The Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale is a widely used measure to identify older adults with balance difficulties. However, its applicability in the diverse South African context is ...hindered by cross-cultural and linguistic differences. Limited research exists on the use of the ABC scale in native South African languages. This study aimed to translate and culturally adapt the ABC scale into Sepedi, evaluate its reliability and determine self-perceived balance confidence among elderly individuals in a rural community. The ABC scale was translated and culturally adapted into Sepedi. Two trained raters administered the Sepedi version of the ABC (ABC-S) scale to 32 individuals aged between 60 and 88 years. Test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability were determined, with one rater re-administering the scale 2 weeks later. Ten items from the original ABC scale were modified because of cultural, semantic or contextual inappropriateness. The ABC-S scale demonstrated very good intra- and inter-rater reproducibility, with an average intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.85 and 0.81, respectively. The self-perceived balance confidence among elderly Sepedi individuals, as evaluated by the ABC-S scale, was high, with an average score of 81.3 and a range of 58.1 to 95.9. The ABC-S scale is a reliable measurement tool to investigate balance confidence in Sepedi-speaking older adults.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the cultural and linguistic appropriateness of the content, images and layout of the web-based breastfeeding educational resource for Saudi women using a ...consensus development approach.
Although the World Health Organization highly recommends exclusive breastfeeding, there is a decline in breastfeeding rates in Saudi Arabia, especially during hospital stay. The combining of health professional support with e-technology tools has been proposed as a method to increase exclusive breastfeeding. However, the cultural and linguistic appropriateness of an e-technology-based approach has not been explored in Saudi women.
After developing a content draft of the web-based breastfeeding educational resource specific to Saudi culture, an online consensus development conference was organised with ten participants including two university researchers and eight health care providers to investigate the cultural and linguistic appropriateness of the educational content. The participants from Saudi Arabia were Saudi mothers who had breastfeeding experiences and were key maternity health professionals employed at the Maternity and Children Hospital of Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The SQUIRE checklist was used in the reporting of this study.
Feedback received prior to the meeting showed that 81% of the content was acceptable and minor changes were required. Changes were made to the content based on the suggestions and feedback received. The consensus group accepted all the changes and the content was finalised.
The online consensus development conference was found to be a very convenient way to decide on the cultural and linguistic appropriateness of the content of the web-based breastfeeding educational resource allowing the participation of experts from different countries; this was considered a critical step in ensuring the successful implementation of the intervention.
In the face of limited resources, evidence-based prioritization is needed to maximize the reach of health services for the underserved. A medical referral project that referred low income uninsured ...individuals to discounted appointments with office-based doctors found that some Latino patients had difficulty in taking advantage of these appointments. These individuals appeared to face barriers beyond the cultural and linguistic barriers faced by most patients in the project. One additional bilingual staff person, a Patient Assistant, was hired to facilitate doctor visits by these patients. The Patient Assistant performed the duties of a navigator, trouble shooter, and interpreter-and assisted with communications. The project staff derived a screening question to encourage patients to identify themselves as those who would need the help of the Patient Assistant. These patients were subsequently questioned in a waiting room survey designed to characterize them. The characteristics of these patients were compared with a comparison group of project patients. The target group and the comparison group differed in their levels of education. Sixty percent of the target group had less than 4 years of schooling compared to 13% of the comparison group. The target group was comprised entirely of immigrants from South and Central America. This report underscores the conclusions of the recent report of the Institute of Medicine on the problem of health literacy – patients' ability to understand and act in their own interest – and highlights the needs of Latin American immigrants who are burdened by cultural and linguistic barriers, low health literacy, and minimal education.
