Bianca Reveruzzi

In Their Own Words: Adolescents Strategies to Prevent Friend's Risk Taking.

Injury is a significant public health problem among youth. A primary cause of adolescent injury is risk-taking behavior, including alcohol use, interpersonal violence and road-related risks. A novel approach to prevention is building on friendships by encouraging adolescents to intervene into their friends’ risk taking. Fifty-one early adolescents (13-14 years) and 44 older adolescents (16-17 years) from two Australian schools participated in focus groups, aiming to explore stories of intervening. Findings showed preference for talking to friends; however, participants also spoke to adults, monitored friends’ behavior and planned ahead. Close friendships, perceived harm, and self-efficacy influenced the likelihood of intervening. These findings have implications for the design of risk and injury prevention programs, by suggesting strategies to promote adolescents’ communicative ability for risk reduction. The findings also highlight the language and dialogue of adolescents and suggest that methods for increasing intervening behavior should focus on building social connectedness and increasing self-efficacy.

School-Based First Aid Training Programs: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND This review examines the breadth of first aid training delivered to school students and the components that are age appropriate to adolescents. METHOD Eligible studies included school-based first aid interventions targeting students aged between 10 and 18 years. Online databases were searched, for peer-reviewed publications available as at August 2014. RESULTS A total of 20 journal articles were relevant to the review. Research supported programs with longer durations (3 hours or more). Most programs taught resuscitation alone and few included content that was context-specific and relevant to the target group. The training experience of the facilitator did not appear to impact on student outcomes. Incorporating both practical and didactic components was found to be an important factor in delivering material and facilitating the retention of knowledge. Educational resources and facilitator training were found to be common features of effective programs. CONCLUSIONS The review supports first aid in school curriculum and provides details of key components pertinent to design of school-based first aid programs. The findings suggest that first aid training may have benefits wider than the uptake and retention of knowledge and skills. There is a need for future research, particularly randomized controlled trials to aid in identifying best practice approaches.

Reaching high-risk young adolescents: a process evaluation of a school based injury prevention programme

Background Adolescent injury is a serious public health concern. Adolescents classified as high-risk are a population most vulnerable to harm from injury due to increased engagement in risk-taking behaviour. Aims/Objectives/Purpose The aim of this research is to evaluate responsiveness of high-risk young Australian adolescents (13–14 years) to a curriculum based injury prevention programme. Methods Fifteen schools implemented the Skills for Preventing Injury in Youth (SPIY) programme in April to June 2012. Focus groups were conducted with a random sample of teachers after the conclusion of SPIY in July 2012.Teachers classified the risk-level of students based on perceptions of student engagement in risk-taking behaviour (eg, alcohol, violence, transport risks) and reported on dose, adherence, quality of process and participant responsiveness. Results/Outcomes The findings of teacher focus groups are presented regarding perceptions of the implementation of the curriculum based injury prevention programme and perceived responsiveness for high-risk young adolescents. Programme strengths and weaknesses are reported in the context of meeting the needs of high-risk young adolescents and the amount of material high-risk young adolescents received in line with the SPIY curriculum. Significance/Contribution to the Field Teachers provide insight into responsiveness of high-risk young adolescents for a curriculum based injury prevention programme as well as the way it is implemented for high-risk young adolescents. Findings of this research have the potential to enhance implementation of school based interventions for high-risk young adolescents who are still participating in mainstream schooling and maximise programme effect and sustainability.