Journal of School of Public Health and

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Background and Aim: Child growth disorders are a result of nutritional ignorance and lack of appropriate care and growth monitoring. This study was conducted to assess the effects of mothers' educational program based on the precede model on the prevention of growth retardation in 6 to12-month old children in the health centers of Shiraz city, Fars Province, Iran.

Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study included 120 mothers (60 cases and 60 controls) with a single exclusively-breastfed child under the coverage of health centers in Shiraz city, Fars province, Iran. A questionnaire was used to collect data on demographic characteristics and the precede model components (knowledge, attitude, enabling and reinforcing factors and maternal behavior). In addition, the children were weighed and their weights recorded. The mothers' educational intervention consisted of six 55 to 60-minute sessions. The questionnaire was completed by the case mothers before and 4 months after the intervention.

Results: The interventional educational program brought about statistically significant increases in the mean scores of knowledge (p<0.001) and attitude (p<0.001). Further analysis of the data also showed that the enabling (training sessions and using references) and reinforcing factors, as well as practice score of the mothers and the mean weight of the children in the case group improved significantly as compared to the control group (p<0.001).

Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that an interventional educational program for mothers based on the precede pattern had a positive effect in the prevention of growth retardation in the study population.

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Background and Aim: Diabetes mellitus is a widespread disease. Diabetes patients should be fully familiar with the different dimensions of this chronic disease and possess the skills required for self-management and self-care. They should realize that each patient is a different case. It is to be noted that promoting self-management behavior is an essential component of case management in type-2 diabetes mellitus. The objective of this study was to assess self-management behavior of type-2 diabetes patients in Isfahan, Iran and determine factors influencing it.  

Materials and Methods: This was a 6-month cross-sectional study conducted in 2011. The study population was type-2 diabetes patients consulting an outpatient diabetes center in Isfahan, Iran. The sample included a group of 350 patients selected by the continuous sampling method. The self-management behavior of the patients was assessed using a diabetes self-management instrument (DSMI), containing questions on 5 domains. The responses were rated on a 5-point Likert scale and SPSS software, version 11.5 was used for analyzing the collected data.

Results: The response rate was 88%. The majority of the patients were 50-60 years (55.52 ± 8.42) old and 54.3% of them demonstrated borderline metabolic control according to the World Health Organization criteria. Mean scores of self-integration, self-regulation, interaction with health professionals and other influential persons, self-monitoring blood glucose, and adherence to recommended regime were 33.67±6.36, 29.09±5.9, 27.08±4.81, 11.71±3.91 and 11.46±2.9, respectively. On the whole, the global diabetes self-management behavior seemed to be not quite desirable (the score was at an intermediate level). Further analysis of the data revealed that self-management behaviors (at 3 levels, namely, desirable, intermediate, and undesirable) had significant associations (p<0.001) with demographic (age, gender, marital status, education level) and health-related (duration of diabetes, diabetes-related diseases, diabetes complications, general health, type of treatment, family income, and serum HbA₁C level) variables. Self-management behavior had no association with disease history 

Conclusion: Empowerment of patients afflicted with diabetes and, more generally, non-communicable diseases, which are quite prevalent and on the increase, in the area of self-management at the individual and community level will be a vital step towards promotion of health of the population.

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Background and Aim: Puberty as a stage of life is an important developmental process. Teen girls have numerous health care needs and their specific issues should be considered. This study mainly aimed to determine the impact of education based on health belief model on promotion of physical puberty health among female teenagers who were residents in welfare boarding centers in Tehran city.
Materials and Methods: It was a quasi-experimental intervention study, conducted in welfare boarding centers of Tehran city among inhabitant girls with 12 to 19 years old. All eligible persons were selected (n=61). Data collection tool was a questionnaire including demographic information, health belief components, physical function during menstruation, completed before and one month after training by interview. Educational intervention was implemented in 3 months. Data was analyzed by Wilcoxon statistical test using SPSS16 software.
Results: After educational intervention, perceived severity (p<0.001), perceived susceptibility (p<0/001), perceived barriers (p<0.001), perceived benefits (p<0.001), and physical function during menstruation were significantly different.
Conclusion: Educational intervention improved girls' perceptions and performance. Thus, health belief model should be used for puberty health education planning in female adolescents.

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Background and Aim: Man, as the Creator of God and the Creator of Creatures, has a right, one of which is the right to a healthy life, and this type of life can only be achieved through useful training. In this regard, comprehensive health education in schools is one of the most important pillars for the health of the next generation of the country. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the content of health components and promote the health of primary school books based on the assumptions of the health system with emphasis on education to increase the quality of primary school health.
Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, content analysis method was used. The statistical population of this study was all second grade elementary school books of 2016-2017 (5 volumes). Statistical sample is equal to statistical population. The research tool was Shanon Entropy, which presents data processing in the context of content analysis in a new and quantitative way.
Results: The results of Shannon's entropy content analysis showed that the review of the 5 primary elementary second-level mental health books had the highest frequency with 236, and the least amount of disability with 10. The highest coefficient of importance among health components in elementary second grade was related to the components of nutrition health (0/21) and the lowest coefficient of prevention to high risk behaviors was (0/019).
Conclusion: Findings show that attention to each component of health education and health promotion is different; therefore, it can be concluded that some components of primary education textbooks pay less attention to some components of health education, while that health education and consequently health promotion is the most important factor in the advancement and guarantee of community survival. Designing, implementing, and managing health development programs is more than any other underlying concept such as health.

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Background and Aim: Among the valuable developments in the primary health care system has been the special attention paid to the issue of mental health and the addition of a self-care program for community mental health education. However, no integrated measures have been taken in relation to the needs of service recipients, educational priorities and the required facilities. This study was conducted to explain the priorities of this program in primary health care centers affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Materials and Methods: This was a qualitative study with a content analysis approach. The sample consisted of 12 stakeholders selected by purposive sampling with maximum diversity. Data were collected through in-depth and semi-structured interviews and a modified checklist of the Community Health Needs Assessment Program and analyzed using the Granheim and Landman approach.
Results: Based on data analysis, the needs were grouped into two main categories, namely, the needs of service providers and the needs of service recipients. The service providers’ needs included continuous coordination with non-health sectors, a virtual education and information system and continuous training and educational supervision, as well as appropriate space, facilities and equipment, while the of needs of service recipients were classified based on services needed for age groups, namely, services for children, adolescents and young people, adult and middle-aged, elderly and others.
Conclusion: Identifying needs can lead to the optimal use of limited resources aiming at imparting applied education and training. The results of this research can be an effective step towards expansion based on the needs for mental health education and a great help in achieving the goals of this program in primary health care centers. Based on the results it is recommended to plan personnel training and revise the services based on the identified needs in order to increase the effectiveness of this program.