The Health Behavioral Change Imperative

Health experts independently state that the most critical urban problems are preventable. This brings an added challenge to public health practitioners working in inner cities with predominately minority communities. In addition to deadly diseases - including transmittable diseases - violence, whether it is physical, sexual or child abuse, is the other predominant morbidity factor that urban areas confront. Because of these concerns, there is a need for health professionals working with the communities to critically examine health behavior theories and prevention methodologies. Additionally, new prevention practices and programs need to be developed for community-based interventions to better serve the populations in need including programs in: -HIV Prevention; -Evaluation and Policy Research; -Cancer Prevention and Screening; -Urban Public Health Policy; -Youth Violence Prevention.