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…

Based on evidence from previous research, discusses the kinds of services and service delivery systems required if deinstitutionalization programs for the chronically mentally ill are to succeed. Recommends that more resources be allocated to this population and that changes be made in the use of existing resources. (Author/MJL)

Reviewed literature to examine how Hispanic mental health practitioners approach the interviewing, assessment, and treatment of Hispanic clients. (Author/MK)

Discusses development and evaluation of community-based, telephone intervention suicide prevention centers. Reviews evidence regarding effectiveness of these centers and presence of causal relationship between crisis counseling exposure and suicide rate reduction. Offers cautions and recommendations. Examines model of health promotion program…

Reviews some contraceptive education programs designed for adolescents that differ in educational process based on delivery setting. Reviews school-based, community-based, and college/university-based programs and discusses them in terms of their effectiveness, potential, and limitations. Notes that educational accountability in each setting…

Recent research indicates that low income adults and infants in the United States are more likely to be overweight than undernourished. Very possibly, the assumptions upon which food supplement programs are based are ill-founded. While many of the currently operating broadly conceived supplemental food programs achieve desirable collateral…

Identifies and discusses major issues for enhancing mental health services for children and adolescents, including creating a balance between different types of services, reducing reliance on residential treatment, improving coordination of children's services, creating a public sector-private advocate partnership, establishing community-based…

This report gives an update on the status of planning and delivery of mental health services for people with intellectual disability who have psychiatric disorders in Australia and New Zealand. A number of innovative approaches in policy and planning, legislative support, education, consultation, and coordination among services are discussed.…

Describes mental health service needs in rural America and barriers to improving its quality and availability. Federal programs, especially the Office of Rural Health Policy, are described and policy recommendations for improving rural mental health care are presented. (DM)

Expanded school mental health (ESMH) programs, the focus of this special issue, provide comprehensive mental health care to youth in general and special education through partnerships between schools and community mental health agencies and programs. As these programs progressively develop in the United States, there is a critical need to build…

The authors critically examine the research on physical activity in the elderly to assess the elderly's capacity for exercise and the benefits accruing from exercise. Lower-intensity exercise programs attract a more representative group of senior participants and overcome many barriers. Implications for program planning and efforts are discussed.…

Legislation and court cases are cited to underline the critical need of mental health services for hearing impaired persons. Effects of hospitalization on hearing impaired persons who use only sign language are said to render the hospitalization antitherapeutic. Suggestions are made to mental health centers to improve services. (CL)

Reviews the rationale, conceptual models, program examples, and recent empirical evidence regarding the extent and effects of environmental interventions to promote healthy eating. (JOW)

Discusses the knowledge utilization activities of foundations that support research and demonstrations in the health field. Topics addressed include the dissemination of relevant information; strategies for promoting the use of new knowledge; context for knowledge utilization activities; interviews with foundation officers about dissemination and…

Describes a community intervention for a population of youth who are often distrustful of mainstream mental health services. Program focuses on not viewing youth as patients but as experts in working with adults to design youth-friendly interventions. Outlines the development and implementation of a support-group model tailored specifically to the…