In this article, we explore how visitors engage with a science museum exhibit that displays controversial topics. Through a case study methodology, we focus on the Brazilian exhibit "Preventing Youth Pregnancy" that delves into teen pregnancy, sexual practices, and sexually transmitted diseases. Using the lens of science communication…

We present an organizational capacity building program that is a systemic approach to training professionals, creating organizational policies and practices, and enhancing the physical environment with materials about sexual and reproductive health. The evaluation of four different organizations showed increases over six months in: staff reports…

Community mobilization is a strategy that organizes a community across sectors for long-term change, and is one way for communities to provide supports for young people to make healthy sexual choices. In the context of teen pregnancy, community mobilization can address the interconnected web of factors that influence teen sexual attitudes by…

In an effort to inform communication efforts to promote sexual health equity in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sought to explore African-Americans' perceptions of the sexually transmitted disease (STD) problem in their communities, reactions to racially comparative STD data and opinions about dissemination of…

For decades, the HIV epidemic has exacted an enormous toll worldwide. However, trend analyses have discerned significant declines in the overall prevalence of HIV over the last two decades. More recently, advances in biomedical, behavioural, and structural interventions offer considerable promise in the battle against generalised epidemics.…

This article is based on the AAHPERD Research Consortium Scholar Lecture delivered at the 2010 AAHPERD National Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Young's various projects are five-time winners of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Award for Outstanding Work in Community Health Promotion. His drug education program, Keep A Clear…

Joe McGinnis, principal of Jackson High School, is caught in the conflict between community values, parents' rights, teacher speech, public health policy, and his own positioning within the community and faculty. He must decide whether and how to discipline a teacher and former mentor who, in the absence of a clear school district policy, supplied…

Social and public health scientists are increasingly interested in applying system dynamics theory to improve understanding and to harness the forces of change within complex, multilevel systems that affect community intervention implementation, effects, and sustainability. Building a system dynamics model based on ethnographic case study has the…

Many public health students receive little, if any, formal training in communicating health information to the public. Public health practitioners, however, are regularly asked to use communication strategies to convey health information. The lesson plan was designed to teach students mass communication strategies in the context of sexual health…

Social and cultural changes in Nepal, including better communication facilities and transport, more urbanization and a rising age at which people marry, have created more opportunities for young people for "dating." Our qualitative study explores whether the existence of dating cultures influences young people's sexual behavior in Nepal.…

The purpose of the present study was to examine the hypothesis that religious affiliation, attendance at religious services, and religious importance would be negatively associated with substance use and sexual behavior related to substance use. An additional hypothesis was tested to determine if age-related differences in the magnitude of these…

Purpose: The aim of this small-scale focus group study is to explore the impact the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine has on attitudes towards HPV, cervical cancer and sexual risk taking amongst university students in the UK. Design/methodology/approach: Participants were recruited through advertisements placed on notice boards throughout the…

One approach in HIV prevention programming targeting youth is to use peer leaders in what is referred to as peer education programming. This paper critically reviews and synthesizes the results and lessons learned from 24 evaluated peer-led programs with an HIV/AIDS risk reduction component that target youth in the communities where they live and…

Developing and disseminating a preventive HIV vaccine is a primary scientific and public health objective. However, little is known about HIV vaccine acceptability in the high-prevalence setting of South Africa--where young adults are likely to be targeted in early dissemination efforts. This study reports on six focus groups (n = 42) conducted in…

This paper defines how out-of-school adolescents from Masaka District in rural southwest Uganda currently receive sexual and reproductive health information and how they would prefer to receive that information. Information adolescents feel they lack falls into three broad categories: sexual and reproductive health issues, the negotiation of sex…