The most effective method for prevention of diabetes in a pre-diabetic patient is improvement in life style. Thus, methods of nursing management rely on diabetes prevention education. A pre-diabetic patient needs to receive accurate diagnosis and undergo regular checkups focusing on diabetes through physician counseling. As diabetes education focuses on habit improvement including dietary therapy, exercise, and weight maintenance, efforts are needed to decrease risk factors of diabetes. Pre-diabetes education helps to prevent diabetes. Hence, general diabetes education and support should start in the pre-diabetic stage.
Counseling ; Diagnosis ; Education ; Education, Nursing* ; Exercise Therapy ; Humans ; Life Style ; Methods ; Nursing* ; Risk Factors

INTRODUCTIONAsthma is a common childhood disease, and paediatric patients with asthma rely on caregivers to administer domiciliary asthma care. This study aimed to explore the knowledge, understanding, perceptions and main concerns of caregivers and its influence on their home management of children with asthma.

METHODSData from 14 caregivers of children with asthma was collected during three focus group discussions held in two polyclinics in Singapore. The collected data was analysed using standard content analysis and classified into themes.

RESULTSThe caregivers' main concerns included the perceived effects of infection, food and exercise on children with asthma. Several caregivers considered the disease to be infectious and had a lower threshold for physician consultation, as they believed that any delay in treating the infection would be detrimental to the child's health. Some also perceived asthma to be episodic and self-limiting, and that their children could 'outgrow' it. Many caregivers believed that asthma could be modified by abstinence from, or intake of, certain foods. Others had the perception that sports, including swimming, would worsen asthma. These perceptions resulted in unnecessary restrictions of the children's diet and activities. Most caregivers were unaware of influenza vaccination as a preventive measure to reduce triggers due to respiratory viral infections.

CONCLUSIONWe found that the caregivers' perceptions of asthma aetiology, its triggers and preventive measures affected their help-seeking behaviour and care of children with asthma. Healthcare professionals managing paediatric patients with asthma should recognise such caregiver misperceptions, and take a proactive approach to rectify and bridge the gaps in caregivers' knowledge and understanding of the disease.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Asthma ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Caregivers ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Exercise ; Female ; Focus Groups ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Influenza Vaccines ; therapeutic use ; Influenza, Human ; prevention & control ; Male ; Patient Education as Topic ; methods ; Singapore ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of expanding training on the mental health of the prisoners and to provide the references to the innovation of the mental health education for the prisoners. METHODS: Questionnaire, observation, interview and mathematical statistic analysis were used. 100 male and 100 female prisoners from two prisons in East China were investigated by Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90). RESULTS: Eight of the ten factors in SCL-90 showed the level of statistically significance, which includes obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, compulsion, hostility, psychoticism and others. Expanding training could be helpful to improve the mental health of the prisoners. CONCLUSION Expanding training can be used in mental health education of the prisoners.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Anxiety/therapy* ; Emotions ; Exercise Therapy/methods* ; Female ; Health Education/methods* ; Humans ; Interpersonal Relations ; Male ; Mental Disorders/therapy* ; Mental Health ; Middle Aged ; Prisoners/psychology* ; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: This study was done to determine the effects of weight management program using self-efficacy in middle-aged obese women. The study also attempted to measure the effects of the program on the weight efficacy lifestyle, body composition, and depression. METHOD: The research design of this study was a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The experimental group consisted of 21 middle-aged obese women and another 21 middle-aged obese women in the control group. The women in the experimental group participated in the weight management program for 12 weeks using self-efficacy. The weight management program using self-efficacy included education on effects of exercise for weight control, aerobic exercise program, muscle training and counseling through the telephone. RESULTS: After 12 weeks of participation in the program, BMI (p<.0001), body fat % (p<.0001), abdominal fat (p<.0001), in the experimental group were significantly decreased compared to the control group. Weight self-efficacy lifestyle (p<.0001) and depression (p=.006) in the experimental group were significantly improved after the program compared to the control group. According to these findings, weight management program self-efficacy for middle-aged obese women could increase weight efficacy lifestyle, and decrease depression, BMI, body fat, and abdominal fat. CONCLUSION: The result also suggested that the increasing weight efficacy and lifestyle help the obese women to perform and continue exercise. This program could be used in the community such as public health center for weight care and mental health promotion of middle-aged obese women.
Adult ; Body Composition ; Body Mass Index ; Body Weight ; Chi-Square Distribution ; Counseling/organization & administration ; Depression/complications/*prevention & control/psychology ; Exercise Therapy/*methods ; Female ; Humans ; *Life Style ; Lipids/blood ; Middle Aged ; Nursing Evaluation Research ; Obesity/blood/complications/*prevention & control/psychology ; Patient Education as Topic/*organization & administration ; Program Evaluation ; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales ; Questionnaires ; *Self Efficacy ; Telephone

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study were to investigate the effects of a 12-week brisk walking program on triglycerides (TG) and apolipoprotein B (Apo B) and to compare these effects to those of a brisk walking plus diet program in middle-aged overweight/obese (BMI> or =23) Korean women with hypertriglyceridemia. METHOD: This analysis was done with nineteen middle-aged overweight/obese Korean women who completed either the brisk walking program (9 women) or the brisk walking plus diet program (10 women) for 12 weeks. The brisk walking consisted of walking for 20 to 50 minutes/day at an intensity of 40 to 70% of heart rate reserve (HRR) for 3 to 6 days/week. The diet consisted of 60 minutes of group education and 20 to 30 minutes of individual counseling every week. TG and Apo B were assessed pre- and post-intervention. RESULTS: TG and Apo B decreased significantly after the brisk walking program (Z = -2.31, p = 0.021; Z = -2.59, p = 0.009). TG and Apo B lowering effects of the brisk walking program were not significantly different from those of the brisk walking plus diet program (U = 37.0, p = 0.549; U = 42.0, p = 0.842). CONCLUSION: Brisk walking can be an effective intervention for overweight/obese middle-aged women with hypertriglyceridemia in reducing cardiovascular risk by lowering TG and Apo B levels. Adding diet to brisk walking may have no additional significant effects on changes in TG and Apo B.
Adult ; Apolipoproteins B/blood ; Body Mass Index ; Cardiovascular Diseases/etiology/prevention & control ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Counseling/organization & administration ; Diet, Fat-Restricted/*methods ; Energy Intake ; Exercise Test ; Exercise Therapy/education/*methods ; Female ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hypertriglyceridemia/blood/complications/epidemiology/*prevention & control ; Korea/epidemiology ; Middle Aged ; Nursing Evaluation Research ; Obesity/complications/epidemiology/*prevention & control ; Patient Education as Topic/organization & administration ; Prevalence ; Risk Reduction Behavior ; Triglycerides/blood ; *Walking