David C. Wiley

Assessing the Health Behaviors of Texas College Students.

The authors of this study examined the health behaviors of Texas college students, using a telephone survey to assess 1,408 randomly selected students enrolled in 23 institutions of higher education. Eighty-nine percent of those surveyed had consumed alcohol at least once, and nearly one third considered themselves regular smokers. More than 81% reported they had had sexual intercourse at least once, and one fourth of the sexually active men had had more than 10 partners. However, of the 1,148 students who were sexually active, only 40.1% reported using a condom at last intercourse. Almost 59% of the students surveyed had never been taught about HIV or AIDS in any of their college classes. Given the large sample size and the random methods employed, the authors suggest that the results of this study can be used to establish a baseline of information regarding health behaviors of college students that can be extrapolated to college populations across the country.

Training, Perceptions, and Practices of Elementary Educators regarding Health Instruction

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the status of health education programming in elementary schools in Texas. Six hundred and forty teachers in six school districts were surveyed, with 286 (44.6 percent) usable surveys being completed. Results indicated that 115 teachers (40.2 percent) have never taken a formal health education course in college, while 126 respondents (44.3 percent) had taken only one course. Only 75 teachers (26.3 percent) had ever attended a health education inservice workshop. Yet, 223 teachers (79.8 percent)felt “competent/qualified” to teach health education. Teachers felt that development of positive self-esteem was the most important topic to teach, but only 126 teachers (44.3 percent) actually developed a formal lesson on the topic. One focus of the comprehensive school health education model is sequential K-12 programming. Elementary teachers are expected to play a critical role in the impact of this model, yet few of the respondents in this study had actually had ...

Assessing Healthy Behavior Recognition in Preschool, Head Start Children

Abstract The purpose of this study was to assess the healthy behavior recognition in Head Start, preschool children through picture identification. One hundred and seventy-two children, in seven Head Start centers, in three counties in Central Texas participated in the study. The testing instrument was a booklet containing 30 questions, with three pictures per question, of which one picture represented a healthy behavior. Answers were recorded on score sheets by trained observers. Analyses were conducted on differences between gender, ethnicity, and age. Seventy-nine males (46 percent) and 93 females (54 percent) completed the project. The mean correct response for males was 15.9 items, with females averaging 16.2 correct items. Fifty-one three-year-olds (29.7 percent), 90 four-year-olds (52.3 percent), and 31 five-year-olds (18 percent) participated in the project. The mean correct response for the three-, four-, and five-year-old subjects was 10.9, 17.7, and 19.6, respectively. Twenty-six percent (n = 4...

Conceptualizing and Implementing a Professional Development Pilot Program for Public School Teachers to Strengthen Sexuality Education

Professional development and training efforts are essential components of effective and evidence-based approaches for educators to teach sexuality education. Public school teachers, with and without health professional preparation, are often assigned to teach sexuality units with limited training. Although sexuality-based curriculum trainings have been available to educators, they are rarely implemented for school teachers at the local, regional, or state levels. This article presents a framework for planning and implementing a professional development opportunity for public school teachers occurring outside the school setting. The authors describe a professional training, called the Sexuality Education Academy, developed to assist Texas school health professionals working with students in grades kindergarten through 12 to understand the importance of using evidence-based tools, resources, and practices in their classroom regarding sexuality education. The Sexuality Education Academy approach holds promise for professional development efforts in sexuality education, in addition to evaluating interventions to ensure accurate implementation of evidence-based sexuality education.

Addressing Sexual Health in Florida Youth Improving Communication, Collaboration, and Consensus Building Among Providers

The purpose of this article is to describe (a) the Finding Common Ground Summits conducted in Florida during 2005-2006 with the objective of improving communication, collaboration, and consensus building among organizations interested in reducing sexual health risk behaviors among youth; (b) the attitudes of Summit participants; and (c) the impact of this exploratory initiative. The 196 participants, invited to participate by the Florida Department of Education, included individuals working in both school and community human sexuality education and promotion programs. Participants completed an initial survey just before the one-day Summits identifying attitudes and beliefs toward sexuality education. They were sent a Web survey approximately 6 months after the Summit to assess outcomes (n = 64). Frequencies and MANOVAs were conducted to assess differences on the attitude scale items between those identifying as supporters of abstinence-only, abstinence-based, and comprehensive sexuality education. The majority of participants believed sexuality education should be taught, gained an understanding of providers with varying philosophies, and wanted to continue collaborative efforts. This initial pilot project was successful in improving communication, collaboration, and consensus building among sexuality education providers, although future efforts are needed and encouraged as risky sexual behaviors among youth remain high.

Using science to improve the sexual health of America's youth.

a s i f s e p p For decades, sexuality education policies and practices in the U.S. have been a mixture of science, morality, politics, and the personal opinions of key ecisionmakers. Far too often, science has fared dismally hen policy, practice, and curriculum decisions were ade in state legislatures and local school board meetngs. The new research focusing on the meta-analyses of roup-based comprehensive risk reduction (CRR) and bstinence education interventions is one additional tool n the toolkit of those who want to use science, not ideolgy, to address the sexual risk-taking of America’s youth. The impact of poor and limited policies regarding sex ducation and access to contraception has far-reaching mpact in American society. For example, the U.S. teen regnancy rate is more than six times that of the Netherands, four times that of Germany, and three times that of rance. Similar statistics are found when examining rates f HIV/AIDS diagnoses as well. Rates in the U.S. are six imes greater than in Germany, three times greater than n the Netherlands, and 1.5 times greater than in France. n addition, youth in U.S. are significantly less likely to se contraception than European youth. Although it is not suggested that any one sex education policy or curriculum will result in a significant decline in these statistics, having good evidence-based policies and practices is a positive first step in creating a climate where sexuality is discussed as a normal part of the human experience. In addition, using science helps address sexual risk-taking by teens as a public health issue and not a morality debate.

Elementary School Teachers' Perspectives on Health Instruction: A Commentary

There has long been the desire by health educators for formal health instruction to begin much earlier than the oft-required secondary school health education course. Given the wealth of literature on the preschool origins of health behaviors by children, it is reasonable to suggest that health instruction should take a more prominent role in the structured elementary school curriculum. What has been noted in previous studies and reinforced in this study by Thackery, Neiger, Hill, Barnes, and Bartle (2002) are the numerous barriers to securing a role for health education in the daily instruction by elementary teachers. The barriers noted by the authors include time and policy constraints, teacher interest, focus on standardized “high stakes” tests, lack of training of teachers during preservice course work, and a general lack of direction by state and local school officials to emphasize health instruction. As noted in the study, it appears that teachers are interested in teaching health education, but there are numerous competing curricular priorities during the school day. As a result of emphasis on these other subjects, health instruction is often relegated to a “rainy day” status. It was discouraging that not many enabling factors for health instruction could be identified in this study. The researchers used an appropriate qualitative design in which face-to-face interviews and focus groups were conducted. This technique allowed the researchers to capture the “flavor”of the responses instead of relying on the often antiseptic review of a paper-and-pencil survey. The process of analyzing the data into themes and then developing understandings of these

Examining Sexuality Education Preferences Among Youth at Risk for Poor Sexual Health Outcomes Based on Social Determinants of Health Factors

ABSTRACT At-risk adolescents may experience Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) that lead to higher rates of risky sexual behavior, including increased risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. These SDoH may include components such as unstable family structures, incomplete education, and poverty. Targeting at-risk youth for sexuality education is one way to work toward decreasing sexual health disparities. However, preferences for sexuality education approaches may differ among at-risk youth by additional factors including sex and sexual orientation. The purpose of this study was to describe sexuality education preferences among at-risk youth and how sexuality education preferences differ based on sex and sexual orientation in an at-risk sample of high school-aged youth in Texas. Results indicate sexuality education preferences differ based on sex and sexual orientation when examined by sexual health topics and methods of delivery. Implications of this study indicate including at-risk youth in sexual health programs may be a way to target those at-risk of adverse SDoH, but these groups also have specific preferences for sexuality education.