Developing and Psychometrically Testing the Functions of Diabetes Peer Support Group Scale.

Background: Peer support groups for people with diabetes are increasingly considered a part of the healthcare system. Understanding the functions of peer support groups assist healthcare professionals to provide critical assistance.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop and assess the psychometric properties of the Functions of Diabetes Peer Support Group (F-DPSG) scale.

[Construction and Validation of a Chronic Kidney Disease Self-Care Scale].

Background: As the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) increases, it is important to understand the self-care behavior of CKD patients.

Objectives: To construct a CKD self-care scale and evaluate its metric properties.

Methods: Through literature review and clinical experience, question items were constructed and validated using item analysis.

Development and testing of a scale for assessing the quality of home nursing.

Aim: To develop a home nursing quality scale and to evaluate its psychometric properties.

Method: This was a 3-year study. In the first year, 19 focus group interviews with caregivers of people using home nursing services were carried out in northern, central and southern Taiwan.

Diabetes self-care behaviors and disease control in support group attenders and nonattenders.

Background: The prevalence rate and mortality rate of diabetes continue to increase annually. Complications associated with poor control of diabetes include renal dialysis, amputation, heart disease, stroke, retinopathy, and vascular disease, all of which have an impact at the individual, family, and national level.

Purpose: This study compares diabetes self-care behavior and disease control efficacy between attenders and nonattenders of a diabetes support group.

Developing and testing a tool to evaluate the quality of home aid services.

This study aimed to develop a tool to measure the quality of home aid services in Taiwan. A 28-item scale for quality of home aid was drafter based on the literature; a cross-sectional survey was conducted for those using home aid services provided by long-term care centers in southern Taiwan. A total of 537 service users responded.

Relationships between medical beliefs of superiority of Chinese or Western medicine, medical behaviours and glycaemic control in diabetic outpatients in Taiwan.

A considerable proportion of Taiwanese people believe that Chinese medicine is superior for treating the cause of disease (curative therapy) whereas western medicine is mostly concerned with treating symptoms (symptomatic therapy). As a result, when illness arises, the combined use of both Chinese and western medicine is a common practice and referred to as pluralistic health-seeking behaviour. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to explore the relationship between beliefs of superiority of western or Chinese medicine, utilisation of therapy and glycaemic control in patients with diabetes from outpatient departments.

[Relationships amongst work values, job characteristics and job involvement in "net generation" nurses].

Background: Children of the so-called "net generation" began joining the nurse workforce from the mid-1990s. Studies on the characteristics of this generation have been done primarily outside of Taiwan, and results may not adequately reflect conditions in Taiwan due to cultural differences.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationships amongst work values, job characteristics and job involvement in "net generation" nurses.

[Implementation and evaluation of a proper dietary behavior program in diabetes support groups].

Background: Active promotion in recent years of the Diabetes Share Care Program by the national Department of Health and the medical profession has gradually established a diabetes support system as well as patient support groups in Taiwan. The program concept holds that, by participating in a patient support group, diabetes patients and people in high risk categories will learn to adopt a healthier lifestyle in order to delay / avoid diabetes onset and complications.

Purpose: Within the diabetes support group framework, we implemented correct dietary behavior programs and evaluated their efficacy.

Impact of mental health and caregiver burden on family caregivers' physical health.

Caregivers providing care to chronically ill family members at home are potentially at risk for caregiver burden and declining physical and psychological health. This study aims to understand how family caregivers' mental health and caregiver burden affects physical health simultaneously, controlling for factors such as age, education level, caring hours per day, and emotional, functional, and physical support systems used by caregivers. We recruited 388 caregivers from Kaohsiung and Pingtong region in Taiwan.

Family caregivers' viewpoints towards quality of long-term care services for community-dwelling elders in Taiwan.

The population of elderly people in Taiwan is increasing rapidly, and long-term gerontology care has become an important issue in this greying society. The purpose of this study is to explore family caregivers' viewpoints and opinions regarding the long-term care services for community-dwelling older adults in Taiwan. A qualitative study was conducted between August and December of 2005.

Relationships between health status, depression and cognitive functions of institutionalized male veterans.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among health state, depression, and cognitive functions of institutionalized male veterans. A cross-sectional and correlation research design with a cluster sampling was conducted. A total of 223 veterans who were above 65 years old, with no psychiatric disorders and no organic brain lesions were recruited from two veterans' institutions in Southern Taiwan.

Social support and caregiving circumstances as predictors of caregiver burden in Taiwan.

Previous research has failed to consider the importance of caregiving circumstances and their impact on social support and caregiver burden. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the association between perceived and received social support and caregiver burden. This cross-sectional study was carried out on 301 family caregivers.

Relative contribution of intrapersonal and partner factors to contraceptive behavior among Taiwanese female adolescents.

Purpose: To explore the relative contribution of intrapersonal factors (demographic data, sexual history, and self-efficacy for contraception) and partner factors (perceptions of support from sexual partners for contraception, and relationship power) to contraceptive behaviors among sexually active female adolescents in Taiwan.

Design: A cross-sectional design. Female adolescents who have had a steady male sexual partner in the past 3 months (N=375) were recruited as participants.

[A family caregiver's experience of care-giving on her own: "face it", "accept it", "deal with it" and "let it go"].

"Aging in place" has become one of the important policies promoting long-term care in the community. In the aging societies of today, the need for family caregivers to care for the elderly has increased. How one woman coped with shouldering the heavy burden of providing long-term family care alone were the main interests of this case study.

[Perspectives in evaluating quality of home care].

When evaluating home care quality, one must include the patients, the carer and the family as a whole. The goal of service provision should be holistic care. This paper raises new perspectives, using the "structure," "process," and "outcome," of Donabedian evaluation theory as a vertical axis, and the key elements of quality--the subjective and the objective--as the horizontal axis.

The health status of family caregivers in Taiwan: an analysis of gender differences.

Background: Many studies have assessed the impact of caregivers' work activities on the caregiver. There is growing concern about the ever-increasing problems, both physical and physiological, faced by health care workers who provide care for the ill and incapacitated.

Aim: The aim of the study was to examine what, if any, differences exist between male and female caregivers.

[An exploratory study of primary family caregivers' needs and factors in their interaction with home care nurses].

The purpose of this study was to explore the interaction needs of primary caregivers and related factors in patient home healthcare. The study used a cross-sectional design. All caregivers of patients receiving home nursing services for over one month from eight home care agencies in Kaohsiung city were eligible to participate.

A population study of the self-care behaviors and their associated factors of diabetes in Taiwan: results from the 2001 National Health Interview Survey in Taiwan.

Background: Diabetes has been the fifth leading cause of death in Taiwan since 1987, and the complications are a burden to the patients, their families, and society.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the self-control behaviors of diabetics and associated factors.

Methods: Data for this study came from the 2001 National Health Interview Survey in Taiwan.

[Reflections on the essence of family-centered care].

The aim of this article is to explore the essence of family-centered care; what it is and what it is not. The article approaches the concept of family-centered care from the points of view of both epistemology and ontology. The new concept of family-centered care had its beginning in the consumer movement and feminism in the 1960s, when patients, families, and health professionals in departments of obstetrics and pediatrics began to be aware of the needs of patients whole families.

[Nurse's confidence in addressing the discharge needs of disabled patient caregivers].

A challenge among nurses is giving appropriate counseling to the caregivers of disabled patients who are ready for discharge. This cross-sectional study was designed to determine levels of confidence among 413 nurses who perform this task in discharge planning units at one medical center and regional teaching hospitals in southern Taiwan. Participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire specifically designed for this study (Cronbach's alpha = .

Do the elderly benefit from annual physical examination? An example from Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.

Background: This study evaluates the impact of free annual health examinations on survival of elderly (> or =65 years of age) residents in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.

Methods: A stratified random sample scheme was used in each of the 11 districts of Kaohsiung City. A total of 1,193 elderly people were selected and interviewed in 1993; deaths and results of health check-ups were recorded through 1998.