Focus on Kids and ImPact: Wayne State University.Community served: African-American parents and teens Focus on Kids (FOK) is a community-based HIV/STD prevention program for high-risk urban youth ages 9-15. It is designed to help youth learn the skills and gain the knowledge they need to protect themselves from HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. and other sexually transmitted diseases Sexually transmitted diseases Infections that are acquired and transmitted by sexual contact. Although virtually any infection may be transmitted during intimate contact, the term sexually transmitted disease is restricted to conditions that are largely . The curriculum uses fun, interactive activities such as games, role plays, discussions, and community projects. FOK has been identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Adolescent and School Health (CDC-DASH) as an effective program that reduces adolescent sexual risk behavior. FOK was designed for and evaluated in urban public housing developments located in Baltimore, Maryland. Over 95% of participants were African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. . In an attempt to broaden the positive effects of FOK, a team of researchers at Wayne State University Wayne State University, at Detroit, Mich.; state supported; coeducational; established 1956 as a successor to Wayne Univ. (formed 1934 by a merger of five city colleges). has been investigating the effects of parental monitoring interventions on adolescent risk behaviors. Parents can help their children evoke and reinforce health-seeking behaviors. Therefore, the team has developed, implemented, and is currently evaluating ImPACT, an intervention designed to increase parental supervision and communication. ImPACT is delivered by two educators in the youth's home. It includes a 20-minute video (tailored to the community) that emphasizes several concepts of parental monitoring and communication (e.g., "it is important to know where and with whom your child is," and "talk with your children about sex"). The video is followed by an interactive role-play in which the parent is confronted with evidence that his/her child is sexually active. After role playing role playing, n in behavioral medicine, learning exercise in which individuals assume characters different from their own. The individual may also be asked to simulate a particularly difficult situation and apply the characteristics that are common to his between the parent and the youth is completed, the educators offer suggestions that reinforce the main talking points of the video, and conduct a condom demonstration. The researchers are currently conducting a randomized ran·dom·ize tr.v. ran·dom·ized, ran·dom·iz·ing, ran·dom·iz·es To make random in arrangement, especially in order to control the variables in an experiment. , controlled trial controlled trial Clinical research A clinical study in which one group of participants receives an experimental drug while the other receives either a placebo or an approved–'gold standard' therapy. See Blinding, Double-blinded. of FOK with and without the addition of ImPACT and additional FOK "boosters" among 800+ African-American youth ages 12 to 16 and one of their parents. Results indicate that ImPACT added to the FOK intervention increases a wide range of healthy behaviors by adolescents up to 12 months after intervention. For example, six months after intervention, youth in families that received FOK plus ImPACT reported significantly lower rates of sexual intercourse sexual intercourse or coitus or copulation Act in which the male reproductive organ enters the female reproductive tract (see reproductive system). and sexual intercourse without a condom than youth in families that were assigned to the FOK intervention only. In addition, at both six and 12 months after intervention, rates of alcohol, cigarette and marijuana use, as well as overall risk intention were lower among youth who received FOK plus ImPACT compared with FOK-only youths. Researchers are currently analyzing data from 18 and 24 months follow-up. These results suggest that the inclusion of a parental monitoring and communication intervention can provide additional protection from involvement in adolescent risk behaviors. Contact information: Bonita Bonita (Spanish and Portuguese for "beautiful") is the name of:
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