Browsing by Author "Al Gurg, Reem"

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Health professionals' perspectives on factors needed to implement nutrition strategy: A questionnaire validation study
(2018) Al Gurg, Reem; Alameddine, Mohamad; Hassan Khamis, Amar
Background: Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) increasingly recognized as a serious, worldwide public health concern. According to the WHO, NCDs are currently responsible for two-thirds of global deaths annually. Nutritional food and unhealthy diet are contributing to an immense portion of NCDs. Exploring the role of nutrition in healthcare delivery with a particular focus on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) context is also aligned with the UAE Government's Vision 2021. Aim: To develop a reliable and valid questionnaire that helps to assess the agreement about factors needed to implement a nutrition strategy in the UAE. Materials and Methods: One hundred and sixty-one health professionals were invited to respond to a questionnaire assessing agreement with factors needed to implement a nutrition strategy. The questionnaire consisted of 11 factors, each containing four items that made a total of 44 items assessed on a 7-point Likert scale (1 strongly disagree to 7 strongly agree). The questionnaire was evaluated using factor analysis, and Cronbach's alpha was used to test the internal consistency of the responses of participants. Ethical approval was given by the Chair of Humanities and Health Sciences Research Ethics Panel (UAE). Results: The questionnaire was validated by an expert panel. A factor analysis was carried out through responses of the health professional and revealed that the 11 factors are included in the questionnaire; only one item from the factor of resources and enablement was excluded: the exclusion of the item “hospital uses the lifespan approach in nutrition interventions” due to singularity and insufficient load of the variance extracted. Conclusion: The study concluded that the questionnaire was valid and reliable on its form of 43 items divided into 11 factors to assess the agreement toward factors needed to implement a nutrition strategy in the UAE.
Toward the upscaling of school nutrition programs in Dubai: An exploratory study
(2022-11) Al Gurg, Reem; Mahfouz, Nour Abu; Otaki, Farah
Background: School nutrition programs impact the intellectual, social, and emotional development of school children, as well as their future risk of developing Non-Communicable Diseases. While many stakeholders are involved in the development, implementation, and evaluation of school nutrition programs in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, little is known about the complementarity among those stakeholders, and the means to upscale school nutrition programs while ensuring effective, efficient, and equitable implementation. Accordingly, this study aims at exploring the perceptions of a diverse group of stakeholders, positioned at differing levels of the public health and education ecosystems in the United Arab Emirates, in relation to current guidelines and practices around the planning, implementation, and evaluation of school nutrition programs in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Methods: The current study relied on a qualitative design, based on semi-structured key informant interviews. A total of 29 interviews were carried out. Those interviewees included leaders and directors from different institutions, decision- and policy- makers, nutritionists and dieticians, school nurses and nurse managers, and school principals and vice principals. All stakeholders were interviewed by the research team. Data was transcribed, and then thematically analyzed using the health systems' model as an analytic framework. Results: The thematic analysis of interview data identified five interrelated themes. The first theme relates to the limited coordination across regulatory local and federal entities, and the multiplicity of guidelines issued by the different stakeholders. The challenges around the human and financial resourcing of school nutrition programs constituted the second theme. The third theme was the weakly coordinated implementation efforts. The fourth theme was the need for better performance measurement, and the fifth theme flagged the need for improved inclusiveness for health needs and cultural preferences of the diverse student body in Dubai (given that there are citizens from more than 200 nationalities co-existing in Dubai). Conclusion: This study emphasizes that all the involved stakeholders need to better collaborate to upscale the school nutrition program in Dubai. This will require the formation of a unified governing body, which would identify and develop a single stream of resources, and sets in place a reliable, all encapsulating and equitable implementation plan along with an overarching monitoring and evaluation framework.