Longer Lives Better Health: Helping Seniors Preserve Their Physical, Mental and Social Well-Being

This ROOTS is intended to celebrate the work the Foundation has done with many good partners to re-envision aging. By addressing the physical, social, technological, and environmental factors that minimize disability and foster prevention, we aim to change the trajectories of decline and dependence. But our aspirations go further. We believe that the years post-65 can be truly golden. Worries and challenges of youth and middle age are in the past. There can and should be much joy in the present. But our systems of care must change to better meet the needs of those who want independent living and community engagement. My hope is that this ROOTS will inspire others to join us in enhancing the well-being of older adults. And I encourage other foundations -- if not already engaged -- to contemplate the satisfactions of an aging agenda. If we do it right, while advances in medicine and technology are adding years to life, we can also add life to years

Strength based nursing: caring for the whole person

Strengths-Based Nursing (SBN) is an integrated value-driven approach based on a philosophy of care to guide actions. It consists of eight values which guide nursing practice to promote care of the whole person and family.  SBN promotes empowerment, collaborative partnership, innate health and healing, authentic relationships while focusing on enhancing and developing strengths to cope with challenges and minimize, contain or circumvent that which is not working.Our poster will illustrate the basics of SBN and how it can be utilized in the promotion of whole person care.Conclusion: SBN has enlarged our perspective, broadened our skilled-know how, and opened us to new ways of caring for persons and families dealing with cancer. It has also given us insights into our nursing practices and illustrates the importance these eight values have in supporting development of whole person care

HPV vaccine for adolescent males: Acceptability to parents post-vaccine licensure

We examined mothers' willingness to get their adolescent sons HPV vaccine. In December 2009, 2 months after approval of HPV vaccine for males, we surveyed a national sample of mothers with sons aged 9-18 (n=406). More mothers were definitely or probably willing to get their sons HPV vaccine if the vaccine were free (47%) than if it cost $400 out of pocket (11%). The importance of HPV vaccine possibly protecting their sons' future female partners from HPV-related disease was the strongest correlate of willingness. These findings are important to increasing acceptability to parents of HPV vaccine for their sons

Mother–Daughter Communication About HPV Vaccine

Parent-child conversations about HPV vaccine may provide parents with opportunities to talk with their daughters about sexual health. We sought to characterize mothers’ communication with their adolescent daughters about HPV vaccine

How much will it hurt? HPV vaccine side effects and influence on completion of the three-dose regimen

We examined the prevalence of reported pain following human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and whether it differed from that for other adolescent vaccines or affected completion of the HPV vaccine regimen. In 2008, we conducted cross-sectional surveys with parents of adolescent girls aged 11–20 living in areas of North Carolina with elevated cervical cancer rates who had received at least one dose of HPV vaccine. Pain from HPV vaccination, while commonly reported by parents, was less frequent compared to other adolescent vaccines and did not appear to affect vaccine regimen completion. These findings may be important to increase HPV vaccination coverage

Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Discussions: An Opportunity for Mothers to Talk With Their Daughters About Sexual Health

Mother-daughter communication about sex is associated with healthier behavior during adolescence. We sought to characterize mothers’ communication with their daughters about human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and the potential for these discussions to provide an opportunity for talking about sexual health

Longitudinal Predictors of HPV Vaccine Initiation among Adolescent Girls in a High-Risk Geographic Area

HPV vaccine uptake is low among adolescent girls in the United States. We sought to identify l ongitudinal predictors of HPV vaccine initiation in populations at elevated risk for cervical cancer

Statewide HPV Vaccine Initiation Among Adolescent Females in North Carolina

Cervical cancer incidence in the United States may be greatly reduced through widespread human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. We estimated the statewide level of HPV vaccine initiation among adolescent girls in North Carolina and identified correlates of vaccine initiation

Mothers’ support for voluntary provision of HPV vaccine in schools

HPV vaccination rates among adolescents in the United States lag behind some other developed countries, many of which routinely offer the vaccine in schools. We sought to assess mothers’ willingness to have their adolescent daughters receive HPV vaccine at school. A national sample of mothers of adolescent females ages 11–14 completed our internet survey (response rate = 66%). The final sample (n = 496) excluded mothers who did not intend to have their daughters receive HPV vaccine in the next year. Overall, 67% of mothers who intended to vaccinate their daughters or had vaccinated their daughters reported being willing to have their daughters receive HPV vaccine at school. Mothers were more willing to allow their daughters to receive HPV vaccine in schools if they had not yet initiated the vaccine series for their daughters or resided in the Midwest or West (all p < .05). The two concerns about voluntary school-based provision of HPV vaccine that mothers most frequently cited were that their daughters’ doctors should keep track of her shots (64%) and that they wished to be present when their daughters were vaccinated (40%). Our study suggests that most mothers who support adolescent vaccination for HPV find school-based HPV vaccination an acceptable option. Ensuring communication of immunization records with doctors and allowing parents to be present during immunization may increase parental support