4. Results
promotion among young people in France. Davis (2005) offered individual risk
assessments and tailored advice around health education and creative health
programmes that build resilience and promote protective factors.
The fourth and final group of studies focused on emotional health and wellbeing.
All the studies in this group were from the USA. Cowen (1997) and Vander-Stoep
et al. (2005) offered young people - at the transition from middle school to high
school - an ‘emotional health’ check and those who were experiencing emotional
distress were offered additional services, such as school counselling or academic
tutoring.
4.3.2 Studies testing effectiveness outside school settings
We found 18 studies which could potentially provide evidence about the
effectiveness of life checks outside the school setting. All these were implemented
in health-care settings, in particular within primary care. Like the set of studies on
effectiveness within the school setting, this set was also heterogeneous in terms
of study design, health focus, and life-check style components. There were three
distinct groupings of studies as follows.
The first group of studies focused on interventions which aimed to maximise
opportunities for health behaviour screening and health promotion activities within
routine and/or mandatory health check-ups by primary care practitioners. All these
studies were carried out in the USA. Ozer and colleagues evaluated interventions
to improve ‘well visits’ by increasing the levels and quality of clinician screening
and counselling in the areas of tobacco, alcohol, drugs, sexual behaviour, seatbelt
use, and cycle helmet use (Ozer et al., 2001; 2004; 2005). Epner et al. (1998) and
Gadomski et al. (2003) evaluated the effects of the ‘guidelines for adolescent
preventive services’ (which advocate screening, guidance, physical examination
and immunisations) to increase health professionals’ responsiveness to the health
risk behaviours reported by young people attending for a routine check-up.
Boekeloo et al. (2004) evaluated a brief office-based intervention which targeted
alcohol use among young people attending a general check-up in the USA. Diaz
and Manigat (1999) examined the impact of a direct questioning approach to
identify victims of sexual abuse as part of routine medical screenings at an inner-
city adolescent health centre. Fisher (1999) provided a synopsis of US adolescent
health assessment practice guidelines for use in a physician’s office.
The second group of studies was similar to the first in that they evaluated routine
and/or mandatory health check-ups. However, in these studies, it was not clear
what happened after the check-up. Hill and Watkins (2003) examined the effects
of statutory health assessments of children aged six months to 15 years looked
after by Southampton City Council in the UK. North (2003) evaluated the use of a
periodic health examination for young people in the judicial system in France.
Verloove-Vanhorick et al. (2003) evaluated the ‘Youth healthcare’ programme
which offered screening, vaccinations, information and advice to all children from
birth to 19 years in the Netherlands.
The third group of studies evaluated the effects of inviting young people to attend
consultations in primary care which offered health promotion assessments and
advice. In the UK, Walker and colleagues evaluated the effectiveness of inviting
teenagers to general practice consultations which offered the opportunity to
discuss health behaviour concerns with a practice nurse and the provision of
appropriate follow-up care (Walker et al., 2000; 2002). In the USA ,Patrick and
colleagues evaluated the provision of a computer-assisted diet and physical
A scoping review of the evidence relevant to life checks for young people aged 9 to 14 years
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