Transcript Document 7760514

Positive Choices, Positive Futures
Helping Parents Help Teens
Washoe County District Health Department
Kelli Seals, MPH
Health Educator II
County Demographics
Washoe County
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Includes Reno, Sparks, and rural
northwestern Nevada
Only 6,600 square miles, but second
most populated county and city in state
Population of 396,844, with dramatic
growth expected by 2026
14% of population is adolescents; and
13% is Spanish-speaking
Community influences include gaming,
recreation/tourism, and poor health
Responding to the Problem
Adolescent Sexual Risk-Taking
• 48% of high schoolers in Washoe County
are sexually active
• 35% did not use a condom; and 12% used
no contraceptive method
• Teen pregnancy rate is 76 per 1,000
females; teen birth rate is 42 per 1,000
• Chlamydia rate is 7 times higher in
adolescents; gonorrhea in teens increased
70%, and HIV increased 400%
• Latino youth disproportionately
represented in both teen pregnancy and
STD rates
Responding to the Problem
Parent-Child Communication
• Teens say parents are the strongest
influences on decisions about sex
• 87% of teens say communicating with
parents makes it easier to postpone
sexual activity
• 37% of teens say they’ve never had a
conversation about sex with a parent
• Interventions to enhance parent-child
communication can help teens reduce risk
• Few interventions exist in Washoe County;
and none are in Spanish
Responding to the Problem
A Proven Intervention
• Positive Choices, Positive Futures (PCPF)
• Goal: increase parental knowledge of
and attitudes about adolescent children
• Inspire parents to have conversations
about sexual activity with their teens
• Covers adolescent development,
sexuality, safer sexual practices, and
family morals and values
• Provides factual information and
strategies for conversations
• Outcome: Parental communication leads
to lessened adolescent sexual risk-taking
Collaboration
Planning and Preparation
• Nevada State Health Division &
Nevada Department of Education
– Financial support of program in
Southern NV
– Interest in supporting program in
Northern NV
• Area Health Education Center of
Southern Nevada
– Sharing of materials and expertise
– Training
Collaboration
Identifying stakeholders
• Established partnerships with
youth service organizations
• Collaborations within Health
Department programs
• Identified agencies &
organizations that expressed
interest in collaboration
• Special outreach to
organizations reaching the
Hispanic community
Implementation
• Contacted organizations that could reach
parents through current infrastructure
• Provided PCPF training and solicited
agencies to participate in program
implementation
Implementation
Partners
• Allocated $1000 per partner
agency to cover costs to
implement
• Subcontracted with 4 agencies
to provide program
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Hispanic service agency
Planned Parenthood
Community service agency
Parent and child agency
Implementation
Health Department provided:
• Training
• Materials for classes
– incentives
– parent folders/brochures
– presentation supplies
• Technical Assistance
– flyers for recruiting parents
– assistance with classes
– additional training
• Evaluation materials
Agencies agreed to:
• Use funds to facilitate
implementation of at least 2
PCPF classes
– staff costs
– food for participants
– additional materials and
incentives
– childcare
• Participate in reporting and
evaluation requests
Phases of Implementation
Phase One
• Agencies (4) were trained and implemented
program with no designated method of recruiting
parents
– Two agencies struggled with recruitment of parents
Phase Two
• Two agencies (one from phase one) implemented
program with designated method of recruiting
parents
– Captured Audience
– Tupperware Approach
Sustainability
• Engaging state level health and education
departments to provide resources
• Encouraging partners to apply for funding by
providing, materials, evaluation results and
technical assistance for future proposals
• Continued buy-in and action of internal HD staff
(HIV, STD, & Family Planning)
Sustainability
• Excitement about program extended to
new community partners including faithbased organizations
• Sharing program with other stakeholders
in Nevada including school nurses,
counselors, and other participants in
annual Adolescent Sexual Health Summit
• Keeping awareness of the program alive
internally and externally
• Ability to provide program within
existing services and leveraging
resources
Outcomes
• 94 parents participated in the PCPF
classes
• 45% of these were Spanish speaking
• Majority of parents attending were
mothers
• Program coordinators reported early
evening being best time to schedule
class
• Parents reported that the class
content and a family member or
friend motivated them most to attend
the class
Outcomes
Survey results
• 91% reported learning “a lot more” about the way teens
develop and mature
• 91% reported learning “a lot more” about communicating
with teens
• 84% reported an intent to change the interactions they
have with their children based on what they learned
• 100% of parents reported that they would participate in
another class like PCPF if given
the opportunity
Note: Small survey size – only those in Phase Two
of program completed survey
Challenges & Lessons Learned
• Communication
• Agency contracts
• Timeframe for gathering
materials
• Evaluation
– Type of evaluator
– Process vs. outcome
evaluation
Successes & Lessons Learned
• Partnerships formed with the
community agencies were very
positive
• Cross-program coordination within the
Health Dept
• Experience with outside evaluator was
positive
• Interest in program is significant
among both parents and community
organizations
Contact Information
Kelli Seals
Washoe County District Health Department
(775) 325-8244
[email protected]