Project Talanoa: Teens Choosing Healthy Lives

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Project Talanoa Teens Choosing
Healthy Lives

• Study supported by National Institutes of
  Health
• 1997 2003 R290NR04377

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Travel Migration

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U.S. Pacific Islanders
An Invisible Minority
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Identified Issues

• Elderly
• Unmet health care needs
• Loneliness/
• isolation

• Youth
• Teen pregnancy
• School drop-out
• Gang violence

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Project Talanoa

• Community-based, culturally specific
• program to decrease risky behaviors
• Longer term goal to increase self esteem and
  cultural pride among the adolescents

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Talanoa
frank expression without concealment in
face-to-face story-telling
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The talanoa process of building rebuilding
better understanding complementary relationship
is to be done openly, gradually step-by-step, as
sensibly and reasonably as possible over time and
space. Sitiveni Halapua
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Research Team

• Principal Investigator
• Barbara Burns McGrath
• Current Researchers
• Tevita O. Kaili
• Terrie Togafou
• Moli Victor Tuli

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Study Design

• Three phases over 5 years
• I. Conduct ethnographic research in the
  community
• II. Create targeted adolescent health program
• III. Provide program and evaluate

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Interviews

• 54 formal interviews
• Conducted over 3 years
• Each interview lasted 1 to 3 hours
• Mix of short answer responses and open-ended
  questions

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Intervention

• 4 units over 4 days (N 24, 12-15 years)
• 1. Cultural awareness
• 2. Health education
• 3. Love relationships
• 4. Family fono and closing ritual

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Seattle Public School, 2000 (middle high
school)

• Pacific Islanders have the highest rate of
  expulsions,
• suspensions,
• the poorest daily attendance,
• the lowest mean high school grade point average,
  and a
• high school dropout rate of 25

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Project Talanoa

• male 49
• female 51

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Birthplace
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Family Size
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Size of Household(N 40)

• Ranged from 2 to 12 persons
• Average size is 5 persons

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Education

• Less than 12th grade 18
• Completed high school 15
• Started college 36
• Completed college 19
• Started/completed grad school 12

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Involved in school activities?

• A little 23
• Somewhat 21
• Very 45

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Importance of education

• Somewhat 8
• Very 92

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Importance of speaking native language

• 84 feel it is Very Important

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Languages spoken at home

• Only Samoan/Tongan 15
• Only English 15
• Some of both 70

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Children and language

• Understand native language
• but do not speak it 23
• Bilingual 49

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Who do you socialize with?

• Other Pacific Islanders,
• mostly or all the time 57
• Equally PI and non-PI 39

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Consider yourself spiritual?
25
Attend religious services
26
Income
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Do you consider yourself

• Financially comfortable 40
• All right, but sometimes
  hard to make ends meet 45
• Struggle to meet basic needs 15

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General Health

• Rate health as less than good 40
• Lifestyle sedentary or mildly active 44
• Average weight 225 lbs.
• No health insurance 13

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Need more info on

• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• Nutrition
• Weight loss
• Parenting
• HIV/AIDS
• Safety and injury prevention

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Risks facing community?
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Dating

• Best age to start dating 21 years
• Do parents and children agree 77 say no
• Who is under more pressure
• Boys 8
• Girls 54
• Both equally 38

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Tapu (Taboo)

• Sacred
• Holy
• Prohibited
• Forbidden
• Restricted

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Mana

• Supernatural procreative power

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Cultural Values

• fakaapaapa
• ofa
• lotu
• family honor

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Hohoko (genealogy)

• Kainga (kin)
• Fonua (land)
• High school
• Kaingalotu (church-kin)

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Use of Legends

• Tangaloa
• Nafanua
• Maui

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Taboo Talk

• Science straight anatomy words
• Childhood baby talk
• Street teenage jargon
• Polynesian metaphoric words for
• sex and body parts

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Adolescent Health

• Address their concerns/questions
• Review anatomy, biology

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Specific Topics

• Drugs, alcohol, violence
• Teen pregnancy
• STDs, HIV/AIDS

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Popular Images Messages

• Television shows
• Songs
• Magazines

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Peer Pressure

• Healthy decision-making
• Increased self-esteem
• Take responsibility

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Fono

• Formal meeting to discuss important issue