A framework for health promotion and disease prevention programs.

There is a disquieting sense that many theoretically based health behavior change programs have been only minimally effective. Part of the problem may be that most current theories have considerable overlap, primarily focus on intraindividual and other individual-level variables, and tend to neglect the environment and issues related to program implementation. A framework is developed for health promotion and disease prevention programs that makes use of epidemiological and health indicator data and Healthy People 2000 goals to prioritize efforts, provides a schema to formulate programs on the basis of timing (prevention) and level of intervention, and addresses the marketing approach to target and implement programs. The framework integrates current theories to guide marketing and phases of research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The federal role in research, treatment, and prevention of alcoholism.

Outlines the dimensions of the alcohol abuse problem in the US, federal legislation related to the treatment and prevention of alcohol and drug abuse, and priorities for future government involvement in research and treatment. It is argued that the government should play a greater role in the dissemination of research results; fund demonstration projects targeted at improving the effectiveness of alcoholism treatment; coordinate employee assistance programs in the workplace; and ensure that services are extended to currently underserved populations such as the elderly, minorities, and women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The federal health scientist-administrator: An opportunity for role integration.

The federal health scientist-administrator is centrally involved in the national health program and serves in the interface between science and public policy. In this middleman role there is a role conflict which derives from the dichotomy between his values as a scientist and as an administrator. He is viewed as an expert in the process of federal grantsmanship as well as in the research area for which he has responsibility. It is suggested that he must be willing to accept this role conflict as an attribute of science administration today and work toward a process of integrating the 2 roles. Psychologists and other behavioral scientists should participate in such an effort at integration. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The federal role in injury control.

Early federal injury control programs in the 1960s and 1970s were centered first in the Division of Accident Prevention (Public Health Service) and subsequently in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (Department of Transportation) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the early 1970s also began to investigate injuries, particularly in the home and recreational environment. The field expanded in the 1970s and 1980s to include injuries that occur in many settings and both intentional injuries (violence) and unintentional injuries. After a 1985 report, Injury in America, CDC was chosen to be the national coordinating agency because of its mission of prevention. The current program also includes acute care, rehabilitation, and biomechanics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental health promotion in children and adolescents: An emerging role for psychology.

Reports that the results of child development research are beginning to make substantial contributions to child and adolescent health and health care. Health promotion is discussed in the context of mental health promotion. Research in developmental psychopathology suggests that particular skills, feelings, and attitudes characterize mentally healthy children. Social competence, cognitive problem-solving skills, coping with emotional stress, and perceiving oneself to have good social support from others appear to be important correlates of positive adjustment in childhood and adolescence. It is suggested that these characteristics deserve consideration in the development of children's mental health promotion initiatives. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of promotion and prevention cues on creativity.

This study tested whether cues associated with promotion and prevention regulatory foci influence creativity. The authors predicted that the risky, explorative processing style elicited by promotion cues, relative to the risk-averse, perseverant processing style elicited by prevention cues, would facilitate creative thought. These predictions were supported by two experiments in which promotion cues bolstered both creative insight (Experiment 1) and creative generation (Experiment 2) relative to prevention cues. Experiments 3 and 4 provided evidence for the process account of these findings, suggesting that promotion cues, relative to prevention cues, produce a riskier response bias (Experiment 3) and bolster memory search for novel responses (Experiment 4). A final experiment provided evidence that individual differences in regulatory focus influence creative problem solving in a manner analogous to that of incidental promotion and prevention cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recent history of federal initiatives in prevention policy.

Presents a historical overview of federal initiatives in disease-prevention and health-promotion activities in the US, noting that the clues about basic causes of major disease entities emerging in the 1950's and 1960's have begun to coalesce in the past 10 yrs. For example, the relationship between smoking and health-related problems became a given fact, society marshaled a major antismoking effort, and nearly 40 million individuals quit smoking as a result. Similar shifts in dietary habits as a result of public-awareness efforts are chronicled. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Red-wine polyphenols and inhibition of platelet aggregation: possible mechanisms, and potential use in health promotion and disease prevention

Correction of uremic platelet serotonin (5-HT) storage pool deficiency is one of the very early hemostatic effects of erythropoietin (Epo) therapy. In this work, platelet 5-HT with relation to primary hemostasis was studied in 15 hemodialysis patients treated with Epo for 8 months. Moreover, effects of ketanserin, a blocker of platelet and vascular smooth muscle cell 5-HT2A receptors, in these patients were followed. The parameters studied were compared with relevant values in healthy controls and in hemodialysis patients not treated with Epo, and remeasured in the long-term Epo patients after a 14-day oral ketanserin trial. Platelet 5-HT content in the eighth month of Epo therapy was not different from the one in untreated patients. Ristocetin- and collagen-induced platelet aggregation were enhanced in comparison with both control groups, as opposed to unaltered response to ADP and arachidonic acid. Fibrinogen concentration was lower than in the untreated group. An inverse correlation between ADP-induced platelet aggregation and the skin bleeding time (r=-0.536, p<0.05) and a positive one between the former and platelet 5-HT (r=0.644, p<0.01) were found. Platelet count correlated positively with both platelet 5-HT (r=0.823, p<0.0002) and ADP-induced platelet aggregation (r=0.596, p<0.02). Ketanserin produced a decrease in ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation, fibrinogen, and prolongation of the bleeding time. The first two of the changes correlated positively with their pre-ketanserin values (r=0.923, p<0.00001 and r=0.839, p< 0.0001, respectively). Post-ketanserin, positive correlations between depressed ristocetin- and arachidonic acid-induced platelet aggregation (r=0.760, p<0.005), and between collagen- and corresponding values of arachidonic acid- (r=0.622, p<0.02), ADP-induced platelet aggregation (r=0.396, p<0.01), and platelet 5-HT (r=0.654, p<0.05) were found. Efficient hemostasis in hemodialysis patients on protracted Epo therapy is, in part, dependent on enhanced platelet aggregability. Correction of platelet 5-HT storage pool deficiency is not evident in this stage but 5-HT still influences complex mechanisms of primary hemostasis. Ketanserin is of anticoagulant value in these patients but its effects must be weighted against possible exacerbation of the anemia.     

CNS role in women's health promotion and maintenance in a collaborative practice

The clinical nurse specialist (CNS) has an instrumental role in health promotion and maintenance for women. In the obstetrical/gynecological private practice setting, working in collaboration with a physician and other healthcare providers, the CNS has the opportunity to exercise the subroles of clinician, educator, consultant, and researcher. The CNS, as primary caregiver, can be influential in meeting the guidelines of Healthy People 2000 and implementing the interventions suggested in the Guide to Clinical Preventative Services for women.     

Promoting health and preventing disease: an international perspective on youth health promotion

PURPOSE: To advocate strategies to promote the health of young people that include action to create supportive social and economic conditions, alongside more traditional actions to strengthen individual capacity to protect health. METHODS: Analysis of different strategies for youth health promotion from different countries, including education, public policies, laws, and regulations that protect young people from exploitation and physical harm, and enhance their capacity to make healthy lifestyle choices. RESULTS: Access to education and the promotion of basic literacy are, in their own right, important public health goals. Beyond this, efforts to promote health through schools should focus on the creation of an integrated and mutually reinforcing set of experiences for young people, including classroom health education, the creation of a safe and healthy physical environment, and provision of appropriate school health services. The creation of supportive social and economic conditions are also essential, and require political action through the development of public policy. Such policies include restricting access to tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs, improving access to essential health services; and regulation of economic exploitation of young people. CONCLUSIONS: Health promotion is inherently political. Health professionals have to find ways to become more effective political advocates for young people. This should be reflected in the education of health professionals and educators, and in the work of agencies and professional associations.     

The connection between clinical health promotion and health status: A critical overview.

Argues that the clinical practice of health promotion is based on at least 4 assumptions: (a) behaviors increase the risk of certain chronic diseases; (b) changes in behaviors can reduce the probability of risk of certain diseases; (c) behavior can be easily changed; and (d) behavioral interventions are cost-effective. Although data support most of these assumptions, the strength of the support is shown to be much weaker than is assumed by many psychologists. Thus, the expected health benefits from behavioral programs may not match the enthusiasm espoused by some health psychologists. A major problem in this field is that outcomes are frequently not conceptualized in relation to health. Health status is therefore suggested as the focal point for conceptualizations of health psychology. (83 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental health and aging: The need for an expanded federal response.

Discusses the mental health problems that may occur as elderly people must face adjustments because of bereavement, poor physical health, the demands of caring for an ill spouse, drug/alcohol abuse, dementia and cognitive impairments, and multiple health problems. Negative social stereotypes associated with both elderly patients and mental health care, limited access to and a lack of trained professionals in the area of geriatric mental health care, lack of outreach, inadequate benefits under prepaid health plans, Medicare and Medicaid, and special problems of ethnic minority and rural elderly people all contribute to an inadequate mental health care system. The author, a US representative, suggests a redesigning of the system and outlines an initiative that addresses the development of an effective mental health care system for the elderly, modification of Medicare and Medicaid, and improvements in quality assurance and access protection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some thoughts on health promotion.

Defines health promotion as the planned use of resources to encourage the maintenance and enhancement of health and prevention of disease. A study by G. J. Botvin (1980) is described in which the psychological factors affecting cigarette smoking in adolescents were examined. The study illustrated the relationship between psychological knowledge and health promotion. It is suggested that health promotion is an area in behavioral medicine with applications for applied social psychology and for applied psychological research. (French abstract) (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of anxiety on response times to disease detection and health promotion behaviors

It was hypothesized that increasing levels of anxiety about health issues would make response times to disease detections longer than response times to health promotion behaviors and that this effect would reverse when anxiety about health issues was decreased. In a laboratory study 82 participants recruited from undergraduates and the general community were randomly assigned to read information designed either to increase or to decrease anxiety about health. Following the anxiety manipulation participants were required to indicate their attitude about both disease detection and health promotion behaviors and response times to both types of behavior were recorded. Finally, the participants' attitudes toward all the health behaviors were measured using 9-point scales. The results supported the hypothesis.     

The federal budget and the New Federalism: Trends affecting mental health.

Outlines the Congressional budget process and its effects in 1981 on health and mental health issues, using federal aid to community health centers as a case illustration. The anticipated impact of the Reagan "New Federalism" proposal is assessed, and alternatives to block grants are mentioned. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)