Background: Healthcare professionals often lack sufficient training to work with stigmatized populations such as persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and individuals with substance use disorders (SUD), leading to poorer healthcare and health outcomes. Understanding and addressing stigmas surrounding these groups is crucial to inform the…

Purpose: The creation of new practice learning environments for healthcare students promotes the development of professional judgement skills and decision-making. Through the modelling of established practices across other subject disciplines, Healthcare Technicians designed and created the Clinical Skills Lounge to support student learning…

Using data from the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), this report presents findings both on crime and violence in U.S. public schools and on the practices and programs schools have used to promote school safety. SSOCS is managed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of…

In 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General declared a children's mental health crisis, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported an increase in the prevalence of youth mental health needs stating that adolescents are in crisis (Reinert et al., 2021). Since 2021, a significant amount of literature has been published, indicating that,…

Purpose: Undiagnosed mental health disorders such as depression are increasing in prevalence. School staff serve as important gateway providers for students requiring mental health support, and understanding how teachers make decisions about referring students for mental health services in schools is critically important. Additionally, identifying…

We offered an enrichment program for high school students with the theme, "The Environment, Health, and You" during the Summer of 2022 and the Spring of 2023. We developed several educational modules for high school students that provided them with an opportunity to learn and explore the foundations of physiological systems, nutrient…

Background: Knowledge regarding barriers faced by Latina/o/x caregivers in accessing youth mental health services (MHS) have largely depended on resource intensive interview-based assessments. Objective: We evaluated a questionnaire for Latina/o/x caregivers of youths that presents a briefer and more feasible alternative. Method: We conducted a…

Objective: This study examined relationships between prosocial factors including altruism, compassion, social connectedness, spirituality, and volunteerism and measures of health in college students. Participants: A total of N = 1,075 participants from four institutions across various regions of the U.S. were included. Methods: Participants were…

Schools provide an ideal setting for early, accessible intervention according to research conducted in developed countries for adolescents experiencing adverse mental health (MH). Many schools in South Asia, however, lack structured and standardized school counselling services. Research indicates that where services do exist, students are…

The increased enrollment of students with mental health needs in U.S. higher education, paired with increasing emphasis on study abroad participation has led campus mental health professionals to consider how their services might extend to serve students with mental health needs who are studying abroad . When it comes to faculty led courses,…

Purpose: The purpose of this DNP project was to increase primary care providers' knowledge of food insecurity in pediatric patients by developing and presenting an evidence-based educational presentation on food insecurity. Background: In the United States in 2021, rates of food insecurity in households with children were reported at 6.1 million.…

Obesity is linked with health and psychosocial outcomes among many populations. However, it is unclear the extent to which obesity is linked with these outcomes among autistic adults. We searched seven research databases for articles examining the association between obesity and autistic adults' health and psychosocial outcomes. Three studies…

The Healthy Change Program aimed to improve the accuracy of maternal perceptions of children's weight (MPCW), maternal feeding style (MFS) and feeding practices. Using a randomized control trial design, the intervention group received 4-weekly group sessions focusing on MPCW, MFS and healthy behaviors. The control group received the same dose of…

Despite prevalent student mental and behavioral health (MBH) needs in rural communities, school mental health systems have not been thoroughly examined in rural areas and lack the perspectives of individuals who often help implement and utilize these systems (i.e., educators and caregivers). This study examined rural caregivers and educators'…

School-based mental health practitioners can offer enhanced support to schools and students; yet their training, roles, and expertise vary. The roles of these professionals are often conflated, misunderstood, or marginalized in their utility throughout the school system. The purpose of this manuscript is to enhance the capacity of educational…