The presentation will discuss use of focus groups to obtain data to tailor sexual health program approaches. We conducted 4 focus groups of middle and high school-aged youth in our program areas to identify prevalent sexual beliefs, attitudes and behaviors of Hispanic border community adolescents Each focus group comprised 8-12 participants. Such data were used to tailor the sexual heath education program implementation and evaluation and make them relevant to our program populations.
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1. Best Practices for Developing Appropriate Sexual Health Programs for Border Hispanic Adolescents in Texas Sheetal Malhotra, MBBS, MS Rebecca Palacios, PhD Katherine Hendricks, MD, MPH&TM
1. Weinberger DR. 2005. The Adolescent Brain… The human body changes from the moment of conception until birth and then continues to change throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Adolescence, which means “to grow up” in Latin, is a period of transition between childhood and adulthood. Many new thoughts, feelings, relationships, and responsibilities are experienced on the journey to becoming a fully mature adult. Puberty is a time of sexual maturation for boys and girls when they develop the ability to produce children. Before puberty, both girls and boys gradually grow taller and bigger. Then the brain produces the hormones that cause the dramatic changes during puberty – - rapid growth and sexual maturation. When this transition is complete, the reproductive organs (gonads) are fully developed and the sexually mature person is capable of reproduction. Once the sexual maturation process is complete, additional intellectual, emotional, and social development is necessary before a person is mature enough to participate in a successful marriage and practice responsible parenthood. This development continues until the mid-20s, when the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for mature judgment, matures. References: Weinberger DR, Elvevag B, Giedd J. The Adolescent Brain: A Work in Progress . Washington, DC: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy; June 2005. Available at: http://www.teenpregnancy.org/resources/reading/pdf/BRAIN.pdf. Accessed September 15, 2005.
For example, we did not need to ask our students about oral sex in the surveys, because most of the participants of our focus groups had told us that students had vaginal sex before oral sex. So in the sexual activity timeline vaginal sex was occurring before oral sex and it was unnecessary to ask about oral sex as a precursor for vaginal sex. Question on anal sex only asked at high school level because students tend to try anal sex as an experimental behavior after they have had vaginal sex. Anal sex age estimates were closer to high school age groups and not younger age groups. Tailored names and situations to target communities. Similarly, questions on having sex with boyfriend/girlfriend and casual sex at parties was addressed in the evaluation instrument. Piloted final survey for language and ease of understanding. Eg, “well off”’ vs “rich”
For example, we did not need to ask our students about oral sex in the surveys, because most of the participants of our focus groups had told us that students had vaginal sex before oral sex. So in the sexual activity timeline vaginal sex was occurring before oral sex and it was unnecessary to ask about oral sex as a precursor for vaginal sex. Question on anal sex only asked at high school level because students tend to try anal sex as an experimental behavior after they have had vaginal sex. Anal sex age estimates were closer to high school age groups and not younger age groups. Tailored names and situations to target communities. Similarly, questions on having sex with boyfriend/girlfriend and casual sex at parties was addressed in the evaluation instrument. Piloted final survey for language and ease of understanding. Eg, “well off”’ vs “rich”