms of exercise delivery by osteopaths included verbal instruction (87%), physical demonstration by the practitioner (73%), or by the patient (62%). ConclusionsThese data suggest most respondents hold positive attitudes towards exercise consultation and incorporate exercise within their clinical practice. Whereas training and practice style appear more closely associated with therapeutic exercise, personal exercise behaviours appear to be more closely associated with exercise advice for general health and wellbeing.

Dietary advice for improving cardiovascular health in UK running magazines

PurposeThis paper aims to evaluate the dietary advice for cardiovascular health in UK running magazines.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative and quantitative content analysis was carried out on 12 issues (2014/2015) of Men’s Running (MR), Runner’s World (RW) and Women’s Running (WR). Coding of content took place into three themes: diet information, format and cardiovascular health.FindingsDietary advice comprised 17, 18 and 21 per cent of content in MR, RW and WR, respectively. A Mediterranean dietary pattern (e.g. fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds, wholegrains and legumes, oily fish) was recommended for cardiovascular health and lowering of BP and plasma cholesterol. Single components of this dietary pattern were emphasised combined with advice to alter fat intake and increase intake of antioxidant nutrients and polyphenols, while advice to restrict salt was scarce. There was minimal emphasis on weight control. Information was often presented as single-page compilations of multiple headlines and snippets. Lexical imperatives and magisterial vocabulary connoted learned expertise and citation of experts and journals was common.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research may qualitatively investigate how readers interpret and make use of the nutrition information and dietary advice provided in these magazines. A critical question would be to address whether these dietary messages lead to cardio-protective dietary behaviour.Practical implicationsImproved journalistic reporting of emerging nutritional science is also needed. Magazine editors and journalists need to follow reporting guidelines for science and provide more nuanced information.Originality/valueThis research is the first to describe the content and style of dietary content for cardiovascular health in running magazines.

A discrete choice experiment to assess people living with HIV's (PLWHIV's) preferences for GP or HIV clinic appointments

ObjectivesTo understand which aspects of general practitioner (GP) and HIV clinic appointments people living with HIV (PLWHIV) most value when seeking advice for new health problems.MethodsA discrete choice experiment using...

Getting diet right: dietary advice for health in practice

This paper indicates the need for diet advice to be part of dental practice, the evidence for that advice, and what the advice should be for various age groups

Sexual behaviour, drug use and health service use by young Noongar people in Western Australia: a snapshot.

Background This study aimed to describe sexual health behaviour, alcohol and other drug use, and health service use among young Noongar people in the south-west of Western Australia. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken among a sample of 244 Noongar people aged 16-30 years. The sample was more disadvantaged than the wider Noongar population. Sexual activity was initiated at a young age, 18% had two or more casual sex partners in the previous 12 months, with men more likely to have done so than women (23% vs 14%). Condoms were always or often carried by 57% of men and 37% of women, and 36% of men and 23% of women reported condom use at last sex with a casual partner. Lifetime sexually transmissible infection diagnosis was 14%. Forty percent currently smoked tobacco and 25% reported risky alcohol consumption on a weekly and 7% on an almost daily basis. Cannabis was used by 37%, 12% used drugs in addition to cannabis and 11% reported recently injecting drugs. In the previous 12 months, 66% had a health check and 31% were tested for HIV or sexually transmissible infections. Additionally, 25% sought advice or assistance for mental health or alcohol and other drug issues. Although some respondents engaged in risky sexual behaviour, alcohol and other drug use or both, most did not. Particularly encouraging was the engagement of respondents with the health care system, especially among those engaging in risky behaviours. The results confound negative stereotypes of Aboriginal people and demonstrate a level of resilience among respondents.

My Healthy Body by L. Framer and F. Gerstein

Fromer, Liza, and F. Gerstein. My Healthy Body. Toronto: Tundra Books, 2012. Print. Liza Fromer is a broadcast journalist with a degree in Radio and Television Arts from Ryerson University. In addition to working with The Discovery Channel and being a weekend anchor and reporter at A-Channel in Calgary, Liza has co-hosted CityTV’s Breakfast Television, hosted The Weather Network’s “Good Morning Toronto” and SLICE network’s series, “The List”. Currently, Ms Fromer lives in Toronto, as does her co-author sister-in-law, Dr. Francine Gerstein, a family physician and cosmetic medicine practitioner. Together they have co-written My Healthy Body and five other books that make up the Body Works Series. My Healthy Body opens with an author’s note about seeking medical advice for health concerns, then covers the following topics: sleep, exercise, nutrition, vaccination, eye and dental care, and the importance of family and friends, learning, and personal hygiene. Fun facts and true/false questions signal the end of each topic. Colourful illustrations depict children engaged in a variety of daily activities related to the health topics being discussed. The book focuses on the role that individuals play in being healthy. While it does not specifically situate health behaviours in a broader context of health promotion (i.e., that being healthy is affected by many factors, one of which is individual behaviour) the sections on family and friends and learning, although presented from a personal choice perspective, are a nod to some of these broader determinants. Overall, My Healthy Body is engaging and informative without being text heavy. However, it does have a few limitations. Firstly, I was surprised that, despite the book being written and published in Canada, the nutrition section does not refer to Canada’s Food Guide, highlighting the USDA’s guide instead. Similarly, the section on exercise eschews the more inclusive term, physical activity, used in the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines. Secondly, while the publisher’s website lists the book as suitable for children ages six to nine years old, this book includes vocabulary that may be more suited to the upper end of this range and readers may need assistance to understand some of the terms. Some terms are introduced in plain language, followed by the medical term in parentheses. This treatment of health-related terminology is inconsistent – some words, such as “tissues”, “self-esteem”, “obesity” are not defined in the text, nor are they addressed in the brief glossary at the end of the book; unexpectedly, the glossary does introduce some terms that do not appear in the text (e.g., antigen). Finally, the book ends abruptly, with no conclusion, suggestions for further reading, or mention of the glossary. Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Maria TanMaria is a Public Services Librarian at the University of Alberta’s H. T. Coutts Education Library. She enjoys travelling and visiting unique and far-flung libraries. An avid foodie, Maria’s motto is, “There’s really no good reason to stop the flow of snacks”.

Integrative medical doctors—Public health practitioner or lifestyle coach?

IntroductionA holistic approach to medical care is a key component of integrative medical practice. As an alternative to biomedical emphasis on illness and disease, integrative medical practice focuses on wellness. Principles of vitalism and humanism inform complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches to health and healing, thus integrative medical practitioners have capacity to extend ideas of healing from the individual biology to broader public health trends and concerns. Methodology and approachWe report on qualitative semi-structured interviews with 23 integrative medical doctors. Our research explored how they drew on CAM philosophical approaches to health and healing and how such approaches shaped their approach to practice. ResultsIntegrative medical practitioners draw on CAM to understand causes of health problems, approaches to healing, and the role of the individual in healing. The key tenets of the philosophical approach identified by doctors were holism, vitalism, and empowerment. These notions inform their health practice. They focus on helping patients to become actively engaged in their health, in particular, in lifestyle change. These doctors see their practice as distinctly different from biomedicine, seeing biomedicine as too limited to in its approach. ConclusionsWhile the principles underpinning CAM may open up opportunities for integrative medical practitioners to take a public health stance in their work, this approach is limited. Integrative practitioners see their approach as different to their biomedical peers, but their capacity to re-orient health from cure to prevention is often limited to notions of lifestyle advice and individual responsibility for health and healing.

Risks to Young Volunteers in International Social Projects

The number of young volunteers in international social projects has increased significantly with governmental and non-governmental project support. This paper investigates the hypothesis that the preventative medical advice currently given prior to departure is inadequate because the risk profile of young persons (<30 years) differs from that of the general population. A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed with participants of international social projects. A specific questionnaire was developed; inclusion criteria were age between 18 and 30 years at departure and a duration with the project of at least 6 months. One hundred and fifty-three data sets could be evaluated. Fifty-three percent were females; the destinations were as follows: 65.4% to Asia, 14.4% to Africa, and 10.5% to Latin America. The mean age was 20 years. Ninety percent of the participants received some kind of advice in travel medicine prior to departure. The vaccination rate was quite good, but pertussis (13.7%), yellow fever (80%), typhoid fever (54%), and rabies (49.7%) should be improved when travelling to high-risk regions. Food is a very important potential source of problems as 66% receive catering by the project, 56.2% from street stalls, and 44% were regularly invited to dine with locals. In Africa, only two-thirds of the participants of projects had regular access to safe water and the sanitary facilities were also poor; 51.7% of respondents reported new sexual contacts (one to more than six new partners). In most cases, condoms were used, but there were two unintended pregnancies. We conclude that young people need to be targeted with specialized advice for health and safety while abroad. This should highlight age-specific risks compared to advice for a more general population. Vaccination status should be improved for some regions and diseases.

Heat waves and the heat plan

British Journal of Healthcare AssistantsVol. 5, No. 7 PolicyHeat waves and the heat planRhidian HughesRhidian HughesSearch for more papers by this authorRhidian HughesPublished Online:17 Sep 2014https://doi.org/10.12968/bjha.2011.5.7.358AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail View article References Department of Health (2010a) Heatwave: protecting health and reducing harm from extreme heat and heatwaves. The Stationery Office, London Google ScholarDepartment of Health (2010b) Heatwave: supporting vulnerable people before and during a heatwave. Advice for health and social care professionals. The Stationery Office, London Google ScholarDepartment of Health (2010c) Heatwave: supporting vulnerable people before and during a heatwave. Advice for care home managers and staff. The Stationery Office, London Google ScholarKovats RS, Johnson H, Griffiths C (2006) Mortality in southern England during the 2003 heat wave by place of death. Office of National Statistics, London Google ScholarHer Majesty's Government (2008) Climate Change Act 2008. Chapter 27. The Stationery Office, London Google ScholarMet Office (2011) Heat Health Watch. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/heathealth/ (accessed seven June 2011) Google ScholarOffice of National Statistics (2006) Mortality in southern England during the 2003 heat wave by place of death. www.statistics.gov.uk/articles/hsq/1419.pdf Google Scholar FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails 13 July 2011Volume 5Issue 7ISSN (print): 1753-1586ISSN (online): 2052-4420 Metrics History Published online 17 September 2014 Published in print 13 July 2011 Information© MA Healthcare LimitedPDF download

The provision of advice for travel health

The travel health appointment is a unique form of consultation ill?suited to available models of consultation. Adrienne Willcox and Eileen Munson consider the requirements of patients seeking travel health advice and look to future provision in general practice

Nutrition advice for oral health

Nutrition advice for oral health

To what extent are school drop-in clinics meeting pupils' self-identified health concerns?

Objective This paper explores young peoples' health concerns and their knowledge and views of school nurse drop-in clinics (drop-ins) held in their schools. Design Cross section survey of adolescents using questionnaires delivered in schools to 10 per cent of the population, and school drop-in monitoring data from the Primary Care Trust (PCT). Setting 11 secondary schools in a suburban south-east London borough. Method Data from 590 11-17 year olds were used to determine their health concerns, sources of advice for health concerns, views and peceptions of their school based drop-in clinics, and attendance at these clinics. Results Young people have a number of health concerns, notably in the area of inter-personal issues, emotional heath and well-being; however, few had sought help with these. Awareness of school based drop-ins was high but knowledge of times and locations was patchy. The droins were viewed positively, especially by users. Issues such as timing of drop-ins, their location and confidentiality were raised by students. Most consultations were dealt with by support or advice from the school nurse. Monitoring data suggested the service may be under-used but those who did attend often returned. Sixty-two per cent of students felt drop-ins were an important service in schools, this rose to 92 per cent among those who had accessed the service. Conclusion: School based drop-ins offer a valuable service but need planing and promotion to achieve good attendance figures. A school droin may be the first time a young person has accessed any health care setting by themselves and valuable transferable skills may be learnt.

Protection of Human Subjects and Scientific Progress: Can the Two Be Reconciled?

To the Editor: Over the past several years, both the professional and lay press have made distressing revelations concerning the enterprise, including financial conflicts of interest involving investigators, NIH managers, and FDA regulatory procedures; insufficient disclosure of risks; lack of transparency regarding investigators' commercial ties; ghost writing of clinical trial manuscripts by sponsors; failure to publish negative trial results; trials designed to conceal serious drug side effects; failure to systematically assess what is known from existing before launching new studies; and inadequacies in the ethics review process, including IRB members' level of preparation and the monitoring of ongoing research. Ironically, these revelations coincide with a rising chorus within the ethics community that advocates relaxing certain well-established norms and values aimed at protecting subjects. A troubling thread runs through much of the recent literature, both that appearing in the Hastings Center Report on changing standards of research and elsewhere. The key ethics question has moved from How can we balance subject protection with the acquisition of knowledge? to How can we facilitate I believe this emphasis on tolerating higher levels of risk erodes protections traditionally provided by ethical protocol design and voluntary and informed consent procedures. Much of this discourse presumes a great deal, including that some subject protections stand in the way of significant scientific advancement. It also assumes that most is good, or necessary, or important; that all IRBs are competent to assess the risk/benefit balance with surgical precision or that they always know how much risk should be allowed when the benefit is exclusively to future patients; and that bad deal or exploitative trials somehow become acceptable, as opposed to doubly unacceptable, with mandatory random assignment to participate. Certain authors assume that distinguishing between and therapy somehow provides a morally and legally legitimate rationale for weakening physicians' obligations to patients who are subjects, or that failure to demand relevant comparison trials (instead of promoting placebo controlled trials) will not disadvantage future patients looking for effective medication. Should we assume that patients presented with mandatory participation in trials of two approved agents won't see this as a breach of trust by their physicians? That seeing one is as good as seeing another, or that alternative physicians acceptable to patients are always and everywhere available? Some authors assume that once trials of new agents are approved by an IRB, coercion is irrelevant, as they are a reasonable choice for all eligible participants; that mentally competent adults who are ill or poor or without adequate social supports are not subject to pressures that inhibit the kind of voluntary choice we ought to insist upon; or that paying subjects will not result in an underclass populated by those in temporary or permanent need of money. If facilitating is the real objective, why not place more emphasis on important issues such as improved education for IRB members and trainees; better administrative support for IRBs; coordination of multicentered clinical trial review; requirements for trial registration and data sharing; improved guidance on with children and the sick and dying; advice for health and social science re searchers for value-laden areas such as racism, sexuality, drugs, or stigma; or the myriad of difficulties surrounding uncertainty and risk in the translation of novel cell from bench to bedside? Why aren't there more calls from the ethics community for scientific rigor in research, or more debates on social versus scientific benefits of research? Scientific advancement is a worthy objective, one that can benefit many. …

Nutritional advice for obesity management and health.

Obesity is one of the fastest developing public health problems in the world and is associated with increased risks in morbidity and mortality. Any treatment programme for overweight and obese people should place equal importance on weight reduction and the maintenance of the weight loss. The National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease (Department of Health, 2000) identified the vital role of primary care teams in tackling overweight and obesity. The aim of this article is to give a basic overview of some of the issues and principles of weight management in primary care and to ensure nurses are equipped to provide good quality, evidence-based nutritional advice on weight management.

Fitting dietary advice for oral health into the roles of food for elderly, mentally ill people

Summary Aim: To identify the roles of food in a day‐centre for elderly, mentally ill people, so that dietary recommendations for optimal oral health are made within the overall philosophies of the day‐centre. Method: A qualitative approach was adopted. It comprised an observational study of the daily routine and a semistructured interview to examine the attitudes, beliefs and knowledge of the care‐staff related to diet, general health and oral health. Results: The use of food was pivotal to the functioning of the centre. Food was used for nutrition, as a focus for communal activities, to express love and caring, and to maintain cognitive, daily living and social skills. All staff considered oral health important and appreciated the link between oral health, general health and diet (primarily sugar consumption). Despite this, one‐third of carers considered tooth loss an inevitable consequence of ageing. Sugar was generally regarded as detrimental to general health, but attitudes towards use of sweeteners as an alternative were mixed. However, it was believed that elderly people can adapt to dietary changes. Conclusion: Dietary advice for oral health would be acceptable if put in the context of general health and the changes take account of the overall philosophies of the centre. To this end a ‘Healthy Eating Resource Pack’ was produced for use in the centre.

What nutrition knowledge and skills do primary care physicians need to have, and how should this be communicated?

The last Heelsum workshop agreed that general practitioners should concentrate on dietary advice for treatment or secondary prevention, though nutritional advice for health is part of the doctor's work with pregnancy, infants and the very old. Nutrition prescriptions contrast with drug prescriptions. For drugs information is authoritative, evidence-based and easily available. Drug prescriptions are potentially liable to litigation. Dietary prescriptions are less serious and more the patient's responsibility. Nutrition information comes in a plethora of different forms, some of it unscientific, some out of date, some commercially biased. While waiting for some system (?authoritative, ?electronic) that can help general practitioners (GPs) organise nutrition information, there are three modern books that have been written by nutrition specialists for GPs in the English language (there may be others in North America) and another was written for practice nurses. As well as general books like this most large countries have expert reports on some nutritional topics by government committees available for reference. In relating foods and food components to disease, most of the reliable evidence is about their effect on risk factors-plasma cholesterol, blood glucose, blood pressure or body weight. A smaller amount of evidence relates food intake data from large cohort studies to incidence of disease. Very few randomised controlled trials (the ultimate evidence-based medicine) have been achieved for nutrition. Dietary recommendations may have to change with time because of new research-and drugs. Advice for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease is shown as an example of this.

Reviews.

CLINICAL DERMATOLOGY ILLUSTRATED A regional approach (2nd edition) CURRENT PRACTICES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF FUNGATING LESIONS AND RADIATION DAMAGED SKIN CHILD PROTECTION AND FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION Advice for health, education and social work professionals.