The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #69818

BA Laris, MPH, Research Department, ETR Associates, 113 Prospect, Long Beach, CA 90803, 562-433-6391, balaris@mindspring.com, Adam Moylan, BS, School Health Programs Department, ETR Associates/San Francisco Unified School District, 5616 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94121, and T Bascom, RN, MA, School Health Programs Department, San Francisco Unified School District, 1515 Quintara Ave, San Francisco, CA 94116.

This paper describes the association between participation in formal school-based after school programming and self-reported health risk behaviors and resiliency. Analyses were conducted on the results of a statewide health survey, the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) administered to fifth graders (October 2002) and middle school students (March 2003) in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). SFUSD included additional items on the survey related to student participation in after school programs to compare the impact of the programs both within schools and across the district. The CHKS survey was administered to a district sample of 24 elementary schools and 19 middle schools. Of the schools sampled, 75% and 89% respectively, have after school programs administered through the School Health Programs Department of SFUSD. All of the SFUSD programs share a vision of meeting the academic, social, and emotional needs of all youth and building youth confidence and competencies. Youth participate in both academic and enrichment activities each day. Two of the strongest predictors of substance abuse and other risk behaviors are academic difficulties in school and unsupervised time after school. The hypothesis of this study was that students who participated in district administered after school programs would report fewer health-risk behaviors and greater protective factors. Initial findings from student pretests-posttests administered to participants in the after school programs showed positive trends for several safety and resiliency measures. Findings from the CHKS data will provide a more complete picture of the impact of standardized after school programs in SFUSD.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to:
• 1.Articulate the factors linking after school programs to student health risk behavior.
• 2.Analyze the feasibility of using a statewide survey to measure program outcomes.
• 3.Identify evaluation activities to measure student level outcomes in after school programs.

Keywords: School-Based Programs, Adolescent Health

Related Web page: www.etr.org

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.