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Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Framework - October 1999

Personal and Community Health Strand

Personal and Community Health includes those aspects of health most often related to our larger community and world. The knowledge and skills presented in this Strand lay the groundwork for participation in preserving and improving our surroundings and for dealing with future health-related events. The contribution of Public Health is addressed in this Strand.

The Strand of Personal and Community Health includes:

• Consumer Health and Resource Management
• Ecological Health
• Community & Public Health

Consumer Health and Resource Management provides information on the management of home, consumer, workplace, and environmental resources as well as obtaining and evaluating health-related information, services, and products.

Ecological Health addresses how the ecological environment affects individual, community, and global health through the condition of the earth's resources and how the condition of the earth is affected by the behavior of humans.

Community and Public Health addresses characteristics of a healthy community, functions of community agencies, and skills for health promotion and collaboration. Connections are made between all aspects of the community, both in and out of school, and the health of the student and the health of others.

The Personal and Community Health Strand is designed to help students demonstrate the competence to use information and services in ways that benefit themselves, their peers, their families, and their communities. By making improvements in the health of the natural environment and the physical safety of their communities, students learn to build coalitions with others. Students work with others to determine concrete steps they can take to build a strong social fabric. The purpose of this Strand is to assist students in developing a clearer understanding of their personal, social, and civic responsibilities by acting on accurate information to improve health in their communities.

Note: Selected examples are provided.

"How It Looks In The Classroom"
Suggested Activity for the Personal and Community
Health Information Strand

Three high school students research Lyme Disease in Massachusetts. Using the Internet, they obtain current statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They compare these with the reports of researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Massachusetts Audubon Society. They use maps and graphs to compare the incidence of the disease in humans with the prevalence of the bacterium in ticks taken from deer mice nesting boxes. They estimate the likelihood of infection from a tick bite, which turns out to be lower than originally expected. In talking with researchers, students learn about the scientific and mathematical techniques used to monitor infectious diseases. The students determine factors that would make an effective statewide advertising campaign about seasonal precautions and early treatment.

This activity can help students reinforce or achieve the following learning standards in this and the other Frameworks:

Community and Public Health:

• functions and purposes of health agencies
• impact of disease on community health

Disease Prevention and Control:

• germs and diseases
• immune system

Science and Technology/Engineering: Inquiry:

• responding to conclusions

Mathematics: Statistics and Probability:

• probabilities of outcomes

English Language Arts: Media:

• techniques

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