Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #112325

Gale E. Grant, MA, CPP¹, Paula Panissidi, MHS², and Alicia C. Eberl-Lefko, MHS, CHES². (1) Virginia Department of Health, 109 Governor Street, 8th Floor East, Richmond, VA 23219, 804 864-7699, Gale.Grant@vdh.virginia.gov, (2) Health Program, American Institutes for Research, 10720 Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20901

Although teen birth rates have experienced a steady decline during the last decade, teen pregnancy continues to be a major public health concern in this country. The United States continues to have the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world. In recent years, abstinence education has become a prevalent approach to teen pregnancy prevention. Support of abstinence education programs is largely due to their promotion of more than a single message of abstinence. Many abstinence education programs have a adopted a youth development approach to teen pregnancy prevention and, in addition to abstinence education, offer components on a variety of topics, including building self esteem, developing values, developing personal decision making skills, avoiding risky behaviors, maximizing communication, strengthening relationships, withstanding social and peer pressure, and addressing consequences. The Talk 2 Me kit for parents, developed by the Virginia Department of Health, takes just such an approach. Our presentation will describe the “soup to nuts” development of an abstinence-based kit to increase communication between parents/guardians and their 10-14 year old children about sexual decision making and risk taking behaviors. The kit contains a card game, how-to guide, parent brochure, CD of practice scenarios, and resource guide. Grounded in the principles of social marketing, the kit's development began with a literature review and exploratory focus group research and concluded with product pre-testing. The culmination of three years of research and development, the kit will be disseminated throughout State of Virginia in the Spring/Summer of 2005 and will be evaluated the Fall.

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