Community Nurses' Role as Counselors in Primary Health Care

B A C K G R O U N D : Counselling is regarded as an interactive process during which help is usually provided toindividuals with health problems. In the framework of nursing, nurses also play a counselling role.A I M : The present study aims at determining the general public’s attitudes and opinions about the role that nursescan play as counsellors in health related topics.M A T E R I A L - M E T H O D : Our sample consisted of 246 participants randomly chosen; 104 (43.2%) were menand 137 (56.8%) were women. The data were collected using a questionnaire specifically developed for this study andbased on literature review.R E S U L T S : 56.1% of the participants are unaware of the term “health counselling” and 59.4% are unaware of thecounselling process performed by nurses. However, unawareness does not mean that they have negative attitudes,since 202 participants (82.8%) say that they would seek counselling on health topics from nurses. Furthermore, themajority (90.7%, n=215) of the participants responded that they would trust the family nurse and 95.1% (n=231) saidthat they would welcome a family nurse’s placement in their neighbourhood. People with chronic diseases, and mainlyelderly people (n=127) would be the ones who would mostly seek counselling.C O N C L U S I O N S : The results indicate that nurses are accepted as counsellors by lay people. The communitynurse’s role is important because it contributes to detection, as well as addressing of health needs of communitymembers

Exploring the Impact of Shame on Health-Related Quality of Life in Older Individuals

Purpose: To explore the relationship between shame, ageing, physical disease, and quality of life in Greek older people. Design and Methods: A cross-sectional design using a stratified random cluster sample of older adults from Open Care Centers for the Elderly in the region of Epirus, Greece. Data were collected using (a) the Short Form-36 Health Survey, (b) the Other As Shamer Scale, and (c) the Experience of Shame Scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: Internal shame was positively correlated with external shame (Pearson's r(177) =, p <.01), with negative effect on the mental component in both men and women (effect on women bW = -0.173, pW =.004, effect on men bM = -0.138, p​M =.047), b = path analysis beta coefficient and with a significant negative effect on the physical health component for men. External shame was found to have a significant negative effect on women's mental health (b = -0.266, p =.002) and a nonsignificant effect on the physical health component. Age was negatively related with the physical health component in both groups (bW = -0.392, pW =.002 and bM = -0.384, pM =.003), while the presence of a bodily disease corresponded with a lower physical health component score for men (b = -4.267, p =.033). Conclusion: Shame in older individuals is present in both sexes. Older males suffering from a physical disease displayed a greater decline of the health-related quality of life on physical health components, leading to greater internal shame. Older females suffering from a physical disease displayed a greater decline of health-related quality of life on mental health components, leading to greater external shame. Clinical Relevance: These results indicate the need for developing assessment and care plans for older individuals that incorporate in them the concept of shame as a factor in dealing with and adapting to physical disease. © 2021 Sigma Theta Tau Internationa

O R I G I N A L P A P E R International Journal of Caring Sciences, 1(2):92-98 Community nurses' role as counsellors in primary health care

B A C K G R O U N D : Counselling is regarded as an interactive process during which help is usually provided to individuals with health problems. In the framework of nursing, nurses also play a counselling role. A I M : The present study aims at determining the general public's attitudes and opinions about the role that nurses can play as counsellors in health related topics. M A T E R I A L -M E T H O D : Our sample consisted of 246 participants randomly chosen; 104 (43.2%) were men and 137 (56.8%) were women. The data were collected using a questionnaire specifically developed for this study and based on literature review. R E S U L T S : 56.1% of the participants are unaware of the term "health counselling" and 59.4% are unaware of the counselling process performed by nurses. However, unawareness does not mean that they have negative attitudes, since 202 participants (82.8%) say that they would seek counselling on health topics from nurses. Furthermore, the majority (90.7%, n=215) of the participants responded that they would trust the family nurse and 95.1% (n=231) said that they would welcome a family nurse's placement in their neighbourhood. People with chronic diseases, and mainly elderly people (n=127) would be the ones who would mostly seek counselling. C O N C L U S I O N S : The results indicate that nurses are accepted as counsellors by lay people. The community nurse's role is important because it contributes to detection, as well as addressing of health needs of community members

Diabetic patient assessment of chronic illness care using PACIC+

Background: The Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care plus is used in order to assess whether provided care is congruent with the Chronic Care Model, according to patients. The purpose of this study was to correlate PACIC+ and the revised 5As "ask, advise, agree, assist and arrange"scoring of a sample of DM patients, with their QoL, depressive symptomatology, demographic and disease characteristics, self-management behaviours of healthy eating and physical activity. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study where data were collected between January and April 2018 by using three questionnaires (PACIC+, SF-36, CES-D) from a sample of 90 DM patients treated at a Public General Hospital of Central Greece. Anonymous self-completed questionnaires were used to collect the data. Data was processed in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Results: The mean age of the participants with DM was 52.8 years (SD = 21.2 years), with cardiovascular disease and arterial hypertension scoring as the most frequently reporting chronic comorbidities. The healthcare received by DM patients has been correlated with their QoL. More specifically SF - 36 and PACIC+ scale scores showed a positive and low correlation in several subscales. The total score of PACIC+ scale as well as the Patient activation score were increased in higher scores of vitality (p = 0.034 &p = 0.028 respectively), hence both scores correlate significantly with latter. In addition, Delivery System / Practice Design score was increased in higher scores of mental health (p = 0.01) and MCS (p = 0.03). Conclusions: The shift from hospital care focusing on the disease to a more patient-oriented approach puts forward a dynamic holistic approach to chronic diseases and the reduction of their impact. Finding evidence-based and effective strategies to promote health, prevent and manage chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus is deemed to be crucial and necessary. PACIC+, which is a tool of a patient-level assessment of CCM implementation, can be used by countries which intend to apply changes in the way their health systems provide chronic care and specifically wish to improve the quality of chronic disease care and the QoL of their patients. © 2020 The Author(s)

Investigating perceptions and beliefs of roma about healthcare services in a provincial general hospital

Introduction: According to estimates, about 7 to 9 million Roma live in Europe, nowadays, out of whom two thirds are living in Central and Eastern Europe. Available studies in various countries show that Roma are experiencing racist behavior by representatives of health system because of their cultural diversity. Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to explore perceptions, feelings and beliefs of Greek Roma about public health structures and their satisfaction with health care services. Material and Μethod: The study sample consisted of 80 Greek Roma hospitalized in the General Hospital of Larisa. The present study was a cross sectional one and data was collected by the completion of the “Scale of attitudes, emotions and satisfaction of Roma health services”. Data analysis was conducted by the Statistical Package fSPSS-22 while Pearson correlation, t-test and anova were used. Results: 31.3% of Roma were men and 68.8% women with a mean age 46.23 years. Moreover, 71.3% reported to be dissatisfied (mostly by doctors and nurses), 67.5% claimed to receive discrimination in hospital, and 60% reported that none of health care services do really care about them. Low total score in the scale of attitudes and satisfaction of Roma about health services, had participants using health services (p=0.040), those having a family member with health problem (p=0.022) as well as their hospitalization (p=0.004). Furthermore, more positive scored in the scale of attitudes, feelings, and satisfaction with health services, participants whose income come from their own work (p=0.004), who had health insurance, (p=0.008) and their monthly income was over than 200€. Conclusions: Roma in the present sample expressed openly negative feelings about public health services and care provided by healthcare professionals. Their attitude depends on several social factors while also is noticed a lack of knowledge about access to health services and how it can be provided appropriately. Continuous education of health professionals regarding provided care to individuals of diverse cultural backgrounds, is essential. © 2019, Hellenic Nurses Association. All rights reserved