Health Education

Resources

The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) Health Resources page contains a selection of reliable resources vetted by USBE staff and community content experts. These resources are meant to support current Health Education content knowledge for teachers and not intended to be curriculum or instructional materials for students.

Health Foundations and Protective Factors

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention

• Explains ACEs and the impact for youth.

Protective Factors
Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention

• Defining protective factors with resources for schools, parents, and adolescents.

Human Development and Sex Education

Cancer Screening
Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI)

• Recommendations on cancer screening based on gender, age, and family history. 

Mouth Healthy Resources
American Dental Association (ADA) 

• A dental health curriculum for preschool through grade eight students offering flexible, modular lesson plans, support materials, hands-on classroom demonstrations, student activity sheets, and suggestions for future dental health activities.

Outreach
Rape Recovery Center

• The Rape Recovery Center is committed to increasing awareness and to engage all communities in the goal of ending sexual violence.

Prevent Child Abuse (PCA) Utah

• Prevention programs educate children to recognize abuse,engage children to learn safety strategies, and empower children to report abuse. PCAU in-school programs are free, age appropriate, and typically taught in the classroom with visual aids, videos, and other interactive activities such as role playing. The programs also teach adult community members how to prevent child abuse, how to identify signs of possible abuse, and how to report abuse.

Prevention Strategies
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

• Teacher resource for sexual violence prevention.

Resources
Utah Newborn Safe Haven Teacher Toolkit

• The state of Utah enacted the Newborn Safe Haven Law in 2001. The Newborn Safe Haven Law allows desperate parents to anonymously relinquish an infant in a safe, legal and confidential manner at any hospital in the state of Utah.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

• STD information and resources. Includes data, prevention, treatment, and informing partners.

Mental and Emotional Health

SafeUT
University of Utah

• The SafeUT Crisis Chat and Tip Line is a statewide service that provides real-time crisis intervention to youth through live chat and a confidential tip program – right from your smartphone.

Utah 2-1-1
United Way

• Provides people with ways to get help and give help. Callers are connected to health and human resources they need.

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

• Resources from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Nutrition

Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC)

WSCC is CDC's framework for addressing health in schools. This framework is student-centered and emphasizes the:

• Role of the community in supporting the school.
• Connections between health and academic achievement.
• Importance of evidence-based school policies and practices.

USDA Food Data Central
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)

• USDA’s comprehensive source of food composition data with multiple distinct data types

What is Disordered EatingAcademy of Nutrition and Dietetics

• Resource explaining disordered eating.

Safety and Disease Prevention 

A Teacher’s Guide To Teaching the Harmful Effects of Pornography

USBE Created resource to support Health Educators teach the standards for harmful effects of pornography as required in Utah Code 53G-10-402

Net Safe Utah

• Provides online videos and resources for kids, teens, parents and educators, including Internet Safety information that Utah schools need to meet the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requirements.

Oral Health
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

• Resource for oral health.

Resuscitation Science
American Heart Association (AHA)

• The AHA and the American Red Cross jointly co-authored and released the 2019 Focused Update for First Aid.

• You can learn how to stop major bleeding in three simple ways.

What is CPR?
American Heart Association (AHA)

• The AHA develops science-based Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) guidelines and is the leader in first aid, CPR, and AED training. All recommendations below are based on the AHA Guidelines Update for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC).

Substance Abuse Prevention

Electronic Cigarettes
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

• Information on electronic cigarettes including health effects, risks for youths, an youth tobacco prevention.

Parents Empowered

• A media and education campaign funded by the Utah Legislature and designed to prevent and reduce underage drinking in Utah. Website has resources on addiction, effects on brain development, behavior, laws, and prevention.

Recovery Resources
Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

• Resources for support, education to support recovery.

Stop the Opidemic
Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

• Information on opioid misuse, Utah specific opioid use rates, and resources for help if you or someone you know is demonstrating opioid misuse.

Utah Department of Public Safety (UPS)

• Laws on Driving Under the Influence (DUI) for different ages.

Way to Quit
Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

• Resource on quitting tobacco products.

Other Helpful Resources

Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) Utah

• The Society of Health and Physical Educators Utah (SHAPE-Utah) is dedicated to promoting physical activity and healthy lifestyles in Utah schools and community programs for Health Education, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance by using the best philosophical, social, physiological and educational principles available and the most recent peer reviewed research in the several disciplines.

Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) Statewide Survey
Utah Department of Health and Human Services

• View SHARP survey information including parent resources, data reports, and more. 

Utah Department of Health and Human Services

Utah Education Network (UEN)

• Connects all Utah school districts, schools, and higher education institutions to a robust network and quality educational resources. Access lesson plans, Utah's Online Library, and more!

First Response

Each day over a 1000 people in the United States suffer a heart attack. Sadly, only 12% of those individuals are likely to survive. Immediate Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) use can triple the rate of survival but not enough people know how to perform effective CPR or use an AED.

With support from the Utah State Legislature and the American Heart Association (AHA), the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) will provide a reimbursement of $6.00 per student specifically for hands-on, high-quality CPR training and the use of an AED. These funds are available annually.

These funds support high school Health classes and follow the requirements outlined below:

•  R277-465: CPR in Schools
  Utah State Board of Education Administrative Rules 
• Title 53G-10-408: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Instruction - Grant Program 
  Utah State Legislature

Districts and charter schools must apply through the State of Utah Utah Grants to utilize the grant. Funds are allocated based on Health II student enrollment.

Best Practices for Recess

As part of the Utah State Board of Education's Strategic Plan: Safe and Healthy Schools Strategy B - "Increase adoption of evidence-based student health and wellness practices" the Utah State Board of Education has created a document for recess best practices. Recess guidelines are beneficial for informing physical activity and recess components of local wellness policies. These policies are required to include specific goals for physical activity especially those that promote student wellness. Recess is a key component for a preventative policy.

Best Practices for Recess Guidance