Evaluating perceived threat of skin cancer and preventive measures in South Iranian sailors: A qualitative study

The challenges of strategic management of the wastage produced due to earthquake in Kermanshah and Varzaghan-Ahar: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Strategic management of the wastage produced due to earthquakes has faced many challenges over the recent decade. Thus, the present study seeks to identify and explain the challenges in earthquake wastage strategic management.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The present qualitative study has been steered through a content analysis approach and conducted using semi-structured interviews and a purposive selection of 17 professors, experts, and managers experienced in the field of waste management in Kermanshah and Varzaghan-Ahar earthquakes over 2020-2021. Besides, the interviews were initially categorized using MAXQDA18 software.

RESULTS

Analysis of the experiences and perception regarding the changes in strategic management of wastage produced due to Kermanshah and Varzaghan-Ahar earthquakes revealed 418 codes, 97 subcategories, 33 categories, and 8 main categories including management and leadership, organizational culture, planning, organizational learning, employee management, rules and regulations, resource management, and procedure management.

CONCLUSION

Strategic waste management has not been implemented in a coherent, integrated, and well-planned manner in the cases of the Kermanshah and Varzaghan-Ahar earthquakes. The challenges of strategic waste management turned out to be due to various reasons which will result in many issues in achieving the goals and selecting the suitable method for resource and procedure management should they not be managed well. Hence, policymakers, managers, and executors in the field of crisis management and waste management in disasters -specifically earthquakes- must take the necessary measures to remove these barriers.

Facilitators and barriers of herbal medicine use in diabetic patients: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

In several countries such as Iran, the use of complementary and alternative medical products like herbal medicine is growing. There is, however, a lack of research on the prospects of herbal medicine patrons regarding facilitators and herbal medicine use barriers. The aim of this study was to explain the facilitators and the barriers of herbal medicine use in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Qualitative one-to-one in-depth interviews were conducted with patients with T2DM from the Yazd Diabetes Research Center, using a semi-structured guide. For the recruitment of T2DM participants who used herbal medicine beside conventional medicine, purposeful sampling was used. Analysis of the data was carried out using the steps proposed by Graneheim and Landman strategies.

RESULTS

Sixteen patients were interviewed. There were 2 subjects (facilitators and barriers herbal medicine use), 8 categories, and 89 initial codes. The facilitators included individual preferences, preparation skills, and family support and the factors obstructing the use of herbal medicine included insufficient skills about preparing, lack of easy access to consumption, insufficient of efficacy of herbal medicine, and negative properties of herbal medicine and taking time in preparing herbal medicine.

CONCLUSION

Although some people use herbal medicine, the interest in use of herbal medicine is limited because of inadequate awareness of the impact and usage them. Therefore, the use of effective strategy in the integration of herbal remedies with conventional medicine can promote well-being of patients.

Determining Skin Cancer Protective Behaviors in the Light of the Protection Motivation Theory among Sailors in Bandar-Bushehr in the South of Iran

Background:

Skin cancer is among the most prevalent cancers in Iran and worldwide. Due to the nature of work, sailors are constantly exposed to the ultraviolet rays of the sun, which in the long run damages their skin and raises the chances of skin cancer. Thus, the present research aimed to predict the skin cancer protective behaviors among sailors in the south of Iran in the light of the protection motivation theory.

Materials and Methods:

The present analytical, cross-sectional research was conducted on 360 sailors in Bandar-Bushehr selected randomly from 4 border healthcare centers. To collect the required data, a reliable and valid questionnaire based on the protection motivation theory was used. The data were analyzed in SPSS21 using descriptive and inferential statistics including Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression analysis.

Results:

Pearson correlation coefficient showed a statistically significant positive correlation between protection motivation, perceived severity, fear, reward on the one hand and a statistically significant negative correlation between protection motivation and rewards and response costs. All constructs of protection motivation explained 43% of the variance of skin cancer protective behaviors. Among the influential predictors, perceived self-efficacy showed to be the strongest (β=0.328).

Conclusion:

Considering the effectiveness of the protection motivation theory in determining skin cancer preventive behaviors among sailors, it can be concluded that this theory can be used as a framework in planning health education and promotion programs to motivate sailors to adopt more skin cancer protective behaviors.