Teen pregnancy is an area of focus for many public health professionals due to the public health and economic challenges that oppress the mother and child. Poor health outcomes and lower educational and economic achievements as a result of adolescent parenting (Svoboda, Shaw, Barth & Bright, 2012) have triggered the establishment of prevention programs aimed at lowering teen pregnancy rates. As a result of successful prevention strategies and increased contraceptive use, teen pregnancy birth rates for women between the ages of 15 to 19 years old has decreased to a historic low in the United States’ general adolescent population (Hamilton & Ventura, 2012). However, teen pregnancy rate in the U.S. is still one of highest amoung industrialized
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Many sexual health education classes to promote pregnancy avoidance occur during school, however with foster youth many are shuffled between schools and the foster care system leading to gaps in education and loss access to resources for reproductive health (Boonstra, 2011). This means foster youth need a prevention program aimed at reaching them outside of the traditional school setting and focuses on risk factors that are unique to foster youth. The model that incorporates these requirements is the Social Ecological Model (SEM) by providing a framework that addresses multiple levels of influence on foster youth teen pregnancy. SEM includes prevention strategies that target individual, interpersonal, organizational, community and public policy levels (McLeroy, Bibeau, Steckler & Glanze, 1988), to provide a broad-based sustainable prevention …show more content…
The individual level will be addressed by educating foster youth in peer groups through the use of modules that address the importance of using contraceptives, the consequences of having unprotected sex, what resources are available and how to access them, options if you become pregnant, build effective communication with sexual partners about contraceptive use and other pressures placed on teens with regards to sexual activity. The modules will be taught by trained mentors who were foster youth over a five week period to foster a connection with the participants and ensure they have a chance to complete the program before being moved around in the foster care system. Caseworkers and foster parents often feel unprepared to talk with foster youth about sex and pregnancy prevention (Boonstra, 2011), therefore it’s imperative they receive education on discussing these issues with foster youth to create an open dialogue and support individual level strategies at an interpersonal
Many sexual health education classes to promote pregnancy avoidance occur during school, however with foster youth many are shuffled between schools and the foster care system leading to gaps in education and loss access to resources for reproductive health (Boonstra, 2011). This means foster youth need a prevention program aimed at reaching them outside of the traditional school setting and focuses on risk factors that are unique to foster youth. The model that incorporates these requirements is the Social Ecological Model (SEM) by providing a framework that addresses multiple levels of influence on foster youth teen pregnancy. SEM includes prevention strategies that target individual, interpersonal, organizational, community and public policy levels (McLeroy, Bibeau, Steckler & Glanze, 1988), to provide a broad-based sustainable prevention …show more content…
The individual level will be addressed by educating foster youth in peer groups through the use of modules that address the importance of using contraceptives, the consequences of having unprotected sex, what resources are available and how to access them, options if you become pregnant, build effective communication with sexual partners about contraceptive use and other pressures placed on teens with regards to sexual activity. The modules will be taught by trained mentors who were foster youth over a five week period to foster a connection with the participants and ensure they have a chance to complete the program before being moved around in the foster care system. Caseworkers and foster parents often feel unprepared to talk with foster youth about sex and pregnancy prevention (Boonstra, 2011), therefore it’s imperative they receive education on discussing these issues with foster youth to create an open dialogue and support individual level strategies at an interpersonal