Nature-based health interventions (NBHIs) are utilised to treat a range of physical and mental health conditions, and this rapid review sought to describe the breadth of instrumentation utilised to measure the effectiveness of NBHIs on the different domains of health and wellbeing. A total of 14,385 records were extracted from three databases, and…

Youth substance use challenges their health and well-being. There is research and practical need for rigorous evaluation of substance use prevention programs in prompting positive youth development. This study examined the program effectiveness of Health Rocks!, a youth substance use prevention program, with a quasi-experimental two-factor mixed…

Ghanaian adolescents face considerable sexual and reproductive health challenges that can disrupt human capital formation. However, a positive and healthy transition from adolescence to adulthood can be achieved by increasing access to sexual and reproductive health information, education, and services. This paper documents emerging findings from…

Background: There is little understanding of men's weight loss outcomes and behaviors in self-directed contexts, such as digital commercial mobile weight management programs. This is an especially pressing question given that men often express disinterest in weight management programs and it is unknown how that manifests in self-directed…

Following the widespread adoption of free primary education, African policymakers are now considering making secondary school free, but little is known about the private and social benefits of free secondary education. We exploit randomized assignment to secondary school scholarships among 2,064 youths in Ghana, combined with 12 years of data, to…

Today's youth face multifaceted challenges in a time when society is more aware of the consequences of unhealthy decision-making. In this study, we tested the effectiveness of an emerging intervention, GPS for SUCCESS, a classroom-based 5-week program that helps students build their purpose in life while securing a commitment to achieve it. We…

The authors designed and evaluated an innovative, branded campaign called 'Adelante' to promote positive youth development (PYD) and reduce risk behaviors among Latino youth near Washington, DC. Repeated cross-sectional surveys were conducted in the intervention and a comparison community to evaluate campaign exposure and changes in PYD outcomes.…

Diabetes is a health issue for many Latinos. Extension can help provide diabetes self-management education for rural-residing Latinos. In a pilot study, we evaluated the Extension-delivered diabetes program Latinos Living Well (LLW), as provided to 76 rural-residing Latino adults in a midwestern state. LLW consists of four weekly lessons that…

Purpose/Objectives: Chef's Adopt a School (CAAS) is an evidence-based food education program delivered in schools (Kindergarten-12th grade) in the United Kingdom (UK) which helps children understand the importance of nutritional literacy and encourages healthy eating. This qualitative study investigated the underlying components of the CAAS…

The purpose of this study was to determine and compare outcomes of two voluntary workplace health management methods: an adapted worksite self-management (WSM) approach and an intensive health monitoring (IM) approach. Research participants were randomly assigned to either the WSM group or the IM group by a computer-generated list (n = 180; 92 WSM…

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of the FIFA 11 for Health programme in increasing children's knowledge about communicable and non-communicable diseases in five countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Method: A prospective five-cohort study was implemented in schools in Ghana (17), Malawi (12), Namibia (11), Tanzania (18) and Zambia (11). The…

HIV/AIDS is one of the most important public health challenges facing Nigeria today. Recent evidence has revealed that the adolescent population make up a large proportion of the 3.7% reported prevalence rate among Nigerians aged 15-49 years. School-based sexual health education has therefore become an important tool towards fighting this problem.…

This study reports assessment of motivational and perceptual components of a youth and community AIDS awareness education program, focusing on effectiveness across program sites. The design of this investigation was quasi-experimental, with two intervention districts and one control each, in Kenya and Tanzania. Methods included questionnaires…

Sexuality education programs have been prevalent in U.S. public schools for decades (Cornblatt, 2009). Although strong public support exists for school-based sexuality education (e.g., Albert, 2007; Dailard, 2001), there is a great divide among parents, policy makers, and the public at large regarding how to prevent sexual activity (and its…

Background: The Coronary Health Improvement Project (CHIP) is designed to lower cardiovascular risk factors among a group of generally healthy individuals through health education. Purpose: This study will evaluate the efficacy of the CHIP intervention at improving eating, sleep, stress, and depressive disorders. Methods: A health education…