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Featured Programs:
Making Proud Choices!
A Safer-Sex Approach to HIV/STDs
and Teen Pregnancy Prevention
Chosen by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention as a “Program That Works”
Package Components:
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| Basic Package | $145 | Order |
| Required supporting products: | ||
| The Truth About Sex | $135 | Order | The Subject is: HIV | $118 | Order | Nicole’s Choice | $80 | Order |
| The Hard Way | $95 | Order |
| Entire Package | $535 | Order |
AUTHORS:
Loretta Sweet Jemmott Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., John Jemmott III, Ph.D. and Konstance McCaffree, Ph.D.
OVERVIEW OF THE CURRICULUM
To reduce risk for STD/HIV and pregnancy risk related behaviors, young adolescents need not only knowledge and perception of personal vulnerability, but also positive attitudes towards condom use, skills and confidence in their ability to use condoms. The Making Proud Choices! Curriculum is designed to meet those needs.
Making Proud Choices!:A Safer Sex Approach to STDs, Teen Pregnancy, and HIV Prevention Curriculum is an eight module curriculum that provides young adolescents with the knowledge, confidence and skills necessary to reduce their risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV and pregnancy by abstaining from sex or using condoms if they choose to have sex. It is based on cognitive-behavioral theories, focus groups and the authors’ extensive experience working with youth. Making Proud Choices! is an adaptation and extension of the original Be Proud! Be Responsible! Curriculum in that it integrates teen pregnancy prevention along with HIV/STD prevention.
GOAL OF THE CURRICULUM
The goal of Making Proud Choices! is to empower young adolescents to change their behavior in ways that will reduce their risk of becoming infected with HIV and other STDs and their risk for pregnancy. Specifically, this curriculum emphasizes that adolescents can reduce their risk for STDs, HIV and pregnancy by using a condom, if they choose to have sex.
CURRICULUM OBJECTIVES
At the completion of The Making Proud Choices! Curriculum, adolescents will:
- Increase their knowledge of HIV, STDs and pregnancy prevention
- Believe in the value of safer sex, including abstinence
- Improve their ability to negotiate abstinence/safer-sex practices
- Increase their ability to use condoms correctly
- Have stronger intentions to use condoms if they have sex
- Have a lower incidence of HIV/STD sexual risk-taking behavior
- Take pride in choosing responsible sexual behaviors
CONTENT OUTLINE
The Making Proud Choices! Curriculum has four major components. One component focuses on goals and dreams and adolescent sexuality. The second component is knowledge. It covers information about the etiology, transmission and prevention of STDs, HIV, and teenage pregnancy. The third component focuses on beliefs and attitudes. The fourth component focuses on skills and self-efficacy. It covers negotiation-refusal skills and condom use skills and provides time for practice, reinforcement, and support.
Module 1: Getting to Know You and Steps to Making Your Dreams Come True
Module 2: The Consequences of Sex: HIV Infection
Module 3: Attitudes and Beliefs About HIV/AIDS and Condom Use
Module 4: Strategies for Preventing HIV Infection: Stop, Think and Act
Module 5: The Consequences of Sex: STDs and Correct Condom Use
Module 6: The Consequences of Sex: Pregnancy
Module 7: Developing Condom Use Skills and Negotiation Skills
Module 8: Role-Plays: Refusal and Negotiation Skills
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CURRICULUM
The Making Proud Choices! Curriculum was designed to be used with small groups ranging from 6-12 participants, but it can be implemented with larger number of youths. The curriculum can be implemented in various community settings, including schools or youth-serving agencies.
LENGTH
The curriculum has eight hours of content divided into eight 1hour modules. It can be implemented in eight sessions of sixty minutes each or in four 2 hours modules. In community settings, it can be implemented in a two day format (4 modules each day), four day format (2 modules each day) or an eight day format (1 module each day).
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
The curriculum requires the use of TV monitor and VCR.
TYPES OF ACTIVITIES
The Making Proud Choices! Curriculum includes a series of fun and interactive learning experiences designed to increase participation and to help young adolescents understand faulty reasoning and decision-making about taking risks for STD/HIV and pregnancy. Activities are designed to increase comfort with practicing condom use, to address concerns about negative effects of practicing safer sex and to build skills in condom use and negotiation.
The activities incorporate social cognitive-behavioral skill-building strategies (i.e., presentation, modeling, and the practice of condom use negotiation skills). It involves culturally sensitive video clips, games, brainstorming, role-playing, skill-building activities and a small group discussion that build group cohesion and enhance learning. Each activity lasts a brief time, which involve adolescents getting out of their seats and interacting with each other. In this way, it is possible to maintain interest and attention that might fade if lecturing and lengthy group discussions were used. Below is a description of the types of activities used in The Making Proud Choices! Curriculum.
- The goals and dreams activity focuses on having the adolescents consider their goals for the future and how participating in unsafe sex might thwart the attainment of their goals.
- Videos are used to depict young adolescents in various situations. These videos evoke feelings, thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, and stereotypes about HIV/STD, sexual involvement, and HIV/STD prevention skills.
- The role-play scenarios are designed to provide participants with the confidence and skills to negotiate condom use. These realistic role-play scenarios provide young adolescents with a variety of ways in which they could use the prevention skills that they learn in this program.
- The curriculum incorporates the “Making Prouder Choices! Be Proud! Be Responsible!” theme, which encourages the participants to be proud and behave responsibly for themselves, their family,and their community.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK USED IN THE MAKING POUD CHOICES!
Research shows that curricula are most effective if they are based on a sound theoretical framework. The Making Proud Choices! Curriculum draws upon three theories: The Social Cognitive Theory, The Theory of Reasoned Action and its extension, The Theory of Planned Behavior. These theories have been shown to be of great value in understanding a wide range of health related behaviors.
Two major concepts derive from these theories that are included in MAKING PROUD CHOICES!:
- self-efficacy or perceived behavioral control beliefs, which is defined as a person’s confidence in his or her ability to do the behavior (i.e. use a condom) and
- outcome expectancies or behavioral beliefs, which are beliefs about the consequences of the behavior.
Below is a description of the four types of outcome expectancies or behavioral beliefs emphasized in The Making Proud Choices! Curriculum.
Goals and Dreams Beliefs
The belief that unprotected sex can interfere with one’s goals and dreams for education and a career. In Module 1, the participants engage in a Goals and Dreams Activity and discuss obstacles to their goals and dreams, in which having unprotected sex is listed and discussed as an obstacle. This belief is also incorporated throughout the curriculum.
Prevention Beliefs
The belief that condoms can reduce the risk of pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS is incorporated throughout the curriculum
Partner-Reaction Beliefs
The belief that one’s boyfriend/girlfriend would not approve of condom use and will react negatively to it. This belief may prevent a person from negotiating condom use. In Modules 7 and 8, participants learn how to get out of a risky situation, set physical limits, and learn negotiation and refusal skills to communicate with their partners about safer sex.
Hedonistic Beliefs
The belief that condom use interferes with sexual pleasure. For example, many people believe that condoms reduce physical sensations during sexual activity or ruin the mood. Therefore, they are less likely to use condoms during sexual intercourse. In Modules 7 and 8, youth learn that sex is still fun and pleasurable when a condom is used and are taught how to incorporate this belief into role-play scenarios.
UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE MAKING PROUD CHOICES!
Three overriding themes provide Making Proud Choices! Curriculum with a unique approach that has proven to be successful with young adolescents:
The Community and Family Approach
An important component of our approach is the strong emphasis on family and community. The Making Proud Choices! Curriculum emphasizes how HIV/AIDS, STDs, and unintended adolescent pregnancy have affected their community, while addressing the significance of protecting the family and community as a motive to change individual behavior. The focus on the implications for the family and community to motivate change is different from the traditional exclusive focus on individualistic HIV/AIDS knowledge and individualistic attitudes toward risky behavior. In this connection, the intervention incorporates the “Making Proud Choices! Be Proud! Be Responsible!” theme to encourage the adolescents to be proud of themselves and to use condoms to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV, not only for their own sake, but for the sake of their families and community
The Role of Sexual Responsibility and Accountability
Many young adolescents do not express their sexual feelings in a responsible or accountable way. This is evident by the high incidence of STDs and pregnancy among adolescents. It is also evident by their self-reports of inconsistent condom use and multiple sexual partners. Young adolescents need to learn how to become sexually responsible and accountable. The Making Proud Choices! Curriculum teaches participants to make responsible decisions regarding their sexual behavior, to respect themselves and others, and the importance of developing a positive image. Participants discuss what constitutes sexual responsibility, such as condom use and learn to make responsible decisions regarding their sexual behavior (i.e. that abstinence is the best way to prevent HIV, STD and teen pregnancy, however, if they choose to have sex, they must use a condom).
The Role of Pride
Adolescence is a difficult period of development. Adolescents are faced with a time of confusion, mixed emotions and uncertainty. Adolescents are bombarded with sexual messages from various sources, including TV, music, magazines, friends and their boyfriends/girlfriends. They receive pressure from their peers and boyfriends/girlfriends to have sex. They struggle with issues around self-esteem, self-respect and self-pride. Therefore they need to feel good about themselves, their decisions to practice safer sex and their behavior. The Making Proud Choices! Curriculum addresses these feelings by emphasizing that one can feel proud and responsible in making safer sex choices. The adolescents’ sense of pride, self-confidence and self-respect regarding their choice to practice safer sex is encouraged and reinforced during the role-plays and other skill-building activities.
RECOMMENDED TRAINING
If the educators are knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS, STDs and adolescent sexuality and have experience implementing an STD/HIV prevention curriculum with youth, then they may need approximately 6-8 hours of training. The training should include reviewing the curriculum, discussing various issues in the curriculum, its implementation and discussing what is unique, different and its reasons. In addition, selected lessons should be modeled and the participants should have an opportunity to practice them and receive feedback.
If the educators are not knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS, STDs, adolescent sexuality and have no experience implementing an STD/HIV prevention curriculum with youth, then 24 hours of training are needed. During the training, HIV/AIDS, STD and adolescent pregnancy knowledge and prevention skills should be reviewed and reinforced. Implementation strategies, training issues and the trainees’ comfort level with adolescent sexuality should be discussed. The content of the curriculum should be reviewed. The trainer should walk the educators through the curriculum, as through they were students. A question-and-answer period should be held afterwards. Then the trainee should practice the curriculum and receive performance feedback.
Is there a training involved with the curriculum? Thank you.