Information Needs and Self-Care Practices of Diabetic Patients in Mbala, Northern Province, Zambia

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. It is “a group of metabolic diseases characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action or both” manifested by carbohydrates, fat and protein metabolism abnormality. If untreated high blood sugar can damage the nerves, eyes, kidneys, and other organs. The purpose of this study was to assess the information needs and self-care practice of Diabetic Patients in Mbala, Northern Province Zambia. Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study where 105 respondents aged 18 years and above participated in the study. Participants were randomly selected. A structured interview schedule and a check list were used to collect data. Statistics Package for Social Sciences computer software package version 23.0 was used to analyze data. Chi square and fisher’s exact tests were used to test the significance of the association between Knowledge of Diabetes Mellitus, attitude towards self-care practices, self-care practices among Diabetic patients and the need for information among Diabetic patients. A 95% confidence interval and P value of 0.05 were used to ascertain the degree of significance. Multi-variate binary logistic regression model to determine predictors of self-care practices and need for information was also used. Result: On analyzing the dependent variables, more than half (61.9%), had high need for information and three quarters (85.7%) of respondents had poor self-care practices. Slightly more than half (58.1%) had high knowledge levels majority (78.1%), had a negative attitude. Significant associations were found P Conclusion: Negative attitudes and lack of information among Diabetic patients were the main reasons associated with poor self-care practices. Particular attention should therefore be given to ensuring that Diabetic patients are given adequate information on Diabetes self-care in order to improve the quality of life.

Informational Needs in Women Undergoing Multifraction High Dose-Rate Brachytherapy for Cervical Cancer: A Prospective Qualitative Study

Objective: To identify the informational needs of Moroccan women receiving intracavitary brachytherapy for locally advanced cervical cancer as part of a process to develop guidelines for quality patient-centered care. Methodology: A prospective, qualitative study with a phenomenological approach was carried out at the Brachytherapy unit of the National Institute of Oncology in Rabat, Morocco. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 31 patients undergoing high dose-rate brachytherapy for cervical cancer from July 2020 to August 2020. Semi-structured, one-to-one interviews were conducted by a female radiation oncologist in Arabic, guided by a theme list. The interviews were translated and a thematic analysis was performed. Results: Data saturation was achieved having interviewing 31 participants, aged 27 - 70 years. Findings on patients’ informational needs were the overarching theme and form the focus of this article. The informational needs included: providing patients with disease- and treatment-related information in their home language;adequate information concerning pre-treatment preparation, possible side-effects, and sexual intercourse;and providing patients with informative material adapted to their needs as standard procedure. Conclusion: This study has identified unmet women’s informational needs during brachytherapy for cervical cancer. Providing patients with sufficient and understandable information, adequate preparation before the procedure, more sensitive support during the procedure, and debriefing afterward could lessen feelings of fear and anxiety towards treatment delivery. Guidelines with a patient-centered approach could thus be developed to be used as a tool to assist members of multidisciplinary teams in providing quality care to this group of women.

A study of changing information needs of contemporary public library users in China

Public libraries should be vigilant and responsive to the ever changing information needs of their clientele functioning in a society undergoing through rapid change due to technological innovations. China is currently experiencing a social and technological transformation of great magnitude in terms of metamorphosing itself from a traditional society to one that is driven by information technologies. Our research study, taking this proposition into account, did a questionnaire survey on 954 library information users at five major public libraries. This research study has discovered that the information needs of public library users today reflect some of the peculiar characteristics of their society in changing times which is driven largely by the rapid development and application of new information technologies. It shows that there is a newly added demand emphasis on certain categories of library resources and services by the Chinese reading public. Our research findings have identified such needs basically in the following five functional areas of public libraries, namely, 1) Increased demands for economic resources, 2) rising expectations for more effective and efficient library services, 3) a convenient location and an amicable environment congenial to learning, 4) a suitable place for engaging in intellectual dialogues and in socialization, and 5) a few other technological amenities and information technology-based digital resources and facilities in addition to a rich repository of library materials in print format. Finally, our paper concludes its discussion with a few observation remarks about the changing trend of public libraries' visions, missions and operations vis-à-vis a contextual background of the ever heightened public expectations for getting quality information services in a timely manner in order for them to function effectively in an information-oriented society such as that of ours today.