Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

K.Ekaterine Kikatunidze, Information, Education, Comunication Campaign, Save the Children. Healthy Women in Georgia Program, 25 Gogebashvili street, Kutaisi, 4600, Georgia, (99599) 76 08 38, eka@jsi.ge

Adolescents in Georgia have been ignored by policies and programs on health issues. A survey of some 600 adolescents showed that knowledge of all types of health issues, especially Reproductive Health(RH), is extremely low, and there is no place most young people can get accurate information. There is considerable resistance among some parents, teachers and Orthodox Church officials to RH education. To address the information gaps in RH of youth, the healthy Women in Georgia program developed a Healthy Lifestyle Course (HLC). The course began with topics that were important but less controversial, such as smoking,drug and alcohol use. Once the confidence of school authorities and communities had been gained,more sensitive topics were addressed, such as puberty, HIV/AIDS and RH. At the same time, a free informational HOTLINE was made available to youth, and radio spots were generated and aired to coincide with course topics. The HLC was extremely popular with youth; it used a variety of highly interactive and entertaining teaching techniques, such as theatre, sports, etc. The enthusiasm generated led to many new events, such as concerts, exhibitions and preparation of newsletters. It also led to a peer education program that has recruited some 250 young people to reach their peers one-on-one. Average knowledge score of pre- test of HL Courses was 33percent. Post-test score has increased to 79 percent. Adolescents became more proactive, motivated and open discussing RH problems. The program has demonstrated to the Ministry of Education the importance and practicality of introducing RH issues at schools. Evidence of the need for policy change at the national level is increased. Such change will help to provide young people in Georgia with vital information about RH.

Learning Objectives:

• Participant attending this session will analyze why approaching adolescent reproductive health via general healthy lifestyles activities for young school-age adolescents is both the optimal way to change health behavior and to obtain the support and approval of communities and school officials.

Keywords: Health Behavior, Health Education Strategies

Related Web page: www.jsi.ge

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation