Search

Objectives: To compare the immediate postcounseling retention of important information using the traditional method with retention obtained using the Indian Health Service (IHS) interactive technique, and to compare the time required to counsel patients on new prescriptions using the traditional method with the time required using the IHS technique.Design: A prospective, nonrandomized, observational study at four different local community pharmacies in Oregon. Two sites that used the traditional counseling model served as the control sites, while two other sites used the IHS counseling model. Only new prescriptions were included in this study. The pharmacists did not alter their counseling styles for new prescriptions for the purposes of this study. The duration of counseling between the pharmacist and patient was recorded. Immediately upon completion of counseling, patients met with the primary investigator for postcounseling knowledge assessment on indication of therapy, directions on how to take their medication properly, and expected adverse effects.Setting: Four local community pharmacies in Oregon.Participants: Five hundred patients at four local community pharmacies in Oregon.Intervention: Use of the IHS counseling technique.Main Outcome Measures: Immediate recall of key counseling points and time per counseling session.Results: A total of 500 patients participated in the study. Seventy-one percent of patients counseled using the IHS technique answered all three questions correctly, compared with 33% of patients counseled using the traditional method (P <0.00). For patients who were counseled about adverse effects, 80% counseled using the IHS technique compared with 51.5% counseled using the traditional approach answered all three questions correctly. For indication of therapy, there was no evidence of a difference in the proportion of correct answers between counseling types on the reason for taking their medication (P = 0.06). Those who received IHS counseling had four times the odds of correctly answering when to take their medication and four times the odds of correctly answering all adverse effects questions. The duration of counseling methods differed by 53 seconds (128 s for IHS vs. 75 s for traditional).Conclusion: The interactive style of the IHS method of counseling provided significantly improved immediate memory recall compared with the traditional method. The IHS method also took longer than the traditional method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose was to report body mass changes during a police weight-loss competition over a 12-week period with future implementation suggestions for health promotion practitioners. This second year competition was composed of 409 nonsworn employees and sworn officers in teams of three to four participants weighing-in every 2 weeks. Teams that met the weight-loss goal of 5% from starting mass qualified for awards. Data were analyzed with respect to differences between genders, repeat participants versus first-timers, nonsworn employees versus sworn officers, and age. A significant (p < 0.001) change in mean mass from 99.1 to 96.1 kg resulted in a loss of 3.1 kg, with a mean percent mass loss of 3%. Greatest mean mass change occurred over the first 4 weeks with significant (p < 0.001) differences between each weigh-in. Sworn officers had significantly (p < 0.001) greater percent mass loss, 4%, than nonsworn employees, 2%. Those ≥ 40 years experienced a significantly (p < 0.01) greater percent mass loss, 4%, versus the 3% loss experienced by those < 40 years old. Of all participants, 23% met the goal of 5% mass lost. Attendance was 100% for the first 6 weeks, with 1% absenteeism by week 8. Absenteeism increased at weeks 10 and 12, to 7% and 11%, respectively. The escalation in weeks 10 and 12 was substantially impacted by the absenteeism of nonsworn employees, 19% and 30%, respectively. Suggestions to improve efficacy include addressing apparent motivational differences between sworn and nonsworn participants and adding incentives to reduce end-of-program absenteeism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]