This study was designed to determine whether the test responses of mental health care workers (n = 118) showed significant improvement after attending a training session about managing violence. Four variables (knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy, and behavioral intention) were measured before and after staff attended a training program that consisted of two commercial programs: the Nonviolent Crisis Intervention (CPI) and Handle with Care. The Nonviolent Crisis Intervention is designed to teach staff how to prevent and control disruptive behavior of clients. "Handle with Care" is a combination of lecture and demonstration of self-defense skills and restraining methods for staff who work with potentially assaultive patients. The research team used a one group, pretest/posttest study design for the evaluation. The study location was an acute care psychiatric hospital located in the southwestern United States. Hospital staff completed a pretest, participated in a 12-hour intervention, and completed a posttest immediately after the intervention. The evaluation of staff responses demonstrated improvements in posttest scores that were significant for knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy, and behavioral intention to use the training techniques. More research is needed regarding evaluation of programs that train mental health care workers to prevent and manage patient violence. Such research can help us develop more effective programs.
BackgroundWeb-based programs for smoking prevention are being increasingly used with some success among adolescents. However, little is known about the mechanisms that link the experience of such programs to intended nicotine or tobacco control outcomes.ObjectiveBased on the experiential learning theory and extended elaboration likelihood model, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of a Web-based intervention, A Smoking Prevention Interactive Experience (ASPIRE), on adolescents’ intention to smoke, while considering the experience of interactivity and entertainment as predictors of reduced intention to smoke, under a transitional user experience model.MethodsA total of 101 adolescents were recruited from after-school programs, provided consent, screened, and randomized in a single-blinded format to 1 of 2 conditions: the full ASPIRE program as the experimental condition (n=50) or an online , text-based version of ASPIRE as the control condition (n=51). Data were collected at baseline and immediate follow-up. Repeated-measures mixed-effects models and path analyses were conducted.ResultsA total of 82 participants completed the study and were included in the analysis. Participants in the experimental condition were more likely to show a decrease in their intention to smoke than those in the control condition (beta=−0.18, P=.008). Perceived interactivity (beta=−0.27, P=.004) and entertainment (beta=−0.20, P=.04) were each associated with a decrease in intention to smoke independently. Results of path analyses indicated that perceived interactivity and perceived entertainment mediated the relationship between ASPIRE use and emotional involvement. Furthermore, perceived presence mediated the relationship between perceived interactivity and emotional involvement. There was a direct relationship between perceived entertainment and emotional involvement. Emotional involvement predicted a decrease in intention to smoke (beta=−0.16, P=.04).ConclusionsAdolescents’ experience of interactivity and entertainment contributed to the expected outcome of lower intention to smoke. Also, emphasis needs to be placed on the emotional experience during Web-based interventions in order to maximize reductions in smoking intentions. Going beyond mere evaluation of the effectiveness of a Web-based smoking prevention program, this study contributes to the understanding of adolescents’ psychological experience and its effect on their intention to smoke. With the results of this study, researchers can work to (1) enhance the experience of interactivity and entertainment and (2) amplify concepts of media effects (eg, presence and emotional involvement) in order to better reach health behavior outcomes.Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT02469779; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02469779 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6nxyZVOf0)
In the past, the hazards facing child care workers have largely been ignored by health and safety professionals, due in part to a lack of awareness of hazards and inconsistencies in state health and safety requirements. The aim of this paper is to provide a summary and critique of the literature on the topic of occupational health and safety concerns for child care workers. Twenty-seven articles pertaining to child care workers, published between 1980 and 1998, were reviewed. The job roles and tasks related to physical care, janitorial functions and participation in child recreation lead to risk of exposure to biological, physical and chemical hazards. Psychological stressors were found to contribute to high levels of job dissatisfaction and turnover. infectious disease transmission was the major topic of focus in the literature, whereas US statistical data for illnesses and injuries for this classification of workers revealed injuries as the prominent health problem. Directions for future research are described.
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