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Results for “Voluntary Workers”

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PubMed1978

A community approach to trachoma control in the Northern Transvaal.

Trachoma represents the largest single cause of preventable blindness in the Black population of the Northern Transvaal. Epidemiological and cultural considerations indicate the necessity of community involvement in trachoma control at the household level. Involvement of the community by means of groups of voluntary health workers (care groups) has proved to be effective and acceptable to the local inhabitants. These groups, who form part of the comprehensive health system, integrate trachoma control into the primary health care activities of the area.

Community Health Workers↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The dilemma of the midwife--Part 2].

The author outlines the similarities and dissimilarities between nursing and midwifery and comes to the conclusion that the method of training midwives as part of the general nursing curriculum has advantages and disadvantages; advantages such as time, cost and manpower savings; disadvantages such as integrated course content, and lack of sufficient practical experience before graduating. Simulations can help with the latter, but do not provide sufficient skills to handle real situations. The author proposes post-basic midwifery internship; improved training; and broadening the functions of the midwife to include training and supervision of voluntary community workers and traditional birth attendants.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1995

Midwifery in Indonesia: a professional snapshot.

In 1988, Indonesia had the highest maternal mortality rate in South East Asia, but the Government's commitment to reducing this has already demonstrated a measure of success. Initiatives include: use of voluntary healthcare workers (kaders) in the local community family planning initiatives raising awareness of the status of women in society by the appointment of a Minister for Women's Affairs. The commitment of both the government and midwives to promoting safe motherhood in Indonesia should make a significant contribution to achieving the WHO aim of halving the maternal mortality rate by the year 2000.

Female↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A Kenyan experience.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1994

[Relationship between maximum arterial pressure response to exercise and left ventricular hypertrophy in normotensive subjects].

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: To determine whether normotensive persons with increases of systolic blood pressure with exercise have left ventricular hypertrophy and/or diastolic disfunction. METHODS: A cross-sectional study, using echocardiography as a measurement of left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic disfunction, was made among healthy population: 53 men, voluntary office workers from a firm and conscript army recruits, aged between 19 and 51 (mean 28, SD = 10.3) who were subjected to the exercise test and the echocardiography. RESULTS: Twelve people (22.6%) with left ventricular mass index superior to 134 g/m2; and five (9.4%) with a systolic response during exercise higher than 210 mm of Hg. The multiple linear regression showed an association between maximum systolic blood pressure with exercise and the left ventricular mass index in the entire group of subjects (R2 = 18.4%: p < 0.01), but a modification effect with age was detected: no association was found (R2 = 2.8%; p = 0.37) among people under 25 (n = 30), but one was found among the older subjects (R2 = 28.8%; p < 0.01). Diastolic disfunction was associated with age, baseline heart rate and resting diastolic blood pressure (R2 = 64.3%; p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In normotensive subjects, the finding of an exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise could be related to left ventricular hypertrophy.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Short-term effect of a cultural adaptation of voluntary counseling and testing among female sex workers in China: a quasi-experimental trial.

This study evaluates the efficacy of cultural adaptation of a voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) intervention, in increasing condom use and decreasing rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among a group of female sex workers (FSWs) in Guangxi, China. This intervention is modeled after the "state-of-the-science" VCT program that was developed and evaluated by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Project RESPECT. Four hundred FSWs were assigned to either an intervention group receiving the VCT intervention or a control group receiving standard of care STD testing and treatment. Data were collected at baseline and 6 months postintervention. Outcome measures included HIV/STD related knowledge and perceptions, condom use, and history of STDs. Five common STDs were screened and tested through clinical examination and laboratory testing to serve as biomarkers. After controlling for potential confounders and baseline differences, the VCT intervention group was significantly higher than the control group in HIV/STD related knowledge (p < .0001) and consistent condom use with clients (odds ration [OR] = 2.23; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.26-3.96) at 6 months follow-up. In addition, the intervention group had a significantly lower infection rate of STDs than the control group at follow-up (OR = 0.44; 95% CI = 0.24-0.80). This quasi-experimental trial provides evidence that the brief VCT intervention, through appropriate cultural adaptation, can be efficacious in increasing condom use and reducing STD infection rate among FSWs in China.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Corporate response to reproductive hazards in the workplace: results of the Family, Work, and Health Survey.

As a part of a Family, Work, and Health Survey, we analyzed corporate practices regarding reproductive hazards in the chemical and electronics manufacturing industries in Massachusetts. Over half of the 198 firms surveyed had at least one of four designated reproductive hazards in use. Among these firms, 57% provided information on reproductive risks to employees. Nearly 20% of companies excluded certain classes of workers from substances, work areas, or occupations on the basis of reproductive health concerns. Another 13% offered voluntary transfers to workers concerned about reproductive risks. With one exception, all restrictions and transfers applied to women only--even when scientific evidence supports potential reproductive risk to both sexes. Analysis of corporate practices by industry type, and size, gender stratification, and unionization of the workforce was carried out. Results of the survey raise important public health concerns about corporate practices that may restrict women's job opportunities on the basis of reproductive status while underprotecting the health of male workers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Working people who also care for the elderly.

The workforce of a district health authority in south east England was surveyed using two successive postal questionnaires, to determine how many of them had outside work caring commitments to elderly persons. Details of the services and supports received by care receivers and caregivers were further analysed and ways in which worker-carers could be assisted by employers and work colleagues were explored. Fourteen per cent of this workforce had outside work commitments to caring for elderly people (17% of part-time workers and 12% of full-time workers). Worker-carers were usually female, older than non-carers, working part-time and earning low incomes. They tended to be caring for elderly female relatives, living close by, and approximately half were unaided by statutory or voluntary services. Worker-carers' support was mainly from family and friends. At work a supportive and accepting attitude from colleagues and line-managers was valued, as were part-time jobs and flexihours. Seventy-eight per cent of worker-carers wanted to continue with their dual roles. More attention, particularly within the work environment, needs to be paid to ways of supporting working people who also care for the elderly.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Weight management in primary care: how can it be made more effective?

Obesity is often difficult to tackle in primary care. Pressure of time in the consultation, a lack of appropriately-trained primary care staff, a shortage of community dietitians or nutritionists, the potentially enormous caseload, language or cultural barriers and the sheer intractability of patients' eating habits, exercise behaviour and their clinical condition, all conspire to make general practitioners, other team members and often the patients themselves lose heart and stop even trying. However, there are ways of overcoming these difficulties. Examples of changes that evidence suggests are able to support and enhance basic one-to-one interventions in general practice include: improved clinical guidelines; better training of primary care staff; at-risk patient registers; smarter database search tools; new quality incentives; closer working with dietitians, counsellors and pharmacists; more hospital outreach clinics; designated general practitioner specialists and practice clustering; expanded exercise referral schemes and links with leisure providers; subsidised referral to commercial slimming groups; better use of patient groups and voluntary and community workers. The present paper describes a proposed 'triple-tier' pathway for weight management incorporating most of the elements mentioned earlier. With a more joined-up and creative approach to the development and organisation of primary care, more comprehensive training and workforce planning, and better integration with social care, voluntary groups and the commercial sector, weight management in general practice has the potential to be much more effective.

Combined Modality Therapy↗
PubMed1990

Creating a new drug service in Edinburgh.

After one year Edinburgh's Community Drug Problem Service has shown that if psychiatric services offer consultation and regular support for drug users many general practitioners will share the care of such patients and prescribe for them, under contract conditions, whether the key worker is a community psychiatric nurse or a drug worker from a voluntary agency. This seems to apply whether the prescribing is part of a "harm reduction" strategy over a long period or whether it is a short period of methadone substitution treatment. Given the 50% prevalence of HIV infection among drug users in the Edinburgh area and the fact that only half of them have been tested for seropositivity, the health and care of this demanding group of young people with a chaotic lifestyle are better shared among primary care, community based drug workers, and specialist community drugs team than treated exclusively by a centralised hospital drug dependency unit. As the progression to AIDS is predictable in a larger proportion of drug users who are positive for HIV, there is an even greater need for coordinated care between specialists and community agencies in the near future.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

A new trend in the study of low back pain in workplaces.

In 1996, the number of low back pain (LBP) cases totaled 5,162 in Japan, accounting for 60% of the total number of officially recognized cases of occupational diseases. In recent decades, the number of LBP cases, however, has been gradually decreasing. The rate of this decrease is slower in non-manufacturing industries than in other sectors, while the prevalence rate of LBP has tended to increase among workers in tertiary industries in 1995 and 1996. Epidemiological studies have clarified that workplace factors of LBP include not only the handling of heavy materials, but also unnatural postures, sudden and unexpected motions, and individual worker's characteristics. It was, therefore, suggested that comprehensive countermeasures to prevent LBP be undertaken on the basis of work environmental control, work management practice, and health care. The Labor Ministry of Japan issued guidelines for the prevention of LBP in 1994, in which various factors in the work environment, the importance of readiness for motion, standardization of work procedures, and exercise before work were newly outlined. In addition to the psychophysical and biomechanical models of LBP so far reported, established findings of physiological studies on muscle tone and postural reflexes have been conceptually introduced into the guidelines. Such physiological findings are essential for the mechanistic elucidation of work-related LBP and the preparation of its countermeasures, as LBP can also be caused by sudden and unexpected motions as well as various environmental factors. Physical and mental readiness to cope with changes in voluntary motions is a prerequisite for the prevention of LBP in daily work, which constitutes time-sequential changes in posture and motion under various environmental conditions. This paper critically reviews the workplace factors of LBP, its models for evaluating the workload on the body, and environmental risk factors with reference to the neural control of muscle contraction underlying the voluntary motion of workers.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗
PubMed2005

Paraprofessionals for anxiety and depressive disorders.

BACKGROUND: The established mental health care system does not have the resources to meet the extensive need for care of those with anxiety and depressive disorders. Paraprofessionals partially replacing professionals may be cost-effective. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effectiveness of any kind of psychological treatment for anxiety and depressive disorders performed by paraprofessionals compared with professionals, waiting list or placebo condition. To examine whether the results apply to clinically significant anxiety and depressive disorders of referred patients with a psychiatric history and/or whose illness has lasted two years or more. SEARCH STRATEGY: CCDANCTR-Studies using the following terms: (paraprofessional* or para-professional* or non-professional* or non-professional* or peer or volunt*); EMBASE (ExerptaMedica), MEDLINE and PsycINFO, all years published, key words: para-/paraprofessional, non-/nonprofessional, rand*, respectively psy*; citation lists of articles reviewing the subject and included studies; correspondence with authors of controlled studies and review reports on the subject. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials that used symptom measures, and compared the effects of psychological treatments given by paraprofessionals (mental health care workers, paid or voluntary, unqualified with respect to the psychological treatment) with psychological treatments given by professionals, and with waiting list or placebo condition. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: The standard mean difference was used to pool continuous data from each trial, and odds ratios were used to pool dichotomous data, using a random effects model. The generic inverse variance method was used for combining continuous and dichotomous data. The effect of low quality studies and the use of self-rated versus observer-rated measures were tested, and subgroup analyses were performed for differences between depression and anxiety diagnosis, paraprofessionals with/without professional background, group/individual intervention, length of follow-up and gender (post-hoc subgroup analysis). MAIN RESULTS: Five studies, all using self-report measures, reported five comparisons of paraprofessionals versus professionals (n=106) and five comparisons of paraprofessionals versus control condition (n=220). No differences were found between paraprofessionals and professionals (SMD=0.09, 95% CI -0.23 to 0.40, p=0.58; no significant heterogeneity). Studies comparing paraprofessionals versus control reported mixed continuous and dichotomous data showed a significant pooled effect in favour of paraprofessionals (OR=0.34, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.88, p=0.03), but heterogeneity was indicated (I(2)=60.9%, Chi(2)= 10.24, df=4, p=0.04). After correction for heterogeneity and removing one study of low quality, the pooling of data from three studies (n=128; mixed gender and women only) indicated no significant difference in effect between paraprofessionals and professionals (SMD=0.13, 95% CI -0.39 to 0.64; p=0.63) and a strongly significant pooled effect for three studies (n=188; women only) favouring paraprofessionals over the control condition (OR=0.30, 95% CI 0.18 to 0.48, p<0.00001), and homogeneity indicated between studies (I(2)=0%, Chi(2)=0.47, df=2, p=0.79). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The few studies included in the review did not allow conclusions about the effect of paraprofessionals compared to professionals. Pooling data from three studies, involving women only, indicated a significant effect for paraprofessionals (all volunteers) compared to no treatment. The evidence to date may justify the development and evaluation of programs incorporating paraprofessionals in treatment programs for anxiety and depressive disorders.

Allied Health Personnel↗
PubMed1998

Evaluating parent support initiatives: lessons from two case studies.

This study describes the characteristics of clients referred to two UK parent support initiatives - Newpin and Home-Start - and documents key aspects of the referral process and clients' responses to the help provided. Data were collected from referral records on 214 families referred during 1992 to four Newpin centres and 349 families referred between April 1994 and March 1995 to four Home-Start schemes. Families were sent questionnaires. Qualitative interview data were collected from a sub-sample of families and from staff and referrers in the Newpin study; volunteers and referrers completed questionnaires in the Home-Start study. Socially disadvantaged families were less likely to return the study questionnaires. The kinds of families and problems referred to the two organizations were very similar. Mothers' loneliness and low emotional well-being were the main reasons for referral; children at risk represented a small part of the caseload. Both Newpin and Home-Start respondents had low levels of support from family and friends. Most referrals were made by health visitors, and there was a significant problem of non use among referred families. Most users of Newpin and Home-Start were enthusiastic about the help provided. Common difficulties in family life, such as poverty, stress and low social support, make up an increasing part of the workload of health professionals and social workers, and of voluntary sector initiatives for supporting parents. This study raises questions about the claims such initiatives may make about their effectiveness in reaching and providing help to 'at risk' families. Further evaluation of such schemes is needed to provide a sound evidence-base for policy and purchasing decisions.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1995

Usher syndrome: increasing awareness in Scotland.

In July 1993, professionals from a number of European countries met at the 7th European Usher Syndrome Study Group. The purpose of the Study Group (which meets on a biannual basis) is to give professionals working in this specialized field the opportunity to share ideas and examples of their work. People attending included medical practitioners, social service workers, representatives from voluntary bodies and individuals with Usher. The following article is an expanded version of a paper presented at the Study Group. It describes the development of a 3 hour workshop for the wide range of practitioners a child or young person with Usher syndrome may meet. Through group work, positive approaches to working through the personal and practical implications of Usher syndrome are explored.

Activities of Daily Living↗