BACKGROUND
This study examined the sustainability of New Moves, a school-based program aimed at decreasing weight-related problems in adolescent girls. The National Cancer Institute recognizes New Moves as a research-tested intervention program that produced positive behavioral and psychosocial outcomes.
METHODS
Ten schools participated in the sustainability study. Teachers completed a survey and interview, and research staff observed one physical education (PE) class within 2 years of the study’s completion. Qualitative data were grouped by themes. Frequencies were calculated using quantitative data.
RESULTS
All schools continued all-girls PE classes using New Moves components following the study period. Fewer schools continued the nutrition and social support classroom modules and individual coaching sessions while no schools continued lunch get-togethers. Program components were sustained in both New Moves intervention schools and control schools.
CONCLUSIONS
Programs are most likely to be sustained if they: (1) fit into the current school structure; (2) receive buy-in by teachers; and (3) require minimal additional funds or staff time. Providing control schools with minimal training and intervention resources was sufficient to continue program components if staff perceived the program was important for students’ health and compatible within the school’s existing infrastructure.
BackgroundTobacco use is a major risk factor for recurrent stroke. The provision of cost-free quit smoking medications has been shown to be efficacious in increasing smoking abstinence in the general population.ObjectiveThe objective of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility and obtain preliminary data on the effectiveness of providing cost-free quit smoking pharmacotherapy and counselling to smokers identified in a stroke prevention clinic.Trial designCluster randomised controlled trial.MethodsAll patients seen at the Ottawa Hospital Stroke Prevention Clinic who smoked more five or more cigarettes per day, were ready to quit smoking in the next 30 days, and were willing to use pharmacotherapy were invited to participate in the study. All participants were advised to quit smoking and treated using a standardised protocol including counselling and pharmacotherapy. Participants were randomly assigned to either a prescription only usual care group or an experimental group who received a 4-week supply of cost-free quit smoking medications and a prescription for medication renewal. All patients received follow-up counselling. The primary outcome was biochemically validated quit rates at 26 weeks. The research coordinator conducting outcome assessment was blind to group allocation.ResultsOf 219 smokers screened, 73 were eligible, 28 consented and were randomised, and 25 completed the 26-week follow-up assessment. All 28 patients randomised were included in the analysis. The biochemically validated 7-day point prevalence abstinence rate in the experimental group compared to the usual care group was 26.6% vs 15.4% (adjusted OR 2.00, 95% CI 0.33 to 13.26; p=0.20).ConclusionsIt would be feasible to definitively evaluate this intervention in a large multi-site trial.Trial registration numberhttp://ClinicalTrials.gov # UOHI2010-1.
Although the advancement of women in the military continues to make strides-it is clear the availability of quality women's health care that women feel comfortable accessing may be its defining limitation. Medics are an excellent conduit for reinforcing these healthy messages and providing first-line treatment to deployed military women.
We report the case of a 57-year-old man who presented overnight to a district general hospital as a primary percutaneous coronary intervention alert for an inferior ST elevation myocardial infarction. On presentation to cardiac catheterisation lab, he had ongoing chest pain but began to complain of left-sided limb weakness and pain in his right leg. He was found to have dense hemiparesis on examination with an National Institute of Health Stroke Scale of 8 and an absent right femoral pulse. During the procedure, his common iliac arteries were imaged showing a complete occlusion of his right common iliac. After stenting the culprit lesion in his right coronary artery, he was transferred to a different hospital within the trust where he could receive thrombolysis for his stroke. Unfortunately, after thrombolysis, he went on to develop haemorrhagic transformation of his stroke and an upper gastrointestinal bleed with prolonged recovery of his neurological symptoms after a 27-day hospital stay; but CT arterial imaging showed resolution of right common iliac occlusion predischarge. Here, we discuss the best possible approach to management with simultaneous thrombotic events.
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