Public health campaigns have the potential to correct vaping misperceptions. However, campaigns highlighting vaping harms to youth may increase misperceptions that vaping is equally/more harmful than smoking. Vaping campaigns have been implemented in the United States and Canada since 2018 and in England since 2017 but with differing focus: youth…

Background: Religious institutions play a crucial role in health promotion and hold significant influence in the public health field. Aim: The aim of this review is to examine outcomes of health-promoting interventions involving the use of mosques as the intervention venue, its role in promoting health behavior change, and the role of theory in…

We summarize current data and understanding about the prevalence of gun violence at schools and risk of rampage school shootings. Following that comes a discussion of gun availability among youth and strategies and practices in the United States and abroad that have been implemented to limit access to firearms for minors. Next, we review the…

Prescription opioid (POs, i.e. opioid analgesics requiring a prescription) related harms are extensive in North America; non-medical PO use (NMPOU), PO-related morbidity (e.g. hospital or treatment admissions) and mortality (e.g. overdose deaths) are high in the general population. Most recommendations towards reducing PO-related problems to date…

In the context of the emerging field of public health services and systems research, this study (i) tested a model of the relationships between public health organizational capacity (OC) for chronic disease prevention, its determinants (organizational supports for evaluation, partnership effectiveness) and one possible outcome of OC (involvement…

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women worldwide. The incidence rates are such that one in nine Canadian women will be diagnosed in her lifetime. While social science research has demonstrated the influence of social, political, economic and environmental factors on health outcomes, many still emphasize the role of…

Although the importance of healthy mental development in children and youth is not disputed, the mental health needs of far too many Canadian children are being ignored. Within the context of recent federal and provincial calls for systemic reform of the mental health care systems for children and youth, we underscore the necessity for ongoing…

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) pose a significant threat to the health and well-being of populations worldwide, and to young people in particular. Despite empirical evidence that comprehensive sex education is an important tool for prevention, the legitimacy and content of sex education in schools continue to be challenged by conservative…

Dating violence is a serious public health problem. In recent years, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other entities have made funding available to community based agencies for dating violence prevention. Practitioners who are tasked with developing dating violence prevention strategies should pay particular attention to…

Smoking bans offer practical protection against environmental tobacco smoke and highlight the decreasing normative status of smoking. At Canadian universities, indoor smoking is now completely prohibited, but regulations vary with respect to outdoor smoking. The purpose of this research was to conceptualize the interactions of smoking bans on…

This article follows a conceptual article published in this journal by Elliott et al. and provides an empirical evaluation of the Canadian Heart Health Initiative-Dissemination Phase. Between 1994 and 2005, seven provincial research teams of the Canadian Heart Health Initiative-Dissemination Phase undertook projects to disseminate and evaluate the…

Imagine a partnership of university and community which addresses the needs of the community to keep its citizens healthy as long as possible. Through a planning exercise to address the community's needs in primary health care and health promotion, the university has developed key strategic directions to help support the needs of the community it…

In Canada, the prevalence of alcohol use among school-age students has emerged as a leading public health issue. Though governments at all levels have called for inter-organizational collaboration to address the issue, the representation of youth interests by key community groups is critical to the efficacy of those initiatives. This article…

Context: The impact of alcohol consumption on risks for injury among rural adolescents is an important and understudied public health issue. Little is known about whether relationships between alcohol consumption and injury vary between rural and urban adolescents. Purpose: To examine associations between alcohol and medically attended injuries by…

Native American Indians and First Nations are predisposed to obesity and diabetes. A study was done to understand Cree schoolchildren's diabetes awareness and body size perceptions in two communities that had diabetes awareness-raising activities in the Province of Quebec, Canada. Children (N = 203) in grades 4-6 were classified into weight…