Health promotion for urban middle school students: a survey of learning needs.

Community based education programs and community partnerships are crucial for attaining the objectives of Healthy People 2010. The purpose of this descriptive study was to determine the health promotion needs of urban middle school students from the perspective of the participants in a health promotion partnership project. A convenience sample of 161 urban middle school students participated in the study. A Likert scale of health promotion topics was used for data collection. Findings from the study indicated that urban middle school students have a major interest in finding out more about hair care, safety issues, and prevention of infection. Students expressed a need for more information about issues related to why people use drugs, feelings about self, feelings of sadness and worry, and feelings about death. Important variations were found in the priority of interest in topics among the three grades. The researchers concluded that the psychosocial health promotion needs of urban middle school students should be explored further.

Breast cancer education, self-efficacy, and screening in older African American women.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer mortality in African American women. Low rates of cancer screening participation have been documented in inner-city elderly African American populations. Knowledge and beliefs about breast cancer and screening, and self-efficacy in performing breast self-examinations, are important components in an educational program aimed at increasing participation in breast cancer screening. The objectives of this study were to determine the breast cancer knowledge of subjects, their level of confidence when performing breast self-examination, and if individual instruction, one-to-one practice, and feedback on performance made a difference in screening practices. The findings suggest that a more intensive training intervention sustains breast examination self-efficacy.

Health behaviors of undergraduate African American nursing students.

Health experts describe lifestyle as one of the most important factors influencing health. Adolescents and young adults have been identified as a population that engages in high-risk behaviors. The purposes of this study were to determine the health behaviors of undergraduate African American nursing students and compare the results to findings from studies of other college students. A convenience sample of 214 undergraduate African American nursing students participated in the study. The Health Style: A Self-Test, a Likert-type scale consisting of six behaviors, was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance were used to analyze the data. Over 80% of the sample had excellent scores for cigarette smoking, alcohol and drug use, and safety behaviors. Over 60% had good scores for nutrition and stress control behaviors. Fifty-one percent of the sample had low scores for exercise and fitness behaviors indicating they are taking unnecessary risk with their health. Compared to other findings, these findings were consistent in all areas except alcohol and drug use. Early identification of at-risk behaviors among nursing students can contribute to the development and implementation of programs by faculty that foster healthy lifestyle behaviors throughout the life span.