Teen Leaders Promote Pregnancy Prevention Among Peers

elping teens make responsible decisions about sexuality issues is a tough task for a community health agency to tackle—especially when many young people often question adult authority.

The Westside Women’s Health Center in Santa Monica is taking on the challenge by recruiting and training other teens to promote reproductive health among their peers by lending a sympathetic ear, knowing the facts and telling it like it is.

"Young people really connect with someone who looks like them, talks like them, understands their situation and is not judgmental," said Nicole Walmsley, 21, a graduate of the health center’s Teen Peer Educator Training Program and part-time employee at its weekly Adolescent Health Clinic.

The center received a $100,000 grant from TCWF to expand its promising teen peer program in an attempt to reverse the high rates of births and sexually transmitted diseases among youth between the ages of 12 and 21 on the west side of Los Angeles County.

Dedicated to providing high-quality, low-cost care in a supportive, educational environment, the center has used the funds to train nearly 70 adolescents as informed point people who can relate to high-risk youth.

"It’s imperative to arm adolescents with correct information, and we know that most teens feel more comfortable discussing reproductive health issues with their peers than with adults," said Julie Kirk, director of adolescent health services for the center. "So we train young people to work in our clinic, make school-based presentations and conduct outreach activities at places where kids congregate. Since 1998, this program has reached more than 4,000 teens."

Peer educators take part in 48 hours of interactive workshops to raise their level of knowledge about reproductive health. The training covers such topics as birth control methods, sexually transmitted infections, reproductive anatomy, decision making, teen pregnancy and access to health care.

The program has trained both Spanish- and English-speaking young men and women as peer educators. Some work as volunteers in the clinic, and five are paid employees; all are involved in outreach activities.

The center’s Adolescent Health Clinic offers gynecological services, testing for sexually transmitted infections, counseling and a reproductive health hotline. Aside from the clinician and supervisors, all services are provided by teens for teens.

"We started offering the teen clinic one Saturday a month, and its popularity led to a once-a-week schedule," Kirk said. "We’re planning to expand to twice a week to serve more young people."

Although some young people who visit the clinic for the first time indicate that they feel desperate and confused, Walmsley and Kirk said these youth leave with sound information as well as the reassurance that they have choices—especially with regard to birth control and pregnancy—and a place to go for health care assistance.

"Many teenagers tell me, ‘I wouldn’t know what to do without [the clinic]’—and they don’t. I hope I’m able to convince them that it’s better to be safe than sorry," Walmsley said.

Grantees Use Policy Advocacy

Interpreters break down language barriers

Home visits connect kids to health care

Teen-to-teen pregnancy prevention

Violence prevention for incarcerated youth

Workplace wellness programs

Padres promote health on radio

Grants Program

Application process

Grants listing

Staff Profile

What's New

Credits

All rights reserved. Property of The California Wellness Foundation.
©1998 The California Wellness Foundation. Terms of Use Agreement.
6320 Canoga Avenue, Suite 1700, Woodland Hills, CA 91367.
Phone: (818) 702-1900. Comments to the Webmaster at tcwf@cwf.tcwf.org