Community developers are often solicited to teach essential core concepts and strategies in the field but lack the consensus among their peers on which theories constitute the fundamentals. This study examines leading community development theories, concepts and approaches to establish the essential elements for a weeklong short course. In addition to content research, leading teaching theories were also explored to establish the core methods for teaching such a course. Active learning techniques were utilized to increase student participation in the learning process while building solidarity and capacity in the class. Finally, the short course was taught to a group in Banda Aceh, Indonesia and was evaluated for knowledge and attitude change through pretests, posttests, and journal entries.

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Physical restraint use and falls are common in institutional care of old people and various attempts have been made to reduce their occurrence. Falls and concomitant injuries are a major problem due to their negative effect on morbidity and mortality. Prevention of falls and injuries is the most common reason for physically restraining old people in institutional care. Its use has, however, been questioned both from an ethical perspective, since restraints can be perceived as coercive and also because of the lack of sound evidence of their effectiveness in preventing falls, as well as the adverse effects associated with their use. The main purposes of this thesis were to investigate differences in the us of physical restraints over time, to identifify risk factors for falls among people with dementia, to evaluate the effects of a restraint minimization program on staff knowledge, attitudes, and work environment and use of physical restraints and the quality of care. The present thesis is based on three main data collections, two census surveys conducted within institutional care for old people in the county of Västerbotten in 2000 (n=3,804) and 2007 (n=2,970) and one cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) including 40 group dwellings for people suffering from dementia where the intervention consisted of staff education. The use of physical restraints increased slightly between 2000 and 2007 (16.2% to 18.4%, p=0.016). Analyses suggest that the increase might be independent of any change in resident characteristics. Restrained residents were also subjected to restraints for longer times in 2007. During a six-month follow-up 64/160 (40.0%) residents in group dwellings for those with dementia sustained at least one fall. Independent risk factors for falls were ‘requiring help with hygiene’, ‘displaying verbally disruptive/attention-seeking behavior’, ‘able to rise from a chair’, ‘walking with assistive devices’, and ‘participating in outdoor walks’, which explained 36.1% of the falls. The majority of the 191 falls were un-witnessed, 35% occurred during the night and anxiety and confusion were the most common symptoms preceding the falls. A six-month restraint minimization program showed a positive impact on staff knowledge, attitudes and work environment as well as on the use of physical restraints and subjectively estimated quality of care. Residents in the intervention group present throughout the entire study period had lower odds, relative to the residents in the control group of being physically restrained at follow-up (OR= 0.21, CI 95%=0.08-0.57) after controlling for potential confounders and the cluster effect. Adjusted analyses including all residents present at either baseline or follow-up also showed that the use of physical restraints was less in the intervention group relative to the control group at follow-up. There was no change in the occurrence of falls or use of psychoactive drugs. The intervention also reduced stress of conscience, job demands and strain in the staff, and improved their job control and the caring climate. Subgroup analysis indicated a greater effect in units where the use of physical restraints had been reduced or remained constant. In conclusion, physical restraint use and falls remains common in institutional care of old people. The practice of physical restraint seems to have changed. In the RCT it was found that it is possible to change restraint practice and also to improve staff work environment. Falls among residents with dementia require a certain mobility function and anxiety and confusion are common symptoms preceding falls.

Darbo tikslas: Įvertinti KTU Cheminės technologijos fakulteto studentų žinias ir požiūrį apie genetiškai modifikuotą maistą, jo ženklinimą. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Nustatyti KTU Cheminės technologijos fakulteto studentų informavimo šaltinius apie genetiškai modifikuotą maistą ir jo ženklinimą. 2. Ištirti KTU Cheminės technologijos fakulteto studentų žinias ir požiūrį apie genetiškai modifikuotą maistą ir jo ženklinimą. 3. Parengti rekomendacijas siekiant pagerinti genetiškai modifikuoto maisto ir jo ženklinimo informuotumą. Tyrimo metodika: Tyrimo objektas: Žinios ir požiūris apie genetiškai modifikuotą maistą ir jo ženklinimą. Tyrimo metodai: Mokslinės literatūros analizė, teisinių dokumentų analizė, anketinė apklausa. Tyrimo metu buvo išplatinta 120, atsako dažnis - 80,83 proc. Statistinės analizės metodai: Apklausos rezultatai buvo analizuojami naudojant Microsoft office Excel 2007 ir kompiuterinį SPSS 13.0 versijos statistinį duomenų analizės paketą. Statistinis duomenų reikšmingumas buvo tikrinamas pagal chi kvadrato kriterijų ir laisvės laipsnių skaičių. Požymius analizuojant kito rodiklio atžvilgiu skirtumai laikyti statistiškai reikšmingais, kai reikšmingumo lygmuo p<0,05. Rezultatai: Dauguma respondentų dažniausiai gauna informaciją apie genetiškai modifikuotą maistą ir jo ženklinimą internete (15,5 proc. moterų ir 11,3 proc. vyrų), 30,9 proc. moterų ir 35,1 proc. vyrų žino šiek tiek, tačiau norėtų būti daugiau informuojamas,-a. Didžioji dalis apklaustųjų mano, jog... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Aim of study: to evaluate student‘s knowledge and attitude to genetically modified food and its labeling in KTU faculty of chemical technology. Objectives: 1. To survey the repositories of genetically modified food and his labeling. 2. To survey the knowledge and attitude to genetically modified food and its labeling. 3. To prepare recomendations to increase privity of genetically modified food and its labeling. Methods: Object of the research - knowledge and attitude to genetically modified food and its labeling. The questionnaire was compiled after making an analysis of the latest Lithuanian and foreign scientific literature and legislation. There were totally 120 students of KTU faculty of chemical tecnology interviewed using the anonymous questionnaire (response rate 80,83 percentage). Data analysis was performed using the statistical data analysis package SPSS (version 13.00) (the chi-squared test, df) and Microsoft office Excel 2007. Differences between the indices were considered statistically significant for p-values less than 0.05. Results: The most of respondents get information about genetically modified food and its labeling commonly in internet (15.5 percentage women and 11.3 percentage men), 30.9 percentage women and 35.1 men know a little bit, but they want to get more information. In addition to this, respondents think, that genetically modified food is harmful (33.7 percentage women and 32.3 percentage men) because of lack information about its safety (33.6... [to full text]

Magister Public Health - MPH / Background: Dental canes and gingivitis are reported to affect 60-90% of school children in most countries (World Health Organization, 2003). Learners in the Swakopmund district of Namibia were examined and it was found that 73% and 89% of them were affected by dental caries and gingivitis respectively (Ministry of Health and Social Services, 2003). This district has implemented an oral health programme at primary schools with the aim of reducing the prevalence of dental caries and gingivitis. Aim: To compare knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of teachers and learners in response to the school-based oral health programme at four primary schools in Swakopmund district. Study Design: This study is a cross-sectional survey that compared the responses of learners from high participating schools to those from low participating schools. The total sample was 186 participants comprising of 159 learners and 27 teachers. Data Collection: Structured, self-administered questionnaires were used for the teachers whilst learners were interviewed by the researcher and research assistants using structured questionnaires. Data on knowledge of risk factors for dental caries and gingivitis as well as attitude and behaviour towards prevention of these diseases at school were collected. Data analysis: Data were captured in Microsoft Excel Programme and imported to CDC Epi Info 2002 version 3.3 for analysis. Prevalence ratio (PR) was used as a preferable measure of effect at 95% confidence interval. Chi-square test was used to assess statistical significance of the proportional differences between high and low participating schools and the cut off point for statistical significance was a p-value < 0.05. 111 Results: Learners from low participating schools were more knowledgeable than learners from high participating schools in most of the knowledge questions and the results were statistically significant. There were positive oral health practices and attitudes reported by the learners with minimal differences between high participating and low participating schools and consequently the results were not statistically significant. The results for the variables knowledge, behaviour and attitudes for the teachers were not statistically significant. Teachers from both high and low participating schools exhibited high levels of knowledge and positive oral health behaviours and attitudes. However, teachers reported some shortcomings in the programme which included lack of: toothbrushes, parental involvement, time for oral health activities, regular workshops and educational materials. Conclusion: The study revealed that learners and teachers from both high and low participating schools had positive oral health knowledge, attitudes and behaviour towards oral health. However, certain socio-environmental factors which are important determinants of oral health could explain the reasons for low participation in oral health programme by some schools. Therefore the Health Promoting Schools approach is a pragmatic way to promote oral health at schools in Swakopmund district because a Health Promoting School has a healthy public policy that creates a supportive environment for oral health, making healthy choices easier.

Mother-to-infant vertical transmission of HIV usually occurs during pregnancy, labor, delivery or breastfeeding. It is the third leading cause of transmission of HIV after sexual intercourse and blood transfusions. In 2008, 12 million women aged 15 years and above were anticipated to be living with HIV in countries within Sub-Saharan Africa. In this study, the association between parental HIV knowledge, attitudes and risk reduction practices, and HIV vertical transmission in Kenya were explored. The health belief model was used to help understand and interpret the findings. For this quantitative study, data were collected via surveys from 212 participants in 3 HIV clinics in Kenya. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Around 45% of respondents lacked knowledge on key aspects of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV particularly on expressing and heat treating milk from HIV positive mothers to make it safe for their babies. About 65% of Participants had awareness towards Mother to Child Transmission (MTCT) of HIV. Logistic regression showed no association between socioeconomic factors and parental knowledge on MTCT of HIV. Logistic modeling found that there was association between attitude and MTCT, revealing that attitude increased the likelihood to influence MTCT. Being married was associated with reduced risk of MTCT of HIV. The overall results indicated gaps in knowledge and information packaging. The potential positive social change implication of this study is that factors related to HIV vertical transmission identified in this study might be utilized to develop and implement HIV prevention strategies to reduce HIV vertical transmission and decrease associated morbidity and mortality among this vulnerable population.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 2010. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

The purpose of this research was to obtain empirical evidence regarding the knowledge and attitudes among graduate social work students. It examines the relationship between age, previous sex education, marital status and the amount of human sexuality knowledge.