Suchergebnisse

With increasing demands for greater cost-effectiveness and the recognition of the importance of health self-care behaviors, social work interventions need to be developed that reach more individuals and reach medical treatment arenas where, previously, traditional medical care was the only option. This article describes an example of intervention research (codeveloped by a social worker) designed to improve urologic self-care for women presenting to a urology clinic with frequency-urgency syndrome. Five women kept daily diary data on their urinary frequency and then received a pamphlet of behavioral recommendations developedfrom the Health Belief Model, Self-Efficacy Theory, the Theory of Reasoned Action and other compliance-enhancement strategies. Three women showed improvement in their frequency of urination, one showed improvement in her unpleasant urges, and one showed no change in either self-care behaviors or clinical outcome. Implications for future research are discussed.