Objectives: To describe how nominal group technique (NGT) was used to inform the development of a sexual health education program for black high school youth in the South. Methods: NGT was used with a community advisory board (CAB) to obtain information regarding the key components of a sexual health program for youth in their community. Results:…

Background: The purpose of this study was to detect and document common themes among success stories, along with challenges, as related by participants in the Michiana Coordinated School Health Leadership Institute. Four-member teams from 18 Michigan and Indiana school districts participated in semiannual Institute workshops over a 3-year period…

The Intensive Mental Health Program meets the needs for services in school systems for children with serious emotional disturbances and for training graduate students in clinical applications with a difficult-to-serve population. We address the range of challenges and rewards experienced in the development of the comprehensive intervention…

Family-to-family services are emerging as an important adjunctive service to traditional mental health care and a vehicle for improving parent engagement and service use in children's mental health services. In New York State, a growing workforce of Family Peer Advocates (FPA) is delivering family-to-family services. We describe the development…

Diabetes health disparities among Hispanic populations have been countered with federally funded health promotion and disease prevention programs. Dissemination has focused on program adaptation to local cultural contexts for greater acceptability and sustainability. Taking a broader approach and drawing on our experience in Mexican American…

The author, a federal manager who leads development and maintenance of evaluation for specific public health programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tells the story of developing an evaluation unit in the Office on Smoking and Health. Lessons about managing evaluation, including his practices and related principles, are…

The Network for a Healthy California (Network) employs a Geographic Information System (GIS) to identify the target audience and plan program activities because GIS is a powerful tool for assisting in data integration and planning. This paper describes common uses of GIS by Network contractors as well as demonstrating the possibilities of GIS as a…

In order to assess elements of a healthy campus initiative at a rural regional university, program planners identified methods of ongoing evaluation that closely aligned with the initiative's goals and the population being served. As a result, a student health survey was administered to a voluntary sample of students (N = 484) during the fall 2009…

The lack of culturally appropriate health and mental health care has contributed to the large number of African American youth and families involved in the child welfare system. This article reviews the consequences of the insufficient access to culturally sensitive, evidence-supported interventions for African American foster youth. The authors…

"Building Your Program" is intended to help mental health authorities, agency administrators, and program leaders think through and develop Supported Education. The first part of this booklet gives you background information about the Supported Education model. Specific information about your role in implementing and sustaining Supported Education…

Outlines the model used to develop and analyze the data needed for the mental health component of a health system plan required under Public Law 93-641. Includes a review of existing utilization patterns, an assessment of community levels of risk, and a forecast of the need for mental health services. (Author)

Ongoing, strategic family-school partnering (FSP) is an essential component of every educational community. FSP is a multi-dimensional process in which schools, families, and communities engage in shared actions to ensure a child's academic, social, and emotional success. With this text, the authors intend to offer a practical guide that…

School nurses often find themselves developing health-related programs for children and adolescents. One way to create compelling and interesting programs that meet the needs of students is to include them in the planning, development, and evaluation of such programs through focus groups. Children provide a perspective about their particular…

Research indicates that developing public health programs to modify parenting behaviors could lead to multiple beneficial health outcomes for children. Developing feasible effective parenting programs requires an approach that applies a theory-based model of parenting to a specific domain of child health and engages participant representatives in…

This article describes the development and growth of "Lifestyle Improvements in the Family Environment" ("L.I.F.E."), a school-based heart-health screening and intervention program. The primary goals of "L.I.F.E." through three rounds of grant funding remained constant: (a) to identify cardiovascular risk factors in…