A review found that only 15 Canadian youth suicide programs were evaluated over the last decade. Descriptions of the programs were incomplete and theoretical bases for programs were not presented. Only two programs led to a reduction in suicidal behavior. Suggests that future evaluative research needs to place greater emphasis on content and…

Objective:: To help close the gap between health promotion research and practice by using systems thinking. Methods: We review 3 national US tobacco control initiatives and a project (ISIS) that has introduced systems thinking to tobacco control, speculating on ways in which systems thinking may add value to health promotion dissemination and…

Purpose: We describe and evaluate a project designed to pilot test an evidence-based clinical intervention for assessing and treating depression in older adults in rural primary care clinics. Project ADAPT--Assuring Depression Assessment and Proactive Treatment--utilized existing primary care resources to overcome barriers to sustainability…

The project described in this article addresses the therapeutic use of physical space in an outpatient counseling facility. It was theorized that an improved facility environment could be used as a practice tool when working with a vulnerable population. The authors undertook the project with limited time and finances. The process of the change…

This report presents the results of an evaluation of New York State's Mental Health Information Services (MHISs). The goals of the evaluation were to determine the effectiveness with which legislatively mandated information services to the mentally disabled and to the courts were carried out, and to evaluate MHIS workload and activity in order to…

This paper points out that both formal and informal historical precedents in community mental health have emphasized citizen participation as an essential element of the system's success. It reviews citizen involvement procedures in use in one midwestern catchment area, and concludes that citizen representation appears to be inadequate, in…

This speech discusses client advocacy, a paraprofessional service offered in many community mental health centers to help bridge the gap between therapist and client. While having an advocate on the mental health team is an attractive idea, these client advocates are quite susceptible to "corruption." The author discusses two major causes of this…

Describes and evaluates a model for agency-based staff development training for a county mental health unit. Concludes it can be a useful way to identify and resolve problems. (Author/MCF)

The author discusses the relationship between education and health care costs. He examines the causes for increased costs, health promotion, cost effectiveness, the personal health passport, and nutrition programs. (CT)

Summarizes and discusses the implications of a recent national study of public policies affecting the delivery of mental health services to disturbed children and adolescents. Discusses fiscal, administrative, and service inadequacies as well as innovative programming and policy efforts. Addresses implications for the policymaking and…

Launched by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in the early 1990s, Plain Talk is a community-based initiative that seeks to reduce the incidence of teen pregnancy and STDs by improving adult/teen communication about sex. A key component of the program is parental involvement--which was once seen by many in the adolescent reproductive health (ARH) field…

This paper considers differential patterns of program utilization and the overall potential of the helping model for bringing needed services to otherwise unreached, maladapting school children. (Author)

Describes specific factors contributing to questionable validity and reliability of cost information used by mental health administrators. Presents a case study in which 17 different cost figures were derived for a single program using various methods currently employed. Discusses implications of nonuniform cost data. (Author/RC)

The long-term effects of a preschool intervention program for 21 high-risk experimental children were asssessed. The experimental group was superior to that of the placebo control group at follow-up on the criteria measures of behavioral adjustment and achievement. (Author)

The Vermont Lung Association's School Health Education project evaluated the use of a mobile unit in conjunction with and in comparison to a more traditional classroom curriculum. (JN)