Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Program EVIDENCE BASED PLAN PRACTICE ASSIGNMENT FELICIA N. DAVIS VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY

Teen Pregnancy(Problem Stated) Teen parenthood and school achievement have a close inverse relationship(Massat, Constable, McDonald, & Flynn,2009). The leading cause of high school drop out is childbirth within adolescent females. Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing continue to be major social and public health issues in the Unites States(Sieving, et al.,2011). Fifty percent of adolescents are sexually active, resulting in 750, ,000 pregnancies per year in females ages 15-19( Hutchison, 2008).

Answerable Questions According to Kelly, Raines, Stone, and Frey (2010), it is important to convert the need for information into answerable questions. 1.) What is the best measure or tool to identify at adolescents that are at- risk for teen pregnancy? (Assessment) 2.) What are the risk factors of a student that may be at risk of becoming a teen parent? (Descriptive) 3.) What is the best way to prevent teen pregnancy? ( Preventive) 4.) What are the empirically supported interventions for teen pregnancy?( Intervention)

Key Terms/Investigating Empirical Evidence  Key Terms : Teen pregnancy, prevention, risk factors, protective factors, interventions, collaboration.  Investigating Empirical Evidence: evidence for this intervention will be done efficiently and effectively by carefully reviewing Virginia Commonwealth University’s databases for peer reviewed articles and professional text, that mirror the target population and identified problem.

3 References providing peer reviewed research  Corcoran, J. (2000). Ecological factors associated with adolescent sexual activity. Social Work in Health Care, 30(4),  Green, H. H., & Documét, P. I. (2005). Parent peer education: Lessons learned from a community-based initiative for teen pregnancy prevention. Journal of Adolescent Health, 37(3, Supplement), S100- S107.doi:  Sieving, R. E., Resnick, M. D., Garwick, A. W., Bearinger, L. H., Beckman, K. J., Oliphant, J. A., Rush, K. R. (2011). A clinic-based, youth development approach to teen pregnancy prevention. American Journal of Health Behavior, 35(3), 346.

Targets of Intervention  Targets of Intervention: Both female and male high school students in grades 9 th -12 th

Proposed Type of Intervention Proposed Intervention: This intervention will involve including a curriculum, with parents consent and collaboration that will allow students to learn about teenage pregnancy and prevention, abstinence, STI’s and HIV/AIDS. This intervention will include displaying current statistics and videos that will prompt discussion and bring about awareness on these identified issues. This intervention will also allow students to share their beliefs, perceptions and attitudes towards these topics which can be evaluated for further implementation of this intervention.

Contextual Constraints  Parents giving permission for curriculum  Available funding for curriculum  The students being engaged in the curriculum  Identifying the appropriate time/scheduling for the curriculum

Evaluating Results  The program will be evaluated by pre-intervention and post intervention surveys. These surveys will allow each student to write a unique identifier at the top of each survey that will allow individuals evaluating the results to compare what the student has learned as well as their outcomes on semester to semester or a year to year basis. This will depend on which time frame is more feasible for the school. A group level design will be implemented to track students during the years they attend high school. Teenage pregnancy, high school drop out rates, and teenage beliefs and perceptions will be evaluated and compared. Utilizing a group level design will allow individuals to compare both male and females as a whole.

References Corcoran, J. (2000). Ecological factors associated with adolescent sexual activity. Social Work in Health Care, 30(4), Dimensions of human behavior. the changing life course (2008). In Hutchison E. D. (Ed.),. Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles, Calif. : Sage Publications. Green, H. H., & Documét, P. I. (2005). Parent peer education: Lessons learned from a community-based initiative for teen pregnancy prevention. Journal of Adolescent Health, 37(3, Supplement), S100-S107. doi: Kelly, M. S., Raines, J.C., Stone, S., & Frey, A. (2010). School social work: An evidence- informed framework for practice. New York: Oxford University Press. Massat, C.R., Constable, R., McDonald, S., & Flynn, J.P. (2009). School social work: Practice, policy, and research (7th ed.). Chicago: Lyceum Books, Inc. Sieving, R. E., Resnick, M. D., Garwick, A. W., Bearinger, L. H., Beckman, K. J., Oliphant, J. A.,... Rush, K. R. (2011). A clinic-based, youth development approach to teen pregnancy prevention. American Journal of Health Behavior, 35(3), 346.