Improving Family Communication.

INTRODUCTION: TeenSmart International harnesses the power and flexibility of technology to empower youth to take personal responsibility for their health and lifestyle choices. Access to the Internet via mobile phones is often cheaper than paying to connect to a wired broadband service, and in rural areas, mobile networks may be the only means of accessing the Internet. This study assessed the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of "cues to action" or brief motivating cell phone text messages to improve adolescent family communication and relationships. METHOD: A quasi-experimental design using a voluntary sample of 100 Nicaraguan youth at high risk for poor family communication participated. Pre- and posttest quantitative measures using Student t statistical analysis, a focus group, and a participant testimony provided the evaluation evidence. RESULTS: Findings suggest that there are economic and motivational barriers to the use of text messages, but when barriers are eliminated, the behavioral results are positive. Youth who received two weekly text messages over a 6-month period demonstrated statistically significant improvements in family communication perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors, strengthening their family communications and relationships. CONCLUSION: Brief and personalized text messaging "cues to action" may be a cost-effective intervention to improve adolescent healthy lifestyle behaviors.

A Pilot, Web-Based HIV/STI Prevention Intervention Targeting At-Risk Mexican American Adolescents: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Lessons Learned.

Information technology provides new avenues to increase opportunities to deliver HIV/STI prevention interventions in a confidential, sensitive, and engaging manner for youth. While technology-based HIV/STI interventions show promise in preventing HIV/STI among different populations, few have targeted young Latinas. This pilot study examined the feasibility and acceptability of a bilingual, web-based HIV/STI prevention intervention among Latino females aged 15-19. We used a mix-method approach, including a prospective 2-group design with 3 repeated measures, and a post-intervention focus group discussion. We recruited 14 participants from an alternative high school and randomized into each study condition. Participants took 5 structurally equivalent modules focusing on either HIV/STI prevention (intervention) or nutrition/exercise (comparison) and completed assessments before the intervention, immediately post-intervention, and 2 months post-intervention. The findings suggested that the intervention had high levels of feasibility and acceptability. We discuss the keys to success, challenges encountered, and future directions.

Determinants of sexual abstinence and condom use among Central American adolescents.

UNLABELLED: Engaging in sexual intercourse early in life and without protection often leads to unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in teens. METHODS: A binary logistical regression analysis was used to identify the risk and protective factors associated with two preventive health behaviors: sexual abstinence and consistent condom use among 6,902 Central American teens receiving web-based adolescent health promotion education from 2004 to 2008. RESULTS: The average age was 15 years, with ages ranging between 10 and 20 years. Of these, 52% were girls and 48% boys. Personal competencies, social peer influences, and family factors were found to influence their sexual behavior patterns and were generally consistent with other studies worldwide. CONCLUSION: Information technology provides new avenues to assess individual health and provide individualized data collection in a confidential, sensitive, accessible, and engaging manner. Health promotion interventions must continue to address the development of personal knowledge, skills, and motivations to prevent and or reduce sexual risk-taking behaviors.

Start out: building healthcare careers for minority teenagers.

BACKGROUND: The healthcare industry is currently experiencing a severe shortage of nurses and other allied healthcare professionals. To compound this crisis, the current workforce does not mirror the growing linguistic and cultural diversity of the population needing health care. This article describes a community partnership approach to creating educational and career opportunities in nursing and other health sciences for young, multicultural, bilingual teenagers. METHOD: Several community organizations joined together to design and implement an 8-week summer program entitled "Start Out," which served to integrate life planning, mentorship, nursing assistant training, and college application assistance while providing summer salary stipends and work scholarship opportunities. Twenty-seven students participated in the program. RESULTS: Twenty-four bilingual, economically disadvantaged teenagers 16 to 19 years old, from the greater Seattle metropolitan area, completed the first session of this innovative program and passed the certified nursing assistant examination. CONCLUSION: Culturally focused assistance programs may provide an avenue to meet the current nursing shortage and provide healthcare workers who can be sensitive to the cultural and linguistic needs of the growing ethnic population.

Reducing substance use and risky sexual behavior among young, low-income, Mexican-American women: comparison of two interventions.

A pre-posttest, randomized pilot study evaluated the effect of two selective prevention interventions on knowledge, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors to prevent and/or reduce substance use and risky sexual behaviors among 50 predominantly Mexican-American, low-income young women. Women were randomly assigned to either a risk and resilience workshop or a health information correspondence course. Comparison tests using t tests and chi-square analyses were conducted to determine the baseline equivalence and pre- and posttest effects of the interventions. Both interventions had consistently similar effects. Neither significantly decreased use of alcohol or cigarettes. Both interventions significantly improved attitude, sexual self-efficacy, and resilience scores. Contraceptive use increased among women in partnered relationships, and both condom use and contraceptive use increased among sexually active, single young women. Both interventions also had significant positive effects on reported ability to discuss precautions to prevent human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome with sexual partners. Study limitations and implications for clinical practice and future research are provided.