Lifestyle Treatment Intervention in Obese Military Members

abstract: Obesity is a significant national public health crisis, affecting one-third of American adults. It is a complex and multifactorial disease that increases the risk of multiple chronic medical conditions including coronary heart disease, diabetes, and even leading to potential premature mortality. Moreover, increased health care utilization and escalating medical costs associated with obesity treatment are overwhelming an already burdened health care system. Obesity is nondiscriminatory affecting individuals from various demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds, even extending to our unique population of active duty military service members and veterans. Despite mandatory physical fitness and body composition requirements, active duty service members continue to experience an increasing prevalence of obesity. The obesity epidemic has considerable implications for military readiness, accession, and retention. Limited studies have examined weight-loss interventions including self-paced and provider-led interventions among active duty military service members with varying degrees of success. The purpose of this evidence based doctoral project was to examine the effectiveness of a twelve-week group lifestyle intervention involving education regarding healthy diet, physical activity and behavior change recommendations on weight and body mass index (BMI). The study demonstrated no significant differences in initial and post intervention weight and BMI

The Impact of Telehealth Services Offered by Home Care Agencies on Patient Safety

There is little available research about how home care agencies attempt to address patient safety during the nurse virtual healthcare visit. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine, during the delivery of telehealth care by a home care agency, to what extent the level of education of the registered nurse, the level of education of the director of the home care agency, and the clinical decision support system (CDSS) impact patient safety. The framework for the study was the complex sociotechnological systems model. Data from the 2007 National Home and Hospice Care Survey were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The results of the analysis revealed that during the delivery of telehealth care by home care agencies, the level of education of the registered nurse and the level of education of the homecare agency director have statistically significant relationships to patient safety (routine video monitoring; p = .02). Additionally, the findings of the study showed that during the delivery of telehealth care by home care agencies, the CDSS has a statistically significant relationship to patient safety (staff use of CDSS guidelines; p = .001). The findings of this study could contribute to professional practice and social change by highlighting the levels of education at the home care level and the benefit of hiring trained professionals to understand patient safety tools such as CDSS guidelines and routine video monitoring

Community Involvement in TB Research

While communities at risk have been both drivers and partners in HIV research, their important role in TB research is yet to be fully realized. Involvement of communities in tuberculosis care and prevention is currently on the international agenda. This creates opportunities and indicates the urgency to also engage communities in TB research

Reproducibility

Science is allegedly in the midst of a reproducibility crisis, but questions of reproducibility and related principles date back nearly 80 years. Numerous controversies have arisen, especially since 2010, in a wide array of disciplines that stem from the failure to reproduce studies or their findings:biology, biomedical and preclinical research, business and organizational studies, computational sciences, drug discovery, economics, education, epidemiology and statistics, genetics, immunology, policy research, political science, psychology, and sociology. This monograph defines terms and constructs related to reproducible research, weighs key considerations and challenges in reproducing or replicating studies, and discusses transparency in publications that can support reproducible research goals. It attempts to clarify reproducible research, with its attendant (andconfusing or even conflicting) lexicon and aims to provide useful background, definitions, and practical guidance for all readers. Among its conclusions: First, researchers must become better educated about these issues, particularly the differences between the concepts and terms. The main benefit is being able to communicate clearly within their own fields and, more importantly, across multiple disciplines. In addition, scientists need to embrace these concepts as part of their responsibilities as good stewards of research funding and as providers of credible information for policy decision making across many areas of public concern. Finally, although focusing on transparency and documentation is essential, ultimately the goal is achieving the most rigorous, high-quality science possible given limitations on time, funding, or other resources.Publishe

Report of the Workshop on Survey Design and Data Analysis (WKSAD) [21- 25 June, 2004, Aberdeen, UK]

Contributors: Knut Korsbrekke, Michael Penningto