Lifestyle Interventions in Primary Health Care: Professional and Organizational Challenges.
Lifestyle interventions in primary health care: professional and organizational challenges.
Eur J Public Health. 2013 May 30;
Kardakis T, Weinehall L, Jerdén L, Nyström ME, Johansson H
BACKGROUND: Interventions that support patient efforts at lifestyle changes that reduce tobacco use, hazardous use of alcohol, unhealthy eating habits and insufficient physical activity represent important areas of development for health care. Current research shows that it is challenging to reorient health care toward health promotion. The aim of this study was to explore the extent of health care professional work with lifestyle interventions in Swedish primary health care, and to describe professional knowledge, attitudes and perceived organizational support for lifestyle interventions. METHODS: The study is based on a cross-sectional Web-based survey directed at general practitioners, other physicians, residents, public health nurses and registered nurses (n = 315) in primary health care. RESULTS: Fifty-nine percent of the participants indicated that lifestyle interventions were a substantial part of their duties. A majority (77%) would like to work more with patient lifestyles. Health professionals generally reported a thorough knowledge of lifestyle intervention methods for disease prevention. Significant differences between professional groups were found with regard to specific knowledge and extent of work with lifestyle interventions. Alcohol was the least addressed lifestyle habit. Management was supportive, but structures to sustain work with lifestyle interventions were scarce, and a need for national guidelines was identified. CONCLUSIONS: Health professionals reported thorough knowledge and positive attitudes toward lifestyle interventions. When planning for further implementation of lifestyle interventions in primary health care, differences between professional groups in knowledge, extent of work with promotion of healthy lifestyles and lifestyle issues and provision of organizational support such as national guidelines should be considered. HubMed – eating
Do attitudes, intentions and actions of school food coordinators regarding public organic food procurement policy improve the eating environment at school? Results from the iPOPY study.
Public Health Nutr. 2013 May 31; 1-9
He C, Perez-Cueto FJ, Mikkelsen BE
OBJECTIVE: The present study investigates whether public organic food procurement policies have the potential to induce changes in the school food service environment. DESIGN: A comparative cross-national survey was conducted in public primary and/or secondary schools in Finland, Germany and Italy. The school food coordinators completed a web-based questionnaire on their attitudes, intentions and actions towards organic school food provision. SETTING: In Germany, 122 out of 2050 schools in the state of Hesse responded. In Finland, 250 out of 998 schools across the country responded. In Italy, 215 out of 940 schools from eight provinces responded. SUBJECTS: School food coordinators in the sample of schools in the three countries. RESULTS: The German and Finnish school food coordinators separately most agreed with the promotion of healthy eating habits (P < 0·001) and organic food (P < 0·001) by schools. The Finnish schools were most likely to adopt a food and nutrition policy (P < 0·001), a health-promoting school policy according to WHO principles (P < 0·001), to have a playground (P < 0·001), to involve physical activity themes in teaching (P = 0·012) and to have a canteen (P < 0·001). The Italian schools were most likely to involve the food and nutrition policy in pedagogical activities (P = 0·004), to serve nutritional school meals (P < 0·001) and to recommend children to eat healthily (P < 0·001). In the three countries, the non-organic schools were less likely to adopt a food and nutrition policy (P < 0·001), a WHO health-promoting policy (P < 0·001) and have a canteen (P = 0·017) than the organic schools. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests that there is a gap in the effects of public organic food procurement policy on building a healthier school food environment. HubMed – eating
The MOSAIC study – comparison of the Maudsley Model of Treatment for Adults with Anorexia Nervosa (MANTRA) with Specialist Supportive Clinical Management (SSCM) in outpatients with anorexia nervosa or eating disorder not otherwise specified, anorexia nervosa type: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
Trials. 2013 May 30; 14(1): 160
Schmidt U, Renwick B, Lose A, Kenyon M, Dejong H, Broadbent H, Loomes R, Watson C, Ghelani S, Serpell L, Richards L, Johnson-Sabine E, Boughton N, Whitehead L, Beecham J, Treasure J, Landau S
BACKGROUND: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a biologically based serious mental disorder with high levels of mortality and disability, physical and psychological morbidity and impaired quality of life. AN is one of the leading causes of disease burden in terms of years of life lost through death or disability in young women. Psychotherapeutic interventions are the treatment of choice for AN, but the results of psychotherapy depend critically on the stage of the illness. The treatment response in adults with a chronic form of the illness is poor and drop-out from treatment is high. Despite the seriousness of the disorder the evidence-base for psychological treatment of adults with AN is extremely limited and there is no leading treatment. There is therefore an urgent need to develop more effective treatments for adults with AN. The aim of the Maudsley Outpatient Study of Treatments for Anorexia Nervosa and Related Conditions (MOSAIC) is to evaluate the efficacy and cost effectiveness of two outpatient treatments for adults with AN, Specialist Supportive Clinical Management (SSCM) and the Maudsley Model of Treatment for Adults with Anorexia Nervosa (MANTRA). METHODS: 138 patients meeting the inclusion criteria are randomly assigned to one of the two treatment groups (MANTRA or SSCM). All participants receive 20 once-weekly individual therapy sessions (with 10 extra weekly sessions for those who are severely ill) and four follow-up sessions with monthly spacing thereafter. There is also optional access to a dietician and extra sessions involving a family member or a close other. Body weight, eating disorder- related symptoms, neurocognitive and psychosocial measures, and service use data are measured during the course of treatment and across a one year follow up period. The primary outcome measure is body mass index (BMI) taken at twelve months after randomization. DISCUSSION: This multi-center study provides a large sample size, broad inclusion criteria and a follow-up period. However, the study has to contend with difficulties directly related to running a large multi-center randomized controlled trial and the psychopathology of AN. These issues are discussed.Trial Registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN67720902 – A Maudsley outpatient study of treatments for anorexia nervosa and related conditions. HubMed – eating