Gender convergence took place in New Zealand from 1995 to 2000.

This research concerns an attempt to design and evaluate a 10‐week, lay‐ led, low‐cost stress‐management program for dissemination at the community level. It is based on community needs assessment, empowerment, community control and other community psychology principles, and is combined with a cognitive‐behavioral approach to stress management derived from health psychology. An evaluated trial reported here covers a 5‐year period involving 61 groups, 15 leaders, and 448 respondents in 14 different community locations. On all measures, significantly positive results were obtained, and these were maintained or increased over 12‐month follow‐up. These results, plus the low dropout rate (16%) and high participant satisfaction (90%), suggest that this is a successful program that owes much of its strength to a community psychology approach.

This research describes the development and evaluation of a community-based lifestyle change health promotion programme in New Zealand. The six-week small group programme, called Superhealth Basic, comes as a low-cost resource kit capable of widespread distribution in the community. It is based on a combination of health and community psychology principles and methods, and is designed to be run by untrained lay leaders. A quasi-experimental trial involving 141 participants in 19 groups produced results showing significant positive changes in behaviour, health and wellbeing, with a high level of participant satisfaction and low dropout rates. At 12-month follow-up, the benefits of the programme were found to have been maintained with continuing expression of satisfaction with the programme. As a result of this research, Superhealth Basic is now available as a community resource throughout New Zealand.

No abstract

Background: Grave disparities in smoking prevalence exist between indigenous Māori, Pacific Island peoples, and other New Zealanders. Primary care nurses routinely provide brief stop smoking interventions to achieve national targets but they are constrained by time. Innovations using new technologies offer opportunities to enhance brief interventions and improve uptake and outcomes. Objectives/Aims/Hypotheses: This study explored the feasibility of adding a novel scratch card and internet-based, quit and win contest with mobile phone support messages, to practice nurses' brief smoking cessation interventions. Design: Pragmatic exploratory mixed methods pilot study comprising a quantitative two-group comparison and qualitative interviews. Methods: In two intervention clinics, practice nurses added supportive mobile phone messages, novelty scratch cards to win online prizes and $1000 prize draw entry following 1 month smokefree, to routine brief stop smoking interventions. In three control clinics, patients who smoked received brief stop smoking interventions only. Practice nurses collected baseline and 1-month data describing patients' smoking status, quit attempts, and cessation support. Researchers conducted qualitative interviews with two nurses and ten patients and collected 3-month data. Results: Five primary care clinics recruited 67 smokers (37 intervention; 30 control). The contest was readily incorporated into nurses' practice. It appealed to nurses and Māori and Pacific Island patients, increased time to first cigarette, and attracted first time quitters. However, it had no extra effect on smoking cessation compared with usual care. Pacific Island patients' participation in the online elements was limited by low access to the internet. Conclusions: While the exploratory study did not indicate the potential for triggering mass quitting, reduced dependency was suggested. The intervention attracted Māori and Pacific Island smokers and engaged first time quitters. Low cost, novelty activities could be used to refresh routine brief stop smoking interventions, and to motivate practice nurses to engage more smokers in quitting.