The rapid expansion of community mental health programs calls for exploring the primary task, the nature of inputs and outputs, environmental conditions, and subsystem interactions as they affect a community mental health program. The differences between programs organized according to a medical practice model and a human services model are also…

Practitioners, educators, and administrators in public health nursing were asked who, in their opinion, has responsibility for community-focused functions. Though all categories agreed that the functions of assessment, analysis, planning, implementation, and evaluation are important to public health nursing, there is little agreement about which…

The merits of systematic planning and the implementation and evaluation of a staff health education program are discussd. Health education programs for such target populations as the university staff are advocated. (JN)

Recognizing that few medical students or physicians are aware of concepts regarding areawide health planning and decision making, the Office of Continuing Medical Education at the University of Nevada developed a program to be directed toward medical students that focuses on three aspects of health planning: education, orientation, and…

Attempts a functional operational definition of "community" to be used by community health nurses and students in their daily practice. States that community can refer to the context or arena in which change operates, or it can be the source of environmental or social factors viewed as less than desirable. (CT)

Describes the development of the Family Life and Sex Education Project in Los Angeles County and demonstrates that a government agency can provide the leadership necessary to develop a community sex education program. (Author/RK)

A multidisciplinary team from community organizations serving the homeless and from universities collaborated in screening 150 homeless adolescents for psychosocial and physical risks. The population had a history of physical, sexual, and substance abuse as well as high rates of HIV and hepatitis B. Case management by advanced practice nurses was…

Survey responses from 58 nursing students and 15 focus group interviews showed that problem-based learning (PBL) improved understanding of multidisciplinary practice and challenged them to work together and tolerate other perspectives. One-third felt learning was hindered by uncertainty over the PBL process and organizational/group issues.…

This article discusses role delineation in the health education profession, defines and presents principles of health care marketing, describes marketing plan development, and examines major ethical issues associated with health care marketing when utilized by community health educators. A marketing plan format for community health education is…

Results of a study of 73 undergraduate interns in health education professional preparation programs are reported. The study utilized motivational theory, the Personal Investment Theory, to identify motivational characteristics of community health education interns and to analyze the interaction of these characteristics with characteristics of the…

Interviews with 56 practice nurses, 29 general practitioners (GPs), 23 health administrators, and 1 government official revealed that nurses use a variety of education and training opportunities; GPs largely let nurses take responsibility for their continuing education. The informal nature of training opportunities and lack of funding were…

To combat extreme health conditions in Armenia, nurses and physicians were given pretraining in community health at home and additional training in the United States on change strategies and community-based practice. Unforeseen barriers to change hindered progress, but participants were committed to preventive community health care. (SK)

Casa en Casa, a popular education project of an Oakland, California, community health clinic, has two key weaknesses: volunteers received little orientation to the role of health promoter, and promoters were given content knowledge without development of the skills needed to use it. (SK)

A graduate program for community health nurses formed a partnership with a neighborhood to enhance community health behavior and teach nurses about community organizing. Major conflicts between community groups proved to be both powerful catalysts and potential barriers to the use of Freire's concepts in community organizing. (SK)

A case study of the use of ethnographic approaches in community organization and development demonstrates their utility in achieving health empowerment among communities of color. The importance of citizen participation in community-based health initiatives is stressed. (SK)