Prior to beginning work on this discussion, please read Chapters 5 and 6 of the course textbook and the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance – United States, 2019Links to an external site. (YRBS) report. After your readings you should be more familiar with the power of organizing individuals within a community and the effect it can have on a population. In this assignment you will discuss the strengths associated with coordinated school health programs (CSHP) along with where and how they can be best utilized.
Go to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2019Links to an external site. report to examine the CDC’s data regarding youth risk behavior. The report breaks down key risk activities (i.e., sexual activity, violence, suicide risk, opioid misuse, tobacco use, dietary behaviors, and transportation among others) and provides data on each activity. For example, on page 80 of the document, you will see a table that highlights 59.5% of students 18 years old and older acknowledge they text and drive, and on average, 39% of students, across all age ranges, text and drive. As mentioned last week and in this week’s Epidemiology and the Community assignment, epidemiology data plays a huge role in knowing where to focus public health efforts. Documents like the YRBS are full of data that can help public health professionals identify the areas of most need. If you were a public health professional and were going to focus an aspect of your CSHP efforts in one direction, you might use the data in the sentence above to determine that texting while driving is a serious health concern.
Your task for this assignment is to choose one of the following topics discussed in the YRBS:
· School violence/bullying
· Mental health (e.g., suicide, eating disorders, self-harm, etc.)
· Tobacco use
· Alcohol use
· Illicit drug use (e.g., opioids, marijuana, cocaine, inhalants, etc.)
· Sexual behaviors (e.g., multiple partners, condom use, etc.)
Address the following items on an aspect of your chosen topic. In your paper,
· Identify the personal reason you chose your topic and subtopic.
· Describe what the data shows regarding this health issue.
· Identify the percentage of youth engaged in the behavior.
· Hypothesize why it is reported as improving or worsening.
· Identify whether this health issue is focused in primarily one area of the United States or whether it is a problem everywhere.
· Answering this question will require additional research.
· Identify in which state and, more narrowing, which county within that state that will you focus CSHP efforts.
· Describe why you chose that area.
From the perspective of a CSHP leader, address the following items. In your paper,
· Identify the main focus of your CSHP—the aspect of the school-day experience you feel needs the most attention regarding this health issue.
· For example, with childhood obesity, making modifications to the physical education class is likely to have the largest impact.
· Identify the areas of your CSHP you would like to touch upon to make your approach to this health issue as comprehensive as possible (e.g., classroom, physical education, after-school programs, cafeteria, administration, etc.).
· For example, if you were studying obesity in elementary-aged children, you could have the classrooms discuss the importance of healthy eating; in physical education, students could participate in more active games and fewer elimination games; in the cafeteria you could work with the employees to develop healthier options for the daily lunch beyond the state standards; for the administration you could recruit the principal and other instructors to serve as “health champions” and models for good health behaviors; and with the after-school programs you could conduct all-school and family assemblies to allow families to see the changes that are taking place at the school while also demonstrating some simple, healthy recipes they can try at home.
· Describe how you will tailor the aspects of your CSHP to be of interest to students in grades
· K through 4.
· 5 through 8.
· 8 through 12.
· Describe how you would engage the students, staff, parents, and community to pull everyone together to support your program.
· List three potential barriers that may prevent you from implementing your entire plan.
· Describe how you will overcome these barriers.
The Coordinated School Health Programs assignment