School and Community Health

The AED Center for School and Community Services has undertaken numerous programs, in both schools and communities, to help youth make healthy choices and avoid risky behaviors.

A-I | J-R | S-Z

Bright Futures Evaluation (1998-2002)

An evaluation of Bright Futures, a middle-grades project in Monroe County, NY designed to reduce the percentage of adolescents initiating sexual intercourse. AED also enhanced the abstinence curriculum, Managing the Pressures Before Marriage (based on Postponing Sexual Involvement) by adding student-parent homework assignments.

Bronx Family Planning Study (2003)

This study entailed site visits to the family planning providers in the Bronx serving the highest numbers of adolescent clients. The purpose of the study, conducted for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), Bronx District Public Health Office, was to assess the extent to which these providers offered adolescent-friendly family planning services as defined by best practices found in the literature. This project contributed to the development and implementation of the DOHMH Healthy Teens Initiative.

Duramed EC User Survey (2007-08)

In this project, AED seeks to learn about women who have used Plan B emergency contraception subsequent to its availability as a dual-label product in August, 2006. AED is seeking to gain a better understanding about women's knowledge of and attitudes about Plan B, the sources of information about the product they use, women's experience with access including interactions with pharmacists and health care providers, and their use of the product and subsequent reproductive health care. The target population for the study is women in the US, ages 18 and older, who used Plan B in 2007 or 2008. Links to a web-based survey will be posted on many websites. The survey will be conducted two times-once in October-November 2007 and again in February-March 2008.

Emergency Contraception and Adolescents: Awareness, Access and Appropriate Use (1997-2003)

A comprehensive technical assistance and dissemination project to implement, evaluate, and disseminate information about a model to increase awareness of, access to, and appropriate use of emergency contraception (EC) by adolescents. Project activities included developing and disseminating adolescent-friendly EC materials; training health care providers, pharmacists, educators, and staff in community-based agencies; and developing an EC tool kit, disseminated widely to schools, school-based clinics, and CBOs, both domestically and internationally. Building Emergency Contraception Awareness Among Adolescents: A Tool Kit for Schools and Community-Based Organizations (PDF).

Promoting Emergency Contraception (EC) Access: Using Pharmacy Surveys to Raise Awareness and Stimulate Change (2005-06)

This project continues AED's work in emergency contraception, with a focus on pharmacies-a vital EC distribution point. AED is assisting groups across the country in conducting surveys to assess availability of EC in pharmacies, and pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, practices, and training needs. AED is also helping community-based organizations (CBOs) strengthen collaborations between potential allies and increase public awareness about EC. The major thrust of AED's work is to build capacity of CBO staff to use survey planning and data collection to mobilize groups in support of EC and use results to strengthen collaborations between potential allies and increase public awareness about EC. This work will build on AED's eight years of experience working on access to emergency contraception in New York City and State, California, and nationally.

Afterschool Education | Educational Improvement and Reform | Health | Gender | Youth Development

     Photo Credits:
     The Amber Charter School,
     New York, New York;
     Michigan Middle Start;
     and the Texas Migrant Council.