/PRNewswire/ Health Advocate, a leading provider of integrated health advocacy and navigation, well-being and behavioral health programs, announced today.
Prompt diagnosis and appropriate management of diabetes has the potential of improving survival and patient health outcomes. Yet many diabetes patients present themselves to health facilities at an advanced stage of the disease which complicates its management. Individual perceptions about diseases are known to play a critical role in informing responses and actions including seeking health care and self-care practices. However, little is documented in Tanzania regarding the perspectives of diabetes patients and their caregivers about the disease especially in rural settings. We conducted 26 in-depth interviews involving 19 diabetes patients and 7 diabetes patient caregivers to explore in detail their perspectives on diabetes as a disease. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis with the help of NVivo9. Both patients and caregivers expressed mixed perceptions on diabetes causes. In addition to heredity, and the failure of the pancreas to function well, lifestyle factors including lac
Perception of risk is a central construct of models of health behaviour change as it is assumed to be an intermediate step before adoption of the related safer behaviour. In the context of HIV/AIDS, the literature suggests that psychosocial factors such as stigmatising attitudes related to stereotyping people who contract HIV may influence how people perceive their own risk of HIV infection. However, findings on the relationships between HIV-related stigma, HIV risk perception and sexual behaviour have been inconsistent. We investigated the potential mediating role of HIV risk perception on the link between HIV-related symbolic stigma and sexual behaviour. Data used in this study are a sub-sample of 384 young adult women, aged 17–25 years, who participated in the Cape Area Panel Study conducted in Cape Town, South Africa. Study participants were asked questions relating to their demographic details, their social and economic situation, and sexual and reproductive health
"[D]igital health interventions can cost-effectively provide education about HPV vaccination, offer interactive environments to alleviate parental vaccine hesitancy, and ultimately help adolescents engage in HPV vaccine uptake." Digital health interventions have demonstrated the potential to positively influence parental vaccination decisions and i
Screening for breast cancer results in early diagnosis of the disease and improves survival. However, increasing participation of women in screening programs is challenging since it is influenced by socioeconomic and cultural factors. This study explores the relationship of socioeconomic and women empowerment factors with breast cancer screening uptakes in the states and union territories of India. We used summary reports of secondary data from all the states and union territories based on the fifth wave of the National Family Health Survey in India. This ecological study compares the uptake of breast cancer screening across states of India. We considered socioeconomic status (SES) and women empowerment status (WES) indicators from the survey as independent variables and state-wise breast cancer screening uptake as dependent variables for studying their association. The determinants of breast cancer screening were calculated using a simple linear regression model. We found that socioec