End-user involvement in developing and field testing an online contraceptive decision aid.

Objectives: Decision aids in the field of healthcare contribute to informed decision making. To increase the usefulness and effectiveness of decision aids, it is important to involve end-users in the development of these tools. This article reports on the development of an online contraceptive decision aid.

Better informed is better decided: Addressing the risks of delaying childbearing for female higher educational students.

Objective Delayed childbearing has gradually started to become the norm for higher educational students, with possible increased future fertility risks and psychological distress as a consequence. What do female students expect from their general practitioners (GP) and other health care providers (HCPs) with regard to delaying childbearing? We also looked into indicators that can be used by HCPs to detect female university students who have issues regarding delayed childbearing. Methods Cross sectional study: A total of 398 female students (mean age 21.

The use of conversation analysis to study social accessibility of an online support group on eating disorders.

We conducted a conversation analysis of 21 threads initiated by newcomers of an online support group (OSG) on eating disorders, to examine the discursive process of entering such a group. The analysis revealed three important issues. First, many newcomers articulate that the step to join the group is extremely difficult.

Consumption of tobacco, alcohol and recreational drugs in university students in Belgium and the Netherlands: the role of living situation.

Unlabelled: Studying at university/college is associated with consumption of tobacco, alcohol and recreational drugs. This lifestyle may be associated with moving outside parental control. The aim of this study was to investigate differences between students living with their parents and students living alone or with peers regarding substance use in Belgium (Antwerp) and The Netherlands (Amsterdam).

Palliative and terminal care at home as portrayed in Dutch newspapers in 2009 compared to 2000.

Background: Terminal care at home is receiving increased attention from the Dutch media, which is relevant for primary care providers.

Objectives: To explore the portrayal of terminal care at home in newspapers in the Netherlands in 2000 and in 2009.

Method: We performed a systematic analysis of documents retrieved from the LexisNexis Academic NL database.

Context guides illness-identity: a qualitative analysis of Dutch university students' non-help-seeking behavior.

The purpose of this article is to develop a context-based and identity-centered perspective on help-seeking. Recent approaches have indicated the inability of conventional models of help-seeking to account for the non-utilization of health care services in situations for which services, resources and information are adequately provided. We address this non-utilization from a perspective that explores the interactions between notions of health, illness, and identity formation, especially in highly transitional situations in which people are confused about their identity and sense of belonging.

From Goya to Afghanistan--an essay on the ratio and ethics of medical war pictures.

For centuries pictures of the dead and wounded have been part and parcel of war communications. Often the intentions were clear, ranging from medical instructions to anti-war protests. The public's response could coincide with or diverge from the publisher's intention.

The public and the Internet: multifaceted drives for seeking health information.

The aim of this study was to gain insight into people's drives, or motives, for seeking health information on the Internet. A systematic literature review, restricted to handbooks and reviews, was conducted by searching the databases of various disciplines. Each drive was translated into the context of health information.

Classifying health questions asked by the public using the ICPC-2 classification and a taxonomy of generic clinical questions: an empirical exploration of the feasibility.

In case of an overload of information, structure is needed to make the content of the information accessible and the information flow well-ordered. If we wish to gain insight into the health information needs of the public, a specific research tool is needed. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using two professional classification structures for medical information to classify health questions asked by the public: one classification for the subject of the question, the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-2), and one classification for the nature and type of the question, the Taxonomy for Generic Clinical Questions (TGCQ).

Problem perception in Dutch university students using tobacco, alcohol and drugs.

When communicating about health behaviour with students, insight is needed in perceptions students have about their (un)healthy behaviour. We aimed to investigate associations between problem perception and perceived health, academic functioning in students using tobacco, alcohol or drugs. Students who were enrolled fulltime in Medicine, Economics, Occupational Therapy, History, Psychology or Information Studies in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (n = 8258), were invited for an internet-based questionnaire about perceived health, social support, study delay, and problem perception regarding tobacco, alcohol and drug use in October 2005 (response: 44%).

[Give attention to war in medical education].

Medical consequences of war are prominent in the media. The United Nations and the World Medical Association have called for medical curricula to permanently include consideration of human rights, in particular human rights in war time. Information on the medical consequences of war and weapon systems is valuable knowledge.

Development of a student health questionnaire: the necessity of a symbiosis of science and practice.

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: University students report more health complaints than their working peers, but do not appear to seek help for these problems. This stresses the importance of early detection. The aim of this study was to obtain information on indicators of health associated with academic functioning to develop a preliminary health surveillance questionnaire.

Perceived health profiles of Dutch university students living with their parents, alone or with peers.

Students report a lower health status compared with working peers. This discrepancy may be the result of differences in their living situation, such as student housing. The aim of this study was to compare students who were living with their parents with students who were not living with their parents but rather with peers, alone, or with a partner using logistic regression analyses.

Beliefs about the causes of health complaints: a study in primary care.

In public and interpersonal health communication, a need exists to explore the nature of lay beliefs about health complaints to achieve effective communication. Beliefs of patients visiting their family physician/general practitioner (GP) may give insight into this matter. The aim of this study was to investigate the spectrum of causes attributed to different categories of health complaints presented at the GP office.

Health-related profiles of study delay in university students in The Netherlands.

Compared with their working peers, students report more health complaints. A worse self-rated health status could hinder students to function optimally within the high demands of studying at university. On the other hand, it can be expected that worse academic functioning may have a negative influence on existing health problems or even initiate health problems.

Cancer health communication in the Netherlands 1910-1950: paternalistic control or popularization of knowledge?

From the First World War onwards anti-cancer organizations in Europe attempted to spread the message of "Do Not Delay": cancer is curable, if and when early diagnosed. This article reports on a systematic study of sources on cancer health education from the medical and public domains in the Netherlands between 1910 and 1950. Dutch cancer specialists were not at all enthusiastic about spreading too much knowledge about various aspects (genetic, environmental etc.

How do primary care physicians seek answers to clinical questions? A literature review.

Objectives: The authors investigated the extent to which changes occurred between 1992 and 2005 in the ways that primary care physicians seek answers to clinical problems. What search strategies are used? How much time is spent on them? How do primary care physicians evaluate various search activities and information sources? Can a clinical librarian be useful to a primary care physician?

Methods: Twenty-one original research papers and three literature reviews were examined. No systematic reviews were identified.

[Medical communication about the management of depression, anxiety and sleeplessness in the Dutch women's magazine 'Margriet' between 1950 and 1960].

The reporting of health and medicine in the media played an important role in the way people perceived, defined and coped with everyday health problems in the second half of the twentieth century. It was and still is predominantly a supply-market which is dominated by the medical approach; creating a medical aura of progress and the self-evidence of a cure. Although the medical approach figured also prominently in women's magazines, the reporting of illness and health is far more a product of supply and demand with a lively interaction between readers and the editorial office by the means of topic-related letter columns.