Special Issue "Research in Clinical and Health Contexts"

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2022.

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Health promotion allows people to have greater control of their own health. It covers a wide range of social and environmental interventions aimed at benefit and protect individual health and quality of life through the prevention and solution of the root causes of public health problems. In this line, the effective adaptation of the current models of health intervention is required, in order to adapt attention to health needs and optimize available psycho-socio-sanitary resources.

Because of the important impact of this research, we are delighted to invited you to submit papers to be presented at the Congress (http://www.ciccs.es/, www.ciise.es and www.congresocice.es), for publication in IJERPH (Impact Factor 2.849). This Special Issue will be guest edited by Dr. María del Carmen Pérez Fuentes. See the Special Issue website for further details and submission instructions.

This Special Issue aims to show the excellence of health research and scientific discoveries in related topics. The submission of complete manuscripts of original research on any of the topics of interest is strongly recommended. Papers submitted to this Special Issue of IJERPH will undergo the standard peer-review procedure. Published papers will be indexed by the SCIE (Web of Science) and PubMed.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education.

Dr. María del Carmen Pérez-Fuentes
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2300 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • health promotion
  • quality of life
  • health intervention
  • prevalence
  • psycho-socio-sanitary resources
  • public health

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
Video-Based Intervention for Improving Maternal Retention and Adherence to HIV Treatment: Patient Perspectives and Experiences
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(4), 1737; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041737 - 10 Feb 2021
Viewed by 944
Abstract
VITAL Start is a video-based intervention aimed to improve maternal retention in HIV care and adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Malawi. We explored the experiences of pregnant women living with HIV (PWLHIV) not yet on ART who received VITAL Start before ART [...] Read more.
VITAL Start is a video-based intervention aimed to improve maternal retention in HIV care and adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Malawi. We explored the experiences of pregnant women living with HIV (PWLHIV) not yet on ART who received VITAL Start before ART initiation to assess the intervention’s acceptability, feasibility, fidelity of delivery, and perceived impact. Between February and September 2019, we conducted semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of 34 PWLHIV within one month of receiving VITAL Start. The participants reported that VITAL Start was acceptable and feasible and had good fidelity of delivery. They also reported that the video had a positive impact on their lives, encouraging them to disclose their HIV status to their sexual partners who, in turn, supported them to adhere to ART. The participants suggested using a similar intervention to provide health-related education/counseling to people with long term conditions. Our findings suggest that video-based interventions may be an acceptable, feasible approach to optimizing ART retention and adherence amongst PWLHIV, and they can be delivered with high fidelity. Further exploration of the utility of low cost, scalable, video-based interventions to address health counseling gaps in sub-Saharan Africa is warranted. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research in Clinical and Health Contexts)
Article
Teacher Training Can Make a Difference: Tools to Overcome the Impact of COVID-19 on Primary Schools. An Experimental Study
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(22), 8633; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228633 - 20 Nov 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1894
Abstract
Overcoming the impact of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) on primary schools is an emerging need and priority in the current social welfare system. Accordingly, this study presents an empirical learning package to support teachers, who perform frontline work in schools, in coping with [...] Read more.
Overcoming the impact of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) on primary schools is an emerging need and priority in the current social welfare system. Accordingly, this study presents an empirical learning package to support teachers, who perform frontline work in schools, in coping with stress, preventing burnout, improving their information and communications technology (ICT) competency, and introducing the principles of emotional intelligence (EI) in the classroom. The participants included 141 primary school teachers (M = 38.4 years, SD = 6.84; 54.6% women). They were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. The experimental group participated in the 14-week teacher training program, whereas the control group did not participate in the program or receive any other training during the intervention. Repeated-measures analysis of variance (time x group) was performed to identify the effects of the teacher training program. Teachers who participated in the training program evaluated it positively and showed significant differences compared to the control group in their abilities to cope with stress and avoid burnout, their ICT competency, and their introduction of EI in the classroom. Implications for supporting teachers are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research in Clinical and Health Contexts)
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Article
The Moderating Role of Extroversion and Neuroticism in the Relationship between Autonomy at Work, Burnout, and Job Satisfaction
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(21), 8166; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218166 - 05 Nov 2020
Viewed by 1209
Abstract
The main aim of this research project was to determine the relationship that exists between autonomy at work and both burnout and job satisfaction, taking into account the moderating effect of the personality factors extroversion and neuroticism. The study was carried out with [...] Read more.
The main aim of this research project was to determine the relationship that exists between autonomy at work and both burnout and job satisfaction, taking into account the moderating effect of the personality factors extroversion and neuroticism. The study was carried out with 971 volunteers (553 women and 418 men) with a mean age of 37.58 years. The majority had either a university degree (485 participants) or higher education qualifications (Spanish baccalaureate) (202 participants). The following instruments were administered: the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), to measure burnout among participants; the Mini International Personality Item Pool Scale (Mini-IPIP) by Donnellan, Oswald, Baird, and Lucas (2006) to measure the personality factors extroversion and neuroticism; the Brief Index of Affective Job Satisfaction (BIAJS) by Thompson and Phua (2012); and the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) by Karasek (1985) to measure autonomy at work. The results obtained indicate that those who enjoy greater autonomy at work have lower levels of emotional exhaustion. The stronger the effect is, the higher the score for extroversion. The personality factors studied were not found to have a direct influence on the criterion variables. However, the interaction effects were significant, except in the case of neuroticism. The results indicate that there are no differences between those who score highly for extroversion and neuroticism and the rest of the population in terms of predicting emotional exhaustion or job satisfaction. The present study aims to serve as a guideline for recruitment specialists, business owners, and job designers, encouraging them to take into account all these variables in order to foster the development of healthy and competitive organizations. Environmental moderators that could interfere with the result have not been introduced in this research. It has focused on the study of the personality factors of the workers, considering that the professional functions performed by the workers were similar. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research in Clinical and Health Contexts)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Video-based Intervention for Improving Maternal Retention and Adherence to HIV Treatment: Patient Perspectives and Experiences
Authors: Steven Masiano 1; Edwin Machine 1; Mtisunge Mphande 1; Christine Markham 2; Tapiwa Tembo 1; Mike Chitani 1; Angella Mkandawire 1; Saeed Ahmed 1,3; Maria Kim 1,3
Affiliation:
1 Baylor College of Medicine Children's Foundation Malawi
2 Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
3 The University of Texas, Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract: VITAL Start is a video-based intervention aimed to improve maternal retention in HIV care and ART adherence in Malawi. We explored the experiences of pregnant women living with HIV (PWLHIV) not yet on ART who received VITAL Start before ART initiation to assess the intervention’s acceptability, feasibility, fidelity of delivery, and perceived impact. Between February and September 2019, we conducted semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of 34 PWLHIV within one month of receiving VITAL Start. The participants reported that VITAL start was acceptable and feasible and had good fidelity of delivery. They also reported that the video had a positive impact on their lives, encouraging them to disclose their HIV status to their sexual partners who, in turn, supported them to adhere to ART. The participants suggested using a similar intervention to provide health-related education/counseling to people with long term conditions. Our findings suggest that video-based interventions may be an acceptable, feasible approach to optimizing ART retention and adherence amongst PWLHIV; and can be delivered with high fidelity. Further exploring the utility of low cost, scalable, video-based interventions to address health counseling gaps in sub-Saharan Africa is warranted.
Keywords: VITAL Start; HIV; adherence; retention; Malawi; Sub-Saharan Africa; acceptability

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