141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

279766
Implementing sexual health education policies and programs in challenging environments

Monday, November 4, 2013 : 12:45 PM - 1:00 PM

Kendra LeSar, MPH, CHES , School Health Connection, Louisiana Public Health Institute, New Orleans, LA
Marsha Broussard, DrPH , Louisiana Public Health Institute, New Orleans, LA
Kelley McDonough, MPH , School Health Connection, Louisiana Public Health Institute, New Orleans, LA
Taslim van Hattum, LMSW, MPH , School Health Connection, Louisiana Public Health Institute, New Orleans, LA
Brittany Booker, MPH , Louisiana Public Health Institute, New Orleans, LA
The political climate in Louisiana makes implementing comprehensive sexual health education challenging. While state law permits schools to teach about condoms and contraception, most schools do not understand the policies and use abstinence-only curricula. Given the high rates of adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in Louisiana, School Health Connection (SHC),a program of the Louisiana Public Health Institute, is working directly with schools to clarify the state law and assist schools in developing building-level comprehensive sexual health education policies and in implementing sexual health education programming. Through a needs assessment of high school health educators, it was determined that schools are at different levels of readiness for implementing comprehensive sexual health education. SHC worked with an urban public high school that had identified sexual health education as a priority to develop and implement a comprehensive sexual health education policy. The evidence-based intervention “Becoming a Responsible Teen” (BART) was chosen for implementation and, in accordance with the policy, a parental review committee was formed to review the curriculum. Following curriculum approval, health educators were contracted from a community-based organization, and BART was delivered as an afterschool program in the spring of 2012. SHC monitored fidelity and evaluated the effectiveness of BART in this setting. It was found to increase student knowledge of HIV prevention, but did not address other sexual health topics and had limited reach .This presentation will share lessons learned throughout this process, as well as a roadmap to successful implementation of comprehensive sexual health education in schools.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
Discuss how state laws, and how they are locally interpreted, can affect the teaching of comprehensive sexual health education in schools. Describe strategies for implementing comprehensive sexual health education, , in politically conservative school environments. Identify the key needs and challenges of school administration and faculty in implementing comprehensive sexual health programming.

Keywords: School Health, Reproductive Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Dr.Broussard is Program Director and Principal Investigator for 4REAL Health, the Orleans Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program at the Louisiana Public Health Institute. 4REAL Health, a randomized control trial, was implemented in partnership with a city youth workforce program after attempting to partner with schools and smaller community -based organizations. Dr. Broussard's interests include reducing adolescent risk factors that interrrupt teen's educational completion. She coordinated a successful application for federal funds to address teen pregnancy prevention.
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.