Background: Primary care providers are qualified to treat, diagnose, and manage common mental health issues like anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression are common among college age students, with the average age of onset occurring in one's late teens to early 20s. Screening tools are commonly used to recognize patients who may be at risk…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify and prioritize the mental health needs of rural communities in Texas Public Health Region 11 utilizing the Delphi method. Rural individuals face unique challenges when attempting to receive treatment for serious mental illness and mental health care. Stigma, a lack of privacy when seeking…

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer for Chinese Americans. Family history (FH) plays an important role in clinical practice for CRC prevention. Nevertheless, Chinese Americans' FH of CRC communication with primary care physicians (PCPs) are still unknown. Aims: This study examined Chinese Americans' behavior and the…

Background: Spaced education (SE) is a novel, evidence-based form of online learning. We investigated whether an SE program following a face-to-face continuing medical education (CME) course could enhance the course's impact on providers' clinical behaviors. Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted from March 2009 to April 2010,…

Alcohol screening and brief intervention (SBI) is recommended for all primary care patients but is underutilized. This project trained 111 residents and faculty in 8 family medicine residencies to conduct SBI and implement SBI protocols in residency clinics, then assessed changes in self-reported importance and confidence in performing SBI and…

There is a call across the country and in Texas to improve health care systems through integrated care. Integrated health care is the systematic coordination of physical and behavioral health services. The idea is that physical and behavioral health problems often occur at the same time and that integrating services will provide the best results…

Context: Improvement of rural health care access has been a guiding principle of federal and state policy regarding physician assistants (PAs). Purpose: To determine the factors that influence autonomous rural PAs (who work less than 8 hours per week with their supervising physician) to remain in remote locations. Methods: A qualitative…

The purpose of this report is to address the impact of several federally funded health programs serving rural Texans. The first section presents an overview of the statistical indices which demonstrate the current health status of rural Texans (health care problems of rural Texans exceed those of urban Texans, yet rural Texans have fewer resources…

Presents five principles to help communities establish school-based primary care centers linking community health and social services with educational systems. The principles encompass community participation; early assessment of community needs; integration of health and human services with educational services through an interdisciplinary,…

This brief document provides a look at research and evaluations that have demonstrated that school-based health centers represent cost-effective investments of public resources.

This teacher's instructional guide, which is part of a family and consumer sciences education series focusing on a broad range of employment opportunities, is intended to assist teachers responsible for teaching one- and two-year child development programs for Texas high school students. The following are among the items included: (1) introductory…