Objective: Food insecurity among South Asians in the US is a public health issue. Food insecure adults face a plethora of adverse outcomes and research shows that individuals with ancestral origins from South Asia have a higher susceptibility rate for cardiovascular disease after migrating to urban environments. As such, the goal of this study was to research possible barriers South Asians face when creating cultural dishes in the US. Methods: This was a convergent parallel mixed-methods analysis to understand how South Asians feel about food insecurity. Pricing and availability of cultural food items were obtained from South Asian and Western grocery stores. Focus groups were conducted among twelve participants who identified as South Asian immigrants where participants discussed their experiences obtaining cultural food items. After the interviews, the discussions were transcribed, and patterns were identified and analyzed. Results: The results of the study demonstrate that South Asians find barriers such as availability, price, and quality when shopping for cultural food items. Participants reported cooking cultural foods at a lower frequency than what they would prefer because while many of the food items commonly used in cultural dishes were available at both Western and South Asian grocery stores, South Asian stores were more expensive. Furthermore, participants reported that some culturally specific ingredients were not available at South Asian stores thus further limiting their ability to cook healthy items. Conclusion: The results of the study highlight the need for more public health initiative to address food insecurity among South Asians in the US.

Though mental health issues are prevalent in Black young adults, they underutilize mental healthcare services. This research examined the role of feature-based discrimination in mental healthcare (under)utilization. Study 1, a secondary analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, provided no evidence supporting a link between skin tone and mental healthcare utilization, when controlling for depression diagnosis. However, when controlling for depression symptoms, there was a trend such that Black young adults with darker, as opposed to lighter, skin tone utilized healthcare less. Study 2, an experimental study with 33 Black college students, showed 73% of the sample preferred a Black counselor. Additionally, they preferred counselors with darker skin, wider nose, and thicker lips, compared to counselors with lighter skin, narrower nose, and thinner lips. These findings suggest the importance of taking into account Afrocentric features and its social consequences when assessing health-related behaviors in Black Americans.

Sammanfattning Syfte och frågeställningar: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka kunskaper om hälsa som elever upplever att de lär sig i ämnet idrott och hälsa undervisningen, samt på vilket sätt hälsa framträder som ämnesinnehåll. Studien avser att besvara följande frågeställningar: 1. Vad upplever elever att de lär sig om hälsa i ämnet Idrott och hälsa? 2. Vilka synsätt på hälsa framkommer? 3. Vad tycker eleverna borde ingå i en hälsoundervisning?   Metod: Metoden som använts för att besvara studiens forskningsfrågor är intervjuer av kvalitativ karaktär. Åtta individuella intervjuer med gymnasieelever som läser kursen Idrott och hälsa 1 genomfördes i två olika skolor i Stockholmsområdet. Intervjuerna analyserades sedan med hjälp av Aron Antonovskys teori om hälsa, för att synliggöra salutogent och patogent perspektiv på hälsa.   Resultat: Resultatet visade att eleverna lär sig mycket om hur fysisk träning leder till att de uppnår hälsa, och att det i samband med fysisk träning även är viktigt att framförallt tänka på sin kost. Det framkommer även att eleverna har en likartad syn på hälsa som de möter i undervisningen. Denna undervisning har mycket fokus på fysiska aspekter av hälsa. Det finns dock elever som lyfter fram vikten av att även tänka på psykiska aspekter av hälsa. Det eleverna skulle vilja förändra i hälsoundervisningen är att de vill veta mer om hur de kan hantera stress samt mer om hur droger påverkar kroppen.   Slutsats: Studiens slutsats är att eleverna upplever att de får tillräckliga kunskaper om hälsa i hälsoundervisningen, och att fysisk träning är den hälsoaspekt som har mest fokus i undervisningen. Elevernas synsätt på hälsa skiljer sig till viss del från undervisningens innehåll då de i större utsträckning även lyfter psykiska aspekter av hälsa, vilket även är någonting som de vill veta mer om. Eleverna har ett intresse av att veta mer om hur de kan hantera stress i vardagen, samt att de vill veta mer om påverkan av droger och doping. / Abstract Aim: The purpose of this study is to find out what knowledge of health students experience that they learn in physical education and health, and how health is evident in the subject. The study intends to answer the following questions: 1. What do the students experience that they learn about health in the subject of physical education and health? 2. What views of health appears? 3. What do the students think should be included in a health education?   Method: The method used to answer the study's research questions is qualitative interviews. Eight individual interviews with high school students who study the course Sport and Health 1 were conducted in two different schools in the Stockholm area. The interviews were then analyzed using Aron Antonovsky's theory on health, to visualize salutogenic and pathohenic perspectives on health.   Results: The results showed that students learn a lot about how physical exercise leads to their health and that in relation to physical exercise it is also important to think about their diet. It also appears that the students have a similar view of health, with a focus on physical aspects of health. However, there are students who emphasize the importance of thinking about mental aspects of health. What the students would like to change in the health education is that they want to know more about how they can handle stress and more about how drugs affect the body.   Conclusion: The conclusion of the study show that the students experience that they have sufficient knowledge of health in the health education, and that physical exercise is the health aspect that has the most focus during class. The students' approach to health differs to a certain extent from the content of the teaching, as they also raise mental aspects of health slightly more, which is also something they want to know more about Students have an interest in knowing more about how they can handle stress in their daily lives and want to know more about the effects of drugs and doping.

Essa pesquisa tomou por objeto a explicação de trabalhadores da Secretaria Municipal de Saúde de São Paulo para o aumento da sífilis congênita na região em que trabalham - instâncias administrativas da Coordenadoria de Saúde Norte e da Supervisão Técnica de Saúde Santana-Tucuruvi-Jaçanã-Tremembé. No Brasil, a sífilis congênita, indicador de qualidade da assistência ao pré-natal, tem apresentado nos últimos anos um acentuado crescimento. Em São Paulo, na região Tremembé e Jaçanã, o crescimento se acentuou a partir de 2008, concomitante à adoção pela SMS do modelo de gestão por Organizações Sociais para a maioria das unidades da Atenção Básica. Utilizou-se como marco teórico o Estado, compreendido como instituição inseparável do modo de produção capitalista, que mede a relação de reprodução do capital e as políticas estatais, como instrumentos dessa mediação. O objetivo do estudo foi identificar a explicação de trabalhadores da Secretaria Municipal para o aumento da sífilis congênita a partir da adoção do modelo de gestão por Organizações Sociais, uma vez que a justificativa para a adoção desse modelo foi a promessa de melhor eficiência e eficácia dos serviços. Metodologia. Trata-se de pesquisa qualitativa de caráter descritivo-analítico, que utilizou a técnica de entrevista para obtenção dos dados e o método da análise de conteúdo para a análise dos depoimentos. Os resultados mostraram que os trabalhadores da Administração Direta reconhecem a piora da qualidade na assistência à saúde da região e a associam ao crescimento dos casos de sífilis congênita. Atribuem à piora, tanto da qualidade da atenção quanto do quadro epidemiológico, explicações identificadas com o âmbito institucional e com o âmbito individual. No âmbito institucional, destaca-se a priorização das metas quantitativas e o encerramento contratual das Organizações Sociais gerando insegurança e insatisfação do trabalhador, além de relatos sobre a qualidade da assistência antes da adoção desse modelo de gestão. Já no âmbito individual, aponta-se a 9 mulher no centro do crescimento da sífilis congênita e o homem e o jovem no centro do crescimento da sífilis congênita. Explicação para o crescimento da sífilis congênita recaiu também nas características da própria doença e na redução do Estado. Discute-se que essas explicações para o aumento da sífilis congênita, tanto no âmbito institucional, sem o questionamento do modelo de gestão por Organizações Sociais adotado para o município, como na perspectiva dos indivíduos, particularmente nas suas precárias condições de vida, parecem identificadas com o posicionamento desses trabalhadores que indica que a realidade epidemiológica da doença na região é um fenômeno inevitável e imutável. Considera-se por fim que as explicações dos sujeitos estão coerentes com os argumentos do Plano Diretor de Reforma Administrativa do Estado mostrando que as estratégias de convencimento social utilizadas para implantação do modelo privatizante da gestão alcançou os espaços que foram objeto de politização durante a reforma sanitária. / The object of this research is the explanation of the workers of the Health Department of São Paulo city for the congenital syphilis increase in the area they work administrative instance of the Northern Health Coordination and of the Santana-Tucuruvi-Jaçanã-Tremembé Health Technical Supervision. In Brasil the congenital syphilis is an indicator of prenatal care assistance quality that has been sharply increasing in the last years. In the area of Tremembé and Jaçanã in São Paulo, the sharp increase has been occurring since 2008 concomitant with the adoption of the Health Social Organization administrative model by the Health Department for the majority of the Primary Health Care units. Considering our theoretical framework we advocate that the State is an inseparable institution from the capitalist mode of production that mediates the relation between the capital reproduction and the state policies, which are instruments of this mediation. The objective of the study was to identify the explanation of the Health Department workers for the congenital syphilis increase activated by the Health Social Organization administrative model adoption. The justification of the adoption of this model was the promise of efficiency and efficacy enhancement of the health care services. Methodology: This is a descriptive-analytical qualitative research that used interviews to collect data. The content analysis method was used for the testimonials analysis. The results show that the workers recognized the decrease of the health assistance quality in the area and associated that to the growth of the congenital syphilis cases. Considering the assistance quality and the epidemiology scenario, the subjects attributed explanations identified as belonging to the institutional sphere and to the individual sphere. In the institutional sphere, there is prioritization of quantitative goals, end of Health Social Organization contract generating workers insecurity and dissatisfaction, and reports about the quality of the assistance before the Health Social Organization administrative model. In the individual sphere, women in the center of the congenital syphilis growth, and men and youth in the center of the congenital 11 syphilis growth are highlighted. The characteristics of the congenital syphilis and the State reduction are also taken as explanations for the disease growth. We discuss that these explanations for the increase of congenital syphilis seem to be consistent with the workers positioning, which regards to the inevitability and immutability of the epidemiological scenario, both in the institutional sphere and the individual perspective. They do not question the Health Social Organization administrative model adopted by the city nor the precarious life condition of the individuals. We consider that the subjects explanations are coherent with the State Administrative Reform Plan argument, showing that the social convincing strategies to implant the private administration model have reached the spaces that were object of politicization during the sanitary reform.

Bakgrund: Elever idag rör sig mindre, upplever mer krav och mår psykiskt sämre. Ett socialt stöd ökar möjligheten att hantera krav och stress i vardagen. Både fysisk aktivitet och dans har visat sig påverka en mångdimensionell hälsa positivt. Syfte: Studien syftar till att kartlägga eventuella skillnader mellan dansande och icke dansande elevers hälsa. Följande frågeställningar användes för att besvara syftet: Visas en ökad existentiell, psykisk, social, fysisk och emotionell hälsa hos de gymnasieelever som dansar på skoltid eller fritid i jämförelse med elever utan regelbundna inslag av dans? Visas att en ökad existentiell, psykisk, social, fysisk och emotionell hälsa är knuten till dans specifikt eller fysisk aktivitet i allmänhet hos deltagande gymnasieelever? Metod: Undersökningen var kvantitativ och datainsamlingen skedde via webb- och pappersenkät. Enkäten innehöll 31 frågor om samspel mellan kropp, sinne och själ, tro, självkänsla, krav, kontroll, stöd, fysisk aktivitet och dans samt 2 öppna frågor “Vad betyder självkänsla för dig” och “Vad betyder kontroll och stöd för dig?”. 95 enkätsvar analyserades. Bearbetning av resultaten gjordes i Microsoft mjukvara och statistikprogrammet Minitab där testerna utgjordes av oparat t-test. Resultat: Resultaten visade signifikanta skillnader gällande fysisk aktivitet i skolan (p<0,001) och upplevt samspel mellan sinne, kropp och själ (p<0,01) mellan dansande på skol- och fritid och de som inte dansar alls. Inga större skillnader visas i medelvärden mellan grupperna i självkänsla, kontroll och stöd. Endast 34 % dansare respektive 44 % icke dansade upplevde stöd från skolan. I enkätens öppna frågor relaterade dansare (37 %) i högre grad till en egen upplevelse gällande självkänsla i jämförelse med icke dansare (13 %). 46 % dansare och 24 % icke dansare skrev fram en egen upplevelse angående kontroll och stöd. Slutsats: Baserat på studiens resultat kan dans användas som ett hälsopromotivt redskap i skolan då dansande elever relaterade i större utsträckning till egna emotionella upplevelser och redovisar ett ökat samspel mellan kropp, sinne och själ samt fler positiva skillnader i olika hälsodimensioner. Dans som redskap kan också rekommenderas för hälsovägledare och andra professioner som arbetar inom och utanför skolans kontext för att främja hälsa hos unga vuxna.  Nyckelord: Hälsopromotion, existentiell hälsa, fysisk hälsa, psykisk hälsa, social hälsa, emotionell hälsa, dans, fysisk aktivitet, gymnasieelever / Background: Students today are less physically active, experience more demands and feel mentally worse. Social support increases the ability to handle demands and stress in everyday life. Both physical activity and dance have been shown to affect a multidimensional health positively. Purpose: The study aims to map health differences in dancers and non-dancing students' health. The following research questions were asked: Can we see an increased existential, mental, social, physical and emotional health of high school students dancing at school or leisure compared to students without regular elements of dance? In participating high school students, can we see any increased existential, mental, social, physical and emotional health linked to dance specifically or physical activity in general? Method: The study was a quantitative study in which data collection was done using web and paper surveys. The questionnaire contained in total 31 questions about interplay between body, mind and soul, faith, self-esteem, control, demand and support, physical activity and dance as well as 2 open questions "What does self-esteem mean to you" and "What does control and support mean for you?". 95 questionnaires were analyzed. Data processing of the results was done in Microsoft software as well as the statistics program Minitab where the tests consisted of unpaired t-tests. Results: The results showed significant differences in physical activity at school (p<0,001) and perceived interplay between mind, body and mind (p<0,01) between those who dance and those who do not dance at all. No greater differences are shown in the mean values ​​of the groups in self-esteem, control and support. 34 % dancers and 44 % non dancers experienced support at school. In answering the open questions, dancers (37 %) related more to their own experience of self-esteem than non-dancers (13 %). 46 % dancers and 24 % non dancers defined control and support by means of experience. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, dance can be used as a health-promoting tool in school, since dancing students relate more to their own emotional experiences and report an increased interaction between body, mind and soul and more positive differences in several health dimensions. Dance as a tool can also be recommended for health counselors and other professions working within and outside the school context to promote the health of adolescents. Key words: Health promotion, existential health, physical health, psychological health, social health, emotional health, dance, physical activity, Senior High School

In-home family therapy has become one of the most common options of treatment for providing services to families who do not typically utilize a private clinic (Lawson, 2005; Reiter, 2000; Yorgason, McWey, & Felts, 2005). Researchers have given some attention to the topic of home-based therapy and to general supervision, but little attention has focused on the actual supervision experiences of home-based therapy providers. This phenomenological study explored the supervision experiences of seven past and current in-home therapists: marriage and family therapists (MFTs) and social workers (MSWs). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants, and data was analyzed to develop structured descriptions and meanings via highlighted “significant statements” that described the participants’ experiences (Kvale, 2007). The participants’ descriptive accounts were categorized as 1) in-home therapy descriptions, 2) factors affecting in-home therapy supervision, and 3) effective and ineffective supervisory practices. Implications of the research findings suggested that clinicians’ needs and expectations related to safety, burn out, and supervisory knowledge were often unmet. Supervisory practices that appeared significantly effective were 1) developing trusting supervisor-supervisee relationships, 2) reviewing models and clinical application collaboratively, and 3) actively prioritizing clinician safety and burn out prevention.

Novice solution-focused brief therapists often have difficulty delivering scaling questions within the languaging of their clients. To help beginning Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) trainees, this researcher has created the metaphorically enhanced scaling question (MESQ) training program. By incorporating a meaning making system such as the metaphor, the scaling question becomes expressive and symbolic to the client and his or her own story. The MESQ objective is to assist novice therapists in facilitating the SFBT scaling question creatively through the use of metaphor. A metaphor is a created meaning isomorphic to its original meaning or experience. The metaphor will be co-constructed through collaboration between client and therapist. The MESQ program encompasses three key elements of SFBT: listening, selecting, and building into three tangible activities designed for novice therapists to learn, articulate, and demonstrate their comprehension of the modified scaling technique (Bavelas, De Jong, Franklin, Froerer, Gingerich, Kim, Korman, Langer, Lee, McCullum, Jordan, & Trepper, 2013) This research is qualitative in nature, due to the examined experiences of the MESQ training program participants. Action research has been chosen to emphasize the learning aspect, and assist in training development. The MESQ training program will be evaluated based on Kirkpatrick’s four levels of evaluating training programs: reaction, learning, behavior, and results. (Kirkpatrick, 1996). The focus of this research project will be to refine and develop the MESQ training program through analytic evaluation.

This study examined the relationship between student use of substances and extent of participation in school and/or community sponsored sport or nonsport activity. The study also examined student substance use and extent of participation in sport or nonsport activity together with extent of employment. Data were provided by 24,699 public school youths who attended grades 6 through 12 and completed the 2001-2002 Duval Secondary Substance Use and Violence Survey: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors. Frequency tables, crosstabulation, chi-square tests, and loglinear analysis were used to analyze the data. The study found: (a) a higher percentage of respondents who participated in 11 or more hours of sport/athletic activity or nonsport activity reported using substances almost every day than did respondents who participated in 1-5 hours of activity (b) a higher percentage of students reported using alcohol almost every day when involved in greater than 20 hours of work per week and 11 or more hours of sport/athletic or nonsport participation than did those with lesser involvement in activity in conjunction with work at any level. Extracurricular programs and student employment may function as protective factors in discouraging adolescent substance use. Extracurricular programs and student employment may also place the student at greater risk for substance abuse when such involvement exceeds 20 hours per week in work and more than 11 hours per week of extracurricular activity. While extracurricular programs and student employment should be designed and offered to encourage widespread student participation, extent of participation should be monitored to assure healthy participation.

A review of the research related to Medical Family Therapy demonstrates that the inclusion of marriage and family therapists as part of the healthcare team offers benefits such as decreased utilization of healthcare, decreased costs, increased positive outcomes for patients and healthcare systems. However, studies demonstrate the difficulty with communication between providers limiting access to marriage and family therapists. Results of this study identified benefits to working with medical family therapists including broadening the understanding and using a collaborative effort to help the patient improve and get better. Participants also identified barriers to collaboration such as the lack of knowledge of and access to MedFTs, their inclusion in the system, MDs finding value in the MedFT profession, and that the communication process is lacking. Further need for improved communication at the referral and follow-up stages in collaborative practices is shown. In order to move more toward collaborative practices, PCPs and MedFTs need to develop and disseminate training on treatment notes, communication, team meetings, and continuance of collaborative work with one another.

The conditions that allowed early MFTs the freedom to creatively explore different interventions and theories of change are no longer available in today’s mental health care system. Although there are many benefits to the structure of managed behavioral healthcare organizations, a thorough review of the literature demonstrates that many therapists working in managed care agencies struggle with maintaining their theoretical creativity, claiming third-party payers’ service requirements and paperwork a barrier to their creativity. A phenomenological transcendental research method was utilized to understand the phenomenon of successfully combining creativity and accountability in the practice of marriage and family therapy from the perspective of six creative MFTs who have effectively incorporated creative therapeutic techniques into their work, while adhering to the structured requirements of managed care. The findings and themes of the study were organized into two categories. The themes in the Textural / Content Category (description and purpose of therapeutic creativity at a managed care agency) are: (1) Creatively combining the needs of the clients, the different professional entities, insurance companies and you as a therapist, (2) Translating post-modern information into the medical model language that meets the third-party payers’ requirements, (3) Completing documentation with clients, (4) Incorporating technique from a range of therapy models, (5) Keeping clients engaged through a variety of resources and activities, and (6) Utilizing metaphors and themes to uncover patterns of relational dynamics and behaviors. The themes in the Structural / Supportive Conditions Category (factors that allow the balance of creativity and accountability to occur) are: (1) Systemic understanding of how the therapeutic and business systems of managed behavioral healthcare interact together, (2) Having a supportive network of colleagues, (2a) Supportive group of coworkers within the job setting, (2b) Supportive network of MFT colleagues outside of the work setting, (3) Desire to make a difference in peoples’ lives, (4) Continuous education on all aspects of the mental health field, (5) Employers’ support of creative therapy, (6) Self-reflection, (7) Self-care, and (8) Organization and time management.