In this study, we test the assumption that sociocultural differences in use of health services will only occur below a certain level of illness severity. Data are derived from the Curaçao Health Study (n = 2248). Subjects' educational level and degree of proto-professionalization are used as indicators of their sociocultural background. Differences in the likelihood of seeking professional care...

INTRODUCTION Chronically ill patients have to take several medications and non-adherence to treatment can lead to severe and negative outcomes. Therefore, several interventions are suggested in literature to improve adherence rates in clinical practice. Adherence to treatment can be particularly troublesome in adolescents, who strive for autonomy and self-care independence. Literature suggests ...

BACKGROUND Prevalence of hypertension in patients with type 2 diabetes is two to three times more than nondiabetic patients. This study aimed at assessing the impacts of an educational program based on BASNEF Model on blood pressure modification among diabetic patients with hypertension. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two hundred patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited in an educational intervent...

BACKGROUND Self-management education (SME) is an important yet unacknowledged aspect of diabetes care. Despite the raise of diabetes and its complications with significant burden in developing countries, research on SME interventions in Morocco is lacking. AIMS To assess the effectiveness of a culturally tailored SME intervention on foot-care self-management practices among type 2 diabetes pa...

OBJECTIVE In this study, we systematically reviewed the effectiveness of educational interventions falling within the scope of occupational therapy practice for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). These interventions included disease education, joint protection and energy conservation, psychosocial techniques, pain management, and a combination category. METHOD Two databases, MEDLINE and C...

We describe preliminary research on devising intelligent agents that can improve the educational effectiveness of collaborative, educational computer games. We illustrate how these agents can overcome some of the shortcomings of educational games by explicitly monitoring how students interact with the games, by modeling both the students’ cognitive and emotional states, and by generating calibr...

BACKGROUND Good patient-pharmacist communication improves health outcomes. There is, however, room for improving pharmacists' communication skills. These develop through complex interactions during undergraduate pharmacy education, practice-based learning and continuing professional development. Research is needed to determine how best to approach teaching patient-pharmacist communication. ME...

BACKGROUND In the United Kingdom, there are approximately 300,000 healthcare-associated infections (HCAI) annually, costing an estimated £1 billion. Up to 30% of all HCAI are potentially preventable by better application of knowledge and adherence to infection prevention procedures. Implementation of Department of Health guidelines through educational interventions has resulted in significant a...

BACKGROUND Alterations in serum biomarkers have been used to evaluate for pancreatitis in the emergency department (ED). Studies have shown lipase to be as sensitive and more specific than amylase in diagnosing pancreatitis and that amylase plus lipase does not improve accuracy over lipase alone. OBJECTIVE To determine effects of interventions to decrease ordering of amylase in the evaluation...

PURPOSE This meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effect of educational and behavioral interventions on body weight and glycemic control in type 2 diabetes. METHODS Studies selected for analysis were published randomized controlled trials that evaluated educational and behavioral interventions (no drug interventions) in type 2 diabetes (sample size > or = 10). These criteria were applied...