Rising rates of violence, teen pregnancy, child suicide, poverty, and youth crime are providing a wake-up call for educators and communities. This handbook is the culminating effort of a project designed to improve health programs in small, rural schools. Of the 16,000 school districts in the United States, more than one-half are small and rural;…

After discussing theories of attitude change, recommends that mental health workers overcome the negative attitudes of rural communities toward mental health programs by forming positive, personal, affective bonds with rural community members. Presents strategies for establishing and maintaining these bonds in private life, clinical work, and…

This guide is designed to be a resource for individuals and agencies wishing to provide health promotion programs for rural black elderly. Community health promotion is defined as "any combination of educational, social, and environmental supports for behavior conducive to health." Part One, "Health Promotion and the Rural Black…

Describes step-by-step procedure for creating a 20-minute public relations slide/tape show for a large community mental health and home health agency in rural Maine. Emphasizes importance of face-to-face contact, identifying and addressing the potential audience, creating a neighbor-to-neighbor atmosphere, and imaginatively using graphics to…

The purpose of the project was to develop an advanced, competency-based training program for residential youth service/child care workers providing services to children and adolescents with severe mental health or emotional problems. The program was designed in response to problems common to these workers in rural areas such as Kansas, including…