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“One Life, One Body, One You”: Engaging and empowering girls to make positive choices throughout their lifespan
Methods: Preconception messages were developed using focus groups, surveys, and stakeholder input. Standardized protocols ensured appropriate dissemination of wheels. Over 5,500 girls received a wheel through 44 schools/clinics/organizations. Of these partners, 27 had the capacity to incorporate wheel education into their programs and distributed 2,736 questionnaires for girls to measure knowledge and behavior change; 40 staff received surveys to determine usability.
Results: Of girls, 88% reported they would try and use tips from the wheel; 89% strongly agreed/agreed they learned new information about taking care of themselves. The most popular topics were nutrition and physical activity, both 91%. Of staff, 88% stated they were able to incorporate the wheel into routine activities; 100% strongly agreed/agreed the wheel helped with discussion about healthy behaviors/lifestyle choices; 92% strongly agreed/agreed the wheel was culturally appropriate for the target population. (N=699 girls; 24 staff.)
Conclusions: Results indicate the BHTW can be effective in increasing knowledge about healthy lifestyle choices among girls and is a promising practice that can be replicated and incorporated into various settings. Since research shows tailoring enhances acceptance of health communication, material is being developed for adolescent boys.
Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programsImplementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Learning Objectives:
Describe the effectiveness of utilizing a culturally appropriate interactive preconception tool to increase knowledge and promote behavior change among adolescent girls in an effort to address overall health over the life course.
Keyword(s): Adolescents, Health Promotion and Education
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the co-lead and worked directly with community partners, schools, and clinics to implement and evaluate the effectiveness of the "One Life, One Body, One You" project. I am involved in assessing community needs, conducting focus groups, and developing surveys. I provide expertise in health education for the development of curricula/materials for the maternal, child, and adolescent health (MCAH) population and implement evaluation methods to measure results to meet MCAH priorities and objectives.
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.