As part of my coursework for " Building Resilience in Individuals and Communities for Public Health," I was tasked with creating a multi-level intervention utilizing The Social Ecological Model (SEM) as a foundation. The overall aim of this created intervention was focused on building resiliency and self-efficacy surrounding sexual health preventative behavior among 15–24-year-old Hispanic females in Gainesville, FL. Although the intervention addressed all levels of the SEM, it focused on the interpersonal level as a bridge to help break down stigma and enhance communication among young adolescents and their caregivers. As seen by recent findings, a sense of belonging and social connectedness reduces the risk of individuals internalizing shame and stigma; reducing this risk can help lessen the disease burden of severe mental health consequences (Li et al., 2020). Therefore, I focused the design on health communication to execute information that is appropriate and culturally sensitive. The following are the specific goals for the interpersonal/relationship level of the SEM: 1) build a safe space between legal guardian and adolescent to discuss sexual health needs and concerns 2) build social support among peers.
The main messages surrounding this intervention theme will was to ensure young females know how to 1) acquire their caregiver’s approval to obtain condoms and/or birth control and can obtain these resources and 2) have the confidence and self-efficacy to ask for help and/or to obtain independently. Printed materials such as blog posts and multimedia materials such as podcasts were created to get the conversation going and empower women to engage in safe sex and conversation with their partners and caregivers. Empowerment is crucial in enhancing this self-efficacy and it is important all women have a voice in their sexual and mental health needs.
Li, J., Liang, W., Yuan, B., & Zeng, G. (2020). Internalized Stigmatization, Social Support, and Individual Mental Health Problems in the Public Health Crisis. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(12), 4507. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124507.
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