scholarly journals Awareness, Self-Use, Perceptions, Beliefs, and Attitudes toward Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) among Health Professional Students in King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Aslam Khan ◽  
Mohamed Eldigre Ahmed ◽  
Ahmed Aldarmahi ◽  
Syed Faisal Zaidi ◽  
Ahmad M. Subahi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Health Professional ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Complementary And Alternative Medicines ◽  
Professional Students ◽  
Alternative Medicines ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Health Professional Students ◽  
Complementary And Alternative

Background. Around 75% of the world’s population relies on the use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) for their healthcare. Thus, we aimed at assessing the attitude and perception of health professional students about CAM and correlate the results with their demographical data. Methods. An observational cross-sectional study was conducted at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, by enrolling 350 students. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was performed using SPSS. Results. Results of our data suggested that majority of students were aware of the CAM modalities and considered prayers/spirituality (83.6%), massage (72.5%), nutritional supplements (74.1%), cupping (68.5%), herbal medicine (66.2), and yoga (61.6%) as most effective and least harmful CAM modalities. The students acquired more information about CAM from media (55%), books (56%), friends/relatives (59.7%), and other health professionals (58.4%), however, very little information from formal CAM courses or training (36.7%), which shows the lack of courses and trained health professional in the field of CAM. Despite utilizing nonreliable sources of CAM information, the majority of students had positive attitudes and perceptions about CAM usage. Majority of the students (75.8%) believe in the use of CAM for the mental and spiritual aspect of health and think that CAM providers give good information on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The data also showed a significant P<0.05 association between awareness about CAM and gender. A significantly higher percentage of female students were using yoga and aromatherapy, while cupping was mostly used by male students. Similarly, a significant association was found among the different colleges and level of students in most of the CAM modalities. However, no association was found between the awareness and use of CAM with the educational level of parents or relatives in health sector except for acupuncture and cupping, where student’s awareness about acupuncture and cupping was found to have a significant positive association with mother educational level. On the other hand, a significant inverse association was found between acupuncture, yoga, cupping, and aromatherapy with family income. Conclusion. In conclusion, despite the lack of proper courses and professionally trained healthcare providers in the field of CAM, students demonstrated positive attitudes and beliefs toward the safety and effectiveness of CAM.

scholarly journals Factors influencing referral delay of cancer patients to an oncology unit in the Southern Region of Saudi Arabia

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 025-030
Author(s):  
Al Zahrani Ali M ◽  
Ali Hatim M ◽  
Ahmed Shaza A ◽  
Abdelakher Ahmed M ◽  
Al Zahrani Asma A ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Health Facility ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Southern Region ◽  
Complementary And Alternative Medicines ◽  
Cancer Symptoms ◽  
Alternative Medicines ◽  
Level 1 ◽  
Complementary And Alternative

Introduction: Cancer treatment and prognosis depend heavily on early detection. Survival in the early stages is excellent for almost all types of cancer. Unfortunately, in Saudi Arabia, a large number of cancer patients present with advanced disease, resulting in a poor prognosis. There are three levels of delay in the management of cancer patients. The first level is the time between the first cancer-related symptoms and the presentation to the health facility, the second level is from the presentation to the diagnosis, and the third level is between the diagnosis and the treatment. This study aims to determine if there is a delay, at what level and to study the factors causing such delays. Materials and methods: Two hundred cancer patients who presented to the Armed Forces Hospital Southern Region, Oncology Department, were interviewed from January 1st to June 30th, 2018. The interviews were conducted by trained physicians familiar with the questionnaire’s contents. The questionnaire consisted of four sections: a demographic section and three more sections to identify factors causing the delay at the three levels from the patients’ perspectives. All data were analyzed using the SPSS version 20.0. Results: The mean patient age was 63 years. A total of 112 patients were female and 88 were male. The most common cancer type was breast cancer (27.5%). Among the patients, 61% were illiterate and 25.5% had elementary school degrees, 86% expressed little or no general medical knowledge about cancer. More women than men paid attention to cancer symptoms (70% vs. 54%). 75% of the patients presented to the first health facility after 2 months from the first appearance of symptoms (level 1 delay). Only 2% of the patients presented within one week. 50% of the patients received a diagnosis after visiting two health facilities. All patients were diagnosed at hospitals. 40% of patients used alternative medicines, 70% of whom thought this was the cause of their delayed presentations. 67% had their diagnosis confirmed within one month (level 2 delay), and 66% started their definitive treatment within one month (level 3 delay). 75% of the patients blame themselves for the delay. Educational level (p = 0.03), knowledge about cancer (p < 0.01), and the use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) (p = 0.01) were significantly associated with delayed presentation of patients to the health facility. Conclusion: There is a delay in the presentation of cancer patients (level 1) in the southern part of Saudi Arabia. Educational level, knowledge of cancer symptoms, and use of complementary and alternative medicines are the main causes. There were no delays in diagnosis and start of treatment (level 2,3).

scholarly journals Exploring interprofessional collaboration and attitudes of health sciences librarians

2020 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel J. Hinrichs ◽  
Caitlin J. Bakker ◽  
Tara J. Brigham ◽  
Emily C. Ginier ◽  
Gregg A. Stevens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Professional ◽  
Interprofessional Education ◽  
Interprofessional Collaboration ◽  
Health Professions ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Reading Program ◽  
Professional Students ◽  
Professional Careers ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Medical Library

Objective: This study assessed health sciences librarians’ attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration using the Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS) and gathered information on their involvement with interprofessional activities.Methods: The authors sent a survey to librarians in the Medical Library Association’s (MLA’s) Interprofessional Education Special Interest Group and Research Section consisting of the IEPS and questions about their prior and current experiences with interprofessional practice and education (IPE). We compared mean IEPS scores between each MLA group and several other demographic factors to assess differences in attitudes. We also compared librarians’ IEPS scores with those of previously published health professional students’ IEPS scores and thematically analyzed two open-ended questions.Results: Health sciences librarians’ scores on the IEPS indicated positive attitudes toward IPE. There were no statistically significant differences between any group. Health sciences librarians’ mean IEPS score was similar to the mean score of health professions students from a prior study. The most commonly reported interprofessional activity was teaching or facilitating learning activities for health professions students; fewer served on committees or engaged in non-curricular activities such as grand rounds and book clubs.Conclusion: Health sciences librarians in this study reported positive attitudes toward IPE, in line with the majority of other previously studied health professionals. Years of experience, previous health professional careers, and experience supporting IPE as a librarian had little bearing on the responses to the survey. This suggests that health sciences librarians have positive attitudes toward IPE, regardless of whether they directly support IPE programs or participate in interprofessional activities. This article has been approved for the Medical Library Association’s Independent Reading Program.

scholarly journals Reconsidering Empathy: An Interpersonal Approach and Participatory Arts in the Medical Humanities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica L. Cao ◽  
Craig D. Blinderman ◽  
Ian Cross
Keyword(s):  
Health Professional ◽  
Medical Humanities ◽  
Professional Students ◽  
Structural Problems ◽  
Empathy Development ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Health Professional Students ◽  
Direct Empathy ◽  
Interactional Processes ◽  
Participatory Arts

AbstractThe decline of empathy among health professional students, highlighted in the literature on health education, is a concern for medical educators. The evidence suggests that empathy decline is likely to stem more from structural problems in the healthcare system rather than from individual deficits of empathy. In this paper, we argue that a focus on direct empathy development is not effective and possibly detrimental to justice-oriented aims. Drawing on critical and narrative theory, we propose an interpersonal approach to enhance empathic capacities that is centered on constructive and transformative interactions which integrates the participatory arts and involves both patients and health professional students. We describe and evaluate a program where patients and students create collaborative, original songs. Interviews and a focus group revealed interactional processes summarized in four themes: reciprocal relationships, interactions in the community, joint goal, and varied collaboration. There was a significant enhancement of positive attitudes about care post-program amongst health professional students. The interpersonal approach may be a preliminary framework for the medical humanities to shift away from a focus on direct empathy development and further towards participatory, co-creative, and justice-oriented approaches to enhance health and thereby empathic capabilities.

scholarly journals Knowledge on Infection Prevention and Control and associated factors among undergraduate health professional students at Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Uganda

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0255984
Author(s):  
Racheal Nalunkuma ◽  
Jonathan Nkalubo ◽  
Derrick Bary Abila
Keyword(s):  
Health Professional ◽  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Infection Prevention ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Infection Prevention And Control ◽  
Professional Students ◽  
Makerere University ◽  
University College ◽  
Health Professional Students ◽  
And Control

Introduction To practice adequate Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures, health professional students need to have adequate knowledge of IPC. In this study, we assessed the knowledge of health professional students at Makerere University College of Health Sciences on Infection Prevention and Control. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional online survey among health professional students studying at Makerere University College of Health Sciences located in Kampala, Uganda. An adapted questionnaire was used to measure knowledge on Infection Prevention and Control among students. Results A total of 202 health professional students were included in the study. The mean age was 24.43 years. Majority were male 63.37% (n = 128), from the school of medicine 70.79% (n = 143) and used one source of information for IPC 49.50% (n = 100). Being in year three (Adjusted coefficient, 6.08; 95% CI, 2.04–10.13; p-value = 0.003), year four (Adjusted coefficient, 10.87; 95% CI, 6.91–14.84; p < 0.001) and year five (Adjusted coefficient, 8.61; 95% CI, 4.45–12.78; p < 0.001) were associated with a higher mean in total percentage score of knowledge on IPC compared to being in year one. Conclusion IPC knowledge was good among health professional students in Makerere University although more emphasis is needed to improve on their IPC knowledge in various sections like hand hygiene. Infection Prevention and Control courses can be taught to these students starting from their first year of university education.

Integration and awareness of complementary and alternative medicines with psychotherapy

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendal Cassidy ◽  
Anastasia Bacca ◽  
Phillip Birk ◽  
Kristie A. Morales ◽  
Travis Heath
Keyword(s):  
Complementary And Alternative Medicines ◽  
Alternative Medicines ◽  
Complementary And Alternative
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