Nationally, social work students face limited access to clinical education that examines the intersection of older adults, chronic disease, and mental health. This is critical due to a rapidly aging population and a shortage of geriatrics trained social workers. Scant data exists on the effectiveness of clinical simulations to prepare social work…

Asthma is a chronic disease affecting nearly 6 million children in the United States and accounts for nearly 14 million missed school days. School nurses' performance of asthma management behaviors (AMBs) may reduce exacerbations, thereby decreasing emergency visits and hospitalizations and increasing attendance at school. Self-efficacy can have a…

Students with chronic health conditions are living longer lives, thanks to medical advances. This group of students spend more time in classrooms, and teachers have become tasked with meeting the needs of this growing population. Teachers require supports on best practices for educating students with chronic health conditions who are in their…

Epidemiological evidence of the protective role of fruits and vegetables for a host of chronic health conditions is well-documented. However, there is a dearth of studies examining predictors of fruit and vegetable intake among African American men living with HIV. We report secondary analyses--multiple regression and logistic regression models…

Background: Young adulthood is often associated with poor dietary habits that may increase risk of obesity and chronic diseases. As independence grows, little is known about strategies to help balance social, work, and education commitments that may override desires to incorporate healthful food choices. Objective: In advance of a randomized trial…

Academic Health Centers and nonprofit hospitals are exploring strategies to meet Affordable Care Act mandates requiring tax-exempt institutions to address community health needs, which commonly include major chronic illnesses. We explore the implications of this regulatory landscape, describing methods that nonprofit health care institutions are…

This study explored the mental health needs and services of children and adolescents within Pennsylvania school communities; this included a focus upon evidence-based counseling approaches. Relationships were analyzed between population density, SES status, grade level and the type of mental health issues serviced. Survey data from 314 respondents…

To investigate the current practices of schools and school counselors working with students with chronic illness and the protocols for providing these services, the authors conducted a mixed design, grounded theory study, with an eye toward pinpointing any trends or patterns in service provision. They identified a collaborative, developmental,…

This is a Pittsburgh story. It is about a boy named Michael Charles Metil--a boy that transformed many lives, including the author's. While visiting grandparents over the Christmas holiday in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in 1993, Michael became sick. He was lethargic, vomiting, and had some diarrhea. Little did his parents realize how very sick he was,…

Introduction: Pennsylvania's Improving Performance in Practice (IPIP) program is administered by the Pennsylvania (PA) chapters of the American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians, and American Academy of Pediatrics. The project has provided coaching, monthly measurement, and patient registry support for 155 primary-care…

America has a serious weight problem. Two-thirds of adults and nearly one-fifth of children in the United States are overweight, placing them at greater risk for heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases including cancer and arthritis. Furthermore, obesity and its related health problems are placing a major strain on the U.S. health care…

Summer camps provide opportunities for children to experience play, pleasurable activities, and social interaction with other children of similar ages and interests and are an integral part of the modern-day American cultural landscape. The authors discuss the emergence of summer camps for children with special needs, the types of play activities…

In early 2000, the Center on Human Policy started to receive reports that children with complex medical needs were being placed in nursing homes because of home care nursing shortages. Sensing that framing the issue as a nursing shortage directed solutions that revolved around nursing agency staff recruitment and retention strategies, the authors…