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Jones AYM1, Wu XB2,3, Bai YW3, Han J4, Dean E5
1University of Sydney, Physiotherapy Discipline, Sydney, Australia, 2Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Department of Physical Therapy, Shanghai, China, 3Seventh People's Hospital affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Department of Physical Therapy, Shanghai, China, 4Shanghai University of Sports, Physiotherapy and Sports Rehabilitation Department, Shanghai, China, 5University of British Columbia, Department of Physical Therapy, Vancouver, Canada
Background: Non-communicable diseases are a WHO priority, particularly in countries with fast-growing economics including China. To assess adults' health indices/attributes/lifestyle risk factors, the World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA) has designed a Health Improvement Card (HIC), a simple assessment/education tool to be used by health professionals. Health indices/attributes/lifestyle behaviours are categorized as low-, moderate-, and high-risk.
Purpose: To investigate the health indices/attributes/lifestyles of Chinese physiotherapy students with self-administration of the HIC, and their perceptions of its utility as an assessment/education tool when administering it to another person.
Methods: Physiotherapy students from two Chinese universities who completed a tutorial on the HIC were invited to participate in this study and required to:
1. complete the Chinese HIC
2. complete a questionnaire on “Students' perceptions of the HIC”
3. invite a friend/relative to complete the HIC with the student administering it
4. provide feedback on challenges encountered when assisting a friend/relative complete the HIC.
Returned questionnaires provided student consent.
Results: Completed HIC and questionnaires were returned by 81 students (response rate=99%). All participants were between 20-34 y. Mean body mass index (BMI) was 23.9+5.4 and 20.5+2.6 kg.m-2 for men and women participants, respectively. No participant had cholesterol or fasting-sugar data. Over 80% of participants had low-risk BMIs (82%) and blood pressure (BP) (91%). About 90% of participants had dietary habits in the moderate-risk zone; 41% exercised within the healthy low-risk zone. Those with BMIs, BPs, diet and/or exercise habits in the moderate-risk and high-risk zones were committed to achieving the low-risk zone within 1-2 months. Of 81 friends/relatives who participated, 25% had exercise habits in the high-risk zone. Student participants agreed that physiotherapists should introduce the HIC to patients. 91% agreed that they understood the HIC's purpose and could identify instances of its use to improve patient outcomes (95%) and provide lifestyle advice (96%). They concurred the HIC was easy to complete and useful in developing lifestyle education programmes. Regarding challenges, all mentioned the inability to obtain cholesterol and fasting-sugar data. Some were unclear about serving-size quantities and lacked confidence to effect lifestyle change in others. To facilitate HIC use, participants' suggestions included online tutorials, physiotherapists' use of portable equipment to obtain cholesterol and sugar data, inclusion of sleep-health and mood-related questions in the HIC and objectifying dietary/alcohol quantities.
Conclusion(s): With exposure to the HIC, students appeared confident in providing lifestyle advice to friends/relatives.
Implications: Introducing the HIC in physiotherapy curricula may enhance students' confidence in assisting patients address non-communicable diseases risk factors. We explored one way of sensitising emerging physiotherapists to their responsibility to assess health/attributes/lifestyle non communicable disease risk factors routinely with a tool such as the HIC, and to use its information to target health education and as a re-evaluation tool.
Keywords: Health-Improvement-Card, physiotherapy education
Funding acknowledgements: Not applicable
Purpose: To investigate the health indices/attributes/lifestyles of Chinese physiotherapy students with self-administration of the HIC, and their perceptions of its utility as an assessment/education tool when administering it to another person.
Methods: Physiotherapy students from two Chinese universities who completed a tutorial on the HIC were invited to participate in this study and required to:
1. complete the Chinese HIC
2. complete a questionnaire on “Students' perceptions of the HIC”
3. invite a friend/relative to complete the HIC with the student administering it
4. provide feedback on challenges encountered when assisting a friend/relative complete the HIC.
Returned questionnaires provided student consent.
Results: Completed HIC and questionnaires were returned by 81 students (response rate=99%). All participants were between 20-34 y. Mean body mass index (BMI) was 23.9+5.4 and 20.5+2.6 kg.m-2 for men and women participants, respectively. No participant had cholesterol or fasting-sugar data. Over 80% of participants had low-risk BMIs (82%) and blood pressure (BP) (91%). About 90% of participants had dietary habits in the moderate-risk zone; 41% exercised within the healthy low-risk zone. Those with BMIs, BPs, diet and/or exercise habits in the moderate-risk and high-risk zones were committed to achieving the low-risk zone within 1-2 months. Of 81 friends/relatives who participated, 25% had exercise habits in the high-risk zone. Student participants agreed that physiotherapists should introduce the HIC to patients. 91% agreed that they understood the HIC's purpose and could identify instances of its use to improve patient outcomes (95%) and provide lifestyle advice (96%). They concurred the HIC was easy to complete and useful in developing lifestyle education programmes. Regarding challenges, all mentioned the inability to obtain cholesterol and fasting-sugar data. Some were unclear about serving-size quantities and lacked confidence to effect lifestyle change in others. To facilitate HIC use, participants' suggestions included online tutorials, physiotherapists' use of portable equipment to obtain cholesterol and sugar data, inclusion of sleep-health and mood-related questions in the HIC and objectifying dietary/alcohol quantities.
Conclusion(s): With exposure to the HIC, students appeared confident in providing lifestyle advice to friends/relatives.
Implications: Introducing the HIC in physiotherapy curricula may enhance students' confidence in assisting patients address non-communicable diseases risk factors. We explored one way of sensitising emerging physiotherapists to their responsibility to assess health/attributes/lifestyle non communicable disease risk factors routinely with a tool such as the HIC, and to use its information to target health education and as a re-evaluation tool.
Keywords: Health-Improvement-Card, physiotherapy education
Funding acknowledgements: Not applicable
Topic: Education: methods of teaching & learning; Education: methods of teaching & learning
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: Shanghai Seventh People's Hospital
Ethics committee: Institutional Review Board
Ethics number: 2018-IRBQY-013
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
