MCH Alert


Maternal and Child Health Library

This and past issues of the MCH Alert are available at http://www.mchlibrary.info/alert/archives.html.


June 29, 2007

1. New Knowledge Path Focuses on Child and Adolescent Social and Emotional Development
2. Task Force Releases Recommendations for Screening for Chlamydial Infection
3. Journal Supplement Highlights Lessons Learned from Applied Models of Evidence-Based Practice and Prevention Research Utilization
4. Panel Offers Recommendations For Future Activities To Promote Community Health
5. Authors Explore Relationship Between Adolescents’ Beliefs About Preferred Resources for Help and Specific Health Issues

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Readers: MCH Alert will not be published for the next 2 weeks. The next issue is scheduled for July 20, 2007.

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1. NEW KNOWLEDGE PATH FOCUSES ON CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Healthy Social and Emotional Development in Children and Adolescents is an electronic guide to resources from the health, education, and social services literature on healthy social and emotional development in infants, children, and adolescents. The knowledge path, produced by the MCH Library, presents resources for professionals in the following categories: general resources; resources by age group (infants and young children; school-age children, adolescents); and data, literature and research, and programs databases. Selected topics include developmental stages; factors that impact social and emotional development; policies and programs to promote social and emotional well-being in homes and community settings; and strategies for integrating health, development, and education services. A section containing resources for families is also included. The knowledge path is available at http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_Mental_Healthy.html.

MCH Library knowledge paths on other maternal and child health topics are available at http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/index.html. The MCH Library welcomes feedback on the usefulness and value of these knowledge paths. A feedback form is available at http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/feedback.html.

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2. TASK FORCE RELEASES RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SCREENING FOR CHLAMYDIAL INFECTION

Screening for Chlamydial Infection summarizes recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) for screening for chlamydial infection and highlights the benefits of detection and early intervention in non-pregnant women at increased risk, pregnant women at increased risk, women not at increased risk, and men. The statement provides information on adverse health outcomes of chlamydial infection in women, including adverse pregnancy outcomes and infant mortality. The following task force conclusions are also presented:
The summary and supporting documents are available at http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstf/uspschlm.htm. A methods update from the USPSTF on how to read the new recommendations statement and current processes of the USPSTF on refining the evidence-based recommendation development are also available.

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3. JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT HIGHLIGHTS LESSONS LEARNED FROM APPLIED MODELS OF EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE AND PREVENTION RESEARCH UTILIZATION

The July 2007 supplement to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine presents papers that summarize research findings on the adoption of evidence-based interventions. Much of the work in the supplement, titled The Dissemination and Utilization of Prevention Research - Increasing Our Knowledge and Understanding, derives from the seminal work of Everett Rogers. The introduction to the supplement briefly reviews Roger's diffusion of innovations model. The papers in the supplement demonstrate how constructs from other models have been adapted and incorporated into the model, creating an expanded conceptual explanation of the prevention research utilization process. Lesson learned from case studies in the adoption and implementation of strategies for diabetes management in primary care practices, the adoption and implementation of mandated diabetes registries by community health centers, and contributors to the dissemination of evidence-based interventions to promote physical activity by state health departments are included. The supplement content is available to journal subscribers at http://www.ajpm-online.net/issues/contents?issue_key=TOC@@JOURNALS@AMEPRE@0032@0006s0.

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4. PANEL OFFERS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE COMMUNITY HEALTH

"The recommendations put forth by the expert panel map a comprehensive socioecological approach to community health promotion," state the authors of an article published in the July 2007 issue of Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice, and Policy. The Institute of Medicine's report The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century and several recent articles challenge the public health community to establish a new vision for public health science and practice that measures and addresses the social and environmental determinants of health and supports the role of the community in improving health and wellness. In response, the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) invited a panel of experts to act as an external review board and to provide guidance to advance community health promotion. The expert panel was charged with (1) identifying and summarizing gaps in the field of community health promotion, (2) examining relevant initiatives for community health promotion, and (3) developing and prioritizing recommendations for activities to promote community health. The paper presents background information, methods, and recommendations from the National Expert Panel on Community Health Promotion related to community-based research and surveillance, training and capacity building, new program directions, and federal investments.

The expert panel offered the following eight recommendations for NCCDPHP over the next 3-5 years:
"The recommendations put forth by the expert panel map a comprehensive socioecological approach to community health promotion," conclude the authors. They add that "we view the expert panel as a national call to action to multiple sectors of the public health system."

Navarro AM, Voetsch KP, Liburd LC, et al. 2007. Charting the future of community health promotion: Recommendations from the National Expert Panel on Community Health Promotion. Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice, and Policy 4(3):1-7. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2007/jul/07_0013.htm.

Readers: More information is available from the MCH Library's organizations resource list, Effective Community Programs, at http://www.mchlibrary.info/action.lasso?-database=Organizations&-layout=Web&-response=/databases/OrgLists/orgs_best.html&-MaxRecords=all&-DoScript=auto_search_best&-search.

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5. AUTHORS EXPLORE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ADOLESCENTS’ BELIEFS ABOUT PREFERRED RESOURCES FOR HELP AND SPECIFIC HEALTH ISSUES

"This study suggests that adolescents' beliefs about preferred resources from whom to get help differ depending on the health issue in question," state the authors of an article published in the July 2007 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health. Despite establishment of adolescent clinical preventive services guidelines and efforts to adhere to them, adolescents' routine use of health care is less than ideal. Little is known about from which resources adolescents' might seek health advice or care and whether this varies by type of health problem. The article examines adolescents' beliefs about preferred resources for help for different types of health issues.

Data for the study were drawn from a school-based survey of 210 adolescents in grades 9-12 recruited from a Northern California suburban high school. The confidential, self-administered written survey was completed during a regularly scheduled 50-minute class in 2000. The survey assessed sociodemographic information (adolescent's age, gender, race and ethnicity, self-report of parental education). A scenario-based approach was used to explore adolescents' beliefs about preferences for help from friends and siblings, significant adults, and health and mental health professionals for different types of health issues, including help for a severe respiratory complaint, cigarette use, sexual behavior, and symptoms of depression. For each health issue, the researchers specifically examined: (1) the extent to which adolescents believe it is important to get help in general and from specific resources, 2) adolescents' top rank of preferred resources for help, and 3) whether beliefs and rankings about preferred resources for help vary by age, gender, and beliefs in the importance of getting help in general. Scenarios were matched by age and gender.

The authors found that
This study suggest that "adolescents prefer informal resources (friends and partners) and significant adults (parents) to go to for help for risk behavior-type and mental health concerns, whereas physicians are preferred to go to for help for physical health-related issues," the authors conclude. Noting limitations in study design and generalizability, the authors suggest that future preventive service efforts and research also consider the importance of age and gender when examining adolescents' preferred resources for help.

Marcell AV, Halpern-Felsher BL. 2007. Adolescents’ beliefs about preferred resources for help vary depending on the health issue. Journal of Adolescent Health 41(1):61-68. Abstract available at http://www.jahonline.org/article/PIIS1054139X07000973/abstract.

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MCH Alert © 1998-2007 by National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health and Georgetown University. MCH Alert is produced by Maternal and Child Health Library at the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health under its cooperative agreement (U02MC00001) with the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Maternal and Child Health Bureau reserves a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable right to use the work for federal purposes and to authorize others to use the work for federal purposes.
 
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MANAGING EDITOR: Jolene Bertness
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MCH Alert
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