Facebook as a Novel Tool for Continuous Professional Education on Dementia: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Social media strategies used to translate knowledge and disseminate clinical neuroscience information to healthcare users: A systematic review

Social media can be an important source of clinical neuroscience information for healthcare users (e.g., patients, healthcare providers, the general public). This systematic review synthesized evidence on the effectiveness of social media strategies in translating knowledge and disseminating clinical neuroscience information to healthcare users. A systematic review of six electronic databases up to July 29, 2024 was conducted. Original, peer-reviewed articles examining the effectiveness of YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, social media messaging apps, or a combination of these platforms in translating clinical neuroscience information to healthcare users (e.g., patients, healthcare providers, caregivers, and the general public) were eligible for inclusion. Several proxies (e.g., change in uptake of research, change in awareness, change in knowledge, change in understanding, behaviour change, and/or change in social media metrics) were considered as outcomes of knowledge translation (KT) effectiveness. Two independent reviewers screened articles and assessed risk of bias. The protocol was registered on PROSPERO (ID: CRD42021269034). A total of six studies were included in this review. The included studies used YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or a combination of social media platforms aimed at healthcare users. Most social media strategies used to disseminate clinical neuroscience information in the included studies (N = 5/6) resulted in improved indicators of KT. However, due to the high risk of bias among the included studies, these results must be interpreted with caution. Disseminating clinical neuroscience information via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or a combination of these platforms may achieve the goals of KT. However, there is currently a gap in the literature about clinical neuroscience KT via social media, both in the quantity of studies and quality of evidence. Future research should aim to minimize the risk of bias by controlling for important confounding factors and use objective measures of KT to complement subjective measures.

Service Design and Evaluation of OpenNotes for Craniofacial Deformity Management in Patients and their Caregivers

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to assess the feasibility of implementing OpenNotes in Korea. It involved developing and evaluating the Open-CHA service, which provides clinical summary information to patients diagnosed with craniofacial deformities and their caregivers following outpatient visits.

METHODS

The study included 109 patients diagnosed with craniofacial deformities, along with their caregivers. The Open-CHA service was developed by referencing OpenNotes and involved a user needs assessment, a pilot test, and an evaluation of its effectiveness. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the paired t-test.

RESULTS

Short message service templates for the Open-CHA service based on a user needs assessment conducted with patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals. These templates were refined and improved following a pilot test. After the implementation of the Open-CHA service, most participants evaluated OpenNotes positively. Additionally, there were observed increases in health knowledge and efficacy in patient-physician interactions. A statistically significant improvement in mobile health literacy was also confirmed.

CONCLUSIONS

The implementation of the Open-CHA service significantly enhanced mobile health literacy among patients with craniofacial deformities and their caregivers, indicating positive outcomes for the potential adoption of OpenNotes in Korea. This suggests that introducing OpenNotes into the Korean healthcare system is appropriate.

Dementia-Inclusive Choices for Exercise Toolkit: Impact on the Knowledge, Perspectives, and Practices of Exercise Providers

Physical activity improves the well-being of persons living with dementia but few exercise programs include them. The Dementia-Inclusive Choices for Exercise (DICE) toolkit aims to improve exercise providers' understanding of dementia and ability to support persons living with dementia in physical activity. We evaluated the co-designed DICE toolkit with exercise providers using a mixed-methods approach comprising pre/post questionnaires and interviews and reflection diaries. Among 16 participants, self-efficacy for exercise delivery to persons living with dementia and both knowledge and attitudes toward dementia significantly improved. Thematic analysis suggested participants (a) had a deeper understanding of the variability of dementia, (b) were planning for equitable access for persons living with dementia, (c) planned to promote social connection through exercise, and (d) were optimistic for future engagement with persons living with dementia. The DICE toolkit may improve exercise providers' knowledge and confidence to plan proactively to support persons living with dementia in programs and services.

The Effectiveness of Interventions on Improving the Mental Health Literacy of Health Care Professionals in General Hospitals: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

BACKGROUND

Suboptimal mental health literacy levels among general hospital health care professionals negatively impact the care coordination of patients with physical-mental comorbidity.

AIMS

This review is to examine the evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to improve the mental health literacy of general hospital health care professionals.

METHODS

A systematic search of literature was conducted in 13 electronic databases with manual searching of reference lists from 1980 to 2021. Studies were screened by pre-set eligibility criteria, that is, participants who were general hospital health care professionals taking care of adult patients, the interventions aimed at improving any components of participants' mental health literacy, comparisons were alternative active intervention or no intervention, and the primary outcomes were any aspects of mental health literacy.

RESULTS

Eight randomized controlled trials (N = 1,732 participants) were included in this review. Evidence indicated that mental health literacy interventions with educational components can improve components of the health care professionals' mental health literacy, in terms of mental health knowledge and mental illness-related attitudes/stigma. In addition, few studies evaluated all components of participants' mental health literacy.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the available evidence, educational interventions had a positive effect on components of general hospital health care professionals' mental health literacy. Health care organizations should provide educational programs to enhance general hospital health care professionals' mental health literacy. Further studies are needed to explore interventions that target all components of general hospital staff's mental health literacy and to evaluate its impact on the psychiatric consultation-liaison service utilization in general hospitals, as well as patient outcomes.

Dementia is (not) a natural part of ageing: a cross-sectional study on dementia knowledge and misconceptions in Swiss and Italian young adults, adults, and older adults

BACKGROUND

Increasing public awareness and understanding of dementia is the second key action area of the 2017 WHO Global action plan on a public health response to dementia. To achieve this aim, the first indispensable step is to understand the average level of dementia knowledge and to identify areas of low dementia knowledge. We aimed to quantify dementia knowledge in the general population, and to explore the extent to which it differs by age, sex, education, and indirect experience with dementia.

METHODS

We conducted an online cross-sectional survey in two Italian-speaking sites, south Switzerland (Ticino) and northern Italy (Piedmont). The survey was distributed between September and December 2019. We registered socio-demographic characteristics including whether the participant had contact with a person living with dementia, and measured dementia knowledge with the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Survey (DKAS).

RESULTS

Misconceptions about dementia were common among respondents, and lack of knowledge has been identified in dementia causes, characteristics, risk factors, and health promotion. Our results point out the lack of knowledge about how to communicate and relate with, and take care of a person living with dementia. The overall DKAS score was significantly and positively associated with female sex (β = 0.21; p < 0.001), educational level (β = 0.15; p < 0.001) and contact with a person living with dementia (β = 0.17; p < 0.001), but not with age (β = -0.01; p = 0.57).

CONCLUSION

Our results confirmed that general population's knowledge of dementia is thin. Interventional studies that rely on participatory action research methods are warranted to co-design interventions aimed at improving dementia knowledge and understanding in the public.

A Community-Based Participatory Research Approach to Developing and Testing Social and Behavioural Interventions to Reduce the Spread of SARS-CoV-2: A Protocol for the 'COPAR for COVID' Programme of Research with Five Interconnected Studies in the Hong Kong Context

BACKGROUND

While a number of population preventive measures for COVID-19 exist that help to decrease the spread of the virus in the community, there are still many areas in preventative efforts that need improvement or refinement, particularly as new strains of the virus develop. Some of the key issues currently include incorrect and/or inconsistent use of face masks, low acceptance of early screening or vaccination for COVID-19, vaccine hesitance, and misinformation. This is particularly the case in some vulnerable populations, such as older people with chronic illnesses, ethnic minorities who may not speak the mainstream language well and children. The current protocol introduces a large programme of research through five interrelated studies that all focus on social and behavioural interventions to improve different aspects of community-related preventative indicators. Hence, the specific objectives of the overall programme are to (1) increase early testing for COVID-19 and promote the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in the community (Study 1); (2) increase COVID-19-related health literacy and vaccine literacy and promote improved preventative measures in minority ethnic groups, chronically ill populations and caregivers (Study 2); (3) strengthen the public's motivation to stay at home and avoid nonessential high-risk activities (Study 3); (4) decrease COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (Study 4); and (5) enhance the adherence to COVID-19-related hygiene practices and the uptake of early testing in school children (Study 5).

METHODS

We will utilise a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach in the proposed studies. All studies will incorporate an intervention development phase in conjunction with key community stakeholders, a feasibility study and an execution stage. A variety of self-reported and objective-based measures will be used to assess various outcomes, based on the focus of each study, in both the short- and long-term, including, for example, the 8-item self-reported eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEAL) and objective measures such as vaccine uptake.

DISCUSSION

Theory-driven interventions will address each study's focus (e.g., social distancing, promotion of vaccine uptake, eHealth education, preventive measures and early detection). Improvements are expected to be seen in the outcomes of vulnerable and high-risk groups. Decreased infection rates are expected due to improved preventative behaviours and increased vaccine uptake. Long-term sustainability of the approach will be achieved through the CBPR model. The publication of this protocol can assist not only in sharing a large-scale and complex community-based design, but will also allow all to learn from this, so that we will have better insight in the future whether sharing of study designs can elicit timely research initiatives.

A Study on Multimedia Integrated Pre-service Education to Learning Behavior and Competitiveness in Workplace of Employees in Hospitality

The domestic situation of the past few years shows the practices of employees’ unpaid leave and layoffs and the constant drain on capital, talent, and technologies in hospitality. Owners expect to reduce the losses to as low as possible by saving on human costs. Nevertheless, in face of such a changing environment, hospitality has to accumulate high-quality human capital through systematic investment, sensitive development, and continuous learning and growth to discover competitive advantages through the cultivation of human capital. The pre-service education of new employees could accelerate their familiarity with the operations of the company and their understanding of their job role and duties. More importantly, with good planning, it could make employees feel emphasized with and respected with the result of largely changing their thoughts and working habits. Aiming at supervisors and employees in hospitality in Zhejiang as the research objects, a total of 420 copies of our questionnaire are distributed, and 357 valid copies were retrieved, with a retrieval rate of 85%. According to the results to propose discussions, it is expected to generate systematic and proper education methods for the pre-service education in hospitality, promote the education effectiveness, and promote employees’ capability and organizational performance.

Dementia Literacy in the Greater Bay Area, China: Identifying the At-Risk Population and the Preferred Types of Mass Media for Receiving Dementia Information

Background: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the dementia literacy of community-dwelling adults in four cities (Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Macau, and Zhuhai) of the Greater Bay Area of China, and to determine their mass media preferences for receiving dementia information. Methods: The survey was completed by 787 community-dwelling adults. Dementia literacy was indirectly measured using two validated scales-the 30-item Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale and the 20-item Dementia Attitude Scale (DAS). Participants were also asked to indicate whether they wanted to receive dementia information via digital or traditional media. Chi-square tests, logistic regressions, and MANOVA analyses were conducted. Results: Unemployed or retired people had poor attitudes towards dementia and lower levels of knowledge about dementia. Single, cohabiting, or divorced people in Hong Kong and Macau had lower DAS scores than married people. Young people and those with a secondary education preferred to get their dementia information from social media. People with a tertiary education and employed people enjoyed searching government or hospital websites for information. Middle-aged, unemployed, or retired people tended to learn about dementia from television or radio. Conclusion: It is worth educating the public about dementia and developing strategies consistent with their preferences for types of mass media.