Background: The most important factor in controlling diabetes is self-care behaviors; improving self-care behaviors is the first step in helping patients to better control and manage their diseases and health literacy is recognized as a vital and important indicator of outcomes and costs in healthcare. Therefore, the effectiveness of health-care systems requires that people have the desirable health literacy level. Therefore, this research intended to study the relationship between health literacy levels in patients with diabetes and their self-care behaviors. Patients and Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted during two months on 400 patients with diabetes selected using the census method in diabetes clinics in Mashhad County. Information was collected through a demographic survey questionnaire, the Health Literacy Questionnaire and a self-care behavior questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 21 and Spearman correlation coefficient, the independent t-test, and ANOVA. Results: The total mean score for self-care was 33.52 (SD±13.27). There was a significant relationship between self-care and health literacy in this study (P <0.05) so that people with higher levels of self-care literacy had better self-care behaviors. There was also a significant relationship between education level and monthly income and self-care behaviors and health literacy (P <0.001). Conclusion: Patients received an average score for self-care behaviors. Given the impact of health literacy on patients' self-care behaviors, and considering its inclusion in educational, therapeutic, and caregiver programs, it is possible to reduce complications in patients, and improve their quality of life, by improving their self-care behaviors. Special attention should also be paid to health literacy levels of the audience when designing the related educational programs.
Inappropriate healthcare waste management (HCWM) may lead to health hazards through the release of toxic and infectious agents into the environment. This study aimed to assess the appropriateness of a Health Action Model (HAM) operationalized in a training intervention to promote behavioral intent towards HCWM practice among hospital staff. This was a quasi-experimental intervention study of 128 hospital staff attending a training intervention in Sabzevar Hospital, Iran. Four training intervention was carried out using potential constructs of the HAM model to compare the quality of HCWM process and behavioral intent of hospital staff before and after a training session. A questionnaire based on HAM and multiple statistical analyses were used to assess the effectiveness of the training intervention. The average age of the eligible participants was 35.05 ± 9.4 years. A majority of the participant was married (88%), nursing staff (54%) and possessed a bachelor’s degree (66%) or diploma (18%). After the intervention, a significant change (p < 0.05) was observed in the intervention group compared to the control group in staff knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy, belief, and motivation. Further, our result showed a significant improvement from 53.6 ± 24.3 to 83.6 ± 11.5 in the behavioral intention toward HCWM practice. This work provides evidence of the effectiveness of the HAM as a guide in which the potential determinates that influence an individual’s behavioral intention toward medical waste practice were identified and described. This model help promote behavioral intention at a variety of target audiences and setting in waste management practice.
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