The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of counseling sessions as nursing intervention on depression and loneliness among elderly. The study was carried out in the geriatric club in legitimate assembly and geriatric club in Cultural Center at Assiut City, Egypt. The study sample comprised of one hundred elderly person aged 60 years and above. They were assigned randomly in two groups as 50 intervention group and 50 control group. Three tools were used for data collection, namely: Socio-demographic data structured interview sheet, UCLA loneliness scale, Beck Depression Inventory Scale (BDI). The main results yielded by the study proved that, there were a highly significant difference between the mean scores of the intervention and control group at (P0.001). This result suggests that counseling sessions was effective on reducing depression and loneliness among elderly people. Also, there were statistically significant highly correlation between depression and loneliness (r=0.892, p=0.001). The study recommended that psycho-educational program is needed to assist psychologists, counselors and social workers, nurses, who work with the elderly, to utilize the theoretical principles and the therapeutic process of this approach as a nursing intervention on reducing depression and loneliness among elderly

Background: Childbirth is a turning point in life. A woman experiences a range of emotions highlighted needs for psychological support. Mother’s perception of a positive birth is influenced by how supported she feels throughout her experience. The presence of the husband in the delivery room can provide emotional support for the mother; establish an earlier relationship between a father and his infant. Previous studies have highlighted significant barriers to male participation as pregnancy and childbirth are often perceived as a woman’s realm. Men’s involvement is culturally discouraged; men’s focus was on economic activity which was more important for them to concentrate on. This study aimed to identify the couples' attitude toward husband attendance during childbirth. The descriptive design was used in this study. Convenient sample of 270 couples were recruited for this study. The settings were 4 villages from Assiut & Sohag governorates (two from each), chosen randomly. The tools of data collection were structured interview questionnaire which developed by the investigators included personal data for both husband & wife. The second tool was couples' attitude scale which includes 27 statements with five points Likert' scale. The scale contained positive and negative statements to allow for investigation of positive and negative couples' attitude. The tool was validated by the original author, The Arabic translated tool was revalidating by a jury of expertise from community health nursing, Obstetric and gynecological nursing and Psychiatric nursing, to test its contents’ validity; (six of experts, two in each field), to assess the content and face validity of the tool for Egyptian culture. The necessary official permission was obtained. A Pilot study was conducted on 10% of the subjects. The questionnaire & scale were filled by the investigators or by the participants depending on their level of education. The data were collected two days/week, and 3-5 couples/ day were interviewed the study started from November 2014-to the end of June 2015. Results: the current study revealed that the mean age for husbands was (34.34 ± 6.54), and for wives was (28.49 ± 5.82) years. More than one-third of wives and their husbands have had university education, half of the studied wives were working, and there was positive attitude among both couples and positive correlation between husband and wife attitude, also, there was negative correlation between number of pregnancy and wife attitude. Accompanying the husband of his wife to the clinic was rare which make the investigators to collect the data through home visits. Absence of the husband during the visit makes a difficulty to the investigators to go back to the same home another time/s. Conclusion: there was positive attitude between both wives and husbands of toward husband attendance during child birth. Recommendations: Encouraging husbands to attend prenatal classes where they learnt about techniques to help their partner during labor. Health facility, physicians and nurses should encourage and allow husband to attend child birth. Further research about the husband’s presence and its effect on perinatal outcomes is highly recommended.

Background: Childbirth is a turning point in life. A woman experiences a range of emotions highlighted needs for psychological support. Mother’s perception of a positive birth is influenced by how supported she feels throughout her experience. The presence of the husband in the delivery room can provide emotional support for the mother; establish an earlier relationship between a father and his infant. Previous studies have highlighted significant barriers to male participation as pregnancy and childbirth are often perceived as a woman’s realm. Men’s involvement is culturally discouraged; men’s focus was on economic activity which was more important for them to concentrate on. This study aimed to identify the couples' attitude toward husband attendance during childbirth. The descriptive design was used in this study. Convenient sample of 270 couples were recruited for this study. The settings were 4 villages from Assiut & Sohag governorates (two from each), chosen randomly. The tools of data collection were structured interview questionnaire which developed by the investigators included personal data for both husband & wife. The second tool was couples' attitude scale which includes 27 statements with five points Likert' scale. The scale contained positive and negative statements to allow for investigation of positive and negative couples' attitude. The tool was validated by the original author, The Arabic translated tool was revalidating by a jury of expertise from community health nursing, Obstetric and gynecological nursing and Psychiatric nursing, to test its contents’ validity; (six of experts, two in each field), to assess the content and face validity of the tool for Egyptian culture. The necessary official permission was obtained. A Pilot study was conducted on 10% of the subjects. The questionnaire & scale were filled by the investigators or by the participants depending on their level of education. The data were collected two days/week, and 3-5 couples/ day were interviewed the study started from November 2014-to the end of June 2015. Results: the current study revealed that the mean age for husbands was (34.34 ± 6.54), and for wives was (28.49 ± 5.82) years. More than one-third of wives and their husbands have had university education, half of the studied wives were working, and there was positive attitude among both couples and positive correlation between husband and wife attitude, also, there was negative correlation between number of pregnancy and wife attitude. Accompanying the husband of his wife to the clinic was rare which make the investigators to collect the data through home visits. Absence of the husband during the visit makes a difficulty to the investigators to go back to the same home another time/s. Conclusion: there was positive attitude between both wives and husbands of toward husband attendance during child birth. Recommendations: Encouraging husbands to attend prenatal classes where they learnt about techniques to help their partner during labor. Health facility, physicians and nurses should encourage and allow husband to attend child birth. Further research about the husband’s presence and its effect on perinatal outcomes is highly recommended.

Background: Many students carry school backpacks that exceed 10 to 15 percent of their body weight, which puts them at risk for back pain and related disorders. Improper backpack use can also lead to poor posture. Aim of the study was to assess parental knowledge about standard school backpacks, correct carrying of backpack, and assess their awareness of musculoskeletal disorders related to use of school backpack. Subjects & Methods: A randomized cross-sectional study was used. The study was carried out using a multistage random sampling at Assiut city. The subjects of the study were 318 parents and their children. The tool of data collection was: A self structured questionnaire developed by the researchers and filled by parents contained two parts: Part I. Personal data. Part II: Knowledge of parents about school backpack and its effect on the child's health. Results: Most parents were unaware of standard school backpack, correct body mechanics of carrying school backpack. Also, Most of them (92.5%) reported that their children complain of heavy school bag. Meanwhile, only 7.5% carry school backpack with ideal weight. More than half of the studied parents (58.5%) reported that their children spent ≥ 30 minutes carrying the school backpack, & two-thirds of them (66%) walk to school. Also, more than two-thirds of them put additional contents in their school backpack & complain of low back pain, shoulder or arm pain (68.9% & 66.7%) respectively. In addition, more than two-thirds of the studied parents didn't check their children' school backpack. Conclusion: Most parents were unaware of the standard school backpack, correct method for carrying the school backpack or musculoskeletal disorders related to the use of heavy school backpack. Recommendation: Design and implement educational program about characteristics of healthy school backpack for parents, teachers, and school children, Provision of school lockers to save the excess books.

Background: Many students carry school backpacks that exceed 10 to 15 percent of their body weight, which puts them at risk for back pain and related disorders. Improper backpack use can also lead to poor posture. Aim of the study was to assess parental knowledge about standard school backpacks, correct carrying of backpack, and assess their awareness of musculoskeletal disorders related to use of school backpack. Subjects & Methods: A randomized cross-sectional study was used. The study was carried out using a multistage random sampling at Assiut city. The subjects of the study were 318 parents and their children. The tool of data collection was: A self structured questionnaire developed by the researchers and filled by parents contained two parts: Part I. Personal data. Part II: Knowledge of parents about school backpack and its effect on the child's health. Results: Most parents were unaware of standard school backpack, correct body mechanics of carrying school backpack. Also, Most of them (92.5%) reported that their children complain of heavy school bag. Meanwhile, only 7.5% carry school backpack with ideal weight. More than half of the studied parents (58.5%) reported that their children spent ≥ 30 minutes carrying the school backpack, & two-thirds of them (66%) walk to school. Also, more than two-thirds of them put additional contents in their school backpack & complain of low back pain, shoulder or arm pain (68.9% & 66.7%) respectively. In addition, more than two-thirds of the studied parents didn't check their children' school backpack. Conclusion: Most parents were unaware of the standard school backpack, correct method for carrying the school backpack or musculoskeletal disorders related to the use of heavy school backpack. Recommendation: Design and implement educational program about characteristics of healthy school backpack for parents, teachers, and school children, Provision of school lockers to save the excess books.

Background: Food safety continues to be a concern of consumers and a focal point of the food industry and regulatory agencies. For over a century, developments in food production and new control philosophies have contributed to food safety systems in most developed countries to be efficient in the prevention of food borne diseases. The elderly are at particular risk of food borne illnesses because of their weaken immune systems, decrease in stomach acidity and intestinal peristalsis. Aim of the study: to assess the practices of the elderly people and their caregivers about food safety. Setting: The present study was carried out at Assiut city (urban) and Assiut district (rural) in Assiut governorate. Study design: descriptive cross sectional research design. The subjects were 10% of the total number of the elderly people from every area was selected randomly who aged 60 years and above and their caregivers involved in the study. The total number of the studied elderly was 720 (340 from urban and 380 from rural areas) and their caregivers (135 subjects). Results: nearly the total subject from the urban elderly (97.1%) and the majority of rural elderly (86.3%) did not know the temperature of the refrigerator, more than two fifths (44.7%) of the urban and more than one fifth (20.3%) of the rural elderly defrosting product in tape water. Conclusion: the elderly and their caregivers (urban and rural) were followed incorrect defrosting practices, incorrect hygiene of the kitchen counter, and lack of knowledge regarding refrigeration temperature. Recommendations: the information about food safety should be disseminated through mass media, television, newspapers and magazines at regular periods, designing food safety educational program that should be directed to the public with special emphasis on the high-risk groups as the elderly through mass media

Background: Food safety continues to be a concern of consumers and a focal point of the food industry and regulatory agencies. For over a century, developments in food production and new control philosophies have contributed to food safety systems in most developed countries to be efficient in the prevention of food borne diseases. The elderly are at particular risk of food borne illnesses because of their weaken immune systems, decrease in stomach acidity and intestinal peristalsis. Aim of the study: to assess the practices of the elderly people and their caregivers about food safety. Setting: The present study was carried out at Assiut city (urban) and Assiut district (rural) in Assiut governorate. Study design: descriptive cross sectional research design. The subjects were 10% of the total number of the elderly people from every area was selected randomly who aged 60 years and above and their caregivers involved in the study. The total number of the studied elderly was 720 (340 from urban and 380 from rural areas) and their caregivers (135 subjects). Results: nearly the total subject from the urban elderly (97.1%) and the majority of rural elderly (86.3%) did not know the temperature of the refrigerator, more than two fifths (44.7%) of the urban and more than one fifth (20.3%) of the rural elderly defrosting product in tape water. Conclusion: the elderly and their caregivers (urban and rural) were followed incorrect defrosting practices, incorrect hygiene of the kitchen counter, and lack of knowledge regarding refrigeration temperature. Recommendations: the information about food safety should be disseminated through mass media, television, newspapers and magazines at regular periods, designing food safety educational program that should be directed to the public with special emphasis on the high-risk groups as the elderly through mass media

Background: Food safety continues to be a concern of consumers and a focal point of the food industry and regulatory agencies. For over a century, developments in food production and new control philosophies have contributed to food safety systems in most developed countries to be efficient in the prevention of food borne diseases. The elderly are at particular risk of food borne illnesses because of their weaken immune systems, decrease in stomach acidity and intestinal peristalsis. Aim of the study: to assess the practices of the elderly people and their caregivers about food safety. Setting: The present study was carried out at Assiut city (urban) and Assiut district (rural) in Assiut governorate. Study design: descriptive cross sectional research design. The subjects were 10% of the total number of the elderly people from every area was selected randomly who aged 60 years and above and their caregivers involved in the study. The total number of the studied elderly was 720 (340 from urban and 380 from rural areas) and their caregivers (135 subjects). Results: nearly the total subject from the urban elderly (97.1%) and the majority of rural elderly (86.3%) did not know the temperature of the refrigerator, more than two fifths (44.7%) of the urban and more than one fifth (20.3%) of the rural elderly defrosting product in tape water. Conclusion: the elderly and their caregivers (urban and rural) were followed incorrect defrosting practices, incorrect hygiene of the kitchen counter, and lack of knowledge regarding refrigeration temperature. Recommendations: the information about food safety should be disseminated through mass media, television, newspapers and magazines at regular periods, designing food safety educational program that should be directed to the public with special emphasis on the high-risk groups as the elderly through mass media

Background: Nursing is an important discipline and is considered as an essential community provider of health information and attitude formation. The knowledge and attitude of nurses is an important factor in shaping and changing community, since they set the example for their clients. Aim: The aim of this study was to identify nursing students' knowledge regarding oral health, to identify their habits regarding oral health, and examine their oral health-related attitudes and behavior. Subject and Methods: The present study used a descriptive study design. The setting was the University Secondary Nursing School at Assiut city. The subjects of the study were 246 nursing students at the pre-final and final year. Two tools were used in this study; the first tool is developed by the investigator to assess students' knowledge and habits regarding oral health. The second tool is the Hiroshima University-Dental Behavioral Inventory (HU-DBI) to assess the oral heath attitude/behavior of the students. Results: More than three-quarters of the students (76.4%) had satisfactory knowledge regarding oral health, more than half of students (56.9%) had negative attitudes towards oral health. There is no statistical significance relation between the level of students' knowledge and their attitude, habits, and personal characteristics regarding oral health except for age and grade. Conclusion: The study showed that although the students had satisfactory basic knowledge about oral health, their attitude and practices toward oral health was relatively poor. Recommendations: A new curriculum incorporating basic topics on oral hygiene should be included for nursing students. Conduct continuing education programs for the newly graduated nurses to improve their knowledge, attitude and awareness about oral health.

Al-Azahar Assiut Medical Journal September 2010, Vol.8 N.(3) Impact of child labor on psychosocial development of under fourteen years in Assiut city, Egypt. Eman S. Masoud,1 Salwa A. Marzouk2 and Safaa R. Mahmoud3 1Pediatric Nursing department, faculty of Nursing, Minia University and 2Pediatric Nursing department,3 Community health, faculty of Nursing, Assiut University. Abstract: Child labor is a pervasive problem in Egypt. For the last two decades there has been growing concern for child labor across the globe and several efforts are being made by the governments and civil society organizations to eliminate child labor. It has a great impact on child health whether psychosocially or physically. Objectives: this study aimed to assess the impact of child labor on the psychosocial development of under fourteen years in Assiut. Design: A descriptive research design was used in this study. Subjects and Methods: The study was conducted on 248 children divided equally into two groups (working children and school children). Data are collected using an interview questionnaire sheet. Results: the present results revealed that children work because the family is in need of financial support or children fail in school. Also, the results revealed that working children had lower score of anger control and had elevated scores regarding excessive suffering and weak ego strength. Conclusion: Even work has negative effect on their Psychosocial condition, but it also has positive effect as the children become independent. From the study results the researcher recommended that the ministry of manpower must have strict enforcement and real application of existing law against all forms of child labor.