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Although promotion of health and healthy lifestyles are accepted tasks of registered nurses, the assessment of nurses' own health and health behaviours has rarely been assessed. In this study questionnaire responses from 59 female registered nurses and interviews with ten nurses employed full-time in south-west Alberta were analyzed. The questionnaire consisted of items taken and adapted from the Canada Health Survey (Health & Welfare Canada, 1981) on subjective well-being (Affect Balance Scale and Health Opinion Survey) and certain lifestyle practices (pap test, breast examination, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and seat belt use). A question on leisure time physical activity was take from Godin, Jobin and Bouillon (1986). Questions assessing self-reported immune status and perception of self as a health role model for others were designed by the researcher. Data from the questionnaires were described in narrative, frequency counts and percentages. Comparisons were made among responses in various parts of the questionnaire as well as with the results of the Canada Health Survey. Interview questions designed by the researcher assessed the ways in which the nurse participants thought about health and their goals for health; transcribed interview responses were categorized according to themes; further interpretation was done on three main themes (maintenance of health as a goal, perceived lack of nurses' self-care and nurses' expectations of themselves). The nurses' scores on the Affect Balance Scale and the Health Opinion Survey place them toward the positive end of a positive-negative continuum of subjective well-being (Okun, Stock, Haring & Witter, 1984). Comparison of the participants' responses regarding lifestyle and preventive practices with the Canada Health Survey suggests that these nurses had relatively adequate health practices with the possible exception of participation in vigorous physical activity. A majority of the participants perceived themselves as role models of health, particularly non-smokers and those with post-RN education. The ten interviewed nurses generally gave maintenance of health as their primary present and future goal for health. Lack of self-care was associated by participants with nurses' and women's traditional concern for others before themselves. The participants seemed to have generally high expectations for themselves and other nurses. This descriptive and exploratory study may provide a baseline for future study of nurses' health, an indication of areas for health promotion programs for nurses and a discussion point for nurses to continue to assess their own health and the factors affecting their own health and goals for health. / x, 149 p. ; 28 cm

This study was concerned with the impact of telephone and letter follow-up on the glycosylated hemoglobin (HbAlc) levels and quality of life of adult patients who completed the recognized diabetes education program at Ball Memorial Hospital's Diabetes Care Center between March 2002 and October 2002. The study was a quasi-experimental design, randomly assigning subjects by clusters to one of three treatment groups: telephone follow-up only, letter follow-up only, or telephone and letter follow-up. All follow-up attempts were made by certified diabetes educators employed by Ball Memorial Hospital for twelve weeks following the completion of the program. Reviewing patient records prior to and twelve weeks following the completion of the recognized diabetes education program determined HbAlc levels. Quality of life was measured, using a pre-existing instrument, prior to and twelve weeks after the completion of the program. A two-way design analysis of variance for repeated measures was used to determine if pretest/posttest differences in HbA 1 c and quality of life were different among treatment groups. There was a lack of statistical significance in mean HbAlc levels and quality of life values from pretest to posttest among subjects of the three treatment groups. However, a test of within-groups effects showed a statistically significant difference in the pretest and posttest quality of life values and HbAlc levels for all subjects included in the study. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

The purposes of this project were to assess nutrition knowledge and dietary behavior of adolescents, and to determine what relationship, if any, exists between nutrition knowledge and dietary behavior. A newly-developed 25-question nutrition knowledge survey was used to measure general nutrition knowledge among 287 seventh grade students in Newburgh, Indiana. Dietary behavior scores were determined by rating choices purchased in the school cafeteria over one week as to whether or not they met the Indiana S.B. 0111's definition of a "better choice" food. Results indicated low levels of nutrition knowledge (mean score 48.5%). Girls score significantly higher on the nutrition knowledge survey than did boys (51% versus 48%). The average dietary behavior score of seventh grade students was 73.8% (an average of 7.8 `better choice' foods out of every 11.4 total foods purchased over one week period). No significant relationship was found between the score on the nutrition knowledge test and the dietary behavior score (r = .06, NS). When a linear regression analysis was performed, nutrition knowledge was a more important predictor of dietary behavior than either gender or race. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

Relatively few studies have considered how changes in health are associated with changes in cognition in aging populations. Even fewer have investigated the similarities and differences of the health-cognition link evidenced across independent longitudinal studies of aging that differ in country and birth cohort. The main objective of the current research is to evaluate aging-related cognitive change in the context of physical health conditions and to compare patterns and synthesize results across several longitudinal studies of aging. This cross-study evaluation is based on data from three longitudinal studies of aging: 1) the OCTO-Twin Study, a longitudinal investigation of same-sex twin pairs drawn from the population-based Swedish Twin Registry (N = 702; 67% female; mean age is 83.5), 2) the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a study of middle-aged and older adults in the U.S. (N = 21,364; 57% female; mean age is 65.8), and 3) the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA), a study of middle-aged and older adults in the U.K. (N = 11,397; 54% female; mean age is 65.3). Data were analyzed using latent growth curve (LGC) analysis to evaluate 1) the impact of diagnosed health conditions and 2) the additive impact of comorbidity on level and rate of change in distinct cognitive outcomes. Our findings indicate that particular health conditions significantly impact initial status and rate of change in cognition, but do so differently across longitudinal studies of aging. The argument is made that the inclusion of health in our predictive models is essential as we try to parse out the effects of pathological aging vs. normative age-related change in cognition. The results of this study show the importance of replication in longitudinal research and for contrasting patterns of effects across independent studies in order to build a cumulative basis for further understanding of the dynamics among aging, health, and cognition in populations that differ in cohort, culture, and country. / Graduate

Few studies have documented the impact of complete dentures on patients&rsquo / oral health-related quality of life. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between gender, age, socioeconomic status and denture satisfaction

Teacher support teams :a school-based strategy for the provision of education support services and health promotion.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 126-236).

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Community Medicine, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-99).