Innovation is one of those illusive things that usually becomes apparent after it happens. This is particularly true when we, as health care and service providers, continue to implement new interventions to old problems. How many times have we sat through a lecture, read a journal article, or watched a television show and were struck by a new way to do something. I like to call this the "Ah-ha" phenomenon. We routinely see it in our students and our clients. However, it is very special when it happens to us.
This issue is devoted to innovations in community and family health topics. When asked to serve as an issue editor, I was unsure of what types of manuscripts would be submitted for this topic. However, as I fielded more and more inquiries from potential authors and received manuscripts for review, I was struck by a naturally occurring topical outline. The final issue gears itself across the life span. Each of the articles begins, basically, with an unanswered question to answer a community need. Clarity of the problem was the common rule. Someone once wrote: "Unquestioned answers are far more dangerous than unanswered questions"(anonymous). This issue of Family & Community Health (27:2) provides a series of problems with innovative suggestions for resolution (either partially or fully).
Nutrition Education Aimed at Toddlers: A Pilot Program for Rural, Low-Income Families reports on the Nutritional Education Aimed at Toddlers (NEAT) project. Family knowledge, attitudes, and dietary practices were studied, along with two variables: knowledge and behavioral skills for feeding toddlers. Of special interest are the findings as to what reinforces the positive eating habits of toddlers.
Thunder, Lightning, and Rain: A Latino/Hispanic Diabetes Media Awareness Campaign presents a community education program that educates an adult Latino/Hispanic community on the treatment and control of diabetes. This awareness campaign illustrates how a media campaign was established and also reports the follow-up findings.
Dietary Deficiencies and Excesses: A Sample of African American Mothers and Daughters Eligible for Nutrition Assistance Programs evaluates dietary excesses and deficiencies in selected nutrients from 24-hour food recalls from a sample of low-income African American mothers and daughters and allows for recommendations for a better alignment between nutritional needs and nutritional assistance.
Coping with Barriers to Vigorous Physical Activity during Transition to a University examines barriers to vigorous physical activity among students transitioning from high school to their first year of attending a university. It addresses key variables such as interpersonal, institutional, community, and physical environmental barriers that can affect this population in being physically active.
The Friendship Club: An After-School Program for Children with Asperger Syndrome looks at how occupational therapy students were able to successfully initiate a parent support group for families with children with Asperger syndrome. The locally funded program demonstrates how students can find innovative ways in which to serve the community in an environment of shrinking resources.
Wellness in Tillery: A Community-Built Program is a qualitative study that describes a successful elder wellness program resulting from a collaborative effort between a community health agency and a university. In particular, this study addresses an occupational therapy student group's ability to successfully initiate and conduct a social efficacy program that resulted in a reported improvement in the participant's quality of life.
Comparing Health Status with Healthy Habits in Elderly Assisted-Living Residents studies how healthy habits (tobacco use, alcohol consumption, eating breakfast and healthy snacks, sleep, and hydration) impact on health and quality of life. This study reports on 1,079 residents of assisted living communities in the southeast.
Tobacco Cessation in Young Adolescent Females in Appalachian Communities examines issues that are relevant to tobacco cessation in girls between 12 and 14 years of age. It explores cultural themes and attempts to better understand the pressure that is associated with smoking cessation from a familial, peer, and community perspective.
The challenge of this issue was not to make these readings available to our readership. Rather, it is the challenge of our readership to review this information and to see the possibilities. Innovative thinkers are confronted with three phases in problems solving: (1) it can't be done, (2) it probably can be done, but it's not worth doing, and (3) I knew it was a good idea all along!