Publications by authors named "Marna Flaherty-Robb"

Background: Healthy Lifetime, a theoretically driven, personalized health coaching program delivered electronically, including face-to-face videoconferencing, was developed to intervene in early aging to stave off functional decline and minimize the onset/exacerbation of chronic conditions.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of a theoretically driven, personalized health coaching program in participants 50 years and older with one or more chronic conditions using a randomized, controlled, pragmatic clinical trial methodology.

Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to the HL (n = 59) or a usual care (n = 63) group.

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Social determinants of health are the conditions in the environment that influence health outcomes, such as housing, transportation, and neighborhoods. In this report, we examine 3 cases of participants with social risk factors who participated in a health coaching intervention study. The study was a science-based, nurse health coaching model provided to older adult participants in a Midwestern state designed to equip and empower them to achieve and maintain their health and optimum function to support independent living at home.

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The practice of nurse health coaching (NHC) draws from the art and science of nursing, behavioral sciences, and evidence-based health-coaching methods. This secondary analysis of the audio-recorded natural language of participants during NHC sessions of our recent 8-week RCT evaluates improvement over time in cognitive−behavioral outcomes: change talk, resiliency, self-efficacy/independent agency, insight and pattern recognition, and building towards sustainability. We developed a measurement tool for coding, Indicators of Health Behavior Change (IHBC), that was designed to allow trained health-coach experts to assess the presence and frequency of the indicators in the natural language content of participants.

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By 2060, the number of Americans 65 years and older will more than double, comprising nearly one-quarter of the population in the United States. While there are many advantages to living longer, a byproduct of aging is also a growing incidence of chronic illness and functional health limitations associated with a concurrent rise in chronic disease and disability that impair independent living in the community. We describe a personalized, behavioral health coaching protocol for early intervention that is delivered online to enhance a participant's independent functioning and to increase their self-care capacity with a goal to maintain independent living throughout aging.

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Proposed is a model of primary care for older adults with chronic health conditions that focuses on active engagement in health care. The Healthy Ageing Model is anchored in established theory on motivation and health behaviour change. The model draws on empirical and applied clinical underpinnings in such diverse areas as health promotion and education, treatment of addictions or obesity, management of chronic diseases, goal-setting, and coaching techniques.

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Objective: This study was designed to compare the initial efficacy of Motivational Interviewing (MI), Online Transtheoretical Model (TTM)-tailored communications and a brief Health Risk Intervention (HRI) on four health risk factors (inactivity, BMI, stress and smoking) in a worksite sample.

Method: A randomized clinical trial assigned employees to one of three recruitment strategies and one of the three treatments. The treatment protocol included an HRI session for everyone and in addition either a recommended three TTM online sessions or three MI in person or telephone sessions over 6 months.

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The physical, emotional, and financial costs of caring for patients with chronic, nonhealing leg wounds are substantial. In fiscal year 2001, the home care department of a large Veterans Affairs medical center in the Pacific Northwest spent nearly half of its annual budget on veterans needing wound care. In this article, the authors describe a practice improvement project designed to improve the wound care management of homebound veterans with chronic, nonhealing lower extremity wounds using a research-based protocol and consultation by a certified wound care specialist, as well as the effect of this program on home care expenditures.

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Pressure ulcers represent a particular challenge in long-term care (LTC) facilities, where many frail older adults with reduced mobility reside. Guidelines for preventing and treating pressure ulcers have existed for many years; however, nurses in LTC facilities do not always use best practices in pressure ulcer care. In this article, the authors report on the development and pilot testing of a Web-based pressure ulcer management tool used for remote consultation in LTC.

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As the science of nursing continues to evolve, efforts to develop strategies to integrate nursing research into clinical practice are increasing. To address the gap between research findings and the use of these findings to improve practice, Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing established the Best Practices Initiative in conjunction with three clinical partners, all in the Pacific Northwest: a large Veterans Affairs medical center, a large health maintenance organization, and a state agency that oversees health care for older adults. This article presents the Best Practices Initiative Partnership Model, some of the lessons learned about partnering with clinical agencies, and an overview of the projects that involved each partner.

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The Healthy Aging Project (HAP) tested nurse coaching as a method to support healthy behavior change in older adults. The sample included 111 individuals randomized to a nurse coaching group or usual-care control group. Participants in the intervention group chose the health behaviors they wanted to change and received coaching by nurses in a single in-person session followed by telephone calls or email contact for 6 months.

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The health of older Americans will become a critical national policy issue during this century. As the population of older adults increases dramatically, there are few signs that adequate resources are available to meet the challenge of providing health care and good quality of life for older adults and their families. A fundamental change in the values emphasized in the American culture, and in other cultures, will be required to change the present health care system from one which focuses on diagnosis and treatment of disease to a system that attends to the major issues that affect quality of life of older adults and their families.

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Nursing leadership in Oregon has united behind a plan to address the nursing shortage, setting forth five strategic goals. Two of these are specific to nursing education--to double enrollment by 2004 and redesign nursing education to more directly meet the changing health care needs of Oregonians. This article describes the Oregon Nursing Leadership Council plan and the processes used to develop it.

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Caregiver workshops were offered to members by a group practice HMO as part of a larger demonstration of adding community care to HMO services. Of 1,200 members indicating interest at four sites, 532 participated in workshops and 320 completed pre- and post-questionnaires on effectiveness. Analyses showed improvements in caregiving preparedness and reductions in sadness and depression.

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