The implications of Sweden's recent policy trend toward broad decentralization in government for the education system in general, and higher education in particular, are discussed, including issues of local involvement and central reforms, autonomy and local governance, and bureaucratization. (MSE)

"Data Trends" reports present summaries of research on mental health services for children and adolescents and their families. The article summarized in this "Data Trends" reports a qualitative investigation of the networking experiences of teachers, parents, human service professionals, and faith-based organizations involved in services for…

This study reviews the research on community schools and reports on evaluations of community schools initiatives across the United States. It explains that community schools are important solutions in improving student learning. It uses research and evaluation data, as well as local school experiences, to illustrate why community schools are…

This article proposes that in order for academic medical centers to compete with successful group practices, health maintenance organizations, and integrated health service networks, they must form clinical faculty into a competitive medical group with more price-competitive and user-friendly services, restructure clinical training to be more…

Discusses health care services received by pregnant women and infants, exploring the ways that these services affect child health outcomes, specifically low birth weight and infant mortality rate. Programs that offer the greatest potential to improve newborn survival with the least investment should have high priority. (SLD)

A discussion of the implications of health care reform for academic health centers (a complex of institutions which educate health professionals) looks at problems in the current system, the role of academic health centers in the current system, financial pressures, revenue sources other than patient care, impact on health research, and human…

Offers a social ecological analysis of health promotive environments, emphasizing the transactions between individual or collective behavior and the health resources and constraints that exist in specific environmental settings. Directions for future research on the creation and maintenance of health promotive environments also are examined. (JB)

The impact of family situations on the health of children is examined along the dimensions of (1) the growing povertization of parents who are of color; (2) health risks for children in poverty; and (3) consequences of placement in the foster care system. (SLD)

This article argues that it is essential to improve the U.S. health care system and to cut costs. If unchecked, health care costs could rise to 20% of the gross domestic product by the turn of the century, leaving substantially fewer financial resources for other costs such as education. (SLD)

Discusses three timely Individuals with Disability Act issues confronting school personnel: implications of complex health services related to the Supreme Court "Garret F" ruling; use of functional assessment as mandated by IDEA 1997 discipline amendments; and handling of Section 504 issues related to Asperger Syndrome. (Contains 16…

The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of a range of strategies to engage and to enhance secondary school nurse involvement in teenage smoking prevention and cessation. School nurses were willing to assist students to quit smoking, but they felt unprepared. Information provided by nurses involved in a three-stage review,…

The rationale behind using medical students as sexual health educators in light of current UK governmental policy agenda and research on effective interventions is described in this paper, which also examines the results of a cross-sectional survey of the sexual health knowledge and attitude of 14-15 year-olds in some South Wales schools. Major…

To evaluate the impacts of participation in mental health Consumer/Survivor Initiatives (CSIs), we used a nonequivalent control group design to compare new, active participants in CSIs ( n = 61) with nonactive participants ( n = 57) at baseline, 9-month, and 18-month follow-up intervals. The two groups were comparable at baseline on a wide range…

Community Health Aides and Community Health Practitioners (CHA/Ps), the primary providers of healthcare in rural Alaska, share the importance of story as a culturally respectful way for creating meaning and broadening understanding. Story is woven into the fabric of cancer education courses for CHA/Ps. Between May 2004 and April 2007, 13 week-long…

The key dimensions of issues related to the integration of successive waves of immigrants are outlined. It is argued that a federal immigrant policy is needed, in which the Federal Government would assume some of the cost burden of public services to immigrants that states and localities now shoulder by themselves. Requiring the Federal Government…