This paper reports on the development of a Department of Child and Adolescent Health, with a focus on the development of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and training programmes and their impact. Departmental successes and challenges in this area are also discussed.

The DM Paediatrics programme began in 1972 and has fulfilled its mandate to train paediatricians for the Caribbean. These 159 paediatricians are located in the Caribbean and worldwide and deliver appropriate health-care to the region’s children.

This paper describes the association between pelvic floor disorders and selected sociodemographic and health variables in a clinic based sample of Jamaican women aged 50 and older.

This study explores the relationship among early life factors and body composition in Jamaican children aged 9‒12 years. Mothers who were heavier and taller in their first trimester and offspring with higher birthweight had greater height and lean body mass (LBM) at age 11 years.

The study examined factors associated with quality of life (QOL) in ambulatory stroke survivors. Less depressive symptoms and longer distance walked in six minutes were independent predictors of physical component QOL. Less depressive symptoms and male gender predicted good mental component QOL.

This manuscript explored the exercise levels of community dwelling persons with spinal cord injury after receiving rehabilitation at the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre. This study also aimed to discover the perceived barriers to exercise, and the resulting secondary health complications.

Individualized exercise regimens, including aerobic, resistance, balance and flexibility training help the older person overcome age-related physiological decline. Recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other organizations for physical activity for improved quality of life for the ageing person are discussed.

This study sought to determine the practices of family physicians/general practitioners in Kingston and St Andrew regarding the management of adult obesity and compare their management to the 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS Guidelines for the Management of overweight and obesity in adults.

The Andersen (1995) framework identifying predisposing, enabling and need factors is used to analyse the receipt of care for activities of daily living, and instrumental activities of daily living among older adults, utilizing data from the 2012 Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions.

This study investigated the prevalence of persons with disabilities as frequent users of the Jamaica health system. Most persons with disabilities experienced difficulty using the systems for even common chronic complaints.