Transcript Accentuate the Positive: A Resiliency Approach to

Accentuate the Positive:
A Resiliency Approach to
Adolescent Reproductive Health
Julia Rosenbaum
The CHANGE Project
The Academy for Educational Development
Resiliency Intervention Model: The Basics
• Growing body of literature, coming largely
from the domestic arena
• Searches for protective factors rather than
risk factors
– Identifies internal and external factors
• Demonstrates that protection ‘clusters’, just
like risk
• Predictive value high than risk factors
Resiliency & Other Assets-based Approaches:
The Basics
• Youth development, school health, assets,
positive deviance
• Assets inventory (Search Institute), Youth
Mapping (CYD/AED), CA Healthy Kids
• Both a methodology and an ideology
Traditional intervention research
• Identifies risk factors for a certain health outcome
(e.g. teen pregnancy)
• Focuses on deficits that need to be filled (usually with
outside resources)
• Leads to identification, labeling and stigmatization of
‘deviants’ and communities
• Ignores that
– the majority of “at risk” populations are often surviving if not
thriving, and
– solutions already exist within communities to address
problems
EXTERNAL ASSET CLUSTERS
• Caring Relationships
• High Expectations
• Meaningful Participation
– within the home, school, community and
peer networks
INTERNAL ASSET CLUSTERS
• SOCIAL COMPETENCE
– Cooperation and communication skills
– Empathy and respect
– Problem solving skills
• AUTONOMY and SENSE OF SELF
– Personal Conviction
– Self-Efficacy
– Self Awareness
INTERNAL ASSETS
CONT’D
• SENSE OF MEANING AND PURPOSE
– Optimism
– Goals and achievement motivation
Resiliency Research in Jamaica
• First-ever resiliency analysis conducted by the
Jamaica MOH through re-analysis of
Caribbean Youth Health Survey
• About to embark on comprehensive resiliency
intervention research with MOH/Kingston,
MOH/Clarendon, Rural Family Support Project
(RFSO) and Hope Enterprises, Ltd.
• Quantitative Survey
– adapting the California Healthy Kids Survey
– www.wested.org/hks
• 12-16 year old males and females in
Clarendon Parish
• Sample size approximately 750-1000
• Teen perceptions of:
– caring relationships
– high expectations
– meaningful participation
– social competence
– autonomy and sense of self
– sense of meaning and purpose
Which of the factors???
• support teens to
– delay sexual activity
– protect themselves from pregnancy
Why resiliency?
• Builds an intervention around resources
already existing in community
• Enhances
– acceptability and
– sustainability
–??Shows impact beyond ARH objectives??
Research rolls into activities in late
2001…
• Coordinated with Youth.now efforts in
Clarendon to enhance availability and quality
of youth-friendly services
• Build community “demand” while Youth.now
improves “supply”