 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Jane S. Mezoff, DrPH, CHES, Brenda Colley Gilbert, PhD, MSPH, and Mary Schauer, MSPH. Division of Reproductive Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway NE, MS K-22, Atlanta, GA 30341-3717
The Community Coalition Partnership Program for the Prevention of Teen Pregnancy uses the premise that youth who are experiencing success, are hopeful about their futures, and are supported by their communities, will postpone pregnancy. This unique program represents the first multi-site, community-wide, comprehensive effort to reduce teen pregnancy based on the youth development model. The 13 communities implemented programs based on local needs and assets, engaging coalitions, neighborhoods, community organizations, and governments.
The unit of change was at the community, not individual, level thus the outcome evaluation needed to focus on changes within each community and across the overall initiative. Using an approach from the CDC “Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health,” a plan for both cross-site and impact evaluation was developed with a logic model. The framework involved: engaging stakeholders; describing the program; focusing the evaluation design; gathering credible evidence; justifying conclusions; and sharing lessons learned.
Select research questions are: how did the program attempt to increase community capacity to address teen pregnancy prevention, what community characteristics contributed to the changes in policies, expenditures, and services available; what changes occurred in teen birth rates and other outcomes? The evaluation design involves gathering both qualitative and quantitative measures from various categories of key informants. Examples of survey indicators will be shared along with the strategy to capture program impact from different constituencies.
The approach used to evaluate this program may be valuable and relevant in the evaluation of other initiatives facing the challenges of using a community coalition model.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Community Collaboration
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.