Kyoung A Nam

Effectiveness of a Stroke Risk Self-Management Intervention for Adults with Prehypertension

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a community-based intervention for prehypertensive adults, to enhance stroke risk awareness and to adopt a preventive lifestyle for primary stroke prevention. METHODS This was a single-blinded, repeated measures quasi-experimental study with 47 participants (23 in the experimental group and 24 in the control group) recruited through convenience sampling from two urban areas. The stroke risk self-management intervention consisted of three weekly, 2-hour, face-to-face sessions and two booster telephone sessions, utilizing strategies to enhance motivation for behavioral changes based on the Self-Determination Theory. All participants completed a pretest, a 1-month and a 3-month post test of stroke risk awareness and preventive lifestyle including blood pressure self-monitoring, healthy diet, and regular physical activity. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square test, two sample t test, repeated measures analysis of variance, and Friedman test with PASW Statistics 18.0. RESULTS After the intervention, significant improvements were found in the experimental group for stroke risk awareness, blood pressure self-monitoring and regular physical activity, and were sustained over time. CONCLUSIONS Our preliminary results indicate that the stroke risk self-management intervention is feasible and associated with improvement in self-management of stroke risk factors for primary stroke prevention among a prehypertensive population.

Effects of a Brief Empowerment Program for Families of Persons with Mental Illness in South Korea: A Pilot Study

ABSTRACT Families of persons with mental illness (PMIs) are considered important resources for PMIs rather than as contributors to their mental illness. However, these families experience not only the burden of caregiving but also social stigma and discrimination in various aspects of their lives, and their psychosocial needs tend to be overlooked. This was a pilot study to explore the effects of a brief empowerment program on the empowerment and quality of life of families of PMIs in South Korea. A repeated-measures design with a control group and pre/post-follow-up testing was used. We enrolled 18 participants (experimental group = 9, control group = 9). The experimental group participated in an empowerment program consisting of four sessions over 4 weeks. Data were collected before and after the program, and again 4 weeks later. The χ2-test, Fishers exact probability test, t-test, and repeated-measures analysis of covariance were used, as appropriate, to analyze data. The program significantly increased empowerment (F = 4.66, p = .020) and quality of life (F = 5.83, p = .009) among participants in the experimental group over time. Its therapeutic features, such as sharing their experiences, discussion, and presentations, can be applied to create effective psychosocial interventions for families of PMIs.

Psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Adapted Index of Self-Efficacy (PRAISE) for individuals with COPD

Purpose Self-efficacy is related to the emotional functioning and coping skills of an individual and is thought to be a predictor of health behaviors, which are particularly important for pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). To our knowledge, no measure of self-efficacy has been validated to explore behavior changes in the context of PR for patients with COPD in Korea. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Adapted Index of Self-Efficacy (PRAISE). Patients and methods The original scale, developed and validated by Vincent et al was translated into Korean through a process involving forward and back translation of the original scale, and transcultural adaptation was performed following the structured procedure. Content validity was assessed by a panel of 6 expert judges. In a convenience sample of 118 patients with COPD, exploratory factor analysis using principal axis factoring, followed by oblique rotation was conducted to identify construct validity, and the concurrent validity was evaluated by testing correlations between the PRAISE and 6-minute walking distance test and the PRAISE and Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire results. Internal consistency was examined by calculating Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Results Exploratory factor analysis confirmed the 2-dimensional structure of the scale constructed from the original 15-item scale. The final scale was composed of 14 items that cumulatively explained 60.3% of the total variance. The 2 factors in the scale were named “general self-efficacy” and “exercise self-efficacy.” Significant correlations between the PRAISE, and 6-minute walking distance test and Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire showed the concurrent validity of the PRAISE. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the PRAISE was 0.93. Conclusion The Korean version of the PRAISE showed adequate construct validity and reliability. These results suggest that the PRAISE is suitable for use in clinical settings as a predictor of PR behavior in Korean patients with COPD.

Development of a home-based self-management support intervention to enhance pulmonary rehabilitation for the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

In terms of the maintenance of all the benefits from pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, self-management has recently been highlighted. However, agreement regarding process and content of selfmanagement is lacking. Also, the home-based intervention has been suggested as a practical approach in resource limited settings, ensuring voluntary participation of patients and maintenance of benefits from PR. In light of this, the purpose of this study was to develop a home-based self-management support intervention to enhance PR of COPD patients in Korea. The home-based self-management support intervention has been developed as follows:S cognition, defined as cognitive processes specifically engaged in interactions with others, is one of the seven domains of cognition commonly impaired in schizophrenia. Recent studies suggest an important impact of social cognition deficits on social functioning, and promising effects of specific cognitive remediation on those deficits. Social cognition is a composite domain and five different processes are consensually identified: emotional processing, theory of mind, attributional style, social perception and social knowledge. Social cognition remediation interventions can be classified as large (programs including neuro cognitive, social cognition and social abilities training) global (programs taking into account of all components of social cognition) or targeted on one process. We propose to present GAIA s-face, an individual social cognition remediation, computer assisted, program targeted on facial affects recognition, and the first results on social cognition processes, symptoms and social functioning of a controlled randomised study which has compared GAIA s-face with a cognitive remediation of attentional processes program.Methods: A pre-experimental study with quantitative approach was undertaken on 45 care givers of CKD patients with the objective to study the improvement in competency regarding home regarding home care of care-givers of patients with CRF through administration of an instructional program and information booklet which would help the care givers of CRF patients to enhance their knowledge and skills regarding care at home.Methods: This is an interventional two group (test and control) study on 70 heart failure referring patients in Hazrate Fatemeh Heart Clinic in Shiraz. After convenience sampling, patients were divided into two control and test groups by block randomization method. The intervention based on family-center empowerment model performed during 5 sessions. Research tools are lifestyle and demographic information questioners. Regarding the research aims, chi-square, independent T-tests, and paired T-tests were used for analyzing data.Introduction. The concept of sense of personal competence (self-efficacy) is the belief that man is able to carry out specific activities and is competent to achieve the desired objectives. Aim. The aim of the study was to compare the sense of personal competence among lower secondary school students living in rural and urban areas. Material and methods. The study was conducted in late September and October 2014, in two secondary schools in Małopolska from rural and urban areas. The study group was 160 students. The research are presented in this paper relate to the sense of self-efficacy, in other words, a sense of personal competence of students. The research tool was KompOs — Personal Competence Scale. Results. Many students residing in the city had an average level of self-efficacy. Respondents living in the village are characterized by higher rates of high self-efficacy. UC patients need to pay more attention on infection control due to the undergo chemotherapy. From January to December 2012, the infection rate was 3.2 ‰ in our ward, higher than the hospital threshold 2.0 ‰. Analyzed the current situation found that the reasons were: (1) insufficient care knowledge among nurses; (2) lacked of in-service education and effective tools for health education; (3) did not have standardized procedure and monitoring sheet; (4) the rigid monitoring system; (5) lacked of Port-A technical teaching aids and standardized procedure video; and (6) inadequate home care knowledge of Port-A among patients. The improvement strategies included: (1) established the Port-A injection standard procedure; (2) produced a Port-A injection model; (3) created the injection technique educational films; (4) organized in-service training; (5) developed promotional posters and imaged health education leaflets; and (6) established port-A placement techniques OSCE assessment system. After the project, the Port-A infection rate was reduced from 3.2 ‰ to 1.2 ‰. The result indicated that the implementation of the project can effectively reduce port-A infection rate, thus, improve the patient safety and clinical care quality.T is a limit to provide clinical practice to improve the clinical performance of students in nursing education through simulation, which plays an important role in problem-based learning. The purpose of this study is to develop simulation education based on problem-based learning scenarios in order to verify the effect. Problem-based learning integrated with simulation education was to develop eight modules through a review of the literature; there were abdominal pain, stroke, hypoglycemia, urinary difficulty, trauma, mild dyspnea, arrhythmia and epilepsy. The participants were 32 nursing students who agree to participate in study. They had an orientation for 3 hours, and simulation education for 3 hours per each module, which lasted for 8 weeks. Pretest and post-tests were administered. The participants were asked to work in group, which consisted of 4 students. Understanding inter personal relationships, problem solving process, the nursing process self-confidence was measured immediately before applying simulation education. All students were female with an average age of 23.28 years. The interpersonal understanding the simulation after simulation education around the 41.84 points to 42.28 points higher education changes. Problem solving process before that was changed from 100.94 to 108.00 points higher scores after education. The nursing process self-confidence simulation education courses confidence around the 3.09 point to 3.78 points higher education changes after simulation. This study suggests extending the range of simulation education since there was improvement in inter personal understanding and problem solving process, there was increase of self-confidence in the nursing process from simulation training.