We present a laboratory practice aimed to clarify and discuss the concept of bioindicator molecules in environmental health. It has been implemented as a hands-on laboratory exercise in postgraduate courses in public health (in Brazil) and in a course entitled Biology Applied to Natural Resources Sustainability (in Spain) but can be useful for…

The AIDS pandemic raging across sub-Saharan Africa does not stop with personal carnage. It also threatens whole systems, including what is arguably the most critical for the region's future--education. Where rates of HIV infection are high, as they are in much of southern and eastern Africa, experts warn, the effects on social stability and…

Air pollution is no longer just a local issue; it is a global problem. The atmosphere is a very dynamic system. Pollution not only changes in chemical composition after it is emitted, but also is transported on local and global air systems hundreds and even thousands of miles away. Some of the pollutants that are major health concerns are not even…

Diabetes is a prevalent disease in the United States. The emergence of Type 2 diabetes among children and adolescents within the American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities brings increased public health and quality of life concerns. In this article, the authors describe an initiative titled "Diabetes Education in Tribal Schools K-12…

Social workers who are trained to attend to person-environment factors and psychosocial issues are ideally poised to implement interventions to address negative emotions and compliance barriers associated with type 2 diabetes. Research has shown the efficacy of a number of psychosocial interventions in improving compliance with diabetic treatment…

The goal of audience segmentation is to identify population subgroups that are homogeneous with respect to certain variables associated with a given outcome or behavior. When such groups are identified and understood, targeted intervention strategies can be developed to address their unique characteristics and needs. This study compares the…

False teeth among children are a Public Health problem which has not received adequate attention in Uganda. This study was therefore developed as a community-based descriptive cross-sectional carried out in Kanungu District using qualitative methods of data collection among caregivers of children, Community Owned Resource Persons and Service…

The study's goal was to demonstrate the ability of an 8-year-old child to create educational games for the topic of dengue fever control. A naturalistic descriptive case study method was employed. The child had two dengue fever educational game creation activities. The study demonstrated that a child could develop functional games related to…

This paper describes the follow-up evaluation of a school-based scalds prevention programme designed to teach children about scalds hazards and encourage safe family practices. It involved two classroom sessions and a homework exercise that targeted five safety practices. The programme was taught to 28 classes in 14 schools in Waitakere City, New…

In this paper, we draw on the concept of "lifescape" (Some and McSweeney, ILEIA Newsletter, ETC Leusden, The Netherlands, 1996; Howorth, Rebuilding the Local Landscape, Ashgate, Aldershot, 1999) to capture the spatial, emotional and ethical dimensions of the relationship between landscape, livestock and farming community and to elucidate…

It has been nearly a decade since the 1996 Surgeon General?s Report (SGR) on "Physical Activity and Health" (United States Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 1996). It is time that people stop and reflect on this historic report and begin the assessment process--are people paying now or will they continue to pay later?…

Health educators are providing students with the health knowledge and health skills that are prerequisites for becoming health literate and using assessment tools to demonstrate effectiveness. In the school health educators' world, accountability equates to improved student knowledge and skills. To expect them to be held accountable for students'…

Purpose: Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is a serious public health problem and, although in the past research has focused mainly on the DSH patient, it is now recognised that parental involvement in the therapeutic process is beneficial. This study aimed to understand parents' concerns, expectations and experiences following an episode of deliberate…

Life expectancy in Northern Ireland continues to increase and it is expected that mortality due to heart disease, stroke and some cancers will continue to fall. The infant mortality rate, once higher is similar to that of the other UK and European countries. However, in common with neighboring countries, Northern Ireland has low levels of physical…

Few studies have investigated community clinic-based interventions to promote mammography screening among rural African American women. This study randomized older low-income rural African American women who had not participated in screening in the previous 2 years to a theory-based, personalized letter or usual care; no group differences in…