1. The focus group is a qualitative data collection method involving carefully planned small group discussions designed to obtain perceptions on a defined area of interest. Focus groups can be used ...by occupational health nurses for gathering ecologically based, in-depth needs assessment information from workers prior to program planning. 2. Occupational health nurses can be guided in their needs assessments by an ecological framework that considers the person, workplace, and situational factors that contribute to occupational health problems. 3. A focus group study of fire chiefs and firefighters used an ecological framework to elicit participants' perceptions of the factors that contribute to musculoskeletal injury and the preventive strategies that would be acceptable to them. Participants shared their insights, motivations, and feelings about the factors, thus suggesting concepts and hypotheses to be explored further. 4. The occupational health nurse needs to consider the differing meanings that management and workers attach to an occupational health problem.
Occupational health nurses play a vital role in addressing ergonomic problems in the workplace. Describing and documenting exposure to ergonomic risk factors is a relatively straightforward process ...in jobs in which the work is repetitive. In other types of work, the analysis becomes much more challenging because tasks may be repeated infrequently, or at irregular time intervals, or under different environmental and temporal conditions, thereby making it difficult to observe a "representative" sample of the work performed. This article describes a process used to identify highly variable job tasks for ergonomic analyses. The identification of tasks for ergonomic analysis was a two step process involving interviews and a survey of firefighters and paramedics from a consortium of 14 suburban fire departments. The interviews were used to generate a list of frequently performed, physically strenuous job tasks and to capture clear descriptions of those tasks and associated roles. The goals of the survey were to confirm the interview findings across the entire target population and to quantify the frequency and degree of strenuousness of each task. In turn, the quantitative results from the survey were used to prioritize job tasks for simulation. Although this process was used to study firefighters and paramedics, the approach is likely to be suitable for many other types of occupations in which the tasks are highly variable in content and irregular in frequency.
Structural interviews conducted with 532 female clients of a teen contraceptive clinic revealed a moderate level of coital activity i(in terms of both frequency of intercourse and number of partners) ...which typically began at age 15. Prior use of contraception was sporadic and almost exclusively confined to nonprescription methods. Primary reasons for nonuse of birth control included fear of lessening the pleasure of intercourse and lack of access to contraception. The data indicate that a combination of comprehensive sex education and ready access to birth control is necessary to prevent unintended adolescent pregnancy.
Considerations for involving adolescents in the planning of sex education include (1) improved awareness of student needs, (2) correct "tailoring" of the program to fit the target population, and (3) ...aiding in the maturation and development of adolescents as health consumers and practitioners. (MB)
Many teenagers are currently sexually active & at risk of an unintended pregnancy & venereal disease. To provide a sound basis for sex education programs, a 2-part study was conducted to explore teen ...knowledge of contraception, abortion, reproduction, & venereal disease, & to ascertain whether a single educational rap session in these specific areas results in improved knowledge. A Sex Knowledge questionnaire was developed utilizing a 3-point response scale of "true," "false," & "don't know." Each person who participated in a sex education group discussion at a Planned Parenthood Teen Center during the period of the study filled out a questionnaire before the start of the rap session. This sample was composed of 148 M's & 1,042 F's aged 13-19. Over 80% of these teenagers were coitally experienced. The teens were poorly informed about contraception & reproduction but were better informed about abortion & venereal disease. Young women who decided to begin using birth control pills returned to the clinic approximately 10 weeks after the rap session. At that visit, they were asked to complete the same questionnaire again. This sample consisted of 367 F's aged 14-17. Substantial improvement in knowledge was found to have occurred which can be summarized by the fact that the X questionnaire score for sample increased from 18.5 before the sex education session to 28.3 after the session (test score equals N correct minus N incorrect, with a weighing of 0 "don't know" or no response). The results of this quasi-experimental study demonstrate that such sex education programs are both needed & effective. 3 Tables, 1 Figure. AA.
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