Engaging patients through your website.

Legislation requires the healthcare industry to directly engage patients through technology. This paper proposes a model that can be used to review hospital websites for features that engage patients in their healthcare. The model describes four levels of patient engagement in website design. The sample consisted of 130 hospital websites from hospitals listed on 2010 and 2011 Most Wired Hospitals. Hospital websites were analyzed for features that encouraged patient interaction with their healthcare according to the levels in the model. Of the four levels identified in the model, websites ranged from "informing" to "collaborative" in website design. There was great variation of features offered on hospital websites with few being engaging and interactive.

A pilot study examining exercise self-efficacy as a mediator for walking behavior in college-age women.

This pilot study examined the possible mediation of walking behavior by exercise self-efficacy in an Internet-delivered intervention in a sample of college-age women. Exercise self-efficacy did not mediate walking behavior as determined using nonparametric bootstrapping methods.

Computer competencies in a BSN program.

Beginning nurses need informatics skills to work efficiently in an environment that increasingly relies on information technology to promote patient safety. In addition, a federal order mandates that all Americans have an electronic medical record by 2014. Nursing programs must integrate informatics content into their curricula to prepare nurses to use information technology. This article describes a baccalaureate (BSN) curriculum evaluation of nursing informatics content. Results can inform faculty about strategies that can strengthen informatics competencies. A research-based tool, based on the informatics competence work of Staggers, Gassert, and Curran, was developed to evaluate course syllabi. Although evidence of learning experiences related to computer skills was present, students were not routinely exposed to computerized systems. No syllabi included evidence that addressed informatics knowledge competencies. We conclude that students received limited informatics exposure and may not be adequately prepared to use information technology. Recommendations for increasing nursing informatics experiences within a BSN curriculum are offered.

Prescription drug re-importation: a balanced look.

The rising cost of prescription drugs has decreased access for some older adults to purchase needed medications. For this reason, some older adults are purchasing prescriptions from foreign and Internet mail-order sites. There are two main concerns related to drug re-importation--price and safety. Therefore, should the federal government allow the re-importation of prescription drugs with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safeguards? This article presents some of the facts about this issue including the history, chronology, and stakeholders for and against drug re-importation. Implications of drug re-importation to older adults, nurses, and public health policy are given.

Evaluating a modified exercise self-efficacy scale for college-age women.

This pilot study examined test-retest and internal consistency reliabilities of original and modified formats of the Exercise Self-efficacy Scale in college-age women. 30 completed original and modified versions of the scale. Data from both tests, administered 1 wk. apart, were analyzed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to assess test-retest reliability and Cronbach coefficient alpha for internal consistency. Scores for both versions correlated .96. Cronbach coefficients alpha for the original scale were .96 for Time 1 and .98 for Time 2. Cronbach coefficients alpha for the revised scale were .95 for Time 1 and .98 for Time 2. Test-retest reliability and internal consistency remained consistently high for both versions of the scales within this sample. Implications for use of this scale and recommendations for research are given.

A 6-month pilot study of effects of a physical activity intervention on life satisfaction with a sample of three generations of women.

This pilot study assessed possible changes in Life Satisfaction across three generations of women after a 6-mo. physical activity intervention. The primary purpose of the study was to test the study design and discover critical issues that should be controlled for or changed in a follow-up study. A quasi-experimental design was used to assign randomly a convenience sample of participant triads into two groups: a home-based group (n=27) and a control group (n=9). Daughters were pre-menarcheal (n=13, M=10.1 yr., SD=1.5), mothers were premenopausal (n=13, M=37.2 yr., SD=4.2), and grandmothers were postmenopausal (n=11, M=61.5 yr., SD=4.4). Life Satisfaction was measured using the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Participation in physical activity was measured using the Physical Best Physical Activity Questionnaire and a pedometer to count the number of steps taken per day. Compared with the control group, participants in the home-based group generally increased physical activity but their scores for Life Satisfaction did not increase. Recommendations concerning the study design, reducing limitations, and hypotheses for further study are given.

Generations Exercising Together to Improve Fitness (GET FIT): a pilot study designed to increase physical activity and improve health-related fitness in three generations of women.

A 6-month home-based (HB) physical activity program was compared to a control (CTL) condition in terms of effect on physical activity and health-related fitness in three generations of women (daughter/ mother/maternal grandmother). Volunteers were randomly assigned to a HB or CTL condition. HB participants (n = 28) were asked to participate in lifestyle, aerobic, muscular strength, and flexibility activities at least 3 times per week and they completed 73% of the recommended PA bouts. CTL condition participants (n = 9) were asked to continue their usual pattern of physical activity. Changes in physical activity were measured pre-and post-intervention using the Physical Best questionnaire and pedometer step counts (3-day average). Changes in health-related fitness were assessed using Fitnessgram tests. Group x Time interactions were significant for changes in participation in flexibility activity (d/wk) and steps/day, indicating that the HB group experienced significant positive changes in the expected direction (+305% and +37%, respectively), while the CTL group regressed (-15% and -13%, respectively). The G x T interaction for mile time was significant, although not in the expected direction (CTL group < by 14% and HB group < by 5%). Findings should be interpreted with caution due to several limitations of the study, but several suggestions are made for more effectively studying this topic in the future.