Journal of Education and Community Health
Year:2014 | Volume:1 | Issue:2|Papers Count:8

Introduction: Increasing elderly population has increased attention to improve quality of life in elderly people. This paper aimed to study the effect of educational intervention based on the PRECEDE model to promote quality of life in elderly.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 80 elderly people were randomly divided into two intervention and control groups. Planning of educational program was performed according to the PRECEDE model. Before implementing the program, Quality of life questionnaire and a self-designed and standard questionnaire according to the PRECEDE Model were filled in both groups. Both groups were followed up one month after the intervention and previous questionnaires were filled again. Collected data was analyzed using paired T-test, independent sample T-test, one way ANOVA, Chi-square and ANCOVA by SPSS-21 software.Results: Through health promotion intervention, the mean score of quality of life increased from 76.77±13.23 to 82.87±12.25. There was a significant difference between the total score of quality of life of intervention and control groups (P=0.031). In addition, findings showed a significant difference in physical, mental, environmental and social dimensions before and after the intervention (P<0.05).Conclusion: Using the PRECEDE model could help to identify influential factors on quality of life in elderly and developing effective educational programs.

Introduction: One of the basics of healthy eating is five times consumption of fruits and vegetable a day. Given the importance of recognizing effective factors of consuming fruit and vegetable in this group, the present study aimed to investigate high school girl's adherence to five-time serving fruits and vegetables per day in Hamadan based on the theory of planned behavior application.Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 400 girl students from high schools of Hamadan recruited with a multistage cluster sampling method. Participants filled out questionnaires including demographic variables, the theory of planned behavior constructs and a fruit and vegetable consumption measure one week later. Data analysis was performed using SPSS-18 by Chi-square, Pearson correlation and Logistic regression.Results: Fruit and vegetable consumption by female students is 3.4 times daily. Among the demographic variables, family size, mother's education, father's occupation, household income, body mass index and type of school had significant associations with fruit and vegetable consumption (P<0.05). Behavioral intention predicted 35% of the variation in daily fruit and vegetable consumption. Moreover, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and attitude were able to predict 32% of behavioral intention.Conclusion: Fruit and vegetable consumption in female students is inadequate. The theory of planned behavior may be a useful framework to design a 5-A-Day intervention for female students.

Introduction: Health beliefs significantly affect health promoting self-care behaviors. The most important model designed based on health beliefs is the Health Belief Model. This study examined the association between health belief model constructs and demographic factors with behaviors in elderly.Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 465 elders referring to Tehran's cultural centers recruited with a multi-stage sampling method. Study instruments were questionnaires regarding demographic information, health beliefs, self-efficacy and health-promoting self-care behaviors. Data analysis was performed using SPSS-22 software by Independent T-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation and Multiple linear regression.Results: The mean (±SD) age of subjects was 68.24±6.12 years and the mean of general self-care score was 1.79±0.36. Gender (P=0.011), economy (P<0.001), education level (P<0.001) and age (P=0.008) were significantly associated with self-care behaviors. Regression analysis showed that perceived barriers, self-efficacy and perceived severity were determinants of behavior (P<0.001).Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it is essential to pay special attention to self-efficacy, perceived severity and perceived barriers to design health education for elderly.

Introduction: Loneliness is universal, still very subjective feeling, natural to all human beings and a subjective experience of isolation. Many people may be ashamed of talking about it or admitting they feel lonely, because they are afraid of being stigmatized. The purpose of this study was to explore elderly experiences of loneliness and comparison with the Erikson’s theory.Materials and Methods: this study was a qualitative research with content analysis approach. The research population was twelve elderly, aged 68-85 years who lived in Hamadan city. Sampling began purposefully and continued until data saturation. To collect data, interview was used. All interviews were tape recorded and transcribed immediately. Data was analyzed using content analysis method.Results: In total, 187 primary codes, 7 subcategories and 3 main categories were obtained in which, the 3 main categories were feelings of alienation, separation of favorite activities, and fatigue and sadness. Core category or shared meaning was regret with heavy.Conclusion: Loneliness is common in elderly and associated with adverse health consequences both from a mental and physical health points of view. Therefore, appropriate intervention strategies to reduce isolation using the Erikson’s psychosocial theory can improve elderly quality of life to achieve Ego integrity throughout the life.

Introduction: Self-efficacy is a person’s belief on his or her own ability to successfully perform a task. It is one’s own ability to cope with stressful situations and implement necessary actions, especially in labor. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of self-efficacy on choosing delivery method and labor among women.Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional and descriptive study. The non-probability sample consisted of 200 primiparous and multipara women in the third trimester of pregnancy recruited from five urban health care centers in Pars-Abad city, Ardebil province, Iran, in 2014. The standard and self-administered questionnaires were used for data collection including demographic variables and self-efficacy of choosing natural vaginal delivery and labor via self-report method. Data analysis was performed using SPSS-21 software by chi-square, Fisher exact test and independent T-test.Results: The mean age of all participants was 25.19 (±4.48). A significant difference was found between spouse education levels, having supplemental insurance and employment status with choosing the delivery method (P<0.05). Self-efficacy to choose natural vaginal delivery and self-efficacy of labor were associated with parity and choosing the delivery method (P<0.001); the average two types of self-efficacy were higher in multipara women and those who selected natural delivery method.Conclusion: Self-efficacy to choose natural vaginal delivery and labor determies choosing the delivery method and is related to parity. Therefore, it is suggested to focus on self-efficacy in educational interventions to reduce fear of childbirth, especially in primiparous women.

Introduction: Health literacy is the capacity of individuals to obtain process and understand basic health information and services needed to make healthy decisions. Therefore, this study was designed to determine health literacy of adults Tuyserkan district.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was performed on 285 subjects aged 20-60 years attending Tuyserkan health centers through convenience sampling method in 2014. Iranian health literacy questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using Stata-11 by Independent T-test and one way ANOVA.Results: Most participants aged 20 to 30 years (52.3%) and 53.7 % were males. Most participants had postgraduate diploma level (55.8 %) and were students (31.9 %). Participants had a weak level to access information (42.1%), weak level to perceive data (54.4%), moderate in judgment and assessment (64.9%) and moderate in use of information (88.8%).Conclusion: Overall, there was a poor health literacy in adults. This indicates the need for more attention to health education and health promotion programs. It seems necessary to design and implement comprehensive plans using media and simple training methods for adults with a low level of health literacy.

Introduction: Cell phone usage during driving has become a threat to traffic safety. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of an educational program based on the health belief model to reduce cell phone usage during driving in taxi drivers of Tuyserkan.Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 110 taxi drivers younger than 35 years were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups in Tuyserkan, Iran. Data was collected using a questionnaire including the health belief model constructs, knowledge, behaviors of using cell phone and demographic variables. The questionnaires were self-reported. Intervention was three sessions applied in the experimental group. Both groups were followed for two months after the intervention. Finally, data analysis was performed using SPSS- 19 by Chi-square, Independent T-test, Paired T-test and McNemar.Results: The mean scores for the constructs of health belief model (perceived susceptibility, severity, barriers, perceived benefits, self-efficacy and cues to action), knowledge and desired behaviors about the use of cell phone during driving showed no significant differences between the two groups before the intervention. After the educational intervention, significant differences were observed in experimental group compared to control group. After educational intervention, cell phone usage reduced by 35.14% in the experimental group.Conclusion: An educational intervention based on the health belief model could reduce cell phone usage during driving in taxi drivers.

Introduction: The present study as a systematic review investigated and analyzed interventions based on models and theories of health education and promotion in the field of physical activity in women.Materials and Methods: Three electronic databases, including Springer, Biomed Central and Science Direct were searched systematically. Only studies were selected that were quantitative, interventional and in English language as well as those that used at least one of the models and theories of health education and health promotion. Finally, 13 studies were reviewed that met the inclusion criteria and published from 2000 to 2013.Results: Of 13 studies reviewed, 10 studies measured levels of physical activity before and after the intervention, which nine interventions increased physical activity in the intervention group compared to the control group. Studies were conducted in different settings of health promotion including health care centers, community setting and workplace. The most widely used model was the Transtheoretical Model applied in eight of investigations.Conclusion: It is suggested to focus more on physical activity and duration of interventions to increase the efficacy of interventions. It is suggested to measure changes of physical activity habits in experimental and control groups in interventions based on the transtheoretical model to prepare a complementary scale to assess the efficacy of interventions. According to the results, no study had focused on changes in institutional policies or general health or providing changes in environment related to physical activity.