Health behaviours in deaf/hard-of-hearing adolescents and adolescents with auditory processing disorder from a special needs school

The Preventive Health Behaviors of Long-Term Survivors of Cancer and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Compared with Matched Controls

This study investigated mental health in deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) adolescents and adolescents with auditory processing disorder (APD) during and following the COVID-19 pandemic. By focusing on these underrepresented groups, this study addressed a gap in the adolescent mental health research and provided an insight into mental health indicators and potential resources relevant to mental health promotion. We examined the extent of well-being and physical complaints (1) over four annual cross-sectional assessments from 2021 to 2024 and in 2024 (2) compared to hearing adolescents. With regard to resources, we (3) explored self-efficacy and peer group integration between groups and (4) analyzed the relationship between resources with well-being and physical complaints. Our data showed no significant differences in well-being or physical complaints across the 4years nor between DHH adolescents or adolescents with APD and hearing adolescents. There was also no group difference for self-efficacy. DHH adolescents and adolescents with APD reported lower peer group integration. Self-efficacy was generally associated with higher well-being and fewer physical complaints. Peer group integration was more strongly associated with well-being in hearing adolescents. Findings underscore the importance of strengthening personal and social resources to promote adolescent mental health.

The goal of this American Heart Association Guide for Improving Cardiovascular Health at the Community Level (AHA Community Guide) is to provide a comprehensive inventory of evidence-based goals, strategies, and recommendations for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke prevention that can be implemented on a community level. This guide advances the 2003 AHA Community Guide1 and the 2005 AHA statement on guidance for implementation2 by incorporating new evidence for community interventions gained over the past decade, expanding the target audience to include a broader range of community advocates, aligning with the concepts and terminology of the AHA 2020 Impact Goals, and recognizing the contributions of new public and private sector programs involving community interventions. In recent years, expanding arrays of programs and policies have been implemented in increasingly diverse communities to provide tools, strategies, and other best practices to potentially reduce the incidence of initial and recurrent cardiovascular events. The AHA Community Guide complements the AHA statement entitled “Population Approaches to Improve Diet, Physical Activity, and Smoking Habits”3 and supports the AHA 2020 goal4 to “improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20%, while reducing deaths from CVDs and stroke by 20%.” The present AHA Community Guide supports the AHA 2020 goal by identifying exemplary regional or national programs that encourage cardiovascular health behaviors and health factors (formerly addressing risk behaviors and risk factors) from which communities might acquire proven strategies, expertise, and technical assistance for improving cardiovascular health. The AHA Community Guide seeks to prevent the onset of disease (primary prevention) and to maintain optimal cardiovascular health (primordial prevention) among broader segments of the population. Prior research indicates that using public health strategies such as sodium reduction in processed foods to lower blood pressure,5–8 tobacco laws to promote smoking cessation,9–11 and modification of …

In hearing adolescents, emotions play important roles in the development of bullying and victimization. Yet, it is unclear whether this also applies to adolescents who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). The present study examines the longitudinal associations of anger, fear, guilt, and shame with bullying/victimization in DHH adolescents. Overall, 80 DHH and 227 hearing adolescents (Mage = 11.7; 103 males) completed self-reports on two occasions with a 9-month interval. Outcomes show that DHH adolescents reported fewer bullying behaviors, but more victimization compared to hearing adolescents. Longitudinal relations between emotions and bullying/victimization did not differ between DHH and hearing adolescents. More anger and less guilt predicted increased bullying, and more bullying predicted increased anger and decreased guilt. Higher levels of anger, fear, and shame predicted increased victimization, and more victimization predicted increased anger, fear, and shame. These findings emphasize that emotions are involved in both the emergence and maintenance of bullying and victimization. These outcomes have clinical implications for the prevention of bullying.

Examining the use of evidence in the seven WHO statements regarding health promotion, published between 1986 and the current period, provides me with a starting point to reflect on the use of evidence in health promotion. These documents increasingly reference evidence to support the premises that health promotion is necessary and that health promotion strategies are effective. Within the context provided by the WHO health promotion documents, I attempt to reconcile the relationship between evidence and reality as conceived by the disciplines of medicine and health promotion. My training as a physician and current experience as a health promotion student points to similarities and differences between the worldviews of the two disciplines. I conclude that the concept of judicial review provides a means to critically appraise evidence that acknowledges both scientific knowledge and human experience that could be used in my future health promotion practice.

This study examined the effects of sound-field amplification (SFA) use for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) with additional diagnosed conditions enrolled in preschool and first and second grades in a rural district. Four focus children who are DHH with additional diagnoses were matched with hearing peers and observed for attending behaviors and latency in compliance to following routine directions with introduction of SFA. The study used a single-case multiple probe across participants design. All participants demonstrated improved attending behaviors and compliance to directions with SFA, with the focus children who are DHH with additional diagnoses showing stronger results than their hearing peers. Teachers indicated SFA was beneficial to the children who are DHH and they would use it again. SFA is an effective strategy to improve access to educational opportunities by increasing attending behaviors and promoting participation for children who are DHH with other diagnoses in special and general education preschool and first and second grades.

The WHO Health Promotion Glossary was written to facilitate understanding, communication and cooperation among those engaged in health promotion at the local, regional, national and global levels. Two editions of the Glossary have been released, the first in 1986 and the second in 1998, and continued revision of the document is necessary to promote consensus regarding meanings and to take account of developments in thinking and practice. In this update 10 new terms that are to be included in the Glossary are presented. Criteria for the inclusion of terms in the Glossary are that they differentiate health promotion from other health concepts, or have a specific application or meaning when used in relation to health promotion. The terms defined here are: burden of disease; capacity building; evidence-based health promotion; global health; health impact assessment; needs assessment; self-efficacy; social marketing; sustainable health promotion strategies, and; wellness. WHO will continue to periodically update the Health Promotion Glossary to ensure its relevance to the international health promotion community.

Physicians' health practices strongly influence patient health practices.

The reading comprehension levels of students who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) are low compared to those of their hearing peers. One possible reason for this low reading levels is related to the students’ prior knowledge. This study investigated the potential factors that might affected DHH students’ prior knowledge, including their degree of hearing loss, the presence or absence of family members with a hearing loss, and educational stage (elementary–middle school). The study also examined the contribution of prior knowledge in predicting DHH students’ reading comprehension levels, and investigated the differences in the students’ scores based on the type of questions, including text-explicit (TE), text-implicit (TI), and script-implicit (SI) questions. Thirty-one elementary and middle-school students completed a demographic form and assessment, and descriptive statistics and multiple and simple linear regressions were used to answer the research questions. The findings indicated that the independent variables—degree of hearing loss, presence or absence of family members with hearing loss, and educational stage—explained little of the variance in DHH students’ prior knowledge. Further, the results showed that the DHH students’ prior knowledge affected their reading comprehension. Finally, the result demonstrated that the participants were able to answer more of the TI questions correctly than the TE and SI questions. The study concluded that prior knowledge is important in these students’ reading comprehension, and it is also important for teachers and parents of DHH children to use effective ways to increase their students and children’s prior knowledge.

Physical Activity Intensity Measurement and Association With Adolescent Health: Chartering New Frontiers

Background: School-based health promotion can be particularly valuable in developing countries. However, there is a lack of information about the health needs of Peruvian school students. The purpose of this study was to conduct a health needs assessment to develop strategies for a school health promotion program in a jungle and indigent region in Chanchamayo, Peru.Methods: This study was conducted using a mixed method approach that included a literature review, national and local statistics, stakeholder interviews, and a survey. Participants of the survey were 210 teachers, 2,504 elementary school students, and 2,834 secondary school students from six ‘schools in two planned project implementation regions. A self-administered questionnaire for students was developed based on WHO's Global School-based Student Health Survey. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and t-tests for the survey data and content analysis for the interviews.Results: Weak school health systems were identified, including school health policies, curriculum, trained health care personnel, and health-related facilities and equipment. Common health problems of students were anemia, nutritional deficiency, infectious diseases, tuberculosis, drug abuse, poor hygiene, and sex-related problems. High absence rates from school due to family problems and high dropout rates due to pregnancy were also critical issues. Teachers identified personal hygiene, nutrition, reproductive health, and sex education as high priorities for school health education, while students identified prevention of infectious diseases, nutrition education, psychological health, and healthy lifestyles as priorities. Identified strategies included: establishment of school health policies, curriculum-based interventions, increasing community participation and raising school health awareness, capacity building for health care promotors, training of trainers, and partnership between schools and communities.Conclusions: Findings from this study will help guide the development and implementation of a school-based health promotion program in Chanchamayo. Multicomponent school-based interventions that consider feasibility and sustainability will be developed and evaluated based on WHO's Health Promoting School concepts.

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the prevalences of CVD, CVD risk factors. and health behaviors among cancer survivor‐spouse dyads, assess how these prevalences differ by role (survivor vs spouse) and gender, and report congruences in health behaviors between survivors and their spouses.MethodsWe identified 1026 survivor‐spouse dyads from the 2010‐2015 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. We used weighted multivariable logistic and linear regressions to analyze the data related to CVD, CVD risk factors, and health behaviors.ResultsSurvivors and spouses reported high prevalences of CVD and CVD risk factors but low engagement in healthy behaviors, including non‐smoking, physical activity, and maintaining a healthy weight (proxy for healthy diet). Gender and role differences were significantly related to the prevalence of CVD, CVD risk factors, and health behaviors among survivors and spouses. From 39% to 88% of survivors and spouses were congruent in their current smoking status, physical activity engagement/disengagement, and BMI.ConclusionCancer survivors and spouses have high rates of CVD and CVD risk factors and poor engagement in healthful lifestyle behaviors. A high proportion of survivors and spouses were congruent in their current smoking status, physical activity engagement/disengagement, and BMI. Effective lifestyle interventions are needed for this high‐risk population. Couple‐focused interventions may be well‐suited for these dyads and warrant further study.Implications for Cancer SurvivorsBoth cancer survivors and their spouses need to be non‐moking, more physically active, and maintain normal BMI in order to reduce their high risk of CVD and CVD risk factors.

Students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) often show significant difficulties in learning mathematics. Previous studies have reported that students who are DHH lag several years behind in their mathematical development compared to hearing students. As possible reasons, limited learning opportunities due to a lesser incidental exposure to numerical ideas, delays in language and speech development, and further idiosyncratic difficulties of students who are DHH are discussed; however, early mathematical skills and their role in mathematical difficulties of students who are DHH are not explored sufficiently. In this study, we investigate whether students who are DHH differ from hearing students in their ability to enumerate small sets (1–9)—an ability that is associated with mathematical difficulties and their emergence. Based on a study with N = 63 who are DHH and N = 164 hearing students from third to fifth grade attempting 36 tasks, we used eye tracking, the recording of students' eye movements, to qualitatively investigate student enumeration processes. To reduce the effort of qualitative analysis of around 8,000 student enumeration processes (227 students x 36 tasks), we used Artificial Intelligence, in particular, a clustering algorithm, to identify student enumeration processes from the heatmaps of student gaze distributions. Based on the clustering, we found that gaze distributions of students who are DHH and students with normal hearing differed significantly on a group level, indicating differences in enumeration processes, with students who are DHH using advantageous processes (e.g., enumeration “at a glance”) more often than hearing students. The results indicate that students who are DHH do not lag behind in small number enumeration as compared to hearing students but, rather, appear to perform better than their hearing peers in small number enumeration processes, as well as when conceptual knowledge about the part-whole relationship is involved. Our study suggests that the mathematical difficulties of students who are DHH are not related to difficulties in the small number enumeration, which offers interesting perspectives for further research.

Delays on children's development can go unnoticeable during the first years of life, however, they become noticeable during school years. Learning problems, difficulty in performing daily tasks and inappropriate socio and emotional behaviors are some of the alterations children with Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD), Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) show. This study aims to investigate the motor coordination development and the sensory processing characteristics of children with and without CAPD. METHOD: Sixty children were evaluated from two public schools in Joao Pessoa, Paraiba. All had their cognitive abilities tested. The socioeconomic and demographic information were collected thru a questionare. The children's hearing and their central auditive processing were evaluated (sound orientation, Pediatric Speech Intelligibility-PSI, Dichotic Digits-DD and Random Gap Detection-RGDT). The Movement Assessment Battery-second edition (MABC-2) was used to evaluate the coordination development and the Child Sensory Profile-2 (CSP2) was used for the sensory procesing evaluation. The analysis of the data used the SPSS Statistics, version 25.0 and the adopted significant value was 0,05. Descriptive analysis was executed with central trends method and the normality assumption was observed. The similarities between the tests variables of motor coordination and sensory processing with the CAP was measured with the t Student test and U from Mann-Whitney. The effect size (ES) from the difference between the groups was measured with the d coefficient from Cohen or r from Rosenthal. RESULTS: From the 60 children that were evaluated, 38.3% were classified with altered PAC and 61.7% with normal PAC, the average age ranged from 8.4 to 9.3 years old respectively and there was no difference in gender. The parents/care givers were approximately 37.4 years old with an income of R$ 364.40 per person. Children with altered CAP had 69.6% of their parents/care givers with lower levels of education (OR = 2,16). The analysis of the results considered two groups of parent/care giver education: Group I ( middle school) and Group II (high school and college). In Group I, children with CAPD the DCD appeared in 8.3% and the dexterity manual test from MABC-2 showed a borderline association (p = 0,07). Based on the CSP2, the visual processing had an ES = 0.44, considered of medium magnitude. Children with CAPD, showed sensory differences in 8 of the 13 results of the CSP2. In Group II, there was no statistical difference in any of the motor coordination tests and based on the CSP2 the size of the effect was of medium magnitude of 5 of the 13 tests. The sensory differences were present in the results of 4 of the 13 results from CSP2. CONCLUSION: Children with lower education parents had a higher chance of having CAPD. In this study, the DCD was not related to CAPD; however, the manual dexterity was marginally associated with the children from Group I. Children with CAPD have more sensory differences than children of same age and these differences are lowered in groups whose parents have higher education.

This round table workshop is jointly organized by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Literacy at the TU Munich, the WHO Health Promotion Department in Geneva, members of the WHO Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) Study, EuroHealthNet and the Schools4Health Consortium, and the EUPHA Health Literacy and Child and Adolescent Public Health Sections. The event will serve as a platform to present, explore, and discuss the latest research developments and policy implications regarding child, adolescent and school health and health literacy, both in Europe and worldwide. Despite its importance, low health literacy remains widespread across all population groups and is closely linked to poorer health outcomes and increased health inequalities. Individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are especially at risk, reinforcing the need for targeted interventions to address these disparities. Recognizing its importance, investment in health literacy has become a key priority within the EU's Horizon Europe Programme, the World Health Organization, and at governmental levels across Europe. In today's digital era, social media has become a dominant source of health information, especially for schoolchildren. While it offers opportunities for rapid information sharing, it also increases the risk of exposure to misinformation. However, health literacy is often not systematically integrated into school curricula, although it can have lasting positive impacts on both health and academic outcomes. This underscores the urgency (1) of equipping students with critical thinking skills to safely navigate information ecosystems and (2) to develop a global mechanism to monitor health literacy development in countries, schools, and education systems. In this round table workshop with five key health literacy and public health experts, these topics will underpin the discussion and draw on examples from WHO's global school (health) literacy survey, the health literacy competency framework for schools, and the decade-spanning European HBSC study. After a short introduction by the chairs, the panel members will share a short 2-to-3-minute statement from their point of view in relation to the ongoing WHO health literacy activities, highlighting synergies with the HBSC and Schools4Health studies as well as the WHO European School Health Network (SHE/ENHPS). Following the short statement, the chairs will prepare individual questions for each panellist and engage them in a discussion, which shortly after will open towards the audience for them to participate actively with the panellists in a 30-minute discussion, also using the online Slido platform.Key messages• The round table workshop will discuss a much-needed global strategy and road map on school health literacy and present collaboration opportunities for research, practice and policy.• Equipping students with health literacy and critical thinking is vital to combat misinformation, support wellbeing in the digital age, and can be achieved through school health literacy action.Speakers/PanellistsFaten Ben AbdelazizWHO, Geneva, SwitzerlandTina PurnatHarvard University, Boston, MA, USALeena PaakkariUniversity of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, FinlandCaroline CostongsEuroHealthNet, Brussels, Belgium