RESUMO
@#The flood disaster in Kelantan in 2014 had resulted in substantial health implications including increased cases of communicable diseases. There was a lack of community preparedness including customized health educations in the prevention and control of flood-related communicable diseases in the affected areas. The research was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of community-based health education modules on flood-related communicable diseases among communities in Kelantan. Health education modules focusing on major food-related diseases were developed. A non-randomized community-controlled trial using the modules were conducted. Outcomes were assessed on knowledge, attitude and preventive practice scores to flood-related communicable diseases using a pre-validated questionnaire. Independent t test was used to compare mean scores between the intervention community (Tumpat) and the control community (Bachok) at 1-month post intervention. One-way independent ANOVA test was done to compare score differences at baseline (pre), post 1-month and post 2-month from repeated surveys among random samples within the intervention community. There were significant improvements in all knowledge components from 9.4% to 52.6% with 10% increment in attitude scores toward preventing behaviours on flood-related communicable diseases. When compared against the control community at one-month post-intervention, there were significantly higher knowledge on types of diseases, symptoms and risk factors as well as practice scores of drinking safe water and protective habits. This research demonstrated that community-based health education is effective in improving relevant knowledge, attitude and preventive practices among affected communities as part of their preparedness toward communicable diseases related to flood.
RESUMO
The scientific evidences show that the content, baking methods, and types of bread can make health impacts. Bread, as a major part of Iranian diet, demonstrates a significant potential to be targeted as health promotion subject. Healthy Food for Healthy Communities (HFHC) was a project of Isfahan Healthy Heart Program (IHHP), consisting of a wide variety of strategies, like Healthy Bread (HB) Initiative. The HB Initiative was designed to improve the behaviour of both producers and consumers, mainly aiming at making high-fibre, low-salt bread, eliminating the use of baking soda, providing enough rest time for dough before baking (at least one hour), and enough baking time (at least one minute in oven). A workshop was held for volunteer bakers, and a baker-to-baker training protocol under direct supervision was designed for future volunteers. Cereal Organization was persuaded to provide less refined flour that contained more bran. Health messages in support of new breads were disseminated by media and at bakeries by health professionals. Evaluation of the HB Initiative was done using before-after assessments and population surveys. While HB was baked in 1 (0.01%) bakery at baseline, 402 (41%) bakeries in the intervention area joined the HB Initiative in 2009. Soda was completely eliminated and fibre significantly increased from 4±0.4 g% before study to 12±0.6 g% after the intervention (p<0.001). The preparation and baking times remarkably increased. Wastage of bread decreased from 13±1.8 g% to 2±0.5 g% and was expressed as the most important advantage of this initiative by consumers. People who lived in Isfahan city consumed whole bread 6 times more than those who lived in reference area Arak (p<0.001). The HB Initiative managed to add new breads as a healthy choice that were compatible with local dishes and made a model to solve the longstanding problems of bread. It used various health promotion approaches but was best consistent with Beattie’s model.
RESUMO
Por el alza en la incidencia de casos de infecciones de transmisión sexual en una institución cerrada, se realizó un ensayo comunitario de intervención educativa a un grupo de adolescentes, con el objetivo de evaluar el impacto de esta sobre las infecciones de transmisión sexual en el nivel de conocimientos y conducta. Se aplicó una encuesta inicial, se realizaron actividades de educación para la salud y se repitió la encuesta; ambos resultados fueron comparados. La conducta sexual "buena" se incrementó en un 33,37 %, ascendió en un 30,25 % el número de jóvenes con pareja estable, aumentó el uso de los métodos de prevención de las infecciones de transmisión sexual a un 100 %, se mejoró la identificación de las enfermedades y los síntomas que habitualmente presentan, y se amplió la cifra de métodos de prevención que conocían de uno a cinco. La percepción individual del riesgo de contraer una enfermedad de este tipo se elevó en un 9,23 %. La intervención tuvo un impacto favorable al elevar el nivel de conocimientos sobre las infecciones de transmisión sexual y mejorar la conducta sexual.
Due to the rise in the incidence of cases with sexually transmitted diseases in a closed institution, a community trial of educative intervention was conducted in a group of adolescents aimed at evaluating its impact on the sexually transmitted infections as regards knowledge and conduct. A survey was initially done, health education activities were carried out and the survey was repeated. Both results were compared. The "good" sexual behavior increased by 33.37 %, the number of young individuals with a stable partner decreased by 30.25 %, the use of methods to prevent the sexually transmittted infections amounted to 100 %, the identification of the diseases and of their symptoms improved, and the figure of prevention methods they knew about increased from 1 to 5. The individual perception of the risk for acquiring a disease of this type grew by 9.23 %. The intervention had a favorable impact on increasing the level of knowledge about sexually transmitted infections and on improving the sexual behavior.