Parent & Family Engagement

In Adolescent Reproductive Health

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Current Work

Focus Groups

In 2003 CARTA convened 9 focus groups in different parts of the U.S. Focus group participants were recruited from reproductive health provider agencies conducting PFE. The purpose of the groups was to gather more concrete examples of PFE activities and to learn about training and technical support needs.

Selection of Focus Group Sites

A master list of Title X and Planned Parenthood clinics was developed. Clinics were organized according to the 10 DHHS regions. Regions were then examined to identify states and cities with a number of agencies sufficiently clustered for recruiting at least 8 agencies per focus group. Due to a small number of provider agencies in a given location and transportation constraints and time to travel to the discussion group, agencies in more rural areas were excluded from the sample. The cities with an ample number of provider agencies fell primarily into the four regions shown below. CARTA convened 9 focus groups across these four regions.

West/South West	South	Mid-West	Mid-Atlantic
California *Los Angeles *San Francisco Nevada Arizona New Mexico *Albuquerque	Alabama Florida Georgia *Atlanta Mississippi North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee *Knoxville	Illinois *Chicago Indiana Kentucky Michigan Ohio *Cleveland	Delaware District of Columbia Maryland New Jersey New York *New York City Pennsylvania *Philadelphia Virginia/West Virginia

*=City where focus group was held

(Coming soon: Click on any underlined city to learn more about PFE programs and key findings from focus group discussions conducted in that region).

		Recruitment of Participants Agencies within each of the metropolitan areas selected were contacted and given a brief description of the project and purpose of the focus groups. Agency staff members knowledgeable about their PFE efforts identified. Agencies were presented with a short screening survey to confirm whether PFE activities were being conducted and to gauge interest in participating in a focus group discussion. Participants most knowledgeable about PFE efforts at the agency (including physicians, nurses/nurse practitioner, health educator, or social worker) were recruited. In all, 53 providers participated in focus group discussions. Focus Group Findings CARTA is hard at work finalizing the focus group report for dissemination. Please check back soon for a summary of results. Culture and PFE To respond to the growing diversity within the U.S. and the growing demand for information and support around culturally based programming, CARTA focused on expanding the evidence on how culture shapes parent and family influence on ARH among youth of color, and working to translate this evidence into strategies for community-based practice for diverse populations. This phase of the project included: · Review of social science and ethnographic literature to document cultural differences in family interactions and preferences around matters directly and/or indirectly linked with sexuality (e.g., communication, gender roles, religiosity, etc.); · Outline core factors that distinguish families along cultural lines; · Translate core factors into parameters and strategies for local efforts; · Develop a quick guide tool to culture and PFE.
		Racial & Ethnic Disparities in Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Examination of factors that contribute to racial/ethnic disparities in adolescent childbearing and STDs; · Identification of relative contribution of parents and families for youth of color; · Development of program and policy recommendations to realign practice to address racial/ethnic disparities; · Building provider capacity to understand and respond to racial/ethnic disparities. Activities include: · Review of social science and program literatures to identify factors that shape racial/ethnic disparities; · Analyses of national data sets to expand identification of factors; · Completion and dissemination of a Research and Action Brief on disparities; · Convening the first CARTA Institute on Provider Competence designed to build cultural competence among community-based provider agencies around ARH and parent/family engagement. [Top]
The PFE Project	1800 N. Charles St., Suite 902		Baltimore, MD 21201	P: 410-625-6250	F: 410-625-1965	www.cartainc.org/pfeproject