Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - January/February 2016 - (Page 22)

Teen Health is Public Health INTERVIEW WITH BETH MARSHALL, Dr.P.H. Associate Director, Center for Adolescent Health Assistant Scientist, Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health by Melissa Hartman IN HIGH SCHOOL, BETH MARSHALL AND HER PEERS LEARNED ABOUT THE HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC FROM WHAT SHE RECALLS AS "EXTREMELY OUTDATED MATERIALS" THAT EVEN USED AN OLD NAME FOR THE DISEASE. WHEN SHE WANTED TO LEARN MORE, MARSHALL SPOKE TO HER HEALTH EDUCATION TEACHER, WHO SHARED SEVERAL CURRENT BOOKS ABOUT THE EPIDEMIC. RECOGNIZING A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MATERIALS THAT ENGAGED HER AND THOSE DISTRIBUTED IN THE CLASSROOM, MARSHALL DEVELOPED AN INTEREST IN HEALTH EDUCATION. THAT INTEREST EVENTUALLY LED HER TO PURSUE A DOCTORATE IN PUBLIC HEALTH AT THE JOHNS HOPKINS BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, WHERE SHE NOW WORKS TO PROMOTE THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF YOUNG PEOPLE. I noticed some topics on the website of the Center for Adolescent Health that I hadn't thought of as public health issues before. One of those was bullying. Can you talk about that a bit as a public health problem? I think part of the reason bullying has fallen under the purview of public health is that we now approach violence and violence prevention as a public health issue, not just a criminal justice issue. One of the major causes of mortality for young people is violence: More young people die from homicide than the next seven leading causes of death combined. There are huge health disparities around violence; for example, young men and particularly young men of color are more likely to be victims of violence. Bullying is a type of violence. We also see that bullying is a predictive factor in many health issues-such as substance abuse, depression, and anxiety-for both young people and adults. 22 imagine Are most of the topics your center is working on related to the school setting? People who study adolescent health can't ignore schools as a setting because they are often where we implement the programs we develop for adolescents, including evidence-based programs for sexual and reproductive health, drug use prevention, and bullying prevention. Public health researchers are also interested in schools because they contribute to adolescents' development. The way a school is structured, the way a school feels, can have an impact on a young person's behaviors. For instance, in schools where there are more positive relationships among the students and where students feel connected to the adults in the school building, students are less likely to engage in behaviors such as sexual risk-taking and drug and alcohol abuse. No Jan/Feb 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - January/February 2016

Big Picture
In My Own Words CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H.
My Summer of Medicine Three ways of exploring healthcare
Teens Target: Public Health How high school students are solving real-world public health problems
Slowing the Race Addressing antibiotic resistance
For the Greater Good Majoring in public health
Epic Epidemics Studying History of Disease at CTY
Teen Health is Public Health Interview with Beth Marshall, Associate Director, Center for Adolescent Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Building Bridges Addressing health disparities through service
Becoming a Disease Detective Behind the scenes at the CDC
Finding Light in the Darkness Astrophysics at UCSC SIP
Girls Who Code Paving the way to careers in tech
Selected Opportunities and Resources
Off the Shelf Review of Iris Chang’s The Chinese in America
Word Wise
Exploring Career Options Interview with epidemiologist Christine Scott-Waldron, M.S.P.H.
One Step Ahead Summer in limbo
Planning Ahead for College Is medical school in your future?
Students Review: Tufts University
Creative Minds Imagine Essay contest winners
Mark Your Calendar
Knossos Games

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - January/February 2016