The University of California has teamed with The California Wellness Foundation to offer six new lectures in the acclaimed Wellness Lecture Series.

Delivered by distinguished University professors selected by a Universitywide Steering Committee, these lectures will be presented at various University of California health sciences campuses.

The California Wellness Foundation is an independent, private foundation created to improve the health of the people of California, and to facilitate the development of public policies that support health promotion and disease prevention. It was funded in February 1992 by a substantial endowment from Health Net, California's second largest health maintenance organization.

This year's lecture series showcases new research and findings on the following health policy and wellness topics:

"Reducing and Preventing Youth Violence: An Analysis of Causes and an Assessment of Successful Programs" - Pedro Noguera, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of Education, UC Berkeley

"Immigrants May Hold Clues to Protecting Health During Pregnancy: Exploring a Paradox" - Sylvia Guendelman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of Public Health, UC Berkeley

"Preventive Medicine and Health Promotion Are Overdue in the Agricultural Workplace" - Marc B. Schenker, M.D., M.P.H., Professor, School of Medicine, UC Davis

"Violence Prevention: An Educational Approach to Change Health Care Professionals' Behaviors" - Stuart Slavin, M.D., M.Ed., Assistant Clinical Professor, UC Los Angeles, and Michael S. Wilkes, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, UC Los Angeles

"Health Care Quality Report Cards: Are They Accurate and Useful?" - Andrew B. Bindman, M.D., Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, UC San Francisco

"Healthy Environment, Healthy Community: Promoting Community Health in California Through Effective Environmental Protection, Regulation, and Education" - Ronnie D. Lipschutz, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Politics, UC Santa Cruz

Rich with innovative approaches and insights based on current research, the Wellness Lecture Series is a must for health professionals, health sciences professors, policymakers, hospital staffs dedicated to promoting continuing education, and students interested in careers in the health sciences.

The six papers from which the lectures are drawn will be compiled in a softcover book, available free of charge. This Wellness Lecture Series Book, annotated with graphs, charts, and bibliographies, complements the audio/video presentations or stands alone as an important academic reference.

Individuals may order materials concerning the 1995 Wellness Lectures. To order, or to receive detailed information on broadcast rights and fees, complete and return the order form.

Reducing and Preventing Youth Violence: An Analysis of Causes and an Assessment of Successful Programs

Since the mid-1970s, the incidence of youth violence has risen sharply. Homicide is now the second leading cause of death among youth ages 15 to 24. In response, policymakers have adopted a variety of "get tough" measures that have resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of youth incarcerated. Despite these efforts, the rate of violent juvenile crime has not subsided, and most projections indicate a continued increase.

Dr. Noguera calls for an alternative strategy in response to the problem, as part of a larger cultural phenomenon. Such a perspective compels us to examine the ways in which violence may be normalized in certain social contexts. Through an analysis of three case studies, he identifies the key elements of approaches to violence prevention that have proven effective, and examines how these can be applied to create new policies and programs.

Dr. Noguera has published and lectured widely on such topics as youth violence and race relations within schools. He has served as an elected member of the Berkeley School Board and a member of the Centers for Disease Control Taskforce on Youth Violence.

Immigrants May Hold Clues to Protecting Health During Pregnancy: Exploring a Paradox

As a result of an unprecedented immigrant influx, California is now home to 30% of the country's Latino population and 40% of the country's Asian-American population. To date, policy debates have focused on the negative impacts of this growth, ignoring an interesting paradox: despite such risk factors as poverty and low education, Mexican-American and Southeast-Asian immigrant mothers have unexpectedly good reproductive health.

Evidence suggests protective sociocultural factors may contribute to low infant mortality among these immigrant populations. Protective factors seem to erode as Mexican new-comers become increasingly acculturated to U.S. society.

By examining these situations, Dr. Guendelman identifies behaviors that can contribute to the health of immigrant and native mothers alike. She shows that poverty and low education do not necessarily coincide with an unhealthy lifestyle.

Dr. Guendelman is assistant professor of health policy and administration and assistant professor of maternal and child health at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health. She serves as a consultant to the California Department of Health Services.

Preventive Medicine and Health Promotion Are Overdue in the Agricultural Workplace

Agriculture ranks with mining as one of the two most hazardous industries in the U.S. But while mining and other industries have become markedly safer in recent years, agriculture has not. One reason for this is that the preventive health care effort directed at mining and other industries has largely been absent from agriculture.

Dr. Schenker argues that, far from being the inevitable result of an inherently dangerous industry, agricultural deaths, injuries, and illnesses constitute preventable health problems.

By increasing public awareness, directing increased preventive health care to the entire farm population, and incorporating modern behavioral science and better safety engineering, policymakers can dramatically improve the health and safety of farm workers and their families.

Dr. Schenker is chair of the Department of Community and International Health at UC Davis. His research addresses occupational and environmental health hazards. His most recent investigations have focused on the agricultural industry.

Violence Prevention: An Educational Approach to Change Health Care Professionals' Behaviors

Although medical professionals are among the most likely to encounter victims of violence, they are often ill-prepared to offer any meaningful assistance. This stems from the fact that education about violence is largely absent from medical schooling.

Drs. Wilkes and Slavin argue that this omission must be corrected. In developing UCLA's new "Doctoring Curriculum," they have addressed such topics as violence screening, partner abuse, child abuse, elder abuse, and barriers to incorporating violence screening in clinical settings. These topics are presented in order to change physician practices with respect to recognizing and assisting victims of violence.

Properly educated, physicians can identify victims, offer life-saving advice, and advocate for policy changes to stem the rising tide of violence.

Dr. Slavin is director of the UCLA Pediatrics Residency Program and director of undergraduate education for the UCLA Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Wilkes practices adolescent and internal medicine and contributes regularly to the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and National Public Radio. Together they have developed UCLA's Doctoring Curriculum.

Health Care Quality Report Cards: Are They Accurate and Useful?

Quality report cards have emerged as a potential tool for evaluating health care. One aspect of quality typically considered is timely access to medical services, as reflected by hospitalization rates for chronic medical conditions.

However, before these rates can be accepted as a barometer, policymakers need to understand better what leads to high preventable hospitalization rates. At least three factors other than barriers to accessing health care may contribute to rate variations. To the extent that these factors may explain preventable hospitalization rates, using admission rates to measure access to care may lead to faulty conclusions.

To determine whether preventable hospitalization rates are in fact a valid measure of health care access, Dr. Bindman led a study to determine the extent to which access to care predicts preventable hospitalization rates in California communities. The results suggest that health policymakers should be wary of including such rates in quality report cards.

Dr. Bindman is founder and director of the UCSF Primary Care Research Center. He is an assistant professor of medicine, health policy, epidemiology, and biostatistics. His research focuses on access issues and public institutions as care providers.

Healthy Environment, Healthy Community: Promoting Community Health in California Through Effective Environmental Protection, Regulation, and Education

California boasts an extensive environmental regulatory system and a well-developed "civil society" actively focused on maintaining and improving environmental quality.

Increasingly, however, this framework is coming under attack as being unfair and financially burdensome. Often lost in policy debates is the recognition that environmental regulations protect the health of Californians in several ways.

Dr. Lipschutz presents three different perspectives on how environmental regulations promote community health. Despite their short-term economic impacts, he concludes, environmental regulations result in the longer-term public benefit of a healthy environment.

Dr. Lipschutz is assistant professor of politics and director, Adlai Stevenson Program on Global Security at UC Santa Cruz. His current research addresses the relationship between global environmental issues and local environmental activism and protection.