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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Jessica Miller Rath, PhD, CHES¹, Denise L. Haynie, PhD, MPH², and Bruce G. Simons-Morton, EdD, MPH². (1) Department of Public and Community Health, The University of Maryland, 2387 HHP Building, College Park, MD 20742, 301 405-2381, jrath@umd.edu, (2) National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Prevention Research Branch, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892

There are over 40 million adolescents ages 10-19 in the United States. Parents are the primary socializing agents and are needed to reinforce appropriate attitudes and behaviors in the home and at school. Parental involvement has been well documented as protective for numerous adolescent outcomes and remains strong during adolescence. An extensive examination of the literature reveals that while the argument is often made for the need to include parents in population based intervention research, it is unclear how to do this efficiently and successfully. Therefore, researchers must explore innovative approaches to health education interventions. Photo novel is one such approach. Photo novels include real photos of the audience for whom it is intended and read much like a comic strip. This photo novel project was part of a school-based, youth aggression prevention intervention. A total of 33 parents were randomized to the intervention group and completed baseline surveys. Storyboards were used as a guide for photo novel development. Sessions were videotaped for photos and dialogue. The purpose of this pilot photo novel project was to determine if a traditional photo novel could be adapted to an intervention research setting. The adaptation of photo novel for intervention proved successful based on qualitative data. Participation rates were too low to report quantitative results. Advantages of photo novel include low costs, usefulness in low literacy populations and ownership of product increasing chance for behavior change. Disadvantages exist such as information being static once printed.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• List the three main components of a photo novel.
• Identify one advantage and one disadvantage to the use of photo novel for intervention.
• Describe how photo novel can be adapted as a health education intervention.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation