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Objective: Adolescents' unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections have a significant impact on the individuals themselves and on society. Peer leaders are students trained to become role models and leaders who promote positive behaviour change in their schools and community. A few studies have examined the effects of taking the role of peer leaders on the teenagers themselves including the long-term benefits. The aim of this study was to enhance understanding of the peer leader experience as it relates to peer leaders themselves and to explore the lasting impact of their experience. Design: The study used an exploratory qualitative design. Setting: Included peer leaders were employed by a non-profit organisation working with Southeastern Massachusetts communities with a high teenage pregnancy rate. Methods: Qualitative research included individual semi-structured interviews with 18 past and present peer leaders. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were coded and analysed for common themes. Results: Being a peer leader was a life-changing experience. The benefits varied from learning reproductive health content to developing life skills, friendships and long-lasting career-related skills. Being a member of a peer leader group provided an instant support group and a new circle of friends as well as a purpose. It also removed peer leaders from health risk behaviours. Their experience assisting others in need was rewarding as well as being a confidence builder. Through community service, the peer leaders changed their perceptions about and towards the needs of the people residing in their community. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the value of incorporating peer leaders in sexual and reproductive health programmes. The peer leader programme examined was not only instrumental in providing education in sexual health but it also created change in the lives of the peer leaders themselves, their families and communities.

School nurses can play a key role in providing sexual education in schools. However, they often face barriers from the school administration and concerned parents. Additionally, school nurses may have limited formal preparation in managing sexual health issues. This study used a descriptive qualitative method to explore the school nurses' experiences with facilitators and barriers to providing sexual education. Eighteen nurses from 12 Massachusetts high schools were interviewed. Results showed that the school nurses do not provide formal sexual education at their schools but frequently conduct informal sessions. School nurses reported that students needed more sexual health information, yet there was no collaboration with the school health teachers. Common barriers included lack of privacy and time, confidentiality issues, and fear of conflict. Nurses working in communities with high teen pregnancy rates reported more barriers. The findings can inform the development of policies and practices for sexual education by school nurses.

To evaluate marginalized youth participation in a civic engagement and leadership program accompanied by a photovoice activity. This study employed an exploratory qualitative method through semistructured focus group discussions among 11 participating teens, as well as 63 photographs from the photovoice activity and their accompanied narratives. The data was coded, and themes related to teens concerns and workshop impact were summarized. Focus group and photovoice analyses showed similar themes related to the experience of participants empowerment, identity recognition, community awareness, and desire for civic engagement. Participants conveyed concerns about gender and race discrimination, community drug abuse, littering, teen pregnancy, and overcrowded schools. This study has implications for professionals and researchers engaging with marginalized teens in the community. Photovoice methodology can complement any program that has teen empowerment among their goals of allowing participants to have a voice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Compassion fatigue is a negative consequence impacting caregivers of chronic illness, such as heart failure. Reliance on family caregivers is expected to rise, placing importance on recognizing family caregiver characteristics that contribute to compassion fatigue. Purpose: This study specifically examined the associations of characteristics of family caregivers caring for end-stage heart failure, compassion satisfaction, social desirability, and the family caregiver–nursing provider relationship on compassion fatigue. Methods: An adapted interaction model of client health behavior guided this cross-sectional survey, which comprised a demographic questionnaire, the Professional Quality-of-Life Scale, the caregiver–provider relationship assessment, the Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability Scale Short Form (Form C), and the Bakas Caregiving Outcomes Scale. Results: There were 127 family caregivers (FCGs), primarily those who have been a caregiver for longer than 1 year (78.4%), who completed the entire survey. Increased compassion satisfaction and positive caregiving effects were associated with decreased compassion fatigue (p <.001), while increased social desirability was associated with increased compassion fatigue (p <.001). A positive family caregiver–nursing provider relationship was related to decreased compassion fatigue (p <.001). More compassion fatigue was seen with lower spiritual status (p <.001). Implications: The chronic progression of heart failure presents opportunities for nursing providers to assess caregivers and offer frequent interventions. Family caregivers may not ask for help. Nursing providers must foster relationships with family caregivers to prevent negative consequences and mitigate compassion fatigue. Future research on the nursing provider relationship and FCGs is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attending a college or university opens a new chapter in a young man's life, and with it comes new experiences, freedoms, and responsibilities. Young adult males in particular are prone to risky behaviors as a result of peer pressure, and this can affect their health. As a result of this risky behavior, reproductive and sexual health could be compromised. Historically, reproductive health (RH) services have predominantly served women and undeserving men. Young men have significant reproductive health risks in the form of sexually transmitted infections (STI). Male sexual behaviors directly affect their female partners' health, and their shared decisions about reproductive health play an important part in preventing unintended pregnancies. The office of Population Affairs, Office of Family Planning (OFP), in partnership with five agencies and one research-coordinating center, has implemented a four-year comprehensive service delivery model to increase the number of males accessing family planning, reproductive health services. This paper describes the process of implementing male reproductive health services in a university clinic in western Massachusetts. The Service Innovation Model includes: 1) restructuring the clinic environment (physical setting, materials, and Internet presence), 2) staff training, and 3) campus outreach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article we describe the process of an interdisciplinary case study that examined the social contexts of occupational and general health disparities among health care workers in two sets of New England hospitals and nursing homes. A political economy of the work environment framework guided the study, which incorporated dimensions related to market dynamics, technology, and political and economic power. The purpose of this article is to relate the challenges encountered in occupational health care settings and how these could have impacted the study results. An innovative data collection matrix that guided small-group analysis provided a firm foundation from which to make design modifications to address these challenges. Implications for policy and research include the use of a political and economic framework from which to frame future studies, and the need to maintain rigor while allowing flexibility in design to adapt to challenges in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the influence of personal and clinical factors on psychosocial adjustment in persons living with an ostomy for less than 1 year., Design: A cross-sectional survey., Subjects and Setting: The study sample comprised 183 adult individuals who had a colostomy, ileostomy, or urostomy for less than 1 year, residing in the Northeastern United States., Methods: Data were collected from May through November 2018 using 2 instruments: a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Ostomy Adjustment Inventory-23 (OAI-23). The OAI-23 items measured 4 psychosocial subscales: acceptance, anxious preoccupation, social engagement, and anger. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance, multivariate analysis of variance, Cramer's V correlations, and multiple regression., Results: Univariate analysis indicated that factors influencing psychosocial adjustment to an ostomy include age, assistance with care, educational background, stomal type, body mass index, ostomy height, preoperative education, and stoma siting. Multivariate analysis of variance identified that those who reported independence with ostomy care experienced higher levels of adjustment in all areas of the OAI-23., Conclusions: Findings from this study may assist nurses and other care providers to better understand the physical and emotional needs of those with ostomies and to identify interventions to promote optimal health in this population., Competing Interests: All authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 by the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society.)