Project

Project After

Project Description

Project AFTER modified the Project ADAPT curriculum to address the needs of pregnant teens to develop skills to prevent drug and alcohol abuse. The project delivered the curriculum at University Hospital. Outcome data show that youth exposed to the curriculum had significantly higher skills at posttest then at pretest. Young women involved with the curriculum had healthier babies than a matched comparison group. In addition, some public health clinics have broadened the scope of the participants to include pregnant and parenting teens. The curriculum is currently offered to young women throughout King County by the Seattle-King County Health Department.

The 9-session skill-training curriculum begins with a 3.5-hour entry group. This group creates a vision of success for participants. Participants begin to define the goals they want to work toward and the rest of the curriculum supports the goals they establish during the entry group. A map is used as a guide for participants’ “journey to success.”

The curriculum is divided into four units: 1) impulse control, including anger/stress control, and dealing with someone else’s anger; 2) alcohol and drug refusal skill;, 3) coping with authority, including the skills of negotiation and compliance; and 4) problem solving and healthy relationships (e.g., how to make new friends, expressing personal needs and avoiding old trouble friends). Each of the eight sessions lasts for 2 hours and follows a similar structure: 1) check-in, 2) review, 3) teaching a new skill or concept, 4) practice, and 5) homework. Videotape is used to provide immediate feedback to participants on their skill use. The curriculum is designed to offer opportunities for participants to practice skill steps in “real life” situations they are likely to encounter. A participant workbook accompanies the curriculum. The workbook includes a complete review of the skill steps and practice exercises for skill improvement.

The AFTER case management model provided clients with a public health nurse and a social worker who were available to them from early pregnancy to one year postpartum. To meet the psychosocial, medical, and educational needs of clients, a multidisciplinary team delivered case management services. The role of the case managers was to provide clients with the support, skills, and resources that would enable them to make appropriate choices for themselves and their children. Case managers reinforced the skills learned in the group setting and helped generalize them to real-life situations. The case managers co-led the drug prevention skills trainings and had regular home visits with the clients. They provided a consistent thread of services to the clients.