To quit smoking successfully: Former smoker's testimonies sharing knowledge to promote quitting tobacco

Introduction Quitting tobacco is a complex procedure which involves other factors than those strictly medical, such as: personal, emotional, social... Smokers need encouraging messages to make the final decision to quit. At this point, the active participation of the pacients themselves in their own health is changing the perspective of the medical attention provided so far. This is why sharing ex-smokers successful experiences could change the way of managing these patients. We are designed a website, www.historiesdexfumadors.cat, where former smokers experiences can be posted, so that they can be a role model that inspires other smokers to choose the same path. Afterwards, the effect of these recommendations would be evaluated. Methods Promotion of the website within health professionals, social media and social networks. Collection of former smokers stories. Revision of the content and post of the stories with a score scale. Reward the best story to promote participation. Results In 18 months the website has received 30 stories of former smokers, and 343 visits had read and evaluated them. Conclusions The use of this website is low due to the dependence of publicity of such services. An increase of visibility and knowledge about this tool is needed in order to evaluate the impact of this iniciative later on. Also, an assessment of the contest's impact among the participants is required. Funding Not funded

Schistosomiasis screening in non-endemic countries from a cost perspective: Knowledge gaps and research priorities. The case of African long-term residents in a Metropolitan Area, Spain.

BackgroundImported schistosomiasis is an emerging issue in European countries as a result of growing global migration from schistosomiasis-endemic countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. Undetected infection may lead to serious long-term complications with an associated high cost for public healthcare systems especially among long-term migrants.ObjectiveTo evaluate from a health economics perspective the introduction of schistosomiasis screening programs in non-endemic countries with high prevalence of long-term migrants.MethodologyWe calculated the costs associated with three approaches-presumptive treatment, test-and-treat and watchful waiting-under different scenarios of prevalence, treatment efficacy and the cost of care resulting from long-term morbidity. Costs were estimated for our study area, in which there are reported to reside 74,000 individuals who have been exposed to the infection. Additionally, we methodically reviewed the potential factors that could affect the cost/benefit ratio of a schistosomiasis screening program and need therefore to be ascertained.ResultsAssuming a 24% prevalence of schistosomiasis in the exposed population and 100% treatment efficacy, the estimated associated cost per infected person of a watchful waiting strategy would be €2,424, that of a presumptive treatment strategy would be €970 and that of a test-and-treat strategy would be €360. The difference in averted costs between test-and-treat and watchful waiting strategies ranges from nearly €60 million in scenarios of high prevalence and treatment efficacy, to a neutral costs ratio when these parameters are halved. However, there are important gaps in our understanding of issues such as the efficacy of treatment in infected long-term residents, the natural history of schistosomiasis in long-term migrants and the feasibility of screening programs.ConclusionOur results support the roll-out of a schistosomiasis screening program based on a test-and-treat strategy from a health economics perspective under the most likely projected scenarios, but important knowledge gaps should be addressed for a more accurate estimations among long-term migrants

Investigación educativa en las aulas de primaria

Reúne trabajos derivados de la experiencias de diversos docentes en educación primaria en los siguientes temas: Tecnología de Información y Comunicación, educación inclusiva, enseñanza de la música, educación física, enseñanza de la historia, acoso escolar, auto-evaluación, métodos de enseñanza, inteligencia emocional, percepción del alumno, marco cognitivo en comprensión lectora y comunicación escuela-familia