Background: People living with HIV (PLHIV) sometimes experience discrimination. There is little understanding of the causes, forms and consequences of this stigma in Islamic countries. This qualitative study explored perceptions and experiences of PLHIV regarding both the quality of healthcare and the attitudes and behaviours of their healthcare providers in the Islamic Republic of Iran.Methods: In‐depth, semi‐structured interviews were held with a purposively selected group of 69 PLHIV recruited from two HIV care clinics in Tehran. Data were analyzed using the content analysis approach.Results and discussion: Nearly all participants reported experiencing stigma and discrimination by their healthcare providers in a variety of contexts. Participants perceived that their healthcare providers' fear of being infected with HIV, coupled with religious and negative value‐based assumptions about PLHIV, led to high levels of stigma. Participants mentioned at least four major forms of stigma: (1) refusal of care; (2) sub‐optimal care; (3) excessive precautions and physical distancing; and (4) humiliation and blaming. The participants' healthcare‐seeking behavioural reactions to perceived stigma and discrimination included avoiding or delaying seeking care, not disclosing HIV status when seeking healthcare, and using spiritual healing. In addition, emotional responses to perceived acts of stigma included feeling undeserving of care, diminished motivation to stay healthy, feeling angry and vengeful, and experiencing emotional stress.Conclusions: While previous studies demonstrate that most Iranian healthcare providers report fairly positive attitudes towards PLHIV, our participants' experiences tell a different story. Therefore, it is imperative to engage both healthcare providers and PLHIV in designing interventions targeting stigma in healthcare settings. Additionally, specialized training programmes in universal precautions for health providers will lead to stigma reduction. National policies to strengthen medical training and to provide funding for stigma‐reduction programming are strongly recommended. Investigating Islamic literature and instruction, as well as requesting official public statements from religious leaders regarding stigma and discrimination in healthcare settings, should be used in educational intervention programmes targeting healthcare providers. Finally, further studies are needed to investigate the role of the physician and religion in the local context.

Background: Disease preventing methods focus mostly on lifestyle factors such as physical activity, healthy diet and not smoking. Previous studies verified using theory and models to change unhealthy behaviors, so that health belief model (HBM) is a useful framework for describing the healthy nutrition behavior. Objectives: This study aimed to predict factors related to unhealthy nutrition and inactive life in students of Tehran University, Tehran, Iran based on the Health Belief Model (HBM). Patients and Methods: In this cross sectional study, proportional quota sampling from three different educational levels was conducted from October to December 2012. A self-administered validated instrument based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) with 69 items and four sections was used to collect data. In this study through using linear and logistic regression, the effect of body mass index, age, gender, marriage, self-efficacy, cues to action, knowledge, perceived severity, susceptibility, benefits and barriers on nutrition and physical activity behavior were assessed. SPSS version 18 was used to analyze data. Results: Totally, 368 students including 318 female students (86.4%) and 50 male students (13.6%) with a mean age of 24.9 years (SD = 4.55) took part in the study. Among all independent variables, gender (P < 0.001), knowledge (P = 0.023) and perceived barriers (P = 0.004) predicted nutrition behavior. In case of physical activity, knowledge (P = 0.011), perceived severity (P = 0.009), perceived barriers (P = 0.019) and self-efficacy (P = 0.033) had significance association with physical activity behavior. Conclusions: This study indicated that health belief model contrasts could predict the risky behavior of university students due to heart disease. However, more researches are needed to verify the predictors of high risky behaviors in students. Keywords: Behavior; Heart Disease; Health Belief Model; Physical Activity

Background: Using various models of behavior change, a number of studies in the area of nutrition education have confirmed that nutrition habits and behaviors can be improved. Objectives: This study sought to determine the effects of education on patterns of dietary consumption among medical students at the military university of Tehran, with a view to correcting those patterns. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 242 medical students from the Military University of Tehran were chosen by convenience sampling and then divided into control (n = 107) and intervention groups (n = 135) by block randomization. The self-administered questionnaire involving six categories of item (knowledge, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, perceived threats, self-efficacy and behavior) has been validated (Cronbach alpha > 0.7 for each). Results: Following the educational intervention, the mean score of knowledge, health belief model (HBM) structure, and behavior of students in relation to healthy patterns of food intake increased significantly (P < 0.05). The mean pre-intervention knowledge score was 6.76 (1.452), referring to threats to HBM constructs including perceived threat 2.93 (1.147), perceived benefits 7.28 (1.07), perceived barriers 5.44 (1.831), self- efficacy 4.28 (1.479), and behavior 8.84 (2.527). The post-intervention scores all improved as follows: knowledge 8.3 (1.503), perceived threats 3.29 (1.196), perceived benefits 7.71 (0.762), perceived barriers 5.9 (1.719), self- efficacy 4.6 (1.472), and behavior 9.45 (2.324). This difference in mean scores for knowledge, health belief structures and employee behavior before and after educational intervention was significant (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusions: The significant improvement in the experimental group’s mean knowledge, HBM structures , and behavior scores indicates the positive effect of the intervention. Keywords: Health; Education; Nutrition Status; Students

Background: Health-care acquired infections are significant given the risks and costs they impose. All previous studies indicate a poor level of knowledge and performance among the nurses in hospital infections; as such, educating nurses can play an important role in infection control. This study aimed at evaluating the effects of the health belief model (HBM) in making nurses adopting health-care behaviors needed to control nosocomial infections (Nis). Materials and Methods: The participants of the study were 135 nurses from two hospitals in Mashhad, Iran. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. The questionnaire consisted of seven parts. The intervention group received four 45 min educational programs, both in individual and collective forms. After a 2-month interval, a post-test was conducted to see whether any difference has been resulted. Results: There was a significant relationship between knowledge (P = 0.001), perceived threat (P = 0.004), perceived benefits (P = 0.001), and practices (P = 0.001) in comparing to control and experimental groups after intervention. For the experimental and control groups, the most frequent cues to action at the preintervention stage were, respectively, related to the period of studying at university and in-service classes. Conclusion: According to this study, HBM-based education can increase knowledge, perceived threat, and perceived benefits of nurses. Additionally, it can reduce perceived barriers and improve the control of NIs among nurses.

Background: Oral and dental health diseases can affect the general health of students. Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the predictors of oral and dental health behavior using the health belief model (HBM) in female students in Teheran, Iran. Patients and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study framed by the HBM, including 400 female students living in district 5 of Tehran, Iran. The sampling technique used in this study was multi-stage stratified random sampling. The data on the HBM constructs (perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, cues to action, and self-efficacy) and demographic characteristics were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and linear regression were performed to analyze the data, using the SPSS software, version 18. Results: The results showed that there were relationships between the knowledge, perceived barriers, cues to action, and mother’s education with oral health behaviors. A multivariate hierarchical regression analysis was conducted with the barrier entered at step one, knowledge at step two, and cues to action at step three. Finally, the three variables accounted for 17% of the total variance in the oral and dental health behavior. Conclusions: The current study provided evidence for the utility of the belief-based model in the prediction of oral health behaviors. It could be suggested that oral health behavior can be promoted by reducing the perceived barriers and enhancing the students’ knowledge of oral and dental hygiene. Keywords: Health Belief Model; Oral Health Behavior; Adolescent

Objectives: The present study investigated the role of psychoeducation in improving mental health literacy and adaptation in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: The present study was an interventional study with pre-test, post-test and follow-up design with a control group. The study population included patients with type 2 diabetes who referred to Iran ...