Resource For Everyday Life Research Articles

A descriptive study of health status and health related quality of life in selected outpatients with type 2 diabetes, pathological body mass index and cardiovascular risk in Spain.

BackgroundOttawa Charter defined health as a resource for everyday life and as an important dimension of health related quality of life (HRqol). Diabetes and obesity have repeatedly been shown as diseases that diminish health status and HRqol. The aim of this study was to measure health status and HRqol in a Spanish sample of obese patients with type 2 diabetes at cardiovascular risk and analyze behavioural, biological and social determinants of health.MethodsOutpatients from external specialized clinic in Endocrinology were evaluated. Measurements: sex, age, family history, employment status, comorbidities, pain, lifestyle habits, anthropometrics, blood pressure, blood analysis and HRqol with COOP/WONCA questionnaire (7 dimensions). Statistics: univariate, bivariate, multivariate and comparative analysis.ResultsMean age was 59.1 ± 7.6 [95%IC: 56.6-61.6], 74% were women and 63.2% were physically active. WONCA values were; summary index (SI): 18.7 ± 4 [95%IC: 17.3-20] (maximum 35); physical fitness: 3.3 ± 1, feelings: 2.3 ± 1.1, social activities: 1.5 ± 1, daily activities: 2.1 ± 1.2, change in health: 2.7 ± 0.9, overall health: 3.6 ± 0.7 and pain: 3.5 ± 1.2 (maximum 5). High fibrinogen values (339.3 ± 85.8 [95%IC: 309.8-368.8]) negatively influenced pain visual analogic scale (p = 0.029). Physically active patients (63.2%) had better values in daily activities dimension (p = 0.025). More than the half of the sample (51.5%) reported a good quality of sleep, but the pain worsened it (p = 0.040). High BMI values (34.8 ± 5.8 [95%IC: 32.9-36.7]) harmed the COOP-WONCA SI (p = 0.009). High glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) values (6.8 ± 1.3 [95%IC: 6.3-7.2]) had a negative impact on COOP-WONCA SI (p = 0.018). Nor tailored diet (15.8%) or being employed (18.4%) influenced the HRqol. The regression that best models COOP-WONCA SI was adjusted for BMI and HbA1c. SI = 3.509 + 0.335BMI +0.330HbA1c.ConclusionsHRqol was worse than in general population, but better than in previous studies of diabetes patients, without differences by sex or age, though feelings, daily activities and pain dimensions scored worse than in these studies.Higher levels of HbA1c, obesity and procoagulative state had a negative impact in these last dimensions. Pain impaired quality of sleep and physical activity had a positive impact in daily activities. BMI and HbA1c modeled the HRqol.

Community action for health promotion and prevention

Introduction: According to the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion of 1986, “[h]ealth promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. To reach a state of complete physical mental and social wellbeing, an individual or group must be able to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment. Health is, therefore, seen as a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities”. [1, p.1] In communities, various problems and challenges arise in public, semi-public and private settings. Addictions, littering, vandalism, but also violence, other social problems and even mental health are challenges that communities have to face. Aims: Community-oriented work is an approved method for putting health promotion and prevention into practice. Here, it is essential to work in and with the setting. A setting is a social context that is relatively permanent. This relationship is embodied in a formal organisation (e.g. business, school), a regional situation (e.g. municipality, district or neighbourhood), a common life situation (e.g. retirees), common values and preferences (e.g. religion, sexual orientation) or in a combination of any of these attributes [2]. But there is much more to the setting approach, beyond simply reaching the target group within the setting. The following key points are equally important:  Participation of members: Concerned persons have to become active participants  Process of organisational development in the setting or community  Empowerment of the people and the administration  Public health action cycle: 1. Identify and analyse health problems in the population (assessment); 2. Develop health-policy intervention strategies (policy development); 3. Implement the strategies in the health care system (assurance); 4. Evaluate acceptance and effectiveness (evaluation) [3]  Setting-oriented and behavioural elements  Cooperation and communication with all persons involved and affected Various methods are available for conducting situation analysis and determining needs. In the community context, “bedarfserhebung.ch Health Promotion and Prevention Planning in the Community” has proven its worth in Switzerland. According to this method, 20 to 30 key persons in the community attend a three-hour, structured workshop and determine local risks and problems, resources and potentials, and develop ideas in three steps. Through this participatory method, the viewpoints of the persons concerned are documented and commitment and initial steps toward networking are strongly promoted [4]. International Journal of Integrated Care – Volume 14, 26 May – URN:NBN:NL:UI:10-1-116232– http://www.ijic.org/ Community Integrated Care and Social Services, Romania, February 21 st , 2014. Results: Based on diverse experiences in community-oriented projects in the area of alcohol and tobacco prevention, and in early detection and early intervention projects, as well as some evaluations, various quality factors could be determined at the level of structure, process, and result. These are, namely: structure quality (political mandate, organisational structure, network), process quality (process control, discussion of attitudes and positions, participation) and result quality (needs assessment, action plan, action guidelines) [5,6]. Conclusions: Local community-oriented projects that work with realistic goals and defined but locally adaptable structures and processes have the potential to be effective. For example, it was found that tobacco prevention projects can implement measures locally that are small in scale but have lasting effect [6].

Multimedia Performances for Pragmatic Tourism

The impact of audiovisual and digital techniques are becoming main resources in everyday life, and interdisciplinary transformation of tourism promotion and animation is already applied in the modern tourism. Tourism offers and services should be complete, current, and qualitative through all phases of the planning process, starting from preparation to implementation. The modern tourist offer of services involves production of multivalorized natural, anthropogenic, communicative and receptive values of a particular facility or geographic area as a tourist destination target. The tourist or client should experience complete tour - re tour, or as stated in the toursm I came, saw, took, in order to come back again, through all the stages, from the preparation of the travel, the stay, up to the departure. Tourism, in near future, or the tourist dialectical development in order to be completely realized, it must pass through the so called tourist triad from audiovisual or real, to virtual or imagined, to virtuous or perfect. In that case, an ecstasy of admiration, enhancement, prowes, joy, pleasure, excitement, success and happiness. In order to experience the previously mentioned states, arrangement from professionals, tourist managers and animators from various areas is of great importance. These people perfectly will be preparing various audiovisual, virtual and virtuous multimedia animations and presentations of numerous content performances in natural environment and closed space through mediums and various digital devices. The primary goal will be the promotion, animation, and development of masterful, profitable, qualitative, practical, and pragmatic tourism. Summering, the various programmed audiovisual compilations, presentations, and performances in real nature, anthropogenic, communicative, and receptive area must include virtual and virtuous contents of various multimedia performances of promotion, reproduction, reconstruction and revitalization. All of these events are intended for the main subject or the tourist, and as a secondary are the professional tourist animators as known as tourist guides, artists, animators, statists, live models and others who are professionally hired for realization of the tourist mission. This development and application of the modern media and digitization in all areas of social life involves practise of perfectly profitable, qualitative, and pragmatic tourism. The tourism which exercises valorized travel, recreation, leisure, education, and entertainment, over the principle of protection and sustainability of the natural environment

Problem solving in relation to resources in everyday life in families of children with disabilities

Problem solving is recognized as a skill, helping families of children with disabilities to manage problems in everyday life. Family problem-solving skills may therefore be seen as an important outcome of a child and youth habilitation service. The aim of this pilot feasibility study was to examine the design of a future web-based questionnaire study focusing on problem-solving patterns in relation to resources in families of children with disabilities. The descriptive statistical analyses built on data from 13 families and findings showed an overall satisfactory score distribution for three of the included instruments, whereas two instruments showed floor effects in one third of the items. Findings indicated design problems with data collection related to adapting questionnaires to a web-based survey format and to problems with the stop function that was added. Implementing the main study using web-based surveys needs critical considerations according to the choice of the web tool and the recruitment process.

The effectiveness of health communication strategies in health education in Kushima, Japan

Japan's 2008 health policy focuses more than ever on health education for behaviour change and outcome measures for physical health status. This is at odds with contemporary health promotion and health education, which frame health as a resource for everyday life and indicate that the evaluation of interventions should measure broader aspects of health rather than just physical aspects. The application of a combination of different health communication models and theories allows for a customized approach, depending on the types of change that are being sought, and can lead to increased relevance as well as a better fit when it comes to evaluating the achievement of broad health promotion goals. This article explores the application of the Outcome Model for Health Promotion to a two-year health education intervention in Kushima, Japan. This model measures program effectiveness from four aspects: physical health outcomes; intermediate health outcomes; health promotion outcomes; and health promotion actions. A quantitative and qualitative longitudinal, mixed model study design and methods were used for the analysis. Data was taken from health exams, structured interviews, and participant observations collected from 67 participants at four times over two years. This intervention relied primarily on health education and communication to achieve mental and social health outcomes more significantly and faster than physical health outcomes. The importance of moving outcome measurement beyond direct health achievements is discussed in light of the relationships between physical, mental, and social health and its determinants, and our results.

Health as a resource for everyday life: advancing the conceptualization1

This paper examines the conceptualization of health as a resource and the implications that such a definition has for public health programs and policies. First introduced in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, health is commonly defined by practitioners, policy makers, and scholars as a resource for everyday life. However, despite frequent references to health as a resource, little attention has been paid to the meaning of this one-line phrase. Thus, we draw on a multidisciplinary body of literature to examine key features of health that characterize it as a resource, as well as its similarities, differences, and associations with other resources. We argue that, as a resource, health is appropriately conceptualized as a type of capital that can be invested in by individuals and societal institutions to achieve positive health returns. Similar to human capital, health is embodied in individuals, and, as such, it is not a tradable resource like money. Health cannot be exchanged or sold for goods and services and it cannot be obtained directly in exchange for goods and services. Instead, as a type of capital, health is a stock of biopsychosocial resources that people can draw on to participate in society. Although health shares some characteristics with human capital, we contend that health is not a component of human capital, as some scholars indicate. Lastly, we maintain that there are important program and policy implications, both positive and negative, of adopting an economic definition of health. 1 This paper is an expanded version of a presentation made at the Canadian Public Health Association's 97th Annual Conference, Vancouver, B.C., May 2006.

Noninvasive Control of Dental Caries in Children with Active Initial Lesions

The aim of this study was to investigate whether DMFS increment can be decreased among children with active initial caries by oral hygiene and dietary counseling and by using noninvasive preventive measures. Except for mentally disabled and handicapped children attending special schools, all 11- to 12-year-olds in Pori, Finland, with at least one active initial caries lesion were invited to participate in the study and were then randomized into two groups. Children in the experimental group (n = 250) were offered an individually designed patient-centered preventive program aimed at identifying and eliminating factors that had led to the presence of active caries. The program included counseling sessions with emphasis on enhancing use of the children’s own resources in everyday life. Toothbrushes, fluoride toothpaste and fluoride and xylitol lozenges were distributed to the children. They also received applications of fluoride/chlorhexidine varnish. The children in the control group (n = 247) received basic prevention offered as standard in the public dental clinics in Pori. For both groups, the average follow-up period was 3.4 years. A community level program of oral health promotion was run in Pori throughout this period. Mean DMFS increments for the experimental and control groups were 2.56 (95% CI 2.07, 3.05) and 4.60 (3.99, 5.21), respectively (p < 0.0001): prevented fraction 44.3% (30.2%, 56.4%). The results show that by using a regimen that includes multiple measures for preventing dental decay, caries increment can be significantly reduced among caries-active children living in an area where the overall level of caries experience is low.

Hronične nezarazne bolesti, promocija zdravlja, ljudska prava i siromaštvo u globalizovanom svetu

Chronic noncommunicable diseases (NDCs), including heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, account for a substantial portion of the global burden of disease. From a projected total of 58 million deaths from all causes in 2005, it is estimated that chronic diseases will account for 35 million, which is double the number of deaths from all infectious diseases (including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria), maternal and perinatal conditions, and nutritional deficiencies combined: 60% of all deaths are due to chronic diseases. The poorest countries are the worst affected -80% of chronic disease deaths occur in low and middle income countries, where most of the world's. Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. Health is a resource for everyday life, a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources. Health promotion is not just the responsibility of the health sector, but goes beyond healthy life-styles to well-being. The first International Conference on Health Promotion (Ottawa, 1986) is built on the progress made through the Declaration on Primary Health Care at Alma-Ata (Kazahstan, 1978) and the WHO s Targets for Health for All document. The 6n Global Conference on Health Promotion in Bangkok (August, 2005) supported strategies that increase health, one of the fundament ale rights of every human being without discrimination. Human rights are universal, the birthright of every human being and principles of human rights are based to approach to poverty reduction strategies. Lifestyle interventions, importance of primary health care, health promotion strategies, education for health and healthy lifestyles, that is the message of six global conferences on health promotion, from Ottawa (1986), to Bangkok (2005). The disease profile of the world is changing, especially in low and middle income countries. It is vitally important that the impending chronic disease pandemic is recognized, understood and acted on urgently. Without action to address the causes, deaths from chron­ic diseases will increase by 17% between 2005 and 2015. The goal is an additional 2% reduction in chronic disease death rates world­wide, per year, over the next 10 years. This will prevent 36 million premature deaths by 2015. The scientific knowledge to achieve this goal already exists.

The role of biomedical and psychosocial factors for the prediction of pain and distress in patients undergoing high-dose therapy and BMT/PBSCT.

Recent research has shown that cancer patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation (BMT) experience moderate to severe mouth pain due to treatment-related mucositis in spite of morphine therapy. Treatment-related emotional distress in BMT patients is also described widely. This study examined several biomedical, psychological and social variables as possible predictors for the intensity of treatment-related mouth pain and anxious mood in 63 cancer patients undergoing BMT or stem cell transplantation (SCT) within a prospective longitudinal design. Biomedical predictors included biomedical risk, mucositis, the mode of transplantation, total body irradiation, age and gender. Psychological predictors were depression (BDI), BMT-related distress, chronic stress and resources in everyday life (KISS), pain-related coping behaviour (KPI-17) and social support (ISSS). Among the social variables we evaluated education, being married and the living situation. Criteria variables were the intensity of mouth pain and anxious mood which were assessed daily by numeric self-rating scales for 24 days after transplantation. Results of stepwise multiple regressions indicated that psychological and social variables were important predictors of mouth pain, besides biomedical variables. Whereas the biomedical variables revealed the most predictive power during the second week after BMT, psychological predictors were more important during the early and late phases of the treatment. Daily anxious mood was best predicted by psychological and social variables. Among the biomedical variables mucositis was most strongly related to mouth pain besides mode of transplantation, risk, TBI and age. Among the psychological variables BMT-related distress was the most important predictor, with resources in private life or at work and pain-related coping modes as further significant predictors. These results imply that relevant predictors should be assessed as high risk factors for an increased vulnerability for treatment-related side-effects before treatment starts indicating an additional offer of psychological treatment in high risk patients.

Quest for health (a fable)

My paper, in fable form, addresses some of the conditions in the United States and in Canada which reduce the ability of members of the community from making improvements in their health and changes to the health care system. If health is to become a resource for everyday life, a social process is involved which implies the demedicalization of health. To facilitate this process, the power of definition of health cannot be controlled by the medical profession. For what is health is context specific to the individual and to the community. Community participation in all aspects of health care is an essential process to help redefine health. The efforts to reach the target ‘Health For all by the Year 2000’ will not be successful if research methods, funding and practice are based on the biomedical model alone. By limiting choices open to members of the community on the development of their competence in health care, achievement of ‘Health For All’ is obstructed.