METHODS: This study was conducted with 314 participants from Delhi's Sanjay Colony, divided into control and intervention groups. The study spanned 14 months (August 2020 to September 2021). The intervention program comprised two educational sessions held one month apart, covering dengue awareness, health self-care, and environmental maintenance. Data were collected at baseline, after each intervention session, and during a final follow-up assessment three months later.
RESULTS: The primary outcome, the house index (HI), revealed statistically significant differences (P<0.001) favoring the intervention group. The total score (TS) for mosquito-borne disease, TS of knowledge, TS of attitude, and TS of practices all exhibited significant improvements in the intervention group. Participants showed an enhanced understanding of dengue causes, symptoms, and mosquito behavior related to breeding and biting. The HI in the intervention group decreased significantly from 21.65% to 4.45% (P<0.05).
CONCLUSION: This study, grounded in the health belief model (HBM), demonstrated the effectiveness of the intervention program in reducing HI and improving knowledge and preventive practices regarding dengue fever in impoverished urban neighborhoods of Delhi. The intervention program may be beneficial in such a poor urban community.
OBJECTIVES: The present study aims to explore the level of awareness, attitude, and practice of PM in Pakistan along with the challenges faced by the oncologists for the treatment of cancer using the PM approach.
METHODS: Phenomenology-based qualitative approach was used. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted using the purposive sampling approach among oncologists in Lahore, Pakistan. The data were analyzed using thematic content analysis to identify themes and sub-themes.
RESULTS: Out of 14 physicians interviewed 11 were aware of PM. They were keen on training to hone their skills and agreed on providing PM. Oncologists believed PM was expensive and given to affluent patients only. Other impeding factors include cost, lack of knowledge, and drug unavailability.
CONCLUSIONS: Despite basic knowledge and will to practice, resource and cost constraints were marked as significant barriers. Additional training programs and inclusion into the curriculum may help to pave the way to PM implementation in the future. In addition, health authorities and policymakers need to ensure a cheaper PM treatment can be made available for all cancer patients.
OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the literature regarding the knowledge, attitudes and practice of community pharmacists in managing oral healthcare problems.
METHODS: A systematic review was conducted through Scopus, PubMed and Google Scholar databases. Studies regarding knowledge, attitudes and practice of management of dental care by community pharmacists between 1990 and 2019 were included.
RESULTS: Forest plot was performed to access knowledge, attitudes and practice of community pharmacist on oral healthcare. The results showed there were 44% of community pharmacists have a lack of knowledge on oral healthcare to provide an appropriate recommendation to patients with dental problems. Eighty-eight per cent of community pharmacists were willing to improve their knowledge of oral healthcare. There were 86% of them recognised that their role was significant in oral health. However, there were 59% of community pharmacists who had poor attitude in providing oral health information.
CONCLUSIONS: Community pharmacists were lacking knowledge on oral health mainly because of paucity in providing appropriate training courses. This has led to poor practices towards oral healthcare as they were unable to provide suitable products recommendations to the patients. This has led the community pharmacists into lack of attitudes in providing oral health information. However, most of the community pharmacists were conscious of their role in the oral healthcare system and were willing to improve their knowledge of oral healthcare.