No abstract

The RMP home-visiting intervention can lead to improved self-esteem scores in teens, particularly in Hispanic teens. Improved self-esteem has been shown to lead to better parenting.

Adolescents in Thailand’s Deep South are growing up amid protracted instability, yet limited research has left a critical gap in understanding their strengths, stressors, and unmet support needs. This study aimed to gain understanding of daily lives and well-being of orphaned adolescents in the Deep South to inform future intervention efforts. In total, 10 orphaned adolescents and their primary caregivers were recruited for study participation. Adolescents participated in a visual ethnography study over the course of 2 days to “ show us a day in your life with photos,” with follow-up interviews to discuss their photos. Caregivers participated in a focus group discussion about the challenges of caring for orphaned adolescents and supports that would be helpful in alleviating these challenges. Qualitative transcripts were coded by five researchers from multiple disciplines to identify emergent themes using a grounded theory approach. Themes included tension related to technology use, limited caregiver-adolescent communication, social isolation, financial hardship, and future aspirations. Lacking in peer social interaction, exploration, and opportunities to take risks, the atmosphere of restricted mobility has important implications for adolescents’ social development. Caregivers and their children have little family time for recreation and leisure that would provide opportunities to connect and navigate these issues.

Background: Hypertensive disorder leads to maternal dead and mortality in Thailand. Objective: This quasi-experimental study aimed to test the effect of a holistic nursing program applying Reiki to the mean arterial pressure (MAP) of pregnant women. Methods: Purposive sampling method was used to recruit pregnant women diagnosed with hypertensive disorders. A total of thirty-four pregnant women were assigned to either the control or intervention groups. Blood pressure was measured as the baseline prior beginning of the program, then after completion of eight-week program intervention. Descriptive statistics were used to demonstrate the characteristics of demographic data and the MAP in each group. Wilcoxon test was used to examine the MAP pre- and post-intervention in each group. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the significant difference in the MAP between groups. Results: From this study it was seen that there was a significant difference in MAP between pre- and post-intervention in the intervention group (p< 0.020), while there was no difference in the control group. After the eight-week program, there was no statistically significant difference in the MAP between two groups. Conclusion: The program can potentially be an alternative therapy to calm the sympathetic nervous system resulting in better blood pressure control of pregnant women with the hypertensive disorder.