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In Taiwan, a temperature-monitoring campaign and hotline for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) fever were implemented in June 2003. Among 1,966 calls, fever was recorded in 19% (n = 378); 18 persons at high risk for SARS were identified. In a cross-sectional telephone survey, 95% (n = 1,060) of households knew about the campaign and 7 households reported fever.
Our evaluation using postal and interview surveys suggests that the telephone hotline service at the Swedish Poisons Information Centre ('Giftinformationscentralen') may be cost-effective for society. Advice to physicians--which was highly regarded for its speed, competence and applicability--was time-saving and facilitated better treatment. Similarly, advice direct to households eliminated many unnecessary emergency visits. Indeed, we found that the annual costs of running the centre can be completely offset by savings in health care resources. Improved outcomes, time savings for individual households, and reduced uncertainty for both households and health care staff provide additional benefits.
In 1995 we introduced a 24-h 7-day-a-week toll-free telephone service and specific guidelines to help the patients at home to reduce the risk of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) progression during intercurrent illnesses. Five years later we analysed the calls received at this emergency telephone hotline service (ETHS). From 1 January 1996 to 31 December 2001 a total of 9.125 calls was recorded (5.1 +/- 4.2 calls per day), but only 24% of them were veritable hot-line calls and were received from 767 patients or parents resulting in a mean of 2.5 +/- 0.8 calls per patient or parent. Fifty-nine percent of these users called from outside Parma's area. Their mean age (7.8 +/- 4.2 years) and duration of diabetes (2.8 +/- 1.2 years) were significantly lower (p < 0.001) and shorter (p < 0.001) compared to those (12.8 +/- 2.9 and 4.9 +/- 3.2 years respectively) found in the population which called for no-emergency reasons. Twenty-two percent of the veritable hot-line calls were received on saturdays and sundays or holidays, in the morning (25%), in the evening (59%) or during the night (16%). Telephone care has been finally demonstrated to be an useful way to provide a continuous support for patients and their families in the management of diabetes in some critical situations. ETHS helps them to achieve and maintain a better metabolic control and to avoid DKA during acute intercurrent illness and consequently hospital admissions.
Toll-free telephone hotlines operated by the states are increasingly being used by families to obtain reliable advice on their young children's health and well-being. Originally created for prenatal-care assistance alone, these lines now cover a wide range of early-childhood issues. But while the majority of the lines deliver high-quality information, promptly and empathetically, to their callers, there is still considerable room for improvement. For example, greater use could be made of experts in early-childhood services, and of knowledgeable parents, for speaking with callers and training other staff. The lines could also be made more easily accessible in several ways: through the national 800 number for childhood issues, via the more general 2-1-1 number for community-based services, and by means of a Web site for each line so that it could serve its audience at virtually any time of the day or night.
The Stichting Aids Gezonheidszorg informs the general public about the disease via the Aids hotline. The aims are twofold: 1. We want to inform and support people; if necessary, we also refer to more adequate organisations for assistance; 2. We want to know who calls us and what are the needs so that we can help in organizing prevention campaigns. In 1988 we answered 1.987 authentic calls, about the same as in 1987. To allow more people to call, the opening hours of the hot-line will be increased from September 1989 onwards. 70% of the callers are men, 28% women. We notice two important subgroups: people who visit prostitutes and male homosexuals. Most callers are between 26 and 40 years old. Also more young people under 25 called last year. Prostitutes and I.V. drug users however rarely called. A lot of people call because they think to have run some risk. Therefore most questions deal with sexual transmission and blood tests. The number of people who had their blood tested is rather small. Most of them are homosexuals or visitors of prostitutes. This last group is most acquainted with the use of a condom, more than homosexuals and heterosexuals. Still a rather big percentage of people from all groups never use a condom. Therefore efficient campaigns are highly necessary.
Most former cigarette smokers in the United States have stopped without formal assistance. However, a large proportion of smokers desire and seek help other than by attending formal programs. It is important to recognize what factors are likely to influence the effectiveness of smoking cessation attempts among these persons. The authors report results of a prospective cohort study of 1,552 smokers who called a stop smoking hotline to request self-help smoking cessation information. The participants were classified into three groups based on reports at the 6-month followup: 242 quitters, 497 recidivists, and 813 nonquitters. Baseline and followup data were used to evaluate three comparisons: quitters versus nonquitters, quitters versus recidivists, and recidivists versus nonquitters. Nonquitters appear to be less motivated and more doubtful of their abilities to quit successfully compared with the other two groups. Quitters appear to live in a supportive environment for smoking cessation. Heavier smokers are more hesitant to try to quit, but once they make an attempt they are as likely to succeed as lighter smokers, when other factors are kept constant. Efforts to promote environments supportive of smoking cessation are likely to result in a larger number of successful quitters. Similarly, efforts to strengthen motivation and belief in personal ability to quit are likely to encourage more nonquitters to attempt to stop smoking. Finally, it appears that some smokers need a previous quit attempt before they are able to maintain cessation successfully.
In order to justify dedicated staff for night calls, improve the quality of our handling of these calls, and qualify for certification by the AAPCC, we sought an alternative to hiring dedicated night staff. We offered our certified staff members the opportunity to fulfill part of their regular duties answering night calls from home. We set them up with a computer system, dedicated telephone line, texts and consultant information. They were able to access the Poison Center hotline computer via a remote access program. A significant increase took place in the number of documented calls to the Poison Center during the midnight to 8:00 am shift. Quality of documentation also improved significantly and level of service has been complemented by callers. The remote access method is a viable way for a small Poison Center to cover the night shift with certified, reliable, capable staff. This method of call answering has solved our major problem of hiring night staff who would satisfy requirements and provide excellent service.
Faced with the challenge of providing cost effective services, administrators at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada recognized an opportunity to reduce unnecessary emergency visits. A telephone hotline was established to provide parents with reassurance and treatment guidelines that allowed them to care for their children at home.
The Center for Pulmonary and Infectious Disease Control (CPIDC), located on the campus of The University of Texas Health Center in Tyler, manages a toll-free infectious disease consultation hotline advertised to public and private physicians and to health care agencies throughout the state. From January 1994 through December 1996, as part of a statewide initiative to curb an unprecedented increase in the incidence of tuberculosis observed since 1985, a concentrated effort was made to solicit health care providers for consultation requests that involved the diagnosis and management of tuberculosis, in particular, drug-resistant varieties. During that period, 3447 calls were made to the CPIDC by 1682 physicians and nurses. While most of the calls originated from 4 major urban areas plus health care facilities along the border, calls were received from more than half of all the counties in Texas. The value of providing an infectious disease consultation service, readily available, without charge, to all members of the health care community is discussed.
The present study investigated the use of the MMPI to discriminate between two groups of hotline volunteers: those who after training would become effective interviewers and those who would not. Effective interviewers were defined as those who emitted 40% or more good responses when they were responding to a crisis call. The criterion measure employed was the Therapist Error Checklist. When a specification equation based on standard MMPI scales was used, 91% of effective interviewers and 90% of ineffective interviewers were identified correctly.
Twenty-five hotline workers were randomly assigned to three skill-training conditions. Nine microtraining subjects were trained in the use of attending behavior, open inquiry, and reflection of feeling and content using the standard microtraining paradigm. Seven programmed-learning subjects were trained in the same skills using programmed manuals and role-play interviews with feedback. The remaining nine subjects acted as a no-training control group. Pretraining and post-training interviews and telephone calls with pseudoclients were audiotaped for each subject. Subjects were assessed on empathy, the Therapist Error Checklist, attending behavior, and three modes of skill interaction. For interviews the main effect of training on each measure was significant. Both microtraining and programmed learning resulted in superior interview performance over no-training, and differed little from each other. For telephone calls microtraining resulted in higher empathy ratings than progammed learning or no-training.
As concern about physical child abuse and neglect has increased, so too has the realization that children are also sexually exploited and abused. Yet, many protective service workers are often ill prepared to perform the difficult task of treating the abused child and his/her family. Through the analysis of sexual abuse hotline reports, the central aim of this study was to generate findings that would increase the knowledge base of protective service workers and private therapists engaged in treating sexually abused children and their families. To accomplish this task, and using seven classes of variables, analysis was performed on 205 substantiated cases of childhood sexual abuse. A number of important conclusions were discovered including: One-third of the cases had been reported to the agency previously; less than one-half (48%) of the victimized children were living with their natural fathers; natural fathers were identified as the perpetrator in 39% of the cases; and in contrast to other studies, a great number of cases (43%) involved vaginal intercourse between the victim and the perpetrator. Implications for treatment are also discussed, particularly in relation to improving resources and specialized training for workers involved in this highly sensitive area of practice.
This randomized study assessed the efficacy of the Hotline fluid warner in 42 children under 10 kg, undergoing surgery of more than 1 h of duration. In all a heating mattress and a heating humidifier were also used. The decrease in core temperature was more important in children without warner (1.1 +/- 1.4 degrees C vs 0.1 +/- 0.3 degrees C in those with a warner). Efficiency of this device is demonstrated even at the low perfusion flows requested for surgery in newborns and infants.
Prevalence studies have found that problem gamblers tend to be non-Caucasians. Nevertheless, information on non-Caucasian gambling patterns and problems is virtually non-existent. Data collected during years 1992-1998 on Hispanic (N = 209) and Anglo (N = 5311) problem gamblers calling the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling Hotline for help is examined to provide information on one such non-Caucasian group: Hispanics. A sharp difference in the number of Hispanic and Anglo callers was found during this six year period (3.8% Hispanic and 96.2% Anglo). Differences were also found in the likelihood of Hispanics calling about their own problems, having gone for previous help, and types of gambling activities. Similarities were found between the two groups regarding age, marital status, and the three most cited problems caused by gambling: problems with family, inability to pay bills and going into debt. Anglos were significantly more likely to "engage in illegal activities for gambling money" and "problems with job." Group differences caution against using Anglo based prevention and treatment programs with Hispanics populations.
Physiological responses of 44 male and female undergraduates to child abuse stimuli were recorded for the purpose of making recommendations for the selection and training of child abuse hotline counselors. The Ss' heart rate, finger pulse volume, and skin resistance were measured on a dynograph while they were listening to three case histories on a tape and viewing six slides, depicting child abuse cases. Generally, the hypotheses that women have stronger reactions than men, and adults with children have stronger reactions than adults without children were supported. It was found that men tended to be less emotionally affected by exposure to child abuse stimuli and, therefore, presumably are able to deal with it with less emotional bias. A training program consisting of desensitization, mock calls, and initial supervised participation in counseling and a follow-up habituation study were suggested.
The Level 1 Hotline warmer is a new type of fluid warmer, developed specifically for use with low flows. It was found to be effective at flows between 1 ml.min-1 and 75 ml.min-1.
The national educational programme on the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) caused a dramatic increase in the number of heterosexual persons who presented for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody testing at the Albion Street (AIDS) Centre. There was also a marked increase in the number of intravenous drugs abusers who presented, although the proportion of this high-risk group that has been tested remains low. There was no increase in the number of homosexual men who presented for testing. The increase in the number of telephone calls that were received by the Centre's AIDS Hotline was due to an interest in HIV-antibody testing, rather than an interest in information about safer sexual practices. The campaign was seen to have achieved its primary objective, namely, to alert sexually-active persons of the potential spread of the virus from the high-risk groups. However, it is clear that future educational campaigns need to target specific high-risk groups such as intravenous drug abusers.
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