Overview
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School-Linked Reproductive Health Services (The Self Center)
Investigators: Laurie Schwab-Zabin, Janet B. Hardy, & Rosalie Streett
Publication Date: May 01, 2016
About This Product
Originally launched as a partnership between junior and senior high schools and a neighborhood clinic, this program combines education, counseling, and reproductive services into a comprehensive intervention for youth. Services are provided by a team of nurses and social workers who divide their time between the schools and clinic. School-based components include: (1) at least one presentation to each homeroom class per semester to introduce the program and begin discussing values clarification, decision making, and reproductive health; ( 2) informal discussion groups that arise as students seek advice and information from staff on such themes as pubertal development, drug use, and parenting; and (3) individual counseling sessions, available as needed, with a social worker. At the clinic, reproductive and extended counseling services are provided, and referrals are given for teens requiring medical care. Staff encourage students waiting for appointments to participate in discussion groups and examine educational videos and pamphlets. A three-year field test of the intervention was conducted in a low-income neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland, where elevated rates of sexual activity and teen pregnancy had been recorded. Compared to their peers attending comparable schools, students in the target schools showed reduced levels of sexual activity and (among the sexually active) more effective use of contraception. These effects were greatest among the younger, sexually active girls and boys whose use of contraception was minimal at the start of the program. A delay in the onset of sexual activity was also recorded among abstinent youth.
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Planning & Pre-Implementation
- Materials
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Implementation
Product Details
- Education, counseling and reproductive services
- Class presentations and discussion groups
- Individual counseling sessions