Unintended Teen Pregnancy, HIV, and STD Prevention Efforts

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Unintended Teen Pregnancy, HIV, and STD
Prevention Efforts

• Strengthening Communication and Collaboration
  Between Agencies

CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health
(DASH)
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Presentation Overview

• The issues HIV, STDs, unintended teen pregnancy
• Why collaboration and communication between
  agencies is critical
• Benefits of strengthening collaboration and
  communication
• Common strategies
• Collaboration in action
• Moving toward collaboration

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Presentation Objectives

• Increase awareness of how HIV, STDs, and
  unintended teen pregnancy have overlapping causes
  and prevention factors
• Encourage agencies to collaborate in addressing
  these issues
• Benefits of working within a coalition
• Outline strategies to build and sustain a
  coalition
• Show collaboration in action
• Stress the importance of evaluation and
  assessment of a coalition before, during, and
  after its life span

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Presentation Overview (Cont.)

• These slides may be used as a template which
  individual users can modify to create their own
  presentation
• This may include
• Adding STD, HIV, and unintended pregnancy
  statistics for a specific state
• Including local, state, or regional resources and
  referrals

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The Issues

• Data and Statistics

STDs
HIV
Unintended Teen Pregnancy
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Each Year, American Youth Experience

• Nearly 900,000 teen pregnancies
• Approximately 9 million new cases of STDs
• An estimated 15,000 new cases of HIV among those
  aged 15-24

• Sources U.S. Teenage Pregnancy Statistics, Alan
  Guttmacher Institute, 2004, and Weinstock, H.,
• et al., Sexually Transmitted Diseases in American
  Youth Incidence and Prevalence Estimates 2000

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Despite of Widespread Efforts to Delay and
Discourage Sexual Activity Among Young People,
the Reality Is That One in Five Americans Have
Sex Before Their 15th Birthday. Source 14
and Under The Sexual Behavior of Young
Adolescents, National Campaign to Prevent
Teen Pregnancy, 2003
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The Issues

• A Closer Look

STDs
HIV
Unintended Teen Pregnancy
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STDs

• More than 9 million cases of STDs occur each year
  in young people aged 15-24
• Half of all American youth will contract an STD
  by age 25
• Rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea are higher in
  females aged 15-19 than in any other group
• Lifetime medical costs associated with STDs in
  young people are estimated to be at least 6.5
  billion
• Sources Weinstock, H., et al., and Chesson,
  H.W., et al., The estimated direct medical cost
  of sexually transmitted diseases among American
  youth, 2000

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STDs Nearly Half of All New Cases Are Diagnosed
In Youth
Youth are only 25 of the sexually active
population
Source Weinstock, H., et al.
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STDsIn 2000, lifetime medical costs associated
with STDs in young people are estimated to be at
least

• 6.5 Billion

• Source
• Chesson, H.W., et al.

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HIV
One-quarter of new HIV cases in youth are among
those 21 and under
Sources NIAID 2002, NCHS 2002, CDC Surveillance
Data, and Weinstock, H., et al.
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HIV

• HIV infections are especially increasing among
  young women and youth of color
• 63 of HIV infections reported among 13-19 year
  olds are among women
• African Americans account for 67 of HIV cases
  reported among 13-19 year olds

Source CDC Surveillance Data 1999, and
Weinstock, H., et al.
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Unintended Teen Pregnancy

• Approximately 900,000 teen pregnancies in the
  U.S. Each year
• Aged 14 and under 20,000 pregnancies
• Poor and low-income teens make up a
  disproportionate number of teen pregnancies
• Although between 1991-2001 teen birth rates
  declined for every ethnic group, rates for
  African American and Hispanic women continue to
  be higher than those for other groups

Source U.S. Teenage Pregnancy Statistics, Alan
Guttmacher Institute, 2004
15
Pregnancy and Birth Rates for 2000 Among Women
Aged 15-19
Source Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2004
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Benefits of Strengthening Collaboration and
Communication
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Benefits of Collaboration

• Inclusive
• Provides a springboard for communication among
  researchers, policymakers, and practitioners
• Creates a forum for professionals to develop a
  shared vision for addressing HIV, other STDs, and
  unintended teen pregnancy
• Expands the base of support for developing
  effective policies and programs

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Benefits of Collaboration

• Practical
• Promotes awareness that many of the same risk
  factors contribute to HIV, other STDs, and
  unintended teen pregnancy and the same protective
  factors may prevent them
• Contributes to effective strategies to promote
  public health

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Benefits of Collaboration

• Cost Effective
• Increases the pool of available resources to
  address these topics by bringing new players to
  the table
• Conserves resources (from a programmatic
  standpoint), because it is more efficient to
  address HIV, STDs and unintended teen pregnancy
  simultaneously rather than individually

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Common Strategies for Collaboration

• Action Steps

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Action Steps Front End Planning

• Collaborations require needs assessments and gap
  analysis as part of preliminary planning
• Be clear about what the coalition wants to
  accomplish
• Think about the resources needed to do the job
  and compare that with what the members bring to
  the table

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Action Steps Front End Planning (Cont.)

• Coalition building involves identifying
  agencies that would be good members of the
  alliance and bringing them together. Members
  should join for the right reasons and offer value
  to the collaborative

• Diversity strive for members who bring
  different perspectives, skills, and expertise
• Build a leadership structure do so in a
  cooperative fashion that includes representation
  from each member
• Conflict resolution decide up front how this
  will be handled. Set ground rules that are
  incorporated into your bylaws

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Action Steps Crafting a Governing Document

• Mission statement
• Developing bylaws
• Plan of action

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Action Steps Mission Statement

• This is the vision shared by the
  collaborative that defines what you seek to
  accomplish. Write down a concise, clear
  statement of your goals

• Use common goals for example, do prospective
  members serve the same populations?
• Develop shared objectives this helps members to
  buy in to the collaboration and helps to define
  who you are and what you will do

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Action Steps Bylaws

• Guidelines and procedures for the coalition
• May include
• A description of the membership
• What types of agencies are involved? What is
  their common thread?
• List of officers
• e.g., Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Treasurer
• Finances
• Sources of revenue and fund-raising
• How are funds accounted for? Who has oversight?

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Action Steps Bylaws (Cont.)

• Frequency, time, and location of meetings
• Conflict resolution
• How will disagreements be resolved?
• Specifics about decision making
• How many representatives from each agency may
  vote? Are decisions reached by a simple majority
  of those voting?

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Action Steps Plan of Action

• Create a plan that considers both your goals
  and the available resources of your
  collaborative, as identified in the needs
  assessment

• Objectives must be specific and realistic given
  the resources available
• Establish time frames for the completion of
  specific tasks

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Collaboration in Action
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Collaboration in Action

• Communication and process evaluation
• Involving the community
• Summary evaluation

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Collaboration in Action

• Communication and process
  evaluation

• The evaluation process is ongoing, not something
  to be done only at the end build this into the
  coalitions work plan
• This allows you to assess how well long- and
  short-term goals are being met
• Periodically review how members network and
  interact to see who may be isolated or on the
  outside

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Collaboration in Action

• Involving the community

• Educate policymakers
• e.g., highlight the issues by providing HIV, STD
  and unintended teen pregnancy data for your city,
  state, or region
• Educate and engage parents
• Identify prominent organizations and individuals
  gatekeepers in the community where the
  collaboration works

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Collaboration in Action

• Summary evaluation

• When the collaboration has run its course,
  evaluate your efforts
• What worked? What didnt work so well?
• Partners can work together on data collection
• Others will benefit from your perspective as they
  build coalitions

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Moving Toward Collaboration
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What Does It Require?

• Creative thinking
• Flexibility
• Exploring common ground
• Examining current programming gaps
• Commitment

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What Is the Payoff?

• Efficiency
• Energizing effect of being part of a larger team
• Opening lines of communication leads to expanded
  awareness of different approaches to common
  problems
• Lighten the load through shared responsibilities

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Those in Public Health Work Hard and Work Smart
Never more so than when working
TOGETHER!

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For more on building and maintaining effective
coalitions see the booklet Essential Tips for
Successful Collaboration, developed by a joint
work group on school-based teen pregnancy,
comprised of 8 national organizations, funded by
DASH

CDC DASH http//www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/index.ht
m
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• The National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) is
  a partnership of public health professionals
  dedicated to the prevention of STDs. NCSD
  provides dynamic leadership to strengthen STD
  programs. We advocate for effective policies,
  strategies, and sufficient resources and strive
  to increase awareness of the medical and social
  impact of STD.
• 1275 K Street, NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC
  20005
• www.ncsddc.org

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• The American Social Health Association (ASHA) is
  dedicated to improving the health of individuals,
  families, and communities, with a focus on
  preventing sexually transmitted diseases and
  their harmful consequences.
• P.O. Box 13827, RTP, NC 27709
• www.ashastd.org