September 2022

Back-to-School: Spotlight on CDC's HECAT

Getting quality health education in school can equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to become successful learners and healthy adults. CDC promotes nationally-recognized standards for health education by giving staff and administrators a way to gauge the quality of their school’s or district’s curricula.

The Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT) was developed by CDC in partnership with health education experts nationwide. HECAT—available both online and in PDF form-features:

• Tools to help schools and school districts analyze, select, or develop health education curricula;
• Health-related concepts and skills for students in nine topic areas; and much more.

The most recent version of HECAT includes updates designed to help students develop knowledge, skills, and understanding of how social factors are connected to health behaviors, experiences, and outcomes. A series of new HECAT webinars provides a general overview of the tool, discusses the updates, and explains in detail the updates to health content and skills for students in four HECAT Modules: Mental and Emotional Health, Sexual Health, Alcohol and Other Drug Use Prevention, and Violence Prevention.

If you want to download HECAT or access HECAT Online, you can find it in the NPIN Database or the CDC website. For more information about what CDC is doing to keep youth healthy, check out the Adolescent and School Health site.

New & Notable

The following represent some of the materials recently uploaded to NPIN’s Materials Database.

Fight TB: Know the Signs and Symptoms — Minnesota Department of Health

What should I teach my middle schooler about personal safety? — Planned Parenthood

HIV and AIDS Data through December 2019 Provided for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, for Fiscal Year 2021 — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program

Materials Spotlight

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, National Sexual Health Month, and back-to-school for many students. Here are some resources from the NPIN Materials Database to prepare for these observances:

Talking about Sexual Health: Getting the Care You Need — American Sexual Health Association

Fact sheet on Warning Signs of Suicide — The Trevor Project

Sexual Health Questions to Ask All Patients — National Coalition for Sexual Health

Featured Campaigns & Resources

Check out these resources from CDC programs and NPIN’s Database.

If you can't wait until October to get your health literacy webinar fix, check out Insta-Worthy: Developing Content That Works for Instagram, part of the 2021 series.

The most recent School Health Profiles materials report on characteristics of health programs in secondary schools using data collected in 2020.

NCHHSTP Social Determinants of Health is a series of brief videos featuring NCHHSTP leaders speaking about the importance of addressing all the factors that affect a person’s health.

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