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From the President
Adolescent Health and Teen Pregnancy
By Phyllis J. Sloyer, RN, PhD, FAHM, FAAP
Welcome to this issue of Pulse and the topics of teen pregnancy and adolescent health; the foci of recent grant awards. Because I tend to frame a particular aspect of health within the context of a system of care, I thought it would be interesting to conduct an internet search on adolescent health and comprehensive systems of care. The first 25 hits involved mental health systems and subsequent hits didn’t really identify the incorporation of issues around teen pregnancy and adolescent health within the context of a comprehensive system of care for adolescents and young adults. [read more]
From the CEO
Investing in Our Future
By Mike R. Fraser, PhD
I recently had the chance to be part of a meeting in North Dakota with a group of people who really, really care about adolescent health. They were passionate. They were dedicated. They knew where adolescents were coming from – a few were parents of teenage children and they used examples from their own lives to inform our conversation. The group was excited, the work we were doing was innovative and brought together representatives from health, education, and other groups to think through what a comprehensive statewide approach to adolescent sexual health could look like for their population of young people. I left the meeting energized and impressed with the commitment and passion that these state leaders brought to their work. Thinking back on the meeting now, the words opportunity, commitment, leadership, excitement, science-based, and improved health all come to mind. [read more]
Features
CDC Priority: Improving the Health and Future of Adolescents Through Preventing Teen Pregnancy
By Carla P. White, MPH
Independent Consultant
CDC/Division of Reproductive Health
In the spring of 2010, CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, highlighted teen pregnancy as one of the agency’s top public health priorities. CDC addresses such priorities through strengthening surveillance and epidemiology, supporting family planning services and evidence-based programs in states and communities, and providing data needed for making informed policy decisions. [read more]
Preconception Health Guidelines: Promoting Adolescent Health and Reducing Teen Pregnancy
By Sharron Corle
Associate Director, Adolescent Health, AMCHP
In the United States, almost 50 percent of pregnancies are unintended – for teenagers, the number is even higher – it’s estimated that over 66 percent of teen pregnancies are unintended. And, according to some recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, it’s not just about preventing teen pregnancy, the overall sexual and reproductive health of teens needs to be addressed. [read more]
The National Stakeholders Meetings Version 2.0
By Lissa Pressfield, MHS
Program Manager, Adolescent Health
Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs
Since the creation of the National Stakeholders Collaborative (NSC) in 2003 — a partnership between the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Director, the National Coalition of STD Directors, and the Society of State Directors of Health, Physical Education and Recreation — the group has convened 33 states in National Stakeholders Meetings (NSM) designed to develop state-level, inter-agency partnerships to improve adolescent reproductive and sexual health. [read more]
Real Life Story
PhotoVoice: The Power of Photos in One Community
By Kendra Gallegos Reichle, MS
Dragon Youth Project Coordinator
San Juan Basin Health Department
PhotoVoice is an action research method in which community members are supplied with cameras and asked to document the realities of life in the community. The resulting photos, which record both strengths and areas of concern in the community, are used to raise awareness about important issues and encourage dialogue about them. A few state maternal and child health programs, such as California and Rhode Island, have used the PhotoVoice technique as part of their on-going Title V needs assessment processes to identify priority community concerns. Local health programs are using PhotoVoice as well, including the San Juan Basin Health Department in Colorado. The local health department was a member of the Colorado team that participated in the AMCHP and NACCHO “Evidence-based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention – Moving Interest to Action” project. [read more]
Member to Member
We asked a couple of members the following question: What opportunities do the new funds related to teen pregnancy prevention bring to states related to increasing and/or improving efforts around adolescent reproductive and sexual health? [read more] | |
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Success Stories
Michigan’s Inter-Agency Partnership in Action
By Representatives of the Michigan State Advisors on Adolescent Sexual Health (SAASH)
In 2005, representatives from the Michigan Department of Community Health (Adolescent Health Unit, STD Unit, and HIV/AIDS Prevention and Intervention Section) and the Michigan Department of Education Coordinated School Health Program & Safety Program Unit came together at the National Stakeholders Meeting to forge a dynamic state-level, inter-agency partnership to improve adolescent reproductive and sexual health outcomes among school-aged youth in Michigan. Out of this initial meeting, the team created Michigan’s State Advisors on Adolescent Sexual Health (SAASH). [read more]
Partnering to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and Promote Evidence-based Approaches in Pennsylvania
By Kelly L. Holland
Public Health Program Manager, State Adolescent Health Coordinator
Pennsylvania Department of Health
Pennsylvania’s Maternal and Child Health program partnered with the Pennsylvania Coalition to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, the Pennsylvania Department of Education and two local health Bureaus, Allentown and Bethlehem, to raise awareness of both the issue of teen pregnancy prevention and evidence-based approaches to teen pregnancy prevention. [read more]
Utah’s Preconception Health and Adolescents Action Learning Collaborative Partnership
By Lois Bloebaum, MPA, BSN
Manager, Reproductive Health Program
Utah Department of Health
Jenny Mayfield, MS, CHES
Adolescent Health Coordinator
Utah Department of Health
Utah created a team to participate in AMCHP’s Preconception Health and Adolescents Action Learning Collaborative that began in 2009. The team is comprised of representatives from the Utah Department of Health, Salt Lake City School District, Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, and Utah State Office of Education. Through this strong partnership the Utah team has been able to leverage the strengths and expertise of all of the team members to focus on integrating preconception health concepts into the Utah State Office of Education Secondary Health Core Curriculum. Through this initiative the team is committed to increasing knowledge about the importance of life planning for improving reproductive and overall health outcomes among teens. [read more]
View from Washington
Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Adolescent Health
By Brent Ewig, MHS
Director of Public Policy & Government Affairs, AMCHP
Since passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) we have been engaged in the great scramble to help our members better understand what is in the law and when specific provisions take effect. We have also been engaged in numerous conversations about what the law means for the future of state Title V MCH programs, and how we will best support state MCH leaders’ roles in the multitude of implementation opportunities and challenges. [read more]
Who's New
New MCH Leaders
See who are the new MCH leaders! [read more]
Get Involved
Save the Date: Webinar on New Research into Sudden Infant Death
The webinar, “New Research into Sudden Infant Death: Unraveling the Mystery of SIDS,” will occur on May 20 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. (EDT). This is the second in a series of live, interactive webinars which have been developed to provide participants with the latest research, resources, information, and tools regarding SUID, SIDS, Infant Safe Sleep, and bereavement. Co-Sponsored by the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) and the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs (ASIP), and in partnership with the National SUID Resource Center, National SUID Program Support Center, National Center for Cultural Competence, and National SUID Project IMPACT. [read more]
CDC's Environmental Public Health Tracking Program Needs Your Input!
Please complete this short, 11-question assessment developed by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, National Association of County and City Health Officials and the National Environmental Health Association. This questionnaire seeks information on the awareness of the Environmental Public Health Tracking Program and Network among public health practitioners. [read more]
Call for Abstracts
The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine is now accepting abstracts for The 15th Annual International Meeting "Breastfeeding: A Bridge to the Gold Standard," to be held October 27-30 in San Francisco. Abstracts may be submitted by physicians, medical students, and those holding post graduate degrees or students working to attain such degrees. Abstracts submitted by non-physicians must be sponsored by a member in good standing of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. [read more]
RWJF Local Funding Call for Proposals
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Local Funding Partnerships program forges relationships between the RWJF and local grantmakers to fund promising, original projects that can significantly improve the health of vulnerable people in their communities. [read more]
Data and Trends
See a 2006 School Health Policies and Programs Study on Pregancy Prevention.
See a National Vital Statistics Report on the U.S. Birth Rates for Women Aged 15-19 Years by Race/Ethnicity 2005-2008.
Resources
View and download resources on Adolescent Health and Teen Pregnancy. [read more]
Board of Directors
Meet AMCHP's Board of Directors.
AMCHP Staff
Meet AMCHP's staff.
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