Use of m-Health Technology for Preventive Interventions to Tackle Cardiometabolic Conditions and Other Non-Communicable Diseases in Latin America- Challenges and Opportunities

In Latin America, cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality rates will increase by an estimated 145% from 1990 to 2020. Several challenges related to social strains, inadequate public health infrastructure, and underfinanced healthcare systems make cardiometabolic conditions and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) difficult to prevent and control. On the other hand, the region has high mobile phone coverage, making mobile health (mHealth) particularly attractive to complement and improve strategies toward prevention and control of these conditions in low- and middle-income countries. In this article, we describe the experiences of three Centers of Excellence for prevention and control of NCDs sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute with mHealth interventions to address cardiometabolic conditions and other NCDs in Argentina, Guatemala, and Peru. The nine studies described involved the design and implementation of complex interventions targeting providers, patients and the public. The rationale, design of the interventions, and evaluation of processes and outcomes of each of these studies are described, together with barriers and enabling factors associated with their implementation.Fil: Beratarrechea, Andrea Gabriela. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Diez Canseco, Francisco. Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia; PerúFil: Irazola, Vilma. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Miranda, Jaime. Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia; PerúFil: Ramirez Zea, Manuel. Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama; GuatemalaFil: Rubinstein, Adolfo Luis. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults

This report was prepared to assist federal, state, and local policy makers and program leaders, as well as employers, nonprofit organizations, and other community partners, in developing and enhancing policies and programs to improve young adults' health, safety, and well-being. The report also suggests priorities for research to inform policy and programs for young adults.Young adulthood - ages approximately 18 to 26 - is a critical period of development with long-lasting implications for a person's economic security, health and well-being. Young adults are key contributors to the nation's workforce and military services and, since many are parents, to the healthy development of the next generation. Although 'millennials' have received attention in the popular media in recent years, young adults are too rarely treated as a distinct population in policy, programs, and research. Instead, they are often grouped with adolescents or, more often, with all adults. Currently, the nation is experiencing economic restructuring, widening inequality, a rapidly rising ratio of older adults, and an increasingly diverse population. The possible transformative effects of these features make focus on young adults especially important. A systematic approach to understanding and responding to the unique circumstances and needs of today's young adults can help to pave the way to a more productive and equitable tomorrow for young adults in particular and our society at large

Children who bully at school

Examines children who bully at school, and specifically on the ways in which parenting and family functioning underpin a child\u27s bullying behaviour. Overview School bullying is a serious problem worldwide. There is now strong evidence to indicate that children who bully at school are at significant risk for a range of antisocial, criminal and poor health outcomes later in life. Importantly, bullying is a behaviour often influenced by family environment. As such, working with families to interrupt the continuity from school bullying to later adverse life outcomes could be viewed as a form of early intervention for preventing crime, as well as a method of promoting health. This paper focuses on children who bully at school, and specifically on the ways in which parenting and family functioning underpin a child\u27s bullying behaviour. New evidence for possible protective or intervening factors that may interrupt the developmental sequence of antisocial behaviour is summarised. Parental involvement in anti-bullying interventions is also considered. Finally, some promising approaches for working with children who bully are outlined

Her Life Depends on it III: Sport, Physical Activity and the Health and Well-being of American Girls and Women

Her Life Depends On It III is the Women's Sports Foundation's comprehensive report that reviews existing and emerging research on the links between participation in sport and physical activity and the health and wellbeing of American girls and women. As with the previous editions in 2004 and 2009, this study also confirms that physical activity and sport provides the critical foundation, in no small part, that allows girls and women to lead healthy, strong, and fulfilled lives. Ten years since its first publication, the updated Her Life Depends On It provides an even more comprehensive review of the ever-expanding body of research that demonstrates how important it is for girls and women to participate in sport and physical activity. The report's contents reflect the review of 1,500 studies, nearly 400 covered since the previous edition

Employee wellness coaching as an interpersonal communication intervention: exploring intervention effects on healthcare costs, risks, and behaviors

In order to address the rise in healthcare expenditures, employers are turning to wellness programs as a means to potentially curtail costs. One newly implemented program is wellness coaching, which takes a communicative and holistic approach to helping others make improvements to their health. Wellness coaching is a behavioral health intervention whereby coaches work with clients to help them attain wellness-promoting goals in order to change lifestyle-related behaviors across a range of areas. Given the limited amount of research on wellness coaching, this project had four main purposes in order to fill gaps in the literature: to (1) identify whether wellness coaching interventions have an impact on client healthcare outcomes, (2) apply confirmation theory to this context in order to provide an explanatory framework to better understand the communication mechanisms that underlie this intervention, (3) identify the various topics that are discussed during wellness coaching sessions, and (4) test the extent to which a wellness coaching intervention should be targeted to specific clients. To examine these questions, a large employee wellness coaching program was evaluated, which serviced a population of over 14,000 employer insured individuals from several local employers of which almost 500 specifically attended wellness coaching sessions. Secondary data linking the use of coaching services with health claims information such as healthcare costs, risks and behaviors for all employees and their covered dependents were analyzed. By utilizing a statistical tool called propensity scoring, coached participants were matched with noncoached participants on key characteristics in order to create a meaningful comparison group to test treatment effects. Evidence demonstrates that participation in wellness coaching is associated with higher levels of healthcare costs and utilization, which is mediated by increased indicators of patient engagement. Results suggest that initial healthcare costs associated with improved patient engagement with healthcare providers decreases over time. These results are consistent with other research on wellness interventions that find that initial costs show a return on investment over time. These results also support previous research on confirmation theory, indicating that the scope of this theory may be broader than contexts previously studied. Analysis of participant wellness goals reveal that a range of issues are discussed during coaching sessions including physical health and mental, relational and financial/professional wellbeing. Finally, results suggest that this communicative intervention shows comparably broad impact across a range of client characteristics but may work particularly well for clients with chronic disease management goals, weight management goals, and mental wellbeing goals. Clients with multiple wellness goals also showed stronger results than those with fewer wellness goals. Those with smoking cessation goals were the only group that showed results in the opposite direction. The results of this project have theoretical, practical and methodological implications and suggest several areas for future research

A Model for the Delivery of Evidence-Based PSHE (Personal Wellbeing) in Secondary Schools

Personal Social Health and Economic (PSHE) education is a non-statutory school subject designed to facilitate the delivery of a number of key competencies relevant to health, safety and wellbeing. As well as contributing to learning objectives in regards to these topics PSHE education has been ascribed with weighty expectations for outcomes well beyond the classroom relating to physical, mental, sexual and emotional health and safety. This paper reviews a programme of research aimed at providing guidance for the evidence-based provision of PSHE education, including a summary of the major impediments and facilitators of evidence-based programming, as well as a model curriculum for the delivery of evidence-based PSHE. An extensive literature review was conducted along with a series of interviews with programme developers, researchers, teachers and other school practitioners with the aim of developing a cohesive rationale for PSHE education and identifying evidence-based programmes which could be implemented to contribute to PSHE aims. The proposed model curriculum is comprised of evidence-based programmes which are PSHE-relevant and applicable or adaptable to the PSHE-education implementation context. While the provision of evidence-based PSHE presents a number of challenges and is limited by a lack of resources and evidence of effectiveness, with appropriate guidance PSHE education can be improved so that a comprehensive syllabus of evidence-based programmes is enacted in secondary schools. This will increase the likelihood that PSHE has the intended effect on adolescent mental and physical health and wellbeing.Health education, social-emotional learning, life-skills, prevention

Public Health Nursing Case Management for Women Receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: A Randomized Controlled Trial Using Community-Based Participatory Research

Objectives. We evaluated the effectiveness of a community-based participatory research–grounded intervention among women receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) with chronic health conditions in increasing (1) health care visits, (2) Medicaid knowledge and skills, and (3) health and functional status. Methods. We used a randomized controlled trial design to assign 432 women to a public health nurse case management plus Medicaid intervention or a wait control group. We assessed Medicaid outcomes pre- and posttraining; other outcomes were assessed at 3, 6, and 9 months. Results. Medicaid knowledge and skills improved (P<.001 for both). Intervention group participants were more likely to have a new mental health visit (odds ratio [OR]=1.92; P=.007), and this likelihood increased in higher-risk subgroups (OR=2.03 and 2.83; P=.04 and .006, respectively). Depression and functional status improved in the intervention group over time (P=.016 for both). No differences were found in routine or preventive care, or general health. Conclusions. Health outcomes among women receiving TANF can be improved with public health interventions. Additional strategies are needed to further reduce health disparities in this population

Examining the Effects of Exposure to Nature on Well-Being: Implications for College Campuses

Humans attraction to the natural environment stems from our evolutionary tendencies. Biophilia is defined by E.O. Wilson as the “innate tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes (Wilson, 1984, p. 1).” Recent studies have shown that spending time outside in nature is beneficial to physical and mental health as well as well-being. Nature is filled with intriguing things such as animals, plants, fresh air and other aspects which can help an individual replenish. Some of these benefits include stress reduction, opportunities and motivation to complete tasks. Research indicates that adults who work in offices would perform better if they had views of natural landscape painting or even a window which faced nature. This paper will provide a review of research on how nature affects human well-being and mental health. The findings in this paper can be beneficial to college students and those assisting them in a number of ways. Based on the available research literature, this paper concludes with a set of recommendations of how attention to the influence of nature can enhance the quality of campus life and the literature. As mostly young individuals transitioning into the adult world, it would help influence their well-being in a positive way that will promote creativity and motivation