Primary prevention research and programming in the past has aimed to prevent illness by more effectively encouraging people to avoid behaviors (such as smoking, abusing drugs, engaging in unsafe sexual practices, and overeating) linked to health risk. Prevention research and education now also emphasize avoiding or reducing environmental exposures (such as sun, water pollution, radon, ozone, pesticides, and hazardous chemicals) that increase health risk.
Mental Health Prevention Research
The National Advisory Mental Health Council (NAMHC) advises the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the director of the NIH, and the director of the NIMH on policies and activities relating to mental health prevention research, research training, and other programs of the NIMH. In reports issued in 1991 and 2001, the NAMHC described a number of critically needed new areas for research that are essential for expanding prevention efforts in the field of mental health. These included:
- The NIMH definition of prevention research should be broader and should include studies of risk factors for mental illness, comorbidity of mental illnesses, and relapse and disability caused by mental illness.
- Prevention research should include not only individuals but also larger social units such as families, communities, and other social systems. It should also include public policy and laws that may influence the effectiveness of prevention interventions.
- More research should be conducted to determine how best to decrease relapse and disability in persons with major mental disabilities such as schizophrenia.
- More studies should be done to determine and quantify the cost-effectiveness of prevention programs.
| TABLE 2.10 | |
|---|---|
| Prevention Research Centers' core projects | |
| SOURCE: "Prevention Research Centers' Core Projects," in Prevention Research Centers: A Bridge to Health Action, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, November 10, 2005, http://www.cdc.gov/prc/pdf/PRC-Bridge.pdf (accessed December 14, 2005) | |
| Alabama University of Alabama at Birmingham Building community capacity for health in Alabama's black belt Arizona University of Arizona Reducing diabetes in communities on the U.S.-Mexico border California San Diego State University Increasing physical activity in Latino families around Tijuana University of California at Berkeley Improving health in California's Korean American community University of California at Los Angeles Promoting adolescent health in African American and Hispanic families Colorado University of Colorado Advancing healthy lifestyles in underserved Rocky Mountain communities Connecticut Yale University Addressing health disparities in rural and urban Connecticut Florida University of South Florida Using community-based prevention marketing for health promotion Georgia Emory University Reducing health disparities in rural southwest Georgia Morehouse School of Medicine Building community capacity to promote health in southeast Atlanta Illinois University of Illinois at Chicago Evaluating interventions to reduce diabetes in inner-city communities Iowa University of Iowa Helping communities in rural Iowa improve their residents' quality of life Kentucky University of Kentucky Controlling cancer in central Appalachia Louisiana Tulane University Changing the environment to increase physical activity in low-income New Orleans Maryland The Johns Hopkins University Integrating health promotion into existing programs for Baltimore's youths Massachusetts Boston University Improving the health and well-being of Boston's public housing residents Harvard University Preventing cancer in Massachusetts' communities |
Michigan University of Michigan Examining social determinants of health in low-income Michigan counties Minnesota University of Minnesota Identifying best practices for adolescents' healthy development Missouri Saint Louis University Maintaining rural community coalitions to prevent chronic diseases New Mexico University of New Mexico Improving nutrition and physical activity among Navajo elders New York Columbia University Bridging the digital divide for health in Harlem State University of New York at Albany Preventing chronic disease through community interventions University of Rochester Understanding health risks among the deaf and hard of hearing North Carolina The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Reducing obesity among ethnic minority women in rural North Carolina Oklahoma University of Oklahoma Promoting health and preventing disease among Native Americans Oregon Oregon Health & Science University Addressing vision and hearing loss in American Indian communities Pennsylvania University of Pittsburgh Promoting health and preventing disease among older adults South Carolina University of South Carolina Changing policies and environmental conditions to support physical activity in underserved communities Texas University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Studying how adolescents' health choices affect their later lives Texas A&M University Preventing diabetes in underserved rural communities Washington University of Washington Sustaining physical activity among older adults West Virginia West Virginia University Improving health among rural teenagers |
- The NIMH fund should fund more research that integrates social, behavioral, and genetic risk factors into prevention interventions.
- More research should be conducted on strategies, programs, and community interventions to prevent depression and aggression.
- The NIMH should fund more research on common sets of risk factors that occur early in life and lead to a variety of adolescent and adult disorders. Specifically, the workgroup advised research about these early risk factors and about interventions to modify these early risk factors in order to eliminate or at least reduce their impact and resultant negative outcomes.
- There should be increased emphasis on theory and research on the adoption, implementation, and dissemination of prevention research findings.
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