"I plan to teach my friends what I learned and how to protect themselves better"
"Thanks for doing this--you refreshed my memory about the risks" |
Evaluation:
Our Programs are Making a Significant Impact
The Center for Youth is strongly committed to evaluating its programs and trainings to determine their effectiveness in improving the health and lives of young people.
Our track record of success includes:
Publication
The Center's first evaluation of the Life Skills Program (LSP) was published in the April 2003 edition of AIDS Education and Prevention: An Interdisciplinary Journal*. The research was conducted in San Francisco by the Division of Adolescent Medicine at the University of California--San Francisco (UCSF). It demonstrated the LSP significantly impacted youth participants in the following ways:
- Increasing key risk reduction skills
- Enhancing altruism - in giving back to their community
Evaluation in San Mateo County
Over the past four years, our Life Skills Program was evaluated in San Mateo County.
Results consistently determined the LSP was successful in achieving the following among youth participants:
- Increased utilization of health care for general care
- Increased access to health clinics for STD tests
- Decreased sexual activity
- Increased use of condoms (among sexually active youth)
- Decreased alcohol use
- Decreased drug use
Interviews
Personal interviews conducted with the Peer Health Educators demonstrated the LSP:
- Enhanced Self-Esteem
- Improved Communication Skills
- Desire to Share Information with Others (Altruism)
- Positive Health Behavior Changes
Quotes from Peer Educators
- "I have that self-esteem now and I feel so comfortable. I can use this experience in so many ways. It makes it easier to talk to peers, and
I will be able to teach other teenagers"
- "I stopped drinking. When we talked about it in the training, I thought 'well good thing', because when you're drunk, you can have sex with someone you don't want to ... or you could just have sex period. It's not worth it."
- "Communication is very important. In the training, you guys taught us this is a normal part of life ... it has helped my self-esteem and my knowledge ...
so I feel really comfortable talking about these things."
- "This program has really helped me to get my stuff together. And it has taught me many important things. "I have quit drinking and smoking, and I am more careful when being physically involved with someone"
- "This is a great program ... not only for the students, but for the educators, too. I think this program should become bigger and spread to more schools"
Praise from Parents and Teachers
- "Your peer educator training is instilling pride and altruism in our students"
- "You're doing a great job for teens and parents"
- "It is awesome to envision the ripple effects of your training"
- "We are confident The Center for Youth is the best organization to provide this vital health information and mentoring to our students, as your staff has a keen understanding of adolescent health issues"
- "Your training has provided many young people with career goals they never had before this opportunity"
- "Your program has had a significant impact on the health behaviors and self-esteem of our students"
- "We are excited to have the Life Skills program reach many more students"
Support from Superintendent of Schools
"I want to lend my enthusiastic support for continuing and expanding your Life Skills Program in our High School District ... It is clear that your program provides youth with interactive and realistic education that greatly enhances their self-esteem, motivation
and ability to provide health education and service to other students and to their peers
in the community."
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