International Quarterly of Community Health Education最新文献

Risky sexual behavior is any behavior that increases the probability of negative consequences associated with sexual contact. Family environment, peer influence, community factors, and school attachment seem to be important factors affecting sexual risk behavior and decision in school/higher institution youths. This research has also been conducted to inspect the patterns of sexual risk behavior among undergraduate university students in Ethiopia. A cross-sectional survey was conducted by using self-administered structured questionnaire to collect data on sociodemographic, sexual, and associated risk behaviors among Woldia University students. Descriptive and multivariate logistic regression model was carried out using SPSS version. The results revealed that 28.34% of the total study participants reported to have had sexual intercourse at least once. More proportion of male students ever had sex compared with females. One fifth of these students had their first sexual experience after they joined university. About 6% of students with sexual experience reported having had intercourse with same-sex partners. Half of the males with sexual experience had intercourse with a commercial sex worker. Regarding the use of condom, majority of the students reported to have used a condom once in a blue moon. Not using condom at the first and last sexual engagement were significant predictors of having multiple sexual partners. This study revealed risky sexual behaviors among university students. Thus, continuous and intensified public health strategies on health education and reproductive health services are required to address the sexual and reproductive health needs of the students.

We explored the impact of two community-based educational interventions on Nigerian adults' knowledge and intention to take or encourage human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and cervical screenings. Face-to-face presentation and printed pamphlet intervention were delivered to 266 men and women aged 18 to 65 years in 12 locations in urban setting. At baseline, the majority (80%) had poor knowledge of HPV, and less than 12% had ever received or have a family member who had received HPV vaccine or cervical screening. Postintervention, there was significant increase (>70%) in the participants knowledge and intention to take or encourage HPV vaccination and cervical screening. In addition, more than half were willing to pay for HPV vaccine and screening even when expensive. Gender-focused and context-specific low-cost community-based educational interventions are effective in increasing HPV vaccine and cervical screening in sub-Saharan Africa.

Globally, high-risk illnesses including Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) are major health problems causing considerable impact on health systems. Knowledge and awareness are very important factors for controlling these illnesses in society. Regarding the transmission routes of these viruses, young people are at the highest risk of infection. Therefore, our objectives were to determine the college students' awareness of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and HIV/AIDS with regard to basic information, transmission, and prevention. A total of 810 students from 7 universities, from September to March 2017, were included in the study. All participants were categorized into three groups (medical, biology, and other fields). The subjects were evaluated by a standardized questionnaire and results analyzed in SPSS software using the χ² test. In total, 43% of respondents were male and the majority of them were 20 to 25 years old. Our results showed the suitable level of awareness about HBV and remarkable about HIV. In contrast, insufficient level of awareness was indicated about HCV. Given the low levels of awareness or knowledge about HCV, it can be suggested that educational programs for this important disease are necessary especially for university students. On the other hand, high awareness of participants about HBV and HIV/AIDS might be the results of the proper functioning of educational programs for students in Iran.

The rigor of combining motherhood with education poses great challenge to student nursing mothers (SNMs). This study identified the challenges experienced by the SNMs and determined the factors associated with the challenges experienced in University of Ibadan, Ibadan Oyo State, Nigeria. This study utilized a nonprobability sampling technique of snowballing. Responses were elicited from 250 consenting SNMs using the pretested semistructured questionnaire. The SNM challenges were measured on 15-point scale. Challenges scores were classified as moderate (≤9) and severe (≥10). The mean age of the SNMs was 29.5 ± 2.8 years. Majority of the respondents (70.0%) reported facing severe challenges which included economic, childcare, and academic challenges (43.2%, 37.2%, and 24.8%, respectively). χ² test showed significant associations between ages, course of study, and level of study of the SNMs (χ² = 10.520, p = .005; χ² = 14.934, p = .002; and χ² = 9.523, p = .002, respectively) and the overall challenges experienced. Research findings reveal that childhood health problems occurred mostly among SNMs having problems breastfeeding their babies.

Design thinking is an approach gaining momentum as a strategy for promoting empathy-driven, human-centered innovation. To evaluate the implementation of design thinking for engaging with communities about health and well-being, we undertook a qualitative analysis of an engagement between students and relevant community stakeholders during a project to develop a health intervention aimed at increasing medication compliance in an elderly community in South Africa. Major findings from this research indicated that design thinking offers opportunities for enriching community-university engagements. However, given constraints on time and procedure that are associated with the academy, the fast, dynamic style of design thinking is not optimally suited for developing the level of trust and rapport that is required for engagements in communities where social-cultural differences operate as barriers. Researchers who wish to utilize design thinking will need to devise and tailor additions to tool kits to meet the specific needs of engagements related to personal health and well-being.

Background: This study examined the influence of built environmental factors in the community on active social network size as well as the moderating influence of different dimensions of social activity on this relationship.

Methods: This study employed the cross-sectional and correlational approaches to construct a scale measuring key community-level built environment factors and test the moderating influence of social activity on the association between these factors and active social network size in older adults. The study population was all 3,211 older adults who were resident in Accra and were part of the database of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust. Participants were 515 older adults in Accra aged 60 years or more who met some inclusion criteria. A self-reported questionnaire, including a new scale measuring the built environment factors, was used to collect data. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation and confirmatory factor analysis were used to validate the measurement scales, whereas Pearson's correlation test and multiple linear regression analysis were used to test the associations of interest.

Results: After controlling for relevant demographic variables, built environment factors in the community have no significant influence on active social network size. Volunteering, support for social ties, and group activity positively moderated the influence of built environment factors on active social network size at p < .05 and β ≥ 0.2.

Conclusion: The study concludes that social activity is essential to the utilization of available built environmental factors by older adults to make active social ties in the community.

Prior research on stress among police officers in Nigeria is limited. Most researchers have focused on the predictors of workplace stress among the police officer, and fewer still have examined their coping mechanisms. This study assessed the stress experienced and coping mechanism among police officers in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study, which utilized a pretested self-administered questionnaire. The study population included 342 selected respondents using a multistage sampling technique from police stations in Ibadan North Local Government, Oyo State, Nigeria. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, χ² test, and Fisher's exact test at p = .05. Results revealed that majority (92.5%) of the respondents had poor knowledge of stress with a mean knowledge of 5.4 ± 1.7. Majority (80.1%) of the respondents reported experience of stress such as feeling depressed sometimes at work, while 60.5% said that they usually have headache and body ache. In addition, 36.9% had good coping mechanism and more than half (58.8%) had a fair coping mechanism with a mean coping score of 5.0 ± 3.0. This study showed that knowledge of stressors was poor and respondents perceived that they experienced stress and its symptoms. Strategies such as training using teaching, discussion, and explanation to educate the police officers about stress and its coping mechanism and policy interventions to facilitate the construction of standard stress management centers would be appropriate strategies to reduce stress, increase the knowledge of police officers on stressors, and enhance their coping mechanism.

Hispanic immigrant health disparities are among the highest in the nation, especially related to obesity and access to health services. Healthy Fit (En Forma Saludable) is a health promotion program that leverages public health department infrastructure to address these disparities through the use of three key innovations explored in this article: community health workers (CHWs), motivational interviewing (MI), and vouchers for free preventative health services. CHWs trained in MI conduct a health screening and then distribute preventive service vouchers and health resources as needed based on screening results. Vouchers cover breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening, and several vaccinations including flu and human papillomavirus. Resources to support exercise, to support a healthy diet, to quit smoking, and to reduce risky drinking are also distributed as needed. CHWs then use MI to address perceived barriers and strengthen intrinsic motivation to make use of the health resources. Integrating these strategies provides a low-cost approach to promote healthy behavior in an underserved immigrant population.