scholarly journals Response to Shepherd Comment on Mroczek et al. Evaluation of Quality of Life of Those Living Near a Wind Farm. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 2015, 12, 6066–6083

Author(s):  
Bożena Mroczek ◽  
Joanna Banaś ◽  
Małgorzata Machowska-Szewczyk ◽  
Donata Kurpas
Author(s):  
Min-Hua Lin ◽  
She-Yu Chiu ◽  
Wen-Chao Ho ◽  
Hui-Ying Huang

This study was the first institution-wide health promotion program in Taiwan to apply the five priority areas for taking action in public health highlighted in the Ottawa Charter for diabetes patients. We aimed to improve the quality of home care received by diabetic patients by training health care professionals in health promotion. This program consisted of developing personal skills, reorienting health services, strengthening community actions, creating supportive environments, and building healthy public policy. It was applied in the Yunlin Christian Hospital located in central Taiwan from August 2011 to November 2011. A health-promoting education course consisting of weight control, diabetes care, and quality management for diabetes was developed and applied to all 323 hospital staff. Then, hospital staff volunteers and diabetes patients were recruited to participate in the program. A total of 61 staff volunteers and 90 diabetes patients were involved in this study. Staff volunteers were trained to participate in communities to provide care and guidance to patients with diabetes. The World Health Organization Quality of Life(WHOQOL)-BREF-Taiwan Version questionnaires were investigated before and after implementation of this program for the patients. A health-promoting lifestyle profile questionnaire was filled by the staff. The investigation data were then analyzed by statistical methods. The diabetes patients experienced a significant increase in their satisfaction with health and health-related quality of life as well as significant improvements in health-promotion and self-management behaviors (p < 0.05). In addition, staff volunteers significantly consumes food from the five major groups than the other staff (p < 0.05). Various improvements in health-promoting behaviors were observed amongst the hospital staff and the diabetic patients. Our project could be a reference for other medical organizations to implement an institution-wide health-promotion program for diabetic patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
E Renzi ◽  
G Gasperini ◽  
V Baccolini ◽  
C Marzuillo ◽  
C De Vito ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Promoting self-care is one of the most promising strategies to manage people with chronic conditions and to improve the Public Health System resilience. In this context, the use of e-Health could facilitate self-care promotion, assure continuity of care and save time. Methods We performed an umbrella review on Cochrane, Scopus, Medline, PsychInfo, CINAHL to analyse e-Health self-care promoting intervention in patients with Type- 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) compared to traditional intervention. AMSTAR-2 was used for quality appraisal. Results 10 systematic reviews were included for an amount of 376 RCTs and 3 quasi-experimental studies. All the e-Health interventions retrieved were categorized in 4 subgroups: Phone Reminder, Telemonitoring, Psychoeducational intervention supported by PCs/Apps and Combined Intervention. Nurses (271/379 studies) and physicians (149/379 studies) were the healthcare workers mostly involved in the administration of e-Health interventions. T2DM (5 reviews; 175 studies) and CVD (7 reviews; 164 studies) patients gained more progresses in self-management than COPD patients (3 reviews; 8 studies). E-Health appeared effective both in promoting self-management and disease awareness. Globally, all the e-Health interventions seemed to improve Quality of Life and clinical outcomes. Phone reminders were most effective to increase Medication Adherence. All Causes Mortality registered a positive effect through Telemonitoring. Hospital Admission and Cost-Efficacy were explored only by telemonitoring and it did not show differences with traditional intervention. Conclusions E-Health is an effective strategy to promote self-care in patients with chronic conditions and to improve quality of life and clinical outcomes. Further research is required to test e-Health intervention in COPD patients and to examine if there is different efficacy among e-Health subgroups. Key messages E-Health should be integrated in Primary Care strategies to improve Public Health systems resilience. Nurses, as frontline Primary Health Care workers, should be advised for e-Health administration.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan Yuh Leong ◽  
Louis Tong

Dry eye, a visually disabling disease that has been reported to be a major public health issue in many countries, is known to induce a significant decrease in quality of life. In this report, we aim to compile information on the investigators of dry eye that published most frequently in peer reviewed scientific journals and the publications in Asia and Europe.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelui Collinson ◽  
Joseph Timothy ◽  
Samuel K Zayay ◽  
Karsor K Kollie ◽  
Eglantine Lebas ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundScabies is known to be a public health problem in many settings but the majority of recent data is from rural settings in the Pacific. There is a need for high quality data from sub-Saharan Africa and peri-Urban settings to inform scale up of scabies control efforts. There have been anecdotal reports of scabies being a public health problem in Liberia but robust data are lacking.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional cluster-randomised prevalence survey for scabies in a peri-urban community in Monrovia, Liberia in February-March 2020. Participants underwent a standardised examination conducted by trained local health care workers. Health related quality of life (HRQoL) was assessed using age-appropriate dermatology life quality indices (DLQIs). Prevalence estimates were calculated accounting for clustering at community and household levels and associations with key demographic variables assessed through multivariable random-effects logistic regression.Results1,318 participants from 477 households were surveyed. The prevalence of scabies prevalence was 9.3% (95% CI: 6.5-13.2%), across 75 (19.7%) households; impetigo or infected scabies prevalence was 0.8% (95% CI: 0.4-1.9%). The majority (52%) of scabies cases were classified as severe. Scabies prevalence was lower in females and higher in the youngest age group; no associations were found with other collected demographic or socio-economic variables. DLQI scores indicated a very or extremely large effect on HRQoL in 29% of adults and 18% of children diagnosed with scabies.ConclusionsOur study indicates a substantial burden of scabies in this peri-Urban population in Liberia. This was associated with significant impact on quality of life, highlighting the need for action to control scabies in this population. Further work is needed to assess the impact of interventions in this context on both the prevalence of scabies and quality of life.Plain English summaryScabies is an infestation with a microscopic mite which affects many people living in low-resource tropical countries. It causes intense itching, which can lead to complications through bacterial infection and poor quality of life. To help develop global scabies control programmes, we need a better understanding of how common it is across different tropical settings. We conducted a survey to assess the burden of scabies and bacterial skin infection in a random sample of people living in a community in Monrovia, Liberia. Information about participants and their household were collected and their skin was examined; those with skin conditions were asked about its impact on quality of life.We examined 1,318 participants and found that almost 10% of people had scanies. Scabies was more common in young children, and was more common in male children than female children. We found that there was a large impact on quality of life due mostly to the itching that scabies causes and to people feeling embarrassed or sad because of their skin condition. This scabies survey is one of the first conducted across all age groups in recent years in sub-Saharan Africa and indicates a substantial burden and impact on quality of life. More work is needed to understand how common scabies is in different settings and the impact that different treatment strategies may have.


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