In the study which examined the child health conference as an individual method of adult education, evaluations were made of both the nurse instructor and parent-participant relationships and the gains made by parent participants in their knowledge of general health information, developmental milestones and mother-infant relationships during their period of attendance at the conferences. It was hypothesized that there would be no statistically significant mean equivalences between the first and final test scores for the 32 parents who comprised the study population. The hypotheses were rejected with values of t which were significant beyond the 0.001 level. Despite the significant gains recorded, it would appear that a number of major factors presently limit the conferences' efficiency in providing optimal conditions under which learning may occur. First, an assessment of the educational needs or expectations of each parent is not undertaken at the beginning of each conference and learning objectives appropriate to each individual participant are not set up. Second, the conference does not presently specify educational objectives in terms of desired behaviors and therefore, health teaching is not only relegated a more minor role, but participants are, forced to become mere passive recipients of information. Third, the conference may not always reach its present broad goals because appointments made by the nurse for the parent-participant to return for further discussions may be broken. While it was felt that the research instruments used in this study met the requirements for which they were constructed to some degree, they could undoubtedly have been much more effective measuring devices had steps been taken to increase their reliability, validity, objectivity, comprehensiveness and differentiation. Moreover, rating scale errors could have been minimized had nurses been trained in their proper use. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

The major objective of this thesis is to throw new light on the problem of "how" and "why" the function of the State within society changed dramatically during the first few years of the twentieth century By concentrating on the Liberal Government's measures of 1906 to 1907 to improve the health of working-class children this thesis hopes to show that the role of men and their beliefs played a far more important part in the development of the "British Welfare State" than has hitherto been credited. By illustrating how the social, political, and economic condi tions of the period 1870 to 1900 affected the consciousness of individuals and groups, it attempts to explain why there was a delay between the time when the extent of poverty became intolerable and the time when measures were enacted to relieve the problem. Three major themes intertwine throughout this thesis. These are the cause of government growth; the changing status of working-class children; and measures to improve the health of the nation. Chapter One discusses the social, physical, and psychological factors which affected the health of children before 1880, and illustrates the high esteem in which working-class parents held their children. Chapter Two shows how middle class Britain attempted to deal with the problem of child health in the period before the end of the nineteenth century. Chapter Three attempts to explain "how" and "why" the physical condition of the British working class became a question of major political significance for the first time. Specifically it describes the nineteenth century origins of the "National Efficiency" movement, the part played by the movement in concentrating public attention on the physical condition of the working class, and discusses the blue-print for social action formulated by the Inter-departmental Committee on Physical Deterioration. The last chapter describes how the Liberal Government of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman began the enactment of this social blue-print. Their first step was an Act which allowed local education authorities to feed needy school children free of charge. This was soon followed by another Act which allowed local education authorities to require the medical examination of all children attending public elementary schools. Together these Acts began a process of long-term social planning in Britain. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

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Diarrheal disease is one of the leading causes of mortality of children under 5 years of age. Despite this, diarrheal disease is easily preventable through adequate water, sanitation and hygiene. Sanitation access is currently classified as “improved” or “unimproved” based on level of latrine access. This does not account for differences in human behaviors, or differences in exposure risk. A sanitation score was built using behavioral and access data in order to better classify the sanitation environment of a household. Due to low levels of sanitation access and practice of open defecation in Ghana, households in four neighborhoods in Accra, Ghana were selected to participate in the data collection. Data was collected through a survey, environmental sanitary inspections and collection of hand rinse and environmental swab samples. These samples were then tested for fecal indicators, by measuring presence and concentration of E. coli and human Adenovirus. A novel sanitation score based on latrine access and use for each household was created. Hierarchical linear and logistic regression was used to compare the sanitation score to the environmental contamination as indicated by the E. coli and Adenovirus. Higher sanitation scores were significantly associated with increases in Adenovirus concentration (PR=1.6, 95%CI=1.1, 2.2). The sanitation score was not significantly associated with E. coli or presence of Adenovirus. Further development of a sanitation score variable could help to better understand sanitation environments.

Homelessness is a serious national and international issue, with significant implications for societal health. It is such a complicated and multifaceted issue to address, and it needs much more attention than it has currently. Alongside discussions on how to house homeless individuals, it is important to discuss how to help increase this populations overall health. The homeless population is one of the most medically at-risk patient populations. Existing research has shown that homeless individuals are at a higher risk for developing ill health and disease. They face numerous barriers to obtaining health care, and have many competing priorities. As a result, they are more likely to present to hospitals and clinics with advanced stages of disease that could have been prevented, or treated more easily earlier. Overall, the homeless population is at such a high risk of developing disease due to a variety of factors. Some of which are, their chronic exposure to the elements and other ill people, a lack of access to hygiene facilities or healthy food, and certain advantageous preventative resources. Past research has focused on interventions such as housing first over healthcare, and mobile clinical services, but they take a great deal of time and money to be fully realized. It is important to expand resources to include smaller, more feasible, preventative provisions for conditions that homeless individuals are more susceptible to such as skin cancer, tooth decay and loss, and others. More research into practical interventions, which can help improve the health and hygiene of homeless population, will close a gap in the current medical literature. This thesis focuses on practical prevention efforts for the homeless in the form of, SPF 70 spray sunscreen, hard bristled toothbrushes, sugarless gum, body wipes, dry shampoo, hand sanitizer, and more. These scientifically backed interventions can be immediately incorporated into the resources that community healthcare centers, shelters, or any other related homeless care facilities, provide. These supplies should improve homeless individuals’ health and quality of life while waiting for larger interventions such as housing, or free clinics, to be implemented. Importantly, these resources can help to bring an end to this current period in time in which homeless individuals are left to wait for any form of preventative or curative health care. As Ben Carson recently said, “Leaving [the] homeless unsheltered, unhealthy, and unsafe is a human tragedy and unacceptable.”

Bibliography: pages 140-155. / The research investigated Work Schedule Stress experienced by female air cabin attendants (CAs) employed by South African Airways and its relationship to health variables in CAs. Specifically, it was hypothesised that Work Schedule Stress is an important stressor for CAs and is inversely related to health variables. Furthermore, the variables of Potency, Trait Anxiety, Trait Anger, and Social Support were proposed to moderate the relationship between Work Schedule Stress and the health variables. Data were collected from a sample of 108 domestic crew and 43 international crew. The data collection was conducted in two phases, via interviews and self-report inventories. The interview data were used in a qualitative study but were also content-analysed in terms of a number of dimensions; the latter were included with the quantitative data obtained from the questionnaire. The qualitative analysis, based on the grounded theory approach, formed the backbone of the research. The quantitative data were subjected to correlational analysis, supplemented by subgroup analysis to assess moderator effects. Work Schedule Stress was demonstrated to represent a major stress for CAs with consequent adverse effects on health. The results did not provide support for the moderating effects. Conclusions were drawn, recommendations made to the SAA and CAs themselves of means to enhance wellness, and suggestions for future research proposed.

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Excerpt: A study by Tromp et al1 concluded that “Our multifaceted hand hygiene improvement program resulted in a sustained improvement of hand hygiene knowledge and compliance in nurses as well as physicians.” However, the support for the conclusions is weak because of a number of drawbacks. These drawbacks would inhibit the application of those conclusions in health care. The first drawback is the absence of a control group and, secondly, the contradictions in the data, as explained below.

Sleep disturbance is one of the most prevailing symptoms of decreased performance and compromised overall health of the general public. This is also a national security threat because this problem is even more profound in the ranks of the United States military. Sleep disturbance after deployment is common among military personnel and during deployment, has many health and safety implications. There are many personal factors and environmental factors can affect quality and quantity of sleep in pre and post deployment settings. Occupational therapy intervention for special warfare servicemembers that have problems with function as a result of sleep insufficiency is an emerging need. However, there are no current programs offered that have addressed this important occupation. There is a need to develop an evidenced-based occupational therapy interventions that addresses sleep hygiene, as well as behavioral and environmental practices designed to improve both quality and quantity of sleep of this special population. In response to this need, the author designed an effective nonpharmacological occupational therapy intervention program designed to improve quality and quantity of sleep The project focused on 1) identifying evidence-based literature to support the benefit of non-pharmacological interventions for special warfare servicemembers, 2) designing a program that represented best practice while incorporating the holistic and occupation-based theoretical base of occupational therapy, 3) best practice for implementation the program, 4) conducting summative program evaluation, and 5) develop a dissemination plan and implementation budget.