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Lifestyle Choices (lifestyle + choice)
Kinds of Lifestyle Choices Selected AbstractsImproving the Mental Health, Healthy Lifestyle Choices, and Physical Health of Hispanic Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Pilot StudyJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 12 2009Bernadette M. Melnyk PhD, CPNP/NPP, FAAN ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Obesity and mental health disorders are 2 major public health problems in American adolescents, with prevalence even higher in Hispanic teens. Despite the rapidly increasing incidence and adverse health outcomes associated with overweight and mental health problems, very few intervention studies have been conducted with adolescents to improve both their healthy lifestyles and mental health outcomes. Even fewer studies have been conducted with Hispanic youth. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the preliminary efficacy of the COPE (Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment) Healthy Lifestyles TEEN (Thinking, Emotions, Exercise, and Nutrition) program, a manualized educational and cognitive behavioral skills-building program, on Hispanic adolescents' healthy lifestyle choices as well as mental and physical health outcomes. METHODS: A cluster randomized controlled pilot study was conducted with 19 Hispanic adolescents enrolled in 2 health classes in a southwestern high school. One class received COPE and the other received an attention control program. RESULTS: Adolescents in the COPE program increased their healthy lifestyle choices and reported a decrease in depressive and anxiety symptoms from baseline to postintervention follow-up. A subset of 7 overweight adolescents in the COPE program had a decrease in triglycerides and an increase in high-density lipoproteins. In addition, these overweight adolescents reported increases in healthy lifestyle beliefs and nutrition knowledge along with a decrease in depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: The COPE TEEN program is a promising school-based strategy for improving both physical and mental health outcomes in adolescents. [source] Motivating Health: Strategies for the Nurse PractitionerJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS, Issue 5 2003Lynne S. Duran ARNP Purpose To provide the nurse practitioner (NP) with a practical prescription for acquiring expertise in health behavior change using integrated principles from the transtheoretical model of change and motivational interviewing. Data Sources Extensive literature review of current theory and research on health behavior change. Conclusion Expertise in motivating health behavior change is essential to effective health promotion and to the NP role. Implications for Practice Lifestyle choices are principal contributors to the leading causes of death and most chronic diseases in the United States. Traditional health behavior interventions are often ineffective in motivating and sustaining lifestyle change. [source] The consumption and disposition behaviour of voluntary simplifiersJOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, Issue 1 2010Paul W. Ballantine Voluntary simplicity is a lifestyle choice that has received increasing media attention over time. A defining characteristic of voluntary simplicity is reduced material consumption and the removal of clutter from one's life, thus suggesting the topic of disposition may inform our understanding of voluntary simplifier lifestyle behaviour. This paper explores the disposition activities of voluntary simplifiers in the context of their overall consumption behaviour using a series of in-depth interviews with 12 current voluntary simplifiers. The findings show that disposition plays an important role in voluntary simplifier behaviour, especially during the initial stages of adopting the lifestyle. The consideration of future disposition activities was also found to influence the day-to-day consumption behaviour of participants. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] "Sophisticated People Versus Rednecks": Economic Restructuring and Class Difference in America's WestANTIPODE, Issue 1 2002Lucy Jarosz In this paper, we argue for the importance of constructing a human geography of white class difference. More particularly, we present a theoretical framework for understanding the cultural politics of class and whiteness in the context of rural restructuring. We theorize these politics through an examination of the national discourse of redneck that has emerged in the US. We analyze the term "redneck" as one of several rhetorical categories that refer to rural white poor people. We argue that while various terms are employed in geographically specific ways and cannot be used interchangeably, they nonetheless function similarly in positioning the white rural poor. Our examination of redneck discourse exemplifies these processes and points up the need for a broader analysis of representational strategies that reinforce class difference among whites. Drawing upon three case studies of white rural poverty, we deconstruct these imagined rural spaces by situating discourses about white rural poor people in the context of geographically specific political economies of power and social relations in Kentucky, Florida, and Washington. These case studies, as well as the national discourse of redneck, represent rural poverty as a lifestyle choice and as an individualized cultural trait. Abstract rural spaces are construed as poor, underdeveloped, and wild; rural, white poor people are represented as lazy, dirty, obsolescent, conservative, or alternative. A focus upon the political economy of community resource relationships and the construction and reproduction of redneck discourses reveals how exploitative material processes are justified by naming others and blaming the persistence of rural poverty upon the poor themselves. [source] (RE)PRODUCING A "PERIPHERAL" REGION , NORTHERN SWEDEN IN THE NEWSGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 4 2008Madeleine Eriksson ABSTRACT. Building on theories of internal orientalism, the objective of this study is to show how intra-national differences are reproduced through influential media representations. By abstracting news representations of Norrland, a large, sparsely populated region in the northernmost part of Sweden, new modes of "internal othering" within Western modernity are put on view. Real and imagined social and economical differences between the "rural North" and the "urban South" are explained in terms of "cultural differences" and "lifestyle" choices. The concept of Norrland is used as an abstract essentialized geographical category and becomes a metonym for a backward and traditional rural space in contrast to equally essentialized urban areas with favoured modern ideals. Specific traits of parts of the region become one with the entire region and the problems of the region become the problems of the people living in the region. I argue that the news representations play a part in the reproduction of a "space of exception", in that one region is constructed as a traditional and undeveloped space in contrast to an otherwise modern nation. A central argument of this study is that research on identity construction and representations of place is needed to come to grips with issues of uneven regional development within western nations. [source] Modelling opportunity in health under partial observability of circumstancesHEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2010Pedro Rosa Dias Abstract This paper proposes a behavioural model of inequality of opportunity in health that integrates John Roemer's framework of inequality of opportunity with the Grossman model of health capital and demand for health. The model generates a recursive system of equations for health and lifestyles, which is then jointly estimated by full information maximum likelihood with freely correlated error terms. The analysis innovates by accounting for the presence of unobserved heterogeneity, therefore addressing the partial-circumstance problem, and by extending the examination of inequality of opportunity to health outcomes other than self-assessed health, such as long-standing illness, disability and mental health. The results provide evidence for the existence of third factors that simultaneously influence health outcomes and lifestyle choices, supporting the empirical relevance of the partial-circumstance problem. Accounting for these factors, the paper corroborates that the effect of parental and early circumstances on adult health disparities is paramount. However, the particular set of circumstances that affect each of the analysed health outcomes differs substantially. The results also show that differences in educational opportunities, and in social development in childhood, are crucial determinants of lifestyles in adulthood, which, in turn, shape the observed health inequalities. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Clinical decision-making in the context of chronic illnessHEALTH EXPECTATIONS, Issue 1 2000Susan Watt DSW CSW This paper develops a framework to compare clinical decision making in relation to chronic and acute medical conditions. Much of the literature on patient-physician decision making has focused on acute and often life-threatening medical situations in which the patient is highly dependent upon the expertise of the physician in providing the therapeutic options. Decision making is often constrained and driven by the overwhelming impact of the acute medical problem on all aspects of the individual's life. With chronic conditions, patients are increasingly knowledgeable, not only about their medical conditions, but also about traditional, complementary, and alternative therapeutic options. They must make multiple and repetitive decisions, with variable outcomes, about how they will live with their chronic condition. Consequently, they often know more than attending treatment personnel about their own situations, including symptoms, responses to previous treatment, and lifestyle preferences. This paper compares the nature of the illness, the characteristics of the decisions themselves, the role of the patient, the decision-making relationship, and the decision-making environment in acute and chronic illnesses. The author argues for a different understanding of the decision-making relationships and processes characteristic in chronic conditions that take into account the role of trade-offs between medical regimens and lifestyle choices in shaping both the process and outcomes of clinical decision-making. The paper addresses the concerns of a range of professional providers and consumers. [source] Lifestyle behaviours and weight among hospital-based nursesJOURNAL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT, Issue 7 2009JANE M. ZAPKA ScD Aims, The purpose of this study was to (i) describe the weight, weight-related perceptions and lifestyle behaviours of hospital-based nurses, and (ii) explore the relationship of demographic, health, weight and job characteristics with lifestyle behaviours. Background, The obesity epidemic is widely documented. Worksite initiatives have been advocated. Nurses represent an important part of the hospital workforce and serve as role models when caring for patients. Methods, A sample of 194 nurses from six hospitals participated in anthropometric measurements and self-administered surveys. Results, The majority of nurses were overweight and obese, and some were not actively involved in weight management behaviours. Self-reported health, diet and physical activity behaviours were low, although variable by gender, age and shift. Reports of co-worker norms supported low levels of healthy behaviours. Conclusions, Findings reinforce the need to address the hospital environment and culture as well as individual behaviours for obesity control. Implications for nursing management, Nurse managers have an opportunity to consider interventions that promote a climate favourable to improved health habits by facilitating and supporting healthy lifestyle choices (nutrition and physical activity) and environmental changes. Such efforts have the potential to increase productivity and morale and decrease work-related disabilities and improve quality of life. [source] Disordered eating and job stress among nursesJOURNAL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT, Issue 7 2009CHES, KEITH A. KING PhD Aim, The purpose of this study was to examine disordered eating behaviours among nurses in the state of Ohio. Background, Individuals involved in disordered eating tend to report more frequent and higher levels of perceived stress than their counterparts. As nurses regularly perform stressful roles and responsibilities within a high-stress environment, this group may be at elevated risk of disordered eating. Method, A 65-item survey was mailed to a random sample of 1000 nurses in the state of Ohio. Results, A total of 435 nurses (47%) returned completed surveys. Most (93%) were registered nurses (RNs) and 87% were over 31 years old. Results indicated that disordered eating differed significantly based on perceived job stress and perceived body satisfaction. Nurses with high levels of perceived job stress and low levels of body satisfaction had higher disordered eating involvement. Conclusions, Nurses reporting high levels of job stress are at increased risk of disordered eating behaviours. Recommendations for future research are offered. Implications for nursing management, Employee wellness programmes should be developed that educate and support nurses to make healthy lifestyle choices. [source] Research into ageing and older peopleJOURNAL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2008FIBiol, ROGER WATSON PhD Aim, The aim of this paper is to consider the process of ageing, the effects of ageing and research related to ageing. Background, In most countries of the world, the UK being no exception, the population is ageing in terms of the absolute numbers of and relative proportion of older people. This has resulted from economic, scientific and medical progress. However, it poses challenges for health and social services. Method, Selective review of the literature. Conclusion, Ageing is an inevitable part of life and, while not in itself debilitating, can be accompanied by a range of debilitating physical and mental conditions which lead to frailty and dependency. There is limited evidence that the ageing process can be alleviated, as such, but there is some evidence that choices and circumstances in early life can influence the extent to which we age successfully. Implications for nursing management, Nurse managers have two responsibilities with regard to age: they are increasingly engaged in organizing care for older people in acute and long-term settings and in nursing homes and the more they need to understand the process of ageing. They also have responsibilities towards their workforce and can facilitate lifestyle choices which may help their workforce to age successfully. [source] Improving the Mental Health, Healthy Lifestyle Choices, and Physical Health of Hispanic Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Pilot StudyJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 12 2009Bernadette M. Melnyk PhD, CPNP/NPP, FAAN ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Obesity and mental health disorders are 2 major public health problems in American adolescents, with prevalence even higher in Hispanic teens. Despite the rapidly increasing incidence and adverse health outcomes associated with overweight and mental health problems, very few intervention studies have been conducted with adolescents to improve both their healthy lifestyles and mental health outcomes. Even fewer studies have been conducted with Hispanic youth. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the preliminary efficacy of the COPE (Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment) Healthy Lifestyles TEEN (Thinking, Emotions, Exercise, and Nutrition) program, a manualized educational and cognitive behavioral skills-building program, on Hispanic adolescents' healthy lifestyle choices as well as mental and physical health outcomes. METHODS: A cluster randomized controlled pilot study was conducted with 19 Hispanic adolescents enrolled in 2 health classes in a southwestern high school. One class received COPE and the other received an attention control program. RESULTS: Adolescents in the COPE program increased their healthy lifestyle choices and reported a decrease in depressive and anxiety symptoms from baseline to postintervention follow-up. A subset of 7 overweight adolescents in the COPE program had a decrease in triglycerides and an increase in high-density lipoproteins. In addition, these overweight adolescents reported increases in healthy lifestyle beliefs and nutrition knowledge along with a decrease in depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: The COPE TEEN program is a promising school-based strategy for improving both physical and mental health outcomes in adolescents. [source] Risk factors for breast cancer in East Asian women relative to women in the WestASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Christine S PERRY Abstract The incidence of breast cancer in women of East Asian ancestry (Chinese, Japanese and Korean) is lower than in women of European ancestry but is currently rising. This review explores potential reasons for this inter-ethnic difference in incidence by profiling breast cancer risk factors reported for East Asian and Western women. Factors such as endogenous hormone exposure, lifestyle choices, diet and genetic predisposition are associated with breast cancer risk in both East Asian and Western women. However, the relative exposure to these risk factors may vary according to a woman's geographical ancestry and culture. For example, age at menarche and menopause, parity, breast-feeding history, low fat and high soy consumption as well as the prevalence of high risk genetic alleles may vary with a woman's geographical ancestry and/or culture. Differences in exposure to these risk factors in East Asian and Western women are consistent with the inter-ethnic differences in breast cancer incidence observed. Understanding the underlying factors contributing to differences in the profile of breast cancer across populations is important when considering screening and prevention programs for East Asian women resident in the East or the West. [source] | |||||||||||||