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OCTOPUS--a church-based sex education program for teens and parents.

1984; National Institutes of Health; Volume: 19; Issue: 76 Linguagem: Inglês

Michele Jacknik, Fred Isberner, Sheila Gumerman, Rosa Hayworth, Debra Braunling-McMorrow,

Pediatric health and respiratory diseases

OCTOPUS is the acronym for a rural, church-based sex education program for teens and parents. The tentacles symbolize the agencies and individuals involved in this multi-faceted community outreach program designed to promote "Open Communication Regarding Teenagers Or Parents Understanding of Sexuality." Its purpose was to establish a forum for family discussion within a church setting to enhance communication skills, convey factual information, and cultivate the development of a decision-making process to help parents help their teenagers acquire appropriate morals and values. The OCTOPUS program was a team effort comprised of nurses, health educators, and counselors with experience serving adolescents, ministers who sought to integrate religious views with sex education, and church and community members interested in improving dialogue between parents and teenagers about sexuality. The team developed a comprehensive yet flexible program that could be modified to meet each church's preferences. Generally, the topics were arranged into four two-hour sessions. Presentation methods included a combination of lectures, films, and pamphlets. Large and small group discussions were used for clarification and communication skills development. While the results of this program were not quantifiable, feedback from four churches and one-hundred participants has been highly favorable.OCTOPUS is the acronym for a rural, church-based sex education program for teens and parents. The tentacles symbolize the agencies involved in this multi-faceted community outreach program designed to promote "Open Communication Regarding Teenagers Or Parents Understanding of Sexuality." Its purpose was to establish a forum for family discussion within a church setting to enhance communication skills, convey factual information, and cultivate the development of a decision making process to help parents help their teenagers acquire appropriate morals and values. The OCTOPUS program was a team effort using 1) nurses, health educators, and counselors with experience serving adolescents, 2) ministers who wanted to integrate religious views with sex education, and 3) church and community members interested in improving communication about sex between parents and teenagers. The team developed a comprehensive but flexible program that could be modified for each church. Generally, four two-hour sessions covered love and relationships, being an adolescent, decision making, reproduction and pregnancy, birth control and sexually transmitted diseases, the church's view, communication skills, and community resources. Presentation methods combined lectures, films, and pamphlets. Large and small group discussions were used for clarification and communication skills development. While the results of this program were not quantifiable, feedback from four churches and 100 participants has been highly favorable.