Drug alliance program activities in neighborhood-based illicit drug abuse prevention /

"Submitted under contract number 90-043-1003."

Drug alliance program activities in neighborhood-based illicit drug abuse prevention :

"Submitted under contract number 90-043-1003."

Retired Senior Volunteer Program activities in alcohol and drug abuse prevention and education /

Mode of access: Internet.

Delaware River watershed: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. Program for run-off and waterflow retardation and soil erosion prevention.

Report includes appendices, survey report.

A family response to the drug problem : a family program for the prevention of chemical dependence.

Mode of access: Internet.

1980 plan for Commission on Delinquency Prevention : phase II, program statement.

Mode of access: Internet.

Pollution prevention internship program ... project abstracts /

Mode of access: Internet.

Prevention, a resource guide for program development /

Funded by the Illinois Dept. of Mental Health, and Developmental Disabilities, Division of Alcoholism.

State agency review and initial recommendations report : recommendations of policy and program changes to support suicide prevention.

In addition to the development and implementation of an Illinois Suicide Prevention Strategic Plan, the alliance was charged with reviewing the statutorily prescribed missions, policies and procedures of the Illinois departments of Public Health, Human Services and Aging and the State Board of Education. This report is a compilation of that review and includes recommendations to incorporate suicide prevention in the missions, policies and procedures of these state agencies.

Secondary prevention of renal and cardiovascular disease: Results of a renal and cardiovascular treatment program in an Australian aboriginal community

Australian Aborigines are experiencing an epidemic of renal and cardiovascular disease. In late 1995 we introduced a treatment program into the Tiwi community, which has a three- to fivefold increase in death rates and a recent annual incidence of treated ESRD of 2760 per million. Eligible for treatment were people with hypertension, diabetics with micro or overt albuminuria, and all people with overt albuminuria. Treatment centered around use of perindopril (Coversyl, Servier), with other agents added to reach BP goals; attempts to control glucose and lipid levels; and health education. Thirty percent of the adult population, or 267 people, were enrolled, with a mean follow up of 3.39 yr. Clinical parameters were followed every 6 mo, and rates of terminal endpoints were compared with those of 327 historical controls matched for baseline disease severity, followed in the pretreatment program era. There was a dramatic reduction in BP in the treatment group, which was sustained through 3 yr of treatment. Albuminuria and GFR stabilized or improved. Rates of natural deaths were reduced by an estimated 50% (P = 0.012); renal deaths were reduced by 57% (P = 0.038); and nonrenal deaths by 46% (P = 0.085). Survival benefit was suggested at all levels of overt albuminuria, and regardless of diabetes status, baseline BP, or prior administration of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI). No significant benefit was apparent among people without overt albuminuria, nor among those with GFR less than 60 ml/min. An estimated 13 renal deaths and 10 nonrenal deaths were prevented, with the number-needed-to-treat to avoid one terminal event of only 11.6. Falling deaths and renal failure in the whole community support these estimates. The program was extremely cost-effective. Programs like this should be introduced to all high-risk communities as a matter of urgency.

Training school personnel to implement a universal school-based prevention of depression program under real-world conditions

The present study evaluated the impact of a universal prevention of depression program [the Resourceful Adolescent Program (RAP)] when implemented under real-world conditions in a school setting. Prior research has found the RAP program to be beneficial for high-school students when the program was implemented by university staff selected, trained, and supervised by a research team. The present study evaluated the RAP program when implemented by existing school personnel. Separately, we measured the impact of a training program for facilitators, the quality of subsequent program implementation, and the student's response to the RAP Program. Results showed that, in response to the training program, facilitators believed they had acquired the knowledge and confidence to implement the program and that the quality of program implementation was acceptable. The study did not demonstrate a beneficial impact of the RAP program for the students. The results raise important questions regarding the extent of training and ongoing supervision facilitators require if the beneficial outcomes for students are to be maintained when interventions are implemented under real-world conditions in school settings. (C) 2004 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Long-term outcomes of an Australian universal prevention trial of anxiety and depression symptoms in children and youth: An evaluation of the friends program

This study evaluated the long-term effectiveness of the FRIENDS Program in reducing anxiety and depression in a sample of children from Grade 6 and Grade 9 in comparison to a control condition. Longitudinal data for Lock and Barrett's (2003) universal prevention trial is presented, along with data from 12-month follow-up to 24- and 36-month follow-up. Results of this study indicate that intervention reductions in anxiety reported in Lock and Barrett were maintained for students in Grade 6, with the intervention group reporting significantly lower ratings of anxiety at long-term follow-up. A significant Time times Intervention Group times Gender Effect on Anxiety was found, with girls in the intervention group reporting significantly lower anxiety at 12-month and 24-month follow-up but not at 36-month follow-up in comparison to the control condition. Results demonstrated a prevention effect with significantly fewer high-risk students at 36-month follow-up in the intervention condition than in the control condition. Results are discussed within the context of prevention research.

Tobacco use prevention education (TUPE) programs in the state of Florida: Teachers' perceptions of program structure and effectiveness

This study described teacher perceptions of TUPE program effectiveness in Florida in an attempt to improve programs by identifying factors that might influence teacher motivation and performance. Very little work has been done to examine how teachers' perceptions are related to the effectiveness of TUPE programs. A statewide survey provided information about how teachers' perceptions of program effectiveness are affected by variables such as: program structure, barriers, tobacco use norms, and training variables. Data were obtained from a telephone survey conducted in Florida as part of the Tobacco Pilot Project (TPP). The sample included 296 middle school teachers and 282 high school teachers as well as 193 middle school principals and 190 high school principals. Correlational and hierarchical regression analyses identified correlates and predictors of teachers' ratings of effectiveness. Results suggest that use of peer leaders, more frequent evaluations, a higher degree of parent involvement, fewer barriers, greater student interest, and lower tolerance for tobacco use were correlated with higher ratings of program effectiveness. Furthermore, student interest, peer, staff, and community tolerance norms, peer leaders, program evaluation, and parent involvement predicted middle school teachers' perceptions. Parent tolerance, student interest, number of barriers, and more frequent program evaluation predicted high school teachers' perceptions. In addition, middle school teachers who reported a lower number of factors negatively associated with teacher receptivity were more likely to view TUPE programs more favorably than teachers who reported a greater number of these risk factors. This relationship was not as robust among the high school teacher sample. Differences between the middle and high school sample were found in the magnitude and number of significant correlations, the proportion of variance accounted for by predictor variables, and the strength of the relationship between the number of factors negatively associated with teacher receptivity and teachers' perceptions of TUPE effectiveness. These findings highlighted the importance of the timing, program features, and the external environment for enhancing or minimizing teachers' ratings of TUPE program effectiveness. In conclusion, significant increases in TUPE teachers' self-efficacy will occur through the participation of peers, parents, staff, and community leaders in different aspects of TUPE programs. ^

Florida's Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Program's Influence on Preschool Teachers' Beliefs and Practices

Three veteran preschool teachers told their stories about navigating the implementation of VPK. Even with parents' misconceptions about VPK's goals, teachers were able to meet its standards by continuing to embrace a play-based, hands-on philosophy that also emphasized children's social and emotional needs.

READY FOR KINDERGARTEN: A TRAINING PROGRAM DESIGNED TO ENCOURAGE PARENT-CHILD CONVERSATION DURING THE PRESCHOOL YEARS

Many children in the United States begin kindergarten unprepared to converse in the academic language surrounding instruction, putting them at greater risk for later language and reading difficulties. Importantly, correlational research has shown there are certain experiences prior to kindergarten that foster the oral language skills needed to understand and produce academic language. The focus of this dissertation was on increasing one of these experiences: parent-child conversations about abstract and non-present concepts, known as decontextualized language (DL). Decontextualized language involves talking about non-present concepts such as events that happened in the past or future, or abstract discussions such as providing explanations or defining unknown words. As caregivers’ decontextualized language input to children aged three to five is consistently correlated with kindergarten oral language skills and later reading achievement, it is surprising no experimental research has been done to establish this relation causally. The study described in this dissertation filled this literature gap by designing, implementing, and evaluating a decontextualized language training program for parents of 4-year-old children (N=30). After obtaining an initial measure of decontextualized language, parents were randomly assigned to a control condition or training condition, the latter of which educated parents about decontextualized language and why it is important. All parents then audio-recorded four mealtime conversations over the next month, which were transcribed and reliably coded for decontextualized language. Results indicated that trained parents boosted their DL from roughly 17 percent of their total utterances at baseline to approximately 50 percent by the mid-point of the study, and remained at these boosted levels throughout the duration of the study. Children’s DL was also boosted by similar margins, but no improvement in children’s oral language skills was observed, measured prior to, and one month following training. Further, exploratory analyses pointed to parents’ initial use of DL and their theories of the malleability of intelligence (i.e., growth mindsets) as moderators of training gains. Altogether, these findings are a first step in establishing DL as a viable strategy for giving children the oral language skills needed to begin kindergarten ready to succeed in the classroom.