#558
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 08:19:04 -0400
From: nfb <nfb@GWU.EDU>
Subject: Dental and Mental Health Information
** The University of Alabama Distance Education
** Master of Arts Program in Health Studies
** http:// www.ches.ua.edu/health
**
What's new on CHHCS:
Background information on dental and mental health; links to resources and
tools for programs providing mental health and dental health services in
schools. Go to http://www.healthinschools.org/dental.asp to read more.
Web Manager
The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools (CHHCS)
http://www.healthinschools.org
------------------------------
#559
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 10:43:43 -0400
From: Wilhelmena Lee Tamale <wt33@UMAIL.UMD.EDU>
Subject: Patient Communication Measurements
** The University of Alabama Distance Education
** Master of Arts Program in Health Studies
** http:// www.ches.ua.edu/health
**
Dear HEDIRs:
I'm looking for questionnaires or question items that measure patient
communication with health care providers during a medical exam. Please
share any items and their citations. Thanks, in advance.
Mena Tamale
Faculty Researcher
UMCP
------------------------------
#560
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 09:13:40 -0600
From: Tonya Peters <TonyaPeters@ELPASOCO.COM>
Subject: Patient Communication Measurements
** The University of Alabama Distance Education
** Master of Arts Program in Health Studies
** http:// www.ches.ua.edu/health
**
Mena:
The American Medical Association has a set of questionnaires used in a
clinical setting for adolescents and their parents called Guidelines for
Adolescent Preventive Services (GAPS). They have also recently distributed
a "Lessons Learned" review of using this tool. If you visit the AMA
website, they have further information and you can also request a copy of
the survey tools.
Much luck -
Tonya
Tonya R. Peters. MPH
Adolescent Health Specialist
El Paso County Department of Health and Environment
(719) 578-3110
------------------------------
#561
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 14:05:29 -0400
From: Jay Bernhardt <jaybird@COE.UGA.EDU>
Subject: 11th annual health materials contest
** The University of Alabama Distance Education
** Master of Arts Program in Health Studies
** http:// www.ches.ua.edu/health
**
Call for submissions for the eleventh annual public health materials
contest!
It is that time of the year again! Time to dig out your best health
education, promotion, and communication materials for the eleventh
anniversary of the APHA Public Health Education and Health Promotion
Section's Public Health Materials Contest. This contest provides a forum to
showcase your materials during the APHA Annual Meeting and to be recognized
for your hard work.
Like last year, the top winner in each category will give a 15 minute verbal
presentation about their material during a special session at the APHA
Annual Meeting in Atlanta this October!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Entries will be accepted in the following categories:
1. Printed materials (e.g., brochure, newsletter, poster, flyer, tailored
message, comic book).
2. Audio/video materials (e.g., educational videotape, radio PSA, TV PSA).
3. Electronic materials (e.g., web site, CD-ROM, computer program, video
game).
4. Promotional materials (e.g., keychain, T-shirt, button, bracelet,
magnet).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contest rules:
1. One author/submitter of each submitted material MUST be able to attend
the APHA Annual Meeting in Atlanta this October to give a presentation about
their material in a special session. Failure to attend the Annual Meeting
will disqualify the material and the authors from the contest this year and
for three subsequent years.
2. All materials MUST have undergone appropriate evaluation (formative
and/or summative) and the results MUST be described. Unevaluated materials
WILL NOT BE JUDGED.
3. Multiple authors/submitters per material are acceptable but the LEAD
AUTHOR must be a member of the PHE&HP section. Contact APHA directly about
adding or changing section affiliation.
4. The material MUST have been developed OR implemented OR in dissemination
OR in evaluation since the last APHA Annual Meeting (November 2000). If it
hasn't been evaluated yet, it may be better to wait until next year to
submit the material for consideration.
5. Only ONE ENTRY for each group of authors per category. That is, the same
group of authors cannot make multiple submissions in the same category by
rearranging the order of authors.
6. Single-item submissions only. Multiple-versions (e.g., Spanish and
English) of a single material are acceptable but material series are not.
7. A panel of judges for each category will select the winners. Winners will
be contacted in July 2001.
8. All materials become the property of the PHE&HP Section and cannot be
returned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All submissions must be RECEIVED by May 18, 2001 and must include:
1. One copy of the completed entry form (see below).
2. FOUR copies/pieces of the material (Web site submissions should send ONLY
the URL).
3. FOUR ANONYMOUS copies of the following information (a-g) on one side of a
single sheet of paper:
a. Material title (and URL if a web site).
b. Approximate dates of development and/or implementation.
c. A brief description of the material and its overall purpose.
d. The intended target audience for the material.
e. The health behavior addressed by the material.
f. How the material was developed including the application of theory and/or
needs assessment data.
g. How the material was evaluated and a brief description of the evaluation
results.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Send submissions to:
PHEHP Materials Contest
c/o Dr. Jay Bernhardt
Health Promotion and Behavior
University of Georgia
309 Ramsey Center
Athens, GA 30602-6522
e-mail: jaybird@coe.uga.edu
phone: 706-542-8206
[PRINT AND COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING FORM AND INCLUDE IT WITH YOUR SUBMISSION]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eleventh Annual Public Health Materials Contest - Entry Form
Authors:
Mailing Address:
Telephone:
E-mail:
Submission category:
____Printed material
____Audio/Video material
____Electronic material
____Promotional material
Lead author is a member of the APHA PHE&HP section?
___ Yes
___ No (if no, you must join before your entry will be considered)
My signature below acknowledges the following: I will abide by the rules of
the contest and allow the PHE&HP section of APHA to release my contact
information. I have obtained appropriate consent to use images of anyone
recognizable in my material and I release from liability the APHA PHE&HP
section, all its officers, employees, and all persons involved therein. I
understand that all submissions become property of the PHE&HP section and
will not be returned.
Signature of lead author:
Date:
------------------------------
#562
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 15:13:05 -0400
From: Isabel Burk <izzibz@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject: Alan Leshner's comments: why kids use drugs
** The University of Alabama Distance Education
** Master of Arts Program in Health Studies
** http:// www.ches.ua.edu/health
**
I think Dr. Leshner's article is clear and succinct. Please pass it on!!
Why Do Sally And Johnny Use Drugs? 4/9/01
by Alan I. Leshner, Ph.D., Director, National Institute of Drug Abuse
Right at the top of virtually every parent's
concerns is the fear that their children might
become involved with drugs. And they are right
to be concerned. Whether in cities, suburbia or
rural communities, whether in wealthy or poor
neighborhoods, drugs are now readily available
to all young people. And even the seemingly
nerdiest kids can speak with apparent fluency
and familiarity about marijuana, cocaine, heroin,
and such strange-sounding things as blunts,
ecstasy, roofies, Special K, and crystal meth.
Drugs are an equal opportunity destroyer. Fifty
percent of young people have used an illegal
drug by the time they leave high school. What's a
parent to do? How can you predict if your
children are going to use drugs? What can you
do to prevent it? How can you help them once
they've started using?
The first step is to understand why Sally or
Johnny might be using drugs. Researchers have
identified over 50 factors that might put someone
at risk for drug use. These risk factors can be
found at the individual, the family, peer groups,
and broader community levels. They include
things like having too much free time, weak
family structures, peer group, social pressures,
and the glorification of drug use by some in the
popular media. But those risk factors really only
talk about overall probabilities of whether young
people with certain characteristics might be more
or less prone to using drugs. Knowing about
these risk factors can help keep a parent alert,
but no set of risk factors determines that a
particular child will use drugs, and many kids
who have many of those risk ractors don't even
try drugs. So parents really have to deal with
the
individual child's situation and state of mind.
Two Paths to Drug Use
Research on the pathways to drug use and
addiction suggests the immediate decision to use
drugs is driven, basically, by one of two types
of
reasons. One group of young people seems to
use drugs simply to feel good. They are seeking
novelty or excitement, to have a good time. I
include in this group those who say they use
drugs just because all their friends are doing
it;
they just want to join in common fun or to be
"cool." These kids are the ones most likely to be
responsive to prevention programming that
educates about the harmful effects of drugs on
their bodies, and are most influenced by the
powerful protective factor of having strong and
loving parents interested and involved in all
aspects of their lives. These kids also seem to
have the best chances of being successfully
taught to seek alternative ways of having fun and
to resist the temptation to seek novelty in drugs
and other harmful ways.
But there is also a second, very different group
of young people who are using drugs for quite
different, actually more intractable reasons.
These are kids who in some way or another are
suffering and use drugs to try to make themselves
feel better, or even normal. This group often
includes people stuck in very difficult life
situations - poverty or abusive families, for
example. It also includes kids suffering from a
variety of untreated mental disorders, like
clinical
depression, manic depressive illness, panic
disorders, schizophrenia. Estimates are that as
many as 10 million children and adolescents may
suffer from emotional and psychiatric problems
of such magnitude that their ability to function
is
compromised, and the majority of those kids are
at extremely high risk of becoming addicted to
drugs.
These young people are not using drugs just to
feel good. These children are actually trying to
medicate themselves with drugs. they use drugs
becase they think they will make them feel
better,
or normal, in the same way that other people
might be given anti-depressants or anti-anxiety
medications. The problem, of course, is that
using illicit drugs is not an effective
treatment. In
addition to other, perhaps more obvious
problems - like that their use interferes with
normal functioning - this kind of drug use
actually
will ultimately make them feel worse, not better.
Medical research has shown clearly that this kind
of drug use only exacerbates underlying
psychological problems.
Treatment Different For "Self Medicators"
Both the preventive and the treatment
approaches for these "self-medicating" young
people need to be quite different from the
approaches one would use with novelty seekers
or social users. For example, it can't be very
meaningful to warn people who feel terrible
today that using drugs may alter their brains a
month from now. Their problem is getting
through today. And encouragement to seek
alternative sources of fun or to seek nicer
friends
doesn't seem very meaningful for them either.
Again, they are trying to get through today's
issues.
Even the otherwise powerful protective factor of
loving, supportive family involvement in the life
of
the child is not very effective in these areas.
Those young peopie who are trying to
self-medicate must have help with their
underlying problems. They need professional
treatment.
Whatever the reasons, how do you know if your
children are using drugs and what do you do if
they are? Telltale signs include recent mood and
energy level changes, changes in eating habits,
specific signs like redness around the eyes, and
changes in social and educational performance.
Listen carefully to what your children are
telling
you about their lives and how they feel. And
watch how they behave. It may seem natural for
an adolescent to be a bit surly, but most
adolescents are not actually sullen, withdrawn,
apathetic and lethargic. You should talk to your
child about any of these symptoms. You do need
to know.
What Can Parents Do?
What, if the answer is "yes," your child is using
drugs? What do you do? In a small percentage
of cases, parents can work with their own kids
to get them to stop using drugs. This might be
easiest when the young person is just using drugs
occasionally to have a good time. And, of
course, the earlier you start talking to your
children about drugs, the better the chances are
they won't become involved with them. If a child
reaches the age of 20 without using alcohol,
tobacco or marijuana, the probability is almost
zero he or she will ever develop a serious drug
problem.
But if you suspect your child is really trying to
self-medicate, or if you suspect your child is
using regularly or even is addicted, you need to
get help right away from the professionals. These
are not problems the typical parents can handle
alone. And help is available. There are many
professional social workers, nurses, drug
counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists well
trained to deal with both mental disorders and
drug use problems. Your child's school, your
family doctor, or community health center can
help get you a referral. Do not assume Sally or
Johnny's drug use is just a passing phase or
something every kid must go through. It isn't. It
may well be the beginning of a lifetime of
problems that could be prevented with early
intervention.
Alan Leshner is Director of the National
Institute of Drug Abuse.
Alan I. Leshner, Ph.D., Director
National Institute of Drug Abuse, National
Institutes of Health
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 5213
Bethesda, MD 20892
Phone: (301) 443-1124
www.drugabuse.gov
--
Isabel Burk, M.S., CHES, CPP
The Health Network
(845) 638-3569 fax: (845) 638-1928
E-mail: isabel@healthnetwork.org
www.healthnetwork.org
------------------------------