We evaluated the Starting Early Starting Smart (SESS) national initiative to integrate behavioral health services (parenting, mental health, and drug treatment) into the pediatric health care setting for families with young children. Data are presented from five pediatric care (PC) sites, drawing from families at risk due to demographic and…

This fact sheet summarizes a study that examined how schools in the U.S. Gulf Coast region perceived the mental health needs of students after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and how schools responded. According to the report, despite strong initial efforts to support the mental health needs of students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, many…

Coordinated school health programs (CSHPs) provide an organizational framework for school health practice by combining health education, health promotion, disease prevention, and access to health services in an integrated, systemic manner. This project examined the effects of a regional 2-year training program to increase local school districts'…

Background: Although models such as the coordinated school health program (CSHP) are widely available to address student health needs, school professionals have been unconvinced that scarce resources should be allocated to improving student health. Concern that attention may be diverted from meeting academic accountability goals is often seen as a…

Thirty-five studies were originally selected to be analyzed as to behavior modification techniques used in successful weight-loss programs. From these, 14 studies were chosen that provided sufficient data, including follow-up data, and 4 studies that had no follow-up data but that did report data from the treatment time period. As a result of rank…

The purpose of this study was to compare "expert" and "practitioner" evaluations of research questions in health education. The "expert" respondents consisted of 21 health educators identified by a panel of experts as significant contributors to the field of health education. The "practitioners" consisted of 722 health educators. The respondents…

The paper demonstrates that fee schedules have quite large cost-reducing effects, that utilization rates are responsive to the availability of physicians, and that non-whites use fewer Medicaid-financed services than whites. (Author)

Weight loss clinics based on scientific fact and containing diet therapy, exercise therapy, and behavior modification components can be effective vehicles for weight loss among the mildly to moderately obese. Health educators are called on to disseminate the information necessary to establish scientifically based criteria and program evaluation…

There are many challenges to transporting evidence-based treatments from laboratories into real-world settings. However, if we hope to make our evidence-based treatments accessible and available to children and usable by community professionals, effectiveness research is imperative. We argue that schools represent an ideal real world setting in…

Major strides have been made in the field of youth development. However, youth transitioning into adulthood have not received similar attention. These older youth have frequently been overlooked by policymakers and practitioners who have been more focused on designing programs and services for adolescents and young children. Because older youth…

Although experts in early childhood mental health services make clear the need to infuse mental health services into all program components, many have suggested that the mental health services in the majority of Head Start programs are narrowly focused and that mental health consultants are often used in limited ways (see D. J. Cohen, Solnit, &…

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effectiveness of school health education projects on substance use, self-esteem, and stress among 161 adolescents in fifth through eighth grade. The lack of influence of these projects led to recommendations for improving school health education. (JOW)

Presents findings of an evaluation of a health education program for primary school students of low SES. Related findings to two dependent measures--attitudes toward smoking and knowledge about smoking and health. Reports that program participants displayed more positive attitudes toward good health practices than did non-participating control…

Nearly 20 years ago a culturally relevant program was created on the island of Guam. Inspired by the Gheel, the Belgium colony's humanized treatment of the mentally ill, the program is based on the island's Spanish heritage and makes use of Roman Catholic ritual in communal assembly and in commemorating developmental attainments. Beginning as a…

This report summarizes the impact of federal programs on individual counselors, including suggestions on advocating to improve the programs' recognition of professional mental health counselors. These are all separate programs, formulated under their own laws, regulations, and agencies.