Examines APPAL-LINK, the Southwestern Virginia Telepsychiatry Project. The project uses state-of-the-art telemedicine equipment to link a state psychiatric hospital with two rural, isolated community mental health center programs. Provides an overview of telemedicine and discusses the problems, opportunities, and future of the project. (MJP)

Examines reasons why some young people are more at risk than others for sexual health problems, highlighting structural and environmental factors that contribute to sexuality-related risks and vulnerabilities and proposing ways that policymakers might help reduce these risks by improving access to quality information and creating health-enabling…

Assessed the impact of school organizational characteristics on outcomes of a teacher health behavior change program. Organizational, dietary, and psychologic data from intervention and control schools indicated that teachers at intervention schools with high organizational climate, organizational health, and job satisfaction reported better…

Investigated whether college level peer educators were adequately prepared to teach peers about sexual health, sexual assault, and substance abuse. They completed 20 hours of training on the issues and on public speaking, leadership, and presentation skills. Pretesting and posttesting indicated that the program increased students' factual…

Presents a guide to direct teachers of all grade levels to antismoking resources on the Internet. The paper discusses the importance of basic knowledge and facts about smoking and health risks, beginning at an early age; tobacco marketing awareness; and social action to reinforce knowledge. (SM)

A survey of 57 dental school deans concerning current and ideal curricular emphases in 33 topic areas identified three that were rated highly as ideals: health promotion/disease prevention; primary care; and effective patient-provider relationships/communication. The most significant barrier to reform was an already crowded curriculum. Deans…

Examines lessons learned from a 5-year project designed to develop, implement, and evaluate a multifaceted community health advisor-based intervention to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease among older, rural, African American women. Data from observations surveys, and discussion groups highlight six lessons (e.g., establish personal working…

Presents School Health Policies and Programs Study 2000 findings about state- and district-level policies and practices regarding various school food service issues, e.g., organization and staffing, food service and child nutrition requirements and recommendations, menu planning and food preparation, and collaboration. Also addressed are food…

The 1990's have seen a nationwide development of initiatives designed to provide school-linked comprehensive services to children and families. The level of collaboration among schools and community-based agencies required by such initiatives is unprecedented and offers an opportunity for systemic changes in the way professionals, families, and…

This study examines whether offering sex education to young teenagers affects several measures of adolescent sexual behavior and health: virginity status, contraceptive use, frequency of intercourse, likelihood of pregnancy, and probability of contracting a sexually transmitted disease. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent…

The freshmen transition is a crucial time when students make health choices in their physical activities, eating behaviors, and stress management skills. A consortium of student affairs staff created and implemented an introduction to the wellness program through freshmen orientation classes. The program included a health behaviors assessment,…

The purpose of this study was first to assess and then to improve the diet of Greek primary school children teaching them healthy dietary habits and instructing them to face critically advertisements and media projected dietary models using a program which included intervention on cognitive, emotional, and social level. The results show that our…

This study examined the efficacy of a school-based exercise and nutrition program with a parent component. Third-grade children (N = 238) from six elementary schools participated in the study, with three schools randomly assigned to a program group and the other three schools to a control group. The program group received a health-related fitness…

Each month, "Curriculum Review" offers teachers mutual support, the sharing of ideas, and words of encouragement to help them face challenges in the classroom. The April 2005 issue of "Curriculum Review" contains the following articles: (1) "We Hear from Readers"; (2) "What They're Saying"; (3) "Google Plans to Digitize Big Library Collections";…

We present a discussion of the literature addressing retention of ethnic minority samples in longitudinal studies. In addition, we describe the retention procedures implemented in the Parents Matter! Program (PMP), a community-based sexual risk reduction intervention for African American families. Finally, the results of PMP's retention strategies…