269637 Project t.e.a.m. a sexual health prevention program to improve the health and wellbeing of Riverside youth

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 10:30 AM - 10:45 AM

Stephanie Smith, BA , Riverside Community Health Foundation, Riverside, CA
     
Background: Significantly high rates of teen pregnancy in the Riverside area, Project t.e.am. was organically developed to respond to the need of improving the well being of teens by addressing unintended and teen pregnancy issues through youth development. Purpose: As a comprehensive sexuality education curriculum, the intervention aims to reduce unintended pregnancies among teens. Methods: This intervention reached 250 high school students (males and females) per year in the Riverside area. It consists of 12-hours of curriculum and was held during regular school hours and implemented in numerious school audiences. Pre and Post-test questionnaires were designed to measure 1) changes in knowledge and understanding of sexual risk-taking, 2) attitudes toward teen pregnancy and safer sex. Results: One hundred twenty-three (123) matched questionnaires were collected from three school sites and the gender make-up fifty-three (53%) percent of those surveyed were male; and sixty-two (62%) percent were Hispanic. At the completion of the 12 hours of program, perceived knowledge of pregnancy prevention was examined and resulted in a 14% increase (from 2.38 to 2.78), these improvement from pre-post survey was statistically significant. Also, results examined the students understanding of STI prevention, resulting in an increase of forty-two (42%) with the average increase of understanding by 13% (from 2.75 to 3.11) which appears to substantially impact participants knowledge of STI prevention. Conclusion: Implications for a comprehensive and effective approach to prevent teen pregnancy.

Learning Areas:
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs

Learning Objectives:
1. Discuss the fundamental programmatic structures needed to execute a multifaceted intervention program targeted to youth between 14-18 years of age. 2. Demonstrate that a significant behavior change occurred among those youth by an increased knowledge of STI and Pregnancy Prevention. 3. Identify the need of educational curriculum to ensure continued sexual health education in a school setting.

Keywords: Adolescent Health, Maternal and Child Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified as a presenter due to I have coordinated, had direct oversight and organized the implementation of all educational activities for Project t.e.a.m. for the entirity of the six years of funding.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3162.0: Reproductive and sexual health for teens and young adults, part 1: affirmative models for sexual health