Researchers have been slow to acknowledge the salient role communication can play in motivating people to adopt more healthy lifestyles. Because persuasive messages increase awareness and can increase health promoting behaviors, it is important to determine the most effective health promoting messages in various health contexts. Thus, the primary…

The United States is recognized as leading the industrialized world in violent death rates. The increase in youth violence is primarily attributable to an increase in the "lethality" and not the "frequency" of violent acts because more crimes are being committed with handguns. This chapter reviews the existing literature on…

This chapter provides an overview of current school-based youth suicide prevention efforts. Rather than review the wide variety of existing broad-based and focused school-based prevention programs, the chapter covers conceptually grounded exemplars for which there are some empirical data to illustrate recommended, available youth suicide…

Childhood injury continues to be a major public health crisis in the United States, with a large percentage of injuries being preventable and controllable. This chapter provides information related to understanding child and youth injury. Studies have shown that injuries affect identifiable high-risk groups. Such host factors that put children at…

Wellness Management has been designed as an option in the health education bachelors program at Plymouth State College of the University System of New Hampshire. The Wellness Management option was created because alumni and employers stated that graduates needed business skills in order to be more marketable and effective as health educators. The…

This booklet, written in English, Spanish, and French, describes the foundation and reasoning behind the partnership to Focus on Resources on Effective School Health (FRESH), making the case that an effective school health program: responds to the greater number of school-age children and the greater proportion of those children attending school;…

This document comprises two issues of a new UNESCO newsletter addressing topics related to adolescent well-being in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly reproductive and sexual health. Both issues contain news from the region on various initiatives related to adolescent health and education, as well as Web links and publications on the subject.…

Third World countries have used community health advisors (CHAs) for many years to deliver health services, health education, and linkages to isolated and underserved communities. In 1998 the National Community Health Advisor Study estimated there were at least 600 such programs in the United States using about 12,500 CHAs. Program activities and…

Noting that most individuals working with young children and their families lack the knowledge and skills to identify early warning signs of significant child distress and that most communities lack resources and expertise to address early social and emotional concerns, this report discusses the importance of healthy social and emotional…

This booklet, which was developed for adult literacy educators in Australia, summarizes selected research on health practices, communication, and literacy and outlines some issues that adult literacy teachers might consider in their work. The booklet begins with three anecdotes previewing the practical everyday challenges that literacy poses for…

This project builds organizational and staff capacity to deliver HIV/AIDS education to farmworking Hispanic female adolescents and women. It includes two training manuals, one addressing the issues of farmworking mothers/mentors, and one addressing the issues of preadolescent and adolescent farmworking girls. This manual for girls emphasizes…

This project builds organizational and staff capacity to deliver HIV/AIDS education to farmworking Hispanic female adolescents and women. It includes two training manuals, one addressing the issues of farmworking mothers/mentors, and one addressing the issues of preadolescent and adolescent farmworking girls. This manual for girls emphasizes…

To become effective health promoting establishments which achieve the maximum impact on children, young people and families and on the local community, schools and pre-school centres need to operate within a strategic framework developed at the highest levels within their local council and community area. Effective councils are committed to…

Examines the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors among children and adolescents, the pros and cons of cholesterol screening among youth, cholesterol assessments of at-risk youth, and the role of schools in cholesterol education and screening (focusing on comprehensive school health education and services). (SM)

This study assessed Minnesota school nurses' and administrators' perceptions of obesity, the school's role in providing weight management curricula and services, and current practices. Statewide surveys indicated that most administrators and nurses believe that obesity affects children's physical, social, and emotional health, and that schools…