Disparities in the rates of unintended pregnancy have increased for low-income African American women as compared to other groups due, in part, to declining contraception use. Women obtain family planning information from diverse sources, which may ultimately influence contraceptive decision making. For this qualitative study, we conducted…

Bell's palsy is the most common condition affecting facial nerves. It is an acute, rapidly progressing, idiopathic, unilateral facial paralysis that is generally self-limiting and non-life threatening that occurs in all age groups (Okuwobi, Omole, & Griffith, 2003). The school nurse may be the first person to assess facial palsy and muscle…

As the healthcare landscape in West Virginia evolves, West Virginia's health professions programs are working closer together than ever to improve citizen's health and access to care. In particular, the state's three academic health centers, the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University, the West Virginia School of Osteopathic…

One of today's most pressing public health problems is the rise in childhood overweight and obesity. School-based health centers (SBHCs)--the convergence of public health, primary care, and mental health in schools--represent an important element in the public health toolbox for combating the challenging epidemic. When working side-by-side in a…

Objective: To examine whether clinical severity is greater among children receiving attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) care in primary care compared with those in specialty mental health clinics, and to examine how care processes and clinical outcomes vary by sector across three 6-month time intervals. Method: This was a longitudinal…

School-based health centers (SBHCs) are considered one of the most effective strategies for delivering preventive care, including reproductive and mental health care services, to adolescents--a population long considered difficult to reach. National Assembly on School-Based Health Care (NASBHC) recommends practices and policies to assure…

Assessment is a critical step in determining appropriate support services. This article discusses "caregiver assessment," a systematic process of gathering information to describe a caregiving situation. Caregiver assessment identifies the particular problems, needs, resources, and strengths of the family caregiver and approaches issues from the…

Replicating a previous study (M. Barkham et al., 2006), the authors examined rates of improvement in psychotherapy in United Kingdom primary care settings as a function of the number of sessions attended. Included in the study were adult clients who returned valid assessments at the beginning and the end of their treatment, had planned endings,…

Introduction: Turkey's primary health care (PHC) system was established in the beginning of the 1960s and provides preventive and curative basic medical services to the population. This article describes the experience of the Turkish health system, as it tries to adapt to the European health system. It describes the current organization of primary…

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…

The author, after a review of the relevant literature, found that depression and the risk for suicide remain unacceptably underrecognized in primary care (PC). The negative consequences are substantial for patients and their physicians. Suicide prevention in PC begins with the recognition of depression because suicide occurs largely during…

Introduction: This survey aimed to investigate German ambulatory physicians' opinions about mandatory continuing medical education (CME) and CME resources shortly before the introduction of mandatory CME in 2004. Methods: A structured national telephone survey of general practitioners and specialists was conducted. Main outcome measures were…

In this article, the author documents the illness and health care problems facing indigenous communities in Baja California, Mexico, by using ethnographic data from research she conducted from 1999 to 2001 with rural, indigenous Kumiai and with their primary health care providers in urban Ensenada. The author contends that barriers to care are…

The current study demonstrates the use of item response theory (IRT) to conduct measurement invariance analyses in careers research. A self-report survey was used to assess the importance 1,363 fourth-year medical students placed on opportunities to provide comprehensive patient care when choosing a career specialty. IRT analyses supported…

Purpose: We compared a primary-care-based psychotherapy, that is, problem-solving therapy for primary care (PST-PC), to community-based psychotherapy in treating late-life major depression and dysthymia. Design and Methods: The data here are from the IMPACT study, which compared collaborative care within a primary care clinic to care as usual in…