A new pedagogical approach to enhance palliative care and communication learning: A mixed method study.

Background: As palliative care increases in importance due to chronic illnesses in ageing populations, there is a need to develop primary palliative care, including patient-centred communication for nursing graduates. Simulation-based education was adopted to develop students clinical skills and communication in a safer and more controlled environment prior to their clinical practice. However curricula in palliative care and communication remain limited.

Effects of Urban Green Space on Cardiovascular and Respiratory Biomarkers in Chinese Adults: Panel Study Using Digital Tracking Devices.

Background: The health benefits of urban green space have been widely reported in the literature; however, the biological mechanisms remain unexplored, and a causal relationship cannot be established between green space exposure and cardiorespiratory health.

Objective: Our aim was to conduct a panel study using personal tracking devices to continuously collect individual exposure data from healthy Chinese adults aged 50 to 64 years living in Hong Kong.

Methods: A panel of cardiorespiratory biomarkers was tested each week for a period of 5 consecutive weeks.

The Impact of the Environment on the Quality of Life and the Mediating Effects of Sleep and Stress.

(1) : Environment is an independent factor that affects one's quality of life (QoL), where studies suggest that health behaviours also affect one's quality of life. The purpose of the present study was to examine the association between environmental conditions and QoL and how individual health behaviours affect this association. (2) : Participants aged 20 or above were recruited from 11 tertiary planning units in the central part of Kowloon.

A Proactive Mobile Health Application Program for Promoting Self-Care Health Management among Older Adults in the Community: Study Protocol of a Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The use of mobile health (mHealth) has become common in recent years and is regarded as one of the most effective interventions for developing disease-specific management skills and establishing confidence in making preventive health behavior changes and accomplishing health-related goals among community-dwelling older adults. Most mHealth designs adopt a reactive care approach whereby health care professionals do not respond until they receive abnormal assessment results from the database or a message or signal from the client. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of a proactive mobile health application program with the support of a community health-social care team for older adults dwelling in the community on improving their self-care health management.

Influence of Urban Green Space and Facility Accessibility on Exercise and Healthy Diet in Hong Kong.

A cross-sectional study using a convenience sampling method was conducted to understand how green space and accessibility of common public open spaces in compact urban areas affect physical activity and healthy diets of residents. A total of 554 residents completed a structured questionnaire on quality of life, physical activity level and healthy eating practice. Particularly, categories of physical activity and durations were obtained by using the short form Chinese International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-C), then the Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET)-minutes/week was calculated using the formulae (walking minutes × walking days × 3.

Assessing quality of life using WHOQOL-BREF: a cross-sectional study on the association between quality of life and neighborhood environmental satisfaction, and the mediating effect of health-related behaviors.

Background: Quality of life (QOL) is an important component in assessing people's health. Environmental quality can influence people's QOL in the physical health, psychological, social relationships and environment domains. QOL in the four domains, overall QOL and general heath of residents living in the Kowloon Peninsula of Hong Kong were assessed.

Health-social partnership intervention programme for community-dwelling older adults: a research protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Aim: This paper aims to describe the research protocol that will be used to determine the effectiveness of a health-social partnership intervention programme among community-dwelling older adults.

Background: Ageing in place is a preferred option for overcoming challenges of the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and the risk for hospitalization associated with the ageing population. Nevertheless, our knowledge of how to implement this concept is limited.

Prevalence of and risk factors for needlestick and sharps injuries among nursing students in Hong Kong.

Background: Although nursing students are at greater risk for needlestick injuries (NSIs) and sharps injuries (SIs) than staff nurses, there is a lack of research on NSIs and SIs in students, especially in different years of study. The purpose of this study was to identify the risk factors for and prevalence of NSIs and SIs among nursing students in different years of study.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey study using a questionnaire confirmed to be valid and reliable, with a content validity index of 0.

Effect of acupressure in treating urodynamic stress incontinence: a randomized controlled trial.

The efficacy of acupressure therapy in managing urodynamic stress incontinence has not been fully investigated. This study evaluates the effects of a validated acupressure protocol for treating women with urodynamic stress incontinence. A randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled trial with a before-and-after study design was conducted.

Analysis of needlestick injuries among nursing students in Hong Kong.

Background: Research has shown that nursing personnel are exposed to the serious risk of contracting bloodborne diseases from needlestick and sharps injuries (NSIs). Only a few studies have examined the problem among nursing students. In Hong Kong, there is an equal lack of research in this area.

Community nursing services for postdischarge chronically ill patients.

Objective: To examine community nursing services for patients with cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases and other general medical conditions, making the transition from hospital to home.

Design: The original study design was a randomised controlled trial. This study is a secondary analysis of the hospital records documented by community nurses for the study-group patients.

A study on investigating unplanned readmission patterns.

Aim: To explain frequent hospital readmissions, this study aimed to determine whether definable subtypes exist within a cohort of subjects with chronic illness with regard to factors associated with a patient's readmission patterns and to compare whether these factors vary between subjects in groups with different profiles.

Research Method: A descriptive correlational survey was conducted and data were collected by using a structured questionnaire. Seventy-four readmitted subjects were recruited in three general hospitals in Hong Kong.

Rapid assessment of a helpdesk service supporting severe acute respiratory syndrome patients and their relatives.

Background: To contain severe acute respiratory syndrome, the Hong Kong Hospital Authority set a policy that stipulated there should be no visitors to hospital wards. A helpdesk service was established with the goal of providing immediate emotional and communication support to relatives while severe acute respiratory syndrome patients were isolated during the acute phase of the illness.

Aim: This study describes the results of a rapid assessment of the effectiveness of a helpdesk service designed to meet the immediate needs of relatives of severe acute respiratory syndrome patients in Hong Kong.