Table 1. Home Health Party Results Home Health Parties: A peer education model that utilizes community social networks Sarabeth Shreffler, MPH, CHES Tammi Fleming, MPH, CHES Public/Private Ventures 2000 Market St., Suite 600, Philadelphia, PA 19103 PLAIN TALK BACKGROUND Plain Talk is a community-driven strategy that addresses adolescent reproductive health issues including teen pregnancy, STDs and HIV/AIDS. Developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Plain Talk model has proven effective in African American and Latino communities, by working to improve adult-teen communication and increase the quantity and quality of adolescent reproductive health services in the community. Public/Private Ventures serves as the national office for the Plain Talk program. Currently there are over 20 Plain Talk sites in the continental United States and Puerto Rico. WHAT IS A HOME HEALTH PARTY? The primary educational component of Plain Talk is implemented through Home Health Parties, which are small group workshops that educate adults and parents on reproductive health issues and teach them the importance of communicating this knowledge to their children and other adolescents in the community. The goal of Home Health Parties is to help recruit more Askable Adults in the community, which will, in turn, increase the accuracy and frequency of adult-teen communication about adolescent reproductive health issues. Home Health Parties are conducted by Walkers & Talkers or peer educators in the homes of community residents. Home Health Party hosts can be recruited through many outreach activities such as door-to-door solicitation, other Plain Talk events or through Home Health Parties that are hosted by other community residents. Once recruited, the Home Health Party hosts are responsible for inviting their neighbors and/or family members to participate, which utilizes and reinforces their social networks in the community. During the two-session Home Health Party format, four topics are covered: Reproductive Anatomy & Physiology, Birth Control Methods, STDs & HIV/AIDS, and Communication Strategies. Flipcharts, pamphlets and other educational materials used in the Home Health Parties are developed by ETR Associates. HOME HEALTH PARTY FORMAT STRATEGIES TO MONITOR AND ANALYZE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PEER EDUCATION Sites’ progress of the Plain Talk implementation is monitored through an online database system, where they enter information on the Home Health Parties conducted. Key points of measurement include the location of the Home Health Party and participant demographics. Pre/Post tests are administered to measure participant knowledge on the four Home Health Party topics before and after each session are completed. There are 2 different pre/post tests: 1) Reproductive Anatomy/Birth Control Measures 2) STD Transmission and Communication Skills Each test has 20 true/false questions that are graded as 1 point each. Sites also keep track of community forum presentations. These presentations can cover a wide array of topics such as the Community Mapping survey results or more specific reproductive health topics. Key points of measurement include the location and topic of the meeting and participant demographics. Walkers & Talkers are encouraged to keep observational journals that track experiences, observations, and interactions during community events, Home Health Parties and other outreach activities. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS The following are some preliminary findings from three anonymous Plain Talk sites that are in various implementation stages of the 3 year program cycle. Statistical significance is when the number is below 0.05. The significance score of 0.000 is the probability that the average improvement from pre-post test scores occurred by chance—that is, there is a 99.999% probability that the improvement in test results were due to the educational intervention of the Home Health Parties. Table 1. Home Health Party Results Site Total # of Home Health Parties Total # of duplicated participants Total # of unduplicated participants Avg # of participants at the 1st session Avg # of participants at the 2nd session Site 1 120 829 459 7 Site 2 110 606 316 6 5 Site 3 38 260 111 Session 1 Session 2 Activity Time (min) Activity Time (min) Introduction 5 Sign-In-Sheet Confidentiality Discussion Ground Rules 10 Ice-Breaker Activity Pre-Test Community Mapping Results 15 Lesson 3: STD Transmission and Prevention 25 Lesson 1: Anatomy & Reproductive System Lesson 4: Adult/Teen Communication Skills 40 Lesson 2: Birth Control Methods Questions and Answers Post-Test Raffle/Door Prizes ACTUAL PARTY TIME 2 hours Table 2. Reproductive Anatomy and Birth Control Measures Paired Samples T-Test Site N Mean Pre/Post Test Score Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean 95% Confidence Interval T Score DF Sig. (2-tailed) Lower Upper Site 1 404 13.8/17.5 4.37077 0.21745 -4.12798 -3.27301 -17.017 403 0.000* Site 2 316 14.5/17.2 2.57904 0.14508 -3.02279 -2.45189 -18.868 315 Site 3 98 16.1/18.5 3.07703 0.31083 -3.08629 -1.85248 -7.945 97 Table 3. STD Transmission and Communication Skills Paired Samples T-Test Site N Mean Pre/Post Test Score Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean 95% Confidence Interval T Score DF Sig. (2-tailed) Lower Upper Site 1 390 13.8/16.8 3.72338 0.18854 -3.38351 -2.64213 -15.980 389 0.000* Site 2 293 13.9/15.4 2.13825 0.12492 -1.77145 -1.27974 -12.213 292 Site 3 106 15.9/18.0 3.42939 0.33309 -2.80197 -1.48105 -6.429 105 For more information visit www.plaintalk.org