Public health education is not just for graduate students anymore. The movement toward integrating public health into the education of undergraduates is rapidly evolving. Healthy People, a public-private consortium of more than 400 health-related organizations, has proposed an objective for 2020 that could dramatically increase public health…

The material presented here was used for a semester-long capstone project for a first semester freshman course entitled Mathematical Modeling and Introduction to Calculus. The goals for the students in this work were twofold: first, enable the students to gain insight into an actual problem that affects millions of people in the United States and…

This article explores the notion that common dynamic risks may underlie both criminal justice system involvement and poor health outcomes among members of minority groups in the U.S. We introduce the epidemiological criminology framework as a way of conceptualizing, researching, and intervening to reduce both health and criminal behaviors…

Physical activity is an important public health issue and the benefits of an active lifestyle in relation to well-being and health have been strongly emphasised in recent years in Europe, as well as in most parts of the world. However, previous research has shown that physical activity within Europe and its member states is stratified. The present…

Adolescence is a period of transition, marked by physical, psychological, and cognitive changes underpin by biological factors. Today's generation of young people--the largest in history--is approaching adulthood in a world vastly different from previous generations; AIDS, globalisation, urbanisation, electronic communication, migration, and…

Although little is known about the incidence of cervical cancer in women with intellectual disabilities (ID), Pap smear screening is an effective public health program to prevent cervical cancer to this group of people. The purposes of this study were to identify and evaluate the factors regarding the utilization of the Pap smears in women with ID…

The article by Lahey (May-June 2009) provided a timely and important review of a growing body of evidence linking the personality trait of neuroticism to a host of health and psychosocial outcomes with public health significance. Lahey (2009) highlighted the links between high neuroticism and mental health, physical health, and quality of life and…

Nursing homes are considered lagging behind in adopting health information technology (HIT). Many studies have highlighted the use of HIT as a means of improving health care quality. However, these studies overwhelmingly do not provide empirical information proving that HIT can actually achieve these improvements. The main research goal of this…

I examine whether individuals respond to monetary incentives to detect latent medical conditions. The effect is identified by a policy that deemed diabetes associated with herbicide exposure a compensable disability under the Veterans Benefits Administration's Disability Compensation program. Since a diagnosis is a requisite for benefit…

The health and wellbeing agenda is gaining momentum. Most recently, a major review of the curriculum for England's primary schools suggested that "wellbeing, happiness and healthy living" could be one of six broad areas of learning to replace individual subjects. Health literacy is one component of the health and wellbeing agenda and…

The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive review of school-based suicide prevention programs from a public health perspective. A literature review of empirical studies examining school-based suicide prevention programs was conducted. Studies were required to contain information pertaining to the implementation and outcomes of a…

This article is included in the Practice Notes section of this journal, which is intended to keep readers informed about health education practice around the country. It is an attempt to spread the word about exemplary strategies, initiatives, and programs and share successes in overcoming obstacles or challenges. In this article, two programs are…

The author, a federal manager who leads development and maintenance of evaluation for specific public health programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tells the story of developing an evaluation unit in the Office on Smoking and Health. Lessons about managing evaluation, including his practices and related principles, are…

In this column, the author highlights how the current framing of teen sexuality obscures important connections between literacy and sexuality. She argues that we need to challenge two current assumptions: the assumption that teen sexuality is primarily about public health and the assumption that all efforts to address teen sexuality are…

The goal of this study was to design an intervention that would help people stay in the continued response phase of the Behavior Change Process and help prevent weight relapse. Using the Behavior Change Process and regulatory focus theory, an intervention was developed that leveraged short message service (SMS) to deliver messages to people who…