School and Community Health

The AED Center School and Community Services' recent work in health includes projects to increase awareness and prevention of risk behaviors among high-risk populations. Much of this work is done in collaboration with AED's Center for Applied Behavioral and Evaluation Research. See also the "Health" page on AED's main website.

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.

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.

Educational Improvement and Reform | Health | Youth Development

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