Peer-Informed Learning on Increasing Contraceptive Knowledge Among Women in Rural Haiti

Contraceptive prevalence in Haiti remains low despite extensive foreign aid targeted at improving family planning. [1] Earlier studies have found that peer-informed learning have been successful in promoting sexual and reproductive health. [2-5] This pilot project was implemented as a three-month, community-based, educational intervention to assess the impact of peer education in increasing contraceptive knowledge among women in Fondwa, Haiti. Research investigators conducted contraceptive information trainings to pre-identified female leaders of existing women’s groups in Fondwa, who were recruited as peer educators (n=4). Later, these female leaders shared the knowledge from the training with the test participants in the women’s group (n=23) through an information session. Structured surveys measuring knowledge of contraceptives were conducted with all participants before the intervention began, at the end of the intervention, and four weeks after the intervention. The surveys measured general contraceptive knowledge, knowledge about eight selected types of modern contraceptives and contraceptive preferences and attitudes. Only test participants showed significant improvement in their general contraceptive knowledge score (p<0.001), but both test participants and peer educators showed significant improvement in overall knowledge scores for identifying the types and uses of modern contraceptive methods. Assessment for knowledge retention remained significantly higher four weeks after the intervention than prior to the intervention. Therefore, a one-time, three-hour peer-based educational intervention using existing social structures is effective, and might be valuable in a population with minimal access to education and little to no knowledge about contraceptives.

Influence of a fed or fasted state on the s-IgA response to prolonged cycling in active men and women

This study investigated the effect of a fed or fasted state on the salivary immunoglobulin A (s-IgA) response to prolonged cycling. Using a randomized, crossover design, 16 active adults (8 men and 8 women) performed 2 hr of cycling on a stationary ergometer at 65% of maximal oxygen uptake on 1 occasion after an overnight fast (FAST) and on another occasion 2 hr after consuming a 2.2-MJ high-carbohydrate meal (FED). Timed, unstimulated whole saliva samples were collected immediately before ingestion of the meal, immediately preexercise, 5 min before cessation of exercise, immediately postexercise, and 1 hr postexercise. The samples were analyzed for s-IgA concentration, osmolality, and cortisol, and saliva flow rates were determined to calculate s-IgA secretion rate. Saliva flow rate decreased by 50% during exercise (p < .05), and s-IgA concentration increased by 42% (p < .05), but s-IgA secretion rate remained unchanged. There was a 37% reduction in s-IgA:osmolality postexercise (p < .05), and salivary cortisol increased by 68% (p < .05). There was no effect of FED vs. FAST on these salivary responses. The s-IgA concentration, secretion rate, and osmolality were found to be significantly lower in women than in men throughout the exercise protocol (p < .05); however, there was no difference between genders in saliva flow rate, s-IgA:osmolality ratio, or cortisol. These data demonstrate that a fed or fasted state 2 hr before exercise does not influence resting s-IgA or the response to prolonged cycling. Furthermore, these results show lower levels of s-IgA and osmolality in women than in men at rest.

The emotional costs of caring incurred by men and women in the British labour market

This study investigates whether men and women in caring occupations experience more negative job-related feelings at the end of the day compared to the rest of the working population. The data are from Wave Nine of the British Household Panel Survey (1999) where respondents were asked whether, at the end of the working day, they tended to keep worrying or have trouble unwinding, and the extent to which work left them feeling exhausted or “used up.” Their responses to these questions were used to develop ordinal dependent variables. Control variables in the models include: number of children, age, hours worked per week, managerial responsibilities and job satisfaction, all of which have been shown in previous research to be significantly related to “job burnout.” The results are that those in caring occupations are more likely to feel worried, tense, drained and exhausted at the end of the working day. Women in particular appear to pay a high emotional cost for working in caring occupations. Men do not emerge unscathed, but report significantly lower levels of worry and exhaustion at the end of the day than do women.

A History of Women in Ireland, 1500-1800

The first general survey of the history of women in early modern Ireland. Based on an impressive range of source material, it presents the results of original research into women’s lives and experiences in Ireland from 1500 to 1800. This was a time of considerable change in Ireland as English colonisation, religious reform and urbanisation transformed society on the island. Gaelic society based on dynastic lordships and Brehon Law gave way to an anglicised and centralised form of government and an English legal system.