An overview of research synthesis and application activities in the Division of Adolescent and School Health at CDC will be presented. These activities include 1) syntheses of prevention research designed to encourage healthy behavior and reduce risky behavior leading to pregnancy, HIV infection, other STDs, sedentary lifestyle and obesity, tobacco use and its chronic disease consequences, and injuries and violence among adolescents; 2) Programs that Work project which currently identifies effective programs for sex-risk reduction and tobacco-use prevention and will soon begin identifying violence prevention programs and programs designed to promote nutrition and physical activity; 3) development and implementation of school health guidelines; and 4) cost effectiveness/cost benefit studies of school health programs. The Prevention Evaluation Research Registry for Youth (PERRY), a state-of-the-art, comprehensive set of citations and abstracts of intervention research, provides the research base for all these synthesis activities. Studies are assessed and categorized by content area and by study methods, emphasizing both the inclusion of all relevant studies and the detailed assessment of the best designed and evaluated interventions. New school guidelines for the prevention of violence and injury are in development. The implementation of CDC’s chronic disease prevention guidelines in schools (tobacco, nutrition, physical activity) is proceeding with the assistance of several new guidelines implementation tools. Together these projects provide information and technical assistance to education and health agencies at the national, state, and local levels to guide program planning, policy formulation, and further research.
Learning Objectives: 1. The participant will learn about at least 3 major research synthesis activities and their practical application for school-based health promotion and disease prevention. 2. The participant will learn how people concerned about adolescent and school health can access several useful, practical tools to help them with research, program planning or policy formulation. 3. The participant will be able to describe several ways in which adolescent prevention research is being translated into action and will be able to access these programs and utilize them in their own work
Keywords: School Health Educators, Behavioral Research
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Division of Adolescent and School Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.