Barriers to health education in adolescents: health care providers' perspectives compared to high school adolescents.

AIM: Although adolescence is marked by profound and dynamic changes, it is virtually neglected by health care providers, by society, and even by most parents, teachers, and health professionals. The aim of this study was to investigate barriers to health education in adolescents from health care providers' views compared to teens. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population consisted of 72 health care providers and 402 high school female students in Northern Iran in 2012. They completed a self-administered questionnaire about their views on barriers to adolescents' health education. RESULTS: It is revealed that the major barrier to adolescents' health education from a health care providers' perspective is "Lack of private room for adolescents' health education", while "Lack of adolescents' interest to content of educational programs" is a significantly greater barrier to health education among adolescents. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that for adolescent health education, specific strategies should be used in adolescent health promotion programs.

Health care providers and adolescents' perspectives towards adolescents' health education needs: a need assessment based on comparative approach.

AIM: Health care providers have considerable influence on adolescents' health promotion. Thus, it is important to focus on the views of this group as one of the most reliable sources in the evaluation of teenagers' health needs. The aim of this study was to compare the attitudes of Iranian health care providers and adolescents towards the latter's health education needs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A quantitative cross-sectional survey, including 72 health care providers and 402 female students from 14 high schools in northern Iran, was carried out in 2011. Topics in a self-administrated questionnaire covered the participants' perspectives towards the educational health needs of adolescents in a five-point Likert scale. RESULTS: Findings revealed from health care providers' views indicate that the highest mean score was assigned to "Education about prevention of sexual high risk behavior", which was significantly different from adolescents' perspective (t=8.42, p<0.05). RESULTS showed that health care providers and adolescents both emphasized on the mothers' role as the most reliable source of adolescents' education (t=1.85, p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Provision of health education programs for adolescents, which are based on integration of health care providers' perspectives and the adolescents' views, are essential in meeting adolescents' educational health needs.

A Cross-sectional Study of Midwives' Perspectives Towards their Professional Educational Needs.

BACKGROUND: Midwives are one of the most important health care providers and meeting their professional educational needs can be effective in maternal and child health promotion. AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the midwives' perspectives towards their educational needs. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study which was conducted in 2012 in Sari, North of Iran, 223 midwives during a convenience sampling method expressed their educational needs. The instrument of the data collection was a self-administered 64-question researcher- made questionnaire about the participants' educational needs in 10 fields related to midwifery profession. RESULTS: The mean age and employment record of the participants were 33.87±10.49 and 10.09±8.14 years respectively, and the majority (65.02%) of them was employed in the health care centers. Findings showed that the highest score of midwives' educational need was related to need to education about labor and delivery care (75.14±21.13%) which was followed by the need to education about pre marriage counseling (74.04±19.95%) and pre conception counseling (71.33±21.89%). CONCLUSIONS: Owing to the emergence of new dimensions of tasks in midwifery practice and due to developing some changes in the educational needs of midwives, it's necessary to implement an updated educational package in order to deliver the recommended standards of care and to increase midwives' participation in continuing education programs.

Iranian university students' perceived reproductive health needs.

AIM: One proposed strategy to improve youth health is needs assessment, a process for determining and addressing the needs of individual groups. The aim of this study was to explore the attitudes and perceptions of Iranian university students toward reproductive health needs, in order to promote the provision of reproductive health services. METHODS: Using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 548 students who were randomly selected from eight universities in Sari City, Iran. Topics covered the participants' attitudes towards reproductive health needs as well as their opinion about proper sources of information in this area, as measured using a 5-point Likert scale. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 21.57 years, and 57.82% were female. The maximum score of perceived reproductive health needs was related to "Be informed about appropriate behavior with my spouse", and the majority of students (82.82%) supported family-based reproductive health education with emphasis on the mothers' role. Although 65.14% of the participants agreed that "When a young has been raped, it's better that she/he counsel with her/his family", 11.67% of them stated that she/he must hide the problem. Finally, we found that 60.40% of the students preferred someone in a health care center as the one to explain how to use any contraception that may be provided for them. CONCLUSION: Taken as a whole, these findings support the critical importance of programming for university students as part of a comprehensive strategy to improve the health and development of young adults.

University students' point of views to facilitators and barriers to sexual and reproductive health services.

AIM: The right to health is a universal human right, and this includes sexual and reproductive health services. The aim of this study is to explore the opinions of Iranian university students toward facilitators and barriers to sexual and reproductive health services. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 2012, a random sample of 548 university students completed anonymous, self-administered questionnaires. Topics covered the participants' attitudes towards facilitators and barriers to sexual and reproductive health services in personal, interpersonal, and structural domains. RESULTS: Mean age of participants was 21.57 years and 57.82% were female. The maximum score of facilitators and barriers to sexual and reproductive health services was related to "Young people's participation in sexual and reproductive health services provision" and "Fear of stigmatization", respectively. The results showed that among female university students, the mean score of personal and structural facilitators was significantly higher than the mean score of interpersonal ones (F=12.23, p<0.001). This difference was also reported in barrier factors (F=5.51, p=0.004). CONCLUSION: Results highlight the roles of policy makers and health service providers in improving accessibility to provided services for young people through the enforcement of facilitators and reduction of barriers, particularly in the areas of personal and structural facilitators focusing on female services.

The effect of an education-based intervention on self-reported awareness and practice of Iranian nurses in observing patients' rights.

BACKGROUND: For patients' rights to be observed, first patients and health care providers should be aware of these rights. Nurses' lack of awareness of these rights leads to their inability to recognize patients' legal and ethical issues, and reduces the quality of provided services. This study was conducted to determine the effect of an education-based intervention on self-reported awareness and practice of nurses in observing patients' rights. METHODS: In this quasi-experimental study, awareness and practice of 90 nurses on Patient's Bill of Rights were examined in case and control groups, before, 2 and 4 weeks after an educational intervention program on. Participants were selected from teaching hospitals of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Data was gathered using the valid and reliable 21-item questionnaire in a 3-point Likert scale during a 5-month period from October 2013 to March 2014. For data analysis, descriptive statistical methods, paired t-test, and repeated measure analysis of variance at significant level P<0.05 were used. RESULTS: Participants' mean age and work experience were found 37.1 ± 5.71 years and 11.76 ± 5.99 years respectively. Mean scores of nurses' awareness and practice before intervention were 15.12 ± 2.19 and 9.13 ± 2.36, accordingly. Repeated measure analysis of variance test showed a significant difference in awareness and practice of nurses before and after intervention (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Enhancing nurses' awareness on Patient's Bill of Rights through revision of educational curriculum in nursing schools, together with considering appropriate relevant content in continuous education programs in health systems can lead to improved quality of nursing care services.

Developing an instrument to measure the influential factors on career choice among Iranian nursing students.

BACKGROUND: Understanding why the graduates from the high schools choose nursing is essential for the health policy makers in each country and Iran is not an exception. The aim of this study was to develop an instrument measuring the influential factors on career choice among Iranian nursing students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This methodological study employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches. In the first phase of the study, the items were generated for the instrument. These items were drawn from a relevant literature review along with taking a poll of experts' opinions. Then the psychometric properties of instrument were measured using content validity, face validity, and construct (exploratory factor analysis) validity as well as its reliability. RESULTS: Initially, a 35-item instrument was developed. In the second phase, a scale-level content validity index of 0.90 was obtained for the instrument. The factor structure of the inventory was identified by undertaking a principal component analysis in a sample of 139 nursing students. Three factors were extracted with a total variance account of 42.03%. Reliability was demonstrated with Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.77 for the entire scale. Consistency of the instrument was established with test - retest reliability with an interval of 2 weeks (intra-cluster correlation = 0.94, P < 0.001). Wilcoxon signed-rank test demonstrated no significant differences between the test - retest scores (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: It seems a culturally sensitive instrument with a satisfactory level of validity and reliability has some implications for policy makers in nursing education.