Search

Healthcare clinical decision makers’ (CDMs) attitudes, beliefs, and biases can negatively contribute to both clinical conversations and subsequent inequitable management decisions in persistent mus...

This study explored workforce opinions toward LGBTQ youth and the LGBTQ community. A total of 1,196 child welfare employees answered a series of surveys measuring their attitudes, perception of cli...

Vaccine coverage is below desired levels in Canada, despite National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommendations. One solution to improve coverage is to offer vaccines in pharmacies. We explore the awareness, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of the general public in four communities in Nova Scotia (NS) and New Brunswick (NB) about the changing role of pharmacists as immunizers. Adult members of the public were invited to complete an online survey through advertisements in print and online, and through e-mail lists at local universities. Immunization status among participants (n = 985) varied across vaccines with slightly more than one-half of the participants (51.8%) reporting receipt of a seasonal influenza vaccine last year, 38.0% reporting receipt of the meningococcal C or ACWY vaccine, and 77.7% reporting receipt of the pertussis vaccine. Despite variable self-reported receipt of vaccines, the pervasive belief that participants were not at risk of getting vaccine-preventable diseases, and a lack of awareness about which vaccines are recommended for adults, participants in this study held vaccine-positive beliefs. Participants, especially those who had previously been vaccinated in a pharmacy (39.0%), were supportive of the inclusion of pharmacists as immunizers although nearly one-half of the participants would feel more comfortable getting vaccinated by a pharmacist if another practitioner recommended it to them. While cost threatens to be a barrier to pharmacists as immunizers, this study suggests that they are well-positioned to improve vaccine coverage and to communicate recommendations and other vaccine-related information to the public.

Early science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education matters for young children’s learning and their academic trajectories (McClure et al., 2017), but teachers must be empowered and su...

The benefits of peer tutoring in mathematics have repeatedly been proven at different educational levels. Nevertheless, mathematics teachers’ perceptions towards this methodology and whether they are adequately trained to implement the practice is information that remains uncertain. Surveys and questionnaires directed at teachers regarding peer tutoring are lacking. Determining teachers’ knowledge and perceptions on this topic is important, as that knowledge and those perceptions affect their teaching practices and, therefore, student learning. This validation study was designed to evaluate questionnaire responses from mathematics teachers regarding their knowledge, perceptions and attitudes towards peer tutoring so that implications for practice and policy could be determined. A four-factor structure questionnaire was developed. Strong correlations were reported between knowledge and attitudes. Females, less experienced and public school teachers showed greater values. A conclusion is that female teachers are more sensitive than male teachers regarding students’ inclusion and active learning.

Career development is an essential component of graduate employability, particularly for students undertaking degree programs that are not aligned to a specific vocational outcome. For undergraduat...

Vaccine coverage for maternal vaccines is suboptimal; only about half of pregnant women received influenza and Tdap vaccines in 2018. We explored knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, intentions, and trust regarding maternal and infant vaccines among pregnant women. Between June 2017 and July 2018, we surveyed 2196 pregnant women recruited from geographically and socio-demographically diverse prenatal care practices in Georgia and Colorado (56% response rate). Fifty-six percent of pregnant women intended to receive both influenza and Tdap vaccines during pregnancy and 68% intended to vaccinate their baby with all recommended vaccines on time. Attitudinal constructs associated with intention to vaccinate include confidence in vaccine safety (ORs: 16–38) and efficacy (ORs: 4–19), perceived risk of vaccine-preventable diseases (ORs: 2–6), social norms (ORs: 4–10), and trust in sources of vaccine information. Women pregnant with their first child were less likely than women who had prior children to intend to vaccinate themselves and their children, more likely to be unsure about their intentions to receive both maternal and infant vaccines, and less likely to report feeling they had enough knowledge or information about vaccines and vaccine safety (p < .01). This demonstrates an opportunity for vaccine education to increase vaccine confidence and informed decision-making, especially among first-time pregnant women.

In this paper, I draw on interview data with multilingual British South-Asian English language teachers to examine their language attitudes and beliefs about the responsibility for heritage language maintenance in the UK. While all the participants feel that it is important for heritage languages to be maintained, differences emerged with respect to the level of responsibility that the mainstream education sector has in this maintenance. Irrespective of the role of local education authorities, the primary responsibility is seen as being with parents and families. This paper argues that this stems from several factors including the lack of heritage language support for families and the ideological construction of heritage languages as being primarily a community and parental responsibility. In addition, the strong links between heritage languages and culture, religion and ethnicity contribute to characterise heritage languages as being outside children’s formal education.

Due to marijuana's analgesic effects and its growing national legal status, it is likely that marijuana's rising prevalence will impact prescription pain reliever (PPR) use. The present study investigates the relationship between marijuana and PPR use among U.S. adult current cigarette smokers. Data were analyzed from the Tobacco and Attitudes Beliefs Survey II, with 348 current cigarette smokers, aged 24-88. Logistic regression was used to examine the likelihood of current (past 30days) PPR use by marijuana use (never, ever, and current) among cigarette smokers. Among PPR users (N=76), we also investigated whether marijuana use frequency predicted current PPR use. Compared to never marijuana users, participants were more likely to report past 30-day PPR use if they have ever used marijuana (AOR: 2.58, 95% CI: 1.51-4.43) or have used marijuana in the past 30days (AOR: 3.38, CI: 1.76-6.49). No significant relationship was found between marijuana use frequency and PPR use. Thus, in this sample of adult cigarette smokers, past and current marijuana users were two to three times more likely to report PPR use than never marijuana users. These findings can help inform policymakers and healthcare providers in their fight against the opioid epidemic.

Gambling research often refers to attitude and belief measurements to distinguish between problem and non-problem gamblers. Past studies also indicated that problem gamblers have a tendency to stee...

International audience; CONTEXT:General practitioners and family physicians (GP/FPs) play a key role in the vaccination of the public in many countries and serve as role models for their patients through their own health behaviors.OBJECTIVES AND METHODS:a) To search for and document recommended/mandated vaccines for GP/FPs in high-income countries; b) To systematically search and review the literature on these physicians' knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors (KABB) toward their own vaccination with the recommended/mandated vaccines and the factors determining it.RESULTSa) The 14 countries included recommended or mandated as many as 12 vaccines; b) The systematic review identified 11 studies published in the last 10 y. All considered seasonal influenza vaccination but differed in the variables investigated.DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS:This review highlights the need for further studies on this topic, including qualitative and interventional studies (based on behavior change theories). These should cover occupational vaccines and determinants known to be associated with vaccine hesitancy.

This study explores perceptions of mental illness in a sample of Ethiopian community members, healthcare workers and traditional healers. Specifically, the attitudes, beliefs and practices associated with the symptoms, causes and treatment of mental illness were investigated. A total of 115 participants were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire to explore their perceptions of depression, anxiety and psychosis. Qualitative analysis of the interview responses indicated a range of beliefs about the recognition and etiology of mental illness. Nine themes were identified in response to the questions how do you identify and what causes mental illness: Psychocultural appropriateness, Religious/spiritual, Social difficulty, Behavioral disturbance, Cognitive-emotional impairment, Disaster and economic deprivation, Adaptive functioning, Substance abuse and Physical/medical. The most frequent response for how to identify depression and anxiety was negative emotions, while the most frequent answer for re...

Social workers will inevitably encounter survivors of domestic violence or sexual assault in their work. In this study we explore how education, training, and personal or professional experiences influence students' attitudes, beliefs, and behavior toward survivors. Results indicate that education and/or training decreases students' blaming attitudes and beliefs supportive of myths and increases their screening behavior. Additionally, professional experience and indirect personal experience was found to predict screening behavior, whereas direct personal experience did not show any significance. These results provide much needed information for schools to better prepare students to work with survivors of violence.

The vast majority of New Zealanders in 2005 considered environmental protection a high priority, yet the Green Party – then the only New Zealand political party with a clear environmental sustainability agenda – continued to poll comparatively poorly. It has been suggested that much of the potential environmental vote is lost because of the party's left-of-centre social justice policies. Would the Greens attract greater electoral support by confining themselves to environmental issues? This question is addressed analysing data from the New Zealand Values Survey. Significant correlations between reported levels of concern about environmental and social justice issues suggest that the Greens' left-of-centre social policies may well be an added attraction for those for whom protection of the environment is a stated priority.

Objective: Because little is known about college-age smokers, the authors conducted a qualitative study to better understand this population. Participants: Forty college student smokers from 12 Pacific Northwest colleges participated in the study. Methods: The authors identified themes and built models to ascertain important factors related to smoking and smoking cessation. Four models emerged: smoking facilitators, smoking barriers, cessation facilitators, and cessation barriers. Results: The authors observed physical, psychological, and social influences across models, and social influences were strongly associated with both smoking and cessation. Many smokers were unlikely to define themselves as regular smokers. Most smokers had made prior quit attempts. Conclusions: College students are a unique category of smoker and colleges can play a role in helping them achieve cessation.

This paper reports on a comparison of the management and interpretation practices of two differing dolphin-human interaction sites in Queensland. The major objectives of the pilot study were to compare the management and dolphin-human interaction practices and to measure the post-experience effectiveness of the interpretation programs upon self-reported pro-environmental attitudes, beliefs, intended behaviours and intended actions of participants at the two sites. A further objective was to identify which interpretation practices were most effective in enhancing the intended proenvironmental behaviours and specific actions of the participants. A questionnaire based on the pro-environmental ‘attitudes, beliefs, behaviours and actions’ (ABBA) process, as presented in the paper, was administered to participants immediately after their dolphin-human interaction experience. Overall, visitors to both sites were very satisfied with their experience, but differences occurred between sites in individual s...

This study describes an educational project designed to change the beliefs, attitudes and practices of health care professionals concerning hypnosis and hypnotherapy. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether an educational offering that dispelled myths and misconceptions of hypnosis, offered a historical perspective, discussed how hypnosis works therapeutically, and elucidated the many medical uses of hypnosis, could change the attitudes, practices and beliefs of health care providers. Workshops were given to health care professionals at a variety of venues. Three questionnaires were used to collect data from study subjects before, immediately after and three months following the educational intervention. The results indicated that it is possible with a 90 to 180 minute lecture on hypnosis to create changes in beliefs, attitudes and practices. When health professionals have accurate information on hypnosis that is substantiated by scientific research, they are more likely to believe that hypnosis has a place in traditional mainstream medicine and to suggest self-regulatory strategies and hypnosis to their patients. An educational presentation on hypnosis can encourage health care professionals to learn more about this modality and to seek training in hypnosis.

(2001). Knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices: The social shadow of AIDS and STD prevention in Nepal. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies: Vol. 24, Sexual sites, seminal attitudes: Sexualities, masculinites and culture in South Asia, pp. 177-195.

Three classes of middle-school students who received 1 year of problem-solving instruction were compared with 3 classes of students who were taught mathematics in a more traditional manner. At the end of the school year, all the students completed a questionnaire that explored their mathematical beliefs. In addition, 3 students of varying ability levels per class were interviewed and asked to solve 4 nonroutine problems. Compared with the students who had received traditional mathematics instruction, the students who had received problem-solving instruction displayed greater perseverance in solving problems, more positive attitudes about the usefulness of mathematics, and more sophisticated definitions of mathematical understanding. A limitation of the problem-solving instruction is that the students tended to equate problem solving with the problem-solving skills they had learned, seeing them as “rules” to solve all problems. The implications of these findings for the reform of mathematics instr...

In this pilot study, a self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the health attitudes, beliefs and practices related to each of the Interim Dietary Guidelines for Reducing Cancer Risk (I.D.G.R.C.R.) in a convenience sample of elderly Caucasian subjects (N = 30) over 60 years old. The questionnaire items included personal efficacy, perceived motivators and barriers, and current practices related to the compliance of each of the dietary guidelines. The distributions of responses to the questionnaire items show variations in the subjects' attitudes, beliefs and current dietary practices related to each of the dietary guidelines. Most subjects reported current practice of most guidelines except the guideline of a low fat diet. Most of the time, the subjects perceived one or more motivations to comply with the guidelines of eating fruits and vegetables high in vitamin C, and eating dark green or deep yellow vegetables. Taste and health benefits were shown to be important factors among motivators influencing the compliance to the dietary guidelines. The findings of this exploratory study have direct implications for planning nutrition intervention programs for cancer risk reduction in the elderly.

Because benzodiazepines are frequently and often inappropriately prescribed by internists, we wished to examine the attitudes, beliefs, and recording behavior of internal medicine house staff who prescribe these medications to patients attending a general medicine clinic. Over a 5‐month period, we reviewed the medical records of patients prescribed both a benzodiazepine and a nonbenzodiazepine for clinical information related to prescribing these medications. At the close of the collection, all house staff completed a series of 12 questions about the management and treatment of hypertension and anxiety. Forty‐five house staff were included in our study. As a group, these house staff omitted information significantly more often for benzodiazepines than for nonbenzodiazepines and endorsed attitudes that were significantly less favorable toward prescribing the former. In summary, inconsistency in house officer recording of benzodiazepine prescriptions can be explained in part by their unfavorable attitudes t...

Fishbein's Behavioral Intention Model was examined in a study of the beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral intentions of women and men toward regular jogging. Data were collected from 296 female and male joggers and nonexercisers who were 30 years of age and older using a mail questionnaire which was constructed according to Fishbein's specifications. Significant and meaningful differences were found between joggers' and nonexercisers' beliefs. Nonexercisers thought jogging would require too much discipline, take too much time, and make them too tired. Joggers were more likely than nonexercisers to believe that regular jogging would have positive effects, and joggers evaluated being in good physical and mental condition more positively than nonexercisers. Nonexercisers indicated it was unlikely their referents (particularly physicians) thought they should jog regularly. The results supported the theory upon which the model was based: the relationship between the intention to jog and jogging behavior...

Menstrual attitudes, beliefs, self‐care practices, communication patterns, and symptom experiences were explored among 4 groups of women. Thirty adolescent volunteers and 19 of their close girlfriends comprised 2 groups. Forty‐six biological mothers of these adolescents and friends comprised the other 2 groups. All participants completed self‐report questionnaires and a demographic data form. Post hoc analysis revealed significant differences (p ≤ .05) between the scores of mothers and their daughters, and no differences between scores of adolescents. The adolescents were more likely to view menstruation as debilitating, bothersome, and unsanitary, and less likely to view it as a positive event than their mothers. Adolescents reported significantly more acute pain, water retention, and arousal symptoms than did their mothers.

(1972). Consistency among Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behavior. The Journal of Social Psychology: Vol. 86, No. 1, pp. 127-134.