Eight papers presented at the Fourth Delbert Oberteuffer Symposium are reprinted. The topic of the symposium was the role of the administrator in planning and implementing health education programs in the schools. The papers cover a variety of problems as well as suggestions for improving the quality of school health education. (JD)

Planning, implementing, and evaluating an effective community health program requires a basic understanding of the dynamics and precedents that affect such programs. A community health program's general goal is to assist individuals and communities in identifying and meeting their health problems. In order to accomplish this goal the American…

A report is given of the problems and successes of an evaluation team engaged in examining a 9-year community research demonstration project. The project, the Stanford Heart Disease Prevention Program, was designed to develop effective health education programs and to institutionalize these programs through community organizations so that they are…

This report describes the process and results of a project of the Vice Presidents of Student Services Council (VPSSC) of the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) which was designed to evaluate and establish direction for the District's student services programs. The history of the project is described in an initial section including…

The Health Systems Agencies created to plan and coordinate the development of health care systems in 205 health service areas across the states have a need to be legitimized and operationalized in community contexts in order to achieve their purpose. Community psychologists have both research and consultation roles to play in contributing to…

With the objective of describing the use of the nurse's office or sick room in a rural elementary school, data was gathered from administrative records relating to sick room utilization and absenteeism. Monthly variations in use of the sick room, utilization by grade level, consistency of usage, complaints presented, and absenteeism were the main…

Steps involved in developing a high quality child development program are outlined and discussed briefly. They are: (1) determining what kind of program to provide (information and referral, family-centered, community-centered or a combination); (2) establishing priorities (a priority checklist is included); (3) identifying existing resources in…

Attempts at providing drug information and drug education to resident students, Residence Directors (RD's), and Residence Student Advisors (RSA's) at Kent State Universtiy (Ohio) had three major objectives: (1) provide substance abuse awareness to residence hall students by disseminating drug information; (2) supplement the training of RD's and…

While much of the development of consultation programs in mental health centers has been independent of the traditional treatment program, this document describes a consultation program which is closely integrated with an agency's treatment program. The emphasis is on system change and the development of prevention programming. The system-crisis…

The following essential elements of programs that prepare physicians to care for at-risk children effectively are described: (1) active participation in children's care; (2) effective service programs for learning; (3) comprehensive, multidisciplinary, flexible, and intensive programs; and (4) program evaluation. The policy implications in…

Two resource centers were funded by the Illinois Alcoholism Prevention Initiative to facilitate primary prevention and health promotion efforts at the local level. Located in DeKalb and Springfield, the centers assisted the Illinois State Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Division of Alcoholism in building a body of…

The two-year process of establishing and implementing a by-mail outcome evaluation system in a community mental health center is described. The effect of active executive leadership and the subsequent effects of staff cooperation on client participation rates are discussed, as well as specific responsibilities of the program manager. Illustrative…

Both evaluation and planning typically begin with an attempt to define the conceptual territory of interest; this paper presents an approach to such conceptualization. The term, structured conceptualization, is used to refer to any definable set of procedures which can help a user develop a useful conceptual representation. Structured…

The Ohio Valley Community Health Information Network (OVCHIN) works to determine the efficacy of delivering health information to residents of rural southern Ohio and the urban and suburban Cincinnati area. OVCHIN is a community-based, consumer-defined demonstration grant program funded by the National Telecommunications and Information…

One of the major problems in measuring community mental health status is the lack of consensus among mental health workers in psychiatry, psychology, sociology, and epidemiology as to what constitutes mental illness. Additionally, changing social mores preclude a definition of mental illness in behavioral terms. An operational definition of mental…