A community-based participatory approach to educate high school students about reproductive health

Reducing the rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among adolescents remains a national public health priority. In comparison to national rates, Alabama trends in prevalence are high suggesting an urgent need to focus on innovative ways to lower rates of teen pregnancy and STIs in the state. Results from a community-based participatory project designed to educate youth about reproductive health issues will be presented. Project aims included (1) collaborating with a local family planning clinic to create a community advisory board (CAB) to develop reproductive health education priorities for area youth; and (2) using a peer education model to increase awareness of reproductive health issues among these youth. To implement the project, freshmen high school students were selected by their peers and trained to transfer and diffuse reproductive health messages to other students. As determined by the CAB, the health education project focused on candidly relaying sex education and responsibility messages to the youth. Additionally, the CAB came to a consensus on specific methods to use in developing the project including a mentoring component, addressing cultural sensitivity, and acknowledging that teen pregnancy and STIs are a real problem in the community. Results from the implementation and evaluation phases will be presented, with particular attention paid to addressing the benefits, challenges, and lessons learned with employing a community-based, peer-led, reproductive health education program in a high school setting.